Debswana Diamond Company (Pty) Ltd wishes to clarify the situation regarding its scholarship programme following an erroneous report in the March 2-8, 2008 edition of the Sunday Standard headlined “Debswana loses top spot as Botswana’s highest payer”.
In the article, it is erroneously reported that Debswana has cancelled “the Group’s once venerated overseas study programme….(which) has meant that unlike in the past, Debswana no longer has a guaranteed flow of graduates coming into its employ…”. This statement is far from the truth.
The fact of the matter is that Debswana has not cancelled its scholarship programme but instead it has reviewed it in order to take into account available graduates with the right qualifications within the market, rather than continue to focus on fresh high school leavers. This approach has the benefit of shortening the development pipeline and reducing related costs.
The review was necessitated by a number of factors among them the fact that Government no longer offers scholarships to cater only for the needs of the civil service but now trains for the entire economy. This has resulted in a large pool of graduates in the country into which Debswana can tap to develop high level skills in particular technical disciplines.
DEBSWANA’S COMPETITIVE PAY STRUCTURE
Debswana also wishes to reiterate that following the completion of the restructuring, the process is now underway to implement staff retention strategies which have been approved by the Board. At no time did the Board turn down proposals by the Managing Director to enhance staff salaries for retention purposes. The Board had advised that the restructuring process be concluded first before the implementation of staff retention strategies.
Furthermore, a recent comprehensive Botswana Remuneration Report on a survey conducted by Hay Group (Pty) Ltd in conjunction with Tsa Badiri Consultancy has shown that Debswana is highly competitive in its remuneration packages, and is in a market position that is consistent with the Company’s remuneration strategy.
Debswana is committed to being a leading employer in the mining industry and would endeavour to offer competitive salary packages to its employees within the prescribed company policies and available resources.
Esther V Kanaimba
Group Public & Corporate Affairs Manager
Debswana Diamond Company
Gaborone
3 March 2008 |
