THE RESEARCH

Basil Read Ltd

Basil Read Campus, 7 Romeo Street,

Boksburg

Tel: +27 (11) 418 6300

Website: www.basilread.co.za

Facts and figures:

Total staff employed (full-time): 1 532 Annual turnover in Rands: R6.2 billion for 2011 (RSA only)Ownership: Public and non-publicIndustry sector: ConstructionGeographic footprint: South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Australia, Peru, Zimbabwe, Zambia and DRCCore services/products offered: Construction, Mining, EngineeringB-BBEE scorecard rating: Level 3

Outstanding for:

– Significant investment in training– Support for the attainment of further qualifications– Competitive market-related salaries and benefits– Talent audit process that identifies and grows a strong people pipeline and measures our people benchstrength

2012/13

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THE INTERVIEW

Backed by six decades of construction expertise, Basil Read has become synonymous with excellence in the spheres of construction, engineering, mining and property development. Today the company stands out as a proud symbol of quality, service excellence and professional integrity both in South Africa and beyond its borders. As an organisation that has managed to remain ahead of the curve, cementing its legacy, Basil Read is proud of what it is able to offer its stakeholders.

A force in the industry Founded in 1952, Basil Read has grown steadily to become one of South Africa’s most prominent construction companies. Group CEO, Marius Heyns has seen the organisation realise a number of goals, including the rare distinction of becoming the first black-empowered construction company in South Africa as well as a R6.2 billion turnover in 2011. Basil Read’s long-term partnership with global construction group, Bouygues Travaux Publics SA, gives the company a competitive edge.

The organisation’s list of subsidiaries includes Newport Construction, SprayPave, Blasting and Excavating (B&E), BR-Tsima Construction (Pty) Ltd, Codevco, Roadcrete, TWP and TPS.P, as well as BR Matomo and the Gerolemou Construction/Mvela Phanda Construction Group. The com-pany has various departments which have been allocated the responsi bility of providing support to its Construction, Engineering, Mining and Development divisions throughout South Africa.

Basil Read is the first construction company in South Africa to achieve certification for its activities throughout all of its opera-ting divisions. As a result all of the organisation’s employees set high standards for themselves within their respective areas of expertise. In fact, high-quality performance is the only standard.

Quality construction When it comes to construction, Basil Read is a leader in

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innovation. The company’s ability to consistently produce quality design alternatives through new and clever construction techniques provides the organisation with its competitive edge. Basil Read’s safety procedures and environmental practice are always of the highest standard.

The company’s innovative designs and ethi-cal code of practice come together in its Green Project initiatives. The purpose of these projects is to develop energy-efficient methods which can be used in all Basil Read constructions. This is achieved by maximising the use of natural resources and therefore minimising pollution. Living conditions are improved with the imple-mentation of creativity and innova tive designs.

‘The group has a three-tiered business stra-tegy: international expansion, public-private partnerships and larger, more technically challenging projects. With such growth and diversification comes the need to develop and grow our skills base,’ reports Group CEO Marius Heyns.

As an organisation, Basil Read focuses on client relations, which is why every project receives the utmost attention to detail. Consistent delivery is achieved through integrity, hard work and commitment. The company has a number of outstanding features which contribute towards its success: design flexibility, cost-effective and

innovative solutions, uncompromising safety standards and, most importantly, the ability to deliver on technically challenging projects within the allocated time and budget.

The values of the company are evident in the way its staff conduct themselves. According to Erica Grace, Executive Director of HR, ‘People are proud to work for Basil Read and you can see this on any of our sites which are renowned for their neatness, cleanliness and organisation. Project managers run very tight ships and they expect absolute delivery and total commitment.’

Centres of excellenceThe Basil Read centres of excellence (remu-neration and reward, talent, development, E-serve (houses all transactional services), employee relations and operations), focus on remuneration and reward, ensuring competi-tive remuneration practices across the Group, consistency of agreements and employment practices, as well as talent management and development. The annual talent audit pro vides insight into the depth and spread of skills across the organisation and ensures a strong succes-sion pipeline. An online Performance Recog-nition System was designed in 2011 and is currently being rolled out across the business, with assessments having commenced in 2012. The Performance Recognition System focuses on Group, Divisional and individual deliverables

Marius Heyns, Group CeO erica Grace, executive director of HR

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and is aimed at driving business success, as well as complimenting and supporting the talent audit process.

Tasked with developing best-in-class pro cesses, staying up to date with new trends, analysing data, understanding trends and developing responses to new directions that the company chooses to undertake, the centres of excellence allow the company to better understand, manage and enhance its people capability.

With its significant diversity of business and technical disciplines, Basil Read is able to offer its staff a career rather than just a job, and the company’s focus has therefore been on building career maps which allow employees to better manage their careers.

Adjacent to the Basil Read Campus, the company’s new multi-function training centre will offer real-time training on site level (both virtually and through e-learning).

Benefits and SalariesEmployees at Basil Read receive competitive remuneration packages as well as impressive performance-based bonuses. ‘We track and benchmark our salaries with the aim of ranking in the top percentile of remunerators through both fixed and variable pay,’ says Grace.

E-serve is an employee and manager self-service system that the company has introduced with the intention of making a whole range of functions easier and more accessible. The E-serve team manages the entire system interface which not only looks after the transactional aspects of HR but also the e-learning and in particular the safety training and company induction which is important in our business as not every person who joins comes through to HO and all employees must be inducted. Employees now have the benefit of easier access to pay slips, leave applications, and necessary updates of their personal details, as well as an online performance management system.

‘Time flies when you’re having fun’‘I joined Basil Read in August 2010, with a

background in Manufacturing and Engineering.

The construction world is constantly changing

and this keeps you on your toes. It allows

for creative thinking, and because it is not

as structured as other industries, there is an

increased sense of both pressure and purpose

as you are able to see the immediate results of

the changes you implement, more so than in

a structured environment such as I have been

previously exposed to. It is true what they say

that time flies when you’re having fun, and this

has been my experience working at Basil Read.’

daphne Nyati is an HRBP and holds a National

diploma in HR and a GiBS Md.

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