Social

Our social values determine the decisions we make.We promote diversity, equality and inclusion by creating a cohesive organisational culture, respecting human rights throughout our business operations and upholding the importance of well-being across our value chain. We continuously take steps to ensure that our commitment to the people that we work and value is implemented for better social and economic outcomes.

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People

Our people are the pulse of this company. Every day we strive to create an engaging and safe place for our employees to operate productively and creatively. We respect human rights in our workplace, operations, supply chain and business relationships. We focus on recruitment and provide learning opportunities to helping them to grow their skills and careers. We continuously nurture an inclusive environment where our employees are empowered to contribute to the company’s success.

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We work hard to create a comprehensive working environment that enhances our employees’ professional competencies and personal effectiveness. We believe that investing in our employees is critical for the continued success of our Group. Our approach consists of the following key elements: Creating a Productive and Innovative Work Environment, Fostering Learning and Development, Building Career Growth and Succession Planning. We conduct regular training sessions to ensure that our employees are equipped with the right skills and knowledge. Our training programs cover technical skills, soft skills, leadership development, and compliance training. We also provide opportunities for external training and professional development. We have implemented a comprehensive performance appraisal system that provides regular feedback to our employees on their work performance. This system helps identify areas for improvement and development opportunities. We believe that continuous feedback and recognition are essential for employee motivation and engagement.
Safety

Everyone has the right to a safe and healthy work environment. At the very core of our corporate culture is the safety of our people and to that end, we foster an environment that promotes the well-being of our value chain. We place paramount importance on the safety of our employees and we protect our people, products and reputation from injury, illness and any other harm. At all times, we inculcate compliance with the regulatory requirements set by the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 (OSHA 1994).

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At Unitrade, we encourage our people to embrace that safety starts with them. Our culture that puts safety first enables us to identify, manage and avoid the safety hazards. We invest in solutions that aim to eliminate risks for our people, partners and the community. This culture is driven by leadership commitment under the oversight of the Executive Director. The Executive Director is the Board level representative that oversees Health and Safety. All subsidiaries under the Group have an Occupational Safety & Health (OSH) Coordinator and an OSH Committee that continuously designs new safety measures and improves existing processes. All incidents are reported to the management and Board. We encourage our employees to actively participate in our safety measures by engaging them in safety committees, training and inspections. The OSH-Coordinators will investigate all recordable incidents and serious near misses to identify the root cause and to ensure that all preventive measures are taken.

 

We measure our performance against our target of zero incidents and benchmarking it against industry standards. We have a process for investigating and reporting incidents. This includes identification of root causes and remedial action for immediate intervention and long term corrective measures. The report is designed to promote safety awareness and behaviour and comprehensive reporting to management about the action taken based on insights and observations. Unitrade has an Emergency Response Team that is competent, fully trained and qualified to provide immediate assistance during an emergency. We have established a detailed Crisis Management Plan to ensure that we are prepared for emergency scenarios. Lessons are taken from actual emergencies and drills. Our Emergency Response Team (ERT) comprises members from different business functions to ensure that both the office and warehouse are adequately protected. Annual drills and training programmes in both fire safety and first aid are conducted to translate theoretical lessons to practical skills.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

As a leading building materials supplier, we take pride in ensuring that the rights of our employees, stakeholders and community are protected. We have zero tolerance for discrimination and harassment. We champion diversity, equality and inclusion because the unique views and ideas of our people will help us to be a sustainable and competitive business. We are dedicated to maintaining a work environment free from discrimination based on sociodemographic factors such as age, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, or disabilities. We strive to create a workplace where everyone feels valued, appreciated and empowered.

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We recognise the benefits of having a diverse and inclusive workforce working together towards a shared goal. We inculcate a culture where different perspectives produce creativity in the way we work. We continuously strive to embed this holistic approach in our strategies. We offer equal opportunities in our hiring process. We realised that our ability to attract a diverse workforce has been one of the keys of our success. In our business, we expect our employees to trust one another, respect differences and treat each other professionally and with dignity. We also expect our employees to extend the same professionalism and respect to our suppliers, customers, contractors, the local community and others engaging with us. We do not tolerate any discrimination or harassment based on race, religion, gender, age, nationality or disability, amongst others. Our actions and decision are based on merit. As a member of the CEO Action Network, Unitrade is with the DEI Workstream. This emphasizes our strong commitment to building and retaining a workforce that is rich in diversity and promotes equality and inclusion. We know this is a business imperative to sustain a competitive edge.
Community Engagement

Volunteering is a vehicle for us to cultivate trust and long-term positive impact on the communities around us. To ensure that we deliver social value where it matters the most, we have a dedicated Corporate Social Responsibility team. We empower our employees to deliver projects that create meaningful partnerships and implement the right community investment where it matters most.

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We take our responsibility to the community as part of our business strategy in Building a Sustainable Tomorrow.
Our community initiatives focus on addressing critical needs in our communities.

  • Food Insecurity: Addressing hunger and nutrition challenges in our communities
  • Supporting Emergency Needs: Providing assistance during crisis situations and disasters
  • Promoting Healthy Lifestyle: Encouraging wellness and health awareness programs
  • Supporting Education: Investing in educational opportunities and development

We believe these engagements with our partners will provide a meaningful contribution to the community around us.
We ease the participation of our employees by providing them with Volunteer Leave, enabling them to actively contribute to community initiatives while maintaining work-life balance.

Respecting Human Rights

We believe that it is our fundamental duty to ensure that our employees, communities and those in our value chain are treated with dignity and respect. Guided by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations, we are committed to embedding respect for human rights throughout our business. We encourage everyone in our business to uphold these rights in their work everyday and provide employee training to raise awareness. In support of these efforts, we welcome collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders to keep us aware of our positive and negative impact on our employees, communities and value chain.

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We are committed to creating a comprehensive working environment that enhances both the professional competencies and personal effectiveness of our employees. We believe that investing in our people is critical to the continued success of our Group. Our approach focuses on three key areas:

  • Creating a Productive and Innovative Work Environment
  • Fostering Learning and Development
  • Building Career Growth and Succession Planning

To support this, we conduct regular training sessions covering technical skills, soft skills, leadership development, and compliance. Employees are also encouraged to pursue external training and professional development opportunities. In addition, we have established a comprehensive performance appraisal system that provides continuous feedback, identifies areas for improvement, and supports career development. We believe that consistent recognition and development opportunities are essential to maintaining employee motivation and engagement.