Training and Employment Magazine

Issue No. 4, February 2020

Impact of leadership on the 4 IR

In this issue:

Leaders must master all the complexities of the industrial revolution 4.0 “Digital Leadership: Leading finance digital transformation� by ACCA

Create Followship: The Magic Behaviours of Global Leaders TRAINING & employment magazine

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Editorial

L

ike it or not, Technology has been impacting on our lives since the beginning of time. We have witnessed how our lives have been changed with the first industrial revolution, the second industrial revolution and the third industrial revolution. They have taken their own times and made irreversible impact. Now with the rapid change of technology never experienced before, the fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) is much more than the production of powerful devices.

Like the digital revolution, 4IR relies on technologies, yet they are technologies that have the capacity to perform what have until now been considered human tasks.

Amid the cacophony of concern over artificial intelligence (AI) taking over jobs (and the world) and cheers for what it can do to increase productivity and profits, the potential for AI to do good can be overlooked if no proper leadership skills are not developed.

“Even if there are aspects not happening locally, globalisation will ensure that significant changes over which we have no control will influence such diverse activities as manufacturing processes, service industries, energy development, medical procedures and weapons production.

This will result in disruptions to areas such as the economy and labour markets, producing positive outcomes for some, and very negative outcomes for others. There will be winners and losers from 4IR. Now is the time both to understand exactly what 4IR is and prepare to master its influences rather than be mastered by them” Kerry J Kennedy, visiting professor at the University of Johannesburg.

In his 1990 book The Age of Intelligent Machines, the American computer scientist and futurist Ray Kurzweil made an astonishing prediction that a computer would pass the Turing test – the test of a machine’s ability to match or be indistinguishable from human intelligence – between 2020 and 2050.

At a July 20 McKinsey & Company conference in Morocco, a presentation on artificial intelligence algorithms highlighted the powerful potential of digitizing sectors of Morocco’s economy. To a question as to whether artificial intelligence will replace human capital and disrupt the job market, the general Manager Bensouda dismissed this concern with confidence. He said that on the contrary, it presents an incredible opportunity that can generate many jobs. For a job destroyed, more than 100 will be created in return.

So there is no room for defeatism. We believe that there is a need to come up with a detailed analysis of how our education and training system can upskill our Mauritians to make the most of AI’s positive potential. Prof Kurzweil said recently that AI will enhance us, not replace us. His predictions have often been right – but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t start planning now for this radically changed future. However, with the right leadership to help us manage the change and take advantage of this tremendous opportunity, we can be better equipped to navigate the 4IR. Hence the theme of this magazine which is “Impact of leadership on the 4IR”.

Roland Dubois Director RDCL TRAINING & employment magazine

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No part of this publication can be reproduced without consent from the publisher.

Copyright@ RDCL of all material is reserved throughout the publication. The views, conclusions, findings and opinions published in this magazine belong to those expressing such, and do not necessarily represent those of the Publisher or editorial team.

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Content page 3 Editorial 7

Digital Leadership: Leading finance digital transformation” by ACCA

14 “Mauritius needs a TVET strategy”

by Roland Dubois 16 “Redundancy – A new challenge”

by Khemila Narraidoo 19 “Can an algorithm replace the teacher ?”

by Gulshan Teeluck 21 Women Empowerment or Women Survival ?

by Ma’isha Beebeejaun 23 “Le salon des étudiants” by OVEC 28 “I.R 4.0 Leaders’ ultimate test”

by Marie-Noelle Elissac-Foy 29 Create Followship: The Magic Behaviours of Global Leaders by Dr Angus I McLeod 40 Employment Relations in Mauritius:

A Modern perspective and New Challenges

by Emeritus Professor Ved Prakash Torul 43 “Education of Quality for ALL (EQFA) - Myth or Reality!” by Prof V Chinapah 49 “IR 4.0 and leadership” by Juneid Kodabux 50 Experiential branding, the next frontier?

by Ashraf Oozeerally 53 Udemy Secures $50 Million Investment from Long-time Partner, Benesse Holdings

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Digital leadership: Leading finance digital transformation Authors: Howard Cui,ďźŒSenior Analyst, Alibaba Cloud Research Center Clive Webb, Head of Business Management, ACCA The authors would like to thank those who kindly participated in workshops and interviews during the development of this paper.

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Digital leadership: Leading finance digital transformation

Pick up any journal or review any business website and you will find articles on digital transformation. It has become a significant force in the business world. One estimate in 2016 suggested that it could be worth in excess of US$18 trillion in added value to organisations1.

Whether the organisation concerned is large or small; irrespective of the industry involved, it will be on a digital journey.

The nature of that journey may vary but for many in the finance community there is a challenge of change and adoption.

In this article we explore how finance leaders must play an important role in this process. What does it take to be an effective digital finance leader?

WHAT IS DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION? Many organisations are undergoing some form of digital transformation. They are using digital technologies to create robust and efficient business processes that optimise the effectiveness for the various stakeholders, be they customers or employees.

In the era of the digital economy, data has become the core asset to drive economic growth. Digital technologies such as cloud computing, Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence are building a new digital economic infrastructure and the tools to accompany it. Therefore, the drivers of the development of digital

economy are the rapidly emerging technology and full realisation of value of data. Digital technology and data are also profoundly affecting all walks of life in the digital economy, which is the fundamental reason why organisations need to embrace digital transformation.

The evolution of technology is set to continue. The development of 5G and edge computing will enable us to capture and process even more data. Data that we must closely link to our business model and strategic objectives. The use of virtual and augmented reality, in combination with advances in computing power, will enable us to develop digital twins2 of organisations, products and processes such that we can envisage the impact of alternative business decisions. The finance leader needs to appreciate and embrace the changes in forecasting and planning that the advent of these technologies can bring. By utilising both front and back office data they can model business performance in ways that we have not previously seen. As those whose inherent skill, in part, is the appreciation of data as information this is

a key role in the organisation that is key to understanding consumer behaviour.

However, digital transformation is not just about the use of technology, it is also about the culture of the organisation itself. How it responds to customer needs in increasingly faster timescales. How it develops a mentality of try, learn and retry, constantly adapting to a changing business environment. The organisation needs a robust set of business processes that are sufficiently flexible to adapt to change, yet robust in integrity. Whilst for many organisations the lens of competition has moved from process efficiency to optimising the customer interaction, the absence of robust processes will still negate the competitive edge and increase a potential for disruptive entrants.

For the finance function some of these traits may be counter cultural.

However, digital transformation is not a respecter of traditional boundaries; it impacts all aspects of the organisation in varying degrees. Finance is no longer an island in this.

1

IDC FutureScape: Worldwide Digital Transformation 2017 Predictions <https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=US40526216> accessed 4 October 2019.

2

Digital twin â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a digital replica (using virtual and/or augmented reality) to represent the physical world. In combination with data collected from devices this enables us to model the physical world.

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Digital leadership: Leading finance digital transformation |

ACCA / Alibaba Cloud Research Center joint article

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With the developing scale of opportunities of cloudbased computing, with the increasing use of artificial intelligence and machine learning as part of day to day organisational activities, organisations will continue to need to improve and focus on their core purpose.

Nor is digital transformation a finite process. With the developing scale of opportunities of cloud-based computing, with the increasing use of artificial intelligence and machine learning as part of day to day organisational activities, organisations will continue to need to improve and focus on their core purpose.

The constant evolution has arrived, and the standalone project has departed.

Yet the pace and nature of change is very different between economies. In mainland

China, for example, the cashless society is very much the reality, as it is in parts of eastern Africa; other economies are still catching up. For global organisations being able to adapt to these varying paces of change is important.

The evolution of the finance function itself is enabled by this transformation.

