It’s a quiet revolution

South African HR practices are in a very healthy state. That’s according to Samantha Crous, general manager of the CRF Institute, which recently revealed the country’s best employers, as determined through a thorough and intensive survey.

Crous reports that the CRF Institute’s research project is based on methodologies established by its parent company in the Netherlands. The project is undertaken in several other countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany Italy, Poland, Switzerland, China and Brazil.

Companies participating in the research are required to provide responses to a questionnaire which, importantly, seeks to create an objective snapshot of the company’s employer practices rather than gauging employee sentiment thereof.

The CRF’s proprietary research, which is referred to as the HR Benchmark, is supplemented by comprehensive journalistic interviews, which provide a deeper insight into the company’s employer value proposition. The HR Benchmark has been endorsed by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, which found the methodology and Certification Seal to be a 100% reliable measure of HR excellence.

This is further ensured by an audit of the entire process by Grant Thornton, which acts as a final safeguard to ensure that only qualifying companies are certified as Best Employers. Indeed, mere participation in the project does not guarantee an organisation’s inclusion in the Certification of Best Employers, which represents the culmination of the research project.

Crous reveals that, this year, 69 South African companies were included in the CRF Institute’s Certification of Best Employers. “Our project is certainly growing as companies realise the value of creating and assessing a scientific view of themselves as employers,” she comments — but adds that, while it is indeed encouraging that so many companies are eager to undergo the audit, indicating their transparency and commitment to HR processes, it is worrying that there are other companies that hesitate to participate in the survey.

“Many of these organisations are significant multinationals which drive our economy, so the question is: why are they reluctant?” Nonetheless, some interesting trends have been revealed through the examination of those companies that opted to participate. Chief among these, according to Crous, is that a comparison of the CRF Institute’s surveys undertaken in South African, European and Asian companies show local HR practitioners to be ahead of their international counterparts; particularly in terms of the gravitas attached to the discipline.

“All our participating companies view HR as a strategic partner, to the extent that HR practitioners are represented on the companies’ boards,” Crous notes, adding that this occurs less frequently in the international companies surveyed by the CRF Institute. She maintains that South African organisations may afford HR greater importance because they are part of an emerging economy, which is largely driven by an entrepreneurial culture.

“We want to grow, and we want to do so quickly. South African companies are hungry to take advantage of the opportunities that have opened in the international arena since the advent of democracy, and they realise that one of the best ways to ensure that they are well placed to do this is by ensuring that their people are aligned to their business strategy.”

Another trend that stands out sharply relates to diversity. The CRF Institute introduced its Diversity Benchmark only two years ago, but already some interesting developments have been observed, especially with regard to the development of black female employees. The survey shows that special attention is now being given to the on boarding of such staffers; their careers are more carefully tracked, and senior managers are increasingly involved in their development.

While it may be several years before this translates into sustainable transformation, it is certainly a sign that companies are viewing gender and racial diversity in a more serious light. Nonetheless, the picture is not entirely rosy. On average, women account for 40% of the workforce in companies featured in Best Employers. This is in line both with government mandate and with our culture, Crous says — but, she adds, while it’s easy to bring women into the general workforce, companies are acting with less alacrity when it comes to appointing them to senior positions.

There were only two Best Employers where 50% of the 50 most senior positions are filled by women; for the most part, this figure stands at less than 40%. What’s more, says Crous, figures released by the Businesswomen’s Association are less encouraging, and show that the number of women filling leadership positions in South African organisations has remained stagnant for some time.

Perhaps, then, this points to the fact that the CRF Institute’s Best Employers are ahead of the trend; but, either way, Crous remains optimistic. “The strategic focus we see on the careers of black females, coupled with the emphasis given to succession planning, means that we could come to see vacant positions filled by internal candidates, especially those previously disadvantaged women. Of course, this is a process, and may only bear fruit in years to come.”

Looking at transformation from another angle, it came as no shock to Crous to learn that only government-owned companies have boards comprising 100% black members. On the other hand, there are 65 companies where black members make up less than 75% of the board; clearly, government continues to spear-head transformation.

But again, the Diversity Benchmark reveals that those companies which still have some way to go in this area at least have plans in place, most of which emphasise on boarding and succession planning. Also interesting is the fact that the majority of the Best Employers’ HR budgets were allocated to retention and recruitment, and that compa- nies are also focusing on training and development, reward, recognition and pay.

“This shows that companies are getting serious about getting the right people in the right positions, ensuring they are properly prepared for the jobs, and then rewarding them appropriately. It also speaks to the two factors that most motivate employees: rewards (whether financial or non-financial) and the potential to develop further,” Crous says.

She is heartened by the fact that an increasing number of companies are looking to build their employer brands. “It’s a quiet revolution, how- ever,” she says. “Few companies are trumpeting the fact that they are aligning their employer and business brands to create a core brand, but their actions show that this is precisely what they are doing — look at the number of companies willing to undergo policy audits such as our own, or the regularity with which they measure the temperature of the company climate.”

What’s more, an increasing number of companies are starting to advertise the way they treat their people as a differentiator in the marketplace, in much the same way as they used to rely on product brands or CSI activities to distinguish them from competitors. This has an interesting spin-off, in that graduate recruitment is starting to play a lesser role in attracting talent as companies turn to traditional media types to advertise employment opportunities.

“Of course, just as it takes years for a company to make consumers loyal to a product, so it will take years for them to establish loyalty to an employer brand. It’s an ongoing process, made more difficult by the confusion surrounding the definition of ’employer brand’: does this mean handing out branded T-shirts at a golf day, for instance, or is it more about slowly instituting a number of initiatives? Because there are no clear answers, interventions around establishing the employer brand have, in the past, tended to be piece- meal and uncoordinated — but that’s changing as the rising popularity of conferences, training, education and seminars around this topic create more awareness and create the foundation for employer branding to become a more exact science.”

There are still challenges in place, Crous acknowledges, not least the difficulty organisations have in measuring the return on investment for an employer brand; explaining why executives are still hesitant to invest more heavily in this area. “That said, if employer branding is not yet on the agenda, it is at least on the radar. Organisations will eventu- ally come to understand that an employer is a mix of how leader- ship drives the company, how employees are treated, and how they create a culture that goes beyond policy — and, most importantly, how all these elements come together.”

Once this is more clearly understood, organisations will be better placed to ensure that critical alignment between business objectives and people — the core of what makes a Best Employer, Crous concludes.