We have built on FY22’s strategy of driving employee centricity through inclusive leadership. Our people are core to our business and we continue to put our employees at the centre of what we do through leader-led engagement initiatives. Our foundation is solid and our people planning framework remains our core focus, ensuring that we build a future-fit organisation with the right people with the right skills.
Retaining talent has become increasingly difficult as employee and employer expectations change and impact this. Our strategy has been informed by the trends identified by research from the Gartner International HC report:
Focusing on building a future-ready organisation, we have had to acknowledge the evolution of the Human Capital (HC) role worldwide and we see remarkable opportunities to partner on a more strategic level with business. We fully understood that we would have to build new capabilities in our team, shift how we think of our role and building the correct capability required to lead the new employee expectations. This had to be carefully designed to allow leadership capacity.
As we embarked on FY23, we were enthusiastic to align ourselves with the changing expectations of our employees. We needed to understand this in order to navigate the path ahead and to ensure a seamless engagement with our people and leaders. We needed to build a strong connection with our leaders and to understand the objective and challenges of each business unit.
We have:
We will use 2023 as our baseline to set targets for the future.
| 2023 | 2022 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Diversity and inclusion | |||
| Total headcount | 1 412 | 1 566 | |
| By employment type: | |||
| Permanent | 1 033 | 1 288 | |
| Fixed period | 337 | 227 | |
| Non-South African | 42 | 51 | |
| Allegations and confirmed incidents | |||
| Number of discrimination and human rights incidents relating to workers' incidents | — | — | |
| Non-employees | |||
| Learnerships | 4 310 | 3 629 | |
| BBBEE | |||
| Status level | 4 | 4 |
Focusing on building a future-ready organisation, we are committed to ensuring that the structure and operating model supports the business strategy through:
| Element | Audited FY22 |
Audited FY23 |
Scoring if recommendations are implemented FY24 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ownership | 12.08 | 12.94 | 12.94 | |
| Management and control | 10.54 | 11.09 | 13.00 | |
| Skill development expenditure | 18.12 | 19.17 | 19.78 | |
| Preferential procurement | 18.66 | 16.27 | 15.00 | |
| Supplier development | 10.00 | 11.00 | 11.00 | |
| Enterprise development | 15.00 | 17.00 | 17.00 | |
| Socio-economic development | 12.00 | 12.00 | 12.00 | |
| Total score | 96.40 | 99.47 | 100.72 | |
| Level achieved | Level 6 | Level 5 | Level 4 | |
| Level achieved after discounting | n/a | n/a | n/a | |
| YES enhancement | YES - 2 level up | YES - 1 level up | No | |
| After Yes | Level 4 | Level 4 | Level 4 |
We focused on optimising supplier, enterprise, and socio-economic development in order to remain at level 4.
FY24 will focus on management control and leverage aspects of procurement wherever possible.
Blue Label has access to and supports human capital through the vast footprint of our merchant base, of which many are sole-trader entrepreneurs or informal businesses. These merchants have a symbiotic relationship with Blue Label in that they form a vital element of the distribution network and similarly are afforded the opportunity to build their own businesses and create employment opportunities.
| Target % |
2023 % |
2022 % |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employee engagement survey scores | ||||
| Job satisfaction | 75 | 75 | 70 | |
| Meaningful job | 80 | 90 | 75 | |
| Overall engagement | 70 | 70 | 65 | |
| Feeling valued and safe | 90 | 91 | 55 | |
| Significant work | 90 | 90 | 67 | |
| Happy at work | 70 | >80 | >75 |
In an increasingly complex work environment affected by external influences, positive performance while transforming was critical to our operations. We are proud of our engagement results and the resilience of our team in these unpredictable times.
No employees are under collective bargaining agreements, even though Blue Label does not place any limitations.
We will continue to focus our efforts on engagement elements in order to retain our high engagement levels and people culture, incorporating the following:
We have not experienced any major stoppage in the workplace over the past two years.
2024 focus areas
To date we have implemented the following tools in order to assist and enable leadership:
We believe that our leaders are the key drivers of culture, and investing in them is critical for the organisation’s success.
Measures the percentage of employees who left our employment during FY23.
We understand through exit interviews that most of our employees are leaving because of better career opportunities and therefore our focus on leadership development and impactful objectives are key.
