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NFTC International HR Conference Report-Part 1

Posted on March 23, 2010 by | 3 comments


Author:
Warren Heaps – Birches Group LLC

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure to attend the Houston International HR Conference sponsored by the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC).  The conference was well-attended; over 150 delegates, both corporate staffers and suppliers were there.  My colleague and contributing editor, Alan Freeman, was also there.  We would like to share some of the highlights from the conference proceedings.  We hope this will allow our readers to benefit from the learnings of the conference, even if you were not there personally. This is the first installment of our report.

Global Wellness
One of the most interesting and innovative topics at the conference was Global Wellness.  Two companies, Chevron and Intel, presented their experiences with the development and implementation of wellness programs in the US and in various global markets.  While each company took a slightly different approach, there were many similarities in their experience.

Chevron’s Experience
Chevron is one of the world’s largest integrated oil companies, with operations in over 100 countries.  The company identified cardio-vascular health as a primary risk factor in their population and decided to focus on health awareness and improvement programs to address this risk.  Chevron began their program with pilot tests in the US, Nigeria, Angola and Thailand, among others.

The wellness program consists of a health assessment conducted by a third-party, measuring basic health statistics such as blood pressure, cholesterol levels, body fat index, and similar risk factors.  Employees are then provided with coaching on lifestyle and behavioral changes they can adopt to reduce their risk for cardio-vascular disease.  Some of the changes are typically smoking cessation, exercise, weight reduction, stress reduction, sleep and healthier food choices in their diet.  In addition, the company worked with it’s vendors in the the target countries to introduce heart-healthy options in their food service programs, introducing both new menu choices and some items with substitute ingredients or modified recipes, such as reduced sodium content.

The program has been a strong success, and is now being rolled out in additional countries.  There were many learnings from the pilot experience, but here are a few that I thought were particularly powerful:

  • Cardio-vascular disease is often thought of as an illness that strikes mainly in developed countries.  This was, in fact, the initial reaction in Nigeria.  In fact, however, the World Health Organization reports that 82% of deaths from cardio-vascular disease are in low- and moderate- income countries, and affect men and women equally.  Chevron’s employee demographics, which include large numbers of men in their 50’s, are a primary risk group.
  • The counseling sessions which followed the health assessment needed to be tailored to local conditions and culture.  Suggestions for changes to diet, for example, had to be adapted to reference the typical food choices available in country.
  • The communications to staff were adapted to the individual market.  While there was a consistent message, the images and illustrations were chosen to reflect the population of the particular country, so employees.
  • There were measurable results that indicate the program is helping to reduce risk for cardio-vascular diseases amongst the participants.  As the program continues, Chevron will develop statistics to demonstrate specific financial and other impacts; but in the US, there is already strong evidence among a group of staff who have consistently participated in the program since it’s inception that it’s working.

The Intel Experience
Intel Corporation is the world’s largest manufacturer of semi-conductors. They rolled out a wellness program in the US and several overseas markets, including Malaysia, Israel, Costa Rica and China. Initially, Intel staff examined several years of health surveillance data to confirm that staff were properly protected from the chemical processes used in the semi-conductor fabrication process. The study indicated there was no effect from the work environment, and that rather, lifestyle behaviors were the larger risk areas for Intel employees.

Some stress-reduction programs were introduced, but it wasn’t until Intel CEO Andy Grove had a medical event that the focus on wellness was renewed and elevated in the company. Building on a substantial array of existing services, such as occupational medicine, on-site clinics and various online resources, Intel began to introduce a more dynamic program to help improve employee wellness.

The Intel program is a 3-Step Wellness Check, including a Biometric Health Check, a Health Risk Assessment, and Wellness Coaching. The Coaching is provided face to face in most major locations.   In China, the coaching is provided in person by prominent local physicians.   Follow-ups are also integrated with the local EAP. These design changes were made based on the recommendation of the local committee responsible for implementation of the wellness initiative in China. It has proven to be very effective, and Intel plans to continue rolling out the program to additional locations over the next few years.

Observations
I was quite impressed by the efforts of these two prominent global companies in the area of employee wellness.  In both cases, the companies have a long-established focus on employee safety; the wellness initiatives are consistent with this focus and enhances this commitment.

What is especially impressive is the success in introducing the program not only in the United States, but also in overseas markets, mainly in the developing world.  While it’s still too early to draw any major conclusions about the long-term impact of these programs on company health care costs, other related items such as absenteeism, and overall impact in the community, the preliminary data indicates positive impact for the companies, their employees and the community.

What Are You Doing to Promote Employee Wellness?
Global Employee Wellness is a new area of focus for companies, and there is a lot still to be learned.  What is your company doing in the area? Please share your comments and experiences with us!

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Delegation: Leadership Development in Africa – Part 2

Posted on February 10, 2010 by | 13 comments

Lex Lindeman

Dr. Paul Rono

Authors:
Lex Lindeman – HR Boosters
Dr. Paul Rono – Kenyatta University (Nairobi)


In our previous post Leadership Development in Africa – Part 1, we explored the characteristics of effective leaders and the way to develop them.  One of the important competencies of effective African leaders is delegation.  In many African public and private companies, management asks us to focus on delgation during workshops we conduct for their staff.  It seems to them that African managers, especially, need to learn to delegate more than they do already.

