WWW.IPM.CO.ZA SEPTEMBER 2017 VOL35 NO.8
Ditch the
INTELLIGENT
Staff!
RECRUITING
RESPONSIBLE LEADERSHIP AFRICAN CHALLENGE OUR HERITAGE INSPIRING FASHION
Centennials
KNOCKING!
HR Support Systems
RELIEF J O U R N A L
O F
T H E
I N S T I T U T E
O F
P E O P L E
M A N A G E M E N T
Photos by Ivan Naude/ Official SAFW Photographer
CONTENTS 4
6
10
20
12
Employment
4
HR Trends
6
Organisational Performance
8
HR Support Systems
10
Multi-generational workplace
12
People development
14
Leadership
20
Technology
22
Recruitment
24
Workplace Diversity
26
Employee wellbeing
28
24 OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE IPM
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CEO’s message
Our Heritage
Something to O celebrate all year round
nce a year, every South African gets to enjoy free access to the country’s national parks, including the world famous Kruger National Park. This is to celebrate Heritage Month – a month where people are encouraged to pause, recognise and celebrate what nature has endowed this part of the universe with. The ideal is to have people celebrating their heritage throughout the year, and many do, sometimes without even being conscious of it.
What constitutes heritage?
Our topography, including varying landscape, rivers, mountains, hills, valleys, waterfalls, caves, plants, wildlife, as well as the weather that helps these things thrive naturally, all PEOPLE DYNAMICS | September 2017
form part of our heritage. Most of these things surround us and are accessible at absolutely no cost. Unfortunately, they compete with things like office-based day jobs, homemaking duties and tech-based recreation such that they are pushed too far out of our entertainment line of sight. Heritage and Health
Popular health and fitness practices including meditation, massage, exercises like hiking, borrow from nature to promote wellness. Whether your choice is one of the paid-for version health programmes, you are encouraged to occasionally venture into the original, nature-gifted galleries, studios, gymnasia and spas.
CEO’s message
Heritage and South Africans’ Livelihood
An entire sector is sustained by heritage. When tourists are asked about the main reasons for visiting South Africa, our vegetation, wildlife or nature comes up among the top. Statistics show that each foreign tourist contributes at least three times more into the economy than a local tourist does, and this is not from shopping till they drop at the malls. It is from venturing into our rich heritage, going through the rugged countryside, enjoying the company of animals that we may take for granted, appreciating exposure to the culture of the people who were born into this wonderfully varied country. A world in one country
You may choose to go for a picnic at the nearest park, have a camp under the stars in your backyard, go hiking at the closest hilly or treed area, or simply take a walk to your nearest body of water and enjoy gazing into it, letting the life that comes with its energy revitalise you. You might find calmness from a pond or lake, passion from ocean waves, a soul-massage from a waterfall, or a gentle lullaby from a river-flow. For inspiration, some may find their creativity ignited by a quiet observation of creatures around us. Be it birds, fish, ants and others, we get to learn something about them and from them that we can apply to our own lives.
Apart from nature, South Africa prides itself for being home to many cultures. Together, this cauldron of cultures and heritage form our cultural heritage. Our cultural heritage is a legacy passed over generations, depicted in different types of staple foods, dress and garb, jewellery, styling whether by paint, ochre, bark, stone, or coal. It also includes the different languages, those labelled official and those that aren’t, such as local dialects and the controversial ‘fanakalo’. Things like architecture and artifacts also typify specific cultures and have been, with time, infused into modern structures, including décor and fashion. The different pockets of South African cultures produce very strong symbolism that has taken the fancy of many an international designer. The most blatant and to some, offensive, having been the use of the Bashoeshoe Blanket design on a recent Louis Vitton collection. Some take pride in being the inspiration of a globallyrecognised brand, yet some take offence, feeling that our cultural heritage should be protected. We welcome your opinion, as well as your take on our visual celebration of heritage generously shared with PD by among others, one of South African iconic fashion stables, SunGoddess.
People Dynamics is the monthly journal of the Institute of People Management (IPM). The IPM is dedicated to the effective development of human potential. In terms of fast-emerging global challenges, it is critical to champion the strategic role of human resources and to acknowledge that both development and management are catalysts for growth. In the spirit of progress and support, the IPM provides members with effective leadership and access to appropriate knowledge, information and the opportunity to network with key local and international players. People Dynamics provides a forum for debate and discussion on all issues affecting HR practitioners in South Africa, the African continent and beyond. People Dynamics is distributed to all members of the IPM and to other key decision-makers in the industry. To receive People Dynamics regularly and enjoy additional benefits – including discounts on HR-related services and professional networking events - contact Welile Mabaso on welile@ipm.co.za. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the IPM. ISSN No - 1019-6196
AFRICAN HUMAN RESOURCES CONFEDERATION
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE IPM
Cover Photo by Ivan Naude/ Official SAFW Photographer
To help enhance health and wellness in the workplace, people managers need to encourage their teams to weave into their lifestyles good doses of nature-based recreation all the year round. Nature helps us neutralise the effects of fast-paced living, and relieve us from techno-fatigue. These are crucial for overall human wellbeing. Being one with nature has restorative effects, alleviating stress and helping to deter conditions such as high blood pressure.
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HR Trends
CRADLE-TO-GRAVE EMPLOYMENT – a Eulogy L
ong-service Awards used to be a highlight of the year for large organisations. Scores of proud employees who collectively clocked hundreds of years’ service with the company would line up to receive expensive gold watches their salaries could ill-afford. That’s mostly history. Companies have since shrunk, divisionalised, or edged people out with early retirement packages. Markets have changed. Business models have had to change. And yes, even the few 30-year service stalwarts are too sad to grace the award podium without their PEOPLE DYNAMICS | September 2017
life-long colleagues. They would rather swop the Swiss watch for a holiday gift voucher. Before we all sing the requiem, let’s just revisit this topic, with caution. For recruitment agents, the expression cradle-to-grave still holds. That is, as it relates to talent management - how managers structure an employee’s development in and with the organisation. If you want motivated staff, you ought to demonstrate belief in the organisation’s future and show faith in the staying-power of your hard-sourced recruits. And, believe it or not, new recruits still expect
a career plan that details the right amount of job challenge, stimulation and growth throughout their tenure with the organisation from recruitment to retirement. So, you’d better prepare that “cradle-tograve” path or web for your key resources. In real life, however, a cradle-to-grave tenure may be something of the past. Even new recruits hounding for a career map are just looking for a psychological pacifier. Often they are the first ones to plot multi-career maps, anticipating floating career clouds rather than a straight path.
HR Trends
Both sides must level on the expectations
Most companies decide to be upfront about the uncertainty of the working world. At professional level, this is demonstrated by mature negotiations and mutually protective agreements. Stringent performance-related contracts with distinct deliverables are the order of the day. The parties create fair, mutually-acceptable exit clauses to safeguard the interest of all parties. Gone are the days when CEO’s heads were the only ones to roll when performance went south irrespective of what happened in the engine room. Any executive ought to own up to his or her contribution toward the organisation’s performance. Every executive or professional needs to be realistic about their abilities and make these
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vettable resources for the key elements you are charged to deliver; 3. Intelligence – a comprehensive analysis of organisation’s successes and failures and rationale for change, preclude the chance of you walking in with a “tried-and-failed” strategy, which may have been great but either premature or lacking in proper backing; 4. A realistic budget – no doubt the company will offer you as close to zero a budget as possible, relying on your creativity to make it work; you should objectively demonstrate how far the elastic can stretch before it breaks so that expectations are even 5. Commitment – your own and the rest of your core team’s; the disappearance of the grave on the horizon doesn’t mean
No executive, in fact, no employee should accept a responsibility without the guarantee of the right tools to accomplish what is expected of him or her. Rather fail to start something you can’t see through, than make a start at something while failure is staring squarely at you. Most employees know that too many factors work against continuous, lifetime service in any single organisation, no matter how essential one’s specialisation is to the industry. Industries evolve, and do so much too rapidly than they did in the last decade or so. In reviewing the Best 100 CEO’s in the world, the Harvard Business Review (November 2016) cites several reasons for a short term focus adopted by businesses of late. Among the top are slow economic growth, political turmoil or uncertainty and shareholder interference. Think of adding pace of innovation to that list. You would be on another planet if you thought the listed factors would not apply in your own country or impact your business. The question is: how does one balance these short-term realities with long-term business sustainability requirement? After all, with the right sustainability strategy (and successful implementation), the short-term realities could end up merely as ‘suspended’ threats.
