SOUTH AFRICA'S most widely distributed & read INDEPENDENT HUMAN RESOURCE PUBLICATION
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News & Views SOUTH AFRICA'S most widely distributed & read INDEPENDENT HUMAN RESOURCE PUBLICATION
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| Equity Skills News & Views Volume 3, Issue 18, October 10, 2004 Registered as an electronic newspaper: ISSN 1684-5722 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- In This edition 1. Time to Talk Sense about Outsourcing Jeff Sacht: Publisher-editor www.equityskillsweb.com 'A MUST TO PRINT & READ' 30,000+ AND STILL GROWING! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- RAU: HUMAN DYNAMICS - DRIVING FORCE FOR GLOBAL COMPETENCE CONFERENCE ---------------------------------------------------------------------- # final conference reminder: less than two weeks left to 14 October to register for the 1-day Conference hosted by the RAU's Department of Human Resource Management. The special discounted rates applicable to our: a) DHRM Alumni & Postgraduate Students; b) Centre for Work Performance Affiliates/Members; less 5% for 5 or more delegates! Contact Letitia de Wet RAU University; Cell: 082 883 1758; Tel: 011 489 3014; Fax: 011 4892710 http://general.rau.ac.za/hrm/invitation/register.htm WHEN: Thursday 14 October 2004 WHERE: Sandton Convention Centre THEME: Organizational Sustainability: Balancing Wealth & Community Wellness ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Time to Talk Sense about Outsourcing* By Knowledge @ Wharton who can be contacted at http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Introduction The reality is that outsourcing is as old as the corporation. One business arranges with another to make a widget or provide a certain service that it cannot do itself, or does not wish to do, so that it can focus on the parts of the business it does best. The sourcing arrangement is normally seamless, and it matters little to end-use customers who have been paid to perform the outsourced work. Flash-forward to today, though, and it becomes clear that the phenomenon of outsourcing has taken on a whole new dimension that companies even a decade or two ago would find astonishing. Experts at Wharton and the Boston Consulting Group say sourcing is no longer a tactical option that can help a firm save a few dollars here and there. Rather, it has emerged as a strategic necessity in an era when opportunities offered by "low-cost countries," such as China, India or Mexico, abound. Indeed, these experts say that the sourcing juggernaut will continue to move forward, despite occasional missteps and retrenchment, and transform national economies in both the developed and developing worlds in the process. "It's the classic 'makes vs. buy' question," says Morris Cohen, professor of manufacturing and logistics at Wharton. "Do I make something internally or buy it in the marketplace, and how do I add value most effectively? This is a problem that's been studied in economics and management for decades. This is not a new issue, and it's not one that will ever go away." What has changed, Cohen says, is that more companies are engaged in more outsourcing than before -- and they are doing it in novel ways. "The idea of moving things offshore and outside the boundary of the firm -- more of that has been happening around processes you would never have thought possible. Having somebody in India answer calls -- who would have ever thought of that?" Hal Sirkin, senior vice president and director in BCG's Chicago office and head of the firm's global operations practice, emphasizes that "leveraging low-cost countries" is not only about reducing costs. "It cuts across a number of dimensions. It doesn't mean your total cost will be cheaper if you can find someone who can make something cheaper. Having a long supply chain is not as cheap [as a short one]. You can't look at leveraging low-cost countries as just finding the purest, lowest cost widget. It affects so much of your business and your customers. You have to take a holistic view." Ravi Aron, a professor of operations and information management at Wharton, emphasizes the same point. In a new paper, "Rightsourcing Services: Make, Migrate or Outsource?" Aron describes how his field research has determined that for a company to reap dividends beyond operational efficiencies, it is imperative that senior management view sourcing strategically, and not as an operational decision. "Rightsourcing initiatives that have cost savings as their principal intent do not yield strategic gains easily. Considerable re-architecting of the relationship is needed before strategic gains can be captured," according to the paper. Senior executives who treat sourcing primarily as a cost-cutting maneuver will usually not commit to the major organizational change that is often required to make sourcing produce important strategic benefits. Typical benefits include superior service customization, premium prices for superior service, buyer lock-in, getting to market faster, compression of the product-development cycle and increased market share through competitive pricing. Jim Hemerling, vice president and director in the Shanghai office of BCG, says the shift of manufacturing and service operations to other nations "is more about leveraging low-cost countries than outsourcing, per se. Increasingly, it's appropriate to define it more broadly than sourcing a physical material component or product. There's a need to think about it so that it includes product development, research and development -- a set of knowledge-related and people-related services and activities in addition to the sourcing of things. Just as there's cost saving in sourcing things, there are savings in sourcing knowledge and talent." Cohen agrees that, by sourcing, firms can achieve much more than cost savings. "One of the strategic advantages of sourcing is knowledge of technology, access to better processes or efficiencies, or learning about more efficient management procedures. Another company might be a specialist in making types of precision components. By outsourcing, you gain access to that superior knowledge and capability. There are also companies that outsource for capacity. They know how to make a product but don't have capacity, or they don't want to invest in how to make it." Saving money may not be the only reason for a corporation to cast a strategic eye on low-cost countries, but it is a major impetus. Hemerling notes that the savings can be as high as 50%. Much of the savings is driven by lower wage rates. But other factors also come into play: lower costs for equipment, tooling, raw materials, and real estate, as well as government incentives. Companies in some sectors - apparel, footwear and consumer electronics - were among the earliest firms to shift many of their operations to low-cost countries, according to BCG research. Nike, for instance, decided a long time ago that its core competency was marketing high-end sneakers, not making them. Other sectors - such as electrical equipment, household appliances and computer equipment - are among the fast-growing segments that are penetrating low-cost countries today. But migration to low-cost countries has only just begun for firms in many other industries, including measuring and controlling devices, heating and ventilation equipment, fabricated metal products and motor-vehicle parts. 