This is considered in ACCA / PwCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s paper Finance: a journey to the future? 3 which considers the transition from a pure stewardship to a more strategic role.

Digital transformation: Lessons learned and trends Digital transformation is a huge challenge. Success and failure often alternate in the digital transformation of organisation. The constantly emerging disruptive technologies and the business model innovation of new competitors not only intensify the urgency of digital transformation of organisations, but also further bring uncertainty.

The digital transformation of each organisation is closely connected with the characteristics of the organisation itself: For example, a retail enterprise focuses on the improvement of the consumer experience, a manufacturing industry pays attention to the high level of automation in production and quality inspection, and a financial industry applies the digital technology to build strong middle-back offices. But the experience they have accumulated through years of exploration can still serve as the reference for the digital transformation of most.

Digital transformation is a top-level design and strategic decision-making process, which should be led and guided by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the senior management team of the enterprise. Digital transformation should not be regarded as a large-scale project nor should it be assumed that if the executive layer uses the digital technology, the organisation has embraced digital transformation. The CEO and top management team of the enterprise should focus on digital trends and be bursting with curiosity and be adventurous.

Digital transformation experts at all levels should be introduced. Companies should invest in capabilities for digital transformation at all levels including the top management team, middle management, and grassroots management. It should encourage employees to enhance their digital capabilities and transformational thinking in different business departments (not just within IT teams). Organisations should recognise the value of digital skills and cultivate the digital expert culture. For example, beyond the management scope, strengthen the promotion or career of professional experts, especially strengthen digital literacy indicators such as digital leadership, digital technology and data insight.

Data capability is the basis of digital transformation. Strong data capability is the basic guarantee of digital transformation of organisations. Its capability in any field (such as data acquisition, data summary, and data standardisation) determines the success or failure of digital transformation. Organisations need to build a unified data service platform4 to provide stable, efficient, and secure universe data services; transfer continuous data energy to various business demanders; continue to enable data to support digital transformation, and gradually establish a global, unified, and general data system to drive business innovation.

Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for digital transformation. Digital transformation is accompanied by large-scale or continuous technology investment. CFO and its team actively participate in investment decision-making, management, monitoring and service, which can effectively reduce investment risk, improve investment effect and establish good cooperative relationship between the business team and finance team. For organisations that have experienced this process, the finance team has often been an active supporter of new technology investments and redefinition of corporate cost modes.

3

ACCA/PwC: Finance: a journey to the future 2019 <https://www.accaglobal.com/gb/en/professional-insights/pro-accountants-the-future/finance-journey.html> accessed 28 November 2019.

4

A Unified data service platform is a set of technologies that work together to move data throughout an organisation irrespective of size, structure or source of the data (either internal or external) to the organisation thereby merging fragmented data sources into one central view.

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Digital leadership: Leading finance digital transformation |

ACCA / Alibaba Cloud Research Center joint article

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Whilst the application of technology is fundamental to the digital transformation of an organisation there are two other elements that are essential for success; a digital culture and effective leadership.

BUSINESS CASE FOR CHANGE Establishing the business case is often a challenge. Finance seems to suffer from a perspective that investments in enterprise solutions in the late 1990s and early 2000s failed to deliver the suggested returns. In a completing, cost conscious, world the need for effective and efficient processes is paramount.

Organisations are now increasingly competing on their ability to know their customers’ preferences not on the quality of the core business processes. Cloud based solutions facilitate this as exemplified by the Alibaba Cloud business model where the membership data is shared across multiple divisions of the business through the unified data service platform.

Optimal processes and quality data are essential components of the business case. Yet for the finance team this should be an element of an organisational wide transformation project. The return on the investment in digital transformation is measured by the achievement of these goals.

Whilst the application of technology is fundamental to the digital transformation of an organisation there are two other elements that are essential for success; a digital culture and effective leadership.

AN AGILE ORGANISATION? This speed of change requires a different approach from the traditional organisation.

The phrase ‘agile’ is often used in conjunction with digital transformation, although is derivation in this case is from an approach to software development.

Being able to respond quickly to changing customer demands and market trends requires a different form of management.

It requires a clear focus on what the organisation is seeking to achieve, its purpose, and how it is structured in a way that supports this level of evolving change.

Technology is often at the heart of that process, it is not, however, the means to the end. The data component of digital transformation is as important and effective governance needs to be established. All this needs to be part of a strong culture that supports innovation and manages both success and failure effectively.

Disrupting with Network Liquid organisations Organisations undertaking digital transformation should consider having a shadow organisation that embeds disruptive characteristics, a so-called networked liquid organisation. This enables the organisation to optimize decision-making efficiency and response speed, while activating individual values, and ultimately reaching the synchronisation with the change of the external environment.

This organisation should have four key features: • New core driving force: Transform to a customer-centric “outward-looking” perspective from internal enhancement and focus; • New innovation method: Transform to collaborative creation and diversified and decentralized model from vertical integration and large enterprise dominated innovation; • New organisational infrastructure: Transform to mobile interconnected office mode from fixed process; • New development pace: Transform to appropriately accelerated iterative development and cross-boundary competition from stable and sustainable business model.

The digitalisation of the organisation is the key to digital transformation. Organisations should establish an agile culture oriented by digitalisation, intellectualisation and business innovation, to promote continuous innovation inside and outside the organisation and create a digital innovation ecosystem. The organisation should also gradually realise online organisational structure, online organisational collaboration and digital organisation, and gradually realise the digitalisation of human resource management, talent supply and human investment.

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Digital leadership: Leading finance digital transformation |

ACCA / Alibaba Cloud Research Center joint article

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The effective finance leader needs to ensure that they are conversant with the trends in technology and be able to identify how they apply to create, or support, strategic advantage. To remain up to date and current.

A DIGITAL CULTURE Organisational culture has long been recognised as one of the essential elements in delivering on business strategies and goals. For much of the late 2000s organisations were focused on developing visions and mission statements. In the digital world this has transitioned to a more simplified view of its purpose, as referred to earlier. What is it that the organisation is seeking to achieve? Aligned to this are personal goals that reflect the contribution of the individual to that common purpose.

Performance management systems, both at the operational and the personal levels, are being thrown away and replaced with simplified goals aligned to purpose.

Leaders need to respond to the changes brought by digitalisation in a different manner to which they are used. Nick Petrie in his First Law of Leadership Development5 explains that, ‘every leader continues in his state of rest, or in the habitual direction he was heading, unless compelled to change that state by external forces acted upon him.’

The impact of digitalisation on the organisation is clearly one of those external forces that require the leader to modify their behaviours.

WHAT IS A DIGITAL LEADER? What may therefore constitute an effective leader in the digital age? Clearly there are different leadership traits that are required. The transformation of roles inherent across organisations, but especially in the finance function, means that a different set of skills is required.

The traditional hierarchical models are being transformed into more flexible, flatter, structures. The career paths of yesterday are being transformed into variable career structures where promotion is not automatic, and skills and capabilities reign supreme.

The digital leader is somebody who is a human and not a tool. They are somebody who has a natural appreciation of data and trends such that they can critically appraise the organisation’s strategy. In the complexity of the constantly changing world they can identify innovation that will help sustain the organisation in the longer

term. Cost control will never enable organisations to succeed in this fastchanging world. Business models become outdated and those organisations who fail to seize the opportunity are frequently left by the wayside. The anticipation of the rate of change in the next 10 years is that it will be even more significant than that experienced in the previous 10.

Yet they are also somebody who can understand the impact of change on the individuals in the team as well as the larger picture across their span of control.

They are people who encourage but do not manage. Somebody who is adept at getting the best from people in the digital world in what sometimes can appear a scary and uncertain world.