Delegation

The main purpose of delegation is to make organizations possible.  Just as no one person in an organization or enterprise can perform all tasks necessary for the accomplishment of group purpose; so is it impossible, as an organization grows, for one person to exercise all the authority for making decisions.

If managers delegate poorly it will cause demotivation, frustration, slow decision making and the manager will have no time for his or her subordinates. Good delegation will save time, ensure a better distribution of workload, and ultimately lead to better decisions.  And, effective delegation will help to develop, empower and motivate subordinates.

Why Managers Don’t Delegate

Some managers think that no one else can do the job the way they want it done, how they want it done and when they want it done.  They think it’s easier and more efficient to do it on their own, and they believe that they can do it better than their employees.  These assumptions are incorrect!

Managers are not sure how to do delegate correctly.  Here are some of the excuses I’ve heard over the years:

  • “My team members lack the experience.”
  • “It takes more time to explain than to do the job myself.”
  • “A mistake by a team member could be costly for my project.”
  • “My position enables me to get quicker action.”
  • “There are some things that I shouldn’t delegate to anyone.”
  • “My team members are specialists and they lack the overall knowledge that many of my decisions require.”

I came across this small quote in New African, June 2009 by Akua Djanie:

“I don’t know what it is about Africans, but we are afraid of, and shy away from, the idea of delegating someone to take our place when we are unavailable, is it because we think the person we delegate to will do a better job than us? Is it because we want to be seen as the one in charge; the one that can make or break the company, the project or the team? It is unbelievable, but from our post offices, to our small-scale businesses, and to the multinationals, it seems that everyone in Africa is scared to delegate.

Delegation shows the effectiveness of teamwork, because no matter how wonderful someone is at their job, no person is an island. And no project or company can function with only an individual. What delegation shows is that even if a particular person is unavailable, the project, team or company can still proceed because that person has put mechanisms in place to ensure the smooth running of operations. So rather than see delegation as a threat to their positions, Africans should embrace delegation as a strength. It simply does not make sense for everything to come to a standstill because one person is not available or one person is trying to do everything by him- or herself.”

But delegation is not only an issue in Africa; in institutions in the rest of the world, managers struggle with the same issues.

The Organization

Every position in a formal organization has a specified set of tasks or “position responsibilities, authorities and accountability.” Tasks should be delegated (assigned) to the lowest level in the organization at which there is sufficient competence and information for effective task performance.

The three concepts of responsibility, authority, and accountability are the major variables in the theory of delegation:

  • Authority: Superiors delegate authority – permission and encouragement to take action – but they do not delegate responsibility, which they share with their subordinates. Thus responsibility, as accepted by the one to take action exists and is shared from the point of acceptance upward, level by level, to the top of the organization.
  • Responsibility: Responsibility is an obligation owed and cannot, therefore, be delegated. No superior can escape, through delegation, responsibility for the activities of subordinates, for it is he who has delegated authority and assigned duties. Likewise, the responsibility of the subordinate to his superior for performance is absolute; once he has accepted an assignment and the power to carry it out, no superior can escape responsibility for the organization activities of his subordinates.
  • Accountability: Since authority is the discretionary right to carry out assignments and responsibility is the obligation to accomplish them, it follows, therefore, that authority should correspond to accountability. From this logical analysis emerges the principle that the accountability for actions cannot be greater than that implied by authority delegated, nor should it be less.

Advantages of Delegation
Delegation is a powerful management tool.  Some advantages of delegation include:

  • Efficiency: The more a superior is able to delegate, the more time he has for thinking, planning, etc.
  • Better Decisions: The person who is close to the scene of action should be better able to make decisions than a distant superior.
  • Initiative: Delegation encourages initiative on the part of subordinates so that the organization can use their skills more fully. Initiative in turn improves morale, because people take increased interest in their work if they are given an opportunity to use their own judgment.
  • Timeliness: Delegation improves timing of decisions, because it minimizes the necessity for sending recommendations up the chain of command to decision makers several levels above the point where the recommendations were initiated.
  • Speed: A do-it or-else order eliminates the time-consuming dillydallying of feedback. But speed may cost accuracy and morale.

Barriers to Delegate

Many managers will find a ‘good’ reason not to delegate; here are some pretexts which can be found in any work environment:

  • The need to be needed: A superior who has an intense desire to make or keep subordinates dependent will find it difficult to give sincere recognition for job achievement by them.
  • Fear of losing control: When superiors delegate, they run a risk of the subordinates not doing the job well, and losing control of the performance for which he is accountable.
  • Fear of surrendering authority: Whenever you delegate, you surrender some element of authority (but not of responsibility!) This is inevitable. By effective delegation, however, you get the benefits of adequate time to do YOUR job really well.
  • Perfectionism: Just as you have to develop staff to do jobs quickly without your involvement, you will have to let people make mistakes, and help them to correct them. Most people will, with time, learn to do jobs properly.
  • The Desire for Reward: Many managers enjoy the rewards and self-fulfillment associated with achievement of doing work.  Delegating to subordinates necessarily means that the subordinates will get the reward.
  • Fear of Competition: Other managers are afraid that if they assign work, and their subordinates develop, they will someday outperform them, overtake the manager in the hierarchy of the company.
  • It’s a Effort: Delegation takes time. In the early stages, managers need to invest time in training their people to take over tasks. When coaching and checking are taken into account, it may even initially take longer to achieve the desired outputs. In time however, with the right people, your coaching investment will pay back handsomely.

