“Transformation isn’t a future event – it’s a present day activity.”
ROLE OF THE TRANSFORMATION COMMITTEE
The transformation committee assists the Board in the effective discharge of its responsibilities for oversight of transformation management, ensuring that management has implemented and maintained an effective transformation management process in the Group.
The transformation committee assists the Board to lead transformation within the Group and to ensure that there are appropriate policies and procedures in place to address transformation by levelling the playing fields both socially and economically for broader participation by all South Africans.
One of the main purposes of the committee is to ensure compliance with the amended Codes of Good Practice for B-BBEE as revised from time to time and to measure the Company in terms of compliance under the elements in terms of the Department of Trade and Industry’s Codes of Good Practice.
OUR TRANSFORMATION PHILOSOPHY
AEEI’s aim is to be an employer of choice in the market place. AEEI continues to champion transformation within the Group and has been recognised for its contribution to this process. For AEEI, transformation goes beyond compliance with B-BBEE and includes the transformation of the culture, ethics and values of the Group.
As a Group, we believe in the development and empowerment of our staff and to enhance performance by “growing our timber”. We recognise that today’s best is the benchmark we must surpass tomorrow. The AEEI Group is committed to its shared values which include: people, accountability, integrity, commitment, stakeholders, respect, trust and investment. Refer to our Vision 2020 Vision for more details.
The B-BBEE Codes of Good Practice, promulgated in 2007, emphasised the need to extend empowerment to a broader base of South Africans. They provided guidelines and a balanced scorecard to measure the transformation of a business entity from an empowerment perspective.
REPORT OF the TRANSFORMATION COMMITTEE
As a responsible employer, we adhered to all labour legislation and laws. The Group’s employment equity policy affirms the commitment to equal opportunities relating to affirmative action and the achievement of employment equity.
During the year under review, the committee adopted a new transformation charter.
The transformation committee assisted the Board in ensuring that the Group is and remains committed to transformation and in light of this the following took place during the year under review:
- Adopted a new transformation policy and charter
- Adopted a three-year Transformation Plan from 2018 onwards
- Maintained our B-BBEE Level 1 status since 2010
- Reviewed the B-BBEE status of the Group’s subsidiaries
- Implemented and tracked the long-term goals in terms of the Group’s Vision 2020 Vision
- Reviewed and made recommendations to the skills development plans and the placement of interns in the Group
- Reviewed and made recommendations on the transformation plans
- Reviewed the equity ownership of the Group
- Reviewed and made recommendation on the employment equity plans
- Contributed through our operations to our corporate social investment programmes
- Built on our solid empowerment credentials – empowerment partner of choice
- Ensured that all regulatory obligations were met, including the submission of employment equity plans to the Department of Labour
(King IVTM – Principles 2, 13 and 16)
The transformation committee has set the following transformation goals with clear objectives to be true to its values:
- B-BBEE – Codes of Good Practice – to retain Level 1 accreditation in terms of B-BBEE per the Codes of Good Practice as set out by the Department of Trade and Industry
- Employer of Choice – to create and nurture a working environment and a corporate culture that attract and retain the best talent and skills; to redress residual inequalities with regard to race, gender and disability in accordance with our employment equity plan and to accelerate the development and retention of a diverse pool of skilled employees in order to achieve equitable representation in all occupational categories and levels of employment
- Diversity – to value all people who make up the diverse population of South Africa and to accelerate and cultivate an environment where diversity is valued and prospers
- Leadership and Management – to ensure that employees who manage and lead broadly reflect the diverse profile of the South African and African populations and that they are appropriately empowered and skilled to manage the Company towards its strategic objectives
- Economic sustainability – to create long-term economic value
- Environmental sustainability – brands and practices – to further improved brand value for the Company
- Environmental sustainability – resource stewardship – to drive resource management throughout our supply chain
- Social sustainability – stakeholders – to contribute to a society through our own practices and relationships with communities
- Internal communication – to overcome barriers to communication related to race, gender, culture and status and to encourage open, honest and effective communication between all people, both individually and within the appropriate communication forums
- Transformation image and profile – to ensure that the Group’s image and profile are aligned with its transformation strategy and the changing South African and African environments
- Business partners and collaboration – to ensure communication and collaboration with the Company and the Group’s business partners and associates with regard to sector transformation.
Management is responsible for the preparation, presentation and integrity of information and all matters about which the committee should be informed.
B-BBEE Codes
The committee has been proactive within the Group to ensure understanding and compliance of the revised Codes.
The Company lodged its BEE Certificate with the Commissioner during the year.
Since the changes in the rankings of listed companies on the JSE five years ago, qualifying small enterprises were disqualified from being rated. This is the second year that AEEI will qualify to be in the main rankings of the JSE Top 100 listed companies as a generic enterprise. Refer to page 19 of the Sustainability Report for further details.
Transformation plan
The execution of the new Transformation Plan will be a high-priority responsibility of management in the various business units. The business units will ensure the plan’s execution through senior and other levels of management. The transformation committee developed detailed short-, medium- and long-term action plans to ensure the implementation of its transformation goals and objectives. These action plans address all the stated goals and objectives and take into account the suggested action plans put forward by various forums, while aligning with their applicable objectives.
The transformation committee will on a regular basis, monitor, review and make recommendations. The various business units will communicate their status of performance against goals.
For the year under review, the committee is satisfied that is has fulfilled all its statutory duties assigned by the Board. The chairman of the transformation committee reports to the Board on the activities of the committee at Board meetings.
Taking into account the various inputs, including the outcomes, the Board combined the social and ethics and the transformation committees going forward.