Perhaps crucial to this is the ability to link the purpose of the organisation to the functional requirements. In so doing, being able to critically appraise, at a strategic level, how organisational performance can be evaluated with the support of robust and efficient processes that are in turn built upon an effective data and technology infrastructure. The evolution of cloud-based technologies facilitates such a model, as discussed in Finance: a journey to the future? (ACCA/ PwC 2019)6. The effective finance leader needs to ensure that they are conversant with the trends in technology and be able to identify how they apply to create, or support, strategic advantage. To remain up to date and current.

They are not, however, required to be deep technical experts in technology or transformation. Rather they need to be sophisticated business users, able to demonstrate drive and vision. They should be supported by those with deep technical expertise in areas from reporting to compliance; from risk to control.

The skill of the digital leader is also to accept the ways in which, as a human we process information, and to be able to recognise the impact of the data driven world on decision making. As individuals we can develop an addiction to data as we react to it in the frontal lobes of the brain. In contrast our interpretation of information and strategy occurs in the back of the brain7. These two are not

5

The How-To of Vertical Leadership Development – Part 2, Nick Petrie, Center for Creative Leadership, 2015 <https://www.ccl.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/verticalLeadersPart2.pdf> accessed 28 November 2019.

6

Finance: a journey to the future? ACCA/PwC 2019 <https://www.accaglobal.com/gb/en/professional-insights/pro-accountants-the-future/finance-journey.html> accessed 28 November 2019.

7

This is explored in the work of Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011 ISBN 978-0141033570.

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Digital leadership: Leading finance digital transformation |

ACCA / Alibaba Cloud Research Center joint article

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We need to accept that the traditional way of thinking; the confirmed five-year plans from which we feared to deviate, are replaced by a strategy of considered action and foresight.

Using the data wisely and inferring opinion from it.

always connected and we tend to react to the shorter-term actions from data whilst not invoking the strategic decisions. It is too easy to become a data junkie caught up in the detail of the ever-changing data yet not seeing the strategic picture.

As a finance leader in the data driven, transformed world, we need to focus clearly on the purpose of the organisation

and to use the data sources available to us, be these internal or external, operational or financial, to invoke our assessment of the strategy. We need to accept that the traditional way of thinking; the confirmed five-year plans from which we feared to deviate, are replaced by a strategy of considered action and foresight. Using the data wisely and inferring opinion from it.

Technology challenges faced by the organisation The traditional IT infrastructures have caused a sluggish transformation. While the traditional IT infrastructures established in the past continuously consumed capital and manpower, there are many problems such as poor flexibility, insufficient supply of resources and limited scale expansion. These structures cannot meet the needs of digital transformation of enterprises.

Cloud computing is a new way of providing digital technology services and IT resources. It enables IT resources to be centrally integrated, quickly configured, and quickly redeployed and distributed, dramatically increasing the flexibility of enterprise system management or reducing operating costs (such as saving IT resources).

The artificial intelligence base is poor and needs to be from 0 to 1. It has been proved that artificial intelligence has great value in the scenarios of marketing, finance, social network relationship mining, text processing, unstructured data processing and other various predictive scenarios (prediction of rainfall and football match results, for example), and is one of the key technologies in the digital transformation. But for most enterprises, not only the artificial intelligence base is poor, but they need to face the challenge from 0 to 1 (to be complete). Organisations need to establish in-depth cooperation with artificial intelligence companies or build their artificial intelligence capabilities based on mature artificial intelligence infrastructures (such as cloud platform for machine learning).

Uncertainty caused by rapid technology iteration. Different from traditional IT, the continuous high-speed iteration of digital technology represented by cloud computing, big data, Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence have brought great uncertainty to the application of technology in digital transformation. Organisations need to continuously improve their understanding and insight into technology and choose the right partners. Of course, due to the rapid iteration speed, digital technology can effectively drive the frequency and speed of business innovation.

Flexible technology ecology. For both business and technology providers, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important to build a more open and collaborative ecosystem. An open technology ecology8 enables organisations to obtain suitable digital technologies through its ecology, realise the transformation of business modes and the technology value chain. Otherwise, organisations are easily locked into any closed technology (or a dominant technology supplier) in digital transformation, which will not only reduce the speed of technical iteration, but more importantly, the enterprise may lose the technology choice in digital transformation.

8

Technology ecology: the range of technology components that are integrated to form the infrastructure, systems and processes of the organisation.

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Digital leadership: Leading finance digital transformation |

ACCA / Alibaba Cloud Research Center joint article

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There is no such thing as finance transformation, rather there is organisational transformation of which finance requirements are a not insignificant part. Understand where technology can be used to commercial advantage.

WHY DOES DIGITAL LEADERSHIP MATTER FOR FINANCE? Organisational success is increasingly built upon its ability to react to changes in the customer demand and behaviour in shorter spaces of time. The need to have a clear view of the data aligned to the purpose and the story that it tells is essential. Finance is often unique amongst organisational functions in that it spans all areas of a business. Having the tools and the skills to answer the complex question, to model the evolving scenario with a significant element of confidence are essential.

Finance leaders therefore need to take a holistic view of transformation across the organisation. There is no such thing as finance transformation, rather there is organisational transformation of which finance requirements are a not insignificant part. Understand where technology can be used to commercial advantage.

Importantly as well, understand the impact on the team, their skills and their careers.

It changes the dynamics of relationships in the organisation.

Above all, the digitally inspired leader seizes the opportunity and forges ahead.

PI-DIGITAL-LEADERSHIP

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Mauritius needs a National TVET Strategy According to UNESCO convention, “Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) refers to all forms and levels of the educational process involving, in addition to general knowledge, the study of technologies and related science, the acquisition of practical skills, know-how, attitudes and understanding relating to occupations in the various sectors of economic and social life”

Many Mauritians would be surprised to learn that TVET has a very long history in Mauritius, starting very timidly indeed in early 1900s and gradually developing to what it is today. Needless to underline that it has gone through a difficult and hesitating pathway.

However, the development of TVET has been very closely associated with the economic development of Mauritius in one way or another, most particularly with the creation of the Industrial Trade Training Centre (ITTC) in 1967, the school of Industrial Technology of the University of Mauritius in 1968 (now the Faculty of Engineering), the Lycee Polytechnique de Flacq in 1981, the IVTB with main roles to regulate, facilitate and provide training in 1988, the Technical School Management Trust Fund (TSMTF) in 1990. The Mauritius Qualifications Authority was set up in 2002 as the then IVTB was perceived to be in a conflictual situation being a regulator and a provider of training. In line with the restructuring of the TVET starting earlier, the Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) was established in November 2003 with the following objectives:• promote human resource development in line with national economic and social objectives; • stimulate a culture of training and lifelong learning at the individual, organisational and national levels for employability and increasing productivity; and • provide the necessary human resource thrust for successful transformation of the economy of the country into a Knowledge Economy.

The third international congress in Shanghai in 2012 made clear that external demands on TVET systems go far beyond the familiar call for TVET to contribute to economic growth, employment and competitiveness. Today, TVET is considered to be a crucial vehicle for social equity and inclusion, as well as for the sustainability of development.

Besides, many advanced countries such as Switzerland, with up to 70% of secondary students going for TVET and Singapore which we like to emulate with 65% of secondary students enrolling on the TVET stream, lead the way in teaching the skills for the future. The Center for International Education Benchmarking (CIEB) report says the VET system, in which 30% of Swiss companies participate, prepares a broad cross-section of students for careers in a range of occupations and sectors. Their VET system “enjoys very strong support from Swiss employers, who credit it with being a major contributor to the continuing vitality and strength of the Swiss

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15 economy.”1It is not surprising that Singapore and Switzerland ranked first and fifth in the global competitiveness Index 4.0 in 2019.

Here in Mauritius, 70% of students did not acquire their 5 credits at the last SC examinations.

It must be emphasized that they were successful in completing their basic schooling though.