It is common for people who are newly promoted to managerial positions to have difficulties delegating. Often they were promoted because they were good at what they were doing. This brings the temptation to continue trying to do their previous job, rather than acting as a manager, and focus on developing their new subordinates.

How to Overcome Weak Delegation

Here are ten tips for you to help you to delegate more easily:

  1. Define assignments in the light of expected results.
  2. Select the right person to which to delegate.
  3. Open up the lines of communication with your subordinates for consultation and counseling.
  4. Establish proper controls for proper use of authority.
  5. Reward effective delegation and successful assumption of authority.
  6. Be willing to give other people’s ideas a chance (never say: “Yes but….” This means NO!)
  7. Be willing to release the right to make decisions (we call this empowerment).
  8. Allow others to perform even though they make mistakes.
  9. Trust your delegated junior. Delegation implies a trustful attitude between the two.
  10. Establish and use broad controls. Responsibility is not delegated, hence the need for you to establish a means of feedback to assure yourself that the authority delegated is being used in support of the organizational objectives.

Conclusion: Weak Delegation in Africa?

As I said earlier, delegation is a global problem. But a very positive aspect is that Africans are very keen to learn and to try things out. This attitude toward change allows Africans to learn to adopt delegation faster and easier. Studies in Africa show that Africans are ready to accept delegation of duties more easily than in the western world. Many managers in Africa learn easily to delegate and delegation is readily accepted, respected and honored. Demonstrate how how important the jobs, the expectations, the goals and tasks are, and the African is keen to accept.

Mike Boon (2007) stated that accountability is one of the key area that must be stressed when delegating tasks to an African manager:

“Through this accountability, they become leaders and others will follow them.” When a manager or leader encourages accountability through delegation, the result will be growth and progression.”

More About the Authors

More About Lex:

More About Paul:
Dr. Rono is a lecturer at Kenyatta University in Nairobi.  He is an authority on leadership development, and has published various articles related to leadership development in Africa with a progressive yet adoptable and realistic view.  Watch for his new website coming soon!

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Three Rules for Compensation Surveys in Smaller Developing Markets

Posted on February 2, 2010 by | 6 comments

Author:
Warren Heaps – Birches Group LLC

Almost every day, I hear from a client or prospect looking for reliable market data in some small developing market, usually located in a part of the world that the big consultants have not yet discovered.  After all, our company focuses on those places!

One of the most common discussion points is about the difficulty the client is having in finding a survey which meets their needs in these markets.  You see, most clients have a very “developed world” view of what makes a good survey. But in smaller markets, you need to look at surveys through a different lens.

What Makes A Good Survey?
The exchange is typically something like this:

Client asks, “Do you have a survey for Gabon, in West Africa?”

I say, “Yes, we have a survey there, and for all of the countries in Africa.”

“Wow,” says the client, “that’s impressive.   How many bio-tech companies are in your survey?”

“Bio-tech?  None, I’m afraid.  We have a pharma company, but their office is very small.  Are there even any bio-techs in Gabon?”

“Well we are looking to open an office there, so we need to be competitive in our sector.  Do you know any other surveys I could look at?”

And so it goes.  This client, like many others, is looking for a survey in Gabon, a relatively small market, with the same parameters as they would apply in Germany.  Sector based surveys are very popular in developed countries, but in many small, developing markets, sector surveys just don’t work.

Rule #1 – Think Outside Your Sector

Why?  Simple.  The sector just isn’t big enough.  There might only be two or three similar companies, or like in our Gabon example, none at all.  To get a good sector survey together you would need at least eight to ten companies with a workforce of at least 20 to 25 staff.  But sometimes that’s not even enough.

I remember reviewing a survey once in a Central American country when I was a corporate compensation executive.  I was excited that the survey included 12 consumer goods companies (including my former employer).  We thought that with 12 companies, there would be enough data for some robust statistics.  It turns out there wasn’t.   Only 4 of the employers in the survey had a large presence in the country; the rest had small sales offices, and some had less than 10 staff in total.  Our company had staff over 150, including a regional headquarters and a factory.

So you see, a sector-based survey with 12 employers yielded good data for only a handful of positions.  My company, along with the others that had larger operations, were unable to use most of the sector data due to lack of matches.

Okay, so now you’re just looking for a survey – any survey.  Which employers make the most sense in order to get the market intelligence you need to make the right pay decisions?

Rule #2 – Look at the Leaders

Leading employers in all sectors usually have a full range of positions, from support to professional to executive.  These employers also have a strong employer brand, making them the preferred employers in the market.  The best talent naturally gravitate to these companies, as they are the ones reputed to be the best places to work.  More often than not, the leaders are multi-national companies or international organizations.

The multi-nationals are known to have disciplined approaches to reward, governed by global principles set down from headquarters.  They view compensation and benefits in a strategic way, and know the importance of using market data to determine rates of pay and benefits.

