Human Resources (HR)

Managing the organisation's talent and ensuring Growthpoint's sustainability through employee development, succession management and transformation are key focuses of the HR team. We aim to create a positive work experience for each of our employees while protecting the organisation's interests and meeting its objectives. We continually endeavour to make Growthpoint an employer of choice.

This year, we elevated our role of protecting employees' safety and wellbeing during the Covid-19 pandemic and maintaining business continuity at an unprecedented time of disruption. Our focus shifted and the genuinely meaningful nature of the HR team's work was amplified. Our HR team stepped forward with passion and compassion at a time when its role in the business was critical. Many of our employees came under increased pressure on multiple fronts and our HR team actively engaged and supported them.

Employment Equity (EE) and transformation

Growthpoint strives to offer a diverse, transformed and inclusive work environment. We provide equal opportunities for all employees while giving special consideration to employees from designated groups. Eradicating discrimination in all our employment policies and practices ensures that we promote equal opportunities in the workplace. Our affirmative action (AA) measures enable us to redress employment imbalances experienced by designated groups and ensure their equitable representation in the workplace.

Growthpoint's transformation strategy, which is managed internally by our HR department, has fared well in achieving its objectives. Transformation targets demonstrate the diversity and integration of our organisation and remain imperative for Growthpoint as a good corporate citizen. We have a track record of setting and achieving numerical goals at middle management and below. Our progress in achieving transformation objectives is monitored and evaluated by our dedicated Diversity and Inclusion Forum, and our EE plan forms part of our transformation strategy, which is reported on each calendar year.

With our three-year EE plan having been concluded at the end of 2020, we have set new targets and strategies to take us forward and these also feature a greater focus on employee health and safety. Our new plan, which was recently approved, will determine the basis of our future work and communication.

Other diversity indicators

There is increased pressure on organisations to disclose various diversity indicators, among them information on LGBTQ+. We do not require employees to disclose their sexual orientation but welcome voluntary disclosure of gender identity to confirm our inclusivity philosophy. All employees are treated with respect and receive the same benefits regardless of their sexual orientation and we therefore do not collect data on this indicator.


Living wage and pay gaps

Growthpoint's remuneration is competitive and we strive to uphold this position, notwithstanding a very challenging year for our business. Remuneration plays an essential part in our employee value proposition as well as attracting and retaining valuable skills.

There is no unilateral definition of a living wage but we believe people should be paid a salary that enables them to afford accommodation, transport, healthcare, food and educational opportunities for their dependants. We have analysed our remuneration indicators and are comfortable that our employees are remunerated in line with the living wage definition.

Reducing the gap between our lower and higher earners remains one of our goals. Granting increases to only 80% of employees at 1 July 2020, which fell in lower-earning grades was one of the strategies we adopted to help narrow the gap, and we plan to continue reducing the gap.

This year, Growthpoint participated in a gender pay gap research project and we fared well overall. The results were positive on all levels except for top management. The discrepancy in pay at this level could stem from a difference in experience and expertise rather than gender, but it nonetheless flags an area of improvement which we will continue to monitor.

Our new job grading system has moved us beyond the non-formulaic approach to remuneration of the past and ensures that remuneration is equitable, with internal and external parity.

The confirmation that Growthpoint doesn't remunerate based on gender validates our use of a grading system.

Employee value proposition (EVP)

Our employee value proposition is based on total rewards and development opportunities, which include some of the following:

Health and safety

Our dedicated Health and Safety Forum proactively monitors and reports concerns to ensure that our work environment remains incident-free as far as possible.

Naturally, the primary focus this past year was limiting the spread of Covid-19, and much was done to protect our employees. We also evolved these efforts as more information about the pandemic unfolded, best practices advanced and regulations were updated. Although not always easy to access, we took advice from NCID. Our partners Discovery Health and Fedhealth also became valued sources of good guidance for the wellbeing of all those in our workplace.

While infectious disease prevention and protective protocols and measures were a priority, we also kept the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) in mind and our compliance with all elements of the national health and safety regulations and requirements remains non-negotiable.