The issue is therefore to ensure that they are given the opportunity to enhance their skills to another level to make them employable before they drift onto the labour market. It seems that the future of work won’t be about degrees. More and more, it will be about skills.

Because of this focus on vocational training, there’s also less emphasis placed on getting a degree as mentioned above in Switzerland and Singapore. It is high time that TVET in Mauritius be reinvented and a new brand TVET be advocated with quality skills provision for both Mauritius and beyond in today’s world, given that the 4th IR will fundamentally alter the way we live, work, and relate to one another.

It is interesting to note that our government is laying heavy emphasis on TVET in line with international trends. Yet, while TVET is steadily rising to the top of policy agendas, the capacity of TVET systems to respond to multiple and elevated demands and to shape the future is often limited. Simply scaling up TVET provision in its current forms is unlikely to prove adequate or feasible.

Hence, it is important that Mauritius does not adopt a reductionist approach in the development of our TVET system. Mauritius needs an effective TVET strategy which will ensure the development of a more relevant, attractive, flexible, inclusive and responsive TVET system that has quality at the centre of its operation and capable of enhancing self-esteem, empowerment, entrepreneurship, responsible citizenship, innovation, lifelong learning leading to sustainable socio economic development and a TVET system in line with the international agenda, guided by:• SDG 4 (which seeks to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all) • SDG 8 (to promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all) • The Incheon Declaration “Education 2030” which emphasizes access to affordable quality TVET, the acquisition of technical and vocational skills for employment, decent work and entrepreneurship; the elimination of gender disparity and ensuring access for the vulnerable In addition, it is also important to identify the key priority sectors which are aligned with the national economic development plan so that TVET graduates are optimistic that they will be employed.

We are living in an age of change including the way people live their lives, the way they work, and the way they communicate. The pace of change will only increase as the years go by and there is a need for an integrated and comprehensive response. Hence, we need to ensure that all our Mauritians are adequately equipped with the relevant skills to take us through the changes impacting on us all and TVET is being called upon to be a major player here.

Roland Dubois

Director, RDCL

1

2015 report by the Center for International Education Benchmarking (CIEB).

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REDUNDANCY – A NEW CHALLENGE Khemila Narraidoo, Senior Associate-Barrister at Juristconsult Chambers, specialises in the employment law practice. Her clients ranges from Mauritian conglomerates to international companies. She regularly chairs disciplinary committees and acts in relation to employment litigation and disputes resolution before the Supreme Court of Mauritius, the Industrial Court of Mauritius and the Conciliation and Mediation Commission.

W

ith the advent of the Workers’ Rights Act (“WRA”), we have seen our labour laws being challenged in many ways in Mauritius. At first, our attention was quickly grasped by the additional leaves which have been brought by the WRA, the calculation of the end of year bonus and, more especially, by the new definition given to the word ‘worker’ under the WRA. We should, however, realise that these are not the only elements which will affect the financial impact which the WRA is having on our economy.

Redundancy is an unfortunate situation where someone loses his job because the employer does not need him anymore or because the company is closing down. Under our previous labour law, that is, the Employment Rights Act 2008 (ERA), the employer would either have to show (i) that the post occupied by the employee is no more required by the employer in the context of a re-organisation or redundancy; or (ii) the economic situation of the company requires that the employee be made redundant in order to be sustainable. Before proceeding with the dismissal under the ERA, an employer had to first inform the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment, together with a statement of the reasons for the reduction of workforce 30 days prior to the reduction of the workforce or the closing down of the business. Although the ERA had laid down the employer’s obligation to explore other options which may be available to him so as to avoid reduction of the workforce, this was challenged only if the employee decided to sue his employer before the Industrial Court.

Before the WRA, very often, we had seen cases where employers would reduce their workforce due to economic hardship and employees would found themselves with no jobs from one day to the other and barely any compensation. The employer had no gratuity to pay to the employee if the notice period was given to the employee. In case where the employer elected to dismiss the employee summarily, then gratuity equivalent to the remuneration that the employee would have earned during the notice period, would have to be paid in lieu of notice. Under the ERA, where an employer reduced his workforce or closed down his enterprise, the employer and the worker had the possibility to agree on the payment of compensation by way of a settlement. In such a case, the worker would not have been entitled to join the Workfare Programme and the employer would not have been required to pay what is known as the Recycling Fee under ERA in respect of that worker.

Under the new era of the WRA, we see a drastic change when it comes to redundancy. For employers having a minimum of 15 employees or, having an annual turnover of at least 25 million rupees, the WRA now imposes a duty on the employer to notify and negotiate with the recognised trade union or employees’ representatives prior to reducing the workforce. In the absence of an agreement, prior authorisation of the Redundancy Board need to be sought.

The Redundancy Board has been set up to deal with all cases of reduction of workforce and closure of enterprises for economic, financial, structural, technological and other similar reasons. It is apposite to note that the Redundancy Board did not use to exist under the ERA. However, under the Labour Act 1975, a similar type of board used to exist, namely the Termination of Contracts of Service Board (“TCSB”).

One major advantage which the Redundancy Board has over the TCSB is that the Redundancy Board has a duty under the WRA to complete its proceedings within 30 days from the date of notification by the employer, with any extension to be agreed by the parties. No such deadline was imposed on the TCSB at the time that the Labour Act was in force. This is certainly an advantage to the employer, especially, since the employer has to keep paying the employee his salary pending the decision of the Redundancy Board.

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17 The employer would, therefore, not need to wait endlessly for the Redundancy Board to take a decision. It is to be noted that under the WRA, an employer is not allowed to reduce the number of workers in his employment either temporarily or permanently before the decision of the Redundancy Board.

Where the employer acts in breach of those procedures, any reduction in the workforce shall be deemed to be unjustified.

The Redundancy Board can, therefore, decide that the reduction of workforce or the closing down of a company is either justified or unjustified. Where the Redundancy Board finds that the reasons for the reduction of the workforce are unjustified, the employer has a duty to pay to the employee severance allowance at the rate of 3 monthsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; remuneration per year of service or the Board may, with the consent of the worker, order the employer to reinstate the employee to his former employment. In the event that the Redundancy Board finds that the reduction of workforce or the closing down are justified, the employer is entitled to terminate the employment of the employee and the latter is entitled to 30 daysâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; wages as indemnity in lieu of notice.

When it comes to redundancy under the new labour laws, one has to realise that gone are the days when a company would decide to close its doors and all it had to do was notify the Permanent Secretary.

Impact of the WRA: With the introduction of the Redundancy Board which is composed of independent members as well as representative of workers, it is more difficult for companies to make workers redundant for unjustified reasons. The Board is better structured and has more powers to make orders in these cases.

Businesses would also be more cautious and take professional advice before taking strategical decisions.

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?

Can an Algorithm Replace the Teacher

Can a set of “Ifs”, “then”, “goto”, “return” , “<>=” be complex enough to be able to identify voice tone, understand emotions, imitate laughter and fear, instil passion, all that make us human being. Can a machine replace the teacher?

Mr Gulshan R.A. Teeluck coordinates the Tourism Department at Hotel School Sir Gaetan Duval-MITD. He also actively teaches tour guiding techniques and Communications and Customer care among others.

He has been working with the Mauritian youths for 20 years now under the MITD and has helped to build and uphold the reputation of the school locally, regionally and internationally.

His best characteristic is that of being able to adapt to people and to adjust to their needs.

He holds a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership and another in International Tourism Management.

Machines have been made to learn from our actions and to suggest solutions from a set of solutions already predefined in its memory, help us find shortest routes based on information available from the net, draw cyclone trajectories, pilot a plane, perform complex mathematical calculations that have made man walk on the moon etc… All very true and outstanding but when the human kind produced the calculator, the human brain regressed mathematically; produced the coffee machine and from that day we lost the real taste of traditionally cooked coffee; the car made us drive to the shop to get bread every morning less than 500mts away, that made us fat!

