The Group recognises that engaged employees tend to be happier and more productive and deliver better on Sanlam’s promises to its clients. To this end, Sanlam strives to provide its employees with a working environment that is fair and inclusive, and where hard work is recognised and valued. The Group invests in career planning and development with a particular focus on providing opportunities across Sanlam’s different businesses and within the Group’s global network of partner companies.
The key focus areas of Sanlam’s HR strategy include:
To ensure that Group HR’s function supports the key focus areas of Sanlam’s HR strategy, desired outcomes were identified for each. These outcomes are measured against the delivery of a number of targeted, high-level outputs. The Group HR strategy was implemented in 2014, and has now been revised for the period 2017–2019.
The various cluster HR Functions manage HR strategies and operations in a decentralised manner. The clusters are accountable for identifying and addressing their specific commercial and strategic needs from a human capital perspective, while supporting Group HR priorities.
The framework for a Group-wide talent forum was established. This forum will be put into practice in 2017 and will ensure that career growth opportunities are accessible across the clusters, with a particular focus on nurturing key talent.
In 2016, a future leaders development programme was piloted that is aimed at developing the leadership capability of high-potential graduates and young professionals. The intention of this programme is to feed Sanlam’s leadership bench.
Over the past three years, the Group has made a concerted effort to increase the percentage of black, in particular black African, employees in senior and middle management positions.
Key efforts include a revised Human Capital Transformation Strategy, which is underpinned by the Group’s key strategic pillars and Sanlam’s 2016–2018 Employment Equity (EE) Plan.
This plan was developed following a barrier analysis undertaken in 2015 that provided insight into Sanlam employees’ EE concerns.
A full review of the HR shared services business model was undertaken to drive client centricity.
Present and future talent requirements are aligned with the business strategy.
Largely managed and driven at cluster level.
Succession decisions are based on the evolving needs of Sanlam, and take into account the appropriate alignment of talent capabilities with strategic priorities.
Largely managed and driven at cluster level.
Three key recruitment platforms are used: online recruitment through Sanlam’s career website, LinkedIn for strategic sourcing, and face-to-face and online graduate recruitment channels.
Relies on significant collaboration between the Group and the various clusters.
Successful onboarding practices ensure high levels of engagement, value-add and retention of new employees.
Largely managed and driven at cluster level, with support from the Group.
Leadership development specifically aims to ensure bench strength for strategic leadership positions, while functional training ensures technical competence.
Relies on signficant collaboration between the Group and cluster.
Performance management is leveraged to ensure high levels of individual and organisational performance. The process clarifies present and future expectations of key contributors.
Objectives encompass business goals and values and behaviour requirements.
Largely managed and driven at cluster level.
Relevant, sustainable and competitive pay and benefits packages are in place that attract, retain and motivate key talent.
Largely managed and driven at cluster level.
The recruitment figures in the table available below reinforce Sanlam’s commitment to creating an equitable working environment. For example, the Group’s recruitment trends for 2015 and 2016 are closely aligned to Statistics South Africa’s (Stats SA) profile of the country’s economically active population (EAP): African (77,4%); Coloured (10,0%); Indian (2,7%); and White (9,9%).
The Group’s LinkedIn sourcing strategy attracts and sources critical, scarce and senior talent segments. The platform is also used to position Sanlam’s EVP. The number of followers on Sanlam’s LinkedIn home and careers pages has increased from 10 000 in 2014 to over 35 000.
The Group’s graduate recruitment programme places graduates in key roles at cluster level. Sanlam recruits for a wide range of disciplines, including actuarial, accounting and investments.
Read more about Sanlam’s graduate recruitment programmes from page 11 of this report.
Sanlam’s EVP initiatives are aimed at critical and scarce talent segments.
To reach these talent segments, Sanlam features in numerous publications and shares internally generated, brand-building stories to position the Group’s EVP. Sanlam has also established partnerships with professional networks and associations.
These partnerships are facilitated by Sanlam’s senior leaders and management, and create opportunities for engagement on an individual level.
