growing together with stakeholders

TELUS is committed to working co-operatively with our stakeholders to share ideas, perspectives and solutions. We know that we will achieve our best results when we continually ask for input from stakeholders, listen and then act. By working together to develop solutions, we not only benefit from the knowledge and expertise of others, we also build long-term relationships that help TELUS to grow together with our communities socially, economically and environmentally.

stakeholder relations

Our stakeholders include customers, team members, governments, investors, suppliers, industry advocacy groups and community partners. Information about our work with various stakeholder groups can also be found in the public policy, economic, community, workplace and environment sections of this report.

Listening to customers - In listening and responding to the needs of customers, we are seeking to better deliver what our customers need and expect. Our efforts in this area continued as a corporate priority in 2006. We used two main tools to help us collect feedback from our customers and identify areas for improvement in terms of customer service. These are the National data collection e-tool - e.C3 (used to track the status of complaints and identify top priority service fulfillment issues) and Transactional Surveys (new in 2006 - monthly surveys to help us quantify, in our customers' terms, how we are doing, and help us focus on the service priorities identified by our customers). By measuring our performance with these tools, we can better allocate resources to ensure service levels meet or exceed customer expectations. Due to the competitively sensitive nature of the information generated by these tools, we choose not to publicly disclose the results.

We also use CRTC (crtc.gc.ca) tools and processes to evaluate our performance from a customer perspective. The CRTC is an independent agency of the Government of Canada responsible for the regulation of telecommunications companies. We consider the number of customer complaints and access improvement indicators to be the most important for evaluating our performance. In 2006, the number of customer complaints to the CRTC decreased by 49 per cent. In 2005, results were affected by a four-month labour disruption and 2004 results were similarly affected by unsettled labour issues.

In terms of access improvements, TELUS measures its service levels through two CRTC indicators - access to our business office and access to our repair office. These indicators measure our ability to answer 80 per cent of our calls within 20 seconds. In 2006, the 12-month averages for business office access and repair bureau access were 82 per cent and 81 per cent, respectively. Our successful results, in terms of customer complaints and access improvements, likely reflect a return to normal operations after the labour disruption in 2005 and our focus on improving customer service. For 2007 we will continue to be responsive in meeting our access targets.

Listening to our team members - Effective communications and two-way dialogue within the TELUS team are essential to our national growth strategy and to our ability to grow together. We strive for communication that is comprehensive, clear and interactive. Our corporate communication channels, which include regular communications from our chief executive officer, email bulletins, a web portal and a bi-weekly video news program, have feedback mechanisms that enable and encourage team members to submit comments, suggestions and questions.

Additionally, our senior leadership team conducts regular communication sessions with team members. These forums are a blend of formal presentation and candid discussion of issues. They provide invaluable insight for improving customer service and making TELUS a workplace of choice. These steps are taken in addition to our annual Pulsecheck surveys as discussed in the workplace section of this report.

Listening to our investors - Each year, the TELUS Investor Relations team organizes events to communicate with investors. In 2006, this included six interactive conference calls, an annual shareholder meeting, nine external conference presentations by members of the executive and meetings with 183 institutional investors in Canada, the United States and Europe.

TELUS Investor Relations conducts an annual perception study, administered by a third party, to obtain feedback on our investor relations and communication activities. The survey audience is our institutional shareholders, debt holders and telecommunications analysts. Survey results are analyzed with a focus on improving processes. For example, analysts have asked for additional disclosure on wireless data, which we disclosed quarterly in 2006.

Working with our suppliers - TELUS recognizes the opportunity we have to extend our influence within our supply chain where CSR is concerned. In 2006, we worked directly with several large equipment manufacturers and responded to their surveys on TELUS' CSR performance. In 2007, we will roll out a similar process whereby our suppliers will account for their own CSR performance. This will be based on a survey developed by the Global e.Sustainability Initiative (GeSI).

Continuous CSR reporting improvement - In 2006, TELUS engaged another one of our stakeholders, Stratos Inc. (Stratos-sts.com), a Canadian sustainability consultant, to undertake a review of our 2005 CSR report. We have worked with Stratos since 2001 to gain feedback on the quality of our CSR report and to benchmark it against other Canadian CSR reporters. Subsequent to the review of our 2005 CSR report, a half-day workshop was presented to the TELUS CSR team by Stratos. To the greatest extent possible, TELUS has incorporated feedback from the assessment of the 2005 report into this year's edition and plans in 2007 to institute CSR measures in certain business unit scorecards.