The effect on our kids: no more playing hide and seek or street football; they play Nintendo, play station or Xbox; worse when the parents decide to give the child a smart phone as companion. Machines have made us silly, unhealthy, anti-social with poor parenting skills, etc… How can these machines teach us?

Gathering from my personal experience and observations, it is a matter of obvious fact that the teacher remains the only person responsible for the success or failure of the student.

Although some researchers have concluded the contrary: that parents, society, lifestyle, political and cultural environment, all contribute to the growth of the child; the fact is that different cultures have different ways of upbringing. Hence, different environmental, social, technological and economic situations have to be understood and managed differently.

In Mauritius and way back in the 1980’s, I can only recall that it was my teachers and school rector that organised seminars, initiated health clubs and gardening clubs, took us out for environmental campaigns or organised programs to help the elders in homes or physically and mentally afflicted children. Our rector also initiated a body of prefects and empowered the students to ensure discipline at school.

Was that being done just to keep us busy or was there an agenda behind all these extracurricular activities? Can we do the same now?

Can an IR4 in education ever be able to dispense such teaching and learning apart from the academics?

20 years now that I have been teaching, analysing and observing the Mauritian youth and teachers especially those who teach by the new methods of DIY or by the old methods which are too boring for the new Generation. Coupled with the technological advancements from the 3310 to 5G, the cocktail is really explosive! Why write proper English or French when Google will correct it for you; why learn anything when a

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20 simple Google search will get you the precise definition, quantity, latest evolution etc…Why write “You” with all these alphabets when it can be written with only 1 “U”. Why do maths in your head when your mobile phone has the app to even calculate your blood pressure.

Why know the way back home when google map will do that for you? Now Tesla has even the autopilot car!So, why learn anything when the machine can do it all for you? After all these machines are being invented to ease our lives isn’t it?

The answer to this dilemma is pretty simple: love, care, empathy, emotions, spontaneity, improvisation, soft skills cannot be availed from a machine. For those who want to live in the present society, these desirable qualities cannot be understood from a laptop, they have to be lived and experienced. Unless we are having a new society where people eating dinner in family prefer to chat on Messenger or WhatsApp. On the other hand, what can we do with that load of information technology?

Teachers write up their modules in a relevant format and form for e-learning; the Learning Management System Administrator ensures that the uploads and downloads within the boundaries of the academic program are carried out. Students get registered, log in, perform the required assignments and research, submit their works and get certified if they are successful. This can be blended with practical internship where a particular program of learning is followed with emphasis on aesthetics, work ethics, soft skills to complete the picture of the desired output.

On the other side, the overwhelming advantage of this Revolution is the speed at which information can be compiled, assessed and decision be made and amended. The school can use a Learning Management Software to take advantage of this speed of execution to manage students, lecture notes and assignments but more importantly, greater business and tapping into new market segments.

Moreover, Lecturers can make use of various applications like Padlet, Quizzy, Mentimeter, Canvas, Quizlet, Zappar, Prezi, MindMeister, Powtoon, edpuzzle, Polleverywhere, and many more, to increase learner engagement. Since all youth today have been gifted with a smart phone and with the spread of internet, one can learn everywhere and at any time. Education can hence reach a greater mass once forgotten because of certain disadvantages.

Has this tremendous power been harnessed yet by our stake holders or not? And why not?

Is it a matter of investment, infrastructure, equipment, human resources or vision?

Teachers have to go back to school to learn how to prepare these engaging presentations and how to develop New Teaching and Learning aids and strategies to make the maximum of the tools available.

Teachers have to be given the necessary incentives to embrace the new technologies.

Teachers must shift their paradigm to accept the new breed of learners and adopt new methods of teaching instead of banning the smart phone from the class room.

And the harness still remains on the Teacher/Lecturer who will be preparing the learning materials. Finally, going online is good for one level of teaching but the basics will have to be done manually.

From the Desk of Gulshan R.A. Teeluck Ag. Coordinator Tourism Dept. MITD-EHSGD Msc Educational Leadership - UK Msc International Tourism Management - UK BA Vocational Studies - India

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Women Empowerment or Women Survival? one are those days where Presidents, Prime Ministers, CEOs, Managing Director, Entrepreneurs amongst other were all men.

Today, women have caused a revolution.

Jacinda Arden is Prime Minister of New Zealand; Christine Lagarde, former Chairperson and Managing Director of the international monetary fund (IMF) is today the Head of the European Central Bank.

Twenty nine countries currently have women serving as heads of state or government, as of 29 November 2019.

Our time has now come to follow such great women leaders. Women Empowerment is a movement that includes respect, honour and recognition toward all women. As females, we are often abused physically, mentally and emotionally as we are seen weak. We are categorized as the ones who have to take care of our homes’ kitchens and ensure that babies are well fed. Indeed, one day we will have to go through these life stages if we want to but those do not define us, they are not the only reasons why we were created. We were not made to live on the oldfashioned sexist terms. Ladies, we are here to make an impact.

Ma’isha Beebeejaun

As a 17 year old, I have to admit that there certainly is competition between girls. For instance, one does not like it when another girl does better than her in class. But why don’t we all become BOSSBABES? Bossbabes are women who know that they are the business. Rather than fighting other females, let us come together as a collective and clap when other women win instead of bothering our peace by playing with fire. Remember, that if something costs you your peace, then it is too expensive.

It is crucial to empower women, for it is a matter of our survival. Women are still discriminated based on their gender. They are still paid less than men, expected to cook and clean. Due to their religions and culture, some are not allowed to pursue further studies and are forced to get married at a young age by their parents. An example can be the new law in Pakistan where underage girls can be married as long as they have had their first menstrual cycle, in accordance with Shari’a Law. This happens maybe because women are not given enough appreciation in society and are valued less than men. In addition, women have to also face other major challenges such as domestic violence, femicide, rape cases, child bride, patriarchy, sexism, racism and economic inequality. This occurs because women are not well educated on their rights in the society, bearing in mind that their rights are human rights.

Nevertheless, we should not wave the white flag. There are still multiple ways to strengthen our Queendom. One of them is something we are already blessed with – Education. However, this does not mean that the road of learning and discoveries has a stop. It is a lifelong journey.

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22 Secondly, women should have equal rights to facilities like healthcare. Thirdly, by encouraging women to join the workforce while going onto training programmes, and carrying on with their tertiary education. Fourthly, by making them economically active while engaging in the political sphere. There is not enough women at the table and in positions of power.

There are also other methods to reinforce the status of women by, inter alia:• Providing the ticket to a better life for example Clean Water, • Supporting girls and women in crisis, • Mentoring a girl close to home, • Investing in a small business owned by a woman, • Using your voice to keep girls in school, • Helping a new mom, • Telling the women in your life that you care!

“The most alluring thing a woman can have is confidence,” says Beyoncé. I believe it’s true, because how can a woman or a girl be beautiful and powerful if she does not believe in herself, doubting her own potential? For sure, true victory comes from within. A woman achieving her goals is impressive. When she feels like quitting because the wind is not at her back, she resists and tells herself that she got this. No matter what, she can and she will.

My dear sisters, we are no longer in parda.

VIVA WOMEN POWER!

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23

Salons des Étudiants - OVEC 2020, le 15 &16 Février à la MCB St Jean, Quatre Bornes.

