"The 'Household Hope' campaign is one example of Smollan's commitment to creating meaningful employment and growth, as well as having a social impact," says Smollan CEO, David Smollan.

Run internally at the company, the campaign asked Smollan employees to help identify households in their communities in dire need of employment. Applicants had to be from a no income household, meaning that the household has no regular income and that the applicant had no steady employment for the last six months from the date of application.

The only other criteria were that:
  • applicants had to be over the age of 18 
  • applicants had to have completed grade 10 English, and
  • applicants were able to speak, read and write English.
The campaign ended in August 2019 and is, according to the company, an extension of Smollan's social impact initiatives that look at ways to offer more people across South Africa, and the world, meaningful employment.

It ties in with Smollan's 'path to purpose', which is its journey to reform the business to be more driven by purpose in all respects, with a focus on improving lives and reducing its environmental impact.

The team at Smollan says that people are at its core. The company says it strives to:
  • create better employment
  • develop its people
  • create opportunity
  • enhance lives, and
  • create services that have a positive impact on communities and organisations that support those in need.
"People power our business and are the core of our success and sustainability. Our people-focused goal is central to our 'Path to Purpose' as our employees are the pivot point to everything we do," says Smollan.

Smollan says that he believes that businesses must change how they function in order to be successful going forward. "For a business to deserve a place in society in the future, it cannot operate like it did in the past. In our vision, our future will not measure the quality of a business for its economic returns, but in the resources that it consumes and the impact that it has on the communities in which it operates," Smollan says. 

Smollan adds that the company is unusual in that it is one of the few companies globally that bring people into the workplace straight out of school. "We've seen so many inspiring growth stories. We've seen a shelf packer become a supervisor, a field manager, a regional manager — running a structure, running a country and now running a region. Together, we're building a business that changes lives," he concludes.

*No income household is here defined as:
— no regular income within the household
— total household income of less than R2000 pm, and
— no steady employment for the last six months from date of application.

For more information, visit www.smollan.com. You can also follow Smollan on Instagram.