TDM BERHAD

(6265-P)			Staff Email
(6265-P)

Corporate Responsibities

Talent and Employee Development

Fun to Learn

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	Inaugural Exploring Vocation Protecting Natural Resources Cultivating Financial Prudence

We engage the surrounding communities through our community projects and strive to positively contribute to both the social and economic well being of those communities within which our business operate. We believe CR plays an important role in ensuring sustainable growth whilst enhancing corporate governance practices and observing ethical standards. All our employees and management in all our divisions are required to treat CR as an integral part of our business and practices. As outlined above, our CR strategies are broadly categorised into four areas:

MARKETPLACE

Our stakeholders/shareholders: business partners, suppliers and contractors expect to see sustainable growth, financial excellence and strong corporate governance. The Board and management strive to provide an optimal return on investment to our shareholders. In order to meet our stakeholders’ various expectations, we have undertaken various initiatives including:

Corporate Governance
Installation of a corporate governance and risk management system to actively manage the challenges faced by the Group’s businesses in the Plantation, Food and Healthcare divisions, by identifying and mitigating the risks.

Dividend Policy
TDM has adopted a dividend policy to provide sustainable dividend to shareholders consistent with the Group’s earnings growth. TDM will endeavor to pay a dividend of at least 30% of its consolidated annual net profit after taxation and minority interests, annually, subject to the availability of distributable reserves.

Land Bank
Increasing the Plantation Division’s land bank by acquiring 10,000 hectares of land in Kalimantan, Indonesia in 2007 to establish oil palm plantations for continued growth, followed by option to add another 30,000 hectares in 2008. Development work on the first 10,000 hectares commenced in 2007.

WORKPLACE

At TDM, we are focused on creating the education and promotion of professional conduct, providing a healthy and safe workplace free from discrimination, and establishing a balance between work and other aspects of life. In return, our people are equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to keep the company at the forefront of our businesses. At the plantations the Group provides infrastructure and accommodation for a productive lifestyle.

Occupational Safety and Health
The Group firmly believes and remains committed to the safety, health and quality of the environment in which we operate. To ensure the efficiency and safety of all operations within the Group, safety audits are carried out periodically to ensure full compliance with all the relevant legislative requirements. A comprehensive safety plan has been established with the twin objectives of “zero accidents” and public safety.

Employees' Well-Being
TDM is committed to the educational needs of its plantation community and supports kindergartens and nurseries set up to cater to the families who live in the surrounding estates areas. The company provides free transportation for employees children to and from schools. Contributions to housing, furniture and appliances, electricity, water and cooking gas ensure that all families enjoy basic amenities.

Recreation
Recreational and sporting competitions are organised to ensure a healthy and positive workforce. This also builds team spirit among all staff. Employee involvement in sports and recreational activities are under the purview of the various sports and recreational clubs led by TDM’s Kelab Sukan dan Kebajikan, an association established exclusively for employees. The club promotes strong social ties with the surrounding communities by organising various activities and programmes involving its members and government and nongovernmental organisations.

Social Gatherings
TDM Family Day and the Annual Dinner are among the events organised for our staff and their families. Staff interaction is promoted and bonds of friendship and camaraderie strengthened whilst instilling a sense of belonging by regularly bringing together everyone in the TDM family.

Training & Development
The Group recognises and encourages its employees’ desire for self-improvement, and ensures all training courses and investments in education are founded on clearly identified business needs and objectives. These objectives are matched with job requirements which are then weighed against carefully developed performance criteria. This approach ensures that all training is optimally configured and implemented to maximise the benefits to both the employee and the Group. Various programmes were organised throughout the year to upgrade the core competencies of our people while creating a talent pool for succession planning. The various programmes includes training in technical, management, communication, administrative and other soft skills.

Appreciating Loyalty
Acknowledging employee loyalty, Long Service Awards and special retirement awards are presented at the Annual Dinner to those reaching 15 years or more of service and to retiring staff. In addition, we provide an Umrah Scheme and its equivalent for non-Muslims, to qualified staff who have served the company for more than 20 years.