A

la demande de nos loyaux participants, OVEC, Overseas Education Centre, a organisé son salon d’étudiants le Samedi 15 et le Dimanche 16 Février au siège de la Mauritius Commercial Bank, située au Round Point de St Jean, Quatre Bornes

OVEC organise annuellement des salons des étudiants ou les représentants de toutes ces universités internationales rencontrent parents et étudiants pour mieux les informer : - étaient présents des représentants d’universités et d’instituts de renom. L’entrée était gratuite et les visiteurs nombreux. L’occasion est donnée d’avoir le plus d’info possible sur tout ce qui a trait à ses projets d’études à l’étranger : école, cours, enseignement, visa, logement, bourses, travail, etc. Il ne faut pas oublier d’apporter ses certificats & photocopies.

Avec l’arrivée des résultats de la HSC, il est temps maintenant pour bon nombre de nos jeunes de penser aux études supérieures et aux choix qu’ils auront à faire. Dans un contexte économique difficile et compétitif, un diplôme universitaire est presque vital quand il s’agit de trouver un emploi. Les perspectives d’emploi très limitées à Maurice et la possibilité de faire carrière à l’étranger expliquent pourquoi des étudiants veulent aller ailleurs.

Les études à l’étranger ont ainsi la côte parmi nos jeunes en raison des attraits indéniables qu’ils offrent : écoles prestigieuses, large éventail de formations et de spécialisations, travail après-études, possibilité de se voir octroyer l’option d’une résidence permanente dans un autre pays, vivre une culture différente, côtoyer des jeunes de divers pays, apprendre à se débrouiller seul, entre autres. Ce n’est pas seulement un diplôme d’une grande université que nos jeunes désirent mais l’occasion aussi de vivre une expérience unique et enrichissante à plus d’un titre.

Au fil des ans, le salon des étudiants d’OVEC, est devenu un rendez-vous incontournable dans le paysage de l’éducation tertiaire à Maurice. C’est le premier du genre à avoir lieu dans le cadre TRAINING & employment magazine

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24 luxueux et moderne d’une banque qui figure dans le Top 1000 mondial.

C’est aussi le seul à être un one stop shop des études à l’étranger, où les jeunes peuvent se renseigner non seulement sur les universités et les cours disponibles dans le monde entier, mais aussi sur les prêts bancaires, les visas d’étudiants et autres services indispensables.

Le salon de 2020 accueillera une cinquantaine de représentants venant de presque tous les continents.

Les universités très prisées par les Mauriciens seront de nouveau présentes alors que le Canada qui devient très populaire, vient en grand nombre et sera représenté par 20 institutions y compris des Universités et des Polytechniques qui dispensent des cours pratiques et axés sur la carrière et incluant souvent un stage ‘co-op’ ou de travail.

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25 Des membres importants du Canadian High Commission de Pretoria comprenant, le Trade Commissioner et d’autres membres du personnel feront le déplacement pour donner tout le support nécessaire aux 20 institutions Canadiennes qui seront au salon de l’OVEC. D’autres seront à OVEC pour la première fois et ne manqueront pas de se faire remarquer.

Répondant à la demande pour des destinations au prix plus abordable en Asie et pour des formations techniques, le salon 2020 accueille ainsi des institutions venant de l’Asie et des institutions qui offrent aussi des cours à forte vocation professionnelle venant surtout de l’Australie et du Canada.

Toutes les formations, techniques et académiques, allant de la plomberie jusqu’à la médecine en passant par le génie aéronautique sont offertes. Ceux qui n’ont pas le niveau requis pour entrer en première année universitaire ont la possibilité de faire un ‘foundation’ ou un ‘fast track diploma’.

Bon nombre des institutions présentes au salon offrent des bourses [par exemple, le Deakin University de Melbourne offre une bourse de 100% de même que L’Université de New South Wales de Sydney] et le public est encouragé de se renseigner auprès des représentants. Il faut y aller muni de ses certificats et photocopies car la plupart des institutions vous dispensent des frais d’application durant le salon. Les étudiants qui y font leurs applications auront une forte chance de remporter des prix intéressants offerts sur place.

Comme toujours, le salon d’OVEC a le plaisir d’offrir aux jeunes mauriciens la chance de bénéficier de cartes d’étudiants internationales et des assurances voyages gratuites, des tarifs forfaitaires sur billets d’avion, les examens médicaux, les taux d’échanges & le courrier.

L’entrée était gratuite et les boissons rafraichissantes étaient offertes au Salon à la MCB St Jean.

A noter qu’OVEC ne prend aucun honoraire que ce soit. Pour plus d’informations, visiter le nouveau site www.ovecedu.com ou appeler le 433 9800, le 433 2220 ou le 208 8909

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26

I.R 4.0: Leaders’ ultimate test Marie-Noëlle Elissac-Foy, Public Relations Strategist & Director of The Talent Factory

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arie-Noëlle Elissac-Foy has long been involved in the media and communication fields. She was Chief Editor at La Sentinelle (working for l’express-samedi, Essentielle etc).

Throughout her career, she has experience as a communication professional in various sectors. She was a lecturer in Public Relations, Media Relations and Communication for local private institutions, namely Charles Telfair Institute and MCCI Business School. Through The Talent Factory, her PR Consultancy, she crafts public relations strategies for businesses of all sizes, professional organisations and networks. Marie-Noëlle Elissac-Foy is a regular spokesperson on leadership, women empowerment and SME promotion.

Whether you are managing a global company in one of the big cities of the world or driving a small enterprise here in Mauritius, you are faced with same issue: how do you stay relevant, as a leader, in a world undergoing an unprecedented mutation?

The 4th Industrial Revolution is transforming our way of life and our relationships. Artificial intelligence, cloud computing, the Internet of Things and wireless technologies have taken over our daily lives, blending our digital, biological, and physical worlds. This seismic change can particularly be felt in the workplace and every industry around the world.

Leadership is not immune to this revolution. The scale, depth and complexity of this revolution is weighing more heavily on the whole management ecosystem. Individuals’ relations to work, productivity and success have changed and tend to become unmanageable. Brands are expected to engage in and act upon global issues such as climate change, fight against poverty or diversity and inclusion. Businesses are operating today in a whole new paradigm.

Hierarchy, as we know it, is no longer unchallengeable. Individuals no longer look up to leaders. There are serious cracks in leaders as sole figures of authority. Workers are calling for flattened organizations, cross-skilling and collaborative frameworks. Today, workers need trust and confidence. And, as a business leader, you should be thinking in terms of talent, not capital.

Adding to the I.R 4.0 transition, the recent outbreak of coronavirus will probably be one of the toughest challenges for business leaders at the start of this new decade. More particularly so in Mauritius. Businesses who will survive to the ban on importations of Chinese products are those which have been led by forward-looking strategists. Even without the scare of this virus, how can businesses, producing from a tiny island in the Indian Ocean, adapt to the shift in consumers trends in Europe or the USA? With the likes of Greta Thunberg asking for responsible travelling decisions, how does a tourist nation prepare for that? It is no longer business as usual. Are we smart enough to realize that?

As a result, publics, consumers and organizations have higher expectations from today’s leaders. This unpredictable world calls for a new generation of leaders. Future-ready leaders.

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So, how can C-suite executives, middle managers, small business owners and startuppers develop relevant leadership capabilities, allowing them to adapt to change and technological revolutions, retain their collaborators or investors and maintain trustworthy engagements with external and internal stakeholders.

It may be an overused cliché but leaders must leave their comfort zone and carefully scan their competitive environment. If need be, review your whole business models, and align it to the market trends. In any case, curiosity is your best asset in these times. Opening and creating new space for conversation and communication with collaborators of different generations can lead to whole new perspectives and spark ground-breaking innovations for your industry.

Diversity and inclusion should be the priorities of priorities during the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Leaders who will thrive are those who accept to be challenged by groups who are not like-minded. Embrace new thought patterns. “Diversity is the art of thinking independently together”, stated American entrepreneur Malcolm Forbes. Workplace diversity is the path to relevance, accrued competitiveness and growth. Have lunch with those dreaded Generation Z but do not ignore the wisdom of Baby boomers.

