Applicants had to be from a no-income household, meaning that the household has no regular income, and the applicant no steady employment for the last six months from the date of application. The only other criteria were that applicants had to be over the age of 18 and have completed Grade 10 English as well as be able to speak, read and write English.
Focusing specifically on appointing 250 applicants from little or no-income households, the campaign led to the appointment of 418 applicants.
“The Household Hope campaign is one example of Smollan’s commitment to creating meaningful employment and growth as well as having a social impact,” says Smollan CEO, David Smollan.
“People power our business and are core to our success and sustainability. Our people-focused goal is central to our 'Path to Purpose' as our employees are the pivot point to everything we do.”
He believes that business must change how it functions for it to be successful going forward. “For a business to deserve a place in society in the future, it cannot operate like it did in the past. In our vision, our future will not measure the quality of a business for its economic returns, but in the resources that it consumes and the impact that it has on the communities in which it operates.”
He adds that Smollan is unusual in that it is one of the few companies, globally, that bring people into the workplace straight out of school. “We’ve seen so many inspiring growth stories. We’ve seen a shelf-packer become a supervisor, a field manager, a regional manager, then running a structure, running a country and now running a region.”
“Together we’re building a business that changes lives,” he says.