International organizations include employers such as the World Bank, various Embassies, the United Nations, the European Union, and so on.  These organizations are usually well-established in smaller developing markets, and attract the top echelon of the workforce.  Surprised?  One of the reasons is that many international organizations have very competitive pay programs which are benchmarked not only against each other, but with the private sector as well.

Together, a combination of leading private sector employers and leading international organizations captures the top of the market in many small countries.  So it’s a good place to start.

But wait a second.  You’re thinking “How will I compare my mobile telecom company to the World Bank?  They are not comparable to my company!”

Rule #3 – Use Cross-Occupational Job Matching

First of all, there are common occupations in all employers that are easily comparable.  For example, positions from accounting, finance, human resources, procurement and IT; plus secretaries, administrative assistants and less skilled support roles common in developing countries, such as drivers, security guards and messengers.

For professional and managerial positions, the real challenge is finding enough matches for a particular occupation to be able to report the data separately.  In order to ensure that there is data available for each professional level in our surveys, we often double-match positions to both a specific occupational benchmark (e.g., Brand Manager) as well as a generic professional position (e.g., Working Level Professional).  In case there are insufficient matches for Brand Manager, we can still report the aggregated data for all positions matched to Working Level Professional.  In this way, clients are assured to get a comprehensive picture of the market, even if the specific occupational matches fall short in the survey.

Is this good enough?  How many organizations use a different salary structure for each occupational group?  There are some, but not too many.   Using cross-occupational data is not really such a stretch, is it?

In Summary
There are other factors to consider when evaluating a compensation survey in small developing countries, but these three rules will help get you started. I will write another post in the future discussing some of the other challenges. In the meantime, please share your experiences working with surveys in these countries.

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Warren Heaps

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HR and Reward Challenges in Developing Markets – Beyond BRIC

Posted on January 20, 2010 by | 5 comments

 

Author:
Warren Heaps – Birches Group LLC

We are all hopeful that 2010 will be a better year for business than 2009. When that hoped for upturn finally takes hold, where will your company find growth?  If your company is like many others, the answer to that question points to developing markets in Africa, Asia and Latin America, where growth rates are higher and opportunities are great.

Growth is Robust
Post-recovery estimates from the IMF for 2010 indicate worldwide GDP growth of 5.7% is expected, while GDP growth in developing countries is expected to climb 9.5%.

Regional comparisons are even more dramatic:

  • Sub-Saharan Africa – 9.6%
  • Latin America & Caribbean – 10.5%
  • Middle East – 14.9%
  • Central and Eastern Europe – 1.4%
  • Euro Zone – 3.6%

As you can see from these figures, growth in the developing world is expected to be almost three times greater, on average, than in the Euro Zone.  Investors have already discovered this; according to Bloomberg Business Week, the top ten performing stock market indices since December 31, 1999 are all developing markets, ranging from 901% gain in Ukraine, to just 318% in Brazil. With potential like this, it’s not surprising that more and more companies are focusing on new markets in these regions.

HR Challenges
The landscape for operating in developing countries is different from what many companies may be accustomed to in Western Europe, the US and elsewhere in the developed world.  For HR, the most prominent challenges are in two areas – talent and reward.

The Talent Challenge
Developing country markets are smaller than big developed country markets.  Fewer employers participate in the market, and not all sectors are represented, but those that do are all vying for the same people – the best talent.  Highly educated professionals are often in short supply, especially those with advanced degrees which are often obtained in the US or Europe.  While professionals may have training and education in a particular occupation, it is very common for these individuals to switch occupations for advancement opportunities.  They become generalists rather than specialists, and switch between sectors often as well.

Leading Employers Play a Key Role
Certain employers are found in a lot of developing countries, and help to define the labor market.  These employers include companies from the banking; consumer products; oil, gas and mining; and telecom and technology sectors.  Many of these companies are global multi-nationals which have been operating in developing countries for many years, and have a lot of experience with the conditions.  The other major players are international public sector organizations.  This group includes employers such as embassies, development banks, multi-lateral agencies such as the UN, and leading international NGOs.

Know Your Competition for Talent
Many private sector companies are surprised when we suggest they consider the international public sector as part of the group of leading employers with which they compete for talent.  After all, what do oil companies or banks have to do with embassies or the World Bank?  The answer is a lot!

International public sector employers are involved in a lot of the same activities as private sector companies.  For example, an MBA graduate being recruited by a consumer goods company for a brand manager role is the ideal profile for an embassy public information officer.  The engineers that the oil sector seeks can be deployed as project managers for infrastructure development funded by the World Bank, or an NGO such as the Global Water Project.  In addition, of course, there are occupations that are common to all employers, in areas such as administration, finance, human resources, IT, etc.  The lesson is to expand your focus in developing countries to include not only companies outside your sector, but some of the relevant international public sector institutions as well.

How Can I Be Competitive?
The second significant challenge for companies in developing markets is figuring out the reward structure.  Compensation schemes are different in each country, but there are some common themes across developing countries which differ from more developed countries.  For example, the span of salary ranges is often much wider than the typical 50% to 67% often found in developed countries.  The differential from one grade to the next can vary dramatically depending on the levels — often the jump from manager to executive can be 35% or more.

Base Salary is Just the Beginning
It is quite common to provide cash allowances, such as 13th and 14th month, as well as transportation allowances or housing allowances in many countries.  In addition, in-kind benefits such as beverages or meals, transportation (commuter buses) and subsidized loans are found in many markets.  The value of allowances and in-kind benefits can be substantial, ranging up to 30% or more in some countries.

