ALTRON VISION 2012 CONFERENCE RESOLUTIONS

 

A number of resolutions were agreed following the 2008 Altron Group Transformation conference. These resolutions will guide group companies in implementing various aspects of Vision 2012. They can also be used to develop customised transformation strategies for group companies.

RESOLUTIONS FROM WORKSHOP 1 – EMPLOYMENT EQUITY AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT

RESOLUTION 001 ON SKILLS DEVELOPMENT

The conference noted that:

Due to the chronic skills shortage and the gender adjustment factor, there was no simple solution or approach to dealing with the issue of skills;

The Group was clearly in need of more black talent in many Group companies;

In terms of Vision 2012, the different companies in the Group will have different targets to achieve depending on the current and the required scores;

There should be no attempt to prescribe to individual Group companies that know their businesses, growth potential and their markets, on how these targets should be achieved.

The conference therefore resolved that:

There was a need to create a sustainable model for Altron, to obtain the right kind of talent in the workforce and a need to accelerate development in this regard. Throughout the Group, five or seven key disciplines exist and skilled black employees at the appropriate levels would have to be found for these disciplines. There was a need to allow for movement of these employees around the Group to acquire the necessary broad experience and skills;

There is also a need to obtain more talent of the right kind in the business with the required talent, quality, outputs and performance.

The model to be determined to deal with this challenge must have a budgeted cost.


RESOLUTION 002 ON SUCCESSION PLANNING

The conference noted that:

Succession would not happen without a credible plan in place.

 

The conference therefore resolved that:

The Altron Group should give consideration to offering an incentive to selected employees to leave ahead of their official retirement date in order to facilitate them to leave without comprising the Group in terms of the required talents, knowledge and skills.

Consideration also be given to move these selected employees into an alternative unit outside the Group’s headcount as a form of a professional coaching company which might fall under Bytes People Solutions.

RESOLUTION 003 ON THE CREATION OF THE POST OF ALTRON HUMAN CAPITAL EXECUTIVE

The conference noted that:

There was a need for high-level coordination of skills development and employment equity issues.

 

The conference therefore resolved that:

A senior position should be created to be responsible for the Altron Policy and corporate strategy in the area of Employment Equity and Skills Development; The job would entail finding, developing and retaining competent talent, designing innovative and effective training as well as allocating required resources. Importantly, this position should be able to monitor progress, escalate problems and motivate sufficient resources and budget in order to accelerate progress in terms of the Vision 2012.

 

RESOLUTION 004 ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF EMPLOYMENT EQUITY PLANS

The conference noted that:

There was a need for employment equity plans in compliance with the employment equity legislation;

Delegates felt no plans for real change are effective without a three- to five-year focus on the current skills and positions by race, gender and disability as well as the required skills and positions by race, gender and disability.

The conference therefore resolved that:

All Group companies should develop a detailed five-year company employment equity plan and it was resolved, that this should be made mandatory.

An employment equity plan would:

  • Need to interface with the company’s financial goals;
  • Be constructed in such a way as to identify skills and categories of skills requirements within Altron;
  • Create a corporate database and focus on the magnitude and size of the problem by race, gender and disability.

RESOLUTION 005 ON A COMPANY BURSARY SCHEME

The conference noted that:

There exists a need to revive a bursary scheme to address the skills challenges facing the Group;

A common strategy for capacity building is required as shortages in terms of skills and talent exist. Employment Equity, succession and Skills Development are challenging issues and would be expensive to address.

The conference therefore resolved that:

  • Altron needed a well-defined company bursary scheme (providing company-specific skills), not only for technical skills; but also for specific types of skills or identified positions. The bursars should be selected and allocated to the specific companies from the start;
  • There is a need for a common strategy for talent management;
  • There is a need for in-house recruitment of the required skills by race, gender and disability.

There was a need for retention of all existing talent and skills as well as for acquiring new skills.

RESOLUTION 006 ON TALENT CREATION AND EXISTING FEEDER SCHEMES AND BEST PRACTICE

The conference evaluated three centres of excellence and propose that consideration be given to using these across the Group.

