GRI 102-8, 102-40, 102-42, 102-43, 102-44

CDB team

GRI 102-8, 103-1, 103-2, 103-3

CDB’s diverse workforce comprised 1,758 team members as at 31 March 2021, of which 803 are permanent and 955 are contractual. In terms of gender, 27% represented female team members. A total of 368 new team members were recruited into the CDB family during the period under review. Furthermore, 12% of our team members have been with CDB for over 10 years, a testament to the trust and loyalty of our team members.

Service analysis of employees

No. of years	2020/21			2019/20			2018/19
	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total
Below 5 years	923	356	1,279	1006	350	1356	861	364	1225
6-10 years	215	90	305	195	83	278	175	77	252
11-15 years	119	20	139	112	19	131	105	15	120
16-20 years	23	4	27	16	4	20	13	4	17
Over 20 years	4	4	8	3	3	6	2	2	4

Diversity and inclusivity

GRI 401-3, 405-1, 406-1

CDB believes that a diverse workforce broadens perspectives and enhances resilience and performance. An anti-discrimination policy is in place to ensure that all team members are treated fairly without any bias towards race, religion, gender, age, and disability, amongst others.

All team members received regular performance and career development reviews during the reporting period. To ensure non-discrimination in employment, CDB has implemented gender-sensitive recruitment policies, including recruiting women, promoting women to managerial and executive positions, and welcoming women to the corporate Board of Directors.

474 team members were entitled to maternity leave and 20 team members availed of this facility during the year, while 90% of them have returned to work whilst the balance are still on leave. We also introduced a three day Paternity Leave process which was welcomed by all. CDB extends leave in the event of an illness or risk of complications and provides facilities and flexible working hours for its team members to take care of their children, and develops family-friendly facilities that go beyond compliance.

No incidents of discrimination were reported during the period under review.

GRI 405-2

Age analysis of employees

	2020/21		2019/20		2018/19
	Male (Nos.)	Female (Nos.)	Male (Nos.)	Female (Nos.)	Male (Nos.)	Female (Nos.)
19 - 24	430	209	518	196	467	207
25 -29	391	154	388	168	322	172
30 - 34	215	79	209	71	187	64
35 - 39	124	20	105	14	87	10
40 - 44	57	7	44	5	41	4
45 - 49	28	5	22	3	20	4
50 - 54	18	0	19	2	14	1
>55	21	0	27	0	18	0
Total	1284	474	1332	459	1156	462

Age analysis of employees – 2020/21

Gender analysis of employees

	Male	Female	Total
2020/21	1284	474
	Marketing - 702	Marketing - 85	1,758
	Operational - 582	Operational - 389
2019/20	1332	459	1791
2018/19	1156	462	1618
2017/18	1174	414	1588
2016/17	1075	364	1439
2015/16	851	316	1167
2014/15	856	280	1136

Gender analysis of employees – 2020/21

Employees by region

Province/Region	No of staff
	2020/21	2019/20	2018/19
Central	173	170	145
Eastern	42	46	37
North	36	43	35
North Central	62	61	48
North Western	198	194	186
Sabaragamuwa	173	175	152
Southern	126	128	123
Uva	69	74	60
Western	879	900	832
Total	1,758	1,791	1,618

Employees by region – 2020/21

Distribution by employment category

	2020/21		2019/20		2018/19
	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female
Front line	801	305	867	294	881	358
Junior management	227	107	205	105	73	47
Middle management	196	51	201	49	151	41
Managers	24	7	27	8	27	7
Senior management	23	3	19	2	16	2
Top management	13	1	13	1	14	1

Distribution by employment category – 2020/21

Ratio of basic salary and remuneration by employee category

Staff Category	2020/21		2019/20		2018/19
	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female
Front line	0.8	1	0.75	1	1.08	1
Junior management	0.9	1	0.94	1	1.03	1
Middle management	1.1	1	1.00	1	0.98	1
Managers	0.9	1	1.16	1	1.15	1
Senior management	1.2	1	0.98	1	0.97	1

Return to work and retention rate after parental leave – 2020/21

Description	2020/21	2019/20	2018/19	2017/18	2016/17
Number of employees who took maternity leave	20	22	20	18	16
Returned to work after maternity leave	18	17	20	16	16
Returned to work rate (%)	90	77.27	100	88.9	100

Two employees are yet to return back to work after Maternity leave.