2. Along the Sourcing Continuum Companies, as well as individual business units within companies, differ sharply in how advanced they are in taking advantage of low-cost countries. BCG, which has analyzed outsourcing trends in 11 low-cost countries -- Brazil, China, Czech Republic, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, Russia and Thailand -- divides companies into five categories: Some are merely testing the water. These firms recognize that sourcing is important. They may even source some basic commodities, but only on a trial basis. There may be incremental benefits from this cautious approach, but no real competitive advantage is gained. Other firms have advanced to the point where they are purchasing components or complete products. Big retailers like America's Wal-Mart and France's Carrefour, for example, purchase billions of dollars worth of goods from China each year. One advantage of such purchases is, of course, reduced costs; another is that the buyers gain knowledge from working with particular suppliers. But these advantages can be easily lost because competitors can readily imitate them. Some firms find themselves further along the continuum in that they have developed comprehensive sourcing. By 2006, Motorola aims to have made $10 billion in accumulated purchases from China and to be producing $10 billion a year in goods there. By that same year, Motorola also wants to have made investments totaling $10 billion inside China, including the construction of a global research and development center and the hiring of 5,000 researchers. This kind of comprehensive sourcing, which involves much more than mere procurement, produces a real competitive edge. Firms can design and make products with higher value added; at the same time, they can reduce their dependence on imports from higher-cost countries and speed up product-development cycles. Still other firms have reached the stage where they have adopted an integrated sourcing strategy. Major auto manufacturers, for example, once viewed countries like China primarily as places to make cars for sale domestically. Today, however, car makers see low-cost countries not just as an important market or as a principal supply base for goods sold elsewhere, but as both. An integrated strategy is required so that each business line can outsource components for products that will be exported and produce goods to be sold in the domestic market. Firms that have reached this stage are reaping major benefits. An integrated approach produces a variety of advantages not easily copied by competitors, such as being able to use plants to realize true economies of scale and broadening the opportunity to increase sales. Furthest along the sourcing spectrum, BCG says, are those companies - thus far few in number - that recognize they must capture global advantage. These firms recognize that if they manage their business across multiple low-cost countries, they can achieve more growth at all levels -- local, regional and global. For example, Toyota outsources vehicle sub-assemblies from many Asian countries, allowing it to keep costs low and achieve just-in-time delivery. Capturing global advantage --achieving the lowest costs while making use of the best people and practices -- is the holy grail of leveraging low-cost countries. It is hard to achieve but it is also difficult for competitors to replicate. To capture global advantage, "You need to think about where you can best source competitive advantage," Hemerling notes. "And you have to do that in a dynamic sense so that you can constantly update your knowledge as to what to source from where, to [know] the risks from any one country, and to balance the exposure of risk in any one country." 3. How do firms move toward the goal of achieving global advantage? BCG has identified three steps. Companies must analyze opportunities and determine what should be sourced; establish an infrastructure to support the sourcing operation; and overcome barriers to sourcing. "We argue that the biggest component is building the sourcing capability," explains Hemerling. "This involves a set of processes, policies, skills, data and supplier relationships. Within each one of those categories, there are things to think about. With policies, say, you have to define the specific policies of how you operate in each country - human rights, legal issues and integrity - and the management of an enormous amount of information." He adds that one of the major stumbling blocks to leveraging low-cost countries is not the availability of low-cost suppliers or labor, but rather barriers within the organization doing the sourcing. "If you think about a large company with multiple businesses, its functions and procurement are often decentralized down to the business unit and factory level. The organizational complexity of trying to orchestrate things across a global company is really quite extraordinary. To bring together the information and individuals required to make the decisions of where to relocate production and sourcing is a fairly staggering task." 4. A Shift in Europe Just how quickly companies are moving to investigate the advantages of low-cost countries can be seen in one type of sourcing - procurement. Pascal Cotte, a vice president and director in BCG's Paris office and the firm's global leader for procurement, says he has witnessed a marked acceleration in sourcing just since mid-2002. Cotte, whose expertise centers on industrial-goods companies (electrical equipment for power plants, transportation equipment and the like) says these companies have any number of "levers" they can use to reduce costs and achieve efficiencies. One option is to simply reduce the number of suppliers. Another is to engage in transnational partnering, buying from a regional entity so that you do not have 10 German suppliers and 10 French ones. A third option would be for a firm to change its product specifications to simplify the goods purchased so that it can obtain better prices from vendors. A fourth option is to form partnerships with suppliers to simplify the supply chain and reduce paperwork; this is common in the auto industry. If none of these traditional levers is sufficient, a firm can always take the biggest step of all: to move some or all of its operations to a low-cost country. For years, many companies, mostly in Europe but also in the United States, were reluctant to move to low-cost countries, preferring instead to choose more traditional cost-reduction options that they perceived as safer alternatives, according to Cotte. "They said, 'Why should we bother with the risk of going to eastern European countries or even further to India and China? What's the point?' Some of these companies were ready to try, but many [pilot programs] were big failures, for many reasons. They said, 'Every time we try, it's more costly.' People were happy to say, 'Let's stick to what we know.'" The reluctance stemmed, in part, from concerns that product quality would suffer if manufacturing were handled by less-skilled workers in less-developed countries. Another factor that kept companies from sourcing: European tariffs and labor laws that protect industries and workers from the kind of abrupt, massive and irrevocable job losses that have become such a controversial topic in the United States. But, just since mid-2002, Cotte has witnessed a startling change: a growing number of European companies are demonstrating a willingness to procure goods from low-cost countries and are at least giving consideration to pulling the last lever and moving operations beyond their own borders. "Companies now feel they've reached a plateau," says Cotte. "They see Eastern European markets and China and India really taking off. Before, because of local content requirements or tariff issues, [European companies] were forced to get goods locally. I know today some companies still source some components from Europe to serve Chinese markets. They use French, German or Italian vendors, which is absolutely strange. It was a vicious circle. But quality and reliability [among producers in low-cost countries] have made major improvements. Now European companies never just think of using local firms. We can observe a real shift." What is noteworthy, too, is that senior executives are finally getting on board the sourcing bandwagon. "It's now on the CEO and COO [chief operating officer] agenda, not just deep in the organization," says Cotte. "People are rushing to say, 'I want to use my suppliers to import goods back to Europe.' That's a big move. And I can see it mounting almost every week." 5. Recognizing Risks As some of the European executives know well, there are risks associated with sourcing that should not be casually dismissed: longer supply chains, political uncertainty, possible difficulties in monitoring a supplier's work, and language and culture issues. Indeed, in recent weeks news reports have described how some U.S. companies have trimmed or eliminated the outsourcing of call centers to India because of cultural snags and customer complaints. There also is the risk that your supplier could become your competitor. For example, Acer, founded