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SABC Staff.55the number of interns takenfor training and practicalwork in the NewsdepartmentSABC Staff.The project will also assist in identifying the scarce skills that theSABC and the industry require.REMUNERATION AND REWARDDuring the year under review, HCS also implemented a holisticremuneration and benefits strategy which included:★ The implementation of a retention strategy, including skillstransfer.★ The approval of the Restraint of Trade Policy framework.★ The cascading of the SABC’s revitalised performancemanagement-linked incentive scheme to include middlemanagement.EMPLOYEE WELLNESSIn 2008, the SABC’s Employee Wellness Unit focused onstrengthening its service offering in partnership with OccupationalCare South Africa (“OCSA”). The following core services wereprovided: Wellness, Employee Assistance Programme (“EAP”),Primary Health Care (PHC) and Occupational Health Care (“OHC”).Statistical evidence indicates that of the total clinic attendance,1078 visits were for EAP, 3 441 for PHC and 592 for OHC.The year under review revealed a remarkable increase in the useof wellness services and in particular, voluntary counselling andtesting for HIV and Aids increased exponentially.A total of 515 employees participated in the HIV in-houseprogramme. Of the 515 participants, 60.3% participated involuntary counselling and testing (“VCT”) whilst 39.7% receivedcounselling only, as they indicated that they were not ready tobe tested. Of the 60.3% who participated in voluntary counsellingand testing (VCT), 7.39% tested positive for HIV. HIV contributedto high absenteeism largely due to opportunist diseases as well asto a loss of skills as we noted deaths related to HIV at the SABC.EMPLOYEE RELATIONSThe 2008/09 fiscal was a challenging year as far as the SABC’srelations with its workforce were concerned. This was as a resultof the implementation of transformational projects like SAP andDigital Terrestrial Television.The highlight of the year was the conclusion of the multi-termsalary agreement. Programmes geared at promoting goodemployment relations were also implemented in conjunction withthe Organisational Development (“OD”) Unit.ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (OD)The following was achieved by OD during the year under review:★ Employment Equity: The SABC Disability Strategy and Guidelineswere developed in line with the UN Charter of People withDisabilities. The implementation of the strategy focused on theeducation and the sensitisation of the workforce on the strategyin order to ensure a more disability-friendly environment anda better understanding of the needs of people with disabilities.1.95% of SABC staff are people with disabilities.★ Sexual Harassment: Also undertaken was a review of theorganisation’s Sexual Harassment Policy to ensure theunderstanding of rights and complaints processes by allemployees.★ Performance Management: To ensure the SABC’s effectivefulfillment of its mandate, the new revitalised PerformanceManagement System was successfully linked to an incentivescheme and extended to middle managers as well. Previously,only Executives were beneficiaries of this scheme. A process isunderway to align individual performance with organisationalperformance as outlined in the SABC’s Corporate Plan.STAFF RETENTIONCompetition for broadcasting industry skills intensified duringthe year under review, with skilled presenters and broadcastengineers being lost to competitors. At the same time, it proveddifficult to attract skills in the areas of broadcast engineering,TVOB, Economic desk editors and reporters, executive producers,IT and assignment editors.A key aspect of the SABC’s strategy to remain competitive is toretain scarce and critical skills. This is particularly important asthe emergence of new players has raised the premium attachedto highly sought-after skills.One of the key initiatives to retain critical skills within the SABChas been a large-scale project to identify and categorise theSABC’s skills. This initiative was also integrated into the retentionstrategy. The management of independent contractors however,continues to be a challenge, but a project is under way toreclassify and categorise the independent contractors in line withlegislation and specific SABC business requirements.SABC Annual Report 2008 / 200981