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 ------------------------------------ In This edition 1. Transitions: The Old, The New And The Bridge
In-Between 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! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Second Reminder: Southern Africa Launch Of The Human Capital Institute (Hci) Sandton International Business School (Sibs) Teams Up With Human Capital Institute (Hci) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Sandton International Business School announces the official launch of its partnering with the Human Capital Institute (USA). You and your top level Line and Human Resources Executives are invited to attend the launch of HCI in November 2005. # EXECUTIVE BREAKFAST BRIEFING: 01 NOVEMBER 2005. # VENUE: Sandton International Business School (SIBS), 213 Rivonia Road, Sandown (next to Village Walk) The purpose of the Executive Briefing session is twofold: >> 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. Download a flyer and registration form at: http://www.workinfo.com/newsletter/workshop/hci.htm # 2-DAY WORKSHOP: HUMAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES 02 –03 NOVEMBER 2005. # VENUE: Sandton International Business School (SIBS), 213 Rivonia Road, Sandown (next to Village Walk) The workshop is presented by Kevin Rutherford one of HCI’s master facilitators from the USA. The workshop cuts across the traditional boundaries found in traditional Human Resources. The 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. 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. Lawrence Sichinga Chairman, Sandton International Business School 123 Rivonia Road, Sandown ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Talented Consultant - Facilitators Required: Become A Trained Facilitator For The Principles Of Human Capital Management Workshop (02-03 November 2005) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- HCI (SA) invites talented Facilitators who have worked as consultants to be developed to lead The Principles Of Human Capital Management (PHCM) Workshop. You are invited to apply for the 3 seats available to aspiring facilitators for the PHCM workshop in Johannesburg on 02-03 November, 2005. Once accredited you will become an associate of the founding team of HCI as the leader in the field of Human Capital & Talent Management in Southern Africa. Attendance at the workshop will be subsidised for the 3 selected facilitators. THE PRINCIPLES COURSE CAN ONLY BE TAUGHT BY SOMEONE WITH CONSIDERABLE HUMAN RESOURCES, CONSULTING AND/OR TALENT MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE (I.E., NOT SIMPLY A TRAINER). THE CURRENT REQUIREMENTS ARE: >> Be highly experienced in content relevant fields across the Human Capital & Talent Management Spectrum >> Attendance at the workshop as a learner >> Complete of 50 item knowledge assessment and a real-world practicum (post course project) Download a flyer and registration form at: http://www.workinfo.com/newsletter/workshop/hci.htm Contact Jeff Sacht on jeffs@worldonline.co.za to apply for your seat at the HCMP workshop. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Transitions: The Old, The New And The Bridge In-Between* By Patricia Soldati who can be contacted at http://www.management-Issues.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Marty Rodgers just got a big promotion. After 18 years of dedicated service, Eva Mortenson just got laid off. And last week, entrepreneur Ben Collins launched PetTags, his new vision of commercial splendor. At first blush, these career events might not seem to have much in common. But peel back the individual drama and there's a common thread: each of these fictitious individuals is in the midst of change. Happy or sad, forced or chosen, each professional will move through a similar pattern - an ending, a period of confusion and a new beginning –- for these dynamics are at the heart of every career, and indeed, every life transition. As creatures who are happiest avoiding pain and pursuing pleasure, we tend to leap to the new beginning as quickly as possible. Yet, unless the first two stages are honored, no real new beginning is ever achieved. Marty may have a new title or Ben a new business, but more likely than not, these changes are only external masks – no internal realignment has grabbed hold. Endings always leave something or someone behind. Understanding what or who that is and saying a proper 'good-bye' is critical whether you chose the ending or not. For Marty Rodgers, this might mean grieving for a lost sense of identity and control. Eva's grief may be for lost financial security and diminished self-worth. For Ben Collins, it might mean honoring a past that has brought him to his current fortune: thanking former colleagues for their support or creating an assimilation plan for his successor. In fact, it is precisely by honoring endings at the feeling level, whether joyful or sorrowful, that this trio allows themselves to move forward with their integrity intact and to anticipate their future gains much more intensely. Good-byes don't automatically catapult you into your new beginning Now, here's the hard message: Despite such noble farewells, a slippery slope lies ahead for this trio. That's because 'good-byes' don't automatically catapult you into your new beginning. Between the old and the new is a period where nothing feels quite right. In his book Transitions, Making Sense of Life's Changes, William Bridges describes it as a period of emptiness and often, confusion. Marty's learning curve on the new job, for example, or Ben's search for just the right strategy to crack open his market. This stage – of experimenting, of finding your way - may not feel ideal, but it does lend perspective on where you've come from and where you're going. What's important is to recognize it and to be able to put language