Good Market References Are Important
One way to ensure a competitive position in the market is to establish your position with reference to the leaders, using a high-quality compensation survey.  The survey should include values for base salary, cash allowances, in-kind benefits and short-term incentives.  In addition, you’ll need to be aware of the social benefits and other statutory pay practices, how pensions and insurance are provided, and how the income tax scheme influences how compensation is structured.

In Summary
Developing markets are exciting, diverse and challenging.  Human resources professionals need to become aware of the unique market dynamics in smaller developing countries, including the role of leading employers and the complexities of how rewards are provided.

Note:  Birches Group conducts total compensation surveys in 147 developing markets.  Visit our website for more information.

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Posted in Africa, Compensation, Developing Markets, Global HR Expertise, International Expertise, Talent Management

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Expatriate Challenges in Developing Countries

Posted on November 5, 2009 by | 14 comments

heaps_warren1Author:
Warren Heaps – Birches Group LLC

Today I had the pleasure to deliver a presentation to the Thames Valley Chapter of the Forum for Expatriate Management.  If you are not familiar with this organization, I urge you to visit their website – there is a wealth of great resources to be found regarding all aspects of international assignment management.

My presentation focused on the unique challenges of expatriate assignments in developing countries.  There is information about:

  • the challenges of designing expatriate compensation packages;
  • the emerging trends in the sources of talent for these assignments;
  • some comparative information on hardship pay (a key element of packages to some developing countries); and
  • a couple of ideas about alternative approaches to consider.

If you would like to look at the presentation in its entirety, please send me an email using the Contact Us page.

If you have some thoughts or questions about this topic, use the comments feature to share them!

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Warren Heaps

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Birches Group

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Posted in Africa, Expatriates, Global HR Expertise, Global Mobility Services, Relocation

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Leadership Development in Africa – Part I

Posted on October 27, 2009 by | 11 comments

Lex LindemannAuthors:
Lex Lindeman – HR Boosters and
Dr. Paul Rono – Kenyatta University (Nairobi)

In my last article, I highlighted the latest thinking in the area of western leadership development and the deployment of training programs in a corporate setting. In this short article, we will discuss some specific approaches to leadership development for public and private organizations in Sub-Saharan Africa.

I would like to welcome Dr. Paul Rono as my co-author.  With Paul’s experience as a university lecturer and my experience as leadership developer for numerous private and public companies in Africa, we think we can give the reader a good ‘blend’ of effective leadership development for African managers.

Natural Leaders?
The leadership and philosophies of African political leaders have affected institutions and companies in various African countries for many years.  For example, charismatic leaders were believed to be those who have the natural capacity and personality traits or qualities to lead.  Hence, leaders were said to be born or natural “great men.”   Traditionally, leadership was said to be an attribute of personality.  Born or charismatic leaders become real leaders because they have such personality qualities but also: ambition, patience, pride, humility, wisdom, friendliness, dependability, force, endurance and, of course, managerial competencies.

Modern Functional Leadership is essentially to facilitate the interaction within a group to achieve preset goals, to realize the organization’s strategic objectives.  Such functional managers or leaders are usually nominated, appointed and selected from among equals.  If people utilize proper and effective managerial tools and motivation, performance and effectiveness increase considerably.  Of course, this is also applicable to African managers and leaders acquiring or possessing modern functional leadership skills in a target achievement and ‘productive’ environment.

Successful Leadership Behaviour
The elements enumerated above are essential to successful leadership behaviour.  The successful leader is:

  • Sensitive to the feelings of others, helpful, responsive and friendly.
  • Loyal to his ideals and ideas and respectful of the beliefs, rights and dignity of others.
  • Strong in his/her feelings of self-confidence and ability to identify easily with co-workers and supervisors.
  • Enthusiastic when informing others about the introduction of a strategic program.
  • Takes interest in improving the group and get work done and avoid envy and jealousy.
  • Endeavours to give others the benefit of doubt and or advantages and firm but not proud or stubborn in making judgments and decisions. They are sincere and straightforward.
  • Embraces change in their departments and don’t avoid reasonable risk taking.
  • Manages individual performance and steer their subordinates on a regular basis.

Successful African Leaders Competencies
The modern African leader or manager should be more ‘democratic’ in his/her relations with subordinates and at the same time maintain the necessary authority and control in the organization or institution for which he/she is responsible.  The somewhat less modern African leaders rely on collective accountability.  Good (thus effective) leaders inspire people/staff to perform optimally if necessary individually or as a team.  The best African leaders, despite their many differences in personality, practice certain principles like delegation, creativeness, networking, individual accountability and decision-making.

What are Effective Leaders?

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • They take an interest in employees and communicate clearly and transparent.
  • They keep morale high. They encourage team spirit. They also give a feeling of being respected and being needed. They awaken enthusiasm and motivation.
  • They use commands sparingly. They avoid giving orders such as, “Do this!”, “Stop this,” or “Do it this way.” They request, not demand.
  • They show respect and faith to subordinates. They show the same consideration they would like to receive and show interest to others.
  • They welcome suggestions and prompt employees to think creatively. They avoid the phrase: “Yes but…” which generally is considered as a: “No!”
  • They handle grievances fairly. They act fairly. No favourites when assigning work. They are impartial.
  • They express approval. They show appreciation and complement, but they allow a certain level of mistakes made.
  • They create highly productive teams, delegate tasks wisely, and step aside.
  • They develop their people to enable them to prepare them to achieve more challenging goals.

