Transformation a key business strategy at Alexander Forbes Risk Services
While moving from a level 6 to a level 3 empowerment rating in under 14 months is a great achievement, transformation at Alexander Forbes Risk Services is driven by business strategy, not mere compliance.
“Transformation is not just about getting government contracts” says Sello Moloko, Group Chairman of Alexander Forbes Group.
Instead broad based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) makes business sense. Developing skills, increasing employment and sharing expertise helps the industry become more competitive while growing the economy. “And this, in the end, means more business for our company” says Moloko.
Taking a broad based approach also means that Alexander Forbes’ impact on economic development and empowerment is not just focused on a few individuals.
This strategy is not, however, without challenges says Jurie Erwee, CEO of Alexander Forbes Risk and Insurance Services. “Given our excellent work in Skills Development, Alexander Forbes is known in the industry as the University of Insurance. Once you have been trained here you can go pretty much anywhere you choose”.
While this means that Alexander Forbes staff are from time to time lost to competitors, turnover amongst middle and senior staff is surprisingly low, speaking to an inclusive culture which grows people and promotes from within.
Moreover, Alexander Forbes Risk and Insurance Services is doing great work in Social Responsibility. Its projects touch economically marginalised communities affected by poverty, AIDS and lack of skills across South Africa securing the company a five-out-of-five score on the Social Responsibility index.
Similarly the organisation scored full marks on Enterprise Development “driven by our support of businesses both within and outside of our value chain” says Tutu Madugandaba, newly appointed Managing Director of Alexander Forbes Risk Services.
Whilst upgrading black owned and operated panel beaters is a great way to transform the automotive repair industry and promote previously marginalised businesses by providing access to mainstream insurance spend, automotive repair is only one part of Alexander Forbes Risk Services' enterprise development strategy.
Other initiatives include joint ventures with black owned businesses within the insurance industry, developing their skills base and helping them do more business.
Add to this similarly high scores in Preferential Procurement, Ownership and Management Control and Alexander Forbes Risk Services is making considerable progress across all pillars of empowerment.
Employment Equity, however, remains a challenge as it does for all financial services companies requiring highly skilled professional staff. Moloko explains that “at board and executive level we are doing very well. The real challenge is to pick up the pace of transformation at middle and upper management levels.” The strategy here is obviously skills and training.
Moloko nonetheless believes that “without legislation providing a business incentive for compliance the industry would have been unlikely to evolve transformation into a sound business strategy.”
That said, even prior to the introduction of legislation Alexander Forbes Risk and Insurance Services had already embraced the idea of transformation. “Joint ventures with Thebe, Lebone and, in the Financial Services arena, NBC, produced some of the industries’ biggest empowerment success stories well before the promulgation of BBBEE legislation” explains Moloko.
Moloko nonetheless remains supportive of empowerment legislation as well as the role played by Empowerdex in providing a structure allowing the principle of empowerment to come to life in real businesses.
In this way “empowerment legislation provides a blue print for those industries and companies that have not yet begun to transform or grow their businesses to serve all South Africans” concludes Moloko.
