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In This edition

1. Sandton International Business School (SIBS) Teams Up With Human Capital Institute (HCI)
2. Talent Management: Helping SMEs Compete
3. Human Resources Business Transformation: Outsourcing Risk Mitigation Strategies
4. Workforce Performance Improvement: Impacting Business Goals
5. Why Diversity Is An Opportunity
6. Case-Law & Legislation Review: Substantive Fairness In Dismissal - Sexual Harassment
7. Book Reviews
8. Downloads: KPMG International Survey Of Corporate Responsibility Reporting 2005
9.Unsubscribe & Moving Soon

NB: If your Internet service provider (ISP) or server administrator filters incoming e-mail, please add Equity Skills News & Views to your list of approved senders to ensure you receive this e-journal to which you are subscribed.

Jeff Sacht: Publisher-editor

www.equityskillsweb.com

jeffs@worldonline.co.za

'A MUST TO PRINT & READ'

>25,000 & still growing!

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1. Invitation: Attend The Southern Africa Launch Of The Human Capital Institute (HCI)

Sandton International Business School (SIBS) Teams Up With Human Capital Institute (HCI)

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It is a pleasure for Sandton International Business School to announce the official launch of its partnership with the Human Capital Institute (USA). You and your top level Line and Human Resources Executives are invited to attend the launch of HCI during the week of 31 October through to the 03 November 2005. Key note speakers, and one of HCIs Master Facilitators will lead the launch events.

# What is Offered During The Launch Week?

Two key initiatives are scheduled for October 31 through to November 03 2005 to launch HCI(SA).

# TWO BREAKFAST EXECUTIVE BRIEFING SESSIONS WILL BE HELD ON 31 OCTOBER 2005 & 01 NOVEMBER 2005. The purpose of the Executive Briefings sessions is twofold, which is to:

>> Provide Line and HR Executives with an overview of the critical and changing role of Human Resources highlighted by the McKinsey study about The War For Talent (2003), and its implications for shifting your company's people management practices to that of a Human Capital & Talent Management process and systems.

>> Introduce the role that The Human Capital Institute (SA) will play in the field of context relevant research and education for Human Resources professionals to facilitate this shift.

The Programme For The Two Executive Briefing Will Be:

07:00: Registration; Early morning tea and coffee/croissants

07:30: Introduction & Welcome by session Chairperson: Prof Henry Grimbeek and Dr Andre Parker;

Keynote speaker: John Buie - Vice President SuccessFactors (EMEA): The Role Of ‘On Demand’ Web Based Technology For Human Capital and Talent Management.

08:15: Q&A

08:30: Kevin Rutherford – Human Capital Institute (US): From HRM to HCM; introducing HCI (SA) to the marketplace and its mission and vision for context relevant research and education for Line and Human Resources in Southern Africa

09:30: Q&A

09:45: Buffet meal/breakfast

10:30: Close by session Chairperson: Prof Henry Grimbeek and Dr Andre Parker.

Download a flyer and registration form at http://www.workinfo.com/newsletter/workshop/hci.htm

# THE SECOND INITIATIVE IS THE LAUNCH OF THE FIRST HCI TRAINING COURSE IN AFRICA ON HUMAN CAPITAL AND TALENT MANAGEMENT ON THE 02 –03 NOVEMBER 2005. The workshop Cuts Across The Traditional Boundaries Found In Human Resources.

The Human Capital Management Principles (HCMP) Workshop provides a comprehensive overview of the talent management landscape. From planning, through acquisition, alignment, development and leadership, HCMP is designed to provide seasoned human capital practitioners, line managers and executives alike with the latest concepts, strategies and practices in the new business science of talent management. (See additional support document for the full curriculum).

Download a flyer and registration form at http://www.workinfo.com/newsletter/workshop/hci.htm

# What is HCI?

The Human Capital Institute (HCI) is an exciting new professional association dedicated to leadership in the business science of Talent Management. Our members are human capital professionals and executive leaders who share the conviction that TALENT is the most powerful competitive lever in the knowledge economy.

# How is HCI Different?

For a decade, CEOs globally, including South Africa, have been calling on HR to become business partners. Yet, traditional human resources continues to be mired in what can be called 'administrativia' (administrative trivia) and bureaucracy. Sandton International Business School has taken over what was previously De Montfort Univerisity, and has set out to remedy the situation with the launch of a Southern Africa chapter of HCI.

