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ANSA McAL - Investing in Human Capital
Investing in Human Capital
“People are the ones that make sustainability happen… it’s all about the people.” So says Jeana Wirtenberg, the President and CEO of Transitioning to Green, a global sustainability management firm. At ANSA McAL, this notion is well understood. As the Group refocuses its operating framework to be more responsive to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), people are at the centre of that transition.
With the advent of the global Coronavirus pandemic, the attention to Corporate Social Responsibility through strategic investment in people, is driving a ‘new normal’ for business models. This is something that ANSA McAL is actively engaged in, not only in their explicit laying out of HR initiatives that predate the pandemic but also implicit in their commitment to community outreach, sustainability, and nationwide partnerships during a health crisis.
Following the global trend of companies worldwide becoming increasingly sensitive to changing stakeholder interests which do not solely look to traditional investments but also consider the environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) aspects of a company’s business model, ANSA McAL attempts to position itself in accordance with the changing landscape of HR Management to ensure a responsible business culture that can also be relevant and sustainable to the changing times.
In September 2021, the Review spoke with Chief Human Resource Officer, Amy Lazzari and Group External Affairs Executive, Carla Furlonge-Walker about ANSA McAL's role as an investor in human capital. The Group's HR Management places Corporate Responsibility at the forefront of its investment strategy with priorities that include investing in employees, supporting local and regional communities, and assisting governments in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. In each new initiative, one thing remains consistent – look after people like family.
Building a Culture of Family
“Together, we are Family.” This is the signature slogan underpinning ANSA McAL’s Corporate Social Responsibility which looks to investing and looking after its people. This was highlighted during the Coronavirus pandemic and manifested through the Group’s imagination and determination to influence success in the Caribbean.
As Chief Human Resource Officer, Amy Lazzari, explains, The Group's approach to investing in human capital to ensure sustainability and relevance may not be particularly new to its HR strategy, but it has evolved over its three generations of executive management. Celebrating its 140-year-old anniversary this year, the family approach adopted by the Group has been a pillar of its corporate social responsibility from its founding in 1881 to now.
Although the company has experienced three generations of Sabga leadership, one thing has remained consistent – a commitment to nurturing and expanding the ANSA McAL family through a people-value approach. From Dr. Anthony N. Sabga to Mr. A. Norman Sabga to present Group CEO, Anthony N. Sabga III, ANSA McAL exemplifies the family approach to conducting business. This spills into looking after its family of employees and by extension the families of each employee.
The family philosophy informs ANSA McAL's diverse sectors including construction and beverage which tailor its corporate social responsibility to match the needs of the wider community.
Investing in Human Capital
Investing in Talent
At the heart of ANSA McAL's approach to corporate social responsibility is the philosophy of investing in talent. Through an emphasis on developing ‘talentship’ within the organisation, ANSA McAL attempts to not only develop current talent but also aims at active succession coverage to ensure a sustainable investment model.
ANSA McAL recently concluded 2021 Group Talent Day. The sector-wide exercise to address talent gaps in each organisation, was described by Lazzari as a culmination of ANSA’s persistence in the continuous development of talent. It’s a passion that doesn’t stop at honing the Group's capability, but also focuses on individual development plans for high potential employees. She believes that there are tremendous institutional benefits to hiring great people and giving them the tools and space to be incredible.
In addition to promoting Group-wide talent, ANSA McAL also achieved an improvement in the closure of its succession coverage in leadership critical positions from just under 70% last year to 85% this year.
The impetus for developing talent is driven by company-funded investments in professional development programmes such as the Executive MBA programme and JMW Leadership Coaching Programme which was named by Forbes as one of America’s Best Management Consulting Firms. In addition to developing current leaders, ANSA McAL also looks to the future through its Champion’s programme. With an eye to cultivating future leaders, the Group Champion’s programme has, since its inception in 2015, been exceptionally successful in its efforts to develop young talent through the rotational two-year programme which allows young graduates to become future professionals.
Amy Lazzari, Chief Human Resource Officer and Carla Furlonge-Walker, Group External Affairs Executive, ANSA McAL.
CSR STORIES
As it concerns the future of the conglomerate, Lazzari envisions a progressive company with continued opportunities for learning and career development. The continuous investment in human capital places matters such as gender diversity in the workplace as well as supporting same-sex partners as co-insurers at the forefront of its inclusive approach to governance.
Investing in People during a Pandemic
Although ANSA McAL’s Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) predates the pandemic, it stands as a testament to the significance attributed to investing in human capital.
The Group's commitment to looking after the health and safety of The Group's employees, specifically in Trinidad, materialised in a partnership with Acropolis, a local medical facility. Through this partnership, the Group provided company-funded support for employees who tested positive for the coronavirus to ensure that they were actively monitored and cared for throughout their illness.
Other, non-financial employee assistance included shuttling staff to vaccination sites as well as bringing vaccines to staff and covering the cost of PCR tests via the Group Health Insurance plan. This underscored ANSA McAL's prioritizing of its employees over profit. As Furlonge-Walker explained, the pandemic gave the Group the opportunity to demonstrate how the company values family.
A critical component of keeping employees safe was ensuring that people got vaccinated. The Group’s pro-vaccine thrust has consisted of several educational/sensitization sessions with employees to promote the efficacy of the available vaccines as confirmed by scientific evidence. The Group led extensive educational campaigns and informative sessions throughout the region with top medical professionals, scientists, and academic experts to dispel fear and disinformation among employees.