crystal clear so that any gaps can be plugged and deficiencies provided for upfront. This calls for brutal truth at recruitment stage. And it means a good read of the fine print on contracts – a euphemism for ‘NO’ to fine print. With honesty having been brutal and realities acknowledged on both sides of employment, it’s time to fail-proof your tenure. Be geared-up for the challenge ahead, no matter which stage between cradle and grave you plan to make your exit. No executive, in fact, no employee should accept a responsibility without the guarantee of the right tools to accomplish what is expected of him or her. Rather fail to start something you can’t see through, than make a start at something while failure is staring squarely at you. Essential ‘tools to bag’ before you take up an assignment would include: 1. Political will – where top leadership buys into your vision and approach for the job; 2. Resources – where you are allowed
do not commit or you should restrain your professional passion; go all out and draw out the same from even the most lethargic of the disengaged in the team; help everyone slice the elephant (lofty objectives) and aim to deliver chunks of positive difference in the operation, no matter how long your individual or collective tenure ends up being. ‘Cradle-to-grave’ may be resting in peace, but that should not mean you should kill your spirit or destroy the will of those hungry to achieve. Your contribution, no matter in what organisation, is a contribution to an economy and to a world in which your loved ones will live and benefit. Job security or lack thereof, is no reason for anyone to park off or spend days in a dread or a day dream. It means: make the most of this moment, make a mark that will outlast you and add a block on your borderless legacy! OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE IPM
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HR Trends
BY: ANNE ALLEN, Director of People Experience, Xero
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rogressive companies have long brought this recognition even closer into their businesses, to the employee. They recognise their people as individuals, not just as resources. Increasingly, they pay more attention to individuals’ personal aspirations, ideas and opinions, tapping into latent potential that lies within each person in the organisation. This helps businesses to innovate and thrive. And so emerges healthy ‘micro-management’. After all, as Richard Branson says: “If you look after your staff, they’ll look after your customers. It’s that simple.”
Your Staff?
WHY IT’S TIME TO
ditch your staff! Customer-centric thinking is recognised as an imperative to great service. And customer centricism recognises the customer as an individual; all customers as people with unique tastes, whims and choice. This is what has made micromarketing successful, threatening the relevance of mass marketing. PEOPLE DYNAMICS | September 2017
What’s amazing to me, though, is that the word ‘staff’ still proliferates among these aspirational and sensible notions. Just stop for a second and think how pervasive the word ‘staff’ is in your everyday business conversations: business leaders often talk about staff pay; staff benefits; staff surveys; staff engagement; the need to hire new staff and so on. ‘Staff’ is a word that needs to disappear from the language we use in the office or workplace. It’s an impersonal, hierarchical, old-fashioned noun that’s too ‘Downton Abbey’ and limits an organisation’s ability to inspire passion and innovation in people. When you consider the people who work for you as an amorphous group of staff, you’re nominalising them. That makes it even harder for you to engage or energise them to do the best work of their lives. All managers or business owners want to attract and employ people who have a truly personal and individual link to the organisation. To lump them together as a collective, as your “staff”, is a lazy generalisation that needs to stop. Encourage your business, instead, to focus on talking about team members or people, instead of staff. Start talking about “our people” instead of referencing “the staff”. Concentrate on building people’s skills and help them with career progression using individualised plans for each one, rather than relying on catch-all staff training. It’s that kind of focus on people within your business that will lead to innovation, creativity, and a passion from your team. At the end of the day, to build the best possible company, one that’s scalable and in which everyone loves to participate as customers or employees, your focus needs to be on people as individuals - always. Just as micro marketing has achieved success through personalising the marketing mix, tailoring them for individual customers, it is time people managers see the benefits of personalising the management mix, exercising positive micromanagement for healthy people development.
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Organisational Performance
OOPS! DO YOU HAVE THE DATA? Continuous improvement is at the heart of development and on the path to excellence. Whether the improvement is in individuals’ skills and competences or in organisational performance, it is an essential ingredient for relevance and sustained success. By: BELIA NEL - FOUNDER, Improvid Performance Consulting
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n today’s disruptive business environment it is important to be flexible as change is always around the corner. You need to stay alert to what impact any change will bear, particularly, on continuous performance improvement. The most important part of our work is finding the relevant data and facts. Irrelevant data is just that – irrelevant. Yet, while the volume of available data has grown exponentially in recent years, most companies are only using a fraction in determining causes of performance problems. Acquiring the skills needed to derive insights from data is a key skills-set that managers and performance consultants should have. It requires getting the right data insights into the hands of decision makers, and making sure how cause analyses are derived from these datadriven insights. PEOPLE DYNAMICS | September 2017
This is the fourth in a series of articles focusing on the Ten Standards for Performance Improvement. To jog your memory, the first four standards are known as principles because they are the lenses through which we apply systematic methodology of consulting and managing. Our methodology guides us on how we do it. In part three of our series, in the fifth standard we started the consulting process by determining “where is the gap?” In this article, I will focus on the sixth standard.
improve the performance, change job behaviour or adopt a new strategy. We look for the underlying causes to achieve this. In focusing on the end result we will apply our differentiating holistic approach and a 3-point practice as illustrated below. Our work as managers and performance consultants is always identifying underlying causes to performance issues at a workplace level, work level and worker level, thereby determining organisational impact, operational impact and people impact. What informs our approach is the world level or external impact, which we usually have no control over. How is it done?
• Choose the appropriate method of analysis • Decide on how to best get the data • Gather the data • Analyse the data • Determine the underlying causes • Report the interim and final findings with recommendations • Facilitate discussions with clients to understand the contributing causes • Interpret the findings for the project owner
Standard 6: Determine Cause
Competent practitioners and managers design a plan to find out why a gap exists, once we know where it exists. This is in line with focusing on what the end-result is we need to achieve. In other words we keep the focus on how to possibly
Practical Framework
Below is a framework to use in cause analysis based on the work of Thomas Gilbert’s Behaviour Engineering Model. Gilbert only considered the workplace (organisational impact) and the worker (people impact)
Organisational Performance
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levels. An alternative holistic consulting approach also considers the work (operational and process impact) and world (external impact) levels. Practical Guidelines Consulting Tips to Determine the Causes
• Don’t jump to conclusions or solutions during the cause analysis • Plan your cause analysis and stick to it • Don’t abandon your cause analysis when you feel overwhelmed with your findings • Get buy-in and commitment from champions and decision makers for your cause analysis activities • Answer all questions about your activities openly and honestly – many people at various levels can be anxious about your findings • Communicate with empathy and transparency immediate findings – this may assist to plan for ‘quick wins’ • Don’t start analysing causes which have not been identified during gap analysis • Be transparent when you are doing cause analysis - management and other role players can be sensitive to your investigations • Don’t let others derail your cause analysis plans – keep your focus intact • Be flexible – environments and external factors out of your control can impact and influence a change in direction • Be prepared for disruptive technology and automation that may slow down or speed up your cause analysis • Be mindful of all other projects happening in your or your client’s organisation • Don’t go after the familiar paths for your analysis – sometimes the real reasons and causes are hidden • Focus on being authentic and building credibility
(Published, courtesy Lynn Kearney) www.lynnkearney.com
Checklist Use the checklist tool to stay on track with your cause analysis:
;Do ; you have a data source map? ;Do ; you have analysis skills? ;Are ; you considering the culture and environment of the industry? ;Have ; you identified the analysis methods appropriate to the gaps you want to interrogate? ;Are ; you carrying out the cause analysis at the appropriate level: individual, group, process, organisational, or societal levels? ;Have ; you shared recommendations on the immediate interim findings? ;Are ; you correctly using documents and work outputs as a source of data? ;Identify ; the physical and technological opportunities and constraints in the work environment. ;Have ; you identified the actual and expected outputs of your cause analysis?
