Currently viewing: Human capital / Next: Health, safety and environment

Human capital

The Group continues its quest to attract new talent. Significant focus has been placed on attracting technically qualified individuals with software development and
infrastructure capabilities. The Group employs 1 112 employees (2012: 1 216 employees). New staff members attend a comprehensive induction process aimed at integrating them into the Group as quickly as possible.

New staff are offered the suite of employee benefits currently available i.e. medical aid, Group life benefit, wellness programmes and access to various Group products such mipayslip, mitraffic etc.

A number of wellness days have been introduced for the benefit of the staff and the community as a whole. One of the most successful initiatives is the blood drive in partnership with the South African Blood Transfusion Service, which is held every quarter. A mobile pamper service visits head office monthly for the benefit of on-site
de-stressing and relaxation. An eco-friendly car wash service is also offered to staff at a subsidised rate. As staff utilise the Gautrain to and from work, the Company provides a shuttle service free of charge between Sandton  Station and head office.

A monthly newsletter is produced for circulation internally throughout the Group for the purpose of, inter alia, highlighting recent events, profiling new employees and creating awareness of staff benefits. The staff nominate the “Superhero of the Month Award”, which is typically an employee who has gone beyond the call of duty and should be recognised for their effort.

BLD and Cellfind recently completed a process to redraft job descriptions. These outcomes were utilised for the purposes of conducting performance appraisals over April and May 2013. Each of the positions underwent an empirical grading process, which has in turn been linked to a market-related salary. The results are available to both staff and management, subject to certain access requirements, in the online employee self-service portal.

Blue Label management views incidents of child labour as morally abhorrent. By extension, Blue Label does not allow child, forced or compulsory labour and considers such incidents as a risk to the Group and its reputation. Furthermore, the Group supports the rights afforded to children in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, the Bill of Rights and other relevant legislation.

Employment equity

The Group continues to support and practice equitable and fair employment practices for all staff. The Group recently appointed an Employment Equity Committee which is representative of all levels, ethnic groups and genders across the Group. The committee meets quarterly and has been instrumental  in identifying barriers to employment and affirmative action, establishing targets for each subsidiary, and assisting executives at subsidiary level to address under and over representation at the appropriate levels.

The performance of the EEC is monitored by the Social, Ethics and Transformation Committee, to which the chairperson of the EEC is an invitee. The Group continues to be a non-union based environment.

The table below reflects the demographics and profile of the employee base for the financial years indicated, excluding operations at international associates and joint ventures.

AM: African male CM: Coloured male IM: Indian male WM: White male AF: African female CF: Coloured female IF: Indian female WF: White female
* included six non-executive directors.
** included four non-executive directors.

The decrease in the actual number of employees is attributable to normal attrition, cost cutting, outsourcing initiatives and the sale of various Group entities.