Turnover
FY23: 27.9%
2022: 20.08%
Voluntary turnover
FY23: 20.75%
2022: 13.19%
Involuntary turnover
FY23: 7.15%
2022: 6.89%
Executive turnover
FY23: 1.5%
FY22: 3.4%
There has been a notable decrease in headcount due to building a fit for future business and acquiring skills to drive continuous process improvement.
Our efforts to retain key talent have yielded positive results, with a decrease in employee turnover in managerial occupational categories. Resignations result from more attractive career opportunities, with an excess of 88% voluntary in semi-skilled and junior management, as they are seeking more rapid career advancement.
We are heading in the right direction in driving gender equality.
Our key focus for FY23 was:
Working to ensure retention of junior and middle management, we will be focusing on Black talent, and the following initiatives have been implemented in this regard:
| 2023 | ||
| Age group | Number of employees | |
|---|---|---|
| Under 20 | 13 | |
| Under 20 - 29 | 422 | |
| Under 30 - 39 | 482 | |
| Under 40 - 49 | 349 | |
| Under 50 - 59 | 119 | |
| Over 60 | 27 | |
| Total | 1 412 |
| 2022 | |
| Age group | Number of employees |
| Under 20 | 22 |
| Under 20 - 29 | 561 |
| Under 30 - 39 | 480 |
| Under 40 - 49 | 356 |
| Under 50 - 59 | 121 |
| Over 60 | 26 |
| Total | 1 566 |
| 2023 | |||||||||||||
| Female | Male | ||||||||||||
| Occupational level | African | Coloured | Indian | White | Foreign nationals | Female total | African | Coloured | Indian | White | Foreign nationals | Male total |
Total headcount |
| Top management | 3 | 1 | — | 3 | — | 7 | 3 | — | 4 | 24 | — | 31 | 38 |
| Senior management | 4 | — | 1 | 7 | — | 12 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 26 | — | 37 | 49 |
| Professional* | 15 | 4 | 7 | 20 | — | 46 | 14 | 7 | 11 | 42 | 4 | 78 | 124 |
| Skilled* | 114 | 19 | 22 | 47 | 3 | 205 | 181 | 47 | 45 | 84 | 15 | 372 | 577 |
| Semi-skilled | 316 | 24 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 377 | 183 | 15 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 218 | 595 |
| Unskilled | 17 | — | — | 1 | — | 18 | 9 | — | 1 | — | 1 | 11 | 29 |
| Grand total | 469 | 48 | 45 | 90 | 13 | 665 | 391 | 73 | 73 | 181 | 29 | 747 | 1 412 |
| 2022 | |||||||||||||
| Female | Male | ||||||||||||
| Occupational level | African | Coloured | Indian | White | Foreign nationals |
Female total |
African | Coloured | Indian | White | Foreign nationals |
Male total |
Total headcount |
| Top management | 2 | 1 | — | 3 | — | 6 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 23 | — | 31 | 37 |
| Senior management | 1 | — | 1 | 6 | — | 8 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 20 | — | 26 | 34 |
| Middle management | 9 | 5 | 2 | 21 | — | 37 | 17 | 5 | 9 | 44 | 2 | 77 | 114 |
| Junior management | 120 | 23 | 23 | 52 | 4 | 222 | 226 | 38 | 43 | 94 | 21 | 422 | 644 |
| Semi-skilled | 387 | 38 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 462 | 211 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 246 | 708 |
| Unskilled | 16 | — | — | — | — | 16 | 11 | — | 1 | — | 1 | 13 | 29 |
| Grand total | 535 | 67 | 38 | 95 | 16 | 751 | 469 | 58 | 66 | 187 | 35 | 815 | 1 566 |
| * | Middle and Junior management have newly defined occupational levels. |
Total movement in headcount year on year:
We continue to balance our gender representation. Women comprise 48% (FY22: 48%) and men 52% (FY22: 52%) of our talent across the business closely aligned to our target of 50:50. We continue to seek a balance of gender representation at senior and top management levels. Of our total headcount, 65% of our employees are below the age of 40 and they continue to bring fresh perspectives and high energy levels as well as enthusiasm.
Promotion opportunities were within the junior management level, and our focus was on improving Black representation. Of all the promotions in FY23, 55% were for females and 83% for Black talent.
Our goal is to create an inclusive workplace in which employees can bring their authentic selves to work and live their purpose. Our robust strategic approach focuses on our people’s diversity and inclusive leadership, providing an inclusive, fair and supportive workplace.