around it, especially in those moments of greatest frustration. It is new learning taking hold, undoing old paradigms and creating new ones, a bridge connecting the old with the new. When seen in this light, is easier to stick it out, knowing that it is part of a process, unavoidable and full of promise. Intriguingly, it is only at the end of our transition process that we reach our new beginning. Backwards to all that is intuitive and comfortable - yet this new beginning is not an independent point of light, but the result of the process of honoring the old and readying oneself for the new. Marty assumes a new level of leadership competence and asserts himself in fresh and innovative ways. Ben "gets" that his old paradigms – of work style, marketing and managing – are worn formulas that do not optimize success in his new world. And Eva uses her "opportunity" to find work that energizes her in ways she never thought possible. Such beginnings are accessible to everyone, and the truth is, everyone has a little trouble with them. Like breaking in new shoes - take a few steps at a time, and know that a marvelous fit is just around the corner. * Reprinted by permission of Management Issues ------------------------------------ The Practical Guide to Human Resources Management ------------------------------------ Attention all Managers! Simplify your life in one easy step… Whether you are… * carrying out performance reviews, * managing conflict, * dismissing an employee, * or dealing with any of the dozens of other employee issues… Human Resources is not an area where you can afford to take a trial-and-error, learn-as-you-go approach. The Practical Guide to Human Resources Management covers the A-Z of managing your human resources. Click here for more information: http://www.fsp.co.za/recommends.asp?i=14709 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Maximizing The Returns On Investments In Human Capital — Lessons From Seven Years Of Global Studies By Watson Wyatt who can be contacted at www.watsonwyatt.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Since 1998, Watson Wyatt's Human Capital Index® (HCI) has been tracking the link between human capital management and firm performance. Our original study identified policies and practices associated with superior financial performance in North America. Since then, we have taken the analysis worldwide. What we've found is that, with few exceptions, excellent HR policies and practices travel well and pay off in both booms and recessions. Extending the analysis over time, we found that superior HR policies and practices are a leading indicator of superior financial performance. The evidence suggests a virtuous cycle at work — investing in superior HR policies and practices earns positive returns on investment (ROI), a share of which is then reinvested in further improvements to HR programs. This year's study represents the next generation of HCI. We continue to address recruiting excellence, employee development, optimal retention, total rewards and accountability, communication, information technology and HR efficiency. But we also provide detailed benchmarks, enabling organizations to compare their performance to objective criteria associated with higher total returns to shareholders (TRS) and market premium (the value of the organization above the value of its assets) at some of the leading companies in North America. This article examines key metrics of effective attraction and retention and discusses their use. Following articles will expand the analysis to total rewards and accountability, and the role of communication. We will also relay important employee insights gleaned from our WorkUSA study. The series will discuss the financial returns on improving HR policies and practices, identify the most effective HR policies and practices, and share employees' views of how effectively organizations are executing these policies. >> Recruiting Excellence: Getting the Right Employees as Quickly as Possible In the long run, the key to superior financial performance is maximizing the value of employees to the organization. Organizations rise and fall by the quality of the employees they attract and retain, and how well they motivate them. Effective employees are more productive and deliver superior customer service, thus reducing costs and generating more revenue. The first step to success is recruiting the right employees quickly and cost-effectively. Filling a position is expensive. First, there are the obvious hard-dollar costs of placing ads, designing recruiting websites, administering selection criteria such as tests or interview protocols, and paying signing bonuses, moving expenses and other inducements. These costs are significant — often 10 percent to 15 percent of a new hire's annual wage. However, these are only the most visible, easily measured costs, masking the even larger soft-dollar cost of lost productivity. Other employees also suffer productivity loss during this period. The hiring manager must divert resources to compensate for the employee's lower productivity before leaving, recruit and interview applicants, and train and support the new hire. Coworkers may have to take on extra work. On average, replacing an employee costs between 48 percent and 61 percent of his or her annual pay. Companies that manage their recruiting effectively can reduce their turnover costs considerably, as shown in Table 1. Firm X and firm Y both employ 20,000 workers and pay an average wage of $50,000. Turnover is 15 percent, so they both must recruit 3,000 employees (15 percent turnover times 20,000 employees). Firm X spends $24,000 to fill a position (48 percent of the $50,000 wage), while firm Y spends $30,500. By managing its recruiting effectively, firm X saves $19.5 million annually in turnover costs compared to firm Y. >> Managing Smart to Reduce Turnover Costs — The