social
Our social pillar includes a focus on Woolworths people initiatives, social conditions in our supply base, product labelling and safety.
our people
what we’re doing
Prospective and current employees are attracted and retained by the value-based culture which forms the bedrock of the business.
Woolworths focus over the last few years has been to invest in infrastructure to support growth, focus on attracting and retaining top retail talent, the introduction of our BEE employee share ownership scheme and the selling team employment proposition, the shift to total cost of employment and re-energising the Woolworths values.
Woolworths has also entrenched a personal development and performance management system that continues to reward excellence and put corrective action in place for under-achievement.
The last year has been characterised by rapid change as the business prepares for long-term growth. There have been significant changes in the organisational structure at all levels. Woolworths has also brought in seasoned professionals from retail to complement our internal talent. Through succession processes some internal senior level appointments have been made which complement the fresh new thinking brought into Woolworths.
Woolworths offers a compelling employment proposition. Significant opportunities exist for training and development in a modern, exciting and vibrant retail environment. This continued to be a focus in 2008.
Woolworths new long-term incentive schemes were implemented. These share schemes are designed to reward senior employees. These long-term incentive and retention tools take future performance of the business into account. They also support good financial performance and long-term growth for Woolworths. Shares were allocated to eligible employees in April 2008.
employment proposition
The Selling Team Employment Proposition (STEP) programme meets the need to develop passionate and committed retailers to address operational demands. It provides opportunities for career development and promotes Woolworths as a favoured retail choice among prospective employees. Woolworths is introducing STEP in a phased approach to maximise the benefits for employees and to deliver improved employee satisfaction and customer service. A clear definition of roles, performance standards and the reward system were designed and implemented. Line managers are trained to coach and further develop in-store staff competencies.
total cost of employment
The Total Cost of Employment (TCoE) remuneration approach was successfully implemented in September 2007 and is achieving all objectives set, including internal equity and market comparability.
Woolworths employee relations strategy remains focused on developing and maintaining sound one-on-one relationships with all staff, which we firmly believe is in the best interests of our people. Union membership of SACCAWU (South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union) across the group for the year was at its lowest ever at less than 15%. UPN, Woolworths logistics division, continues to be the only business unit with union membership at a representative level for that business. This too, is at the lowest it has ever been.
Industry norms are reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that Woolworths remuneration remains competitive and market-related.
where we’re going
- Focus on embedding the systems, processes and values into the business and concentrating on continuous improvement;
- training and development remains a key focus. Establish the Woolworths Learning Academy which will develop the skills required to execute the strategy and building technical, functional and leadership skills. The learning centres will come on stream to accelerate the development of retail skills by providing focused and accredited courses required for modern retail;
- adopt a new holistic Total Employment Value Proposition programme/scheme. This includes short-and long-term retention and incentive schemes and a comprehensive retention strategy;
- establish a best practice supplier network to share and encourage initiatives across the supply chain in critical areas; and
- increase engagement with international suppliers on sustainability issues.
supplier relations
With the clarification of certain key five-year priority targets for the business, many of which will require significant support from Woolworths supplier base, the re-drafting of the Supplier code of Business Principles became imperative. A cross-functional working group was involved in delivering an amended Supplier Code of Business Principles, against which all suppliers will be regularly audited.
Clothing’s 2008 compliance target was 100% compliance but only 73% was achieved largely due to challenge in the engagement of international suppliers.
Food targeted a 94% compliance with the supplier Code of Suppliers principles for 2008 and achieved 94% compliance over a two-year audit cycle.
case study
responsible supply
ACA Threads, situated in Cape Town, was established in 1953 to manufacture and supply the South African clothing and footwear industries with sewing thread.
ACA’s recycling project was started to achieve savings by reducing waste while at the same time minimising the damaging effect of waste on the environment.
The project started by working with the supplier of injection moulded polypropylene cones and spools. Originally used spools were thrown into the waste. Now, customers accumulate the empty cones and these are brought back – collected when deliveries are made, minimising the transport energy used in the cycle.
The empty cones are sent to various organisations for handicapped people, amongst these being The Association for the Physically Disabled in PE and the Worcester School for the Blind, where they are cleaned and the old labels removed. Those that can be re-used are put back into production and any that are damaged get reground.
