Overview

Creating a work environment of diversity and equal opportunity is one of the performance indicators highlighted in the GRI’s G3 guidelines to companies on labour practices and decent work, and a driving issue in the South African context. As one of the Codes of Good Practice (CoGP), Employment Equity (EE) is driven by the Transformation Vision 2012 policy, the EE targets of which have been aligned with the dti’s requirements.

EE is measured at the operational level within Altech and is driven and monitored on a monthly basis by management within each operation. Altech was ranked second for skills development in the ICT sector by the Financial Mail Empowerdex Top Empowered Companies in South Africa in 2011 survey.

Responding to the need for skills development among historically disadvantaged groups

Skills development among historically disadvantaged groups is one of the elements of the dti CoGP, to which Altron’s Transformation Vision 2012 policy is fully aligned. Of the R15,3 million invested in skills development in the 2011 financial year, 53% went to the development of black skills. All training and development programmes place a strong emphasis on training black employees.

The Altech Academy has over 312 employees registered on various programmes. Over 45% of employees who received training through the academy came from historically disadvantaged groups. Programmes range from short courses to full programmes, all leading to accredited qualifications. Management of Technology and Innovation programmes are registered as learnerships, thereby allowing employees to gain further recognition in the industry for qualifications obtained. 

Altech spends over R2 million per annum in attracting and retaining young individuals through its bursary programme. Full-time university students are awarded bursaries that are linked to a work-back agreement, and students undertake vacation work at the operations twice a year. Students go through an induction programme and are given work based projects which expose them to the business even before they become full-time employees. There are 21 full-time university students currently on the bursary programme.

Employees are kept informed of all transformation targets, including those relating to employment equity.