British American Tobacco Kenya - People and culture

Building a legacy of leaders

Having a talented workforce has become one of the most critical factors in our industry. We want BAT Kenya to have excellent people, engaged teams and be a great place to work. After all, it is our people who deliver our business strategy.

As competition for good people intensifies, we need to build a strong and clearly differentiated reputation as an employer. For many people, the attraction of a rewarding career with a major international business that values their contribution and supports their professional learning and development, are key factors in their decision to work for us.

Our focus is on driving high performance; developing the next generation of leaders; valuing the diversity of our employees; encouraging and rewarding entrepreneurial behaviour; and creating an engaging culture where individuals and teams can be successful. The way our people operate is embodied in the BAT Ethos , which underpin our culture and guide how we deliver our strategy.

Nurturing local talent

We are keen to develop local talent in the communities in which we operate. We have an array of Leadership Development programmes which run across all levels. We are a net exporter of talent to the BAT Group, currently with 14 Kenyans on assignment in various BAT operations spread across Africa, Europe and Asia.

These international assignments enable our talent to experience new cultures, different leadership styles and ways of working as well as building critical experiences as they continue evolving into senior leadership level.

Organisational excellence

We are proud of the external recognition we have received as the leading employer in Kenya and Africa. In 2017 we were awarded the inaugural award for Overall Best Employer in Kenya by the Federation of Kenya Employers, a leadership position which we have sustained two years in a row having received the award again in 2018.

Aside from national recognition, BAT Kenya has also been certified Top Employer in Kenya and Africa by the globally recognised Top Employers Institute three years in a row, underlining our position as one of the best companies to work for in the country and the continent.

A great place to work

Although we operate in a dynamic, complex and competitive environment, our business has always been guided by the highest standards of excellence. Our reputation for high quality and innovative tobacco and nicotine products is the result of our commitment to recruiting, developing and retaining outstanding talent and building a great place to work.

In short, we want a stretching and supportive culture founded on personal commitment and responsibility that attracts, engages and retains the most talented and diverse people.

Diversity and gender equity

We are committed to fostering an inclusive culture that respects and embraces the diversity of employees , clients and communities. This we do in various ways including:

• Creating a respectful and inclusive environment where people can thrive; and
• Building talented and diverse teams to drive business results and sustainability.

We are also committed to championing better work-life quality for all our employees and recognise that fairness, inclusion and opportunity are embedded in our robust talent strategy and are a fundamental part of our organisational culture. We create opportunities for employees to progress their careers in ways that work for them and we have put in place a system that supports this career progression and fair pay.

As part of our commitment to transparency and in line with our diversity agenda, we have published our gender pay report for 2021 in our 2021 Annual Report .