Strategic Report 01 Strategy 02 03 04 Memoranda of Understanding (“MoU”) with universities To encourage continuing professional development, our medical Medical education institutions continue to be our main source of insurance business has also launched its own Imedi L Academy, emerging talent. The learning centre of our healthcare services offering specialised vocational training programmes and courses business (“the EVEX Learning Centre”) partners with 11 universities to its employees. Training programmes are delivered by guest in Georgia, including both medical and non-medical schools. We offer speakers as well as company managers who share their ideas, these universities our clinical sites for various educational purposes, experience and best practices. Imedi L Academy has established including on-the-job training and affiliated residency programmes. a corporate library to give employees opportunities for growth, For instance, in 2018, the EVEX Learning Centre conducted six-month learning and self-development that has a large variety of books. free 140-hour nursing courses for students from nursing colleges and Imedi L Academy delivered training to 1,000 participants in 2018. 165 candidates who earned the passing score were offered jobs at our healthcare facilities. Residency programme In line with our strategy to develop a new generation of doctors We have signed MoUs with 15 colleges in all regions of Georgia. in Georgia, we launched a postgraduate educational residency The list includes a special partnership with Panatsea, the biggest programme in a number of fields in 2015. These programmes ensure nursing college in Tbilisi as well as a partnership with D. Tvildiani development of qualified specialists in the areas where we lack Medical University. Together we initiated and facilitated the opening physicians. The programmes have proved to be popular. Currently we of a joint Nursing College in 2016. have 201 talented residents involved in 25 specialties; 16 of them have received a 100% grant and 49 an 80% grant, while 45 residents have In September 2018, we also signed an exclusive partnership obtained student loans. In order to retain successful residents within agreement with the pharmacy college Orientiri. We offer grants to our GHG, those who have grants or student loans are required to work employees who have little or no pharmaceutical education. After two at GHG healthcare facilities after graduation for at least three years. years of college, they can graduate with a pharmacy degree and start a career in one of our pharmacies. GEPHA finances 50% of the total New national nurse education curriculum tuition fee. 14 participants are already enrolled and are expected We are proud to announce that our nursing training curriculum has to graduate in 2020. The main goal of the project is to address the become a national standard for nursing colleges in Georgia and has shortage of pharmacists and increase the number of staff qualified changed the educational standard for nurses. for this position. EVEX Medical Corporation has successfully petitioned the National GHG Leadership Programme (the “Programme”) Centre for Education Quality Enhancement proposing to bring the The Programme is one of the pillars of GHG Human Capital Strategy current college curriculum in line with international standards by (see more on page 24). The Programme is designed for our 200 including natural science fields, such as anatomy, physiology, middle level managers to further develop and improve their managerial biochemistry, pathology, microbiology and others, into nursing and leadership skills. 125 managers have already taken five-month education. Our future goal is to extend learning further to master’s 180-hour General Management Course in 2017 and 2018. The Course and doctoral degrees in nursing. is designed by the Bank of Georgia University, one of the top schools in the country. A further 75 employees will take the course in 2019. Incentive plans for employees We balance gender composition in our Programme where 59% The Group encourages performance-based incentives and offers of the participants are female and 41% are male. financial and non-financial rewards to enhance pay-for-performance culture. These incentives vary from role to role and may include: For our Programme participants, we have also developed a • Cash bonuses (based on performance appraisal). Personal Development Programme, which further builds leadership • Share awards (based on performance appraisal) – for managerial competencies through effective performance feedback and coaching team and high performer employees. sessions. In 2018, 65 middle managers used the 360-feedback tool, • One-time premiums for exceptional performance. developed their personal plan and 30 of them also took part in • Medical insurance. individual coaching sessions. • Malpractice insurance. • Pension plan. Training and development • Maternity leave. We invest in various professional educational opportunities. In 2018, • Other allowances, e.g. accommodation fee or childbirth. we invested GEL 3 million in training and development courses mostly designed for our nurses, physicians and pharmacists. We manage our employees’ performance using “Management by Objective” methodology. At the beginning of each year, all business We are proud to have our own EVEX Learning Centre, the only centre in units plan collective and individual goals that are aligned with the Georgia offering continuous medical education, operating since 2014. Our annual Key Business Objectives (“KBOs”). Our employees undergo learning centre independently develops and runs a variety of Continuing annual or semi-annual performance assessments based on these Professional Development Programmes (“CPDs”). Most of the CPDs KBOs and other competencies that reflect our values and the strategic consist of medical training for physicians and nurses, although some objectives outlined by the Board of Directors. non-medical staff, such as hospital administrators and receptionists, can also participate. In 2018, the EVEX Learning Centre trained a total In 2018, we also created a healthcare plan for GHG employees. Each of 1,170 nurses, 1,669 physicians and 1,529 back office employees. employee is entitled to basic healthcare services. Currently, 13,600 employees are benefiting from the GHG employee programme. Professional development of our pharmacy and distribution business employees is led by the GEPHA Training Centre trainers (employees with a background in pharmacology, parapharmacy and operational standards), mentors (employees from different business units supporting on-the-job training and inductions) and coaches (employees with appropriate backgrounds who conduct soft skills training). In 2018, the GEPHA Training Centre trained a total of 4,500 participants. 43