Tag Archive for: Corporate Social Responsibility

Written by Quintin Coetzee

Over time, at Relocation Africa, we’ve realized the value of engaging in teambuilding activities. We’ve seen how it brings out team members together, and fosters a sense of community throughout our head office. We’ve even seen the innovation that comes with allowing each person in the office the chance to lead these sessions. In this article, we’ve outlined some of our teambuilding efforts.

Team Memo

At the start of each week, Quintin Coetzee, our Marketing Assistant, sends out a team memo which contains helpful information including staff leave days and out of office days, the latest news, weather, links to our social media for our team to engage on, and a feelgood cartoon. This memo kicks the week off on a lighter note, and helps keep the head office crew informed.

Wacky Wednesdays

Each Wednesday morning, for 15 minutes, we have Wacky Wednesday. Joy Jackson, our HR Manager, started this initiative to allow everyone the chance to get to know one another better, or just have some fun before the workday starts in the middle of the week. Wednesday was chosen as this is the day our staff meetings are held and everyone is at the office (we now have a hybrid work system that allows for 2 days of work from home, as well as flexi time).

What started off as Joy presenting questions has now turned into team members taking turns to come up with something to ask everyone on a Tuesday afternoon, giving them enough time to prep their answers. These questions have included:

  • What is your current obsession? (by Lucy Smith)
  • What is your spirit animal? (by Eloise Williams)
  • What is your fondest childhood memory? (by Quintin Coetzee)
  • What is your pick-me-up jam? Please bring your song to the office to play. (by Chantelle Butcher)
  • Describe a defining moment in your life when you realized your gift, how it played out and what you did with it. (by Andrew Stegmann)
  • What’s on your bucket list? (by Rene Stegmann)
  • What was your favorite childhood game, and why? (by Joy Jackson)
  • What fictional family would you like to be part of, and why? (by Lynn Mackenzie)

These sessions have evolved in all kinds of ways, including the team bringing in items that represent their heritage to celebrate South Africa’s Heritage Day, as can be seen in the photos below.

Heritage Day items.

From left: Eloise Williams, Quintin Coetzee, Lucy Smith, Pumza M, Joy Jackson, Lynn Mackenzie, Marlyse Wood

Team Building

Each month at our head office in Cape Town, a new staff member has the fun task of hosting a morning team building session for the rest of our team. Names are drawn in rotation, so that everyone has a chance to come up with a team building idea, and organize their session.

We do this because we understand the value that these kinds of ongoing experiences can have for team members. Team building activities have included:

  • Mini parachute and paper plane building (by Quintin Coetzee)
  • Playing board games (by Andrew Stegmann)
  • Going for a walk around the neighborhood (by Eloise Williams)

Clockwise from left: Quintin Coetzee, Andrew Stegmann, Lynn Mackenzie, Rene Stegmann, Lucy Smith, Tanja Glatz, Marlyse Wood, Inaaz Arend, Nausheena Hoosain, Joy Jackson, Eloise Williams

CSR Projects

Each month, the team comes together to hold an CSR project. These are either half an hour to an hour long sessions on the day, or take place during the month, such as with a collection, and are then completed on the day of the CSR project. In this way, our company has a chance to give back to the community, and team members have a chance to lead a project, and learn about how valuable corporate social initiatives are. Projects have included:

  • Sandwich making for the poor (by Rene Stegmann)
  • Book drive for charity shops (by Quintin Coetzee)
  • Neighborhood litter collection (team idea)

Each year on Mandela Day, the team also gets together to give back to our community in some way, as part of the Mandela Day campaign’s call for 67 minutes of giving back, to recognize the 67 years Nelson Mandela fought for social justice.

From left: Quintin Coetzee, Marlyse Wood, Vulcan Guests

From left: Chantelle Butcher, Joy Jackson, Quintin Coetzee, Marlyse Wood, Help the Rural Child Guests, Andrew Stegmann, Lynn Mackenzie, Eloise Williams

Wellness Workshops

Joy Jackson, our HR Manager, hosts a monthly wellness workshop that is attended by all head office staff. In this workshop, team members are asked what their states of mind are, and to assess their experiences at the company using a number of different metrics. Group discussions are held about how to improve the company culture, and through this collaborative effort, make the workplace better for all.

In Conclusion

Team building should be an integral part of any business’ operations, and value should be placed on ensuring that each team member has a chance not only to take part, but to take the lead sometimes.

