How to set your social compliance reporting up for success

Reporting on social compliance isn’t a once-a-year event; it’s the result of having effective social performance implementation practices in place, every day of the year.  

While you know how important this level of reporting scrutiny is for both internal and external stakeholders, it can be a lot for your team to manage without strong data governance processes.  

Many mining company department heads are faced with similar challenges when it comes to the intricacies of social compliance reporting. But with the stress of the South African reporting season behind us for another year, now is an opportune time to reflect on ways to enhance your department’s data governance processes and pave the way for more effective programs in the future. 

Here are three ways you can set your social compliance reporting up for success for the year ahead:  

1. Capture transactional data in an auditable framework 

Interpreting transactional procurement and human resources data for social compliance can pose significant challenges. With data scattered across various systems and formats, such as procurement or Human Resources (HR) databases, spreadsheets, and emails, the process becomes intricate and time-consuming.  

Ensuring you have a framework that can help you validate and audit your social compliance is paramount. 

Integrating a fit-for-purpose social compliance solution, such as Insite, into your technology stack can help your team proactively manage their social impact throughout the year and make strategic business decisions with confidence. Insite facilitates the automated gathering of social compliance data from diverse sources, such as payroll, procurement and training systems, and serves as a centralised repository for storing essential evidence such as digital housing surveys, supplier certificates, photos and mentorship agreements.  

With Insite, your team can access up-to-date transactional data in an auditable framework, supported by a robust portfolio of evidence. 

2. Track your compliance targets efficiently 

Companies are under increasing pressure to report on their social performance using various metrics. Departments often find themselves using the same data to create multiple reports tailored to different stakeholders and requirements. 

For this reason, departmental heads need to stay on top of their data’s alignment with compliance targets across various South African reporting requirements, such as Social and Labour Plans (SLP), Mining Charter Score Card (MCSC), and the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) report. This can include procurement teams monitoring how their buying behaviours impact Enterprise Supplier Development initiative KPIs, while human resources must track employee active population (EAP) statistics against their set employment targets. 

Implementing a social compliance solution that integrates with systems, like payroll and training, streamlines reporting on diversity, equity, and inclusion statistics. This enables easier reporting to company executives and provides strategic insights for the direction of your compliance initiatives.  

Insite seamlessly integrates with procurement and human resources systems, transforming spending and recruitment data into social performance insights. It allows for detailed progress reports and analysis of underlying data fields, facilitating confident decision-making. 

Additionally, Insite addresses MCSC, SLP, and B-BBEE reporting through three extension modules with pre-configured reports and dashboards. Insite’s core functionality enables easy access to social impact data and trend reports, to help build insights into how operations affect local communities and their workforce, such as recruitment practices, capacity-building programs, preferential procurement or enterprise and supplier development initiatives. 

3. Facilitate transparent communication with stakeholders 

Mining companies must showcase the successful implementation of their social commitments and foster trust within the local community to maintain their social licence to operate. This can be achieved through transparency and regular communication. Having a solution that translates your social performance data into graphs and infographics can help you clearly illustrate the impact of your department on the social progress of your company. 

Insite serves as a valuable tool in helping equip your team with a real-time, comprehensive view of your social compliance data. This empowers departments to seamlessly communicate their compliance and governance obligations to stakeholders throughout the year. The information in Insite can assist teams in developing stakeholder communication strategies, using accurate data and enabling transparent stakeholder relationships. 

How the right social compliance reporting solution can make a real difference  

Glean social performance insights using your raw data by integrating a fit-for-purpose social compliance solution with your existing human resources and procurement systems.  

Insite, acQuire’s social compliance solution designed for South African mining companies, provides a complete view of your social compliance data in a single tool, making it easier to communicate progress to stakeholders and reduce administrative tasks. 

With Insite, your team can streamline their reporting while also serving as a management tool for you to enhance your social performance initiatives within your company.

Find out how South African mining company, Sallies Industrial Minerals, simplified their social compliance reporting using Insite in our latest customer success story here.