Human capital

Our team

The total staff strength stood at 2,401 as of 31 March 2020 out of which 2,111 are permanent employees while 315 are probation, training, casual and contract employees. During the year, there were a total of 334 new recruits who joined our family. Our retention rate stood at 90.82% illustrating the trust and loyalty that our employees have placed on us.

One of our greatest assets is the accumulated knowledge of our experienced employees. We possess a workforce that consists of employees that have been with the Company for a longer period of time and who are the custodians of our corporate culture. They in turn mentor and educate our new recruits that leads to the continuation of our values and corporate culture.

The following offers a detailed statistical representation of our workforce in 2019/20:

Total workforce by employee category, gender, and age

Employee category	Gender	2019/20						2018/19
		Age analysis (years)					Total gender analysis Number	Age analysis (years)					Total gender analysis Number
		> 60	50-59	40-49	30-39	<= 29		> 60	50-59	40-49	30-39	<= 29
Senior Leadership	Male	1	13	19	1	–	34	2	11	19	2	–	34
	Female	–	1	1	–	–	2	–	1	1	–	–	2
Middle Managers	Male	–	6	31	4	–	41	–	–	–	–	–	–
	Female	–	–	2	1	–	3	–	–	–	–	–	–
Line Managers	Male	–	6	64	50	–	120	1	7	86	57	–	151
	Female	–	–	12	12	–	24	–	–	13	12	–	25
Executives	Male	1	8	67	297	18	391	1	7	60	275	29	372
	Female	–	3	41	52	6	102	–	1	36	52	4	93
Non-Executives	Male	10	5	31	407	690	1,143	1	1	26	349	754	1,131
	Female	2	–	5	149	283	439	1	1	4	118	296	420
Minor staff	Male	–	8	19	31	42	100	–	6	20	35	38	99
	Female	–	2	–	–	–	2	–	1	1	–	–	2
Total		14	52	292	1,004	1,039	2,401	6	36	266	900	1,121	2,329

We do not recruit employees on a temporary or part time basis. All recruits are subject to a period of probation with those who successfully complete this period being absorbed into permanent carder.

Employees composition by ethnicity

Ethnicity	2019/20
	Male	Female	Total	%
Sinhalese	1,608	535	2,143	89
Tamil	139	25	164	7
Muslim	82	12	94	4
Total	1,829	572	2,401	100

We possess a inclusive, diverse workforce that reflects the diversity of our customers from all geographical regions representing different ethnicities. Traditionally given the nature of the industry, our gender composition has been weighted towards male. However, we strive to improve our gender ratio and ethnicity composition by providing equal opportunities that does not discriminate based on gender, ethnicity, age, or physical disability. Since our employees come from all regions in Sri Lanka, we have established communication channels to ensure effective communication between the Head Office and the branches.

Regular methods of employee communication include:

• Intranet
• Staff circulars
• Internal memos
• Emails
• Policies
• Staff meetings

Recruitment

In order to have a competitive edge in a highly saturated sector, we ensure to attract and retain the best talent. Recruitment can be considered as the main challenge of the sector. To overcome this challenge we have in place a stringent recruitment policy which prioritises internal candidates for promotions and vacancies in the Company. We also hire recruits with less experience and train them to be leaders through our comprehensive professional development programmes. We also conduct comprehensive background checks on our new recruits which determines whether they possess values that is aligned with our culture and values. The HR department identifies potential vacancies and gaps in expertise in all departments by adhering to Company strategy and the corporate structure. Succession planning was undertaken for key roles of branch operations such as Branch Manager, Second Officer. This gives the HR department a clear vision for the roles that are required to maintain a leadership position within the industry. We recruit young and energetic employees that have the potential to move up the hierarchy and be an asset to the Company for a long period of time. During the year, there were 334 new recruits who joined our ranks.

Continuous professional development

Continuous professional development is paramount to our success in a highly competitive environment. We realise that employee training opportunities are essential to our growth and it provides a rewarding working environment to our team. The importance of the training profile to the Company is further evidenced by the encouragement given to employees to undertake additional education and training. Employees are reimbursed their costs when they obtain professional accreditation and certification from recognised institutes. Employees have access to information at their fingertips due to the internal hub regarding policies and procedures in their relevant fields as well as learning about other fields. All employees recorded 20,955 presented training hours in 2019/20 and the Company invested Rs. 3.38 million on training and development during the year.