Employee wellness

Our wellness programme highlights the main health concerns that guide our employee wellness initiatives. Growthpoint is a high-performance environment under "normal" circumstances, and the attendant stress was amplified during FY21 by the health crisis. Accordingly, we pivoted and made the necessary adjustments to make positive impacts in the new operating environment and address the increased stress and mental health issues created by the pandemic. With this in mind, the mental health of our employees will also be one of our primary focus areas in FY22. The wellness programme moved online and its initiatives and effectiveness continue to be assessed frequently.

Despite their increased Covid-19 risk, several employees with comorbidities were among the many that were eager to return to the office, and prior to returning, they were required to provide consent (in some instances from their medical practitioners) to ensure that they were not putting their lives at risk. We boarded three employees as a result of poor health in FY21, a decrease when compared to the four who were boarded in FY20.

The past year has emphasised the critical need for good healthcare in our society, and as we do not want our employees to worry about their physical, mental or emotional health, we believe they must be on medical aid. To confirm mandatory medical aid memberships, we are in the process of establishing the cover of those on a spouse's medical aid.

Employee surveys

Employee feedback matters to us and so, in order to gauge how employees were impacted during this time and assess their engagement with our business, we conducted two staff surveys.

The first focused on preferred methods of working and it revealed that our employees favour a hybrid working model and would prefer to spend a few days in the office each week, mainly for collaborative processes, and work remotely for focus-driven tasks. We are reviewing this feedback in tandem with experience gained from the staff rotation system applied over the past year. The second was a broader survey addressing issues such as management, policy and communications, among others. The results of this survey are being reviewed.

Industrial relations

Good industrial relations improve employee morale. Productivity increases and employees work with passion when they feel that their interests and those of their employer are aligned.

Therefore, many of our actions revolve around industrial relations issues, performance management, and fair disciplinary procedures.

In FY21, there were 21 industrial relations matters relating to misconduct and performance management, compared to 38 in FY20. These included seven dismissals for misconduct and poor performance, in line with the policies we have implemented to ensure good governance and our philosophy of driving high-performance teams.

Staff turnover

While our focus was on preserving employment for our people this year, we did have some natural attrition of staff. This went a long way towards solving certain job fragmentation and culture challenges which had arisen due to the growth of our business through the acquisition of various property enterprises.

We monitor our voluntary staff turnover, which this year was 6.9%. This is an acceptable level that is on par with the market. Including dismissals, total staff turnover was 8.7%.

Employee statistics FY21 FY20
Number of employees    
  • full-time employees
 611 623
  • contractors
 32 36
Net property income per full time employee (South Africa) (R) 9 981 997 9 401 284
Average tenure of employees (years) 8 8
Annual attrition rate of all employees (%) 11.6 15.2
Annualised attrition rate of full time employees (%) 8.7% of which 6.9% was voluntary 1.8% was involuntary 7.0% of which 4.0% was voluntary
Number of industrial relations cases 21 38
Average age of employees (years) 45 45
Minimum CTC – lowest level of employee (R pa) 143 100 112 590
Direct investment in employee training (Rm) 3.8 4.5
Total cost of employee training (Rm) 4.7 5.5
Number of employees trained 539 1 103
Hours of training per employee 4.3 8.0
Total number of sick days 1 470 1 926
Weighted average number of sick days per employee 2.4 3.1
Number of physical injuries 2 –
Days lost to incidents for serious occupational injuries 29 –
Workplace fatalities    
  • full-time employees
 – –
  • contractors hired by HR
 – –
  • third-party contractors
 – –
Policies and procedures

A few employees adapted extremely well to forced remote working and a few did not adapt at all, but it was a mixed experience for most. We do not doubt that our offices will always be the heartbeat of our business activities and operations. Given that we seek to enable our diverse staff contingent to perform at its best and benefit from balance, we are in the process of formalising our flexible working policy.

Last year, we committed to providing staff training and communication on new and updated policies via an e-platform, I–Thrive, and we are pleased that we were able to achieve this objective.

We still intend to implement ESG objectives as a KPI for senior management. This will be linked to remuneration in the same way it affects executives. We were unable to finalise the numerical measures that would define this KPI this year and will prioritise doing so in FY22.

