Our Business
Material matters that guide
our focus
Our Business
Material matters that guide our focus
Materiality determination process and material matters
At SANBS, identifying and understanding our material matters is essential to strengthening our foundation and advancing our journey toward long-term sustainability. By taking a proactive stance in addressing these critical issues, we ensure that our actions remain aligned with both our mission and the evolving needs of the communities we serve.
Material matters are those factors with the potential to significantly influence our ability to create value in the short-, medium- and long-term. They shape our strategic priorities, guide how we manage related risks and unlock the opportunities that arise from effectively responding to these challenges.
The process we follow to determine our material matters is as follows:
Identification
- Scan internal and external environments
- Engage key stakeholders
- Leverage all capitals (Financial, Intellectual, Manufactured, Human, Social and relationship, Natural)
Prioritisation
- Assess impact on value and sustainability
- Convene Exco and senior leadership
- Integrate Board Committee insights
Monitoring
- Exco oversight before Board submission
- Board’s ultimate oversight and approval
- Accountability via Board sub-committees
- Track progress with Balanced Scorecard KPIs
Changes to material matter priorities
While our material matter themes remain unchanged, their prioritisation has shifted with the operating context. The theme previously reported as Meeting Blood Demand has been retitled Donor-based Sustainability, reflecting how our concerted efforts delivered a five-year record high in blood collections, enabling us to meet demand, and signalling our renewed focus on sustaining the donor base for the future.
1. Access to highly specialised/portable
/scarce skills
Importance to SANBS in delivering value
Delivering on our purpose depends on a workforce equipped with the medical and technical expertise our sector demands. Under our Fit-for-Purpose Workplace and Workforce strategic pillar, we must retain these scarce skills through competitive retention strategies and tailored development programmes, while continuously upskilling our people to be future-fit.
Equally critical is establishing a robust talent pipeline and succession framework. By identifying high-potential employees early, offering clear dual-career pathways and formalising succession plans, we will mitigate future staffing gaps, ensure leadership continuity and promote from within wherever possible.
Risks to value creation
Key risks include inadequate succession planning, weak leadership support and HR resourcing, sector-wide skills shortages and loss of institutional knowledge, factors that collectively threaten our ability to secure, develop and retain the specialist expertise needed to execute our strategy.
Opportunities and strategic response to create value
Harmonise our HCM model (Solo2Symphony)
Moving from siloed, compliance-driven processes to a cohesive, purpose-led Human Capital model. Build on the Solo2Symphony journey to replace siloed, compliance-driven practices with a unified, purpose-led people strategy.
Strategic workforce planning to secure our future pipeline
Aligned with SANBS’ long-term sustainability goals, we are implementing a phased, skills-based role framework that establishes a shared “skills language,” enabling agile specialist deployment, facilitating internal mobility and focusing capability development on our top priorities.
Cultivate a strong talent pipeline
Expand graduate, intern and “Growing our Own” bursary programmes to secure early-career specialists in scarce disciplines, complemented by targeted development programmes such as the Supervisory Development Programme and RAD Academy, alongside dual-career pathways to accelerate internal mobility and retention.
Optimise attraction, onboarding and retention
Streamline recruitment via specialist agency partnerships, enhanced onboarding and self-service HR tools, implement competitive retention measures, tailored development plans, succession policies and wellness programmes, to safeguard institutional knowledge and maintain engagement.
Outlook for the year ahead
- Recognise and reward top performers with sponsored further-study opportunities
- Strengthen cross-functional collaboration through inter-divisional project teams
- Maintain a strong focus on employee health and wellness initiatives
- Continue workforce planning to anticipate retirements and secure a sustainable skills pipeline
- Advance succession planning to fill critical roles and preserve business-imperative competencies
- Roll out our dual-career pathways model
- Scale up the “Growing our Own” bursary programme
Top risks
Capitals impacted
Strategic priorities