ENVIRONMENT

TDM has placed sustainable development as a priority in the Group’s business policy framework. Our environment is the water, air and earth where we live and work. The Plantation Division’s initiatives towards protecting the environment and complying with existing laws include a commitment to manage our investments by taking care of the condition of the soil, integrated pest management and minimising the use of agri-chemicals. Caring for the environment is part of a wider holistic approach which includes providing employment for our people, allocating economic resources for infrastructure, contributing to our plantation workers’ education and welfare and generally providing a livelihood for the surrounding communities who support us.

Soil Conservation
The planting of leguminous cover crops to minimise soil erosion is a standard Group practice. Following extensive trials, Mucuna bracteata, a shade tolerant legume has been adopted for commercial planting in all of the Group’s replanting programmes. This species of legume protects surface soil from erosion and recycles plant nutrients while enhancing the soil’s organic and moisture content. Terraces are constructed on hilly terrain and the vigorous Guatamala grass, Tripsacum luxam, planted along high risk erosion areas at stream embankments and near bridges.The use of oil palm chips in a single layer along planting rows binds the soil. Bio-compost and Empty Fruit Bunches mulch are applied to retain water as well as to substitute inorganic fertiliser. A ‘zero burning’ policy in our replanting programmes contributes towards a cleaner, greener environment whilst enhancing soil fertility by replenishing organic matter and improving the soil’s physical properties.

Integrated Pest Management
An Integrated Pest Management (“IPM”) policy involves the combination of a variety of methods of control to suppress pest populations below the economic injury-causing level. An eco-friendly alternative method opted for rat control is through the breeding of barn owl, Tyto Alba. Breeding boxes for the barn owl have been erected throughout the Group’s estates. For the control of leaf-eating pests, the Group adopts the trunk injection of insecticides wherever possible, in place of spraying, which has the advantage of preserving beneficial insects. An integral part of IPM is the planting of beneficial plants such as Cassia cobanensis, Antigonon leptopus, Euphorbia heterophylla and Turnera subulata to encourage the proliferation of natural enemies for the control of bagworms and nettle caterpillars and ensure ecological balance.

Weed Control
We control and optimally use chemical applications. The useefficiency of different fertilisers on different soil types and series vary from applications of 83% to below 40%. In addition, steps have been taken to minimise losses and maximise the recovery of applied nutrients by encouraging the use of mechanical fertiliser spreaders. We advocate the minimum use of herbicides to achieve equilibrium in weed and ground coverage when establishing a desirable vegetation species under oil palm, under our weed management policy.

Waste Reduction
We recycle large amounts of mill by-products, under our waste management policy, such as empty fruit bunches (“EFB”) and treated palm oil mill effluent (“PO ME”) back into the fields in compliance with Department of Environment (“DOE”) standards. The use of EF B as a recycled organic fertiliser will reduce dependence on chemical fertilisers and cut costs.

COMMUNITY

Local Communities and General Public
The Group is an active participant in the communities in which it operates, responding and assisting in critical social issues such as education, poverty eradication, infrastructure amenities development and healthcare.

The Plantation division continued its tradition in 2008 of participating in various social and community activities and programmes both directly and indirectly through numerous charitable organisations. These include being the major sponsor of sports teams and sports events, working with the authorities to set up schools within the estate areas and contributing to the surrounding communities.

Nurses and medical consultants from Kuantan Medical Centre (“KMC”), Kelana Jaya Medical Centre (“KJMC”) and Kuala Terengganu Specialist Hospital (“KTS”) actively participated in educating and serving the community through public health talks, community service programmes and free medical screenings. TDM, together with the healthcare professionals, organised and conducted community outreach programmes in the field of health screening, exhibitions and blood donation drives in support of the government’s healthy lifestyle campaign.