Sanlam pursues a differentiated Employee Value Proposition (EVP) to retain valued skills. The Group identifed the following areas as key to attracting and retaining employees, while enhancing their performance and development through recognition, respect and rewards.
View the Employee Value Proposition
The Group provides competitive remuneration, bonus and bene ts packages, aligned to global benchmarks. Employees identified as key contributors, or with the potential to become a key contributor, are offered additional benefits that include:
The Group is committed to ensuring opportunities for internal career advancement between various occupational levels. However, talent is sourced externally where necessary and appropriate. This includes opportunities to bring in fresh ideas and experiences to ensure critical and responsive thinking among Sanlam’s employees. A total of 240 promotions were recorded in 2016, 81,7% of which were among black employees predominantly at junior management level.
The Group continues to experience high turnover among certain employee segments, in particular the sales advisors in Sanlam Sky. Lack of earnings due to 100% commission model results in advisors who are new to the industry exiting early.
Succession planning
The Group Chief Executive, in consultation with Group HR and each cluster’s executive committee, oversees succession planning for key executive and senior roles. This process assists the Group in driving talent mobility and transformation at the highest occupational levels.
Each business cluster conducts an annual review of primary leadership and technical positions within their businesses. Succession decisions are centred on key contributors.
Young professionals are identified to feed the succession pipeline. Through regular assessments and targeted training initiatives, the required competencies to lead the business into the future are identified and developed.
Sanlam is a people and service-oriented business. Therefore,the Group invests extensively in equipping its employees with the skills needed to grow the business. This is reflected in the growth pillar of Sanlam’s EVP, which highlights the Group’s commitment to providing a stimulating work environment alongside development opportunities. Employees are encouraged to discuss their development needs with their line managers, who assist in finding suitable training solutions.
Sanlam invested R206,7 million (2015: R194,9 million) on training and development initiatives in 2016. This figure includes all associated management expenses. During the year, 89,1% (2015: 87,7%) of all employees received training. Of these employees, 66,7% (2015: 65,8%) were black and 60% (2015: 61%) were female employees. The Group achieved a FSC score of 9,35 out of a maximum of 10 for skills development.
Sanlam’s graduate and leadership programmes reinforce the Group’s commitment to talent management and skills development. These programmes also focus on accelerated development, which is aligned to Sanlam’s transformation objectives.
Sanlam’s key Group programmes include:
Sanlam’s business model is reliant on the availability of appropriately qualified employees in the Group, the wider industry and in partner businesses.
A number of skills development programmes assist in providing these skills, including the following:
View net value of new business chart
Read more about the Sanlam Emerging Markets cluster in the Integrated Report.
Sanlam’s transformation is focused on creating equal opportunities for all to remedy past discrimination, ght residual discrimination and promote diversity and inclusion across the societies in which the Group operates. It is with this in mind that the Group is driving its vision of becoming a leading, pan-African financial services player.
Embracing and accelerating transformation within the Group remains a priority and one of Sanlam’s key strategic pillars. Diversity supports creativity and innovation, which are fundamental to ensuring that the Group remains competitive and successful in a complex industry. Therefore, it is critical that the Group identify areas of its transformation and EE performance that require special attention.
One such area is the need to increase the percentage of black middle and senior management in the Group. To this end, the attraction and retention of black talent is important. Progress against this is tracked and monitored at Group and cluster level on a quarterly basis.
Due to this focused approached, the percentage of black middle management increased to 43% from 40% in 2015.
The percentage of black, senior management increased to 35% from 30% in 2015. Overall, the number of black professionals in Sanlam Group has continued to increase at a steady pace – from 203 employees in 2014, to 270 in 2016. This is an increase of 33%.
The following table reflects Sanlam’s employee composition as at 31 December 2016 (permanent employees and fixed term contractors):
The turnover rate for black professionals has increased to 9% from 6% in 2015. The main reason cited for exit was access to better career opportunities outside the Group. Sanlam has stepped up its efforts to curtail this through the Group’s differentiated EVP. Further objectives to assist the Group in attracting and retaining black professionals have been set out in Sanlam’s 2016 – 2018 EE Plan, developed in 2015.