Role of Recruiting Excellence There are many strategies for reducing turnover costs, which fall into two broad categories: >> Reducing the amount of turnover: Implementing superior recruiting strategies and execution Our next article will discuss managing turnover to improve financial performance in more detail. A key HCI finding is that financial success depends on optimal turnover — achieving the right balance between workforce stability and holding poor performers accountable. A company should not try to eliminate all turnover — firms with moderate turnover earn the highest financial returns. Although it can be a costly process, winnowing out poor performers to make room for more industrious new hires improves productivity and shareholder value. We'll address managing turnover in more detail in the next article in the series, focusing on both the costs and (potential) gains from turnover. To reduce the costs of recruiting employees, many organizations focus on two metrics: reducing the hard-dollar recruiting costs and pushing HR to fill open positions quickly. This focus is easy to understand. First, recruiting employees is expensive, and the costs are transparent and measurable. Second, it is relatively easy to track the number of open positions and the average time they remain open. Third, an open position creates the maximum disruption for teammates and the hiring manager. As a result, organizations that fill open jobs faster than other firms (an average of two weeks versus an average of seven weeks) earn significantly higher TRS (three-year TRS of 59 percent versus 11 percent) and market premiums. Several strategies can help employers fill open positions more quickly. Some of them are associated with superior performance, while others are not. One strategy is simply to hire less-qualified employees. This strategy is usually self-defeating. First, although filling the position quickly may reduce the productivity loss due to vacancy (the loss between C and D in Figure 1), the new hire's initial productivity (the productivity at point D) is likely to be much lower and his or her learning curve much longer (the time to competency between D and E), ultimately costing employers more rather than less. Less-qualified employees may require more expensive training as well, even though more extensive training usually cannot overcome mistakes in hiring. Previous HCI studies have found a negative relationship between training and firm performance, which could reflect the fact that less-qualified workers need more training or the higher turnover rates that prevailed when the job market was stronger. Instead of hiring less-qualified employees, employers should try to reduce recruiting costs and vacancies while maintaining reasonable levels of initial productivity and an acceptable learning curve. The HCI has identified three ways to achieve these objectives. The first is asking existing employees for referrals. Job-seekers who are referred to the organization by employees are more likely to know more about the organization and the position, and therefore are more likely to be a better match. In addition, the referring employee often serves as a mentor, which helps the new hire get up to speed more quickly. Organizations that hire more than 30 percent of their new hires through referrals from existing employees earn significantly higher financial returns than organizations that hire less than 10 percent of their new hires through referrals. Another effective but often overlooked strategy is getting an acceptance on the first offer. Offering a position to more than one job-seeker lengthens the vacancy period (the period between C and D in Figure 1), and the second or third choice is often less productive than the first choice would have been, both initially (at point D) and through the time to competency (the period between D and E). Organizations that typically make only one offer for an open position earn significantly higher financial returns than organizations that typically make two or more offers. The third strategy is succession planning — grooming a new hire while the original employee is still on the job. In addition to minimizing the productivity loss while the employee is phasing out of the position (the loss between B and C in Figure 1), this strategy also closes the gap in productivity while a position remains open (the productivity loss between C and D) and reduces the new hire's learning curve (the productivity loss between D and E). Previous HCI studies have found that accountability — helping poor performers improve and dealing effectively with those who don't — is a key driver of success. Accountability minimizes productivity loss when an employee leaves his or her job (in part by shortening the period from A to B in Figure 1) and improves productivity by replacing a low performer with a higher-performing employee (in the period beyond point E). Unfortunately, only one in three employees believes their organization does a good job of managing accountability, according to WorkUSA Conclusion Human capital is a leading indicator of firm financial performance. Organizations that manage their people practices well earn superior shareholder returns. The 2005 HCI study provides detailed statistics for benchmarking an organization's performance in key human capital programs. This data can be invaluable in assessing the ROI in human capital. The next article in the series will address accountability in relation to the HCI and optimal turnover management. ------------------------------------ IN-COMPANY WORKSHOP: EMPLOYMENT EQUITY COMMITTEE TRAINING ------------------------------------ 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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. A Challenge For The Young Management Guru By David Creelman who can be contacted at creelmanresearch@canada.