 

 

Characteristics of Effective Leaders
The nature and style of functional (managerial) leadership greatly influence job satisfaction and motivation.  Effective leaders show consideration for employees and enable them to have a sense of participation in decisions that affect them and they will have the following characteristics:

  • Sensitivity to the individual problems people face on the job.
  • Availability and openness to people in need of help.
  • Sympathy with adverse conditions in the work environment.
  • The ability to establish more than a boss-worker relationship.
  • Above all delegate challenging tasks to their subordinates.

Highly productive leaders tend to spend more time than less productive managers to:

  • Motivate and inspire their employees and provide structure.
  • Keep employees informed.
  • Get ideas and suggestions on important matters before going ahead.
  • Try out new ideas with them.
  • Show consideration for their needs.
  • Coach their workers individually.
  • Develop and train employees for increased responsibilities.

Managers and Leadership Development
Most leaders want to be more effective in their leadership.  Some think they only need to learn techniques, others assume that they can learn a magic formula or foolproof method.  Effective functional leadership implies an intensive development process.  Some of the ability comes as a result of experience, some by learning from mistakes, by profiling from the experience and mistakes of others, from personal insights and by learning managerial skills.

To become truly effective African Managers and Leaders they will have to be developed through sustainable leadership competency programs that offer training with a difference.  (See “Trends in Leadership development” Part II).  These development efforts should be highly interactive, aimed at leadership and managerial competencies such as delegation and responsibilities acceptance.  These customized interventions are generally short (maximum 4 to 5 days) followed up and coached by their superiors, i.e. the participants should be given room to ‘experiment’ with their newly acquired skills.

In Summary
It is certain that African countries will grow and develop in the coming years; look at the example of the pace of growth of mobile phone networks and coverage.  Efficient infrastructures, systems and processes are put in place. However, just this is not enough; Inspiring Functional Leadership is an absolute necessity for growth.  Sustainable investment in the modern development of African managers and leaders is primordial.  In order to accelerate and maintain growth in Sub-Saharan Africa we must put in place the right learning work environment and formal, high-impact development possibilities.

In our next article, Paul and I will go deeper into specific competency development aspects such as the ability to delegate tasks, sense of responsibility and speeding up the execution of tasks, again related to African managers and leaders.

More About the Authors

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More About Paul:
Dr. Rono is a lecturer at Kenyatta University in Nairobi.  He is an authority on leadership development, and has published various articles related to leadership development in Africa with a progressive yet adoptable and realistic view.  Watch for his new website coming soon!

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Resourcing in Southern Africa

Posted on July 20, 2009 by | 1 comment

Imported Photos 00033Author:
Yendor Felgate – Emergence Consulting

Recessionary times have dramatically impacted the volume and level of resourcing opportunities available in Southern Africa.  Anecdotal evidence from resourcing companies we engage with or have trained over the last 6 months, suggest that in the first half of this year we have seen vacancy levels oscillate between 30 – 60% less vacancies.

The impact in Southern Africa has been uneven, with the obvious exceptions being Angola and Mozambique, where local environments and skills shortages continue to fuel resourcing opportunities.  The relatively small markets of Namibia, Zambia and Botswana have slowed, with a number of companies placing moratoriums on new or replacement hires. These markets are highly susceptible to any slowdown in the worldwide demand for commodities, even impacting governments, who tend to be the largest employers.

South Africa is by far the largest resourcing market in the region and has been similarly impacted.  The knock on of the slowdown in the region has led to increased Southern African applicants applying for South African jobs.  In turn South African companies increasingly look to apply job moratoriums in the work place, with an overt South African first policy. When speaking to companies, many are literally ‘holding on’, using natural attrition to right size their businesses.  Our sense is that this can only go so far, and that we will see a range of corporate restructuring in the South African market in the last of half of this year, despite the perceived upside of hosting the World Cup next year.  Such a dramatic market change has impacted applicants and recruitment companies alike.

Firstly this has slowed down the use of non-South Africans in the South African market, which is a big blow to encouraging Southern Africa as a region, to utilise skills co-operatively.  Our view is that companies and recruitment agencies continue to miss significant upside opportunities in the hiring of African talent, both in terms of pricing and value add.

Secondly, the South African recruitment market will go through a significant restructuring of the players offering recruitment services.  The larger companies will consolidate during this period, with some of the more adventurous ones looking to expand in the region.  Small to medium companies are under pressure, with some already closing.  In order to survive, these entities will increasingly need to come up with different customer propositions or products.

We see the market differentiating between low cost producers and the higher end players, who increasingly operate in a more consulting role, with a wider range of products or services.  This period will be very difficult for ‘traditional’ players, who want to simply ride out the storm, as margins will reduce in tandem with the recession.  This will be exacerbated by the trend of companies accessing candidate databases directly and using social networks in lieu of recruitment agencies.