# What HCI Offers Organisations and Professionals

HCI offers a fresh, strategic view across the silos of recruitment, HR, OD and line management. In the human capital paradigm, talented individuals are critical assets, and the ability to acquire, develop and lead them effectively are essential, integrated skills for leaders throughout the enterprise. The launch of HCI locally will help Executives (both Line & HR) tap into a vast network that offers:

>> Access to the most important thought leadership in Human Capital Management

>> Communities of early-adopting, forward-thinking executive leaders

>> New opportunities to network with peers and field leaders

>> Cutting edge research, case studies, surveys and white papers

>> Knowledge, tools and information to grow a talent-focused organisation

>> Powerful new education and career development opportunities, and a whole lot more

I look forward to meeting with you during the launch week from 31 October through 04 November 2005.

Regards

Lawrence Sichinga BA,MBA
Chairman: Sandton International Business School
lsichinga@sandtonbusinessschool.co.za
www.sandtonbusinessschool.co.za
Tel: +27118836249; Fax: +27118836285

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2. Talent Management: Helping SMEs Compete*

By Alison Coleman who can be contacted at http://www.management-issues.com/default.asp

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Nurturing top talent is generally seen as an issue for large organisations. But smaller companies are under just as much pressure to retain and develop their best managers, particularly during periods of business growth.

Unfortunately, these crucial stages of growth often coincide with a company's lowest level of profitability, which is one reason why investment in management development programmes by medium-sized businesses remains a rarity.

It can also be a false economy, as smaller organisations that do invest in their top talent have discovered.

Five years ago Glasgow-based facilities management company Morris and Spottiswood was turning over £20 million per annum. This year management predicts it will reach £110 million; impressive growth achieved during a time of major consolidation within the sector.

With predictions for fewer but larger players in the future, and each one facing greater competition to retain good senior managers, chairman George Morris, a third generation family manager of the business, recognised that developing his managers' skills and getting the company's culture right was key to the future development of the business.

He said: "Talented people have a key role to play in getting our culture and business direction right. We've been through a long process to get the best managers in place and we need to ensure they develop to their fullest potential."

The company interviewed potential training partners at business schools right across the north, before linking up with Durham Business School to run two management development programmes.

The first, the Enterprising Management programme, supports senior managers looking to improve their strategic and operational awareness, while the Professional Development programme is aimed at new managers.

"We recognise the particular pressures facing medium-sized businesses as they grow and reach a point where things can no longer be done in an ad hoc way," said Dr Bill Snaith, a director of programmes at Durham Business School, currently the only one in the UK with a team dedicated to meeting the needs of medium sized enterprises.

"They need an organisational structure with professional people working in key roles, such as finance and marketing. and tailor our programmes accordingly.

"With Morris and Spottiswood, for example, while both programmes are designed to maximise personal development and improvements to the business, we rewrote the strategy module specifically to reflect its precise business needs."

In addition to the new skills and wider perspective acquired by individual managers, the programme has brought additional benefits to the business, by bringing together people from disparate offices and providing them with the opportunity to share ideas.

Morris said: "Forging a team requires that you go down certain paths and perhaps address internal tensions that all businesses have, but some may not want to admit to. The quality of teaching is key in managing this process.

"The type of training we are undertaking is creating a real win-win situation, giving managers a much greater understanding of how they can work with colleagues for the benefit of the business while increasing their skills base."

Operations director James Snodgrass, who worked his way up from a tradesman's role, had always aspired to become a senior manager within the industry, and has completed a number of development programmes to help him achieve his goals.

He said: "The Enterprising Management programme in particular gave me a clearer understanding of my colleagues' roles, and made it easier to link company strategy back to various functions within the business."

Investment in formal training and development programmes can also help to attract and retain senior management talent.

Allan Boyd, who joined Morris and Spottiswood as HR director just before the development programme began, said: "As a new employee I saw the company's investment in such training an extremely positive indication of the company's commitment to expanding its horizons by developing its people."

"It has a tremendous impact on recruitment and retention," adds Bill Snaith.

"Those who attend the programmes take what they have learned back into the workplace, creating a bigger mass of 'professionalised' people who, in turn, become more engaged and motivated."

*Reprinted by permission of the editor of management-issues

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3. Human Resources Business Transformation Outsourcing: Risk Mitigation Strategies*

By Eric Lesser, Associate Partner, IBM Institute for Business Value

Joanne Stephane, Managing Consultant, IBM Human Capital Management Practice

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Making the decision to outsource human resource processes is a major step for many organizations. Transitioning to an outsourcing arrangement can pose a unique set of risks that must be proactively managed, given the complexities associated with transferring significant operational processes to a vendor while maintaining ongoing service to internal customers.