Medical providers such as Acropolis Medical in Trinidad and Tobago and St. Augustine’s Medical Services (SAMS) in Grenada and Alma Jones Medical in Jamaica provided oversight with 24hour coverage and advised and guided our leadership team on the best approach to educate and protect our employees.
There were four major engagements:
Investing in Human Capital
• A Small Dose of Hope Can Bring Us Together
• Pandemic Portraits
• Let’s Give Ourselves A Fighting Chance
• Take Your Life Back – Nationwide promotion for vaccinated persons to win a kitchen makeover from Standard Distributors Ltd.
The Group’s vaccine awareness efforts have paid off as the Group has achieved approximately 80% vaccination rate as of October 2021 across all its subsidiaries.
Valuing Community
The Group's family approach extends its outreach to not just its family of employees but its family of communities. Following the effects of excessive rainfall in later October 2018 which resulted in flooding across communities in East and Central Trinidad, ANSA McAL’s ‘Family First’ - Employee Flood Relief efforts took the form of care packages which included donating mattresses to flood victims. This, along with the ‘Flood of Relief’ Telethon, hosted by Guardian media, a subsidiary of ANSA McAL, encouraged public support efforts at assisting those who suffered property damage. Providing and encouraging flood relief during 2018 has proven The Group's commitment to acknowledging local communities as an important stakeholder in its investment strategy.
Fast-forward to April 2021 where ANSA McAL intensified their community outreach. Furlonge-Walker, who stepped into a Group initiative of the first time manual production of 100,000 bottles of hand sanitizer by Carib Brewery, summed up the exercise as a perfect example of “community work emanating from employees”. The same project was carried out in Grenada and St. Kitts making it a regional initiative rooted in service to the people and their communities.
Collaborating for the greater good
The Group’s commitment to investing in human capital did not stop at ensuring the health and safety of its employees. The Group took the opportunity to engage in multiple conversations and collaborations on vaccine equity and vaccine uptake, with not just government ministries in Trinidad and Tobago such as
Investing in Human Capital
the Ministry of Health and Education, but also the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers’ Association (TTMA), the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) and the Trade Union Leadership. Several public and private sector partnerships also unfolded in countries where the Group operates, from Jamaica all the way to Guyana.
ANSA McAL’s strong sense of corporate social responsibility towards ensuring a vaccinated population also involved providing a mass vaccination site at its Carib Brewery’s suite in East Trinidad, and facilitating educational sessions for employees and the public.
Recognising Caribbean Excellence
Another area of ANSA McAL’s continued investment in people not just locally but throughout the region is evidenced by the Anthony N. Sabga Caribbean Awards for Excellence. As the heart of the ANSA McAL Foundation, the Excellence Awards materializes ANSA McAL’s evolution as a socially responsible regional conglomerate. Founded in 2005 by Dr Anthony N. Sabga, the Excellence awards recognises outstanding Caribbean achievements in such fields as Arts & Leisure, Entrepreneurship, Public & Civic Contributions, and Science & Technology. To date, ANSA McAL has awarded TTD 21.5 million to 49 laureates.
Through an investment in individual excellence, ANSA McAL aims to empower future generations of leaders to progress towards their full potential. As part of its overall placement of people at the centre of its portfolio, ANSA McAL sees its role as building a regional think-tank to ensure its laureates continue to contribute meaningfully to their respective territories: Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and Trinidad and Tobago.
Standing with the region plays out in how the Group deploys CSR. ANSA McAL joined the rest of our local and regional counterparts in providing some measure of support to St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) during the explosive eruptions from the La Soufriere volcano. Group companies such as ANSA Chemicals Ltd., ANSA Coatings Ltd., ANSA Polymer Ltd., ANSA Merchant Bank Ltd., Alston’s Marketing Company
Ltd. (AMCO), Carib Brewery Ltd and Standard Distributors Ltd., much needed immediate relief for the people of SVG.
According to Furlonge-Walker, Carib Brewery USA, based in Florida, is a prime example of how ANSA McAL has now looked beyond the Caribbean while staying true to its local origins in Trinidad.
Growing and Caring for the Environment
The continued drive for growth brings with it a great degree of accountability and the expectation of being increasingly in tune with established guidelines for corporate responsibility. In more recent years, the Group has been using SDG guidelines as a lens for addressing how it operates. This means being mindful of its environmental, governance and social policies and practices. At the lead is Carib Glassworks Ltd. (CGL), the largest recycler of glass and crates in the Caribbean, which is doing its part to ensure the conglomerate acts responsibly in matters involving environmental sustainability. In addition to the ongoing recycling of glass and crates, CGL has previously partnered with the Trinidad and Tobago Solid Waste Management Company (SWMCOL) in 2018 to assist in the International Coastal Cleanup which brought organisations and individuals from Trinidad and Tobago together in a nationwide clean-up of beaches and waterways.
While more can always be done to ensure an environmentally sustainable and socially responsible means of corporate management, the integral role that adherence to ESG criteria plays in the overall investment in human capital is not lost on ANSA McAL. Furlonge-Walker recognises the importance of communicating and measuring ESG goals as it is a must in today’s business environment. A corporate strategy focusing on ESG can add brand value, meet consumer demands, increase efficiency, attract valuable talent and create new opportunities.
For a large conglomerate such as ANSA McAL, matters related to environmental and social sustainability through responsible corporate governance will always be central to its operations. To recall Wirtenberg’s emphasis on people as “the ones who make sustainability happen”, ANSA McAL’s commitment to cultivating a family-oriented CSR approach to business attempts to do exactly this through the continuous investment in human capital.
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