The past ten years also highlighted the need to address certain challenges, one of which has proven to be a threat to bottom line for business as a whole being the escalating HIV/AIDS pandemic. According to the Joint United Nations Project on HIV/AIDS, in spite of increased awareness, political commitment and progress in providing access to treatment, the pandemic is still outpacing any efforts to manage it.
SA Eagle has embarked on a number of initiatives to ensure that we contribute positively to the economy of the country and also reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS on our employees.
Organisational development
Learnerships
The Company was pleased to receive subsidisation
from the Government through the Insurance Sector
Education and Training Association for the
implementation of ten Charter Learnerships.
Consideration for subsidies was given to those companies
which showed willingness, competence and
capacity to deliver the requirements.
We selected a Junior Administrator Learnership, on National Qualifications Framework Level 3, and recruited six Learners for Gauteng, and two each in Durban and Cape Town. The Learnerships commenced in August 2004, and will continue for a 12-month period, with the Insurance Institute of South Africa as the service provider.
To date, the feedback on the Learners has been positive, and we are pleased to be able to contribute to the development of individuals and the insurance industry.
Customer Service
Customer Service Training commenced in the third
quarter of 2004, emphasising the development
of internal and external relationships, and
establishing particular standards of behaviour
acceptable to the organisation. The initiative
embraces the Company’s developing holistic
approach to performance, with the inclusion
of qualitative measures, as well as the more
traditional quantitative norms.
Employment Equity
In line with the requirements of the Employment
Equity Act, the Company set out a five-year
plan with targets for achievement by 2004.
Table 1 overleaf reflects the progress that has
been made by the Company towards the set
targets. The columns, headed 2000,
reflect the targets that were set for the year,
followed by what was achieved at the end of
that year. There has been significant progress
in some areas, however much work is still to be
done for us to make sure we go beyond what
we’ve set for ourselves for 2008. Some of the
affirmative action measures we are going to be
looking at include succession planning, retention
and improving on our facilities to accommodate
people from designated groups.
During 2004 a new Employment Equity Forum was elected by staff, to act as a consultative body with management on issues pertaining to Employment Equity. The forum is representative of the different business units and occupational levels within the Company. This forum played a big role in the identification of barriers to Employment Equity within the Company and in setting up new targets for 2008. The targets shown in Table 2 were set in line with the Financial Sector Charter targets and also take into account the demographics of the country’s Economically Active Population.
HIV/AIDS Education and Awareness
Programme
Education and awareness are essential not only
to the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS, but
also for combating discrimination and irrational
responses to HIV/AIDS in the workplace. It
is for this reason that during 2004 our main
focus was on education of all staff. Employees
at all levels were taught about the personal
and workplace impact of HIV/AIDS, the legal,
medical and psychosocial aspects of testing as
well as medical facts around the epidemic. These
education sessions were partly driven by the
results of our Knowledge, Attitude and Practices survey conducted in
2003. The survey highlighted a need
to know more about HIV/AIDS and acknowledgement that
HIV/AIDS is a problem that we all need to face.
December 1 saw us observing World Aids Day together with the rest of the world. Staff in our offices throughout the country embarked upon various initiatives on this day which included distributing educational material, providing condoms and raising funds for donation to a charity that supports children orphaned and made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS.
Table 1 – Employment Equity Plan 1999 to 2004
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| 1999 | 2000 | 2000 | 2001 | 2001 | 2002 | 2002 | 2003 | 2003 | 2004 | 2004 | ||
| Actuals | Targets | Actuals | Targets | Actuals | Targets | Actuals | Targets | Actuals | Targets | Actuals | ||
| Male | African | 10.7 | 12.9 | 10.6 | 14.3 | 10.6 | 16.3 | 11.9 | 18.2 | 12.9 | 22.0 | 12.3 |
| Coloured | 4.9 | 5.7 | 4.8 | 5.9 | 5.7 | 6.9 | 6.6 | 8.1 | 6.7 | 9.2 | 7.0 | |
| Indian | 6.1 | 5.9 | 6.9 | 5.8 | 7.3 | 5.4 | 7.4 | 5.0 | 7.9 | 3.5 | 8.0 | |
| White | 22.5 | 19.8 | 21.9 | 18.5 | 20.7 | 17.2 | 18.6 | 14.7 | 18.3 | 11.9 | 17.6 | |
| Female | African | 7.2 | 8.7 | 7.9 | 10.3 | 8.7 | 11.8 | 8.9 | 13.5 | 8.4 | 15.8 | 9.0 |
| Coloured | 4.0 | 4.7 | 5.2 | 5.3 | 5.4 | 6.1 | 6.8 | 7.0 | 6.8 | 7.1 | 7.0 | |
| Indian | 4.4 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 3.9 | 4.9 | 3.6 | 6.2 | 3.5 | 6.7 | 3.1 | 6.9 | |
| White | 40.1 | 38.1 | 38.3 | 36.0 | 36.5 | 32.7 | 33.6 | 30.0 | 32.0 | 27.4 | 32.8 |
Table 2 – 2008 Numerical goals
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| Occupational | Male | Female | |||||||
| categories | African | Coloured | Indian | White | African | Coloured | Indian | White | TOTAL |
| Legislators, senior officials and managers | 3 | 1 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 30 | ||
| Professionals | 7 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 34 |
| Technicians and associate professionals | 20 | 12 | 15 | 45 | 10 | 7 | 11 | 40 | 160 |
| Clerks | 105 | 35 | 35 | 20 | 90 | 50 | 42 | 150 | 527 |
| Service and sales workers | 12 | 5 | 15 | 59 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 65 | 171 |
| Plant and machine operators and assemblers | 9 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 21 | ||
| Elementary occupations | 6 | 4 | 10 | ||||||
| TOTAL PERMANENT | 162 | 60 | 70 | 149 | 118 | 63 | 65 | 266 | 953 |