Santam certified as top employer in SA for the second year running

Jeanett Modise, executive head: People & Transformation at Santam.

Transformation commitments, talent development programmes, employee engagement and an enabling, transparent culture have led to Santam being awarded the Top Employers South Africa 2018 certification by the Top Employers Institute. This institute acknowledges the top employers around the world that champion excellence in the conditions they provide for their people, with enabling environments that foster growth and progression.

Jeanett Modise, executive head: People & Transformation at Santam and 2017 recipient of the Future of HR Hall of Fame award, says, “For almost 100 years, we’ve been prioritising our people. We strongly believe in looking forwards and continuously reimagining organisational ecosystems that enable employees to learn, grow and thrive. We do this through innovative learning opportunities, bi-annual staff engagement surveys that give actionable insights, along with an integrated talent management strategy that fits into a greater business narrative.”

In total 200 certified organisations across 33 African countries covering 24 industries achieved the Top Employer certification for 2018. Participating companies must achieve consistently high standards as part of an extensive assessment process with 600 human resources (HR) practices analysed and ranked. Some of the criteria assessed include: company culture, talent strategy, on-boarding, workforce planning, learning and development, career and succession management, leadership development, compensation, and performance management.

For Modise, Santam’s certification confirms that the business’s multifaceted talent integration strategy is helping to build a resilient, people-focused organisation with a strong employee value proposition. She says, “Santam is one out of only eleven companies within the financial services industry in South Africa with a Top Employer certification. We believe majority of learning takes place on the job so we have development programmes at various level of the business. A good talent management strategy is about deliberate and focused investment in people. For us, this means also keeping abreast with an ever-changing market to ensure our internal capabilities stay up-to-date with the latest demands in tech and innovation.”

Modise concludes, “Above everything else, we value respect. Our ‘good and proper’ ethos informs every aspect of our company including our employer value proposition. We know that to be excellent we need to inspire excellence. The Top Employers certification helps keep us accountable to that goal.”

To learn more about the Top Employers Institute and the Top Employers certification visit: www.top-employers.com.