The targeted recovery for 2008 is 50% of the cones and spools sold, which will reduce the amount of polypropylene reaching landfill by 7 tons.
The decision was taken by the company to use the funds generated by the recycling project to support the local community through investing in the development of youth. ACA have sponsored a local school, Cavalleria Primary, with support of over R37000 in the past two years alone. The other beneficiary is a football club in nearby Wallacedene where ACA have also assisted with over R10 000 in the past year that was used to buy kit, soccer balls and towards transport to away games.
ACA have also taken a decision to plant about 1 000 olive trees rather than to develop the fallow 2 hectares of their property into a business park, and add more pollution, run-off and energy consumption. A combination of borehole and effluent water is used for irrigation and the trees will help to off set their carbon emissions.
product safety and labelling
what we’re doing
Woolworths is committed to maintaining the highest possible levels of product safety throughout the business. Product design and manufacture are always assessed against stringent safety standards.
Food safety is critical to the business and mechanisms are in place to ensure that consumers are offered product which has undergone thorough testing and rigid process control to ensure it is as safe as possible. Processes include routine checks:
- The Woolworths-dedicated SANAS (South African National Accreditation System) accredited
food laboratory runs routine checks for any potentially harmful micro-organisms and pathogens. It also routinely monitors pesticide residue levels on fresh produce and heavy metal levels in fresh fish; and
- an independent auditing organisation, International Britannia Limited (IBL), conducts four
hygiene audits a year in each of our stores where food is cooked to ensure that good food handling routines are in place.
Product recalls during the period tested the efficacy of Woolworths product recall procedures.
- A children’s underwear line exhibited a foul odour due to a chemical that had contaminated the garment; and
- the discovery that gelatine had been included in the yoghurt stabiliser by the ingredient supplier, lead to the decision to recall the yoghurt range on 22 May. The inclusion of gelatine contradicted the Woolworths promise of gelatine-free yoghurt. Yoghurts produced without gelatine returned to stores from 24 May.
Woolworths labelling policy ensures that customers are given sufficient accurate information to allow them to make informed buying decisions. Woolworths clothing is fully compliant with government requirements in terms of labelling which, in addition to country of origin, require details of fibre content and care instructions plus the importer’s code for imported lines or the manufacturer’s taxpayer number for local goods. All Woolworths food labels contain detailed information on ingredients, nutritional values and allergens.
where we’re going
- Maintain vigilant product safety standards; and
- launch labelling of imported by air products as part of the “fresh & wild” product range.
occupational health and safety and security
what we’re doing
All Woolworths buildings are designed within stringent health and safety guidelines and with employee and customer wellbeing as a primary consideration. Joint worker/ management health and safety committees are in place.
Prevention is an important aspect of Woolworths health and safety procedures and the company supports ongoing communication in the workplace, particularly around safe working practices in high risk areas such as stores and the distribution centres.
Woolworths currently employs 15 occupational health practitioners to deliver a comprehensive occupational health service which includes an Employee wellness programme. This programme provides confidential counseling in incidences where personal or business crises are understood as well as lifestyle counseling to employees to help them manage health-related issues.
Woolworths also contributes to better management of issues such as HIV/Aids in the workplace through organisations such as the South African Business Coalition on HIV/Aids.
All employees have free access to voluntary HIV testing as part of a comprehensive HIV/Aids programme. HIV positive employees have access to anti-retroviral treatment via the Healthcare Fund and Clinical Management programme.
Woolworths also supports national campaigns such as World Aids day and the 16 days of activism campaign for no violence against women and children, and breast cancer awareness.
Ongoing vigilance and a determination to put the safety of our staff and customers at the forefront of our stores’ security management process, have been critical to containing crime during the year – armed robberies have, however, increased from 10 in the previous year to 18 in this year.
where we’re going
- Continue to put stringent security measures in place to mitigate the risk of crime.
injuries on duty
| Number of injuries | |
| July 2007 to June 2008 | 511* |
| July 2006 to June 2007 | 751 |
| July 2005 to June 2006 | 637 |
| July 2004 to June 2005 | 687 |
* Better screening of incidents and increased safety awareness has led to a significant reduction