Standard chief wants non-union solution to staff representation

He added: "We are determined they will have good representation, I am hoping it won't necessarily involve a third party."

Amicus has declared it will take Standard through the formal arbitration process which requires proof of existing membership (10% of any "bargaining unit") and a ballot on recognition.

"I have a strongly-held view," Crombie said. "But if the people in this organisation decide in sufficient numbers to go a different route, it would alter the dynamics very significantly of this organisation if they went the union route."

Standard is, however, confident that the early surge of support for the union has worn off, following a significant revision of its original proposals to dilute the value of the staff pension scheme.

Crombie said: "The heat of the issue has gone out of it. People are engaged in the process of looking at their personal illustrations and going through the decision process."

He admitted: "Pensions matters are best tackled over an extended period of time, because even people who work in a company like this need a lot of preparatory time, and we didn't do that. That affected the nature of communications, and it led to a feeling that people were having something foisted on them, and a lot of strong emotion was stirred up."

Crombie said: "There is no doubt that Standard Life has got some ground to recover. The message is (that) any organisation has got to look after its people."

He is pinning hopes on a reinvigoration of the company's staff association, which he says can "represent everybody". But he also admitted: "The staff association has also said they made mistakes in communication ... it was not an episode we would want to see repeated."

Crombie's appointment to succeed Sir Robert Smith as HRH ambassador on corporate social responsibility was announced quietly by Scottish Business in the Community in May, when Standard was under public attack by Amicus.

Talking last week for the first time about his new role, Crombie said: "It has been an area of interest for me for a long time. As with any role, you have got to check you have the capacity to do it. For me it doesn't make for days away, it just makes for longer days. I am treating it as an area of personal interest and it will eat into such personal time as I have."

He said Standard had allocated a dedicated resource to community investment as long ago as 1992. "What we wanted to do was just get away from the kind of constant demands from outside for money and start a programme that was about being involved. If you raise money and then just post a cheque, you don't learn very much or feel very engaged or associated with the cause you have just supported. We began delivering cheques, rather than posting them."

Staff were encouraged to allocate some of their own time to projects with charity partners, and the company began to allocate business time to their personal development, including three- to six-month secondments.

"There are some organisations who make it clear that you won't be promoted to senior level unless you have done it. But that will mean a lot of people go out into the community who don't have a desire, and I don't personally agree with that."

Recent highlights of Standard's programme include the production of an On the Money guide for primary schools, and work with the Haven charity to provide suitable jobs for people who find regular employment challenging.

"Our primary task is to try to get our people involved," Crombie says. "People become deeply committed and grow themselves through their involvement with various charities, and the charities benefit enormously from people who want to make a difference. That is not to say charities don't need money."

Standard matches all employee fundraising, and raised £600,000 for local charities last year on top of the £1.6m value of donations, time, expertise and equipment.

Crombie says Prince Charles, the role's patron, has suggested the environment as a key theme for the year. "While not in any way restricting what I do, he said he hoped I would include climate change."

Standard is now in the process of setting up "green teams" to focus further on its environmental impact, and hopes to follow that with a further initiative to involve staff in carbon reduction issues. "We are not trying to preach that which we don't practice," Crombie said. The business has already reduced its energy costs by 40% over eight years and increased recycled waste from 20% to 55%.

Taking that theme alongside education and employability, Scottish Business in the Community will stage its series of "ambassador" events throughout the year.

Crombie said: "If I am going to make a difference, it will be with businesses that don't carry the staffs of the bigger entities, and feel they haven't got enough size and scale to dedicate people to an issue like climate change, even though they know it's an issue. They need to go to an event that encourages and inspires them to do something about it and gets them over the stage of not knowing how to do it."

He added: "There is a lot of good business sense in this. It is a question of getting it into sharp focus."

Crombie insisted that demutualisation had not changed the company's core values. "We are absolutely determined to play our part as corporate citizens."

l Standard Life and fellow insurer Pearl ended negotiations on Friday to consider a possible joint a bid for Resolution, a larger rival which has already agreed a merger with Friends Provident - but those talks ended without a deal, according to sources.

None of the companies involved confirmed the talks.