in Taiwan in 1976, was once a supplier of components for personal computers, but over time evolved into one of the world's top PC makers. "Acer realized there was value in making components and in design," Cohen notes. "They said, 'We can put them together better than our customers.' I'd have to believe that the market share they have [today] was at the expense of their customers." In 2000, Acer spun off its manufacturing operation to focus on marketing its brand-name products, which include desktop and mobile PCs. But Sirkin of BCG points out that it may be more catastrophic for a firm to shun sourcing because of an irrational aversion to risk. The risks associated with inertia and reluctance to change may leave a firm hopelessly behind more nimble competitors willing to tackle risk. "There's a misperception of risk. There's risk you can see and risk you can't see. By allowing yourself to have a cost disadvantage or by forcing yourself to invest in more manufacturing than you have to, you're incurring incredible risk but it's harder to perceive that." 6. The Next Big Thing What's next on the horizon for sourcing? Some BCG consultants say that while companies may continue to look at low-cost regions such as Eastern Europe, the major big trend will be capturing global advantage. "This means sourcing some R&D and talent from Eastern Europe, some from China, some from India and some from Mexico," says Hemerling. He explains that companies will diversify their sourcing globally while still maintaining some aspects of their operations in Western Europe and the U.S. "Realizing the next big thing requires overcoming many organizational barriers and putting in place global platforms and decision-making mechanisms to enable true global sourcing. That is the next big thing," he adds. More broadly, the leveraging of low-cost countries will only accelerate in years to come, making deeper inroads into both the manufacturing and service sectors. Despite all of the news media attention given to this topic, sourcing is still in its infancy. "The leveraging of low-cost countries is in its early days, it's inexorable and it's a major source of competitive advantage for those companies able to put in place the organizational capabilities to do this on a dynamic, global basis," Hemerling says. "And it's a huge disadvantage to those who don't." *Reprinted under license agreement from Wharton @ Work ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Becoming A Mentor To Yourself* By Joanne Lozar Glenn who can be contacted at www.mentorme.info ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. MENTOR ME: A GUIDE TO BEING YOUR OWN BEST ADVOCATE IN THE WORKPLACE I first met Julie Hauser in 1996. She'd recently earned a degree in speech communications and was working as a marketer for a nonprofit organization. Always smart about following her interests, Julie accepted a professional position that she would not only be good at but also enjoy. Yet Julie still experienced, as she put it, the shock of being "low man on the totem pole." "When you're in school, you're idealistic about what you think you can accomplish or contribute [on the job]," she said. She'd expected to make contributions early, but learned that her ideas were more likely to be heard "down the road." The staff at Julie's organization was small; there were no mentors who could help her advance. "I had the sense that some people wanted to keep new hires in their place, but I also felt I'd have to pay my dues," Julie explained. "They weren't going to let [recent] college grads handle the big stuff right away." Maybe you're familiar with or even a little scared about experiencing a situation similar to what Julie faced. One that would be not only disillusioning, but disheartening. One that would leave you no other choice but to wait patiently until your work began to "speak for itself." Julie wasn't willing to wait that long or risk developing a negative attitude that would, in the end, leave her miserable as well as unproductive. So she decided to take action. She enrolled in a course I was teaching at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, a course that would teach her how to be her own best advocate in the workplace. The topic? Be Your Own Mentor. Within one year of taking the course, Julie sought and accepted a job that was more in line with her writing interests (working for a small publisher of human resource materials) and soon moved to a better position with KPMG Consulting (now BearingPoint), where she stayed three-and-a-half years. During that time she ultimately decided to change her focus from written communications to something that would help individuals more directly. In keeping with her interest in human resources, she pursued a master's degree in career counseling. And today, Julie has a job she loves: she is a certified career counselor who works for Georgetown University, the place she started her self-mentoring journey. 2. RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW Like Julie, you are capable of giving yourself permission to do what is necessary and ethical to be your own best advocate in the workplace. Indeed, only you can do this-no one else will do it for you. The best place to start is right here, right now, by committing to becoming your own mentor. Note the deliberate use of the word "becoming" rather than "being." You will grow into this role. You don't have to have all the answers immediately-just a desire to honor and explore the questions and choices that arise. One of these choices will be the attitude you adopt toward yourself and your work. Becoming your own mentor means considering your career your business and yourself self-employed. We are all self-employed, says business consultant and author Cliff Hakim, whether or not we are employed by a company. Therefore, he says, we must develop a self-employed attitude. This attitude is independent-we rely on our own initiative-and interdependent-we collaborate with our employers and coworkers to achieve success. 3. WHAT'S A MENTOR? You may have heard the word "mentor" used to describe someone, usually an older, more experienced person, who serves as a trusted teacher and counselor, especially in a business setting. Books and articles on mentoring frequently point out that the word "mentor" comes from Greek mythology. As you may remember from studying The Odyssey in high school, Mentor was the name of the trusted wise man who protected and educated Odysseus' son Telemachus when Odysseus left to fight the Trojan Wars. Mentor, though, was actually the goddess of wisdom-Athena-in disguise. Odysseus had asked Athena to guide and protect his son while he was away. Athena, disguised as Mentor, became Telemachus' teacher, counselor, and even networker as she guided him in his adult quest to find the father who'd been missing for ten years. Personally, I find it interesting and illuminating that Mentor was both male and female. Mentor personified the innate "wisdom energy" of both genders: the feminine energy of intuition combined with the masculine energy of acting on that inner knowing. Think about that-using Mentor as a model, we, too, can call on our own individual mix of male and female energies to be the mentor we always wanted. 