We believe that clients and vendors need to work together to establish strategies that can mitigate potential risks in the management of what we call HR Business Transformation Outsourcing (HR BTO). Rather than simply handing over a process to an outside firm to operate, HR BTO focuses on transforming HR activities to improve efficiency and effectiveness, and create business value. Based on secondary research and interviews with outsourcing providers, consultants, academics and individuals responsible for outsourcing arrangements, we have identified four basic sets of risk mitigation activities:

>> Identify the leadership capabilities required to oversee the overall outsourcing effort. Leading an outsourcing arrangement is notably different from running a functional organization. In an outsourcing arrangement, an entirely new set of responsibilities emerge, demanding skills that are not typically part of the traditional HR professional's skill set.

>> Create an overall transition management plan that identifies all the activities required to transfer responsibility to the vendor. A well-orchestrated transition management process can play an important role in facilitating the exchange of resources (both physical and know-how) and improving the odds that operations will run smoothly once the transition is complete. In developing an effective transition management process, organizations need to consider six focus areas, as shown in the figure.

>> Develop an ongoing governance and relationship management structure to address conflicts and build an effective working relationship between the client and the vendor. By setting up a formal relationship management structure that begins at contract signing and evolves during transition and commencement of delivery operations, both sides can clearly identify who has responsibility for making certain decisions, how those decisions will be made and how the results will be communicated to others. This helps reduce overall uncertainty and clarifies the accountability that individuals from both parties have in the relationship.

>> Build a measurement and reporting framework that communicates how well the outsourcing arrangement is operating. Service level agreements (SLAs) are used to quantify objectively the performance to be provided to a client, report performance consistently to both client and vendor, facilitate analysis of data across sites and regions and identify potential improvement areas. Yet, companies can run into challenges when establishing SLAs, such as inadequate baseline measurements or attempting to simply transfer internal measurements over to the vendor. In addition to SLAs, organizations should consider the use of operating measures to highlight the current "health" of the workforce (and thus the value the HR organization is providing to the larger organization).

Like many complex interactions between two companies, human resource outsourcing is not without risk. While these techniques involve some up-front investment in planning and design, they typically save resources and prevent conflict throughout the life of the relationship.

* Reprinted by permission of IBM Corporation 2005

www-1.ibm.com/services/us/bcs/html/bcs_index.html

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4. Workforce Performance Improvement: Impacting Business Goals*

By Heidi Spirgi who can be contacted at She can be reached at hspirgi@clomedia.com

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Many factors, including the threat of outsourcing, the war for talent and the shift from a manufacturing economy to a knowledge economy, are forcing both learning and HR to move beyond their traditional, transactional roles to focus on performance-workforce performance in direct support of business performance. The challenge is how to transform a reactive, transactional training department into a strategic function that creates real business value. The answer is not simple. A carefully thought-out plan that involves every aspect of the learning function must be created and executed with care. Here are nine steps to achieving business results through actionable workforce performance strategy.

1. 1-to-70 Ratio

Over the past 10 years, learning departments have focused on efficiently delivering quality training and development to a more broadly distributed learner population. Learning technologies have been embraced as the means to accomplish this. In the quest to squeeze costs out of the delivery process, training departments often make the mistake of building business cases for technology investments based on cost reduction alone.

Cost control is essential, but what is the value of these cost-cutting measures? According to the ASTD's 2004 State of the Industry report, companies spend on average .5 percent to 1 percent of their overall operating budgets on learning initiatives. If training departments can reduce this by 10 percent by delivering learning more effectively, they have the opportunity to cut the operating budget by .05 percent to .1 percent.

In 2005, organizations will spend, on average, 70 percent of their overall operating budget on labor costs. Imagine if learning initiatives could increase the performance of the workforce by just 5 percent. The top-line value created from labor investments would grow by 5 percent. The question is: Where will you derive the greatest value? Squeezing costs out of .5 percent to 1 percent of the operating budget, or by increasing the performance of the 70 percent of operating budget that goes to labor costs?

The answer to this question varies by organization and changes with the global economic climate. According to a recent survey by the Conference Board, senior management is increasingly focused on growth over cost control:

>> Focused primarily on growth: 26 percent 12 months ago, and 42 percent 12 months from now.

>> Focused primarily on cost control: 41 percent 12 months ago, and 18 percent 12 months from now.

Learning is in the position today to build strategies and make investments that focus on value creation, business impact and operational and financial results.

Learning leaders can take action by:

>> Understanding where their companies fall on the growth/cost-control continuum.

>> Building methodologies and tools that require learning staff to define specific performance goals and anticipated value creation.

>> Demonstrating to senior management (using industry benchmarks) how learning initiatives will increase the value created.

2. Partner with HR: Build a Performance Brand

Because HR and learning have arrived at the crossroads together, a powerful alliance should be built around workforce performance. Whether or not your corporate learning department reports to HR, both organizations are likely striving for the same thing: increased workforce performance in direct support of business goals.