Our organisation continues to evolve rapidly, with the demand for new skills and capabilities continuing to grow. Our ability to meet the demand is critical to stay relevant in building a high-performance workforce. Total number of new staff members employed was 318 for FY23 of which 257 were permanent staff and 61 contract staff.
Our recruitment strategy incorporates innovative talent acquisition practices and the development of our employees for promotional opportunities, ensuring we focus on the following:
With our focus on equity, we see an improvement in new appointments, with 87% of new recruits being Black and 69% of females appointed in the organisation being African. Our key focus has been to improve our employer brand in the market in order to attract the correct talent.
There has been a marked improvement in the propensity of internal placements. This aligns with our principles of developing our people and providing career progression, thereby developing our people for long-term success. This has been achieved through:
The employment opportunities provided by Blue Label’s business model extends beyond just our employees but includes a strong learnership programme as well as extending business opportunities to entrepreneurs in the form of merchants, particularly informal business merchants. It is noted that the merchants probably do not derive all of their income from Blue Label products but it allows them to build up a portfolio of trading activities as entrepreneurs. It should be noted that as the business moves to more digital “channels to market” the opportunities for distribution merchants will shift from physical distribution to pinless distribution.
Over the past few years we have noted a significant increase in the emergence of new skills. This continues to impact how we develop internal talent. There is a need for employees to have diverse skills that were not traditionally required for their roles, as a result of the impact of digitisation. Employee learning and development is critical to ensuring that our talents remain abreast of changes in the market so that they have the correct skills to contribute positively towards a future-fit organisation.
The People Planning process is the cornerstone of talent development and it allows us to identify the current skills that we have versus the skills that we need in the organisation.
The Success Management framework encourages career conversations between managers and employees, thereby enabling employees to own their career growth. This creates an environment that supports a learning culture.
We encourage a growth mindset so that our employees believe in expanding their knowledge and skills. This allows for improved innovation, knowledge sharing, problem-solving and collaboration. In FY23, we introduced an engagement application that supports the growth model mindset, and this tool enables our employees to have access to macro-learning content specifically designed to address what is happening in the organisation as well as in the market.
Entrepreneurship is at the heart and soul of Blue Label. Our organisation is built with the goal of continuing to improve from the past by unearthing the greatness within each individual. We always seek opportunities to develop our people, communities, and businesses. Blue Label intentionally creates employment opportunities for young South African people. FY23 revealed a positive impact through various growth initiatives, namely:
| Leave taken | 2023 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual leave days per employee | 14.35 | 10.26 | |
| Sick leave days per employee | 3.19 | 2.12 | |
| Study leave days per employee | 2.71 | 1.75 | |
| Maternity leave months per employee | 4.0 | 4.0 | |
| Paternity leave days per employee | 10.0 | 10.0 |
A process of analysing leave days taken has been initiated in order to provide a better understanding of our employee well-being. This will enable Blue Label to assess a comparison from FY24. The well-being of Blue Label’s employees is a critical asset that cannot be compromised and should constantly be prioritised. We encourage our employees to take care of their physical, mental and financial well-being. We have introduced the following programmes to support employees and have empowered them with the knowledge to navigate daily challenges that directly impact their well-being:
We have invested in a hydroponic vegetable garden to benefit our employees at head office and to promote health and wellness within Blue Label.
Over the past two years, research has revealed that employee well-being is a crucial focus for employee retention, as employees continuously search for organisations that support their well-being. Our surveillance has afforded us a better understanding of our employee needs. Of the staff members who completed the well-being survey, 92% were in agreement with such research. The current economic climate continues to negatively impact all South Africans.
Our health and safety policy sets out our commitment to the physical, mental and social well-being of our staff. It is regularly evaluated by Blue Label’s health and safety managers, in accordance with the 1993 Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA). Health and safety plans, evacuation protocols and other safety procedures are on display at strategic points throughout our offices. Health and safety officers at all subsidiary companies work closely with Blue Label’s health and safety officer.
During FY23 we recorded 3 (2022: 4) work-related injuries and 0 (2022: 0) work-related illnesses. There were no fatalities as a result of a work-related injury or ill-health across the Group.
It is compulsory for all permanent staff members to be a member of the Group’s medical aid scheme. Furthermore, Blue Label assists workers, both permanent and nonpermanent, in accessing non-occupational medical and healthcare services through the Discovery Healthy Company.
We are committed to ensuring that our employees are fairly remunerated, with none of our employees being paid below minimum wage.
Blue Label Telecoms Integrated Annual Report 2023