4. YOUR PERFECT MENTOR Consider the role of a business mentor. What does a mentor do? What personal qualities should a mentor have? When asked to do this as an exercise, Julie and the other students in the class found it relatively easy to complete. They suggested qualities such as compassion, being "in the loop," understanding, helping you run the political "gauntlet," being able to listen without judging, encouraging you, broadcasting your successes, and challenging you-sometimes through honest and gentle criticism-to do your best work. In other words, a mentor is a balloon that helps you rise above yourself and a parachute that cushions your falls. Then I asked, "Can you imagine practicing these behaviors on yourself?" A stunned silence filled the room, and everyone grinned. They supposed they could practice these behaviors, they said, but how odd to think of being kind, compassionate, and gentle to themselves! Yet this is what self-mentoring means: treating yourself gently, as would a savvy and skillful, wise and compassionate mentor. When you act as your own mentor, you see challenges as opportunities to try out new skills and enjoy new successes. If one of your efforts fails, you learn what worked and what didn't, and then try again, rather than blame yourself unmercifully for failing or your employer for being unreasonable. Instead of depending on your employer to manage your career, you become aware that you yourself can have the most significant influence on your success. Yet at the same time, you understand that success is based on collaboration with others-and so you come to understand what Cliff Hakim calls working "with" rather than "for" an employer. You decide to become curious and open to new challenges. You welcome change rather than feel threatened by it. When change is as common as it is in today's business world, it's helpful to continuously reconnect with your inner mentor. Compare your ideas of what you thought you knew against what is really happening. Your idea of yourself, of what you like, and of what you think is best for you may change over time. Use your inner mentor's wisdom to navigate your unique career path. Then you will be prepared to accept and succeed at new opportunities that come your way. 5. THE IMPORTANCE OF DRAFTING A DREAM You can tap into the mentor you have inside yourself, the trusted guide who has the qualities of compassion, understanding, challenge, encouragement, and celebration. Tapping the mentor within begins when you consider your work in the context of your career/life dream. What is the touchstone of your career/life dream-the thing that makes you happy and the thing you must do to feel fulfilled? ------------------------------------ The remainder of this article can be found at http://www.workinfo.com/free/downloads/180.htm in the online version of the newsletter at: * Reprinted with permission of the National Business Education Association, Reston, Virginia, USA." ------------------------------------ PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT e-TOOLKIT ------------------------------------ The e-Toolkit takes the 'theory' and 'jargon' out of Performance Management. The kit contains all you need - a comprehensive set of line manager friendly policies, procedures, and paperwork. The e- manual has been developed in South Africa by South African Legal and HR professionals for companies to meet the requirements of the key labour Acts that stress the importance of fair & developmental people management practices. For a preview click on: http://www.workinfo.com/mall/pms.htm ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. The Great HR Paradox: A Thought Bullet For CEOs Everywhere* By Keith Coates who can be contacted at www.tomorrowtoday.biz ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Never before has 'HR' (Human Resources) been so redundant within the corporation; yet paradoxically, never before has it been more needed. (And by 'HR' I am referring not to the Industrial Relations aspect of the HR function but rather to the people development side of the coin.) Let me explain. Traditionally the HR function has been compartmentalised within the corporate structure creating a silo effect. This has been consistent with the mindset and business model that saw fit to compartmentalise the entire business including marketing, sales, finance etc...in the understanding that the business was best seen as a machine made up of various components. It made analysis and measurement possible and in an economy where it was all about efficiency made sense to dichotomise in this manner. Or so it seemed. If a basic definition of management is, 'getting work done through others' then in this context the emphasis underscored the 'work' rather than the 'others'. In fact the 'others' were at times viewed by management as a frustration to be tolerated in ensuring that the work gets done. The prevailing attitude was one that any failure to perform meant that, as with a malfunctioning cog in a machine, you will simply be replace and it will be 'business as normal'. However the world in which we live and work changed. A mechanistic view of the universe and workplace is as outdated as is the belief that the world is flat. This worldview, along with its accompanying methodologies is simply no longer effective or relevant in a quantum, connected, networked world that is made ever smaller through technological advancement. The true corporate alchemists of today are those familiar with frameworks and practices that centre on people and people development. The attraction, retention and leadership of talent (or those we like to term, "Bright Young Things') is the new challenge facing the corporate world. And so, taking our same definition of 'management' the emphasis has now shifted from the 'work' to the 'others'. Of course the work is still important - the bottom line cannot be disregarded, but no longer is merely about the bottom line, the work. Not anyway if a company is to achieve sustainable success over the long haul. Often the things that matter, that really matter, are sacrificed on the alter of short-term expediency and profitability. It is at this critical juncture (where people connect) that HR should be found with bold insights, creative ploys and clear messages and most importantly, empowered to do what is needed. Jeff Immelt of GE was quoted in the Harvard Business Review (Aug 2003) as saying that, "HR at GE is not an agenda item; it is the agenda" All too often in my experience I have encountered demoralised HR personal who have sold their souls to the corporate mechanistic way. Weary of dissent they fallen in line, colour by numbers and learnt to play the game according to the corporate rules. In so doing HR has lost the privilege of being the company's conscience, the voice that sounds the alarm and sees the dangers of the rocks that lie in wait. Their companies continue to give mere lip service to the cliché of the people being the most important asset and whilst making all the right noises one only has to chat to any of the 'people' to detect how rotten things really are: to everyone but the speechmakers it all seems so obvious. By marginalising HR we can dismiss it. Done consistently and over a protracted period has resulted in two discernable outcomes. Firstly, leadership can abstain from involvement in the people side of the business and absolve itself when things go wrong i.e. when people get hurt. Talk to these types of corporate leaders about people issues and they grow increasing uncomfortable. This is the "soft stuff" they have ignored for much of their careers and the corridor to locate their 'people people' will be quickly pointed out as soon as one touches on such topics. "Talk to them about all this" is the response. Fred Hassen, Chairman and CEO of Schering-Plough was quoted in the same issue of the Harvard Business Review as saying that the, "CEO has to see himself (or herself...my addition!) as the chief developer of talent, no matter how large the company" Jack Welsh, former CEO of GE, believed that it was necessary for him to spend at least 40% of his time with GE people. Recently I have been involved in facilitating a strategic thinking exercise with an already successful Cape Town based hotel group. Stated clearly in their unfolding plans is significant time for the senior management team to be involved in their training academy. Simply put: a people focus has to start at the top or it doesn't really exist. Warren Buffet has said that it is when the tide goes out that you find out who has been swimming naked. It is when the tide turns that a company needs staff who are committed, loyal and who have an ownership mentality. Waiting till low tide before attempting to cultivate such characteristics within the corporate culture is to be caught naked. Culture within a company is a consequence, the result of the way the business is run. It comes from the top and when at the top, you have a CEO who doesn't see HR as their responsibility, it shows. No amount of effort from HR can change that reality - not with any permanence anyway. In a world where talent is the most critical resource leaders have to get involved in the processes designed to attract, select, retain and nurture talent. Savvy leaders are those who are good with people and are constantly seeking ways to make