Employment Equity
The group is compliant with all aspects of the Employment Equity Act, No. 55 of 1998, which requires timeous submission of an annual employment equity report and plan to the Department of Labour, consultation with employees, communication of the report and plan to employees, and regular policy and facility audits to ensure that no barriers to employment equity exist.
An action plan has been implemented based on the findings of an employment equity audit undertaken by the Department of Labour (comprising a detailed analysis of all employment equity reports and plans, the group’s HIV/AIDS policy and minutes of employment equity forum meetings). At store level, regular inspections by the Department of Labour’s inspectorate have confirmed compliance.
There is currently an industry-wide initiative in the Western Cape headed by Business Unity South Africa to fully explore the reasons for the difficulty in attracting and retaining black talent at senior management levels within the region. The group is a participant in this initiative via the Retailers Association. The research should be completed by the end of 2009, which will provide us with valuable insight and guidance in achieving our targets at this level.
Our areas of strategic focus
- Recruitment
The group strives to improve sourcing and recruitment techniques in order to attract top talent, and more specifically top black African talent, and has become a corporate member of the Black Management Forum. All vacancies are placed on our internet and intranet sites, simplifying the advertising and application process, and a computerised recruitment tool for the storage and data mining of employment applications simplifies the process of matching applicants to available positions. The annual graduate recruitment campaign is a priority area with the majority of trainees being from previously disadvantaged groups, and the majority of our recent head office and field management appointments were aimed at previously disadvantaged groups. - Consultation and communication
The Employment Equity Consultative fora brings together employee representatives from all occupational levels, genders and race groups (it incorporates the Skills Fora) and meets on a quarterly basis. Their role is to assist management in ensuring that no barriers exist in terms of skills development and employment equity policy and they are actively involved in the formulation of the employment equity plans at departmental, divisional and group levels. - Physically disabled
A number of agencies and NGOs have been consulted in order to gain access to potential employees from this sector. Although our head office facilities are suitable for and accessible to disabled employees, this is an area of challenge for our employment strategies. - Workforce profile
In our employment equity submission of October 2008, previously disadvantaged employees comprised 85% of our workforce compared to 83,7% in October 2007 and 80,7% in October 2006. The current target of 90% for October 2010 appears to be achievable if current progress is maintained. In terms of Namibian employees, the Affirmative Action (Employment) Act of 1998 which requires that an annual report and plan be submitted to the Employment Equity Commissioner, has been complied with. The group’s workplace profile in Namibia continues to be well representative of the demographics of the country, with 92,3% of employees from the previously disadvantaged groups. Training and development remain a matter of priority in ensuring that progress is made to obtain sustainability of our operations and balanced growth in our staff complement. Of the training delivered, 98% was to people of previously disadvantaged groups.