Congratulations to Workinfo.com HR Magazine's cartoonist - Mark Wiggett. He has been nominated for the SA Comedy Awards in the Outstanding Humorous Cartoonist category alongside Rico & Stephen Francis (Madam & Eve) and Jonathan Shapiro (Zapiro). Well done, Mark!

Extending the metaphors of the glass ceiling and the glass elevator, women are more likely than men to find themselves on a glass cliff, in that their positions of leadership are associated with greater risk of failure. If and when that failure occurs, it's often women who must face the consequences and who are singled out for criticism and blame. Company performance leading up to the appointment of a director differed depending on the gender of the appointee.

The balanced scorecard helps organisations to link their strategic objectives to performance measures, and is set up to focus attention on matters of both internal and external concern. It is a management system that be used by any organisation irrespective of size and purpose of existence to align their vision and mission with customer requirements, to improve operational efficiencies, and to build organisational capabilities.

How do you predict which of today's applicants will be tomorrow's engaged workers?
Many organisations believe they can increase engagement - and, by extension, productivity - by doing the right things for existing employees. But change achieved in this way will only ever register as a flicker if you don't select the right people in the first place.

Although millions of women have moved from behind the vacuum cleaner to the boardroom table, society continues to strike at two important areas for women; her femininity and her role in child rearing. Still today working women are subjectively blamed for an assortment of atrocities. This nonsense makes women believe they are the cause of anything from aggressive behaviour in children to the lack of morals in society.

Self knowledge goes a long way here. It's important to realize that when we're upset, we're not coaching, regardless of what we say or how helpful we mean to be. At first glance, this sounds like a "no-brainer," but how often do we see leaders who charge ahead again and again during these times, wreaking havoc on their people?

We devised an award winning exercise that broke business students' psychological contract with their professor and gave them an opportunity to organize collectively to redress this injustice. Students observed first-hand the triggers of union organizing as well as their responses to inequity. Deception is rarely used in teaching and is often associated with malevolent, callous or selfish ends. We challenge this viewpoint. Its power is in generating relevant controversies and evoking emotions that help memory consolidation.

So often, the first step taken when this unease makes its presence felt, is the unearthing and updating of the CV. This is followed shortly by the mass mailing of the CV to apply for any suitable sounding jobs. We are so programmed to believe that we are doing the right thing if we are taking action that unfortunately we do not stop to think - think about whether these suitable sounding jobs are in fact right for us.

Connie Madumo spoke to Khosi Matshitse, HR Director at WesBank, to gain more insight on broadbanding at WesBank. Read what she has to say on the braindrain, skills shortage, unemployment, foreign labour, recruitment, labour legislation, HIV/Aids and the CCMA.

Adriaan Groenewald interviewed two strong leaders, Helen Zille, leader of the DA and Ingrid Kast, CEO of DAV.
Said Zille, ". . . 'fringe' leaders are people who think ahead and look back from a vantage point of ten or twenty years into the future. They say that on the basis of that perspective what will have been the right decision now?"
Said Kast, "I would love it if everybody felt encouraged to think in terms of creating a pledge and be so proud in terms of who we are in South Africa, what we have achieved and where we are going to."

"Despite the challenges of being a young democracy, the countless social and business success stories reveal the spirit of optimism in South African society. We are now considered to be a showpiece of how to create an emotionally intelligent future and our growing success is an inspiration to many people around the world who are interested in the practical application of EQ." - Dr Pieter van Jaarsveld.

Sponsored by Perrott Van Niekerk Woodhouse Inc. & Caselaw.co.za

Tuesdays @ 20:45 Repeats on Thursdays @ 21:45 and Fridays @ 06:45. Some of these programmes are now on the Caselaw.co.za and Workinfo.com sites as webcasts.

Subject to change, the following programmes to be broadcast on dstv are:

• 27 August - Pre-dismissal arbitration
• 03 September - Employee privacy
• 10 September - Theft
• 17 September - Labour risks in the workplace
• 24 September - Corporate governance and IR

The major themes for the Convention are:

• Growing tomorrow's leaders today
• Living high performance
• Embracing Technology for a brighter future
• HR in a global economy

IPM Membership benefits

26, 27, 28 & 29 November 2007
Emperors Palace, Johannesburg, South Africa

The 4th Annual HR Africa Summit promises to be both business focused and strategy based.
Open your HR Department to the tactical world of business strategising and planning that encompasses your organisations business needs and place your HR Department in line for board membership.

Beyond HR: The New Science of Human Capital does exactly what the title says, it brings the reader a scientific approach to talent, looking beyond the usually accepted functions of HR in an organisation. A must read for strategic thinkers and HR professionals. Business schools would do well to sit up and take notice. Read more...