The third impact will be an escalation of tension between stakeholders around what it means to employ people.  Governments will look to protect full time employment, whilst the market will intensify their search for labour flexibility.  This tension has already erupted in Namibia, with the recent banning of labour broking and the South African government is also looking to do the same.

This brings us back to the question of where next for commercial recruitment.  We have a two scenario view.  The first or low road suggests that recruitment becomes unattractive as a commercial venture with the banning of labour broking and the commoditisation of recruitment.

The second scenario is hardly a high road, but one that will benefit those recruitment companies that look to diversity their services and become low cost producers when mining their candidate IP.  This implies a significant change in current recruitment approaches, pricing and funding models.

In the short term, our sense is that a complex combination of the two is occurring currently.  None of the above in our mind necessarily benefits applicants and we think that recruitment professionalism will be increasingly under pressure.

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Report from Mombasa – Africa Forum 2009

Posted on June 1, 2009 by | 8 comments

Warren Heaps photo

Author:
Warren Heaps – Birches Group LLC

Many of you will already know that last week, the second Africa Forum conference, sponsored by the African Development Bank, Birches Group LLC and ORC Worldwide, was held at the lovely Sarova Whitesands Resort and Spa in Mombasa, Kenya.  The conference was attended by representatives from leading employers in Africa, with delegates from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa.  I was lucky to be one of the organizers and presenters at the conference, so I thought I would share some of the proceedings with you.

Keynote Address
The conference opened with a wonderful conversation with Dr. Sipho Moyo, Residential Representative for the AfDB in Tanzania.  Dr. Moyo spoke about what managers look for from HR in terms of support, ideas and insight.

Overview of African Markets
The keynote address was followed by an overview of African markets.  The presentation included statistics capturing the impact of the global economic crisis on Africa, through reduced GDP growth rates across the region, higher inflation (double digit levels in over 25 countries), and reduced trade.  There was also a discussion about the nature of the labour markets in Africa, and the key role leading employers across all sectors, including international public sector organizations, play in the market.  Finally, some summary market data was shared for all countries in Africa, with a special look at Kenya, Mozambique, Malawi and Nigeria.

African Cafe I
The next session was a series of small group discussions.  Three topics were selected by the group – Market Intelligence, Impact of the Global Economic Downturn, and Incentive Pay.  Each topic was featured as a discussion group, and  participants rotated through all three topics, thus having a chance to participate in all of them.  These were lively, interactive discussions, where participants were able to raise issues, share their experiences and learn from the experience of others.

Focus on East Africa
Since the event was held in Kenya, we turned next to an in-depth look at the East African market, focused on Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.  There was comparative data to highlight the similarities and also the unique features of each labour market in the region.

Building a Pan-African Workforce
A lively discussion followed led by Awinja Wameyo of AfDB, about the challenges the bank faces in building a workforce for their operations across 25 countries in Africa.  Topics of particular interest to the group included recruitment of professionals from the African diaspora, and the desire for diversity, and how best to achieve it.

Market Intelligence
Day Two began with an in-depth look at market intelligence, and how the Birches Group surveys are tailored to address many of the challenges faced in small, volatile markets, with such a wide range of practices.  Birches Group staff demonstrated the Indigo survey portal for the group as well.

We also spoke about the comparative framework — how to best determine the right approach to matching positions in the African market to survey benchmarks consistently.

African Cafe II
Next we had another series of discussions on topics chosen by those in attendance at the Forum:  Intra-Regional Assignments, Performance Management and Talent Sourcing.  It was a wonderful chance to share insights and learn from each other.

Untying Knots
Following lunch, we kicked off the final afternoon of the Forum with a stimulating presentation about Performance Management and Pay Design.  Gary McGillicuddy spoke about the Birches Group Community approach to performance management, which uses multi-rater feedback and the answers to three simple questions to manage evaluations effectively and efficiently.  Gary also spoke about the “Wedding Cake” of pay design, demonstrating that in an organization, time-based, competency-based and performance-based compensation systems can coexist to drive overall organizational effectiveness.

Employer Branding
The closing presentation was an overview of employer branding.  Curtis Grund of ORC Worldwide shared his personal experiences as well as a summary of the leading practices in employer branding.  Curtis also looked at some employer website to highlight best practices.

In Summary
The Africa Forum 2009 was a great opportunity for human resources professionals in Africa to discuss critical issues, learn about trends, and most importantly, share information with each other and form what we hope will be an ongoing network for sharing and collaboration.

We expect that Africa Forum will be repeated, next time in Southern Africa.  Stay tuned for more information about next year’s Forum.  We are grateful, also, to the African Development Bank, for lending it’s name and providing resources to make the Forum a reality.

Conference Presentations
If you were unable to attend the Africa Forum, but would like to receive copies of the presentation materials, please let me know by using the Contact Us link.  Just indicate your interest in receiving the Africa Forum materials.

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Talent in Ghana

Posted on May 12, 2009 by | 4 comments

Imported Photos 00033 Author:
Yendor Felgate –  Emergence Consulting

The traditional wisdom on Africa is that there is a one way passage for talent to more ‘developed markets’. Experience suggests that a continuous ‘brain drain’ is occurring, where talented professionals are being ‘denuded’ from home markets, exacerbating an already tenuous scarce skill situation.

