| Q ua l i t y
Once key trust levels are in place, it is possible to grow organisational team trust built on respect.
When displaying a photograph of a taxi, Naudé questioned the delegates on their associations. This raised quips covering “trouble”, “dangerous” and “public transport – help”. Yet, this is a R40-billion annual industry; it transports 15-million citizens daily; drives 250 000 motor vehicles; accounts for 1 200 new purchases monthly; directly employs 600 000 people; and provides the heart of informal entrepreneurship via its ranks. “We have negative approaches based on our information and blame everyone else. The way we think speaks to who we are and shapes our attitudes,” he said.
Considering the workplace, Naudé said the productivity of employees depends on what happens outside that environment. More specifically, organisations do not own their employees – only families own their members, and children thrive on quantity, not quality time, while companies tend to forget about individuals. Once key trust levels are in place, it is possible to grow organisational team trust built on respect, irrespective of social power (not viewing low-level employees as machines oiling the system); treating it as the heart of good business that is mutually beneficial across the company. “That respect is the ‘emotional capital’ – and the higher the surplus, the more likely it is that employees will support the company in troubled times. When employees are dismissed in good times, what support will they offer when management requests a pay cut or ‘restructuring’ in difficult times?” he questioned. Referring specifically to president Jacob Zuma, Naudé concluded that no company – and by extension, country – can have sound leadership when the trust in that leadership has been questioned. SM
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