Industry rankings/listings:

• Aurecon has been adjudicated as one of South Africa's top empowered companies by the publication Impumelelo
• Aurecon was a finalist in the Basic & General Industries category at the Metropolitan Oliver Empowerment Awards in 2011

Industry awards:

• Winner, 2010 CESA/Glenrand M.I.B. Engineering Excellence Award for Mentoring Company of the Year

Aurecon Cares

In addition to donations made to numerous welfare, educational and community organisations on an annual basis, Aurecon is involved in other Corporate Social Investment (CSI) initiatives with a strong developmental approach, aimed primarily at Black individuals and communities. In order to encourage staff to become directly involved in community support and development projects, the company instituted the Aurecon Cares initiative. During the 2009/2010 FY, Aurecon contributed more than R400 000 in donations and a further R100 000 worth of employees' time to Aurecon Cares.

Skills development

In an economy characterised by enormous disparities in the labour market - the result of discrimination and inferior education - skills development is of great importance. Aurecon South Africa's comprehensive skills development plan complies with both the spirit and requirements of the South African Skills Development Act of 1998. The plan is submitted to the Construction Education and Training Authority (CETA) on an annual basis for approval. Importantly, approved quality assurance procedures are followed in the development and implementation of this plan and successful participants in Aurecon's skills development courses receive nationally recognised qualifications.

 Training

Aurecon views the development of its staff not as an optional extra but a necessity. Commercial training and educational support are provided to enable employees to advance according to their abilities, efforts and results.

Annually, Aurecon South Africa invests some R16m in training. These programmes encompass computer literacy, project management, strategic leadership, personnel management, business writing skills, secretarial advancement, speech craft and negotiation skills, construction skills, financial training, health and safety training, legal training, mentorship training, as well as marketing and presentation skills.

 Education

Education is also crucial to successful skills development. As such, Aurecon has been investing in its own in-house bursary programme for more than 30 years. Bursaries are awarded to deserving students for studies at various tertiary institutions in fields specifically related to the company's activities.

In the 2009/2010 FY, a total of 211 bursaries were awarded to new or existing bursars. Of these, 92 were awarded to Black learners. These bursaries represent a total investment in education of R6m annually.

Mentorship programme

Over and above meeting the requirements of the South African Employment Equity Act, Aurecon is also addressing the challenge of supporting staff throughout their career via a home grown mentoring programme. This programme provides an umbrella support network for bursary holders and engineers, technologists and technicians-in-training.

The effective mentoring of young professionals is a two-way process - it enriches the lives of both the mentor and the mentee. For a mentor, the programme provides the satisfaction of making a lifelong contribution to someone's goals and aspirations. For a mentee, participation in the programme provides the privilege of having your career shaped by the encouragement and advice of a respected mentor. Many mentees have testified that having a role model is of key importance in terms of advancing in a professional engineering consultancy.

The programme's efficacy was honoured at the Consulting Engineers South Africa's Engineering Excellence Awards in 2010, where Aurecon won the Mentoring Company of the Year award.

Preferential Procurement

Aurecon is committed to supporting growing Black enterprises by providing opportunities for these enterprises to increase their economic output. As a provider of professional services, Aurecon is not a capital-intensive operation, therefore the bulk of its procurement spend encompasses the procurement of intellectual capital from contract workers and/or sub-consultants on a project-to-project basis. Currently 119% of procurement spend is spent on Black suppliers and service providers.

Enterprise Development

Aurecon focuses on accelerating the development of organisations through business relationships that will facilitate operational sustainability. One such organisation is Aphane Consulting cc, which is 100% Black owned and provides consulting engineering services within the fields of civil and structural engineering and project management. Aurecon is also promoting the development of two other companies: Kamo Construction and Boitshoko Road Surfacing and Civil Works cc. They are also both 100% Black owned.

Aurecon's assistance to these three companies encompasses the mentoring and coaching of their staff. In the 2009/2010 FY, this assistance was worth an estimated R100 000, with plans to conduct further training during the 2010/2011.

Other enterprises that Aurecon has assisted during the past few years include:

• The Inimba Group, a Black woman-owned establishment in the infrastructure and property development business sector.
• Modimola Farm Enterprise, a farming cooperative located in the Modimola village in Mafikeng, North West Province.

Memberships: Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA)

Aurecon is committed to the principles of sustainable development - meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. We recognise the need to balance economic growth with social development and the protection of the environment. In demonstrating our commitment to these ideals, our corporate challenge is to embed sustainability as an integral part of our culture, our skills and our deliverables.

In this regard, Aurecon is also a silver founding member of the Green Building Council of SA (GBCSA). The GBCSA's mission is to promote, encourage and facilitate green building in the South African property and construction industries. Our sponsorship of the council's efforts confirms our support of this transformation in industry and affirms our commitment to playing a leading role in promoting environmentally sustainable development.

Aurecon has been verified as a Level 4 Contributor to BBBEE. With a procurement recognition level of 100 per cent, clients may claim any Aurecon fees incurred as BBBEE spend at the same level towards their own BBBEE certification. Furthermore, the group has been assessed as a Value Adding Vendor, which means that the fees claimed as BBBEE spend can further be enhanced by a factor of 1.25.