;Have ; you identified which systems are outdated for conducting your cause analysis? ;Do ; you have to design and develop systems because they do not exist to complete a cause analysis? ;Have ; you determined the feasibility of doing a cause analysis on a particular gap? In conclusion taking into consideration the speed at which the world of work is changing, managers and performance consultants should be mindful of the correct applicable data sources when doing a cause analysis. There is no one tool which will determine the cause. You need to decide and customise the methods and tools to fit your industry culture - these will prove useful in the long run. The quality of cause analysis will determine the success and sustainability of the change you want to effect.
Example of a framework to plan the data sources required for a cause analysis: Practical Data Sourcing Map Standard 6: Determine Cause Levels of Performance Data
What are the anticipated changes impacting the cause analysis? (How will this influence the cause analysis?)
Which gap are you interrogating for causes?
Which data sources do you require?
(All levels will be affected)
(Is this available – internally/ externally?)
Work (performer level) Worker (operational level) Workplace (organisational level) World (external level)
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE IPM
HRIS
TO REPLACE OR RELIEVE YOUR HR?
If you spent three or four years studying human resource management, chances are, you want to occupy your days figuring out people issues and taking on human capital challenges, instead of killing time populating spreadsheets. BY: BONOLO NAMANE, Mapitsi Holdings Intern and IPM Mentee
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ranted, stats are part of work-life, and they help you acquire intelligence to figure out people issues and take on human capital challenges. But, you don’t have to bury yourself in data anymore. Technology brought us choices!
HR Information System/ Management (HRIS)
HRIS, which is a human resource management system (HRMS), is basically an intersection of human resources and information technology through HR software. This allows HR activities and processes to occur electronically. PEOPLE DYNAMICS | September 2017
Put in another way, an HRIS may be viewed as a way, through software, for businesses big and small to take care of a number of human resource-related activities, including recording, processing, accounting and reporting. Yes, salaries are somewhere there – an HRIS system helps HR personnel process salaries, wages, stipends or intern allowances. Whether an intern is due R140, R1 400 or R14m allowance, an HRIS will compute that based on input supplied by the HR personnel in charge of salary allocations, schedule it for payment on a specified due date, and when you press ‘send’, it
sends the money to the individual’s bank account. Clearly, you can see that an HRIS cannot be completely left to its own devices. A human being needs to continually do quality checks to ensure that there are no errors in the information fed into the system, and that the system has not malfunctioned and misread one zero for three. Should an error have occurred involving HRIS, it takes a human to investigate where the error emanated and how it should be resolved and avoided for future. A well-designed HRIS will be programmed to issue exception reports which puke out strange results and sends someone a ‘warning message’ about any anomalies. If only someone – a human – would read the report. In good time. That means, whereas a system will save you from boredom of repetitive data capturing, it is still important for humans to be active in its management at a frequency that minimises the organisation’s risk. The advantage of an HRIS is that it allows a company to plan and utilise its human resources more effectively.
HR Support Systems
Something that would have taken an entire day between two people can be performed automatically in half a day or less- monitored for fraction of that time, thereby giving an organisation better, more creative use of two thirds of its resources. In most situations, an HRIS will also lead to increase in efficiency when it comes to making decisions in HR. Decisions would increase in quality, and managers will becoming more effective through increased productivity. There are a number of solutions offered to a company that adopts HRIS. Some of these include solutions in training, payroll, HR, compliance, and recruiting. The majority of quality HRIS systems include flexible designs that feature databases that are integrated with a wide range of modules. Ideally, they will also include the ability to create reports and analyze information quickly and accurately, in order to make the workforce easier to manage. Through the efficiency advantages conferred by HRIS systems, an HR administrator can obtain many hours of his or her day back instead of spending these hours dealing with non-strategic, mundane tasks required to run the administrative-side of HR. Similarly, an HRIS allows employees to exchange information with greater ease and without the need for paper, through the provision of a single, central location for announcements, leave processing external web links, and company policies. For example, when employees wish to complete frequently recurring activities such as requests for time off or electronic pay stubs —such procedures can be taken care of in an automated fashion without the need for human supervision or intervention. As a result, less paperwork occurs and approvals, when designed, may be appropriated more efficiently and in less time. Beyond leave and salary-related automation, companies can add HRIS modules that help them build enterprisewide intelligence on talent. A range of popular modules are available, including those for recruiting, such as resume and applicant management, attendance, email alerts, employee self-service, organizational charts, the administration of benefits, succession planning, rapid report production, and tracking of employee training.
The difference between Operational HR Management and Strategic HR Management
Operational HR management (OHRM) and strategic HR management (SHRM) are complementary sides of the same entity. OHR sees to the day-to-day operations essential to meeting the needs of your employees, while SHRM concerns itself with predicting outcomes and ensuring that your company has enough of the most qualified human capital to reach
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to make a direct contribution to your long-term goals. Strategic HR is integral to the future planning of your business as it relates to employees. In a strategic capacity, the HR team attempts to project future business needs and work to develop current employees and programs to meet those needs. Looking into the future, HR teams may consider many options to keep your business competitive and growing, including outsourcing certain functions. Between SHRM and OHRM, which would a company outsource?
A human being needs to continually do quality checks to ensure that there are no errors in the information fed into the system, and that the system has not malfunctioned and misread one zero for three. its goals. Both facets of human resources are fundamental components that can lead your business to success. Performing operationally, human resources members are top-level administrators. The tasks they accomplish are generally highly visible to your employees because they are focused on the daily work issues attributed to the ongoing needs of the organisation, such as recruitment, evaluating training needs, interviewing for training supplier options. OHRM would use and maintain computerised HR information systems more than would SHRM. SHRM requires that HR professionals consider the overall picture of your business’s growth, implementing ways
In this case it really depends on the organisation, the mandate and the kind of work that is being done. Outsourcing involves contracting operations for specific business processes. For instance, most technological companies tend to outsource peripheral tasks which are also known as the support. While outsourcing may not have a significant impact on employment, it does reduce costs for the organisation. It is worth noting that outsourcing tends to be ‘permanent’. It involves contracts and service agreements, which may be difficult to reverse. For this reason it requires some serious consideration and a proper evaluation of the organisation’s strategy and business model. A proper cost-benefit analysis needs to be done ahead of decisions being made. Generally, most organisations would keep the strategic parts of HRM in-house and outsource administrative, routine functions. It is also true that a company may outsource some of the highly specialised (non-administrative) functions, such as employee assistance programmes. The value of outsourcing is realised when the quality of core services is improved, expert knowledge increases and there is evidence of reduction of costs, reduction of risks and more focus on the core competencies of the organisation. In conclusion, it is important to choose the right HRIS and to manage it accordingly. HRIS is not there to replace humans, but to relieve them for more challenging functions. A company that takes the time to invest in HRIS that fits its goals, mission, objectives and values, is a company that is investing in its future and its success. It will be necessary to customise any HRIS to the unique needs of a company so the system will remain flexible and relevant throughout the life of the company or enterprise. OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE IPM
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Multi-generational Workplace
CENTENNIALS:
COMING SOON TO AN OFFICE NEAR YOU This leg of my journey is to get to grips with Centennials, or Generation Z, who will be entering the world of work over the next five years. BY: GEORGINA BARRICK, Managing Director, Cassel & Co
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s a Generation X leader, I’m very interested in understanding the generations that share my workspace and have, in the past few issues, explored Generation X and Millennials. Born after 1997, these curious beings are currently aged up to 20. Although they’re still young, it already looks like they’re set to be very different to the pampered, entitled Millennials – which may come as something of a relief to Generation X leaders. Of course, we’ve noted that, as Millennials mature, they too will be shaped by experience and environment and will undoubtedly evolve. In their short lives, Centennials have been PEOPLE DYNAMICS | September 2017
exposed to more uncertainty than many other generations, and it has affected them deeply. They’ve grown up in the shadow of 9/11, the rise of global terrorism, the subprime crisis and recession of 2008, and the devastating tsunamis in Asia and Japan. They’ve witnessed the election of America’s first Black president, Wikileaks, the legalisation of gay marriage and the more widespread acceptance of transsexuals. In South Africa, Centennials are the first generation to be born into a fully democratic South Africa – they don’t see colour and don’t use racial identifiers. This is the first generation never to know
life before the internet and social media. As a consequence, Centennials are true digital natives who have grown up with always on, always available technology. They don’t understand a world where you can’t pause live TV, where ad breaks interrupt your favourite show or where you had to buy a CD, rather than downloading your current favourite song off iTunes or streaming it from Deezer. They don’t know what a ‘tickey box’ is, have never used a rotary dial telephone and can’t understand why you would buy a mobile phone that only makes calls or receives SMS’. They’re hooked on smartphones, shy away from Facebook and screens are a natural extension of their bodies. They were born knowing how to ‘pinch and zoom’. Technology fits seamlessly into their lives and they are fully accustomed to the sensory overload that comes with being ‘always on’. All of this has shaped them. They’re pragmatic, serious, resilient, selfaware, self-reliant, self-assured, innovative and goal-orientated. Living with constant uncertainty has made them more vigilant, has
Multi-generational Workplace
tempered their career expectations and has redefined their understanding of success, making them more satisfied with what they already have. They favour financial security, are focused on education - particularly selfeducation - and understand that they must work harder to achieve the same results. They’re a lot less judgemental than other generations. Being gay, transsexual or different in any way is accepted. They’re clued up on environmental issues and their impact on the planet, but have eco-fatigue. Because they live their lives online, Centennials value their privacy in the surveillance age. They understand the impact of a careless tweet and will disconnect from data so that they can’t be tracked. Centennials are growing up and older – much younger than we did – because they have to. How do we prepare to welcome them to the world of work?