The Group is focused on building relationships with talented individuals in order to attract top talent to the Group. Sanlam also works closely with executive search partners, who assist the Group with talent identification and sourcing.
The Group’s EE Plan reflects the consolidated, accelerated diversity and EE plans of each cluster, with a number of high level objectives set across the three-year period. Interim progress against these core objectives is measured quarterly, with a detailed analysis done annually. This enables the Group to track demographics at management levels, as well as the unique challenges of each cluster, to drive targeted and relevant EE initiatives that support transformation and diversity.
The following table reflects the objectives of Sanlam’s EE Plan, with a discussion of performance against the 2016 objectives:
View objectives of Sanlam’s EE Plan, with a discussion of performance against the 2016 objectives:
The Group’s EE achievement was 8,83 out of a maximum of 15 points, and the management control achievement was 7,41 out of a maximum of 8 points. These scores can largely be attributed to the focused approach of businesses to exceed the targets set in the EE plan.
Read more about the Group’s FSC score in the Prosperous society report.
The following reflects the Group’s EE targets versus actuals for 2016. The Group met its EE targets due to Sanlam’s businesses having focused and target driven initiatives.
View the Group’s EE targets versus actuals for 2016
Sanlam is committed to providing equal opportunities for unemployed people with disabilities and offering learnerships specifically aimed at individuals with disabilities.
Once learners successfully complete their learnership, they are placed in an internship that allows them to further their development. In 2016, 48 learners successfully completed the learnership, which consists of structured learning combined with practical and workplace experience. Those who were not permanently employed were placed on an internship. The majority of persons with disabilities employed by the Group either occupy semi-skilled positions, or form part of junior management.
As part of the Group’s commitment to achieving equity and transformation in the workplace, the Sanlam Group is committed to pursuing fair and equitable remuneration.
The Group recognises that appropriate remuneration is inextricably linked to the development and retention of top-level talent and intellectual capital within Sanlam. To meet the strategic objectives of a high-performance organisation, the Group’s remuneration philosophy is positioned to reward exceptional performance and to maintain that performance over time.
The Group is also conscious of the need to track pay differentials between the highest and lowest paid Sanlam employee.
Sanlam recognises that to build an inclusive and representative workforce, ensuring non-discrimination is critical.
The Group complies with all relevant legislation that governs non- discrimination in the workplace. For example, this includes the Employment Equity Act, 55 of 1998, and the Constitution of South Africa.
In 2016, the Group developed a revised Language Policy that supports Sanlam’s related EE and Anti-discrimination policies. The policy respects the multiplicity of languages spoken across the Group, both in South Africa and beyond, and it establishes English as the common business language. The Policy is designed to support strategy execution, give life to Sanlam’s Company values and Code of Ethics, and foster an inclusive work environment. This is important as Sanlam expands its global and pan-African footprint and operates in an increasingly diverse business environment. Having a common corporate language will further facilitate a shared brand identity. The Language Policy is driven by management, who ensure adherence. If employees fail to adhere to this policy, they are provided with appropriate support and sensitisation but will be disciplined in line with the disciplinary codes of the businesses they form part of should the problem persist. Instances of non-compliance will be tracked from 2017.
Sanlam recognises that organisational culture can significantly impact employee productivity and performance, job satisfaction as well as employee commitment. The Group’s culture is based on its purpose, brand and values, and embedded through the WealthsmithsTM Commitment. This commitment encapsulates the six pillars of Sanlam’s EVP. As the Group has a federated business model, employee interaction and engagement tend to be decentralised. However, all clusters work to embed Sanlam’s organisational culture by emphasising the six pillars of the Group’s EVP with a particular focus on connectivity through networking, teamwork and volunteering.
Sanlam also has Group-wide communication channels, including:
Read more about Sanlam’s purpose and values in the Sound governance report
In 2016, a Group-wide culture and engagement survey was completed by 66,5% of Sanlam’s employees (excluding advisers). The Group utilised the Gallup Q12 statements, which provided a solid framework against which Sanlam could assess and measure its employee engagement approach. Statements included, for example, ‘I know what is expected of me at work’, ‘the mission/purpose of my business unit makes me feel like my work is important’, and ‘this past year I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow’. Overall, the Group achieved an engagement index of 73%, which reflects high levels of motivation that can support Sanlam’s growth and performance.