their people successful and not get in the way of that process. "When I hear corporate leaders refer to values and culture as 'soft' issues," says Randall Tobias, former CEO of the pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, "I wonder what they regard as being 'hard'" (Karaoke Capitalism p263). Secondly, a marginalised HR concerns itself with systems and procedures that generate a flurry of activity, keep people busy, look good on paper and yet achieve nothing. Well nothing that an authentic conversation over a decent cup of coffee wouldn't achieve. And here is the sad part of it all: all these systems and measurement tools have produced a generation of managers who have lost the art of meaningful conversation as a means to develop their people. The development tools that are employed have only served to sever the relational artery that gives life and procures growth. "Doesn't anyone else see the irony of this?" I find myself repeatedly asking when confronted by a dazzling array of performance appraisals and developmental systems that haven't achieved anything close to the intended purpose. In such an environment HR has lost its way. Who is to blame? Does it really matter and perhaps that is the wrong question to be asking. What is to be done? Is a far better question to be asking. This inquiry, pursued in an environment that is striving to see itself as a whole system, will without doubt lead to a different understanding on the nature, role and activity of HR. It is the leader's question to be asking. Anything less and I am prepared to bet that nothing will come of it. So when last did you consider this question? How much of your day is spend with your most important asset...your people? When last did you deliberately get involved in training, mentoring and passing on your experience to those you are responsible for developing? ..."well those are good questions but if you follow the corridor you will see a sign that says HR..." * Reprinted by permission of the authors ------------------------------------ MOVING HR INTO LINE e-TOOLKIT ------------------------------------ Stop talking about becoming a Line Partner. Start today, and master the practices required to reposition and transform your HR function with this tried and tested toolkit developed for the highly acclaimed workshop "Moving HR Into Line For The New Economy". The e-Toolkit is now available as an electronic download. The kit consists of a detailed 125 page manual, a project workbook, & 8 PowerPoint slide shows. Contact Jeff Sacht on jeffs@worldonline.co.za or call 082 4561049 for a preview pack and pricing details. Don't delay start today with your HR top team for the price of one download. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Exploding Some Popular Employment Myths* By Professor Barney Jordaan who can be contacted at ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Myths abound over legal requirements in employment. The scary thing is that many important decisions - also strategic ones - are often taken on the basis of these myths. Not surprisingly, the proponents of these myths are mostly people engaged in the labour relations field and who dispense legal advice without having a proper understanding of law. The following are the most common ones. # 'The employee does not have a contract of employment' Unless the parties to the agreement have stipulated it, there is no requirement in our law that a contract of employment should be in writing in order to be valid. A contract of employment exists if there is agreement about the essential aspects of the relationship, i.e. the wage, the duties and the fact that the one party will be under the other's direction and control ('subordination'). While it is preferable for the contract to be in writing (it limits the possibility of disputes) it may also be entered into verbally, or may arise out of the way in which two parties conduct themselves. Once the essential requirements of the contract have been agreed (verbally, tacitly or in writing) a contract of employment exists and all the normal consequences flow from the relationship, e.g. labour legislation applies, including applicable minimum wage provisions in sectoral determinations; the employee is protected against unfair dismissal, and so on. Put differently, just because you can't see it, it does not mean that it isn't there. As far as written agreements are concerned, it matters not what you call it, i.e. a contract of employment or letter of appointment. The fact is that there is an employment contract with some of the terms having been reduced to writing. A properly drafted contract will usually state that the contract is the exclusive memorial of the agreement, whereas a 'letter of appointment' is more open-ended. # 'If we've negotiated to the point of deadlock, management can implement unilaterally' This is possibly the most dangerous myth of all, because many a negotiation process has fallen flat because of ignorance of one of the basic rules of our common law, i.e. that parties to a contract must stick to their promises. In other words, 'a deal is a deal'. If terms have been agreed, and the terms are clear, neither the employer nor the employee may unilaterally change those terms (unless the change is minimal). An employer therefore cannot remove a guaranteed 13th cheque, or change agreed hours of work, without the employee's consent. In the same way, employees cannot award themselves a wage increase. The agreed terms can only be varied by a further agreement. Of course, there are ways and means of obtaining agreement, e.g. through industrial action or the possibility of an operational requirements dismissal, but consent there must be. If the proposed change affects work practices only (as opposed to agreed terms) unilateral change would be possible after consultation, but subject to the possibility of employees resisting the change through industrial action or, in some cases, a complaint of unfair labour practice. It is certainly not always easy to distinguish between the two situations and the distinction becomes even murkier if the contract in question is not properly drafted or, worse still, is a verbal one. Nevertheless it remains a vital distinction which, if not made, can result in interdicts and claims based on breach of contract. # 'Fixed-term contracts may only be renewed three times' What is supposed to happen after the third time is not always clear, but mostly it is alleged that the employee then becomes permanent. The truth is that there is no such rule in our law. Nobody has a right to be appointed on any basis, let alone permanently, unless there is a contract to that effect. The same applies to temporary employees. The common law rule still applies to temporary contracts: they come to an end when their terms expire. This does not constitute a dismissal, except where the employee is able to prove a 'reasonable' expectation of renewal, in which case the non-renewal does not lead to permanency, but to an obligation on the part of the employer to justify its reasons for not re-appointing the employee. If it can justify the decision, the contract is over. If it can't the employee might be reinstated for another fixed term. If temporary employees want permanent status, they either have to prove an agreement to that effect, or strike to obtain it. # 'Medical certificates are sacrosanct' Another myth that costs employers thousands in lost production every year. A medical certificate is documentary proof of an employee's illness. As is the case with all documents, one need not accept a certificate unless it is authentic (i.e. contains all relevant details and has not been tampered with) and one is satisfied with its contents. What does one want in a certificate? An indication that a registered medical practitioner has actually examined the patient and expressed the (professional) opinion that the employee was too ill or injured to work. A certificate that does not reflect this deserves to be treated with caution. In cases of doubt over the contents of the certificate, additional information should be required of the employee or, with the employee's consent, of the practitioner concerned. A second opinion may also be insisted upon in appropriate cases. # 'In job interviews, all candidates must be asked the same questions' / 'In interviews, questions of a personal nature should be avoided' This is a rule of convenience and may be good practice, but it certainly is not the law. All the law states is that employees may not be unfairly discriminated against. Nowhere does it require that the same questions must be asked. It even allows for questions of a potentially discriminatory nature to be asked (e.g. 