For a start, we can expect them to be emboldened and empowered. Because they’re confident and self-reliant, they’re
They’re used to filtering large volumes of information quickly. not likely to wait, or rely on leaders to fix issues. They’ll find a video or podcast online and fix the issue themselves. This will also make them impatient with outdated rules and institutions. Expect them to find a workaround for rules that get in their way. Be ready to give up control and work with them to drive your strategy and vision. Expect their legendary pragmatism to temper, or lower, their expectations around work and their working environment. They have fewer opportunities than previous generations, which makes success harder to come by. As a result, they’re more likely to be satisfied with what they have, less likely to be demanding and, perhaps, more loyal. Something not to be taken advantage of! Expect them to be smart. Centennials are
highly educated, with a higher percentage likely to graduate from university than in any previous generation. They’re also selfeducators able to unpack complex concepts using online tutorials. They’re used to filtering large volumes of information quickly. This means that they won’t appreciate the current vogue for dumbed-down ‘140 character’ information sharing. Expect to relook at how you train, share information and communicate with them in the workplace. Early indications are that Centennials will be easier to manage than Millennials and it will be interesting to see the interplay between these two generations. I have no doubt that their entry into the world of work will challenge and shape us all and I look forward to the experience. OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE IPM
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People development
Where is the Real Value of an MBA? BY: PEOPLE DYNAMICS CORRESPONDENT
An MBA will cost you anything from R100k to R900k, depending where you study and what extras your chosen business school throws in.
PEOPLE DYNAMICS | September 2017
The skinny version
Skinny versions, or no-frill versions, have made this prized qualification accessible to a critical mass of undergraduates, particularly those paying their own way. With attractive financing options, it is increasingly affordable to get through this intense, rigorous, and hands-down desirable course. Skinny versions are programmes that cover your typical mainstream modules that equip graduates to manage a business with effective oversight and understanding of the key principles, responsibilities and outputs of the different line functions. It will likely not include any textbooks, but rather study
guides and workbooks required to get you through course work. More and more, you should expect to get workbooks in soft copy either downloadable from a portal or the business school app. Some more conservative schools may send files through computer links. The more modern schools may offer students preloaded course work, assignments, prospectus and timetables on tablets that they hand out at registration. Minimum Standards and Mandatory Accreditation
There is little doubt that every business school will meet the academic standards set by the
People development
regulating education body and the relevant country’s quality assurance, otherwise it wouldn’t have a licence to operate. National Education departments tend to be very strict about auditing tertiary institutions to ensure that they maintain the basic minimum requirements. The audit is a rigorous process, and covers course material evaluation, lecturing mediums/channels and facilities, alignment of content with the recommended course outcomes, and appropriateness of NQF-level (SA-NQF- Level 9 as of 2016), examination tools, facilities and process, the qualifications of faculty, the administration of the qualification and quality assurance, among other things.
successful entrepreneurs have made billions through a combination of natural talent and a “fortune” of one kind or another - inheritance, perfect timing, the MBA is giving access to atypical entrepreneurs to enter the fold. Entrepreneurs may join the ranks either out of sheer need and lack of opportunities at the apex of the corporate ladders, or an interest to continue a family legacy. An MBA equips people whose good ideas might have languished in an ideas bank somewhere, to bring those ideas to life by providing the necessary skills and tools for establishing and running a business.
MBA Recognition
Some business schools, particularly those with old, established parent campuses tend to be built on old money and attract rich benefactors.
MBA is still one of the prestigious qualifications around. It is the one most common qualification among CEO’s of the top 100 global companies. About 25% of these companies are headed by an MBA graduate, with engineer-led operations making up the next bulk. It is worth noting that these engineering graduates would likely be from different fields, possibly related to business led by the particular executive. The MBA is designed to provide leaders with different functional insights. Whereas most fields of study seem abstract, irrelevant and ambiguous, MBA is geared towards real-world professional outcomes. Many organisations value relevant work experience in their decision-making process. MBA programs are designed specifically with this in mind, for older adults who have reasonable work exposure, usually in management or leadership roles. Students who earn their university degrees in the faculties such as the arts, engineering and others may be good as technocrats in their respective fields but fail to add value in the general management of the business. With an MBA qualification, these employees can enhance their value, fuse their expertise to running of the business; raise their success beyond their undergrad discipline. An MBA, therefore, affords managers from different specialist backgrounds with an overall grasp of the key concepts, industry success factors and relevant indicators for each business function. These are some of the reasons, recruitment officers and head-hunters, internationally, use the MBA as a base qualifier for any candidate sought for a leadership or general management position. MBA, Entrepreneurship and Job Creation
An MBA is one way of levelling the entrepreneurial playing fields. While some
MBA Network
Most people who find themselves in business as partners claim to have met at ‘school’ or in college. An MBA exposes graduates to a diverse set of minds, out of whom one can easily form his first Board of Directors. Even beyond college years, executives gravitate toward their former colleagues or fellow alumni when they need to recommend resources for key positions. MBA graduates also tend to swop protégé’s, where talented interns are spotted and passed on among the group, thus growing the network. The ‘Elite’ League
Inevitably, as in any society, one may find artificial ‘classes’ in the MBA networks. Some business schools, particularly those with old, established parent campuses tend to be built on old money and attract rich benefactors. For this reason, students may anticipate to have an even added prestige by choosing one of these schools. It is not uncommon for the circle of benefactors to deliver guest lectures at these ‘Ivy League’ colleges, or provide access to their own multi-million conglomerate case studies for the students. Expectedly, big business will channel their budding executives to these business schools – happy to pay the above-average fees and to fund extra-curricular activity and educational international trips. Differentiation Factors
The MBA curriculum is subject to national education regulatory scrutiny, where minimum standards for content quality
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apply across all accredited institutions and the academic process is monitored for compliance. The South African government aligns itself with international education bodies to make sure that local output is on par with the global standard. This does not mean there is no way business schools can differentiate themselves. The education department allows for a certain percentage of variation in curriculum, particularly where students’ electives are concerned. One will find that different colleges are renowned for a particular specialisation,
e.g. Political Economy, Humanities, Agriculture, Business and Finance, Leadership, Health Science or Public Sector. “Real” MBA Value
In the end, the real value of an MBA is its benefit or impact on the student, their company or their sponsor. A national survey by one of South Africa’s business publications determines the value of an MBA based on whether as a result of the qualification, the graduate received recognition for it at work, such as a jobchange, promotion or more responsibility; whether or not they received a salary review or increase in benefits. The survey also determines the value of the qualification based on whether the graduate uses the competencies and tools obtained to improve the quality of their work, and their outputs or effectiveness; or whether it improved their career opportunities, leading to a change of employment for better prospects. Registered Value
