Social and relationship capital

Maintaining key relationships

While our hotels are constructed with bricks and mortar, our people, and the relationships they build with others, are the foundation upon which we grow and prosper. CLHG therefore adopts an inclusive approach towards creating long-term shared value for our shareholders, guests, employees, suppliers, and the communities in which we operate.

We actively engage with our key stakeholders and value their constructive feedback. Our various methods of engagement include, among others, face-to-face interactions, formal and informal communication platforms, results presentations, reports and our annual general meetings. We also engage through our marketing campaigns, advertising, electronic media, newsletters and roadshows. CLHG regularly conducts surveys among our guests and employees with the aim of continually improving service delivery, guest experience and employee satisfaction. During the reporting period, we obtained positive and constructive employee feedback via the WOW App, with appropriate individual responses given to each contribution.

Stakeholder feedback is discussed regularly at board meetings and ties into strategic decision-making where relevant. The social and ethics committee provides oversight of the group's stakeholder engagement and is responsible for keeping the board abreast of arising material matters.

Guest feedback, typically operational in nature, is included in reports to Exco for its members to consider. Any material or recurring aspects are discussed and addressed by our operations team.

Further information regarding our stakeholder relationships is available throughout this report:

Addressing stakeholders' interests		Stakeholder engagement table
Interacting with our guests		Intellectual capital
Employee engagement		Human capital

Continuously making a difference

Corporate social investment (CSI) initiatives

CLHG runs an extensive corporate social responsibility programme aimed at helping people and the environment. Some are directed nationally by head office, while many others are managed regionally by each hotel general manager to benefit their local community. Over the past year, R3.5 million was donated to our various CSI initiatives.

Group initiatives

Guests booking to stay at any of the 62 CLHG hotels may choose a charity from our website and, on booking, a percentage is donated to the charity on behalf of our guests. We contribute R5 for every reservation made to the charity chosen. Our charity partners are Food and Trees for Africa and Hospice Palliative Care Association of South Africa. In addition, we run the Cuppa for CANSA initiative in our Road Lodge brand to support the CANSA Foundation.

While the group does not fundraise for charities directly, other than for our e-CSI and Cuppa for CANSA programmes, we utilise our hotel rooms and facilities as products or prizes for raising charitable funds.

Hotel initiatives

Each of our hotels adopts a local cause meaningful to their staff and partners. They will raise funds, refurbish buildings and generally assist with fulfilling specific needs of the selected cause. Hotels typically choose beneficiaries with which they or their staff already have a relationship. We encourage our people to spend time with our charities instead of simply writing out a cheque. CSI spend is budgeted in line with hotel performance and the BBBEE scorecard target of 1% of net profit after tax (which the group typically exceeds).

Sheets and towels that remain usable, but are no longer up to display standards, are donated to children's homes, hospitals and hospices.

Enterprise and supplier development

We assisted several businesses to grow and create much-needed employment opportunities through our innovative supplier development and support programmes. The group's preferential procurement framework continues to be a catalyst for identifying enterprise and supplier development beneficiaries. The assistance we offer includes loans, human resource capacity, and coaching.

Following the support received last year, our fresh produce suppliers purchased farmland north of Johannesburg and commenced small-scale farming operations. During the reporting period, we increased our loan to Urban Grown by R1 million to help expand their crops.

During the year, the group contributed in excess of R1.5 million in financial support to enterprise development (ED) beneficiaries and we continued identifying new, black-owned small, medium and micro-enterprises (SMMEs) for the supply chain. Our total managed procurement spend for the 2019 assessment was R642.8 million, with 75% being spent on BBBEE compliant suppliers, of which 13.4% was spent with qualifying small enterprises and 10.5% spent with exempt micro-enterprises.

Guest satisfaction

The group has established a strong base of loyal guests over the past 35 years. We strongly believe that the CLHG offering is truly differentiated by passionate people delivering kind and caring services to our guests.

Guest comments are received internally by email at info@clhg.com, and online through the Rate-Us guest questionnaire. External sources are posts on channels such as Hellopeter.com, TripAdvisor, Facebook and Twitter. All matters are attended to as soon as possible.

The Rate-Us questionnaire received approximately 14 400 responses during the year, yielding an average customer satisfaction score of 89% (2019: 88%). Using this instant feedback mechanism, our guests share their experiences directly, allowing us to give them more of what they want and address any concerns they may have. Concerns are generally operational in nature and handled at hotel level in accordance with established process and protocol. Most compliments received are for exceptional service and friendly staff.

We track market perception via regular brand tracking surveys and by monitoring brand sentiment across social media on a monthly basis.

Awards

Although achieving guest satisfaction is our primary reward, we do appreciate being acknowledged by other service providers.

The 2020 TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice (previously known as the Certificate of Excellence) for CLHG are:

• City Lodge Hotel Lynnwood
• City Lodge Hotel Two Rivers
• Courtyard Hotel Port Elizabeth
• Fairview Hotel

The group was also nominated for the Sunday Times 'Gen Next' award in the category 'Coolest Hotel Group'.