Over the past several years, much attention has been given to the idea of human capital management-a business strategy that positions people as the most important business asset. Human capital management has mistakenly become associated more with HR and technology than with learning, but learning is, in fact, one of the most critical pillars of this strategy. Learning departments need to understand and position themselves as a critical component and perhaps even the primary champion of the business' human capital strategy. A joint commitment to execution of this strategy is the platform on which to build the alliance between HR and learning.

By developing a cross-functional strategy, technology map and brand, learning and HR can demonstrate how workforce performance processes and technologies impact business results. Create joint strategies to:

>> Connect learning to employee performance goals and assessment.

>> Create individual development plans in support of succession plans.

>> Provide employees with insight into the linkages between business goals and learning.

>> Reduce employee attrition based on the misperception that career opportunities don't exist internally.

>> Provide management with a comprehensive view of the talent of the workforce, including performance ratings, training history, work experience, knowledge, skills and abilities.

Learning leaders can take action by:

>> Meeting with HR to understand how they are reacting to the workforce performance mandate.

>> Developing a performance brand that demonstrates unity in purpose to the business.

3. Build a Strategy Map

All too often, learning technology projects just don't deliver expected results. A key factor in this is a failure to define business and functional requirements according to an overall plan. By not rooting these requirements in a solid human capital management strategy plan, organizations spend too much money on ad hoc software purchases or, worse, under-use learning software they already own. The value of learning investments can only become apparent when addressed from the larger perspective of workforce performance.

Learning leaders can take action by:

>> Understanding HR's technology road map.

>> Developing a joint strategy map that illustrates learning's relationship to other workforce performance processes and technologies.

>> Identifying the end state, setting priorities and building a plan to get there.

4. Align Your Learning Governance Model

In order for a learning organization to produce programs that directly support measurable business goals, the right learning governance model needs to be in place. Best practice organizations today are finding that a combination of learning consultants aligned with the business and a shared services model is the most effective method to deliver training that directly aligns with business goals while maintaining a high quality of instructional design and delivery.

The learning consultant bridges the gap between training specialists who are experts in instructional design, adult learning theory, e-learning content development and the subject-matter experts in the business. Shared services provide consistency in the strategy, planning and execution of all common learning processes throughout the organization. By developing a solid shared services model, organizations can provide business units with the tools to produce quality learning programs while at the same time leveraging subject-matter experts, and in some cases even developing and delivering their own learning programs.

Learning leaders can take action by:

>> Assessing the ability to understand and deliver training that yields tangible business impact.

>> Include lines of business in this assessment process.

>> Aligning learning professionals with business units, where possible.

>> Developing a shared service model to support quality training initiatives.

5. Align Your Technology Strategy

Technology investments are usually initiated as a result of one of two drivers:

>> To streamline, automate and squeeze costs out of highly administrative processes. LMS purchases often fall into this category.

>> To answer a specific need for a particular project, initiative or department. Authoring, testing and assessment, virtual classroom tools and off-the-shelf content often fall into this category.

Neither of these drivers takes into account the strategic objectives of the organization, or even the strategic goals of the learning department. When technology investments are driven by transactional and reactive drivers, chances are good they will remain relegated to the category of administrative, non-strategic tools and never garner the internal support that's needed to transform the way learning occurs or talent is managed.

Five years ago, workforce performance technologies were in fact primarily administrative in function and capability. Today, organizations have the opportunity to use learning and other performance technologies as true enablers of corporate strategy. In order to make the right investments and position workforce performance technologies as key enablers of business performance, organizations must show how they align and support the overall strategies of the organization. It's essential to take the time to demonstrate the linkages between overall corporate goals and strategies; human capital management objectives, goals and strategies; and learning technology strategy.

With a clear map that illustrates how learning technologies support a multi-tiered strategy, funding is easier to come by, the right investments are easy to determine, and learning and performance technologies have an opportunity to be truly transformative.

Learning leaders can take action by:

>> Identifying the overall corporate goals and strategies of the organization. Be sure to include concrete business initiatives and events.

>> Meeting with HR and HRIT to understand human capital management objectives, goals and strategies, and how they support the overall corporate goals and strategies.

>> Drawing out tangible linkages between learning technologies, human capital management strategies and corporate strategy.

6. Align Programs: Learning Investment Portfolio Strategy

Every learning executive struggles with the challenge of building strategic plans that support the overall objectives of the organization, while remaining responsive to the unplanned and often tactical needs of the line of business. The most effective organizations develop a prioritization framework through which all learning needs are filtered.

