FEATURE

FOCUSED ON ALL STAKEHOLDERS


IN THE MORE RECENT EDITIONS OF ROBUST, I HAVE DISCUSSED IN SOME DETAIL VARIOUS DEVELOPMENTS THAT WERE TAKING PLACE WITHIN MURRAY & ROBERTS AND MORE SPECIFICALLY, ELABORATED ON OUR NEW STRATEGIC FUTURE PLAN, WHICH IS NOW WELL ENTRENCHED IN THE GROUP. THIS TIME ROUND, I DECIDED TO SHARE SOME THOUGHTS WITH YOU ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY AND STAKEHOLDER RESPONSIBILITY.

We live in a volatile world and Murray & Roberts, as a multinational organisation, is exposed to the uncertainty that this brings to our business environment. As a South African domiciled company, we are exposed to the effects of a struggling local economy within a volatile social and political landscape. The global economic, social and political sentiment is not doing much better. Trade wars, cybercrime, contagion and geopolitical “divorce” are just some of the important developments to look out for this year. Considering the above, what role can corporates play in meeting stakeholder needs and balancing the scales of economic and political instability to ensure sustainability?

At this year’s annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, the theme “Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World” was presented. More than 3 000 global leaders, including some heads of state, assembled in Davos to deliberate on “stakeholder capitalism”. This theme points to the division of thoughts between the traditional and narrow “shareholder-only” or “purpose is profit” view and the broader consideration for all stakeholders – customers, employees, suppliers, communities and shareholders.

The importance of serving all stakeholders is becoming increasingly central to the way that corporates understand the larger role they can play in society. At Murray & Roberts, we have for many years had a sense of responsibility and duty towards all stakeholders and believe that our social licence to operate is inseparable from our profit aspirations.

Engineered Excellence, our philosophy which underpins the Group’s competitiveness, resilience and reputation as a well-governed, values-driven and ethical organisation, is central also to our consideration of stakeholder matters. The quality of our corporate citizenship and sustainability stewardship is a function of how well we are applying this philosophy across all activities:

• We expect from everyone who works for us, or who acts on our behalf, to adhere to the highest ethical standards. Our Code of Conduct, incorporating our Values and Statement of Business Principles, gives guidance in support of ethical decision-making. Despite the reality of many different operating environments, all our businesses across the world are expected to align to the Group’s Values, frameworks and standards as a minimum requirement.

• We aspire to be recognised by our clients as a specialist provider of services and a contractor of choice. Our ability to attract and retain the best management and technical expertise is critical to this aspiration and our duty to successfully deliver projects for our clients. This includes competitive and fair pricing of projects, concluding contracts on reasonable commercial terms and achieving predictable project outcomes in line with expectations.

• Being an employer of choice supports the recruitment, development and retention of competent and highperforming employees. We provide our employees with career advancement opportunities through experience on highprofile projects, as well as training, education and mentorship, which together with our Values, best people practices and diversity policy are all important aspects of our employee value proposition.

• We believe that a diverse workforce improves business performance and supports our social licence to operate as a multinational, multicultural organisation. Our diversity policy guides businesses in their responses to the specific diversity priorities of the many different countries in which we operate.

• We support undergraduate and post-graduate bursaries and offer scholarships and internships across all our operations, thereby providing employees with work experience and on-thejob training. Apprenticeships are aimed at addressing a growing and global shortage of tradesman by creating an opportunity for learners to master a technical trade which will support their longterm employability.

• We create value for societies through local employment and by establishing permanent infrastructure which has a considerable positive impact on socioeconomic development. In addition, our emphasis on commercial partnerships with and procurement from local businesses support enterprise development and the upliftment of communities located near our projects. Continual engagement with members of these communities is important to understand local norms and practices and to ensure that our initiatives respond appropriately to specific community needs and expectations.

• We are responding proactively to environmental concerns through the identification and implementation of environmental improvement initiatives in areas where we have influence. Although our operations have a low carbon footprint, we can play a role in assisting our clients to transition to a lower carbon future. We support the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, which requires a collaborative approach among all stakeholders. In this context, we have decided not to participate in coal-related projects, other than in South Africa considering our economy’s dependence on the use of coal.

A strong sense of social purpose and commitment as outlined above, helps a company to better understand and adjust to the changing demands of society. We believe this to be a fundamental requirement to ensure sustainability, to deliver long-term profitability and ultimately fulfilling our responsibility to our stakeholders. Murray & Roberts is a remarkable organisation, staffed by incredible people. We are prepared and ready to engage the changing needs of a volatile economic, social and political world and to respond to our stakeholder’s collective needs along the way.