Effective, planned communication initiatives are key to foster innovation and diversity. Talk, have conversations, go way beyond the open-door policies. Think in terms of networking teams rather than organizational silos. Develop empathy and encourage open-mindedness. This is the time to use those solid communication skills which led you to where you are today. As the steward, promote a culture of constant feedback, across your organization, all year round.

Lastly, make an honest review of your leadership style and most importantly of your leadership messages. Most leaders tend to focus on results rather than purpose. What have you been communicating lately? Do you talk about values and vision? Have you shared why you wake up every morning to work for this organization? Can you tell why you still believe in your organization despite the turbulent context? Are you inspiring trust? “Harnessing the power of communication is a fundamental leadership discipline”, once wrote H.F. Garcia, author of The Power of Communication. “Taking stakeholders seriously requires respecting the point of view of those whom we would engage. It requires curiosity about what matters to them, about what it takes to win them over and to keep their trust and confidence.

Effective leaders connect with audiences by understanding what matters to them, and by speaking in ways that resonate with them.”

Honesty, clarity and authenticity should be the main takeaways of any of your interactions.

Create fluid communication pathways. Remember, leaders inspire others to action.

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Mauritian and European Degrees with high employability rates Public University

ENROL NOW FOR A MAURITIAN/EUROPEAN UNDERGRADUATE DEGREE INTAKE YEAR 2020

(Awarded by Universite des Mascareignes and Universite de Limoges, France)

UNDERGRADUATE COURSES Faculty of Business and Management Swami Dayanand campus, Pamplemousses (Full-time and Part-time)

No tuition fees

Undergraduate courses 2020/2021

Human Resource Management Banking and Financial Services Accounting and Finance Marketing Investment Analysis Faculty of Information and Communication Technology Swami Dayanand campus, Pamplemousses (Full-time and Part-time)

Industrial placement

Software Engineering Graphics Design and Multimedia Networking and Database Management

for selected candidates at both undergraduate and postgraduate level

Rose Hill campus, Camp Levieux (Full-time) Informatique Appliquée Faculty of Sustainable Development and Engineering Rose Hill campus, Camp Levieux (Full-time)

New MASTER Genie Civil,

Génie Electrique et Informatique Industrielle Génie Electromécanique Génie Civil Bachelor of Engineering(BEng)-CRPE approved-Civil Engineering* Bachelor of Engineering(BEng)-CRPE approved Mechanical Engineering(Minor Energy systems)* Bachelor of Engineering(BEng)-CRPE approved Electrical and Electronic Engineering*

Spécialité Structures et Travaux Publics will start in 2020

Open Day on 26 February 2020 Rose Hill campus, Camp Levieux Swami Dayanand campus, Pamplemousses

*delivered only by Université des Mascareignes

APPLY NOW Closing Date: 30th April 2020 Application forms are available on both campuses and on the website:www.udm.ac.mu Visit our facebook page also: www.facebook.com/universitedesmascareignes Note: The University reserves the right not to run any of the above courses

Rose Hill Campus - Avenue de la Concorde, Camp Levieux, Rose Hill (230) 460-9500 / 460-9545 (230) 466-3774 admission@udm.ac.mu

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29

Create Followship:

The Magic Behaviours of Global Leaders Dr Angus I McLeod works with global leaders at the prestigious Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania and consults on leadership for manufacturing industry at Krannert Management School, Purdue University, Indiana. He also delivers corporate disruptive business strategies by facilitating senior teams, with his colleague Adina Laver, via the company Courage to be Curious LLC. He is the author of several books, now in many languages.

Introduction We want others to be inspired, to co-create with us and support us; we want followship!

To achieve greater followship in others, learning more about ‘leadership’ may not be the answer. That’s because leadership development is focused on changing self. What we need to create followship are skills that create change in others; focusing there provides targeted answers to progress.

In this article, discover what you may already be doing that is great! And, find new tricks and tips, for leveraging your existing abilities.

Creating Followship in others will help us to run more successful teams, as well as influencing peers and seniors more effectively. Another spin-off, is that good people are much less likely to leave. Here are some areas of focus that provide immediate results.

Focus: Authentic-Self or Personas?

Most executives do not realize that they have a choice to be themselves at work rather than adopt a ‘persona for work’. They come to work and shed their natural ‘self’ in favor of a workpersona, sometimes guided by the work-culture, sometimes not. Typically, this involves faking a work-role that is more-or-less serious, inflexible, opinion-giving and/or directing. The executives who adopt unnatural work-personas may, eventually, not notice their transition into ‘workmode’ each and every day. Family members do notice however, especially when that workpersona hangs-over and is brought home. Imagine a scenario in which a child experiences a parent who comes home stressed, is thoughtless or unkind. Later, the parent may swing to being warmer and more supportive. Research suggests that parental inconsistency like this, leads to kids with low self-esteem and then, as adults, to them being more prone to depression1.

Executives often think that they must role-play ‘manager’ and that showing ‘self’ is a weakness.

Actually, a person is weak if they fear showing their ‘self’. This fear of showing self is not invisible.

The fear appears as ‘inauthentic’ to work-colleagues; the fear leaks out in their demeanor and behaviours. Inauthenticity like that does not engender trust or Followship in others.

You are probably thinking that that there ought to be self-checks and balances in what we express at work? And if so, you are right. However, with caveats, it is safe to drop the fake work-persona! Instead, check out the effect that being more human at work2 can make on others. What can you do differently that works?

1. The Effects of Inconsistent Parenting on the Development of Uncertain Self-Esteem and Depression Vulnerability, Luxton, D.D. Researchgate.net., October 2007.

2. www.angusmcleod.com/category/human-at-work/

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30 Before you start work, change your routine a little and include some positive thoughts.

Here are some questions to ask colleagues that you can adapt and use, to start personal conversations. For example: •

What were you doing at the weekend?

•

Oh, do you have kids too by the way?

•

Did you watch the game last evening?

•

That’s a good question, but what is the first thing YOU would do, if I was not here?

Measure Progress Have six personal-interest conversations during the day and learn something about my colleagues.

Share something about myself four times today when it fits into the conversation Focus: Leveraging the Smile!

Global leadership often needs flexibility to conform to cultural differences. Perhaps surprisingly, there is a particularly advantage to a certain type of smile that is a universal sign of friendship and trust in ALL cultures! This smile involves the muscles around the eyesockets as well as those around the mouth. A smile that only involves the mouth3 does not signal friendship and trust in everyone. Over many millennia, our brains have adapted to recognize friendly people by a smile involving the muscles around the eyes.

Before you go to work, practice this smile with family, your neighbour, your coffee-shop barista and newspaper vendor. Take this same smile to work with you and use it frequently until it becomes perfectly natural.

Measure Progress Aim to practice smiling, engaging the eyes with people you meet: outside of work four times a day and, at work three times a day Focus: Leveraging Proximetrics Different cultures (and genders) have different emotional reactions to the space around them. People in different cultures have different distances at which they feel uncomfortable with another person being ‘too close’ to them. When people feel safe AND close, they have reached a higher level of trust without, usually, noticing their shift in trust. We can use this knowledge to gain higher levels of trust using proximetrics.

Imagine someone you know at work and what their safety-boundary (distance) is; at what point does someone encroaching that space make them uncomfortable. Now, imagine them getting on a crowded train or queuing to board an aircraft. Their safe-space is reduced dramatically, because they do not have eye-contact with the people next to them.

Knowing about proximetrics, we can establish safe working space INSIDE their safetyboundary by having a focus where we all look, avoiding eye-contact. At work, we can use a digital display or printed chart to suggest that one or more people take a look at it together. All eyes are now on the chart and not on one another. To get a clear view, each person moves closer together within their safety-boundary (but, without thinking about it).