What do women need to wake up to their potential and power; to live fulfilled and deeply satisfying lives? For one, they need authors like Stephanie Vermeulen to write Stitched-up: Who fashions women's lives?" She writes wittily, to the point and with assurance, on a subject that matters most (or should matter most) to women: feminism or the power of being female. Read on...

Participate in the following Workinfo.com surveys for 2007/2008:

 

• Human Resource Practitioner Salary Survey
• Wage Negotiation Settlement Survey

Measure the extent of the relationship and people problems at the workplace. This is a confidential Survey on Workplace Violence (physical, verbal abuse, bullying/mobbing, sexual and racial harassment) in South Africa.

This survey examines the transitions that top executives make into and through organizations, and road blocks that can occur in the process.

Leading News held a discussion with executive coach Marshall Goldsmith on "Changing Your Identity: The Way We See Ourselves, The Way Others See Us," moderated by Patricia Wheeler.
Marshall's latest book, What Got You Here Won't Get You There, has already received widespread acclaim.

Indeed, building bridges through communication is integral to our daily work lives. Language helps build or rebuild the bridge of communication when it is interrupted or damaged in the workplace. Often, we are the bridge between the employee as well as the community at large. Without communication, how can a bridge be built? Join us in a two day Workplace Communication Workshop and we will show you how to build strong bridges that will withstand any number of pitfalls.

So your engineers have left for greener pastures and there is no one to fill their shoes. The fitter and turner has relocated and there is no one skilled up to replace him. Recruitment agencies can't find anyone for you. You always intended to train people to take over when the old engineers and skilled artisans retired. Too late...for now! Look to the future and develop a Succession plan. Join us at the Indaba Hotel, Fourways for a two day hands-on Workforce & Succession Planning workshop.

For Workinfo.com workshops, contact Shani.

Besides our regular workshops, Workinfo.com is planning to present the following new workshops soon:

• Developing an HR Business Strategy
• Managing Transformation
• Interpersonal Skills - T.A. Transactional Analysis
• Mentoring Skills
• Coaching Skills
• Retention & Succession - online workshop

• Global Executive Development Programme
• neXt - a free online career mentor
• Online opportunity to assess career goals
• Career Development Programmes

• Unlocking the Power to Lead: Emotional Intelligence in Action
• Marketing to Generation Y - Insights into South Africa's Youth
• Competitive Advantage through Management Innovation
• Board Leadership Programme
• How to Implement High Performance Coaching Interventions
• Women Finding their Voice

HR Executive Forum is the forum where you can discuss issues relating to Human Resources and Industrial Relations with other professionals. Submit your question and read the responses.

Response Handling
Your company would place the advertisement, Workinfo.com would handle all the responses, telephonically and email, give the Company a break down of how many responses have been handled and only pass on suitable applicants.

Making Changes as they happen
Recruitment webpages on the Workinfo.com website will in future be updated as soon as positions and persons become available or are placed.

Workinfo.com Recruitment Profile
Skilled Candidates
Job Specifications
 

Workinfo.com will compile as many job descriptions as you require. Simply send a list of job descriptions needed for a quote. Job descriptions improve your company's ability to manage staff and help them clearly understand the nature of their role within the organization.

Contact Elaine on 031 563 0328 or email her today for more information.

• Open Evening Cape Town
• Strategic Human Resource Management
• Negotiating for Long-term Results
• For Love, Money and Meaning - the work you were born to do
• Strategic Leadership through Coaching
• Mentor: The Art of Conversation
• Thinking with your Gut

Join us in compiling a list of abbreviations and acronyms in common use. Let us take the bafflement out of communication

Extracts from the list

• ABET - Adult Basic Education and Training
• EEA - Employment Equity Act
• HRCOSA - Human Resources Council of South Africa
• IT - Information Technology
• YOYO - You're On Your Own

"Empowerment requires nothing more than you experiencing yourself."

Purchase Workinfo.com products online. Secure Internet shop for HR manuals, annual subscription and advertising.
Find the links in the lists on the left.

Submit articles, white papers and surveys.
Promote your organisation or event on the Workinfo.com website and in the Magazine.

South Africa is seriously lagging in global competitive rankings and needs to focus on the issue of service in the run up to 2010 according to Jerry Schuitema, author of the new book "Values through Values". Schuitema says that local service levels as reflected in the Global Competitiveness Index show that South Africa is underperforming significantly. "This concept of service doesn't mean friendly faces or superficial smiles, but the foundations of business which include the basic market dynamics of supply and demand," he says. "In the broad sense, the concept of service includes everything that goes into supply. In this broad view service is not a tactic or a business strategy, it is the business." South Africa ranks 45 out of 50 according to the 2006-2007 Global Competitiveness Report, released by the World Economic Forum with Switzerland, Finland, Denmark, Singapore and the United States leading the top five.