'are you pregnant') provided in this case that the question is relevant to determining the employee's suitability for employment (e.g. ' the hazardous substances in the work area could be harmful to the fetus'.) # 'By using labour brokers I can escape compliance with labour laws' This is partly true, because the labour broker is deemed to be the employer. However, the client remains liable for compliance buy the broker with the provisions of the BCEA; arbitration awards and court judgments applicable to employees of the broker working at the client; and applicable sectoral determinations or bargaining council agreements. Conclusion Decision-makers in organisations should obtain proper legal advice before taking decisions about staff, or at least ensure that the advice they receive correctly reflects the legal position. This is not to suggest that the law is the only factor to consider in making such decision, far from it. Only doing what the law requires when it comes to employment issues is not recommended, but neither is making important decisions with financial and other implications based on half-baked or ill-informed advice about the law's requirements. Labour law does not only consist of legislation. The latter is founded on a set of common law principles and institutions (e.g. contract) that are as relevant to the employment relationship as ever. An understanding of that foundation is essential for sound advice in this branch of the law. *Reprinted with the permission of Siber Ink www.siberink.co.za first published in SiberWorks No 14 September 2004 ------------------------------------ DOES YOUR EMPLOYMENT EQUITY COMMITTEE DELIVER RESULTS? ------------------------------------ The DoL is on the warpath for non-compliance! Train an entire committee for the price of 1 electronic manual with full reproduction rights. http://www.workinfo.com/mall/escmt.htm ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Across The Board: Official Communication From The SA Board For Personnel Practice (SABPP): HR Crossroads Conference 2004 By Huma Vab Rensburg who can be contacted at www.sabpp.co.za ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You are cordially invited to attend and participate in the greatly interactive 2004 hr crossroads conference: brought to you by # HRCOSA (HR Council of South Africa); # IPM (West Rand with support of head-office); # ROCCI (Roodepoort Chamber of Commerce and Industry); # SABPP (South African Board for Personnel Practice Take part in discussions about regulating the HR profession: >>HR Governance >>The Act >>The Charter >>The business point of view >> Skills Development Facilitation JOHANNESBURG: 4 November 2004 CAPE TOWN: 16 November 2004 COST: R 1450-00 per delegate CONTACT: Johann Vogel; 083 459 3820; johann@hrevents.co.za ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. HR Outsourcing Is A Disruptive Innovation By David Creelman who can be contacted at ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Many managers will be familiar with Clayton's Christensen's theory of disruptive innovation described in The Innovator's Dilemma. The crux of the argument is that innovations in technology or business processes are often ignored by established companies because the market it too small, the innovation doesn't fit their business model, and it doesn't match their values. As a result, upstart competitors come in, get established and ultimately can take over a market. I recently spoke to Erik Roth and Scott Anthony, co-authors of Dr. Christensen's latest book Seeing What's Next. We debated whether HR outsourcing vendors would have success as a disruptive competitor taking work away for HR departments. The quick answer is, "Yes, it is disruptive and it will succeed." For one thing the employees who are HR customers are, to use Christensen's word, "overshot" by HR administrative services. That means the service HR offers is better than it really needs to be. HR departments are on-site, they know the company, customers can see them face-to-face, and they can customize administrative services to the particular organization. These are nice-to-have, but not worth paying for. All that managers and employees really need for HR administration is an on-line system and access to a call centre. That is exactly what the outsourcing vendors are providing and as a result can provide a cheaper product that is good enough. Secondly, the outsourcers have an advantage over individual HR departments in that they can get economies of scale by providing HR for many different companies. This is particularly relevant now that HR software has become so expensive. Finally, HR leaders are not particularly interested in administration. They won't work hard to defend that part of the department against competition from outsourcers. They'd rather devote their attention to strategic HR. This leads me to think that HR outsourcers will be successful in taking over a wide range of administrative tasks from HR departments. There are however two areas where it could come unstuck. One area where outsourcers won't do well is where there is a need for customization. Outsourcing works best when the services being offered are standard. If a firm needs something unique then an internal HR department may be the best way to deliver it. But USC's Ed Lawler, whom I also spoke to about this, feels that you don't get competitive advantage from the administrative side of HR. It just needs to be cheap and reliable, something outsourcers can do well. The other way outsourcing can get unstuck is in "invisible linkages". For example, if you really need to know what's going on in production to deliver HR administration then an outside provider will have a hard time being sufficiently in-the-know. Frankly, I don't think that invisible linkages will hurt the big outsourcers which provide an integrated set of HR services. Invisible linkages are more likely to be a problem for niche outsourcers such as people handling only performance management or only compensation. It is quite possible that linkages between compensation, performance management, succession planning and so on will make it difficult for a vendor to take on a single one of these areas. What this means for HR departments is that they ought to prepare for the time when outsourcers take over the administrative side of their business. This will take some time, so far the leaders like Exult/Hewitt are only interested in providing outsourcing to extremely large firms. However, in a decade or so outsourcing is likely to affect many in-house HR departments. HR managers who are good at the strategic HR, business partnership or organizational development will not be greatly affected. HR managers who are skilled at the administrative side should look for a career with the outsourcing firms rather than in an HR department. It's interesting to speculate what happens once the outsourcers comfortably establish themselves on the administrative side. They will certainly attempt to move up-market offering more strategic, value-added services. There are a lot of areas where this will fail. An in-house HR team embedded in the specifics of the business will outperform anything a third party outsourcer will provide. However, there are probably areas we think of as being unique to the firm that may be susceptible to mass production. For example, it may be that staffing-an area where there already is a lot of outsourcing-can be done as a generic process. Similarly, I believe that by and large compensation can be standardized, and hence outsourcers could potentially take over essentially the entire compensation function, including setting up pay grades, merit schemes and tracking pay relative to the market. Predictions about how an industry will unfold are always risky. However, Christensen's frameworks provide us with a useful way of thinking about the forces at work. HR managers would do well not just to read Christensen's books, but to take the time to ask, "What does this mean for HR?" *Reprinted by permission of Working Knowledge ------------------------------------ MANAGING FOR DIVERSITY WORKSHOP ------------------------------------ New and improved version of this workshop for supervisors & managers now available! Comprehensive facilitator's guide and participant workbook is now available as a download. Train as many groups as you like for the price of 1 download! http://www.workinfo.com/mall/diversity.htm ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 7. Complimentary HR Tools/Downloads: Whistleblowing Policy and Procedure Workinfo.com and Equityskillsweb.