Mpact’s human resources policies and procedures focus on creating a safe, engaged, well-governed work environment that promotes diversity, inclusion, and skills development. Our Fair Employment and Promotions Philosophy emphasises that there is a place for all people in Mpact and entrenches merit-based employment equity to address diversity throughout the organisation, especially regarding race, gender, and disabilities.
Mpact Operations (Pty) Ltd, the Group’s main South African operating entity, retained its level 1 B-BBEE rating in 2023.
Safety, health and wellness
Mpact places a high priority on the safety of its employees and contractors because we care about the well-being of our people. The Group’s approach to safety is set out in the Mpact Safety Manual and the Mpact Risk Control Standards which set standards and guidelines for safety, health, fire protection, security, emergency preparedness, vehicle control, and environmental management.
Our safety culture programme focuses on driving safety leadership, ensuring that all employees possess the necessary safety competencies, and simplifying and standardising all aspects of Group safety programmes. To build this culture, Mpact uses tools such as Behaviour Based Safety (including Visible Felt Leadership), Safety Culture Cartoons designed to promote discussions about safety in work teams, Sam the Safety Mascot, the Mpact e-Learning Academy, and access to Life Health Solutions’ Employee Wellness Programme (EWP) call centre.
The Life Health Solutions Employee Wellness Programme plays a pivotal role in Mpact’s safety and health initiatives. Through a holistic approach encompassing health, psychosocial support, legal guidance, and financial assistance, we prioritise the wellbeing of our employees. Our annual utilisation rate in 2023 was 8% against our target of 7%.
LIFE EHS Employee Wellness Programme
The call centre is available to employees and their households (spouses, children and caregivers) for confidential advice and support on various wellness matters
CALL TOLL-FREE
0800 004 770
or SMS your name to 31581 and we will call you back
or visit the Wellness Portal at www.mywellnesscompass.co.za
Skills development
Our ongoing investment in skills development supports improved production efficiencies and safety performance, drives transformation, and enhances our human capital. We aim to create a working environment conducive to learning and development, giving individuals opportunities to develop to their full potential and helping to retain and motivate employees.
Investment in training includes a focus on developing the pool of black technical skills and providing opportunities for people living with disabilities. The business has NQF-aligned apprenticeships and learnerships focused on black candidates. Various programmes have been developed internally and accredited to develop leadership skills in technically skilled employees
Besides offering apprenticeships and learnerships across the Group, through the Mpact Foundation Trust Bursary Scheme we continue to support historically disadvantaged students with their tertiary education and internships. Since inception the Mpact Foundation Trust has provided bursaries to 48 students who are all dependants of our employees.
The Group developed an internet-based learning management system called the Mpact e-Learning Academy. The Academy supports online and lifelong learning and offers a growing range of courses, including safety, health and well-being, environment, energy, management, and leadership courses. By the end of 2023, 1,202 (2022: 635) employees had enrolled in the academy and had completed 2,471 (2022: 754) courses. There were 81 courses available with another seven in the development pipeline.
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Creating skills for a sustainable, successful future
Read more: Creating skills for a sustainable, successful futureLearning and development is a key element in ensuring Mpact remains competitive. In fact, fostering a thriving economy necessitates a skilled workforce with appropriate competencies and qualifications. Moreover, people development and training enhance an individual’s employability.
Diversity and inclusion
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The Mpact Women’s Forum
Read more: The Mpact Women’s ForumIn 2022, the Group launched the Mpact Women’s Forum, the aim of which is to provide women within the Group a platform to develop and grow through training, mentoring, the provision of career information and advice.
The Group is cognisant of the benefits of a diverse and representative workforce and recognises that transformation is an integral part of the long-term sustainability of both its business and society. Our Transformation Philosophy reflects this awareness by setting transformation goals that are integrated within our vision, core values, culture, and approach to people development at all levels in the business. This includes cultivating merit-based employment equity through fair employment practices that address diversity throughout the organisation, especially regarding race, gender, and disabilities.
To ensure a diverse talent pipeline, Mpact’s Diversity and Inclusivity Policy promotes the diversity attributes of gender, race, and culture. Measurable objectives for achieving race representation and gender diversity are in place, and measurable voluntary targets have been set by the Social and Ethics Committee. The committee monitors progress against agreed targets and reports this annually to the Board.
We actively support our female employees, promote gender representation, and look for opportunities to advance women in the workplace. A Women’s Forum has been established to drive these goals. With the distressing increase of gender-based violence (GBV) in our country, we are exploring further ways of dealing with this serious issue, including the safety of our female employees, through the Forum. In line with this, the Group’s Harassment Policy, which includes how we deal with workplace bullying, was updated in 2023 and rolled out across the organisation.