Diversity

Mondi is proud to provide equal opportunities to men and women, and ensures that our policies and practices support this.

We encourage and embrace diversity, and are committed to the fair and equitable treatment of all, irrespective of origin, race or gender. We recognise that in some of the countries in which we operate, such as South Africa, there is a need to redress historical imbalances in the workplace, in the recruitment and development of segments of our workforce, and in the opportunities that have been available to them.

As the management of people is seen as a function and responsibility of line management, so is the creation of a culture that embraces diversity. Specialists within the human resources function across the group are able to advise and support management in this endeavour.

In South Africa, where employment equity is entrenched within legislation and requires programmes and reporting to government and others, we have developed specific policies, strategies and structures such as the Transformation Committee to achieve this. See MPSA’s Transformation Charter.

Transformation Committee The South African operations have in place a Transformation Committee as required by legislation. Members of the committee include line management, human resources management, union shop stewards and nominated employees. The committee is both an oversight body and a facilitator of communication and consultation between parties.

Fostering diversity

To make Mondi a successful global organisation, we need a skilled, committed workforce that reflects the demographic profile of the countries in which we are located. While we believe in developing local talent and local leaders, we also see the value of sharing talent across international boundaries, and believe that there is an equitable balance to be achieved between the two objectives.

This diversity is evident at the highest level of governance within the Group, namely the DLC Board.

• Two board members are women.
• Two board members are considered previously disadvantaged persons in South Africa.

The pie chart below indicates the origins of management within the Group in 2010.

While legal limitations exist on the employment of foreigners in almost all jurisdictions, (largely through the application for and granting of residence and work permits), this has not had a significant effect on the company.

Employment equity in South Africa

We are committed to employing, empowering and developing competent people with the necessary potential required to expand their careers and to become valuable participants in sustaining our competitive business advantage. Our primary objectives of achieving world class standards in cost, quality, productivity and customer service are inherently supported by our plans aimed at implementing diversity management and affirmative action initiatives, and not hindered by them.

In South Africa, we are committed to making a positive contribution to the process of transformation towards a fully democratic and non-discriminatory society and economy, and specifically within the forestry sector. We have taken active steps therefore to meet the requirements of broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE). We have prioritised three transformation areas: employment equity, skills development and preferential procurement. See also the Economic performance section of our report.

We have also established transformation committees and/or forums in our South African operations to allow our employees to discuss employment equity and training-related issues and ideas. Specifically in respect of employment equity, we:

• make every effort to equalise opportunities for previously disadvantaged persons in South Africa;
• meet all legislative requirements including auditing of all employment barriers, developing and implementing our employment equity plan, and establishing meaningful consultative forums that represent all employees at divisional and/or operational levels;
• create and maintain an environment that is free of unfair discrimination and an organisational culture that respects diversity;
• implement diversity management and affirmative action initiatives in a manner that is sensitive, reasonable, justifiable and fair so as to create a racially and culturally diverse staff profile;
• ensure that promotion and advancement is based on merit, without tokenism or paternalism; and
• ensure that each company and operational division develops and implements a process that allows employees to raise and resolve grievances.

Our employment equity policy ensures that the career development of non-designated persons is not ignored and that employees will continue to be recognised for their competencies, based on statutory and merit considerations. Underpinning this philosophy is the practice of attracting the best talent, recognising talent, and transparency in selection processes.

We continue to work to our Employment Equity Plan for the period 2009 to 2012, which has been developed in line with local legislation, and which sets clear targets for the representation of previously disadvantaged persons at all levels of the Group, along with strategies for skills development, succession planning and retention.

At the end of 2010, previously disadvantaged persons filled 45% of junior management, 28% of middle management and 18% of senior management positions. This is against targets of 68%, 63% and 43% respectively.

During the course of 2010, the operational management structures of Mondi Shanduka Newsprint and the Mondi South Africa Division were integrated at the Merebank site and the above graphs therefore show the figures combined.

We continue to face many challenges in reaching our employment equity objectives at our South African operations, including the restructuring activities we had to undertake in response to the global economic crisis; the scarcity of technical skills; attracting skills to our operations in rural areas and preventing talent from being poached by other companies. We, however, remain committed to reaching and where possible exceeding these objectives and have training and career development programmes in place to develop previously disadvantaged persons in a manner that is beneficial and meaningful to the Group and employees.

Key processes and structures that have been put in place to achieve our employment equity targets are:

• skills development and mentoring programmes with particular emphasis on technical areas;
• review practices within the Group to ensure that there is no unfair discrimination or unjustifiable barriers to advancement;
• a company-level transformation committee that engages and consults with consultative forums;
• employment equity grievance resolutions procedures;
• ongoing communication and awareness; and
• consultation with employees as envisaged in the legislation.

Supporting women at work at Mondi

In line with our philosophy of encouraging diversity and excluding discrimination, we provide equal opportunity for men and women in the Group. It is our intent that there be no disparity between the remuneration of men and women, but this is currently not mentioned.

Equity towards and the advancement of women within the workplace is enshrined within the South African Constitution, and required by South African labour legislation. Mondi’s sexual harassment policy recognises the right of all people to be treated with dignity, and prohibits sexual harassment in the workplace. Appropriate mechanisms, such as grievance procedures, are in place to support this.

Whilst the nature of our industry and available skill pool do pose inherent challenges in recruiting women, Mondi gives preference to previously disadvantaged groups in the awarding of bursaries, learnerships and apprenticeships.

At the end of December 2010, 21% of our employees were women and 21% of our managers were women.

Last change: 23/03/2011