Any successful framework will balance multiple criteria. In one model, an organization built investment quadrants for each business unit (representing the business unit training budget), as well as a macro investment quadrant (representing the entire organization's training budget). Individually, each of the four quadrants represented a different type of knowledge that was critical to the success of the business. Together, they represented the types of learning that were essential for growth. The quadrants were company knowledge, industry knowledge, operational knowledge and advance strategy.

By mapping learning initiatives onto a quadrant, over- and under-funded areas become apparent, and business unit and senior executives can quickly and easily re-balance the portfolio without losing sight of the big picture.

Learning leaders can take action by:

>> Identifying the criteria and categories around which the learning portfolio will be built.

>> Developing an easy-to-implement framework on which learning requests are mapped and filtered.

>> Evangelizing or mandating the use of the framework by all training departments/functions.

7. C-Level Speak

Eight of the top 10 challenges cited in the Conference Board's "CEO Challenge 2004" are a direct function of people, their abilities and the organization's ability to align their behavior with changing business goals. The top 10 challenges are:

>> Sustained and steady top-line growth.

>> Speed, flexibility and adaptability to change.

>> Customer loyalty and retention.

>> Stimulating innovation and creativity, and enabling entrepreneurship.

>> Cost and ability to innovate.

>> Availability of talented managers and executives.

>> Tight cost-control.

>> Succession planning.

>> Seizing opportunities for expansion and growth.

>> Transferring knowledge, ideas and practices within the company.

Learning leaders can take action by:

>> Asking the executive team to identify their top challenges.

>> Using C-level language to demonstrate the value of learning investments.

>> Using concrete examples (even from other organizations) backed up by numbers.

>> Describing what will be enabled by knowledge transfer, instead of grounding learning investments in concrete areas of knowledge transfer, such as product, service or industry knowledge.

8. Measure Business Results

The focus on cost control as an indicator of departmental performance is evident in the types of metrics that learning departments typically generate: cost of training per student hour, training budget as a percent of revenue, enrollment rates, completion rates, scores and certification rates. These metrics fall into one of two categories: transactional reporting (necessary to run the department) and training operational metrics (necessary to monitor learning department performance). What is far too often neglected are metrics that measure the effectiveness of learning as an enabler of business goals.

Learning leaders can take action by:

>> Not overcomplicating the effort. The impact of learning can usually be measured without a data warehouse.

>> Measuring the impact of learning on pivotal roles in your organization whose performance is already measured by quantitative data.

>> Finding out what to measure by talking with business leaders.

9. Market, Market, Market

Even high-quality learning programs that support the strategic goals of the organization can fail. Poor communication, inadequate project management and poor customer participation lead to low adoption rates of learning and performance technologies, low completion rates of courses, low levels of corporate awareness of learning and performance initiatives and, therefore, wasted time and money.

Create a comprehensive internal marketing plan with the goal of creating mindshare and transforming the way learning and performance are viewed by the organization. Only when workforce performance initiatives are viewed as strategic enablers to individual, departmental and corporate success will adoption rates be high enough to truly impact business results.

Success breeds success. You, as learning and HR professionals, are already impacting business performance. Market your successes. By making them known throughout the organization, you will pave the road for your work in transforming learning into a critical strategic function with a direct and measurable impact on business goals.

Learning leaders can take action by:

>> Identifying goals, objectives, audience, measures of success and key messages.

>> Developing internal marketing plans that address these and leverage existing communication channels.

>> Considering potential risks and developing a strategy to overcome them.

>> Being creative, yet not "cute." Focus on value.

>> Not underestimating the value of promoting success.

Heidi Spirgi is president and co-founder of Knowledge Infusion, and has more than 10 years of experience in the human capital management technology industry.

*Reprinted by permission of Chief Learning Officer Magazine. Free subscriptions to the Digital Edition are available worldwide at http://www.submag.com/sub/wk

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5. Why Diversity Is an Opportunity*

By Stever Robbins who can be contacted at http://hbswk.hbs.edu/

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How Should We Think About The Importance Of Diversity, And How Best To Understand And Value Cultural Differences?

Diversity, the misunderstood child of the Age of Aquarius and Political Correctness, is an incredibly powerful tool for an organization. Diversity brings thoughts, feelings, and cultural knowledge that benefits decision making, marketing, operations, culture-building, hiring, firing-just about everything a business does. But its true power comes out only when diversity starts at the top and pervades the business. Alas, most businesses score dismally when it comes to understanding and using difference.

In my experience, many diversity programs are really anti-harassment programs. Someone says something offensive about a different race, gender, religion, geographic origin, or sexual orientation. The diversity police jump in and mandate "diversity training." It's a good thing they jump in-inaction sends the wrong message and can bring big lawsuits-but the motivation and the training many times boils down to, "Don't say these things because people get upset." In really enlightened companies, diversity training happens before it's needed, so that first incident can be avoided, too.

