SAIL Rights Commercialisation (Pty) Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of the MARC Group Limited. All Broad-based black economic empowerment initiatives are managed through the Group holding company.
MARC Group and its subsidiaries are fully committed to broad based black economic empowerment (BB-BEE) and view it as a key business imperative. The company has embarked on a number of initiatives to comply with the gazetted BB-BEE Codes of Good Practice. MARC Group is a Level 4 contributor to BB-BEE, with a procurement recognition level of 100%
Driven from the top
Two important mechanisms that are in place to ensure Group-wide compliance and coordination of BEE initiatives are:
- A Human Resources & Transformation Committee, established by the MARC Group Board of Directors
- The MARC BEE Workgroup, an internal focus group of senior employees that ensures that the MARC Group's BBBEE strategy is implemented.
CSI
Socio-Economic development:
The Group's Corporate Social Investment (CSI) budget is 1% of net profit after tax, as per the Codes of Good Practice. This funding is used for CSI initiatives based on the philosophy of staff involvement and sustainability.
As our current CSI focus is on education, the Group is supporting The Lapdesk Company, which produces portable, durable desks for school learners. To help relieve the severe desk shortage, the Group has donated 8 000 lapdesks to primary schools in Gauteng and Cape Town.
Staff from the MARC Group Cape Town office recently refurbished the Greenpark Settlement Crèche in the Cape Flats. The Crèche was provided with running water while the interior and the exterior of the building was renovated. In addition, toys, colouring books, towels and mattresses were donated.
In 2009 MARC Group supported the TLC Outreach project in the Western Cape, by providing two wendy houses to be used for a youth centre, as well a base for daily feeding schemes in the informal settlements of Wolwerivier and Onder die Brug.
Employment Equity
Management Control
MARC Group is making good progress to advance Previously Disadvantaged Individuals (PDI's) and women through the management ranks. PDI's comprise 40% of senior management, 60% middle management and 67% of junior management. Women occupy 50% of all management positions, and black women almost 30%.
Employment Equity
To address the injustices of the past and bring about employment equity at all levels, the MARC Group is implementing special affirmative action targets and measures. Employment Equity targets are aligned to the targets set out in the Codes of Good Practice and our objective is to exceed those targets. Our target for 2010 is 74% HDI representation across the company and as at the end of March we had achieved 70% representation.
SKILLS DEVELOPMENT
Staff development
Staff development is at the core of MARC Group's skills development initiatives. All staff members are encouraged to develop a Personal Development Plan (PDP) with their managers. These PDPs then form the basis of the skills development plan as submitted to THETA. In addition to the Skills Levy, this year the Group will invest over R1.2m in staff training and development. This money will be spent on management development programmes, ad hoc individual training and group wide business and soft skills training.
On-the-job training is also an important part of skills development at MARC Group and has enabled several PDI employees to rise through the ranks of the company.
In June 2009, the Group implemented a one-year learnership programme that has been registered with THETA. Eight previously disadvantaged learners will be exposed to the hospitality and event management side of the business. At the end of the year, the learners will receive a NQF (National Qualification Framework) certificate.
Preferential Procurement
The Group continually monitors the BEE status of suppliers and regularly engages key suppliers to ensure they are adhering to their BEE requirements. This is done through the use of Service Level Agreements which ensure that suppliers comply with minimum targets for BEE. Currently almost 40% of procurement is from black-owned companies, against a target of 50%. Procurement from black-women owned companies is at just over 4% against a target of 10%.
Enterprise Development
An amount of 3% of net profit after tax (NPAT) has been approved by the board of directors for the 2010 financial year to promote Enterprise Development, as per the Codes of Good Practice. A process is underway to identify beneficiaries whose businesses are aligned to MARC Group's core business in the areas of arts and culture, sport and entertainment.