To assess Sanlam’s company culture, employees were asked to identify words that they feel fundamentally embody the Group’s workplace environment. These core words identified by employees were ‘client centric’, ‘accountable’, ‘challenging’, ‘integrity’, ‘traditional’ and ‘respectful’.
Sanlam recognises that a healthy work-life balance is crucial to maintaining the health and well-being of its employees. Therefore, the Group provides its employees with various platforms to improve their physical and emotional health.
Sanlam’s bWell programme is a multi-faceted, blended-media, strategy-driven initiative that seeks to leverage the win-win principle (what is good for people is also good for business) that employee wellness represents. Be Well raises the overall awareness of health and well-being among employees and targets key wellness issues to facilitate behavioural change. Key priorities for the Be Well programme in 2017 include:
Sanlam’s EVP prioritises internal and external employee interaction and collaboration. Externally, employee volunteerism and community involvement form an essential component of Sanlam’s corporate culture. This involves providing employees with opportunities to ‘do good’ through various platforms.
International Mandela Day
International Mandela Day is held annually in honour of the late President Nelson Mandela. International Mandela Day is celebrated on 18 July – President Nelson Mandela’s birthday – and serves as a global call to action for “people to recognise their individual power to make an imprint and help change the world around them for the better” (The Nelson Mandela Foundation).
The Group recognises the day as an opportunity to celebrate the legacy of President Nelson Mandela. Therefore, Sanlam encourages employees to spend 67 minutes in contribution toward a cause that helps create a world worth living in and enables people to live their best possible lives. This honours the 67 years that President Nelson Mandela spent serving others in South Africa and across the globe.
In response to this challenge, Sanlam employees made meaningful contributions to various institutions and individuals, some of which include: Two CT shelters, The Haven Night Shelter and MES Social Relief Programme, bene ted from more than 150 meals prepared by WealthsmithsTM.
A signficant number of blankets, crocheted by Sanlam employees were donated to women displaced by the closing of their night shelter. Employees also raised funds to provide the shelter with both food and toiletries.
The Sanlam Women’s Network Initiative donated more than R10 000 worth of books to the Tygerberg Hospital Pediatric Ward, as part of the ‘Reach out and Read’ initiative. These books are used by volunteers who read to children admitted to the hospital. Volunteers also use the books to teach parents of admitted children how to read to their children.
In response to the pressing need for young girls to have access to sustainable sanitary solutions, The Sanlam Women’s Network Initiative also supported SUBZ – an organisation that produces and distributes a washable and reusable sanitary towel. More than R13 000 was donated by Sanlam employees toward this initiative. The sustainable sanitary packs have a lifespan of more than five years and were donated to girls at Vissershok and Fisantekraal Primary Schools.
Group Sustainability and Business Change partnered with Clothes to Cash Exchange (C2CX) to mobilise sta , resulting in a total of 130 bags weighing 931kg being collected from Head Office in Cape Town. C2CX buys second-hand clothing, selling it on to informal traders at a very small margin. They in turn sell the clothes in their communities. In this way C2CX also empowers people to create sustainable business opportunities. All proceeds raised through this initiative went towards the Sanlam Foundation to support schools with which the company has partnered.
Tertiary School in Business Administration (TSiBA) Volunteer Programme
TSiBA is a private, not for profit business school that provides emerging leaders an opportunity to study high-quality, accredited academic courses focused on developing entrepreneurship and leadership.
TSiBA created a mentorship programme that provides professionals across various elds the opportunity to mentor students for one year. Through the Sanlam Foundation, 16 WealthsmithsTM have pledged to mentor 25 TSiBA students.
The Sanlam Foundation also partnered with Europcar, one of South Africa’s leading, global car rental companies, to sponsor TSiBA. Employees were encouraged to choose Europcar, with R25 from each rental donated to TSiBA. This initiatives aims to raise R50 000, which amounts to a full-year scholarship at TSiBA. At 31 December 2016, R10 725 had been raised.