Don't get me wrong; diversity training can produce some effect. The true bigots who don't intend to change at least know now which conversations to save for behind closed doors. People who are ignorant but care will be able to change a bit. But don't expect much benefit beyond a decline in harassment.

What is diversity?

Diversity takes many forms. We mostly notice and legislate the visible stuff: people have different skin color, talk with different accents, wear different clothes, have different (dis)abilities, are different ages, have same-sex partners, practice different religions, and use different hands when they write. Most discrimination targets the visible stuff, and many anti-harassment programs help people understand that despite surface differences, deep down all people are worthwhile and valuable.

Surface diversity is what we deal with when we wish to avoid problems. We teach people to value the person within. But it's the diversity within that brings great benefits. Inner diversity includes the Psych 101 stuff-different personality and work styles, brain dominance, etc. More subtly, it includes different thinking styles and different fundamental assumptions about the way the world works.

The invisible diversities of culture, religion, value systems, etc., are where you can reap real business benefit. It's easy to assume outer diversity signals inner diversity and vice versa. Not necessarily. A professor once remarked within my earshot, "Never again will most of these students be somewhere with such diversity of race and geographic origin. And never again will they be somewhere with such uniformity of thought and attitude."

Inner diversity gives the biggest bang for your buck. Personality and behavior style profiles are widely used to help groups identify and talk about inner differences. Not only can the distinctions help explain why people clash, but used in team building, they can help you balance the skills needed to finish a project. For example, one profile distinguishes "people people" from those who are task and process oriented. If you were designing a customer service call center, you would involve both profile types so your systems are efficient but also give a good interpersonal experience.

Profiles can also help match people with jobs. Using profiles, some companies discover all top performers share common attributes. With that knowledge, they can do a better job matching. If Myers-Briggs ESTJs make the best salespeople for your organization, your chronically dissatisfied engineer whose profile is ESTJ may become a huge resource if given a chance in sales.

Cultural differences and deep learning

Though personality diversity is valuable for team building and job matching, even different personalities from the same culture will share a common set of cultural assumptions. The invisible diversities of culture, religion, and value systems are where you can reap real business benefit.

Cultural differences are where you discover the most basic assumptions that you've never even questioned. This causes problems; questioning deep assumptions can feel very threatening. So threatening, in fact, that reactions are defensive bordering on violent. But if you can manage the emotion and create a safe space to play "what if," you may find your thinking changes dramatically.

A reader wrote in last month, "Americans work 50 percent more per week than people in my country and take four weeks fewer vacation, yet they don't get more done than we did in my country." America has cultural assumptions about working a lot and measuring it by face time. A foreigner can point out that there's another way. An American company that listens and learns might be able to offer six weeks of vacation and short hours to attract outstanding employees. (And I know of at least one company that has done this.)

The Dalai Lama points out in his book The Art of Happiness that Eastern cultures believe in reincarnation. As such, they approach even daily tasks very differently. So I tried it (believing, that is, not reincarnating). Believing in future lives removes a lot of my daily stress in this one and also gives me a much longer-term time horizon. Suddenly, consuming my grandchildren's oil seems like a bigger deal, because those grandchildren might be me, reincarnated!

A company that explores a reincarnation belief might end up taking a long-term view on their products. Seventh Generation does just that. They produce environmentally friendly household products. Their cultural source isn't reincarnation, however. The name refers to the Iroquois Confederacy practice of considering consequences seven generations out.

Challenging an assumption doesn't automatically point to opportunity, but it's a start.

Cultural differences can hint at new markets. Gloria Estefan recognized that the American music business is highly English-centric and has built her own business empire in America's Latin and Spanish-speaking populations-populations almost invisible in mainstream media. The wildly popular reality TV show, "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," has helped the mainstream world enjoy "gay sensibility," with USA Today reporting (March 3, 2004) that sales for products mentioned on the show soar as much as 300 percent.

Challenging an assumption doesn't automatically point to opportunity, but it's a start. A European colleague proposed hiring me to speak in his country. I asked, "Where should I stay? What are the good areas of town?" He was amused. "A very American question!" he proclaimed. "Have you ever considered a town might have only good areas?" Um, no. I never had. Even before our current fear-filled time, "bad areas of town" were a given. Knowing it's possible prompts me to ask how to make it happen. Is there a business there? I don't know. But an urban planning or civil engineering firm might find a few trips overseas could trigger some great ideas.

Some of the ways to extract diversity's benefits:

>> Identify previously overlooked cultural markets.

>> Create new products for existing markets.