Executive contracts have also been updated to ensure greater uniformity.

Grievance procedure

Our updated grievance procedure was approved this year. This includes a schedule of offences and their related consequences and we conducted a communication and awareness drive about this. While employees with grievances can raise their concerns directly with our HR team and receive advice on how best to address the matter, labour and human rights issues can also be addressed through our independently monitored whistleblowing hotline. We encourage employees to raise concerns about workplace malpractices without fear of victimisation or reprisal.

Talent and succession management

Given its importance, our succession plan is a living document and is currently receiving even greater focus.

The plan aims to ensure that our work environment and conditions are attractive and conducive to optimising employee potential. Ensuring that new employees are aligned to our culture and values is key to this success, as is career development for existing employees.

To further career advancement within Growthpoint, we matched people with different positions in the light of changing business needs and were able to promote eight existing employees in FY21.

Training and leadership development

We invest considerable time, effort, and resources in training and development to support and advance our employees' careers, because we want to develop the best, brightest, and most innovative teams.

This year, a seamless transition to the new MRI software and system was paramount and our training efforts were directed towards ensuring that our people became adept at using the system.

While a few traditional training avenues were able to adapt, many could not due to Covid-19-related restrictions which limited the number for this year. Unfortunately, the limitations to training have knock-on implications for skills development and impacts the B-BBEE scorecard. Being hampered in such an important focus area is disappointing for us but our staff members were still able to advance their skills and expand their knowledge.

Labour and employment practices

Growthpoint is not a unionised environment but does not restrict employees' freedom of association. We intend to formalise this into policy. We comply with various labour laws, including the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, the Labour Relations Act, the Employment Equity Act, the Skills Development Act and the OHSA. Over and above legislation, we strive to be a good corporate citizen and have policies and processes in place to ensure that we offer equal or more favourable employment conditions than those required by law.

UNICEF's 2020 report on child labour points to a significant global increase of children working between the ages of five and 11. Growthpoint stands firmly against child labour, forced labour, slave labour and bonded labour. Indicators of forced labour can also include withholding identity papers, requiring compulsory deposits and compelling workers, with the threat of being fired, to work extra hours that they have not agreed to.

We are aware of the prevalence of these issues globally and will take the necessary steps to prevent such abuse within our organisation. All our employees are aged 18 years or above with an average age of 45.

HIV/Aids

Growthpoint does not discriminate based on HIV/Aids status, nor do we test employees. We respect the confidentiality of every employee. Nevertheless, the conditions of affected and infected employees are managed and supported by our extensive employee wellness programme. Based on the information provided by our largest medical aid provider, the HIV prevalence rate within our organisation is estimated to be between 4% and 6%.

Human rights

Growthpoint believes human rights are sacrosanct and is committed to upholding them, including the right to freedom from discrimination of any kind. Consequently, we introduced a human rights policy in FY21. In line with the country's constitution, we do not tolerate any form of hate speech and we believe every individual has the right to live the way they choose.

Furthermore, our commitment to human rights includes indigenous rights.

Society's recent powerful movement against systemic racism highlighted the need for all individuals, colleagues, friends and businesses to take a stand.

This has reinforced our commitment to creating a diverse and inclusive workspace, where every employee feels safe, and heard, and has equal opportunity to succeed. Racist conduct is a dismissible offence, and there were no related dismissals this year.

Employee assistance programme (EAP)

This voluntary, confidential programme helps our employees and their families work through various life challenges that may adversely affect their work performance and/or their health and personal wellbeing. Employee challenges include stress, financial issues, legal issues, family problems, office conflicts, alcohol and substance abuse.

Our EAP offers employees with personal and/or work-related concerns the opportunity to be assessed, counselled and referred for additional services. The programme also often works with management and supervisors to prepare employees for organisational change, legal contingencies and emergency planning and to help them respond to unique traumatic events.

The demand for the services provided through our EAP increased this year, signalling its value to our employees and we have made adjustments to suit the new operating environment we find ourselves in. The themes of counselling assistance provided include personal, interpersonal, work related, financial, primary healthcare and legal to mention a few.

We value our employees and are proud to offer a programme that not only supports them but optimises our success.