This section covering the Marketplace and Workplace, highlights the continual measures to support the economic sustainability of our operations by giving due attention to our suppliers and customers, and our employees respectively. We have strengthened our policies governing our business dealings, conduct of employees and business continuity management. These policies pertaining to group procurement, vendor code of conduct, code of business ethics and conduct (“CoBEC”), integrity and fraud, competition, whistleblowing and sexual harassment, are disseminated to all Lion Group’s companies and employees as well as uploaded onto the Group’s corporate website for public viewing.

Lion Group maintains zero-tolerance for bribery, fraud and corruption, and has adopted and implemented its Anti-Bribery and Corruption Policy (“ABC Policy”) which abides by the rules, laws and regulations of the countries we are operating in. The ABC Policy has incorporated more comprehensive issues and a robust set of internal standards and procedures to further enhance the Group’s core principles in the existing CoBEC, and is available on Lion Group’s website.

Marketplace

We are committed to upholding ethical and responsible marketplace practices by practising transparent business conduct and operating our business with integrity and a commitment to excellence to improve our competitiveness and foster long-term relations with our stakeholders.

• Product Responsibility
  We are committed to providing products that meet regulatory, safety and health and quality standards to fulfil customers’ requirements and ensure that our suppliers share the same philosophy. The quality management system we have in place is designed to monitor and control the processes from planning and development to production and after-sales service in order to comply with all the stipulated standards.
• Customer Satisfaction
  Customer support and loyalty is critical to the success of our business. Hence, we strive to put customers at the forefront of everything we do whilst we aim to provide quality products and premium, value-adding services to our customers. Product knowledge and service skills training are part of our routine training programmes to ensure that our employees provide excellent quality services to our customers. We place high priority on customer engagement and interaction with various customer feedback channels to further improve on our customer service and achieving customer satisfaction.
• Supply Chain and Responsible Procurement Practices
  Our procurement department ensures that we engage in responsible procurement practices which is reinforced with the requirement for all our active registered vendors to periodically acknowledge their commitment to the Code of Conduct. Vendors’ qualification/credentials are carefully vetted before being admitted into our list of qualified suppliers. Our initiatives start with the supplier selection process incorporating sustainability considerations such as fair labour practices and safety requirements. Compliance and commitment by vendors and suppliers to conduct business with us in a transparent manner is sought through performing audits and making continuous improvements in our procurement processes and policies.
• Vendor Code of Conduct
  This serves as a guideline prescribing a set of principles to be adhered by all vendors and to inform our vendors of their role and contribution as a key business partner and on the need to comply with all rules and regulations including health and safety standards, and labour standards; avoid conflict of interest, conserve the environment, and notify the Group of any breaches or non-conformance.
• Employee Code of Conduct
  We apprise our employees on Lion Group’s CoBEC and ABC policy, and the need to conduct business at the highest ethical standards. We do not tolerate bribery and corrupt practices or behaviours that may bring disrepute to Lion Group or its employees. Above all, we expect honesty, integrity and respect to be exhibited in our dealings and interactions within and outside the Group. To ensure that all executive employees understand and uphold high ethical standards of conduct, they are required to submit their Conflict of Interest and Compliance Declaration annually.
• Whistleblower Policy
  We are committed to conducting our affairs in an ethical, responsible and transparent manner. To this effect, we encourage our stakeholders to disclose suspected wrongdoings which may involve or concern our Group’s directors, management, employees, performance, relations with other stakeholders, assets and reputation. Whistleblowers will be accorded protection of their identity unless the disclosure is required by any applicable law.
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  All concerns may be communicated to Lion Group Chief Internal Auditor via telephone call, mail, email and/or facsimile, as follows:
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  Tel/Fax No. : 03-21423142
  Email : whistleblower@lion.com.my
  Address : Level 12, Lion Office Tower, No. 1 Jalan Nagasari, 50200 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan
• System Efficiency
  We strive to achieve the highest efficiency in our operating systems and technology to support our daily business activities across our company; where our IT resources provide daily support services to ensure our systems run smoothly and are risk-protected. We also ensure that the connectivity with our subsidiaries and business partners through emails, mobile and web-based communications are maintained and risk-protected at all times. Continuous constructive feedbacks and suggestions have enabled our IT resources to improve and fine-tune business processes and upgrade specific IT facilities to provide quality and timely services.
• Privacy and Data Protection
  We continuously strive to ensure the confidentiality and protection of customer and stakeholders’ information and documents based on requirements under the Personal Data Protection Act 2010. Information on our vendors, suppliers and customers is strictly private and confidential, and is treated as such at all times.

Workplace

We recognise our employees as key assets, hence managing talent at all levels is a key priority. Our Human Resource (HR) policies and guidelines comply with all relevant legislations and have been designed to ensure that our workplace embraces diversity, inclusion, equality and innovation. As part of our commitment to maintain our employee diversity, we have an open-door policy with regard to persons with disabilities.