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- If you are an academic or consultant who has a theory about management what is the best way to tell others about that theory? For the last hundred years the options were to write a book or give a lecture. Unfortunately, we know that reading a book or listening to a speech is not a very effective way to learn leadership skills. The best way to learn leadership is on the job with good mentors at hand. So if you have a new theory of management—whether it be about how to create a vision or how to build an inclusive environment—the best way to teach it is by being a mentor. The trouble with mentorship is that it does not scale—a thousand people can read your book, but you cannot personally mentor a thousand managers. What we need is a new way to communicate our theory other than through lectures and books (ineffective) or through mentorship (does not work for large numbers). That new way may be on your teenager's computer screen. Anyone who has played modern computer games will have been struck by just what powerful tools they are. The games are engrossing, surprising, demanding and delightful. They can hold our attention for hour after hour after hour—long after you should be in bed. The question is: can you write leadership theory as a computer game? One person who has tried is Clark Aldrich author of Learning by Doing : A Comprehensive Guide to Simulations, Computer Games, and Pedagogy in e-Learning and Other Educational Experiences. Unlike most people in the managerial world he is a "gamer" who enjoys computer games like Far Cry, SimCity and the notorious Grand Theft Auto. He has deep expertise in the nature of education and his approach to leadership training is Simulearn's Virtual Leader. If Aldrich were writing a book about leadership he would have to think through the main ideas, decide what order to put them in, and look for some good examples. But to write a computer game about leadership Aldrich has to create a model of leadership—specifying how different actions will impact the system, and what the simulation will do in response to those actions. He also has to think about the interface—how the learner will interact with the system. Aldrich's model includes elements around gaining and sharing power and influence, introducing and soliciting new ideas and goals, modifying the tension in the environment, and, getting the work done in a timely way. And, of course, whereas in a book you would simply describe these elements, in a computer simulation you have to be completely explicit about they interact. The interface Aldrich uses is a meeting room because that is where so much of a manager's life unfolds. Writing a book about management is not easy, but there are many people who have invested years learning how to do it well. Writing a management simulation is significantly harder and the number of people able to do so is exceedingly rare. It's unlikely that the current generation of leadership experts will make the shift from excellence in spreading their ideas through books to excellence in spreading their ideas through computer simulations. So this is a challenge for the young. If they do it well, then we will be able to give literally millions of people around the globe far more effective management training than anything previously imagined. I said that writing a simulation is harder than writing a book; it seems so to me but may not to the next generation. Leadership is all about multiple interactions and complex cause and effect. To someone raised on writing simulations asking them to write a book about leadership may be like asking a dancer to write about a dance rather than perform it. The future of management education will be an exciting place. I can hardly wait. ------------------------------------ IN-COMPANY WORKSHOP: MANAGING FOR DIVERSITY (NOW UPDATED & ENLARGED) ------------------------------------ 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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. A Compelling Model For WorkForce Planning: Making Organisations More Agile By Trudi G. M. Gygi & Brian E. Wilkerson who can be contacted at www.wisdomnet.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A properly executed workforce planning process can have a tremendous impact on an organization's ability to achieve its strategic objectives. It can also improve the organization's agility and operational alignment. Human Resource leaders play an active role by helping business leaders drive their organizations to be more agile and to more effectively execute their overall business strategy. When partnering with the business, HR leaders can improve an organization's performance by overseeing an effective workforce planning process. Most organizations, however, take a very limited view of the workforce planning process. For example, many companies see workforce planning as a process by which the business tells HR how many people they need to hire, and HR figures out a plan to hire them. While certainly a small portion of this process, this limited view robs the organization of the strategic value that well-executed workforce planning can provide. Download a full copy of the White Paper at www.workinfo.com/free/downloads/180.htm ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Book Reviews: Family Business: Key Issues ---------------------------------------------------------------------- # Family Business: Key Issues To buy this book click on: http://www.kalahari.net/e-trader/referral.asp?toolbar=mweb&linkid=5&partnerid=293&sku=27927810 By Denise Kenyon-Rouvinez and John L. Ward Palgrave Macmillan, 2005 What happens when Uncle Harold decides to step down as head of your thriving, family-run retail chain? Can he just pass the reins to his knucklehead son or will you, more deserving, take your rightful place as the next chief executive? Would the results of his decision