masthead about people

About APRIL

Creating livelihoods and building the nation responsibly

Our People

APRIL employees are engaged in a variety of roles from plantation to production to finished products. We have scientists, technicians, nursery workers, heavy machinery operators, IT experts and many other specialists – all of whom combine to make APRIL Group an industry leader.

We believe in and invest in talent development for our employees. As well as this, APRIL Group provides support for existing and future employees, offering scholarships, welfare benefits and training programs.

Talent Development

Employee training is essential to the success of any business. By training our employees well, we enable them to reach their full potential, which in turn makes our organisation more competitive. In a broader context, the skills we help our employees develop help them to find their place in Indonesia’s rapidly developing economy.

A key component of APRIL Group’s employee development is a Masters Scholarship programme, aimed at developing the next generation of pulp and paper professionals. Every year, we sponsor 5 employees for graduate studies overseas. 26 APRIL Group scholars have attended the Institute of Technology in Thailand and 60 scholars have attended the Academy of Pulp & Paper Technology in Indonesia. We also offer continuing education scholarships for studies at local universities.

APRIL Group has two training centres: the Asian Agri and APRIL Learning Institute (AAALI) and APRIL Learning Institute (ALI). These centres offer well-equipped and conducive environments for employee learning. Individual employee training needs are determined by the APRIL Group Assessment Centre which conducts pre-assessments of most employees to determine competency gaps and training opportunities. Individually tailored development programmes are then put together for employees through an Individual Development Plan.

Talent Attraction

People are our greatest asset. Not only do we care for our current employees, we are mindful of our responsibility to nurture future employees. We strive to build a local workforce of increasing depth and expertise as this adds greatly to our strength as a company.

Each year we offer scholarships to between 40-50 High School graduates from Akademi Teknologi Pulp dan Kertas, Bandung and Instiper, Yogyakarta who demonstrate an interest in working with APRIL Group following their tertiary studies. We also work with the Tanoto Foundation to provide Regional Champion Scholarships each year.

Employee Welfare and Benefits

Our employees belong to the APRIL Group family. We care for their wellbeing as well as that of their families.In Indonesia, we establish communal facilities for our employees as well as the local community to help keep pace with the rising standard of living.

All APRIL employees receive annual performance and career development reviews with their respective supervisors. Employees are compensated in a fair and transparent manner, based on merit and performance, and in line with Government guidelines on compensation and minimum wages.

Training courses are provided for employees and include leadership and people management and business ethics and planning. These are mainly delivered at the APRIL Learning Institute at our operations in Pangkalan Kerinci. All new employees receive training on workers’ rights, as part of their induction, to ensure that all personnel are aware of their rights and to mitigate against any possible infringement of those rights.

APRIL strictly implements a no forced or compulsory labour policy as well as prohibiting discrimination in respect to employment and occupation. In addition, we are committed to preventing discrimination based on gender.

As part of the company’s APRIL2030 strategy, launched in 2020, we are committed to ensuring the effective participation of women’s in the workplace and equal opportunities for advancement for women and men. APRIL’s labour commitments also extend to the company’s supply partners.

In 2020, APRIL was deemed to have passed all the requirements of the SMETA audit with no major non-conformances, following an audit carried out by Sedex. The SMETA audit - Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit - assesses a site based on an organisation’s standards of labour, health and safety, environment and business ethics. Run by Sedex, which is headquartered in the UK and is one of the world’s leading ethical trade service providers, the SMETA audit is one the more widely used social audits in the world.

Our remote location means professional medical care can be inaccessible. To overcome this challenge, we offer annual physical medical examinations, on-site medical clinics and an employee relief fund to support employees and their families should they suffer from a critical illness or accident. Social security benefits such as retirement plans and group life and accidental insurance coverage are also offered to employees. Employees, including expatriates, are offered accommodation or monthly housing allowances.

The Importance of Education

We firmly believe in the importance of education. Employee families have access to schools run to internationally recognised standards, such as the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme and Cambridge International AS and A level in the areas we operate. Qualified teachers run our schools and fees are subsidised. Currently, we offer 150 new 100% bursary scholarships from primary to tertiary level to employees’ children each year through the Tanoto Foundation.