MBA graduates commonly cite ‘increased confidence’ as one of the benefits of the degree. Most confidence gains are registered in financial management – a bugbear for most corporate managers and a nightmare for many aspiring entrepreneurs. Globally, an MBA still the most soughtafter qualification across all businesses, and might remain so for the foreseeable future. OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE IPM
16
Heritage
“The best things in life are free” It’s spring in our part of the world. Make time to pay homage to the varied beauty of our heritage and the charm of our diverse cultures. It doesn’t only help us learn more about our neighbours, our country, its history and the things that influence and inspire our way of doing things, it is a free, family friendly way to edge away stress and bond with loved ones. Rather than making it an occasion, let’s infuse heritage into our lives and enjoy a contemplative connection with nature. PEOPLE DYNAMICS | September 2017
Heritage
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If you fail to acknowledge your origins or appreciate nature’s endowment to mankind, you live a hollow life chasing a mirage - Beyondlofty
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE IPM
Date(s)
Programme/ Workshop
Partner/Presenter
Target Audience
CPD Points
Non Member
Member
Jan 24
Learning & Development Community of Experts - Round Table
+ TPI*
L&D Specialists
0.5
R500
Free
Jan 27
Case Law & Related Lessons for Sound Management of Employee Relations - Breakfast
+ Cliffe Dekker & Hofmeyr / Michael Yeats
Intermediate to Senior/ Executive
1
R580
R350
Feb 10
The Role of HR in helping Organisations prepare for, and navigate the Digital Economy – A Strategic Response to the 4th Industrial Revolution
IPM
HR Managers, HR Practitioners
1
R980
R550
Feb 13
Research Community of Expert Practitioners Round Table
IPM
IR, Labour Relations Managers & Corporate PR
0.5
R500
Free
Feb 23
Healing the Toxic Labour Relationships in SA - Seminar
+ Labour Law Consulting/ Ivan Israelstam
CEOs, HR Executives, Labour Specialists
1
R980
R550
Feb 28
IPM HR Student Forum
+ Accenture*
HR Students, Representatives, Lecturers/Educators
1
R500
Free
Mar 2-3
HR Leadership - Seminar
+ Mavis Ureke
HR Executives, Senior Managers
4
R5150
R4150
Mar 9
Remuneration & Benefits Community Experts – Round Table
+ CDH
Human Capital & Remuneration Specialists
1
R500
Free
Mar 13
HR Tools for Entrepreneurs
IPM
Small Business operators
1
R580
R350
Mar 28
Organisational Effectiveness Community of Experts - Round Table
+ QBIT/Sibongile Mogale*
COO’s & OE Executives
0.5
R500
Free
Mar 29-30
Emotional Intelligence for Effective Management
+ Mavis Ureke
Managers
4
R5150
R4150
Apr 3-5
HR Master Class - Workshop
+ TPI*
Human Capital Specialists, HR Line Managers
6
R7850
R6550
Apr 11
Social Media & Corporate Strategy
+ 33Emerald*
HR Executives, Managers , Corporate Strategists
1
R1800
R1600
Apr 20
HR Business Partner Community of Experts – Round Table
+ Accenture*
HR Practitioners
0.5
R500
Free
Apr 21
Freedom & Youth – Leadership Discourse
IPM
Youth & Young Managers
0.5
R350
Free
May 9
Coaching & Mentoring Community of Experts Round Table
+ TalentLine*
Managers
0.5
R500
Free
May 16-17
HR Metrics - Workshop
+ HR Touch/Maggie Mojapelo
Human Capital Specialists, HR Managers
4
R5150
R4150
May 23
Employment Law & Industrial Relations
+ Cowan Harper & Associates
IR Specialists, Labour Union Officials
2
R1800
R1600
May 25-26
Job Evaluation - Workshop
+ 21st Century
Human Capital & Recruitment Managers
4
R5150
R4150
May 31
Disciplinary Enquiry Plans - Workshop
+ CDH
Line Managers, HR Managers & Employee Relations Officers
1
R1800
R1600
Jun 1-2
HR Metrics – Workshop
+ HR Touch/Maggie Mojapelo
Human Capital Specialists, HR Managers
4
R5150
R4150
Jun 6
Employee Wellness Community of Experts – Round Table
+ ICAS/Juanita Simpson*
HR Managers, COO’s, SHEQ Specialists
0.5
R500
Free
Jun 8
The Latitude of Employment Contracts - Workshop
+ LLC/Ivan Israelstam
Line Managers, HR Managers, Employee Representatives
1
R980
R550
Date(s)
Programme/ Workshop
Partner/Presenter
Target Audience
CPD Points
Non Member
Member
Jun 13
Job Profiling - Workshop
+ 21st Century
Line Managers, Human Capital & Recruitment Managers
2
R2900
R2450
Jun 20
Research Community of Experts – Round Table
+ HRSC
HR Strategists, Knowledge Managers
0.5
R500
Free
Jun 22
Mentoring & Coaching - Workshop
Mavis Ureke
Line Managers, HR
1
R1800
R1600
Jul 4-5
HR Business Partner Master Class
Improvid
Intermediate to Senior HR Managers
6
R7850
R6550
Jul 7
Dispute Resolution, Strike Management & Related Procedures
+ CDH
HR Executives, IR Managers, Labour Officials, GM’s
1
R1800
R1600
Jul 12
Employee/Labour Relations Community of Experts - Round Table
IR, Labour Relations Managers & Corporate PR
0.5
R500
Free
Jul 17
HR-Led Digital Transformation
+ Accenture*
HR Executives, Managers
0.5
R980
R550
Jul 20
Women’s Conference (Durban) Transcending & Digital & Life Barriers
+ Empowaworx
Women in Corporate, Public Enterprises, & Small Business
2
R1600
R1200
Jul 25-26
Project Management for HR Leaders
+ Mavis Ureke
HR Leaders, Managers
4
R5150
R4150
Aug 3
Human Capital - Return on Investment - Seminar
+ Mavis Ureke
Human Capital Executives, HR Managers
2
R3600
R2850
Aug 10
CCMA Cross Examination Techniques - Seminar
CDH
HR Executives, IR & ER Managers
1
R1800
R1600
Aug 17
Women’s Conference Transcending & Digital & Life Barriers
+ Empowaworx
Women in Corporate, Public Enterprises, & Small Business
2
R1600
R1200
Aug 23-24
HR Metrics - Workshop
+ HR Touch/Maggie Mojapelo
Human Capital Specialists, HR Managers
4
R5150
R4150
Aug 29-30
Remuneration for HR Managers - Workshop
+ 21st Century
HR Managers, Remuneration Practitioners
4
R6000
R5150
Sept 6-7
HR Business Partner Master Class
Improvid
Intermediate to Senior HR Managers
6
R7850
R6550
Sept 21
Managing & Optimising Diversity Workshop
+ Empowerworx
Directors, Managers, Line Managers
2
R11800
R1600
Sept 22
HR Directors Forum & IPM 2017 Convention Kick-off Meeting 1
+ Industry Experts / Convention Speakers
HR Directors, Human Capital Specialists
0.5
R5800
R4950
Oct 5
HR-Led Digital Transformation
+ Accenture*
HR Executives, Managers
0.5
R980
R550
Oct 5
IPM 2017 Convention Final Briefing & Submissions
+ Convention Committee Member(s)
IPM Convention Presenters
-
N/A
N/A
Oct 18-19
HR Metrics – Workshop
+ HR Touch/Maggie Mojapelo
Human Capital Specialists, HR Managers
4
R5150
R4150
Nov 19 - 22
2017 IPM Convention & Exhibition
+ Local & International Experts, Industry Specialist Suppliers
Business Leaders, HR Executives, General Managers, Human Capital Development Specialists, HR Strategists, IR/ER Officers & Managers, SHEQ Officers, Corporate PR & CSR Managers, Academics, Students, Entrepreneurs, People Development Professionals , HR Practitioners
8
R12790 (R11050 Early Bird Payable by 15 June)
R10790 (R8500 Early Bird Payable by 15 June)
Progressive Business Leaders, Academic Institutions, Business Chambers & Professional Bodies, Economic Development & Tourism Agencies, Wellness & Hospitality Groups
20
Leadership
Responsive Leadership
THE AFRICA STI COMMITMENT REVISITED PEOPLE DYNAMICS | September 2017
Leadership
A
frica’s contribution to WEF2017 was very much about the continent’s plan to grow its science, technology and innovation (STI) capacity to be able to resolve its social, economic and developmental challenges for a sustainable citizenry. Africa, represented in the delegation by, among others, H.E. Dr Ameenah GuribFakim, President of Mauritius, undertook to step up research into innovation and technologies that address Africa-specific challenges. With the establishment of a Coalition for African Research and Innovation, an alliance between African scientists and international funding agents was formed to build a coordinated innovative research and development community in Africa. The commitment for this initiative is demonstrated at country leadership level through increased budget allocations toward R&D, as well as through the establishment of award initiatives that promote innovation particularly among the youth. On the international front, the Nepad Agency has enjoyed fresh injection of support in the form of investors taking interest in technological investments that will ensure sustainable, local, social and economic benefits. Continentally, we learn of more activity taking off to capacitate the continent in this regard. No rewards for guessing where most innovation investment goes to! In addition to bumping up the percentage of GDP allocated to global health related innovation and development, African countries, including South Africa, has several initiatives that seek to shape and encourage innovation, particularly among the youth. Interestingly, most resources – funding, aid and investments in the field of science technology and innovation go to trying to pull Africa up from a laggard position. While the world is looking at life extension and organ cloning, Africa’s innovation is going towards basic survival. Research funds are still being spent on prevention of infant mortality, the fighting of arguably preventable diseases like tuberculosis and HIV-AIDS. By the time the continent has overcome these battles, it is hoped that Africa’s collective sustainable good health will catapult her innovation levels way beyond the rest of the world. This, simply because, whatever Africa designs, will indeed have to benefit far more people than those in the individual first world countries. There is no doubt that the continent can live up to the challenge, when it gears itself to. This is the continent that
