Employees

We recognise that employees are the drivers of business performance and our human resources policies are aimed at enhancing performance through staff recognition schemes, equality of opportunity, training and development, a safe and healthy workplace, sound employee relations and an employee well-being programme.

A performance-driven culture aligns reward to the achievement of the group’s strategic, financial and operational objectives.

Employment equity

We are committed to ensuring that our employee profile is representative of the customer base it serves and the communities in which Lewis trades

The employment equity plan for the three years from 2009 to 2012 focuses on increasing the representation of designated groups, mainly in the senior management, professionally qualified and skilled technical areas. Strategies have been developed to achieve internal employment equity targets, including the implementation of a comprehensive learning and development plan, in-service training of retail management students, granting bursaries, job profiling and performance assessments. Management monitors the group’s performance against these targets to ensure employment equity is promoted across the business.

Employment equity details of the workforce in South Africa at 31 March 2010

Skills development

• An extensive range of training courses is offered to all our employees to enhance their performance and skills
• Several of the courses are aimed at developing scarce skills relevant to the retail sector, focusing on sales, stock management, credit control and collections, management of stores and credit.
• Our training department is accredited as a training provider with the Wholesale and Retail Sector Education and Training Authority (W&R SETA) and offers a range of e-learning programmes in areas such as management development, sales training, induction training and other job-specific skills training.

Training statistics for 2010 reporting period

Staff communications

Internal communication is key to staff motivation and to reinforcing our positioning as an employer of choice. As the majority of staff are located in stores across the country, a range of cost-efficient and effective communications media are used for information and training purposes:

• Lewis Communication System is an intranet-based information system for all announcements to staff and management.
• A quarterly newsletter focuses on staff performances (work and sport related); staff benefits; competitions; divisional performances and also provides a forum for feedback from staff.
• Lewis Live is a weekly broadcast on the in-house television system for training programmes and general communication to staff. This allows the group to expose all branches to standardised training and the latest product information.

Industrial relations

Lewis Group has a formal recognition agreement with the South African Commercial and Allied Workers’ Union (SACCAWU). Recognition agreements have also been concluded with unions in Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland.