According to the latest figures from the 2009 BEST Employers Survey, 80% of the country's best employers also score highly in empowerment and transformation. Samantha Crous, General Manager of CRF South Africa, said that this is a key signal of the direct correlation between a robust transformation strategy and being a good employer in general.

 

"Accenture SA, for example, is ranked the BEST Employer in South Africa for 2009 and they are equally committed to transformation as shown by the data we pulled when looking at the Best Empowered Employers," said Crous. "This of course should come as no surprise being the Number 1 employer, but what is exciting is that this level of commitment is shown throughout the list* of accredited companies."

 

CRF reviewed the data collected during the 2009 survey and found a strong link between companies that excel in talent management and their commitment to the development of BEE candidates. This is demonstrated across various employee segments of the business, a commitment to skills transfer and BEE talent training and development, and relates specifically to the 3-year plan to achieve black and female executive and general staff targets.

 

These projections boldly aim to increase diversity, specifically in black senior management over the next three years. Many look to a 25% growth rate in black senior management in this from 15-20% and setting a new benchmark for transformation in SA. The current average for female executive management in SA is 23% - with the three year target aiming to increase this to 31%.

 

"This tells us that companies which truly emphasise diversity and empowerment are not just trying to meet BEE targets, but are genuinely making an effort to understand what their employees need and value, and how to structure themselves better to meet these needs and retain their talent," said Crous.

 

Crous said the decision to highlight empowerment as an independent metric was indicative of the strategic importance of retaining top black and female talent today.

 

"CRF is best-known for BEST Employers South Africa, but we increasingly feel it is important that companies differentiate themselves not only as Best Employers to their own staff and potential staff, but also as key developers of black and female talent in South Africa.

 

"Both these talent groups are critical to the future of South African business and we applaud the top-performing companies for their efforts."

 

New BEST Empowered Employers survey for new year

 

According to Crous, because of these findings, CRF is planning to launch an additional ranking to track empowerment in SA. The 2010 survey of BEST Employers, which gets under way in February 2010, will include a separate ranking for BEST Empowered Employers.

 

"Such an important understanding of the link between HR and transformation, particular to the SA business agenda and not something we see in our European studies, has informed our decision to launch the additional ranking into the project i.e. BEST Empowered Employers. By interrogating our research that much more, we hope to provide true data on how companies are managing the skills challenge of diversity at all employee levels in the organisation, succession planning, training and development and what their plans are for coming years in meeting those challenges.

 

"Informing companies more deeply on this topic through our unique benchmarked data is crucial to fast-tracking the development of these talent groups to ensure a more prosperous and sustainable future of business," Crous said.

 

Strong emphasis on diversity

 

"On the whole we are very impressed with how much emphasis South African companies across all industries are placing on empowerment and their commitment to the upward mobility of these talent groups within their organisations," said Crous.

 

Other findings from the Best Employers survey showed that 86% of companies have diversity documented as a strategic priority; 88% have diversity listed as one of their job responsibilities; 90% have dedicated gender and race-oriented diversity programmes; 81% have dedicated physical disability-oriented diversity programmes, and over 50% of all companies surveyed have dedicated programmes focused on age, sexual-orientation and religion.

 

Crous said these high percentages are indicative of a growing movement to make Human Resource Management a more central strategic imperative and closer to the transformation agenda than has been the case in recent times.

 

BEST Employers SA 2009

The following includes the names of all BEST Employer™ accredited companies including those ranked in the Top 10 in South Africa for 2009/10 (in alphabetical order). To find out more about the rankings visit www.bestemployers.co.za.

 

ABSA

Accenture

Beyond Outsourcing

BHP Billiton

BAT

Cashbuild

Cell C (Pty) Ltd

Coca-Cola

Denel Aviation

Dimension Data

Draft FCB

Edcon

Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs,

East London IDZ 

Ernst & Young

Exxaro

FNB

Gold Fields

Hetzner

IBM

Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) 

Innovative Mining Products 

Irvin & Johnson (I&J)

Itron

Johannesburg Fresh Produce Market

Legal Aid Board

Liberty Life

Levi Strauss South Africa

Louis Group

Matrix Vehicle Tracking

Merseta

Microsoft

Missing Link

MTN

National Development Agency

Nestle

Netcare

Mr Price Group

Pick 'n Pay

Rectron

Regent Insurance Company

Eversheds

The South African Breweries (SAB)

SAS Institute

South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL)

SA Tourism

Safripol (Pty) Ltd

sanofi-aventis south africa (pty) ltd

SAP Africa (Pty) Ltd

Sechaba Medical Solutions

Shell South Africa

Siemens

Telkom SA Ltd

Total SA (Pty) Ltd

Tsogo Sun Group

Unilever

Werksmans Attorneys

Y&R SA (Young & Rubicam)

 

Ends

Media wishing to arrange interviews with CRF South Africa General Manager Sam Crous to contact Melanie Blythe on 021 448 5941 or Melanie@rothko.co.za.