For some fun team building ideas, visit this site.

From left: Joy Jackson, Quintin Coetzee, Lynn Mackenzie, Chantelle Butcher, Lucy Smith, Nausheena Hoosain, Eloise Williams, Inaaz Arend, Marlyse Wood

 

For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, Remuneration, and Expat Tax needs, email info@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.

Sources: [1], [2]. Image sources: [1], [2].

As part of our constant drive to give back to our community, our team has endeavored to join together to participate in a monthly community-focused CSR initiative. The team comes together each month to participate in an activity aimed at uplifting the community around our head office in Cape Town, after which ideas are put forward for the following month’s initiative.

In this way, as South Africans, we are giving back not only on Mandela Day, but throughout the year, as the need doesn’t end after the holiday.

Naturally, we take all necessary COVID-19-related precautions when participating in the activities, so as to ensure the health and safety of our team members and those we are interacting with outside our office.

For our first month, in September 2020, we came together to make sandwiches for the poor, with the theme of ‘Nobody Should Go Hungry’. We set up a sandwich stations in our boardroom and kitchen, and made different kinds of sandwiches which we then distributed to the needy in the surrounding area. We have posted pictures of the activity below.

Sandwich station in the Relocation Africa head office boardroom.

Sandwich station in our downstairs kitchen.

Our team gathered outside the office, ready for distribution.

We hope this inspires our readers and other companies to start similar initiatives, as if we all work together, we can greatly improve the quality of life of those in need around us.

 

For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, Remuneration, and Expat Tax needs, email info@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.

Sources: [1], [2]. Image sources: [1], [2].

Intro to CSR

The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility, also known as Corporate Sustainability, and Corporate Conscience, is a familiar one these days. However, for those who aren’t aware, CSR is an initiative that a firm volunteers to take, aimed at furthering social good.

These actions go beyond mandatory things such as following the rule of law, and seeking a profit. They are guided by a company’s ethical policies, and are there solely to benefit stakeholders and the environment, outside of the standard reasons for a business’ existence.

At Relocation Africa, we have been expanding our CSR initiatives over the 26 years we have conducted business across Africa.

GOLD Charity

For the past 5 years, we have supported a local charity called Generation of Leaders Discovered (or GOLD). GOLD believes that Africa’s greatest resource is its youth. The charity exists to support youth education, through peer education programs, and assist in creating the leaders of tomorrow.

One of the Directors at Relocation Africa has sat on the board of GOLD for numerous years, providing consistent knowledge and insight to support their growth strategy. In this way, supporting youth empowerment has become a cornerstone of our CSR focus. We are currently in the process of developing new ways to help GOLD youth, such as hosting them at our head office for mock interviews, to help in preparing them for entering the working world.

Recycling

We maintain a continuous drive to recycle at our head office in Cape Town. This includes motivating team members to separate their waste and recycle whenever possible, as well as having dedicated recycling bins and signs around the office. We take our recycling to Oasis Recycling Depot, close to the office. The Oasis Association, which runs the depot, uses its income to support those in South Africa with mental disabilities. They do so through support workshops, day centers, and group homes. We are proud to be a part of this initiative to protect the most vulnerable members of our society, while also having a positive impact on reducing waste to protect our natural environment.

Water Saving

Throughout 2018, and to a lesser degree to this day, the City of Cape Town implemented strict water restriction policies for residents and businesses, due to one of the worst droughts the region has ever experienced. With far lower than average annual rainfall, our dams almost emptied, and everyone had to come together to avoid what was eventually called “Day Zero”, where we would run out of water and have to queue for rations of trucked in water supplies. Fortunately, this did not happen, and we’re enjoying normal winter rain at present, however we came close.

And coming that close reinforced our water saving policies at Relocation Africa. We have signs around the office, in kitchens and bathrooms, encouraging our team to use water sparingly. We also set up a clever rainwater storage and pump system, which, with the turn of a lever, can supplement our draw from City water.

In our yard, we have what’s commonly called a Jojo – a large storage tank that collects rainwater from the guttering. It then stores the water, and we can pump it up to our restrooms in the office, thereby using less of the City’s water, which is often constrained. Our plants outside are also watered using a conservative drip irrigation system, rather than with high pressure hoses. Considering how much of an impact global warming is having on the climate, we consider this supplementation an essential part of helping the environment and future generations.