>> Change corporate culture to attract a different employee mix.

>> Form relationships and making inroads internationally.

>> Get things done in better ways.

"Comfy" diversity programs held for compliance reasons that skirt the real issues waste time and money. Your leadership challenge is to draw out the differences and help the group safely explore what those differences suggest about the business. You might find new opportunity, but either way, it's simply the right thing to do in an increasingly diverse workforce. It helps people feel valued and more worthwhile, and at the end of the day, why do we even have business if not to have more worthwhile, valuable lives? That's my underlying assumption, and if it isn't yours, your first diversity assignment is to try it on for size.

*Reprinted under license agreement with Harvard Business School, Working Knowledge

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IN-COMPANY WORKSHOP: MANAGING FOR DIVERSITY (NOW UPDATED & ENLARGED)

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An Intensive and Practical 2- DAY MANAGEMENT/ SUPERVISOR WORKSHOP to develop insight and self-knowledge about intercultural competence and enhance your capacity to work with a diverse workforce. Contact Jeff Sacht to request a workshop flyer and to arrange an in-company workshop customised to your requirements. Facilitation is charged on a realistic daily rate and not a per person cost. Also available as a web download for self-delivery/in-house use under license agreement. Contact jeffs@worldonline.co.za

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6. Case-Law & Legislation Review: Substantive Fairness In Dismissal -Sexual Harassment

By Gary Watkins who can be contacted at www.caselaw.co.za ; www.workinfo.com

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# Rautenbach vs. Relyant Retail (Pty) Ltd

Case No: KNDB8763-04

Award Date: 23 May 2005

Jurisdiction: Durban

Commissioner: Deyzel A

SUBJECT: Substantive Fairness In Dismissal -Sexual Harassment

ISSUE: The employee was charged with sexually harassing the complainant, a rumour spread through the employer's business that the complainant and employee had sexual intercourse. The complainant's reputation was seriously affected and that constituted misconduct. The employer did not have a sexual harassment policy at the time and complainant did not have the advantage of knowing what procedure the employer would follow in dealing with complaints of sexual harassment. As the employee's misconduct was serious his dismissal was warranted.

SUMMARY OF FACTS: The employee was the Regional administrative manager of the employer company and had worked for the employer for 14 years. The complainant was a branch manager and at a meeting of branch managers, all the people at the meeting, with one exception, became intoxicated. On 2 occasions, the complainant went to the toilet and on 1 of these occasions; the employee went to this area at the same time as she did. Later that evening, the complainant was assisted to her room by the employee and one Mr. Ebrahim and she ended up sleeping in another, empty room. Later, the employee returned to the bar area where he alluded that a sexual incident had taken place between him and the complainant.

According to the complainant, the employee had asked if he could accompany her to the toilet and later that evening she woke up in a room to find that she did not have her top on. Her top was on the bed next to her and full of vomit. Another branch manager was in the room with her and she borrowed a shirt from him. The next morning she received a telephone call from the employee. She could not recall whether he said "how was it to be raped" or "you raped me" but it was something along such lines. She also received telephone calls from a number of the other branch managers at the meeting who informed her that they were disgusted with the employee's behaviour. Subsequent to this, a rumour spread through the employer's business that the employee and complainant had sexual intercourse during this function. The employee was charged with sexual harassment and was dismissed after a disciplinary inquiry.

SUMMARY OF JUDGEMENT: The Commissioner took the evidence of all the witnesses except Ebrahim (who did not drink) with caution as they were intoxicated at the time of the incident. Ebrahim was found to be an unreliable witness. The Commissioner found on the probabilities that something was said to create the rumour that the employee and the complainant had engaged in sexual intercourse and that this was said by the employee. The Commissioner found that the employee made a sexual advance towards the complainant at the toilets, He further went to the room where she was sleeping and upon his return to the group used course language to indicate that he had sexual intercourse with her. In considering whether this conduct constituted sexual harassment, the Commissioner held that there was no doubt that if the employee had made the statements that he had sex with the complainant in her presence it would have constituted serious sexual harassment. It was not appropriate to describe his conduct when he returned to bar area as sexual harassment. Making the false statements that he had sex with the complainant seriously affected her reputation and that constituted misconduct.

The employee was in effect charged with making the statements and it does not matter much what label was attached to this misconduct. The fact that the employee took advantage of her lack of memory to suggest even to her during the telephone conversation on the day after the meeting that they had sexual intercourse was clearly unwanted conduct of a sexual nature and the employee was correctly found guilty of misconduct.

The employer did not have a sexual harassment policy as prescribed by the Code with the result that the complainant did not have the advantage of knowing what procedure the employer would follow in dealing with complaints of sexual harassment. She did not know that she had an option in terms of which the matter could be resolved in an informal way. The fact that the employee did apologise to the complainant and that he also offered to do so in public as well as the fact that he was intoxicated was mitigating.