During the year, the Company increased number of internal training hours to develop frontline employees on new and existing products, processes and procedures. Cross functional training and job enlargement was initiated for recovery, risk and control and marketing staff.

Employee training and development covers a range of subjects including:

• Product knowledge
• Systems and processes
• Operations
• Finance
• ICT and documentation skills
• Marketing investigation and analysis
• Problem solving and decision-making
• Credit and customer evaluation
• Proposal preparation
• Office management and staff-handling
• Leadership skills and decision-making
• Presentation and communication skills
• Customer service

Average training hours per employee – by position

Category	Gender	Training programmes (Nos.)				Total staff trained (Nos.)	Gender-wise proportion of received training %	Average (hours)	Training hours
		Internal	External	Overseas	Total
Senior Leadership	Male	1	8	1	10	22	91.67	10.75	236.50
	Female	–	2	–	2	2	8.33	14.00	28.00
Middle Managers	Male	2	4	–	6	35	92.11	6.54	229.00
	Female	1	2	–	3	3	7.89	11.33	34.00
Line Managers	Male	5	12	–	17	97	87.39	6.84	663.00
	Female	1	10	–	11	14	12.61	9.96	139.50
Executives	Male	10	10	–	20	469	94.37	7.60	3,563.00
	Female	7	8	–	15	28	5.63	8.23	230.50
Non-Executives	Male	10	3	–	13	1,334	91.00	9.98	13,318.50
	Female	5	7	–	12	132	9.00	15.34	2,025.00
Minor staff	Male	2	–	–	2	21	100.00	23.24	488.00
	Female	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Total	Male	30	37	1	68	1,978	91.70	9.35	18,498.00
	Female	14	29	–	43	179	8.30	13.73	2,457.00
Grand total	Male + Female	44	66	1	111	2,157	100.00	9.71	20,955.00

Employee turnover

We have created a positive, healthy, and safe working environment which is key to employee retention, reducing absenteeism, and increasing productivity. However, being in a very competitive industry, staff turnover is a reality that we grapple with.

The employee turnover rate in the year under review stood at 9.18% and shows a decrease from 11.15% reported in the previous year.

Employee turnover by gender and province

	2019/20			2018/19
Province	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total
Western Province	73	26	99	80	46	126
Central Province	20	2	22	16	2	18
Eastern Province	13	3	16	21	4	25
Northern Province	11	1	12	9	3	12
Southern Province	17	4	21	17	3	20
Sabaragamuwa Province	9	1	10	7	2	9
Uva Province	7	2	9	11	1	12
North Central Province	11	2	13	4	2	6
North Western Province	14	1	15	16	2	18
Total	175	42	217	181	65	246

Employee retention following maternity leave

The number of persons who returned to work after taking maternity leave increased by 10.81% in 2019/20. Return to work rate after maternity leave and retention rate for the year 2019/20 are 85.42% and 65.96% respectively.

Description	2019/20	2018/19
Entitled for maternity leave	572	542
On maternity leave	48	47
Returned to work after maternity leave	41	37
Employed for the last 12 months after returning from maternity leave	31	23

Rewards and recognition

In addition to offering our employees fair, competitive, and attractive packages, we also offer performance-based rewards and other monetary and non-monetary benefits to keep them engaged. Our rewards scheme plays a vital role in employee retention.

We ensure that all employee

EPF, ETF, and gratuity payments are made on time and are in line with relevant laws and regulations. People’s Leasing contributes 12% to EPF, 3% to ETF while employees contribute 8% to EPF.

Employees with five or more years of service under their belts are paid a gratuity, on their retirement or resignation, equivalent to half a month’s salary for each completed year of service. Branch competitions are arranged through which qualifying branch employees are rewarded.

During the year, we further strengthened the “pay for performance” culture by implementing new allowance scheme for marketing staff based on their individual target achievement.

All female employees are offered maternity leave in line with the provisions in the Shop and Office Employees Act.