Change is Coming

Recently I hosted a talent management workshop in Ghana, where I am starting to see signs that things may be changing.  This is not say that the ‘war for scarce skills’ does not exist or that the predominant trend has changed, but rather we are seeing a more complex picture emerging.

The change may have started even before the impetus of the global financial services meltdown, if anecdotal evidence from headhunters and resourcing specialists working in Africa are accurate.  Ghana may be a useful case in point to begin to understand the emerging changes in talent behaviour and the resultant complexities for business in Africa.

Recent Trends

Ghana is a democratic West African country that has been independent for over 50 years.  Traditionally the country has been economically reliant on commodities and natural resources, though is diversifying rapidly into financial services and telecoms.  Recent trends suggest an increasing level of foreign direct investment and interest from the region in the opportunities offerred by Ghana.

In the past, global education and career opportunities were valued over local organisations and career paths.  The first change to this dynamic was the rapid expansion of Nigerian banks and the telecom revolution in Ghana. Both sectors are large consumers of talent and ‘overheated’ the local and expatriate skill markets, largely by paying aggressively.

The second major trend is the exciting opportunities for entrepreneurs.  This has attracted interested from first and second generation Ghanians based outside the country.  Initially, this took the form of direct investment, but is increasingly involving Ghanians leaving corporate roles outside Ghana, to take up local opportunties.

The final trend is the global instability in ‘developed’ job markets, where many Ghanians are now looking to return to corporate and professional roles within the country.  The perceived ‘gap’ between global and local has diminshed significantly.

The net result is that many corporates in Ghana are able to compete for talent more effectively than before. I think this is the real change – global players may now not be the automatic default choice for African talent. African business has a window of opportunity they can exploit. However, the complexity lies in the detail.

The challenge is that good people have many opportunities both locally and regionally they can explore in corporates and on the entrepreneurial front. My sense is that this has less to do with money, but the personal connection people make to these opportunities.  In my language, an holistic employee value proposition is more important the ever.

What About Pay Levels?

Ghana Pay Ranges

Total Compensation in Ghana

Pay levels amongst leading employers in Ghana are competitive, but relatively low when compared to more developed countries, and also to many countries in Africa.  As you can see from the illustration, total annual compensation in Cedi ranges from about 5,000 to 20,000 Cedi for support staff positions, while pay for professionals varies from approximately 24,000 to 80,000 Cedi.

Source:
Birches Group LLC Survey of Leading Employers – September, 2008

In Summary

The difficulty most Ghanian businesses face is that they are not used to working with the intangible concept of the employee value proposition and tend to want to compete on remuneration, whilst keeping relatively conservative management practices.  This is changing, but I hope it is sufficiently rapid to fully utilise what may be a very narrow period of talent parity.

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Employer Mandated Health Coverage in Dubai

Posted on May 7, 2009 by | 2 comments

George Bashaw

Author:
George Bashaw – Atlas Global Benefits

On January 1st, the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) initiated the first phase of employer mandatory health insurance for expatriates and UAE nationals working in Dubai.  All expats new to Dubai must obtain a Health Benefit Contribution (HBC) compliant insurance policy.

Background

The population of Dubai has exploded from 300,000 to 1.5 million since the Department of Health and Medical Services (DoHMS) was created over thirty years ago.  Considering the growth and significant demographic changes in Dubai, the DoHMS has done an adequate job (World Health Organization ranks the UAE 44th).  Did I say something in “Dubai” is “adequate”?  The two words are mutually exclusive. In Dubai, they simply strive for the best.  Therefore, the DHA was established to accomplish this goal by 2015.  What does this mean for you?

Existing Plans

If you manage an existing health plan in Dubai, it is valid until it expires. Upon renewal during 2009, the new plan must be HBC compliant.  By January 1st 2010, all corporate health plans must be HBC complaint.

Payment and Administration

Who pays the HBC?  The employer pays the tab.  The HBC is a flat-rate for all employees, including UAE nationals and expatriates.  There is another hitch.  All HBC policies must be sold by authorized insurance companies. Since most employers will provide benefits above the notional standard, there is a group of authorized insurance companies waiting to sell you a top-up plan.

Choosing a Clinic

Not so fast.  All employees must choose a primary clinic to complete enrollment.  They can do so by visiting an OCP (Outpatient Care Practice)clinic in person, on the web www.dha.gov.ae, or through their employer.  Want the good news?  The employer may choose a default OCP clinic.

Employer Responsibilities

Just so there is no confusion on the rules, I copied this from the DHA website: 

  1. This is a mandatory system enforced by law – employers must comply
  2. Every employer pays a standard payment (HBC) to the DHA for every employee once a new HBC policy is introduced
  3. System will be enforced through a licensing system
  4. All employees covered by a corporate healthcare scheme by 12/31/08
  5. Employees not currently covered by an existing corporate health scheme must be provided with a HBC compliant scheme from 1/1/09
  6. Everyone covered by HBC compliant corporate healthcare scheme by 12/31/09
  7. Every employer is responsible for enrolling every employee with DHA
  8. This includes contractual responsibilities for dependents
  9. Every employee most register at a clinic before employer enrolls them with the DHA
  10. Employers to help employees register with a clinic

 Still have questions?

You are welcome to visit the DHA but I would rather you just ask me.

More about George:

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