HR Awards
Best COVID-19 HR Initiative
KAS Group Asia (Kmart & Target Australia Sourcing)
COVID-19 relief package for team members
The dramatic spread of COVID-19 has disrupted lives, livelihoods, communities and businesses worldwide. The COVID-19 support provided by KAS Group Asia for its businesses in the impacted regions within Asia, especially in the locations with high COVID cases such as India and Bangladesh, has been an important deliverable to safeguard the Health and Safety of its team members (TMs). At the same time, the measures were essential in ensuring business continuity with the initiatives, arrangements and decisions taken.
The three main objectives of the COVID-19 relief package were to:
- Protect the health and well-being of KAS Group Asia’s people, their families, and stakeholders through emergency preparedness, heightening awareness and training.
- Maintain business activities as uninterrupted as possible through continuity planning and having proactive crisis management plans in place.
- Protect and strengthen long-term relationships with TMs, partners and the communities in which the Group operates.
Key services facilitated:
- Easy access to COVID-19 RT-PCR tests and pharmacy orders for team members and families via EAP provider.
- Delivery of supplies like pulse oximeters to team members on a need basis.
- 24/7 availability of safe, sanitised vehicles for movement of TMs, immediate family and delivery of supplies.
- Sharing of critical information to COVID resources through Office WhatsApp groups.
- COVID SOS Services: secured these services through one of our IT support partners, which consisted of information such as hospitals, medicines, and access to COVID beds with oxygen support in our partner facility.
- Oxygen concentrators were bought and made available for emergency use.
- TMs were given the flexibility to work from their hometown on a case-by-case basis.
- Provision of COVID-19 workplace vaccination programme tied to an IT support partner.
Other provisions made to support TMs’ health and well-being included policy issue and revisions so that the Company covered the cost incurred towards vaccination via the EAP provider or self-availed channels for team members and their immediate family members. In addition, half-day vaccination leave was provided (for both first and second jabs to all team members. The company also ensured that a COVID-19 leave policy was implemented to support TMs absence due to the COVID-19 impact.
Key paybacks of the initiatives:
- Business Resilience and Crisis Preparedness
- People Support and influencing positive Relationship building
- Workplace Health & Safety reinforcement
- Community Support and reinforcement
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