surpassed the first world when it comes to its application of cellular technology. It side-stepped, by-passed and leap-frogged many development processes to take poleposition in the cellular-banking solution. What’s not to impress! Africa’s infrastructure challenges actually became an innovation catalyst, providing much needed solution and relief to a dilemma that was uniquely Africa’s. One sees Africa having to wake up her genius sooner than later. Without the infrastructure, per capita health
Africa’s infrastructure challenges actually became an innovation catalyst, providing much needed solution and relief to a dilemma that was uniquely Africa’s. practitioners and the wealth distribution of most first world countries, South Africa has to play the continent’s health hospitality capital. The weight that the country’s health system is carrying in support of its million jobless citizens is unsustainable. With the precipitation of influx of health migration from SADC region and beyond, one knows that innovation is overdue. As it happened with cellphone banking, one hopes that the continent leapfrogs the world with home-grown custom solution to many of its health challenges. The issue is that most African legends have allowed their institutional memory of the most basic remedies go to waste, leaving many on the continent reliant on western medicine. While there is benefit in ingesting lab tested western drugs, and in using sterile calibrated theatre equipment, inadequate access and affordability of these interventions still bears heavily on government budgets and the handful taxpayers to be able to sustain. Home grown large-scale, accessible solutions are desperately needed.
21
One recalls the words: “in this day and age, no mother should die or lose a baby at child-birth”. This is true. Firstly, childbirth is a natural process, and the hope is that nature should lead and not fail its own. But then, that is not quite the reality, so medicine has had to step in. Medicine has advanced such that, with proper pre-natal care, mothers can tell the condition of their babies as well as know the extent of risk they and/or the babies are exposed to – in time to decide on a lifepreserving interventions and strategies. Most deaths, however, have been a result of pre-term births, where the babies came as a surprise to both the mothers and to the doctors. On the mother side, quite a few death result from trimester complications, also where things have been left to emergency stage. The fact that the pre-natal queues are long is not enough to risk lives. With foreign-parent baby deliveries accounting for 70% of public institution births, South Africa needs to find some longterm solutions to its health hospitality challenges. A privilege, no doubt, to the health professional who are always ready and prepared to be of service to patients, irrespective of origin or economic status. It will, indeed, be a shame if the health services run dry and cannot deliver this critical service. One would like to fastforward that research, which no doubt, will deliver more than vaccines for malaria, AIDS and TB, to helping with a wide spectrum of ailments and disease. The Africa Innovation Foundation is looking for that sharp African innovation to push Africa beyond zero into the positive health management, and so onward with the AU’s Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa 2024. With full Presidential Committee on Science and Technology support, we can only expect significant milestones on the horizon. Perhaps you’d like to share what you are doing in showing Responsive and Responsible Leadership on the STI front. We hope you are poised to share Africa’s strides on the subject, especially as it impacts the future of HR and people management in corporate and government entities.
Join the IPM 61st Convention, themed: Proactive, Responsive & Visionary Leadership – A People Management and Organisational Development Perspective, on 19-22 November, 2017 at Emperors Palace, Johannesburg, South Africa.
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE IPM
22
Technology
FLIES ON THE MENU:
LETTING WASTE WORK FOR YOU By: PD CORRESPONDENT
W
aste, flies, larvae. Enough to put you off? Now take this: a whopping 8.5 billion flies per factory, 250 tonnes of waste processed per day, a production of 50 tonnes of larvae per day, which in turn make up proteinrich food for fowls and pets.
Who would want to produce larvae, and more flies, you ask?
This is just one of ground-breaking projects through which South Africa is fighting for its rightful place in the global science, technology and innovation podium. Following successful tests and incubation, Western Cape-based Drew Brothers, supported by Stellenbosch University recently launched what may be the region’s first fly-farming manufacturing and commercial facility. The product from this facility will serve as feed for poultry, which is one of the leading food sources in the country for consumers across the economic spectrum. So, if you would have sworn you would never eat a fly, think again. If ‘flies’ are fed to chicken that you put on your dinner table, you are affirming ecology and the natural food cycle as programmed by the creator. Until we created artificial materials resistant to decomposition processes, nothing ever came to waste in our ecosystem. The Drew Brothers PEOPLE DYNAMICS | September 2017
The products are natural, safe and a cost-effective alternative to soybean based pet food. are restoring our faith in life’s own ways of sustaining itself – only this time, with the help of science, technology and innovation. The pair is quite willing to share its technology and process to other aspirant fly farmers. Considering that this is one of the more ecofriendly processes, one can consider embarking with little concern about adding to the destruction of the planet, but very much towards sustaining it. And, by the way, no need to worry about disease and hygiene when it comes to this production process. The flies used in Agriprotein process are a special breed, not the pests that feed on your kitchen waste with potential of spreading disease. The Black Soldier Fly does not have an active mouthpart to vary feeding between house waste and the industrial waste, and have a very short lifecycle – enough to mature, mate, lay eggs and produce larvae which thrive in a range of organic matter. The larvae are then
processed to manufacture a range of proteinbased foods, predominantly for poultry. So, Agriprotein tells us how it works: Organic food waste is transported to a flyfactory for processing; bred on an industrial scale, the flies produce larvae; the larvae are fed on organic waste, recycling the nutrients into protein; larvae are dried and milled to produce insect meal. The products are natural, safe and a costeffective alternative to soybean based pet food. The Ministry of Science and Technology laments lack of large-scale innovation emanating from start-ups in South Africa, despite the government supporting over 300 start-up agencies. At the launch of Agriprotein in September 2017, the ministry expressed hope that in Agriprotein, the country may have finally found its illusive ‘Unicorn’. It might be just in small pockets for now, but South Africa is on its way to joining the world on the innovation podium.
1PM, annually, recognises initiative and excellence in Business Leadership and HR under the following categories:
Business Leader of the Year HR Director of the Year HR Team of the Year HR Practitioner of the Year HR Emerging Practitioner of the Year
Visit: www.ipm.co.za/excelle nee-awards to find out more Email: info@ipm.co.za Tel: 011 544 4400
INSTITUTE OF PEOPLE MANAGEMENT
24
Recruitment
HIRING F Emotional Intellig PEOPLE DYNAMICS | September 2017
FOR gence
Recruitment
25
“There is no separation of mind and emotions; emotions, thinking, and learning are all linked.” - Eric Jensen BY: WENDY KIRSTAN, The Working Earth
C
ontrary to popular belief that intelligence quotient (IQ) is the main source of predicting success, emotional intelligence or emotional quotient (EQ) is fast becoming a differentiator in a very high IQ talent pool. The concept of EQ was coldly received when first introduced to the masses, the thought of assessing one’s success via an intangible means and not solely on an IQ test was unheard of. However, today, the demarcation between EQ and IQ has become quite relevant in the workplace. EQ is the ability to effectively understand, manage and express one’s feelings and engage with others.
