A strong and sustainable organization has an engaged workforce that is aligned with its strategic goals. As of the end of 2011, the Company had a total workforce of 29,624, of whom 4,518 were based in Hong Kong and 25,106 were located overseas.

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
In September 2011, we launched our first Employee Engagement Survey with the objective of assessing engagement with our employees and their customer orientation, and finding out more about our strengths and opportunities for improvement across our business units and countries. The survey, which was web- based and implemented through a third-party to safeguard the anonymity of the respondents, consisted of 56, close-ended questions and one, open-ended question.

Out of the 14,490 employees who received the survey request, 11,237 completed the survey, representing a response rate of 78%. The survey helped management to understand the views of employees and to receive useful feedback. We have formed a Corporate Engagement Team in conjunction with business executives to communicate the survey results across the Company and to identify follow-up actions. In addition, our business executives will champion improvement initiatives that focus on the three themes of Communication, Career and People Care.

WELL-BEING, OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY AND HUMAN RIGHTS
We aim to provide a safe, healthy and respectful workplace by adhering to our policies and codes, raising awareness, sharing tips and experiences, and providing training for our employees.

The health and well-being of all of our people globally is at the top of our agenda. Our Useful Tips on health and well-being play a vital role in sharing knowledge to our employees through daily email messages and our internal e-platform. The tips cover issues relevant to occupational health (e.g. desk ergonomics, heavy-lifting postures and precautions, stretching exercises) and well-being (e.g. ways to stay positive, quick stress relievers).

To support the ongoing promotion of health and safety in our workplaces, we launched a series of Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) initiatives in our distribution centers worldwide. We also provide training to our employees globally and regularly conduct internal EHS audits to ensure compliance in our operations and to strive for continual improvement.

In November 2011, we launched our human rights statement on our website and implemented an internal awareness-raising program. The statement reinforces that since the founding of Li & Fung, respect for human rights has always been at the core of our beliefs and embedded in the way we do business. We have formalized these principles into group policies and codes that foster a respect for human rights amongst our employees and business partners. The statement further affirms our commitment to support the:

• International Labor Organization's Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, including freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining, the elimination of forced or compulsory labor, the abolition of child labor and the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation;
• ten principles of the UN Global Compact, covering human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption, throughout our operations; and
• UN Declaration of Human Rights as a necessary foundation for social development and economic progress.

LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT
Our learning and development programs aim to strengthen core functional and management capabilities of our people through a variety of structured training programs, peer-to-peer learning, mentoring, on-the-job training, e-learning modules, and others. In 2011, we had a record of over 36,000 employee visits to access our online learning tools and over 19,025 participants attended formal learning classes or took part in e-learning.

Learning initiatives focusing on strengthening core functional and management capabilities of our people include, for example:

• The Merchandising Skills Foundation Program aims to equip merchandisers with practical, job-related skills. In 2011, over 3,700 employees in 16 locations participated and this program was then extended to a broader group through e-learning with over 3,200 employees in 33 locations participating.
• Our expanded Merchandising Development Program focuses on enhancing the technical expertise as well as individuals' confidence in serving our customers. The curriculum covers over 46 topics on product and production knowledge, productivity improvement, processes and practices, and performance enhancement skills. Over 618 in-house learning sessions were organized in 33 offices, with 18,200 participants joining through 15,000 learning hours.

Additional talent development programs focus on key transition points in the careers of our employees, including:

• a new General Manager Transition Program;
• our high-impact Leadership Program, now in its third year, which was delivered through the MIT Sloan School of Management and The University of Hong Kong, with 53 of our senior managers attending the 2-term seminars and workshops;
• the involvement of 100 of our senior executives as "Learning Champions" to drive knowledge-sharing and career development within our operations; and
• our Program for Management Development, which focuses on attracting and developing talent for future business leadership positions, has successfully completed its second year. A total of 23 Management Associates, representing 10 nationalities, participated in this structured development program that includes corporate orientation and training, rotational assignments in the Company's core businesses, and business education programs.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Contributing to our communities is important to our employees around the world. This year we supported a variety of initiatives, ranging from: donations to assist victims of the tsunami in Japan, flooding in Bangkok and India, typhoons in the Philippines, and cold weather in Bangladesh and India; to supporting children and elderly in need globally; to cleaning beaches and/or planting trees in the Philippines, Cambodia and Hong Kong, and to helping a community conserve water in Guatemala. In 2011, over 6,000 of our employees volunteered over 3,800 hours to support over 100 environmental and social initiatives around the world.

Going forward, we will continue to expand our activities in our communities around the world and develop an approach for assessing the impacts of our engagement.