Talent acquisition

GRI 202-2, 401-1

We provide our new recruits with comprehensive learning and development opportunities throughout their career at CDB. All recruitments to CDB are based on merit through fair and transparent competition without favouritism or discrimination. By taking raw talent at grassroot level we groom them, making them employable. During the period under review, 368 new recruits joined the CDB team, and 26% were women. Out of the 30 management trainees recruited during the year, 15 were from outside the Western province.

 

Talent acquisition strategy

Talent acquisition is an important aspect of CDB’s corporate strategy. We seek to recruit talent that matches our needs, values and ethics, and groom them to take on leadership positions within the Company. Our recruitment policy aims to make hiring more productive and facilitate organisational growth. We strive to empower youth by providing employment opportunities to school leavers and graduates; recruiting young talent has proven to be successful for CDB as we have groomed a workforce that has integrated seamlessly into our corporate culture and embraced the numerous opportunities offered in our workplace.

Our talent sourcing process

CDB gives first consideration to internal placements and promotions in the case of a vacancy, before looking to source external candidates. 100% of our senior management has been hired locally. We leverage digital media to communicate our job vacancies, ensuring effective reach to potential candidates. We also retain a candidate pool to fill vacancies with minimal delay and have established e-resource centres in leading universities to source graduates. Due to the ongoing pandemic, all interviews during 2020 were conducted virtually.

New hires based on age and gender

	2020/21		2019/20
	Male	Female	Male	Female
Under 30	261	96	354	111
	Marketing -145	Marketing -20
	Operational - 116	Operational - 76
30-50	11	0	23	1
	Marketing - 1	Marketing -
	Operational - 10	Operational -
Over 50	0	0	11	-
Total	272	96	388	112

New hires based on employment category

Staff category	2020/21		2019/20		2018/19
	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female
Front line	266	95	371	107	619	209
Junior management	5	1	7	3	9	5
Middle management	0	0	8	2	13	1
Managers	0	0	1	0	1	0
Senior management	1	0	0	0	1	0
Top management	0	0	1	0	0	0
Total	272	96	388	112	643	215

Recruitments by gender

New hires based on region

Province	2020/21 (Nos.)	2019/20 (Nos.)
Central	36	50
Eastern	9	18
North	9	11
North Central	12	23
North western	44	52
Sabaragamuwa	37	51
Southern	30	38
Uva	16	25
Western	175	232
Grand Total	368	500

New hires based on region – 2020/2021

Internships granted in 2020/2021

Total internships - 25

Management trainee hires-outside western province -15

Employee engagement

GRI 402-1

During the reporting period, CDB implemented a robust set of systems and processes to foster an environment which champions diversity and innovation and creates a productive atmosphere through new technologies, workspace management, and systems. One of the key activities that CDB undertakes is the annual strategic plan unveiling ceremony, which engages every team member by linking them to the overall objectives of the organisation, irrespective of their designation or area of work. Every team member is given a personalised letter at the beginning of the financial year.

Employee engagement is a strategic priority for CDB, which stems from the belief that a great customer experience is driven by a great employee experience. We strive to create an open, stress-free environment with an enhanced perception of employee wellness and satisfaction which leads to our team giving their best and being motivated to achieve organisational goals. An efficient communication process facilitates the smooth exchange of information between the Company and its team members. We maintain many channels of communication with our team members, including our intranet, emails, meetings, announcements, events, SMS, WhatsApp groups, and Microsoft Teams. With the ongoing pandemic, we increasingly relied on digital engagement platforms. We conduct a variety of team member engagement activities, which have been carried out throughout the years such as the sports day, Vesak day celebrations, Christmas carols, green club activities, and welfare club events etc.

Learning and development

GRI 404-1, 404-2

CDB continually invests in the professional and personal development and career progression of our team members, to make people employable and generate extraordinary results through ordinary people. We provide them with the learning opportunities to enhance their knowledge and skills necessary to sustain their performance.

We engage with educational institutions to develop and support programmes for employee training, employment skills and educational development, and enhancing training skills. We support team member education by providing an e-learning platform and library facilities and reimbursing their professional examination fees to encourage them to obtain extra qualifications or continue their education. All training is conducted through the CDB Academy.