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Workinfo.com in association with Equity Skills: News & Views has released another free download for our readers. In this edition, readers may download a comprehensive employment policy guiding employees wishing to disclose irregular or illegal conduct. This policy may be downloaded from www.workinfo.com/free/downloads/180.htm Members of staff are usually amongst the first to realise that there may be some unlawful or irregular conduct by the Company or other employees in the employ of the Company. However, they may not express their concerns because they feel that speaking up would be disloyal to their colleagues or to their employer. They may also fear harassment or victimisation. In these circumstances, it may be easier to ignore the concern rather than report what may just be a suspicion of malpractice or unlawful or irregular conduct. This view is also sometimes reinforced by the negative connotations associated with "whistleblowing", a term used to describe the reporting of irregular or illegal conduct by the Company or other employees. Even so, the immense harm which can be done not only to the Company but to other employees and other stakeholders by failing to disclose such conduct has been demonstrated in recent high profile corporate collapses, such as the recent Enron case. On the other hand regulating the disclosure of possible irregular or illegal conduct is equally important to ensure that the reputation and public image of the Company or character and reputation of individual employees is not damaged through disclosure of alleged irregular or illegal conduct which may turn out to be false, unsubstantiated or misleading. To this end, the Protected Dislosure Act makes provision for procedures in terms of which employees in both the private and the public sector may disclose information regarding unlawful or irregular conduct by their employers or other employees in the employ of their employers and further provides for the protection of employees who make a disclosure which is protected in terms of this Act. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 8. Legislation Watch: DoL Issues HR Code of Practice for public comment; Facilities Regulations By Gary Watkins who can be contacted at www.caselaw.co.za or www.workinfo.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- # The Commission for Employment Equity is in the process of developing a Human Resources Code of Good Practice. The latest version of this draft Code is available at http://www.workinfo.com/free/downloads/180.htm This Code is issued in terms of section 54 of the Employment Equity Act and must be read in conjunction with the Act and other Codes issued in terms of the Act:- namely, the Code of Good Practice on the Handling of Sexual Harassment Cases; the Code of Good Practice on the Preparation, Implementation and Monitoring of Employment Equity Plans, the Code of Good Practice on HIV/AIDS in the Workplace and the Code of Good Practice: Key Aspects on the Employment of People with Disabilities (along with the associated Technical Assistance Guidelines for HIV/AIDS and Disability). This Code will apply to all employers and employees covered by the Act. This draft Code purports to be a tool to aid organisations to implement employment equity by providing ideas that could be incorporated into employment equity plans and that guide rules, procedures, policies, practices and guidelines. It deals with possible unfair discrimination and barriers that could occur at each phase in the employment cycle, from commencing employment, during employment and on termination of employment. It also describes affirmative action measures that could be used at each phase to advance designated groups. Interested persons may submit written comments on the Code to the Department of Labour by no later than 22 October 2004. The Code may be downloaded from www.workinfo.com/sabpp # Facilities Regulations During Agust 2004, The Minister of Labour, under section 43 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 (Act No. 85 of 1993) published regulations dealing with the provision of facilities for employees, covering a broad range of issues from:- >> Sanitation (closets, urinals, showers or washbasins) >> Facilities for Safekeeping >> Changing rooms >> Dining-rooms >> Drinking water >> Seating, and >> Condition of rooms and facilities Non-complaince with these regulations can result in excessive penalties, including imprisonment and fines. This is clearly not the opportunity for Chief Executives to investigate first hand, the state of facilities in South African prisons. The facilities regulations may be downloaded from www.workinfo.com/free/Sub_for_legres/Data/OSHA/facilities.htm ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 9. Case Law & Legislation Review: Practice And Procedure Appeal and Review By Gary Watkins who can be contacted at www.caselaw.co.za or www.workinfo.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- # SUBJECT: Practice And Procedure Appeal and Review South African Tourism Board v CCMA & others ISSUE: Review - review of arbitration award - commissioner ignoring dishonesty of employee and ordering reinstatement - award remitted for reconsideration SUMMARY OF EVIDENCE: The employee was charged with: >> failure to adhere to delegated authority; >> ignoring accounting instructions and procedures; >> misrepresentation of information relating to travelling, tollgate and other expenses; >> claiming as paid out of pocket expenses, charges that were in fact paid for by use of the company credit card in his possession; >> the duplication of subsistence and travelling claims; >> non-compliance with his conditions of employment in that he had failed to furnish the applicant with certified copies of a BSc degree allegedly held by him and certain certificates of service. The employee was dismissed notwithstanding the chairman's determination that he was guilty of the last three charges only. During arbitration the commissioner found that the dismissal did not fall within the ambit of matters which had been settled between the parties via correspondence and that the point in limine in that regards had no substance. The commissioner found 3 serious breaches in the disciplinary code: i.e. the chairperson was not an authorised member as stipulated by the code; the employee was not extended the right to plead in mitigation and inconsistency in application of discipline was found (other employees had not, it was claimed, been dismissed, but had been given an opportunity to resign). The financial charges were found to be more logical from the employee's version than the company's and the misrepresentation was concluded that it was no more than an error on the employee's part and should not have resulted in dismissal. After an extended arbitration process (fifteen months), the dismissal was found procedurally and substantively unfair and the company was ordered to reinstate with full benefits retrospectively. SUMMARY OF JUDGMENT: the court found that whilst certain of the submitted grounds for review had been established in this application, others had not. The Court held that the Commissioner was unnecessarily technical in finding that the admitted deviation by the employer from its Disciplinary Code in the specific respect referred to status and rank, constituted a procedural irregularity subject to remedy. In that narrow context, the employer's challenge to that finding is justified . The commissioner's finding that the employee was not accorded a proper opportunity to present submissions in mitigation