First to offer unionised employees incentives
SASOL, ranked eighth among the country’s Giant employers, scored highly because it has experienced leaders to focus the organisation; offers excellent potential career opportunities locally and has a huge focus on training and development.
CRF research revealed that the energy and chemical company was the first in its sector to offer incentives to unionised members and offers the most bursaries in the country. It is also one of South Africa’s largest investors in capital projects, skills development and technological research and development.
With a highly entrepreneurial and innovative culture, the company has over six decades undergone four major phases: an entrepreneurial phase; a growth phase with massive scale and duplication; a diversification phase; and is currently in a consolidation and global growth phase.
In spite of its size, a single Sasol vision, strategy, approach and set of values prevail. Boasting considerable brand value, the company is a popular employer, offering excellent career opportunities both locally and internationally across the entire value chain. Salaries are competitive and the work environment is exciting.
Because Sasol is rapidly expanding internationally employees with the right competence have exciting potential career opportunities in geographies such as Northern America, Europe and the Middle East. Its proprietary gas-to-liquid technology is a decade ahead of its closest competitors which provides further exciting opportunities.
Vlam van Rooyen, General Manager, Global Talent Management says. ‘For those individuals who are prepared to invest in their own careers and who are prepared to learn the business at the coalface, the potential opportunities for growth and promotion are huge.
He adds, “With Sasol’s growth ambitions, the mobility of talent will become an increasingly important issue in our company and will be highly rewarded.”
Rather than recruiting purely on technical competencies, Sasol also ensures new recruits have a culture fit with the organisation. New appointments are provided with coaching and mentoring to ease them into the company culture.
There is a very structured approach to leadership and functional development. ‘Our aim is to build careers for the future so we make a significant investment in training and developing our people,’ reports Van Rooyen.
Career opportunities are aligned with practical personal development plans to advance employees to more senior positions or to broaden the employee’s exposure to fields within their individual discipline.
A three-tiered approach is adopted towards learning and development and includes standard curriculum-based education; experiential learning (which includes project-based work, job rotation, and global experience); and relationship development which includes mentoring and coaching.