South Africa’s economy is, for the first time since 1992, in a recession.
Many MDs are not doing much about it. They hope they just need to contain costs and wait for the recession to pass. As was recently pointed out by a visitor, a strategy built on hope has little value and these companies will not emerge stronger and more competitive.
A few clients are proactive. Their leaders think anew about the performance of their companies and about how they run their businesses.
The visitor observes that companies that wish to be successful over the long-term need to embrace renewal and change. It starts with leaders who have to step forward and renew the way in which they lead. Ambiguity, complexity and resistance and change within these times of uncertainty need to be addressed.
Leaders in difficult times have to develop unconventional ways in thinking and dealing with change and have to align hard business with soft people issues. These statements were made by Christophe Gillet, of the UK-based consulting firm Pentacle, who will deliver a two-day course at the UCT Graduate of School of Business on 31 August 2009.
In this post, I will only deal with soft issues.
In my experience, the most ignored dimension in South African companies is purposefully dealing with soft issues. Every owner intuitively knows the value of the soft dimension. Few, however, go about developing a managerial culture in terms of which managers focus as much on the human dimension as on the hard facts of running a company and of generating revenue.
Focusing on the human dimension starts with appointing the right people and doing so in a manner that has a more than even chance of success. It is extremely difficult to conduct a series of 10 to 20 interviews and to select the right person. There are a number of reasons for this:
• The decision maker often does not spend time on learning a number of interviewing techniques
• Interviews are not conducted according to a consistent pattern
• Questions do not unearth answers which indicate strongly that the selected candidate will be a successful fit with the organisation
• Nor is a conscious link made between the strategy of the company and the past track record and talents and abilities of the candidates to achieve future outputs that will support the strategy
• A gut feeling on the part of the selector and a confident attitude on the part of the successful candidate often are the determining factors
I have made such mistakes and they were costly and difficult to rectify.
Managers need to understand their huge responsibility in two areas: Strategic direction (which they should determine in an inclusive manner with their staff) and their duty to build people. Every post, every assignment and task provide an opportunity for building people. This requires a conscious effort on the part of each manager. Each person is unique and needs individual attention.
How to create the right company conditions in which people issues are given much needed attention? This could be the topic of a number of posts.
Would you like me to provide further information?
Albert
keywords: build people, human resources, organisation, soft issues