Additional benefits made available through our welfare scheme include –

• Concessionary loan scheme for the purchase of vehicles for relevant categories
• A concessionary housing loan scheme
• Reimbursements on the cost of mobile phones
• Death benefits to employees and their immediate family including spouse’s family
• Reimbursement of exam fees
• Concessionary rates for holiday bungalows in Maradana, Maharagama and Bandarawela

We also provide a range of insurance benefits for permanent employees and advocates a healthy lifestyle, providing the following benefits:

• Medical, accident, and life insurance
• Critical illness fund for illnesses not covered by medical insurance
• Fully-equipped gymnasium at the Head Office
• Awareness programmes and training on health, nutrition, and preventive care of serious diseases

Employee benefits

Key benefits	2019/20 Rs. million	2018/19 Rs. million
Salaries and bonus	2,443.61	2,209.74
EPF	182.75	163.15
ETF	45.67	40.78
Overtime	50.38	41.99
Leave encashment	60.67	51.43
Allowances and incentives	652.58	690.61
Casual wages	5.11	4.00
Medical insurance	149.33	145.88
Gratuity	111.28	90.59
Total	3,701.38	3,438.17

Initiatives in 2019/20

During the year, we focused on following initiatives to further motivate our people:

• Target based incentives directly linked to the target and reviewed monthly instead of three months
• Recruitment: priority was always given to internal employees. Almost all the key roles were filled with internal employees
• Phase 1, Job Descriptions (JD) for the corporate management was initiated
• Succession planning for key roles of Branch operations (Manager, Second Officer)
• Training for Managers, second officers of branch management, on products, processes/procedures
• Provide required product and service training support

Employee health and safety

Taking care of our employees’ health and safety is a key focus at People’s Leasing. A range of initiatives are already in place to ensure the best conditions for a positive working environment. People’s Leasing commenced a doctor channelling service to employees free of charge. The Doctor visits the Company once a week from 8am to 12 noon. While the Company recorded one road accident during work hours, lost days due to this accident totalled 10, down from 29 in the previous year.

For the year ended	2019/20	2018/19
Road accidents during work hours	1	2
Lost days recorded due to these accidents	10	29

During the Covid-19 pandemic we took rigorous measures to ensure the health and safety of our employees as per the government regulations. Listed below are some of the measures implemented during the lockdown period:

• Work from home Rotation basis
• All safety measures were introduced at the workplace Eg: Sanitising mechanism
• Transport facility for those who use public transport
• Strictly following the Government and health, transport authorities guidelines

Work-life balance

We focus on work-life balance which allows our employees to be more engaged which leads to employee satisfaction and retention. We assist our employees by offering such opportunities as sponsoring tours, and flexible working arrangements. The following steps were taken this year to promote work-life balance:

• Offer comprehensive insurance coverage
• Adopted safety and preventative measures to reduce occupational injuries and illnesses
• Routinely conduct sporting events and participate in externally sponsored events
• Fully-equipped gymnasium with training support at the head office

Employee grievance handling

We have a mechanism in place to handle grievances at their initial stage to prevent them from escalating further. Employees can report their grievances anonymously or through our open-door policy to any member of the Management. The HR Department is equipped to handle any such grievances and the Company does not tolerate unethical or unlawful behaviour from any of its employees. There is a Disciplinary Code in place and individual behaviour inconsistent with the stipulated standards in the Code is dealt accordingly following a transparent process.

Future outlook

We will continue to make improvements in our HR practices to be on par with the best practices in the industry. For the next foreseeable future, the principal issue is dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic and safeguarding our employees by following all the necessary health and safety measures and adhering to all the necessary regulations issued by authorities. Further, we are hoping to encourage online learning in the wake of the health restrictions. The HR Department will implement new methods of recruitment such as visiting career fairs and creating links with local universities and professional institutes. We also have close liaisons with national institutions and federations for knowledge sharing about the best HR practices and statutory compliances. Following the strategic direction of the Company, we will create a performance-based culture across People’s Leasing using HR analytics to provide valuable insight for business decisions.

• During next three years we will focus on the following to motivate the employees

  – Phase 2, JD for the middle level managers

  – Phase 3, JD for all head office staff

  – Identification of critical roles

  – Focused training programmes to support the strategic objectives of the Company

  – Create a talent pool for the Branch Management Vacancies (Internal and external)

  – Revisit/Develop Job Descriptions (JDs) for head office staff

  – Develop KPIs for head office staff

  – Build a competent, engaged and motivated team

  – Create a culture of HR analytics

  – Leadership Development programme for HODs/Branch Management