Following the pandemic related lockdowns, we immediately converted most of our training programmes onto virtual mode, delivering 65% of training mainly through our Learning Management System. Through activity-based learning and discussions, we provided more engagement throughout the programmes. In particularly, our staff members were made aware of health precautions through the learning platform. Our aim is to convert more in-house physical learning onto online and digital modes, maintaining a physical to online ratio of 80:20. We have already converted most of the product related training to video-based learning modules and all evaluations to online. Our target is to convert over 80% of induction and sales orientation sessions onto online and make learning more engaging and attractive.

The following were the key focus areas of training during the year:

• Branch heads development programme – was developed to groom future leaders to managerial positions. The programme includes leadership development and channel development learning.
• Digital strategy workshops – Aligning with the next decade corporate strategy of driving towards a digital economy, we provide training to branch and zonal heads to align them with the corporate strategy and equip them with the needed knowledge.
• Robotic process automation practical workshops – To familiarise our staff with the new automated processes, particularly in driving credit card and lending business which would be converted to FlexiCap mobile App. Over 280 staff members were trained through this workshop during the financial year.
• Game changer programme – To groom high performing junior operational officers to move up to the next level in the corporate hierarchy. 84 % of the officers had successfully completed the training, and 45% of them are already assigned as second officers.
• Cross functional training – In line with our business continuity plan, operational and marketing officers were trained on branch operations to ensure uninterrupted services in the face of the pandemic.
• “Transformers” life skill development programme – To build value driven team members by providing the needed life skills to a target group.

During the period under review, CDB spent Rs. 2.4 Mn. on education reimbursements. Team members received an average of 20.6 hours of training with total investment in team member training and development reaching Rs. 6.29 Mn.

 

Training programmes conducted during 2020/21

Training Programme	No of Participants	Male	Female	Training Hours	Number of programmes
Branch Heads Development Program	17	17	0	850	11
Induction Program	163	120	43	906	3
Seminar, Conference & Workshops	39	32	7	371	8
CDB Digital Strategy	536	361	175	2,200	3
CDB Advance Sustainability Programme	34	33	1	102	2
Cross Functional Training Programme	36	0	36	1,440	1
Technical Skills Development Programme	697	623	74	4,394	8
Sales Orientation Program	55	54	1	249	2
Game Changer Program	37	6	31	925	5
License to Sell Programme	56	55	1	8,960	1
Management Trainee Program	16	12	4	7,680	1
Trainee Marathon	40	17	23	4,800	1
Transformers Programme	30	12	18	440	1
Process Automation Awareness Programme	466	403	63	2,264	4
Product Basket and Business Channel Approach	196	194	2	588	2

Average training hours by category

Average training hours by category	Front line	Junior management	Middle management	Managers	Senior management	Top management
2018/19	8.8	22.02	25.6	8.02	1.2	6.3
2019/20	31.60	9.92	14.50	13.74	9.19	15.43
2020/21	22.16	8.82	3.18	8.83	9.38	9.95

Average training hours per employee

Year	2015/16	2016/17	201718	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21
Average training hours per employee	54	46	41.24	44	39	20.6

 

CDB Academy

Performance management and succession planning

GRI 404-3

All CDB team members undergo regular appraisals as part of the Company’s performance management system, a key component of team member engagement that helps to align our team and operations with our corporate strategy. Performance management is a self evaluation done by all team members by themselves sticking to Key Results Areas (KRAs), which are systematically monitored by their respective supervisors and followed by one-to-one feedback sessions.

CDB has established Talent Pools as part of a robust succession planning process, to ensure a bench of internal candidates to fill leadership positions. This includes a selection of potential successors who are earmarked for key positions in the Organisation. There are two talent pools at CDB; managers and above and assistant managers and below. We groom them with the necessary skills and knowledge to take on higher levels of responsibility in the future.

During the year, a total of 355 team members were promoted to numerous positions. Of the total promotions, 30% were women.