There are essentially five components that make up EQ:
1. Social skills: ability to quickly build rapport with people 2. Empathy: understanding and relating to the emotions of others 3. Self-awareness: the ability to understand one’s moods and emotions and how they will impact others 4. Self-regulation: thinking before acting and being responsive rather than reactive 5. Motivation: a strong drive to achieve In order to create a workplace where staff motivate one another, adapt well to change, manage their own emotions, overcome obstacles and aspire to reaching collective goals, hiring managers need to move away from hiring solely on pedigree and start hiring for good EQ too. Behavioural event interviewing is a good way to interview and assess EQ skills. This interview technique informs the manager of how candidates would cope with challenging situations and indicates how emotionally self-aware the candidate is. Here are a few ways to spot good EQ in candidates:
• Candidates with high EQ are aware that they need to be open and adaptable to change in order to be successful in this era. They need to embrace new concepts and transformation. • When personal strengths and weaknesses have already been established and acknowledged by the individual and they
know how to lean on their strengths and work on their weaknesses, then they will have a good EQ. • Those with high EQ don’t hold grudges as they have become aware that this sometimes sends their bodies into fight or flight mode. Letting go of that baggage improves productivity. • They have the ability to bounce back from adversity. Like Michael Jordan said “I’ve missed 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” This is the attitude of someone who has faced adversity but has risen above and therefore displays a high level of EQ. • They are self-confident and are therefore not easily offended and not overly sensitive. Candidates with good EQ are receptive to constructive criticism and use this to grow themselves • They are socially aware and understand people and their reactions and how to manage these. Over a period of time these individuals become a good judge of character. • These individuals understand their own emotions and because they can accurately identify them they are able to mask these emotions. • Those that get over it and get on with it usually have a high EQ. They don’t carry with them their mistakes from their past. As Zig Ziglar said “One cannot climb the ladder of success dressed in the costume of failure.” • Good self-control is a good indicator of high EQ. Being analytical and not impulsive displays good EQ as is being composed rather than frazzled. A Japanese proverb says that “he who smiles rather than rages is always the stronger” Unlike IQ which does not change significantly throughout one’s lifetime, EQ can evolve and be developed if there is a desire within the individual to grow and learn. A large number of careers are derailed due to a low level of EQ, therefore hiring for EQ ensures that you have the correct people on your team. OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE IPM
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Workplace Diversity
ATTRACTING
DIVERSE TALENT cannot be a one-size-fits-all With: ANNE ALLEN, Director of People Experience, Xero
L
ook around your office. There’s hardly any shortage of women. Visit a couple of factories, plants and warehouses within a 20km radius of your office. Look around the floor or yard. There’s hardly any shortage of men. Take a flight to any world capital - to any continent. There’s hardly any shortage of women on the flight. Proceed up the stairs to the first class cabins. There’s no shortage of men. Do you pause to take it in or even ask yourself about these mono-pockets?
There’s always a rationale that accompanies gender polarisation particularly in the workplace, you may reason, immediately naming certain industries to yourself. Without arguing this point, it is worth noting that organisations benefit from diversity - of any kind. There is more synergistic effect where people with different abilities, thinking patterns and frames of references are pooled. Strengths are complementary and organisations grow multi-dimensionally. Businesses benefit from diverse thoughtpollination at all levels. PEOPLE DYNAMICS | September 2017
Diversity is less about being politically correct, and more about ensuring that businesses reflect the population in which they are located. Of particular interest to business development executives is that the business becomes an accurate reflection of its customers. While a lot of organisations recognise the importance of gender diversity, regarding it as essential to business success, too many are still intent on treating related attraction, recruitment and retention activity as one-sizefits-all. Streamlining fanatics think one-sizefits-all is great for organisational efficiency, yet this might not be as effective as tailoring approaches to the different profiles of people. Again, the equity police may be lurking around to find fault with any differentiated of approaches in HR processes. Yet, points out one frustrated HR intern: “you don’t see anyone making an issue about Nivea for Men, or this Oil for Dry Skin and a Gel for Oily Skin”. In the entire talent management value chain, what works for one person may well not work for another. By making diversity conversations meaningful,
and making the appropriate practical adaptations and differentiations, you can attract diverse talent and ensure everyone has equal opportunity to progress. To make your business diversityfriendly and attractive to all talent profiles Break with tradition
In today’s working environment, the old notion of climbing the corporate ladder has been thrown out the door. Thanks to cloud technology, where all genders have more opportunity for flexible and remote working, the way careers form looks more like a jungle gym, and each individual’s journey to the top of the playground is unique, rather than a set path. Think of sidewards steps, or making a leap across, perhaps even choosing to slide down as well as climb up to facilitate a
Workplace Diversity
different route entirely. For an individual with a growth mindset, anything’s possible from practically anywhere they wish to start! Development is make or break
If you’re truly committed to developing the people in your business, open up a wide variety of opportunities for them to upskill. It is important to support broad learning and development initiatives rather than solely job-based training that supports people in their current roles. Find out whether there are people in your organisation who want to learn competencies like how to run a business or computer science and look at how these aspirations can be supported, even if it’s not directly linked to the role they currently perform. Also, don’t be trapped by industry stereotyping. Jobs formerly regarded to suit a specific gender may attract interest across the board. Rather than stifle,
encourage this interest and offer necessary support and opportunity for success. Inclusion is key in creating accessible development programmes, and by offering everyone opportunities to get involved looking at how and when that might be possible and even scheduling different timings - you can ensure that different people are able to get their views and ideas into the mix. By scaling up development programmes over time, employees build confidence and gain the experience to support their career aspirations. Thus, when the time comes for a new role, employees will feel equipped to succeed from their rich experience of previous learning opportunities. Rely on rising stars rather than experience
It can be difficult to readily create leadership teams comprising diverse
27
range of people and perspectives, given that leadership experience has been concentrated on a narrow profile over the years. Keep an eye out for rising stars by being constantly on the lookout for new talent - whether it be at events or online. Be always willing to meet with new talent - even just for coffee. If you make these connections and proactively network, when it does come time to fill an open position, you will likely know the right person for the job and be able to offer them the opportunity to gain some experience. By establishing talent pipelines in a way that reflects today’s career trajectories and creating opportunities at all levels for development across your organisation, you can ensure gender diversity is at the heart of your business. In doing so, you’ll be able to ensure that your organisation is recognising talent in all its guises. OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE IPM
28
Employee wellbeing
Get Proactive
ABOUT MENTAL WELLNESS Mental illness has risen significantly over the last couple of years, affecting people from all walks of life. Depression, presenteeism and stressrelated absenteeism compromise employee safety and productivity in the workplace. BY: PEOPLE DYNAMICS CORRESPONDENT
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n extreme cases of compromised mental wellness, employees have ended up harming themselves, employers or even ending their lives. Left to spiral, this situation can become extremely costly to individuals affected, families and employers impacted, the society and economy at large. In a study funded by Stellenbosch University, Dr Renata Schoeman discovered that the loss of earnings due to depression and related disorders, in South Africa, amounts to approximately R54,121 per adult per year, costing the country more than R40billion per annum. A concern about people affected by mental illness is that, they may well remain in their jobs without declaring or detection, fearing ‘stigmatisation’. Due to poor concentration and compromised decision-making, people suffering from stress-related illnesses may cost the organisation significantly in injuries or flawed judgement calls. World Health Organisation defines mental health as a state of well-being in which every individual realises his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to contribute to her or his community. PEOPLE DYNAMICS | September 2017
Stress can emanate from a variety of things, some of which may have little to do with one’s job or the workplace. It is important that people managers conduct frequent check-ins with their team members to identify signs of compromised wellness or presenteeism. If an issue is picked up, it is essential that managers exercise maturity and show empathy, encouraging the employee to get the needed help or support before the situation complicates. While several causes for stress could be to do with people’s private lives, we find that poor people management can be a major contributor. This would be where people fail to manage themselves, their teams, their managers or clients. Poor management leads to anxiety or an internal conflict which can protract onto other relationships. In most cases, stress grows as a result of tension from mismatched expectations or cases of inadequacy. Management or client frustration arises from perceived lack of delivery, or from employee’s self-judgement for falling short or not coping with demands of stakeholders around, above or below him.
