Social
We want to positively affect the communities in which we operate through training and education, economic impacts, community support, and equal opportunity. Every action we take is designed to make a lasting impact. This approach builds trust and good relations, and it earns us our licence to operate.
Equal Opportunities
At RA, with a workforce of over 40 nationalities, diversity is our strength. We are committed to helping employees reach their full potential regardless of gender, disability, age, race, colour, nationality, sexual orientation, religion, or personal beliefs. Whilst we have found that the nature of our business (spending long periods away from home in locations which can be challenging with potential significant cultural barriers) can often discourage women from working with us, we actively work to increase female representation across our workforce. As well as this, we are committed to hiring locally – with our local labour participation being one of the foundations of our social ambitions.
Key Actions & Achievements
- Our local labour participation stands at 51%.
- We achieved our 2022 target of 15% female participation, up from 10% in 2019.
- Both our CEO and Chairman are female, and our female representation across the workforce in 2023 was 17%.
- In 2020, we ran a workshop to identify barriers preventing more women from joining us, so we could understand and actively work to increase female participation.
Employment Practices
RA takes pride in cultivating a workplace where our staff feel valued, supported, and proud to be a part of our team. Our main HR department is based in Dubai, with a regional office in Nairobi and local HR support is placed in each country of operation. Our commitment to our employees is not only a part of our reputation but also a part of who we are—a company that prioritises the well-being of its staff.
Key Actions & Achievements
- We conduct an annual Staff Engagement Survey to gain insights into areas where our staff feel we excel and identify areas for improvement. In 2023 the Likert Score for this survey was 76%. *
- After every Board meeting, we host a Town Hall, which is hosted by our Executive Management team. Before this meeting, we send out an anonymous questionnaire in which staff can ask any question they would like addressed during the session.
- We run our own medical clinics in both Somalia and South Sudan. Where we do not have in-house clinics, we ensure that our staff have adequate access to healthcare provisions. International staff also have medical evacuation cover.
- In 2021, we began a nurse wellness scheme in Juba, South Sudan. This scheme involves regular 15-minute check-in with RA nurses for each employee, examining their physical and mental well-being.
* The Likert scale is a rating system used to measure attitudes or opinions by asking respondents to indicate their level of agreement or disagreement with a series of statements
Economic Impact
Our way of helping to have a positive economic impact in the regions we operate involves trying to employ and purchase locally where we can. We know that employing locally contributes directly to the livelihoods of individuals and their families, as well as adding money into the local economy. We have been purchasing products and services locally where we can, as we are aware this can help boost economic growth of local communities through taxes and employment, and we always aspire to increase this amount of local procurement over the coming years.
Community Support
Operating in diverse locations with unique needs, RA embraces the principle of doing 'What we can. Where we are.’ to ensure we provide targeted assistance that truly benefits each community. We have provided a variety of support – whether that be delivering charitable initiatives or committing our own time and labour to community projects.
Key Actions & Achievements
- During the height of COVID-19, we aided marginalised communities, including donating 150,000 high-grade KN95 face masks to health workers in Somalia and South Sudan.
- We have supported an orphanage based in the Central African Republic with food donations, paying rent and utilities and supplying manpower to upgrade their facilities.
- We provide food donations to families in Somalia during Eid Al–Fitr.
- Our staff established a School Assistance Fund in Juba, South Sudan, donating over $6,000 and supporting 70 families in accessing education for their children.
- We determined in 2021 that each salary we pay in Somalia, South Sudan and the Central African Republic supports an average of 10 dependants. This means that our employment is impacting over 4,500 individuals in these three countries alone. We are in the process of re-running this survey in 2024.
Occupational Health & Safety
We take a proactive approach to addressing risks that may impact the health and well-being of our workforce. This relies on our health and safety management tool, MANGO. This cloud-based software platform enables real-time reporting, management, and recording of health and safety incidents, which is crucial for safeguarding our staff, particularly those in remote areas. Our health and safety management system is certified to ISO 45001:2018 international framework. We also ensure our staff understand health and safety risks and are equipped with the knowledge of how to maintain a safe work environment. Each employee receives an average of 30 hours of health, safety, and environment training annually.
Training skills and development
We want to nurture long-term and rewarding careers for every one of our employees. We try to promote from within as much as possible, recognising that this is powerful for retaining our corporate culture and local development. We believe in continuous employee development, challenging our workforce to learn new things and enhance their skills whilst they are with us. Our goal is not only to provide fulfilling careers for our current employees but also to actively shape the future generation of RA employees, which we are doing by increasing our internship opportunities for local communities.
Key Actions & Targets
- We have, on average, promoted 3.5% local staff each year for the last three years. we have now set a target of 5% per annum.
- We have a dedicated study room in Juba, South Sudan, and are building a similar facility in Mogadishu for our Somali employees.