positively or negatively make an impact on your commitment to the business’s strategy, tradition, and values—and how would they affect your relationship with your relatives the next time you all sit down to dinner? These and many other questions always confront professionals who make their living in a family enterprise. As with any job, there are challenges and rewards along the way, but within a family business it’s crucial to grapple honestly with the additional issues of blending generations and managing expectations among financial officers, marketing specialists, and managers who also happen to be your parents, aunts, cousins, and step-daughters. Family Business is not a how-to guidebook. Rather, it offers thoughtful and well-written articles for seeing the big picture. These pieces are by the two editors as well as other experts and academics in the study of family business. It’s short (160 pages), yet hits the most important topics: “healthy business,” family relationships, business models, strategy, governance, and succession. Kenyon-Rouvinez is a family business consultant and researcher from IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland. Co-editor Ward is a professor of family business at IMD and the Kellogg School Center of Family Enterprises at Northwestern University. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. Downloads: Research: Learning, Performance Management Technologies to Converge ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Bersin & Associates, a research and advisory firm solely focused on enterprise learning, recently completed a nine-month study on the direction of learning and performance management which identifies a clear trend toward the increased demand for performance management systems, relatively new software applications designed to identify and develop employee skills and competencies. The research also indicates demand for the integration of performance management and learning management technologies. Such integration forms the basis of an overall talent management system. The adoption and integration of these new applications will reduce the cost and time involved in completing and managing employee performance reviews, facilitate regulatory compliance, correlate training investments with top-priority skills and competencies, and give organizations the ability to assess available employee skills and cultivate new ones, according to Josh Bersin, president of Bersin & Associates. “Our research is forecasting the adoption of integrated solutions which span corporate training and HR functions related to employee development. We believe that most organizations will use their learning management systems infrastructure as a foundation for these solutions,” said Bersin. “While organizations have long been interested in the theory of talent management, it’s not been practical to implement. Today we see the confluence of several major market drivers, along with the availability of cost-efficient technology and integration capability, which makes now the right time for this new category.” An aging workforce population, highly decentralized organizations, business expansion, and a results-focused business climate are among the drivers cited by Bersin. “Whether you have to prepare for the replacement of an experienced plant maintenance manager or quickly assemble a team of employees to handle a corporate emergency – such as the renovation of a facility destroyed by a hurricane, you need the ability to quickly assess available skills and identify those that are missing or underdeveloped. Without technology, this is virtually impossible for organizations with more than several hundred employees.” The report, Convergence of Learning and Performance Management: Has Talent Management Arrived?, is based on surveys of 553 organizations with an average employee population of 15,100. Data showed that the top four priorities for HR managers today are performance management, skills and competency management, succession planning, and learning management. At the same time, responses indicate that HR managers believe they have the least amount of expertise in these four functional areas. Today only 35 percent of organizations have any type of automated performance management system and 58 percent rely on paper based processes. A significant majority--68 percent of respondents--indicated that integration of learning and HR systems is critical or important to their organizations. The study concludes that although many specialized HR solutions will continue to exist, learning management systems are likely to become the core platform for integrated performance and learning solutions. Vendors of these systems, such as CornerstoneOnDemand, Plateau, SAP, and Saba, have all developed add-on modules which automate the tasks associated with performance management and skills and competency management. Vendors focusing specifically on performance and talent management applications are generally small, have limited market share, and cannot as easily integrate their solutions with learning and development processes. The study predicts that market forces will drive consolidation among many of these smaller companies as demand for robust, integrated solutions grows. “With increased pressures to perform and demonstrate tangible business results, the importance of the employee development process is more pronounced. We’re all facing questions such as ‘who has the capabilities to fill this critical job opening?’ and ‘what learning resources are available to address specific performance development needs?’” said Larry Israelite, director of strategic learning for Pitney Bowes, Inc. “In order to answer these kinds of questions, it’s essential to have performance and learning systems that talk to each other. The goal is to have a continuous stream of activities and information from competency assessment to identification of development needs to specific training.” Download a PDF copy of the full report at: www.workinfo.com/free/downloads/180.htm ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 7. Case-Law & Legislation Review: Grievance/Unfair Labour PracticeFailure to appoint, promote, re-instate or re-employ By Gary Watkins who can be contacted at www.caselaw.co.za ; www.workinfo.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Koopman And City Of Cape Town Case No: WE7485-01 Award Date: 19 February 2005 Jurisdiction: CCMA: Cape Town Commissioner: DIK Wilson # SUBJECT: Grievance/Unfair Labour PracticeFailure to appoint, promote, re-instate or re-employ ISSUE: The employee could not have been demoted as he had never been formally placed in the position; his appointment was conditional on the outcome of appeals. Employee could not have had a legitimate expectation of appointment and the employer followed a fair procedure in dealing with him. The application was dismissed. SUMMARY OF FACTS: The employee was employed by the employer as a Driver. During the course of the process of amalgamation of various municipalities into a single body, the employee acted in the new / revised position of Transport Co-ordinator / Yard Foreman. When this position was eventually advertised, the employee applied and, after interviews were conducted in which the employee achieved the highest score, he was informed that he was the successful candidate. Subsequent to this, one of the other candidates appealed against the appointment of the employee on the grounds that he did not fulfil the requirements of the job. This appeal was successful, and the employee was returned to his previous position as a Driver. Employee claimed that there was no appeal process applicable to this type of dispute, and that the appeal should not have been entertained. The employee’s highest qualification was standard 3 and the employer was aware of this when he applied for the position. One of the unsuccessful employees for the position, Mr. Eaton, appealed against the employee’s appointment on the grounds that he did not have the necessary literacy and managerial skills for the position. The advertisement for the job did not have any formal literacy requirement. The employee argued that this appeal should not have been allowed, as there had been an appeal process in place only in respect of employees who were not happy with their own placements after the amalgamation of the various municipalities. The parties agreed that the only issue for the Commissioner to decide was of the appeal should have been allowed and the process was fair. SUMMARY OF JUDGEMENT: With regard to the policies regarding appeals against placements in the new structure, the Commissioner found that the procedures clearly envisaged the possibility of an appeal in the case of a competitive placement, that is, where there were competing employees for a placement vacancy. This would include an appeal by an unsuccessful candidate. Therefore the appeal by Mr Eaton was in fact one which was envisaged by the procedure, and was correctly accepted as such. The employee alleged in the alternative that he had been unfairly demoted, or that the employer had unfairly failed to promote him. In this regard, the Commissioner found that the employee had not been formally placed in the position. At best this could be regarded as a provisional placement, subject to appeals, as he was never informed in writing of his placement in the position. Since he was not placed in the position, he could not have been demoted. Regarding the alleged failure to promote the employee, the Commissioner found that the employer acted fairly in allowing the appeal of Mr Eaton to take place. The employee was given the opportunity to give his input at the appeal. The employer then went to the lengths of arranging a literacy assessment for the employee, which appeared to bear out the grounds of Mr Eaton’s appeal. On this basis the Commissioner found that the employer did not act unfairly in this regard either. This is borne out by the fact that neither of the unsuccessful applicants who had a lower score than the employee were appointed in the post, but looked elsewhere for another, more suitable candidate. Since the process required a written appointment, and provided for an appeal process prior to finalisation of an appointment, the Commissioner found that the employee could not have had a legitimate expectation of appointment prior to the finalisation of the appeal process and the confirmation in writing of his placement and that the employer followed a fair procedure in dealing with the employee, and has not committed an unfair labour practice. The application was dismissed and the Commissioner ordered that the employee be paid an acting allowance for the period during which he was acting in the post. ------------------------------------ THE IR PROTECTOR ------------------------------------ Is your company spending valuable time and resources handling disciplinary issues? Does your business contribute to the 130 000 cases at the CCMA each year? Is your share of the R14 000 000 000 in South African industrial relations costs affecting profitability? Take the next logical step in people management and protect your organisation. To find out more about “The IR Protector” visit www.workinfo.com/sponsors/irprotect.thm Brought to you by Workinfo.com and Camargue, Hollard’s labour dispute specialists. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 7. 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. ------------------------------------ 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 newsletter 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 the 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) 2004 Registered electronic newspaper: 1SSN 1684-5714 |
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