is manifestly not supported by the record to which he purports to have listened and finally, his conclusion that (which the court found to be the employee's deliberate misrepresentation of his academic qualifications) there was no misrepresentation but, in essence, a forgivable error, could not on the evidence, be sustained. Conversely, the commissioner's substantive findings on the remaining charges faced by the employee were rationally justifiable. Whilst, the court accepted the commissioner's determination that, in the substantive context, elements of the dismissal were unfair was justified, it concluded that those areas of his award which held to be reviewable and must therefore be set aside, and more particularly his virtual absolution of the employee's manifest dishonesty in relation to his qualifications and the consequent destruction of the basic trust element of his employment relationship with the company, militate emphatically against the sustainability of the order for the employee's reinstatement. Having regard to the length of time already consumed in arbitration process, and to the complexity of the issues canvassed in the course of the completed arbitration, the court did not consider it to be in the interests of either party that the various areas of dispute be adjudicated in their entirety a second time. Therefore the order made by the court was:- The aspects of the commissioner's findings and order which the Labour Court considered to be flawed, legitimately merit re-assessment as set out below were returned to the CCMA for consideration: >> the appointment of the chairperson of the disciplinary enquiry to which the employee was subjected was procedurally irregular and unfair; >> that the third respondent was not accorded a proper opportunity, having been found guilty of certain charges against him, to present evidence in mitigation; >> that the third respondent's misrepresentation of his academic qualifications to the applicant amounted to an error which ought not to have resulted in his dismissal; and >> that the third respondent be reinstated in his employment with the applicant with the full benefits thereof These elements are reviewed and set aside. Those specific aspects of the matter, and only those, were remitted for re-adjudication. Both parties having experienced mixed fortunes in this application, there was no order as to costs. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 10. Book Reviews ---------------------------------------------------------------------- # The Power of Impossible Thinking: Transform the Business of Your Life and the Life of Your Business To purchase this book click on: http://www.kalahari.net/e-trader/referral.asp?toolbar=mweb&linkid=5&partnerid=293&sku=27778968 By Yoram Wind, Wharton School Publishing, 2004 This book is about getting better at making sense of the world...so you can make decisions that respond to reality, not some obsolete model of reality. Drawing on the latest neuroscientific research and their experience with corporate transformations, Jerry Wind and Colin Crook explain how your mental models stand between you and reality, distorting all your perceptions...and how they create both limits and opportunities. You'll learn how to develop new ways of seeing...how to keep your mental models fresh and relevant...when to change to a new model...how to build a portfolio of models...and improving your models through constant experimentation. Better mental models = smarter decisions.' Wind and Crook show us that our mind is our eye. What we think is what we see, and what we see directs how we act. Not only do the authors make this paradigm clear, but they offer concrete and practical ways to change our mind's eye and as a consequence change our actions and the results we get. # Clued in: How to Keep Customers Coming Back Again and Again To purchase this book click on: http://www.kalahari.net/e-trader/referral.asp?toolbar=mweb&linkid=5&partnerid=293&sku=27744576 By Lewis P. Carbone, Financial Times Prentice Hal, 2004 Good, bad, or indifferent, every customer has anexperience with your company and the productsor services you provide. But few businesses reallymanage that customer experience... so they losethe chance to transform customers into lifetime customers.In this book, Lou Carbone shows exactly how toengineer world-class customer experiences, oneclue at a time.Carbone draws on the latest neuroscientificresearch to show how customers transformphysical and emotional sensations into powerfulperceptions of your business... perceptions thatcrystallize into attitudes that dictate everythingfrom satisfaction to loyalty.And he explains how to assess and audit existing customer experiences, design and implement new ones... and "steward" them over time, to ensurethat they remain outstanding, no matter how your customers change. Lou Carbone reveals the sensory building blocks of experience you're already delivering to customers, whether you know it or not. He shows how to re-craft these "clues" into a consistent,powerful experience that leads directly to customer preference... a preference that can help you differentiate practically anything. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 11. Unsubscribe & Moving Soon ---------------------------------------------------------------------- UNSUBSCRIBE: Scroll to the end of the newsletter where you will find a code directly linked to your name. Click on the unsubscribe link. PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS NEWSLETTER TO UNSUBSCRIBE. MOVING SOON: If you are changing your email address soon and would still like to continue receiving this newsletter, please email us your new or temporary email address to ensure that you do not miss out on the next edition. ------------------------------------ FOUR LINE ADS: WORKPLACE RESOURCES FOR LINE AND HR ------------------------------------ # Download the updated HUMAN RESOURCES POLICIES & PROCEDURES MANUAL. Contains pro-forma policies and procedures. Save today and buy both downloads. Available in MS Word for easy customization. http://www.workinfo.com/mall/hrm.htm # Use the 600 page electronic manual with detailed action plans and guide notes for IMPLEMENTING EMPLOYMENT EQUITY. This is a companion piece to the EQUITY-SKILL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE TRAINING COURSE; http://www.workinfo.com/mall/eeim.htm ------------------------------------ About the e-Journal/e-Newspaper ------------------------------------ Equity-Skills News & Views is a free bi-monthly newsletter for business owners, Line Managers, and Human Resource Practitioners (who support Line Managers) with the implementation of fair and developmental people management systems and practices. The style of this e-Newspaper fits between the traditional email newsletters and printed professional trade journals & magazines. Subscribers will be kept up to date with the latest developments in the world of people management, receive handy people management tips, and feedback about labour court rulings that relate to the implementation of the key Labour Acts. Please add equity skills news & views to your list of approved senders if your Internet provider, or server administrator filters incoming e-mail, to make sure you receive periodic e-mail alerts and this newsletters to which you are subscribed. ------------------------------------ Opinions expressed by contributors DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT the standpoint of the publisher-editor of Equity-Skills News & Views. Information published here is for general information, and is not intended as legal advice. The authors, editors, and publishers do not accept responsibility for any act, omission, loss, or damage occasioned by any reliance upon the contents hereof. This message is sent in compliance with ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSACTIONS ACT. 2002, Act No. 25, 2002 [South Africa] passed on 20 May 2003. Sender: Jeff Sacht URL: www.equityskillsweb.com E-mail: jeffs@worldonline.co.za Telephone: +27 011 485 4943 Facsimile +27 011 485 4943 Publisher-Editor: Equity-Skills News & Views 'A MUST TO PRINT & READ' ------------------------------------ Copyright (c) 2003 Registered electronic newspaper: 1SSN 1684-5714 |
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