Incapacity policy, which covers temporary, long-term
and permanent disability processes
Funeral benefits, which allow employees to pay very
minimal amounts (five to eight rand—approximately
US$0.67 to US$1.07—per month) to receive coverage
for funeral costs.
Championing the Cause
One of the project’s major ongoing segments calls on volunteer employee “champions,” who act as peer educators.
Mr. Philip spent much of June and August of 2002 training the first volunteers, but has since turned the task over
to ICAS. He sees the 450 to 500 champions as frontline
ambassadors in the communications campaign. “They’re
really about spreading the word, giving information about
our policies and the treatment options available,” he says.
All champions commit to doing five presentations in the
bank as well as two in the community.
The materials in their toolkits are designed to be
educational and entertaining at the same time. For
Project Timeline
2001 2002
••
• Standard Bank’s • Deloitte & Touche com-board approves a pletes study on poten-policy guaranteeing tial impact of HIV and
equal treatment and AIDS on Standard
access to medical Bank’s revenues and
services to all workforce
employees in South • Employee well-being
Africa with life- program is launched
threatening diseases,
• Approximately 400 staff
including HIV
members volunteer for
and AIDS
new HIV and AIDS
training program
• Internal communications
campaigns introduced
2003
•
• Two employee studies
conducted, the latter
covering workers in 13
African countries
• Condom dispensers
installed in employee
bathrooms at bank facilities across South Africa
• “Know Your Status”
voluntary counseling
and testing project
launched
• Standard Bank joins
with three other banks
to conduct an HIV
prevalence study for
the banking sector in
South Africa
example, the bank commissioned satirist Pieter-Dirk Uys to make an educational video. “If you use
humor and use it well it can break through and get
people’s attention,” Mr. Philip says.
Media Blitz
With the champions in place, Mr. Philip turned his attention
to other internal communication channels to create a constant flow of educational information. “We really went for
saturation media coverage to support the project,” he says.
Educational posters, for example, featured Mr. Maree
and Mr. Cooper to emphasize support from the top echelon. The bank also taps into its corporate newsletter and
intranet and marked World AIDS Day in 2005 with special HIV videos on its weekly in-house TV program.
Mr. Philip must continually find ways to keep the
message fresh. “It’s ongoing,” he says. “I’ve had it on the
intranet, I’ve done mailings—you name it, I’ve done it.”
In a rather unconventional move, the company installed
free condom dispensers in both the men’s and women’s
2005
•
2004
•
• Health risk assessment
tool piloted at
Johannesburg head office
• Standard Bank prevalence study conducted
in Swaziland
2006
•
• Health risk assessment
tool rolled out across
South Africa
• Counseling services
launched in
Mozambique in August
and slated to roll out in
Swaziland and in Malawi
by fall with adaptations
for local differences