 

The conference therefore resolved to encourage:

  • The wider use of the Aberdare Cables Feeder scheme as a working model throughout the Group to address recruitment, capacity building and wider talent management issues;
  • The wider use of Bytes People Solutions Learnerships and Disabled Learnerships and that the model can increase the score in code 400;
  • The expansion of the Altech Academy to be combined with other in-house solutions to cater for talent and management development across the Group.

RESOLUTION 007 ON A YOUNG PRESIDENTS’ CLUB FOR THE CREATION OF EFFECTIVE TALENT AND LEADERSHIP SKILLS

The conference noted that:

The Young Presidents’ Club (YPC) could and should be an important vehicle for Altron talent and potential development.

 

The conference resolved that:

The YPC would need to be “redefined” to be more focused on developing required talent and leadership skills in terms of Vision 2012.

A structured programme is required for skills development for a number of individuals across the Group and Altron could use the YPC to invest and grow these skills.

RESOLUTION 008 ON THE CREATION OF A HUMAN RESOURCES TOOLBOX

The conference noted that:

Managers needed to be empowered to deal with the various challenges in the areas of skills development and employment equity.

 

The conference resolved that:

A toolbox of interventions be created and managers be trained to use it. The toolbox would comprise, for example:
  • Coaching interventions (when, what, why, who, how, cost etc.).
  • Mentoring interventions (when, what, why, who, how, cost etc.);
  • Company-wide skills audit;
  • Proper succession planning;
  • Creating areas of collaboration;
  • Creating areas of networking;
  • Change management;
  • Feedback loops to the company.

RESOLUTIONS FROM WORKSHOP 2 – OWNERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT CONTROL RESOLUTION 009 ON RELATIONSHIP WITH BEE PARTNERS

The conference resolved that:

There was a need to review relationships with existing BEE partners to ensure the satisfaction of all parties involved in the partnership; and that the role of BEE partners be reviewed (as passive or active investors).

In a broad-based equity partnership, the lead participant should be active.

The active involvement by, or role of, a BBBEE partner would be evident where that partner, both of its own initiative and on reasonable request from the company, assists the company in growing and advancing its business, internally and in the marketplace. As opposed to direct operational involvement, this active role would include, but is not limited to:

  • promoting the offerings and image of the company in the public domain, and particularly where business opportunities present themselves;
  • forging relationships with prospective customers (in the public and private sectors) with whom the BBBEE partner has some degree of influence;
  • lobbying on behalf of the business with regards to submitting tenders and other proposals; and
  • providing guidance and assistance in the company’s transformation initiatives, and corporate governance.

By definition, this can only be undertaken by the BBBEE partner through active participation at board level, executive or operational meetings and reviews, as well as by ensuring access to appropriate individuals who are able to respond to the company’s reasonable request for assistance in a meaningful and timeous manner.

The conference therefore resolved that:

Altron would, in future, look only for active investors in concluding BBBEE deals.

 

RESOLUTION 010 MANAGEMENT CONTROL: ON TOP MANAGEMENT OF ALL ALTRON COMPANIES

The conference resolved that:

There is a need to increase the level of black participation at management level of the Altron Group and its operating subsidiaries in order to achieve the much needed diversity to retain competitive market advantage.

 

The conference resolved that:

There is a need to institutionalise issues such as succession planning, mentoring and fast tracking for the development of black talent as imperative to meet the requirements of the codes of good practice;

There is a need for diversity training to promote an understanding of intercultural and racial issues for all Altron managers, irrespective of colour and creed.

ON BOARD PARTICIPATION

A need exists to review statutory boards of all operating companies in order to align them with the CoGP and shareholders, CEOs, the executive and boards should commit to make black participation a reality at this level.

 

RESOLUTION 011 ON OWNERSHIP

The conference resolved that:

There is still some areas of advancement in terms of issues of ownership across the Group.

The CoGP has new rules on shareholding of the equity partners in order to obtain optimal points and it is, therefore, necessary to define effective ownership as per the CoGP. These should be taken into account for new equity transactions and in reviewing existing ownership arrangements to ensure optimal alignment with the CoGP.