Lion Group’s efforts to attract, develop, motivate and retain its employees are pursued within the ambit of 6 HR strategic focus areas :

• Talent Attraction and Management
  We assess applicants for employment in our companies based on objective criteria regardless of theirethnic background, gender, age, religion, disability or any factors which do not have bearing on job requirements. Lion-Parkson Foundation scholarship programme builds a healthy pipeline of talent for our businesses. We take stock of talent requirements for our businesses to allow high-potential employees the opportunities to be developed and progressed to senior and challenging roles at the Company and Group level. This will also serve to retain and cross-pollinate key talents within the Group.
• Capability Building
  We provide learning and development opportunities in respect of technical, functional and behaviour competencies for our employees in line with their job requirements and career aspirations. Learning interventions are delivered on-the-job, via formal class training or online and continuing education. We encourage and support employees to participate in upskilling courses related to their work scope and obtain skill certification for wider job coverage.
• Rewards and Performance
  We review and implement remuneration practices that are externally competitive and internally fair and equitable. Our reward process is closely linked to performance management process; our employees can expect to receive salary adjustments and bonus awards which directly relate to their performance and contributions.
• HR Operational Excellence
  We continue to streamline, standardise and simplify our HR policies and processes in line with the requirements of a global organisation. We trust that with the Group’s LionPeople Global HR Information System (HRIS), it will take our people management agenda to the next level.
• Safety & Health in the Workplace
  The safety and health of our employees is vital to our businesses, hence we subscribes to the safety, health and environmental regulations with a systematic approach reinforced by constant training and monitoring to ensure the safety and well-being of our employees. Workplace incidents are taken seriously; they are investigated and appropriate actions taken to prevent recurrence.
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  In compliance with legal requirements such as the Occupational Safety and Health Act, Factories and Machineries Act, Electricity Act 1990, Gas and other related regulations, we have in place our Safety and Health Standard Operating Procedures. Compliance with the safe work practices stated in these standard operating procedures is the primary responsibility of all employees, contractors and consultants performing their duties at our premises.
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  We have established the Emergency Response Team (ERT) in our plants to prepare for and respond to any emergency incident, such as occupational incidents, natural disasters or interruption of business operations. Our ERT members are well trained on safety awareness and preparedness in everyday situations. Training is organized regularly for the members on the use of various types of fire extinguishers and hose reel, first aid i.e. CPR and injury management, shutdown and evacuation procedures. Safety campaigns are held to remind and refresh the staff on safety awareness and related issues.
• Employee Engagement and Work-Life Balance
  We espouse the requirement to engage and listen to our employees in order to create a conducive, happy and productive workplace. We create forums to enable effective employee engagement such as town-halls, “lunch & learn”, festive open houses, sports and recreation activities/pursuits. Such engagements address both work and social requirements of our employees leading to a healthy work-life balance which proves to be an important factor for recruitment and retention of employees. We strive to provide a working environment that promotes work-life balance for its employees comprising the above elements as well as organising various healthy lifestyle campaigns and programmes to promote healthier living.

We remain steadfast in our commitment to sustainable development and seeks to operate in a way that minimizes environmental harm. We seek to uphold environmental concerns with emphasis on application of new technologies and industry best practices that are environmentally friendly, optimise the use of resources and promote energy efficiency and we are committed in taking proactive measures to preserve the environment for future generations whilst meeting the needs of our stakeholders.

• Efficient Energy & Water Consumption and Waste Management
  Our manufacturing plants are certified under ISO14001 Environmental Management System and Energy Commission Act 2001 (Energy Management Practices) which is testament of our commitment to prevention of pollution, continual improvement in overall environmental performance, and compliance with all applicable statutory and regulatory requirements. This includes managing and reducing the impacts arising from operational activities over which we have direct control such as energy and water consumption and wastes management.
• Promoting Green and Environmental Friendly Products
  We constantly explore greener alternatives in our day-to-day operations such as introduction of more efficient and energy-saving products and processes, solar photovoltaic technology and 5S management techniques in our operations. To support our policy commitment, various environmental awareness activities such as Gotong Royong by the staff to clean the premises and surroundings were carried out.
• Digitisation to Reduce Use of Paper
  We acknowledge that the environmental impact of paper usage is significant and need to avoid unnecessary paper consumption and waste generation. We are encouraging greater use of digitisation and the usage of electronic means such as email, internet, WhatsApp and other social media platform as efficient alternative modes of communication with our suppliers and customers, and including intranet for our day-to-day internal operations, and to use recycled paper for printing as far as possible.

In keeping with its philosophy of giving back to the community, we focus on helping to uplift the community via Lion-Parkson Foundation (the “Foundation”) established in 1990 by Lion Group of Companies of which our group is a member. Our companies within our company are also supporting the local community wherein they operate by participating in charity programmes and fundraising drives to assist those in need.

Empowerment through Education

Lion-Parkson Foundation organises fundraising activities for charity and provides educational opportunities for the less fortunate. The true sustainability of our project lies in the on-going transformation of peoples’ lives through the benefits of education. We believe in Empowerment through Education; that education is the catalyst to bring about sustainable change for the better for our future generations.

Annually, the Foundation awards scholarships to undergraduates in local universities. The selected scholars undergo training in soft skills such as problem-solving and communication skills as well as internships at Lion Group companies providing our steel mills during their semester breaks to prepare them for working in the corporate world. Our company contributes to Taman Klang Residents Association’s annual Education Program.

For more information, please click www.lion.com.my or www.lion-parksonfoundation.com.my