Promotions granted

	2020/21		2019/20		2018/19
Category)	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female
Board of Directors	1	0	0	0	0	0
Senior management	10	3	6	0	9	2
Middle management	63	18	40	17	53	12
Junior Management	60	41	70	33	71	27
Front Line	115	44	170	75	58	54
Total	249	106	286	125	191	95
Percentage of total	70	30	70	30	67	33

Rewards and recognition

GRI 201-3, 401-2

CDB offers our team members fair, competitive, and attractive remuneration packages, as well as an extensive range of medical, financial, and educational benefits. We also offer performance-based rewards and other monetary and non-monetary benefits to incentivise our team members and will be introducing an instant recognition scheme in the future.

 

Medical and wellness

• Reimbursement of hospitalisation expenses of employees or a nominated family member through the Suwa Sampatha medical scheme is 17.5 Mn for 198 employees
• Outpatient medical reimbursements, including OPD medical expenses, spectacles cover, and special tests and scans for employees and their families
• Group life insurance cover with a death cover and critical illness cover for all CDB staff
• Medical tests for managerial level employees at regular intervals
• CDB sports teams – Encouraging and rewarding team members for demonstrating and enhancing their talents in sports
• A modern, fully equipped gymnasium provided free of charge for employees
• CDB Welfare Club – Addresses the welfare needs of employees

Financial assistance

• Staff loan schemes including vehicle loans, and personal loans at special concessionary interest rates and re imbursement of interest on housing loans,
• Fuel reimbursement, travelling, and accommodation reimbursement
• Death donation scheme in the event of the death of an immediate family member
• Productivity and profit-related bonuses
• Educational benefits
• Reimbursement of professional memberships and examination fees
• Honorarium for completion of professional exams and qualifications
• Staff library facility at the head office
• E-learning platform with integrated online services for staff members
• An exclusive CDB Toastmasters club affiliated with Toastmasters International

Decent working environment

GRI 102-41, 403-2, 403-9, 403-10, 407-1, 408-1, 409-1

CDB recognises that it has a moral obligation to provide a safe working environment and ensures the health and safety of our team members. The Company has taken steps to implement appropriate measures to secure the health and wellbeing of our team members during the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure that they remain engaged wherever they may be working from. In addition, the head office and branch premises are equipped with fire protection safeguards and all team members undergo emergency preparedness training. No accidents were reported within our business premises during the reporting period.

CDB implemented a comprehensive range of health and safety protocols to ensure the safety of our team and customers at our premises. Measures included maintaining physical distancing, temperature checks, shoe disinfectant rubber mats at entrances, transparent counter separators for customer interactions, providing personal protective equipment (PPE) for Security Officers, wash basins for regular hand washing, disinfecting branch premises, and providing private transportation facilities to team members. The Company made an investment of Rs. 15 Mn. to implement the necessary safety protocols, inclusive of customer counters.

The Company has a grievance handling policy in place to address grievances raised by team members. Our HR team is committed to solving any reported grievance as quickly as possible. We do not have collective bargaining agreements in the Company. As a responsible corporate citizen, CDB does not condone forced or child labour and does not engage with business partners who engage in such practices.

CDB provides healthcare options to its team, encourages healthy lifestyles, and provides decent working conditions. During the period under review, we further strengthened the safety of the staff by deploying first aid assistants for each floor of the head office and one assistant for each of our 70 outlets.

In collaboration with the Health and Wellness Unit of the University of Colombo, we launched the “Active Ninja” team member health and wellbeing educational programme to provide free medical services, resources, and information to raise awareness about health issues and available services. 108 team members received health screening during the reporting period.

Supporting our team members through the pandemic

CDB maintained clear, consistent communication with all team members during the COVID-19 pandemic. We shifted all meetings to virtual teleconferencing and provided regular updates on management decisions and health guidelines and raised awareness through our internal communication methods and on WhatsApp. We attended to all staff queries 24 hours a day, seven days a week to ensure that our team members remained psychologically fit to face the strain of the lockdown. We also encouraged the wellbeing of our team members by promoting how to keep fit while at home and being active by doing activities such as home gardening. We introduced work from home and flexi-timing to facilitate our team members shifting to working in the new normal and organised activities and events virtually. This included a virtual Christmas Carols programme. Our staff volunteered to provide essential dry rations to people affected by the pandemic, and all branches participated in the “Bringing a smile to a child” programme during Christmas.