It should be analysed whether empowerment should be done at the following levels:

1. Altron and/or
2. Subholding company
3. South African operations only
4. Only operations that sell to the public sector and/or
5. Only when the main customer requires it.

Shareholders need to agree on whether such a study should be done and the concept should be presented to them for the necessary approvals. In reviewing structures for these purposes all factors/ implications such as tax, legal, accounting, funding, commercial etc. need to be considered.

RESOLUTIONS FROM WORKSHOP 3 – ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIOECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT RESOLUTION 012 ON ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT BEST PRACTICE

The conference noted that:

There is a need to share best practice across the Group on issues of Enterprise Development in order to avoid reinventing the wheel and repeating previous mistakes.

 

The conference resolved that:

A system for sharing best practice needs to be developed. This should include but not be limited to:
  • Posting of examples of enterprise development on the Transformation website;
  • Encouraging companies to visit enterprise development projects conducted by fellow Group companies.

A central capacity needs to be developed to support the implementation of Vision 2012 especially in the proper appraisal of enterprise development projects as well as to support the preparation for Empowerdex rating.

RESOLUTION 013 ON SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT/CSI

The conference noted that:

  • Most Group companies scored full marks under the codes of good practice;
  • That the impact of CSI projects be increased;
  • That individual involvement in CSI projects might dilute the impact;
  • That a balance should be found in terms of a centralised and decentralised model for the Group.

The conference resolved that:

  • There is a need to encourage intercompany collaboration on CSI projects; and to revise the Group’s CSI approach in order to maximise its impact;
  • That four main flagship projects should be considered annually to which all companies should contribute;
  • That staff should be involved in CSI activities; and
  • There is a need to look at how CSI could be better communicated in order to increase the sharing of best practice within the Group as well as positioning the Group externally to the general public and stakeholders.

RESOLUTION 014 ON VISION 2012 COMMUNICATIONS ACROSS THE GROUP

The conference noted that:

Vision 2012 needed to be communicated consistently across the Group companies to avoid mixed messages and differing interpretations of the codes.

 

The conference resolved that:

The following material be developed as a matter of urgency and that influential roleplayers such as MDs and Transformation managers communicate these directly to staff at all levels:
  • A presentation summarising Vision 2012 – this presentation should be able to communicate clear direction;
  • A video summarising key messages of Altron on transformation which should be screened at staff meetings/ gatherings where transformation was the subject matter.

It was emphasised that it was important that MDs communicate a clear message to show support to this process in order for all their staff to take it seriously.

The conference noted the launch of the New Horizon Magazine as well as the new Transformation website known as Transformation Knowledge Community.

RESOLUTIONS FROM WORKSHOP 4 – PREFERENTIAL PROCUREMENT RESOLUTION 015 ON PREFERENTIAL PROCUREMENT

The conference noted that:

  • There was a challenge regarding the maintenance of a database of all valid suppliers’ certificates as it was an intensive administrative task;
  • The conference further noted a problem with monopolistic suppliers and their attitudes towards timely certification.

The conference resolved that: The supplier database should be evaluated, consolidated and reduced where applicable.

RESOLUTIONS FROM WORKSHOP 5 – TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE REPORTING RESOLUTION 016 ON TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE REPORTING

The conference noted that:

There is a need to follow global trends in triple bottom line reporting to ensure that transformation is integrated into financial and environmental reporting.

 

The conference therefore resolved that:

Altron adopt a reporting system that would:
  • Integrate BEE reporting and financial reporting;
  • Ensure that reporting was done on qualitative and not on quantitative issues;
  • Ensure that reporting was done at operational level as well as at holding company level to determine the sustainable drivers;
  • The criteria used should be:
    1. Materiality
    2. Relevance
    3. Clarity
    4. Compatibility
    5. Verifiability.

RESOLUTION 017 AS SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING

The conference noted that:

Altron’s current sustainability report is incorporated into the Annual Report.

 

The conference resolved that:

In terms of sustainable reporting a survey should be undertaken to determine how far the Group was in terms of:
  • The Employer
  • Skills development
  • Equity.

There must be monthly feedback to management meetings and these should be institutionalised where it is not currently in practice. These reports should cover employment equity as well as other areas of CoGP.