Limited weight should however be attached to this because he was one of the two most senior employees present and as such a senior employee he should have set an example and should not have consumed alcohol to the extent that he did. The misconduct was serious in that it affected the reputation of the complainant and in that it caused her to suffer from depression. Instead of taking immediate steps to rectify the situation the employee initially tried to bring her under the impression that sexual intercourse took place and created doubt in her mind whether or not sexual intercourse had taken place. When the rumour spread the employee did not take any steps to dispel it apart from offering to tell the managers who attended the function that no sexual intercourse occurred should the complainant withdraw the charges and arranged for a meeting to be held. In the circumstances the Commissioner held that it was not unfair to impose the sanction of dismissal and the employee was not entitled to any relief.

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THE IR PROTECTOR

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Brought to you by Workinfo.com and Camargue, Hollard's labour dispute specialists.

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7. Book Reviews

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# Distraction: Being Human in the Digital Age

To buy this book click on: http://www.kalahari.net/e-trader/referral.asp?toolbar=mweb&linkid=5&partnerid=293&sku=28382095

By Mark Curtis, Futuretext, 2005

Is it possible for individual humans to deal elegantly with the abundant communication possibilities of the modern world? Are we in danger of paying more attention to the potential of a text message than the here and now around us?

Obsessed with what we can do with our mobile phones and the web, it's easy to lose sight of the big picture, because so much is changing and so fast. We are distracted by it.

This book steps back to look at our use of new technology and draws some uncomfortable and challenging conclusions about what society may need to do to get the best, not the worst, out of the digital era.

As we seek to find ways to incorporate the web, e-mail and mobile phones into our lives, it is clear that the boundaries between private and public space are breaking down.

# The Workplace Revolution: Restoring Trust in Business and Bringing Meaning to Our Work

To buy this book click on: http://www.kalahari.net/e-trader/referral.asp?toolbar=mweb&linkid=5&partnerid=293&sku=27989506

By Matthew Gilbert, Conari Press, 2005

Why is it so difficult to truly be ourselves at work and to find companies that are actually doing more good than harm in the world and to our spirit?

The problem, Gilbert says, stems from a relentless work ethic, tireless pursuit of profit, and conflict between business values and human values.

Whats more, many of us have woken up to the fact that that we are not getting back what we give to their employers.

While the challenges of making positive changes to the conditions and goals of the workplace seem insurmountable, Gilbert assures us that the problem is not hopeless.

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IN-COMPANY WORKSHOP: EMPLOYMENT EQUITY COMMITTEE TRAINING

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An Intensive 2-Day In-Company programme For ELECTED EMPLOYMENT EQUITY (EE) MEMBERS & CHAIRPERSON To Competently & Confidently Represent Co-Workers. Contact Jeff Sacht to request a workshop flyer and to arrange an in-company workshop customised to your requirements. Facilitation is charged on a realistic daily rate and not a per person cost.

Also available as a web download for self-delivery/in-house use under license agreement. Contact jeffs@worldonline.co.za

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8. Downloads: KPMG International Survey of Corporate Responsibility Reporting 2005

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The KPMG International Survey of Corporate Responsibility Reporting 2005 has been the most comprehensive survey of its kind since its initiation in 1993. This triennial survey analyzes trends in CR reporting of the world's largest corporations, including the top 250 companies of the Fortune 500 (Global 250, G250) and top 100 companies in 16 countries (National 100, N100). With its vast coverage of 1600+ companies the survey provides a truly global picture of

reporting trends over the last ten years. Major survey findings:

1. CR reporting has been steadily rising since 1993 and it has increased substantially in the past three years. In 2005, 52 percent of G250 and 33 percent of N100 companies issued separate CR reports, compared with 45 percent and 23 percent, respectively, in 2002. If we include annual financial reports with CR information, these percentages are even higher: 64 percent (G250) and 41 percent (N100).

2. Download the full report at http://www.workinfo.com/free/downloads/180.htm

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9. Unsubscribe & Moving Soon

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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.

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About the e-Journal/e-Newspaper

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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 newsletter to which you are subscribed.

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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 the ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSACTIONS ACT. 2002, Act No. 25, 2002 [South Africa] passed on 20 May 2003.

Sender: Jeff Sacht

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Telephone: +27 011 485 4943

Facsimile +27 011 485 4943

Publisher-Editor: Equity-Skills News & Views

'A MUST TO PRINT & READ'

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Copyright (c) 2004 Registered electronic newspaper: 1SSN 1684-5714