Alleviating Job-related Anxiety
The advice is: don’t get sucked in. When you get a job or assignment offer, get proper clarity on your deliverables upfront, and conduct an objective self-evaluation on whether and how you will meet the deliverables, working deliberately through each aspect of the job. No matter how nice you are to your boss or client, at the end of the day it’s not about niceness, it’s about delivery – the reason the relationship was brokered in the first place. Unless your official role is “Companion”, “Friend” or “Ad-hoc Support”, being nice cannot be one of your outputs. Being nice is an ingredient expected of you as you deliver on your outputs. Keep focus on tangible deliverables
In order to feel adequate, make the time to understand how these deliverables are expected to be met by your principals and clients, and ask yourself whether you are in a position to meet them comfortably and sustainably. If there is any hesitation or gaps, identify how you can close these gaps and ensure that they are closed before you commit
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is. Employee may think that his input and effort constitutes delivery and justifies compensation, whereas employer may have envisaged compensation based on delivery of specific, envisaged output. Avoid desperation and over-eagerness
In eagerness to prove willingness, a new recruit may compromise and paint himself into what may prove to be an untenable position. A line manager, on the other hand, in desperation to fill a much needed post may unwittingly omit or overlook important elements that enable delivery until the new recruit is on board and stuck, on a salary that requires justification. The manager will experience anxiety, knowing that he is expected to have something to show for the role he filled, yet the new recruit would be frustrated at the inability to deliver. Both the line manager and the employee end up stressed, feeling undue pressure. While the employee might console himself that this is not his problem but rather the organisation’s fault, the fact that he is not delivering to expectation would still gnaw at his professional conscience, piling up guilt and stress, potentially leading to depression. A proper view of the probation period
yourself. To avoid unnecessary stress, it is important that you: agree on deliverables; agree on acceptable methods of delivery, agree on quality standard and measure, agree on timelines, agree on resources and tools, agree on presentation formats, and agree on any subsequent reviews which introduce changes to negotiated terms, or improvements to job processes. Secure objectivity in work-related negotiations
Given the power dynamics between employer and employee, it is advisable that as a prospective employee, you get an agent to engage on negotiations on your behalf, as much as the organisation will likely have a human resource consultant to do this on its behalf. The advantage of having an agent doing negotiations on your behalf is so that the employer does not mistake your insistence on upfront clarity on job aspects and delivery imperatives for poor or non-agreeable attitude. Nor should it be interpreted as resistance or an attempt at being difficult. An agent enables a smooth facilitation of the contracting process to the benefit of both parties.
Small things that can induce stress
For instance, an employer may take for granted that there are sufficient reporting templates that can be used for periodic reporting, only for the employee to get into the company and find none for his specific type of work. Stress may arise from a small disagreement about a report design, with unnecessary toing and froing about appropriateness, composition or content. For an employee who has bust his gut meeting all core, technical aspects of his job to meeting required standards, a struggle with reporting admin may lead to exasperation and despondency. Meanwhile, the manager may find the job to be ‘incomplete’ without the series of reports tailored for different corporate audiences. A familiar case is where an employer assumes that measuring successful delivery for a role is straightforward, only for the parties to realise that there is much subjectivity associated with the measure or some unforeseen dependencies linked to successful delivery. Come performance evaluation, tensions erupt from misaligned interpretation of what successful delivery
A probation period is necessary to establish whether a new recruit is a perfect fit in the organisation. This should not be viewed as a one-way evaluation. This period also enables the employee to evaluate whether the organisation is a perfect fit with his own expectations and aspirations – something, admittedly, he should have attempted at job-research stage. Nonetheless, it is a window to iron out the relationship aspects and help each party make necessary adjustments towards smooth delivery and a mutually satisfactory tenure. If the employee is still unhappy with how the organisation enables his work according to his specific trade or professional requirement, the probation period makes allowances for termination of the contract. Don’t let desperation force you into a job you are not qualified for or comfortable with! Be candid and objective about your skills and competences in regard to a specific job. Stretching your abilities is always admirable and helps one grow intellectually and professionally. Yet, there is a limit to any stretch. Nothing is worth stretching yourself to a snap! Protect your professional integrity and your wellbeing. OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE IPM
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Employee wellness
KEEP YOUR SANITY! BY: PUSELETSO NKENKANE, Coach and Mentor, BeyondLofty
LEARN TO MANAGE IN, OUT, DOWN, UP AND ACROSS PEOPLE DYNAMICS | September 2017
Avoid painting yourself into a stress corner and compromising your wellness. Learn to manage yourself, your team, your manager and your client.
Employee wellness
Manage your team: be active in the recruitment of your team; confirm that they have the right skill-set for the particular roles; when evaluating employee-company match, factor team diversity, dynamics, strengths and weaknesses; get to know your team well professionally; read their energy and offer motivational support; avail yourself to listen, guide, coach, compliment, offer advice or referral where needed; expose your team to necessary technical training and multiintelligence development; while allowing your team to be creative and resourceful, supply the essential tools for each job to be accomplished successfully and safely. Know that your team’s success or failure reflects your investment in them.
Manage yourself: know your strengths,
limits and weaknesses; match your role with your strengths and identify complements to balance your weaknesses; continue working at eliminating or neutralising your weaknesses; own up about your limitations and make sure provisions are in place to make up for them; insulate yourself from negativity: thoughts, company, idle talk, complaints, unfounded criticism; evaluate situations objectively and recognise positives for self-motivation; identify and eliminate toxic relationships, at work and in life; take genuine interest in your work; think how you can grow your job’s value in or out of the company; maintain a balanced life; don’t narrow your life with prejudices; build tolerance, but don’t sacrifice your values. Know that what you give life, life gives back, if not here and now, down the line.
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capacity for any additional assignment, alternatively, agree on trade-offs (formally); take time to understand what drives your assigned objectives and pressures your manager or client faces; take genuine interest in your assignment; always make time to listen, research, reflect, evaluate and make recommendations on things impacting your function. Know that a contract is a multiparty agreement; you always have to negotiate till you agree, or walk away.
Manage your manager/client: be proactive; ascertain what the expectations are and determine whether you can meet them before accepting the assignment; if work is project-based, have a template that covers all aspects: requirement, timeline, inputs/ tools/resources, quality, format, example or sample of final presentation; agree on base costs (retainer or admin/input fees) and delivery-specific remuneration; ensure that all identified delivery dependencies are covered before the start of the contract; agree on feedback meetings and review frequency as well as on scope of those discussions. Managing the relationship: be open to
additional assignments that enhance the value of your deliverables; don’t detract or lose focus on agreed/signed-off deliverables unless a formal strategy re-evaluation has taken place and new direction formally agreed to; always make sure you have
Manage ‘Need’: At the base of our compromises and sacrifices is a dire need to meet certain needs. Yet, of the many things we ‘need’, the majority we can actually do without. Keep things simple. Don’t work hard only to accumulate things. Rather work hard discovering things that nature has already accumulated for your enjoyment and entertainment. You will find that exploring your heritage and all the gifts of nature costs less and fulfils more than filling your house with gadgets or your garage with German machines.
Always keep in mind that:
The richest person is not the one who has the most, but the one who needs the least. – Arab proverb
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IPM Excellence Awards
THE FACE EXCELLENCE Epitomising leadership in people management - 2016/17 Awards
Mario Brazzoli, Human Resources Business Partner; Barclays Africa Operations HR Practitioner - Winner
Dr Rica Viljoen, Mandala Consulting Presidential Award Recipient
Nomzamo Radebe, CEO – JHI Properties Business Leader - Winner
Abe Thebyane, HR Director of the Year 2016/7 (centre), flanked by members of the IPM Excellence Awards Committee, Sabelo Myeni (left), and Rahab Matebane (Committee Chairperson)
PEOPLE DYNAMICS | September 2017
Betty Mahlatsi, Talent co-ordinator; Transnet HR Emerging Practitioner - Winner