Solar Electricity

Another area of infrastructure constraint in South Africa is energy supply. Most of our residential and commercial electricity comes from our national utility company, Eskom. Eskom is responsible for generation and supply, and has, for many years, been unable to properly keep up with demand, and maintain a profit.

This has unfortunately resulted in what we know as load-shedding, across the country, every few years. Neighborhoods are divided up into energy sectors, and electricity supply is shut off on rotation for a few hours, so that a total blackout doesn’t occur. This happened most recently just a few months ago, and we are not beyond it occurring again soon.

To protect our office, reduce strain on the national electricity grid, and give back to the environment, we have installed a sophisticated solar power generation system at our head office. Since early 2014, our office has featured 25 photovoltaic panels on its roof, positioned to harness the most sunlight possible during daylight hours. These panels are connected to a smart charge controller, and the power is distributed throughout our building. Electricity usage can be monitored via a mobile app, which provides us with usage history, so that we can track our conservation efforts.

In addition to this, we also have battery units that keep the solar system running. In the event of a power outage, the batteries will keep our essential systems running. To date, we have converted 40.7 MWh of solar energy into usable electricity. Making use of clean energy is part of the environmental section of our overall CSR initiative.

Paperless Office

Another area where we try to reduce our impact on the environment is through the goal of a paperless office, which we are gradually working towards. We encourage team members to avoid printing whenever possible, rather making use of digital minutes and notes, and saving and sharing documents in the cloud. As part of this, we have begun using Google Drive and Dropbox Paper. The physical paper that we do end up using naturally feeds into our recycling drive.

Veg Garden

We are lucky enough to have a team member who is responsible for maintenance, who has very green fingers. As a result, we have a rooftop vegetable garden that puts out organic, seasonal produce for our team to use if they wish. This not only results in our planting more flora, but also reduces our buying packaged goods at the store.

Litter Cleanup

We recently decided to start a monthly litter pick up drive, whereby we plan to get any interested team members together and go for a walk around our area to collect any litter lying around. By doing this consistently, we will be doing our part to keep Cape Town neighborhoods clean, and perhaps if we’re noticed, others will join in. We also encourage our team members to take their families out over the weekend to pick up some litter, as a bonding activity, and to help the environment. The Municipality does a good job of keeping our streets clean, but they can only cover a certain area every so often, and there’s nothing quite like a bit of community engagement to help out and save costs.

Mandela Day

Nelson Mandela International Day is an annual celebration of the legacy of Madiba, with events taking place in South Africa and elsewhere. Each year, on the day, South Africans are encouraged to give back to their community through 67 minutes of community service, representing the 67 years former President Mandela fought for social justice.

Mandela Day is a global call to action that celebrates the idea that each individual has the power to make an impact. At Relocation Africa, we make sure to take part in this important form of civic engagement every year. In years past, we have handed out food to the homeless in our area, as well as partnered with local charities. In 2019, we decided to split into two teams, and do two different things.

We made soup and handed it out with rolls to those in need in the area around our office, which was especially well received considering the rain on the day. We also went out in teams to pick up litter in the area. We plan to continue this form of annual community service going forward, and develop new ideas to help out as a group.

Future Plans

We recently decided that our next step to grow our CSR initiative will be to support U-turn, an organization registered with the UK Stewardship and American Fund for Charities, to further help those in need in South Africa. We will be buying vouchers from U-turn and leaving them at our reception, for team members to take and hand out to the homeless. These vouchers can be taken to U-turn outlets around our city and exchanged for food or clothing, as per the individuals’ needs.

Overall

Whether it be water saving, clean power, sustainable food, going paperless, recycling, city cleanups, or supporting local charities, at Relocation Africa, we’re determined to do our part.

These initiatives come together to form our overall CSR strategy, which, as a whole, is aimed at operating sustainably, preserving our natural environment, and giving back to our local community whenever we can.

We hope that sharing this with you has taught you a bit more about what goes on behind the scenes at Relocation Africa, and perhaps even inspired you to take on some CSR initiatives of your own. Even if they’re small, collectively we can make a big impact.

Graebel Recognition

Recently, Graebel recognized all these efforts by giving us a Certificate of Appreciation as part of their 2019 Environmental Stewardship awards.

We aim to continue to make giving back to the community, and operating in a sustainable manner, focuses at our head office, and across Africa.

 

For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, Remuneration, and Expat Tax needs, email info@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.

Sources: [1], [2]. Image sources: RawFilm [1], [2].