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PILLAR 1: WORKPLACE RESPONSIBILITY

Sustainable HR is a core focus of the Sustainability department this year. We will continue to report and work on various aspects of Human Capital.

Human CapitalWORKPLACE RESPONSIBILITYSustainable HRIn progressStaff participation in CSR activitiesStaff welfare (Dedicated Budget in HR department)Project on Diversity & Equal OpportunityFormalisation and review of all policies

Figure 4: Main Strategy for development of Workplace Responsibility Pillar (Main projects only)

Our HR Strategy

HRStrategyRetainDevelopAttract

Figure 5: Our HR Strategy

At AfrAsia, we pride ourselves at being a responsible employer and we implement various initiatives to provide a positive and happy atmosphere for our employees. Our employees play a critical role in service innovation and value creation. They are among our most important stakeholders and we value their contribution towards making AfrAsia an “Employer of Choice”.

Workforce Composition

Figure 6: Gender Profile (includes Mauritius and South Africa)

Figure 7: Total Headcount (includes Mauritius and South Africa)

  Male Female Total
Contractual Long Term 5 0 5
Contractual Short Term 1 0 1
Part Time 1 0 1
Permanent 203 199 402
Project Based 1 1 2
YEP Trainee 1 1 2
  212 201 413

Figure 8: Types of contract by gender (Includes Mauritius and South Africa)

Figure 9: Age Profile (Includes Mauritius and South Africa)

Attract

In light with our goal to achieve excellence in customer service, we have a robust recruitment process in place to find the right profile for each job. We aim to attract top talents in the market through a variety of financial and non-financial benefits:

  1. Competitive remuneration packages
  2. Healthy work life balance through flexible working schedule, remote work and flexible contract
  3. Employee benefits, including Loans (e.g. housing, car and personal) at very competitive interest rates
  4. Fully paid medical insurance
  5. Contribution to pension scheme
  6. Performance reward culture

Figure 10: Recruitment profile by Age Group and Gender (includes Mauritius and South Africa) out of total of 49 recruitments for the year

Figure 11: Recruitment profile by Gender (includes Mauritius and South Africa) out of total of 49 recruitments for the year

Develop

We, at ABL, are committed to continue investing in our people. Our ultimate aim is to ensure that our employees feel valued, motivated to ensure the bank success in the long term. In the next financial year, with the concerns linked to the global pandemic, we intent to give more focus to on-line learning. Additionally, based on the Bank of Mauritius (BOM) new guidelines, more emphasis will be put on technical and mandatory trainings.

Through customized training sessions, we promote the development of a strong and high performing workforce. The various trainings conducted are categorised below:

Figure 12: Training categories out of a total of 114 trainings offered throughout the year

Over MUR 9.3m was invested in the development of our people; with over 8,000hrs of training being given to our employees.

Last year, we teamed up with Dale Carnegie to offer a range of soft skills courses. Following the success and feedback received from the participants, we have renewed our agreement with them.

Figure 13: Average training hours

Figure 14: Amount in MUR spent on training

Figure 15: Training hours and Investments comparison by Gender

With the curfew and lockdown imposed by the Mauritian Government from March to June 2020, we put greater emphasis on on-line learning. However, a decrease in the average hours of training per employees and investments were noted as a number of face to face sessions were postponed until the next financial year.

Through training and development, we also promote career advancement and the growth of our employees. We promote internal promotions and reward our top performers by giving them the opportunities to take on new roles with higher responsibilities. In the financial year 2019-2020, we promoted 60 employees across the business and ensured that they received the required trainings to support them in their new positions.

We also encourage manager-employee dialogue and feedback through a bi-annual performance appraisal through our Oracle HCM System, all our permanent employees are appraised.

Retain

Retention is a key aspect of our HR strategy. For 2019/20 our turnover rate was 11.1% with 43 exits. We have a structured process to gather feedback and comments from employees when they leave us. Reasons for leaving include further studies, better salary or benefits or the employee embarking on new projects locally or overseas.  The 11.1% also includes a number of terminated contracts/mutual exits.

Figure 16: Turnover rate

Despite introducing some new benefits & relooking at our policies after the introduction of the Workers Rights Act in October 2019, we noted a slight increase in turnover rate for 2019/20.

As part of our retention strategy, we monitor the return to work and retention rates for new parents, and we note we are doing quite well.

For the Financial Year 2019-2020, a total of 10 employees took parental leaves as per the Mauritian Law (5 females and 5 males). All of them returned to work after at the end of the parental leaves period.

Equal Opportunity and Diversity

We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate against our employees or any job applicants on any basis including race, colour, religion, national origin, gender, physical or mental disability or age.

As seen throughout this chapter on our workplace responsibility, we pride ourselves at having an almost 1:1 ratio in relation to recruitment and training.

Through our grievance policy, we allow our employees to raise their concerns on matters such as discrimination, non-ethical practices etc. We view this as a positive step towards becoming a better employer. Disciplinary actions are taken as required after the investigation is completed.

Health and Safety

At AfrAsia, as per our Safety and Health policy, we have a Safety and Health Committee in place as well as a Safety & Health Officer on a full-time basis, who conducts weekly inspections of our Mauritian premises. Unsafe conditions are reported through the committee members and we have an Accident at Work procedure to cope with work-related incidents and ill-health. The committee meets regularly and discusses on remedial actions, recommendations and suggestions to prevent and mitigate identified health & safety impacts linked to the Bank.

Additionally, safety trainings are dispensed to our staff and subcontractors (cleaners, tea ladies and security officers) and ergonomic chairs and equipment are provided to our employees to prevent discomfort and soft tissue injuries and musculoskeletal disorders caused by repetitive motion and awkward posture.

We are pleased to report no work-related accidents for the financial year.

The outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) since the beginning of the year has brought the aspect Safety and Health at work to the limelight. The Bank mandated a maximum number of its employees to work remotely during the lockdown period. Front Liners such as those based in our branches were provided with disposable masks and gloves when they had to come to work. During this crisis period, safety training on COVID-19 was dispensed to all employees through Microsoft teams.

Currently, with all the restrictions related to COVID-19 lifted in Mauritius, we are still promoting remote working, the provision of disposable masks to all our employees, taking of temperature for those coming to the branch and maintenance of social distancing at our premises.

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