The result is that we are now inside their safe-space and they feel comfortable (but, do not 3. Gutman, R. see: https://www.ted.com/talks/ron_gutman_the_hidden_power_of_smiling?language=en/

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31 turn your head and look into their eyes)! There is now another level of trust with you.

Measure Progress Use a screen or printed sheets to create proximal spaces where everyone is moving closer to one another in order to view the chart. Do this three times in this week A True Story about Applied Proximetrics My company started a long-term engagement with a very large business having an HQ in London. My team was to deliver a coaching program across two levels of management, included the female CEO. I was the CEO’s coach. She and I were in the same room, for the first time, when I gave a presentation to management. She came in last, avoided eye-contact and sat at the back-right. When we finished, she left quickly, again without eye-contact. Two weeks later we met at a different corporate office and we both sat down about four feet apart, at the corner of a large board-room table. Fairly early in the conversation, I produced a diagram, a ‘wheel-of-work’, making annotations. I invited her to look at it with me, while I asked questions. She had barely made eye-contact more than fleetingly until that point. She wheeled her chair closer, so we were side-by-side; we worked with the chart as I asked questions. In time, I noticed that her leg was physically just in contact with my own. After this, eye-contact was more frequent and would last a second or two. She always turned up to sessions and always did the home-work that we agreed upon. When the whole coaching program was over, she confided in me that nobody, other than her husband, had earned her trust to the extent that I had.

Focus: Managing People Appropriately One size does not fit all; managers with one single-style of managing are much less effective than those who are flexible and who adapt to the needs of the others4. This is true with people at any level, including dotted-line, peers and bosses.

Think of a time when you were concerned about your impact with a boss; when the relationship was not working well for you? Because of that concern, you were likely reflecting on dysfunctional situations, adapting and maybe, testing new behaviours. This set of activities is exactly the type of attention that would improve our influence with ALL the people with whom we interact. But, this is a high-maintenance approach, like working in the dark. A better approach, is to step into the light where your knowledge and certainty about how to adapt is perfectly in view; and it will be more time-efficient!

The most pressing example of this, that I know, is concerning how we manage others.

Do you recall being over-managed? What was that experience like? No good? Do you 4. Some executives are so rigid in thinking that they think that we should treat everyone the same. They may even try and convince you that equality legislation demands it. They are wrong. Treating people fairly means that you obey a policy that treats anyone, in any given circumstance, in an equitable way. That becomes both fair to everyone and humanistic too. Rigidity is rarely fair.

5. Study on Determining Factors of Employee Retention, Bodjrenou Kossivi, Ming Xu, Bomboma Kalgora., Open Journal of Social Sciences, 2016, 4, 261-268.

6. This format is after McLeod and based upon neuroscience and neural-pathway learning, as well as the semantics of learning. The first sentence suggests that there is ‘one thing’ and the brain processes that supposition. The second sentence asks for the answer to the presupposition, using the same phrase, ‘one thing’. The second sentence is also in the PRESENT-tense, to seek the answer now.

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32

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Workshop Fee: Rs 25000 per participant (Inclusive of course materials, certificate of attendance, lunch & tea) MQA Approval is under process and entitles Employees to claim up to 75% HRDC REFUND Companies which register more than 5 participants will get an additional discount of MUR 3,000 per Pax.

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33 remember being under-managed and stressed? What was that experience like? In both cases, managing too much or not enough, then the employee feels awful and wants to leave. In fact, even when workers say that they are leaving for more money, nearly all of them are leaving because of the relationship with their boss5. Here’s the thing, how do you know whether you have the balance of ‘checking-in’ with staff perfectly judged for each of the people you give work?

To step into the light, we must ask questions. Here are example questions that, on a 1-2-1 basis will help you to transform Followship in your people: “If there was one thing that I could do that would improve our working-relationship, without compromising the quality of work, what is that one thing”?

“If there is one thing that I can do that will improve my managing of you, without reducing the quality of work, what is that one thing”?

In both cases, we are harnessing the plasticity of the brain6 to encourage the individual (firstly), to provide one piece of feedback that will improve your working relationship.

Applying the ‘Managing People’ Model to Peers, Bosses and other Stakeholders We can use the same questioning format to start other conversations (that will develop from the first question you ask). In every case, the covert message we are making is, ‘I care about our working-relationship and you; I am willing to change my behaviours and my performance to achieve that’.

Here are a couple of examples; the first for a boss, the second for a peer: “If there was one thing (that) I could change to provide you with added confidence in my work, what would that one thing be”?

“When we are collaborating on projects, if there was one thing that I could change to improve the effectiveness of how we work together, what is that one thing”?

Measure Progress Go to work and instead of answering questions, respond by asking them with a question that will help them work out the best answer for themselves! Aim to ask questions rather than give advice several times each day. If something is urgent, then revert, temporarily, to ‘telling’, before returning to the habit of questioning. Some people will find you challenging but, will soon get used to being asked questions; they will learn to come to you better-prepared; in time they will be more able to step-up to new challenges and make better decisions. Over a period, their abilities and career-advance will make them grateful to you for many years7.

An Investment strategy for Relationships Stakeholders are people at all levels that can help or deny your success. Some of these stakeholders are in your organization, others may be outside. At first base, it makes sense to know who these stakeholders are by listing them; remember that there are folks lower down the food-chain (than you) who punch above their weight when it comes to influencing.

Have a look at the figure: 7. Watch the video here: https://angusmcleod.com/clients/clients-say/

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34

All relationships start with low-level sharing between ‘Me’ on the left and ‘Other’ on the right. As conversations continue, these investments may, or may not have more emotional loading (see higher levels). This is how emotional intimacy takes place and is exampled by the difference between ‘acquaintance’ and ‘best-friend’.

The journey of sharing (at whatever level of emotional loading) should look balanced, even if there is not equal sharing in any one topic area. If unbalanced, the relationship (if it continues at all), is likely to be somewhat dysfunctional by, for example, dependency/ power games.

Each investment is a small packet of information about a person that is more-or-less emotionally significant. Each step is an incremental investment that is a test. If you, or they take a large stride that is not balanced, then the development of the relationship is likely compromised.

The model is liberating; it applies also to people who have known one another at low-levels of sharing information, but who could, if both parties play along, be gradually more-invested in each other.

Measure Progress Make a list of key stakeholders and rank them by the degree of sharing that you both have in each level of the figure; add more subject areas if useful. Decide which areas to share naturally in conversation, when the opportunity arises. These acts of sharing an investment are acts of permission; each sends a message that, ‘because I am sharing, you have my permission to share also’. Do not push. If one investment does not work, think of another and leave it for some while before testing that.

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A True Story about Permission I was recently in a meeting of about 25 people in which the facilitator asked if we would introduce ourselves with a personal sharing, related to ‘influence’. I decided that 25 people, each showing off some rose-coloured story of their cleverness might be grueling, so offered to go first. I stood, gave my name and related my early journey in management from “kick-ass manager” and spoke of ‘pain and gain’ as the energy for my changing my behaviours at work and how, subsequently, I decided to stay ahead of the pain-curve by pushing myself to learn about self-development. Nowhere did I say how bright or senior I had become. I had given permission to share personal stories that showed vulnerability. What happened next was a more magical experience with others in the room, opening up and sharing their own vulnerability (some stories provided much more bravery than my own) and making powerful impressions. Afterwards, I was thanked by the two organizers for my proactivity in changing the dynamics of the meeting in a good way; we all learned more about the personal influencers of change.

Exquisite Listening Listening to others is easier when you are anyway routinely asking questions. Such listening is at the heart of the ‘SELF-OTHER’ dynamic in the Emotional Intelligence Model (see figure). This SELF-OTHER dynamic is fed by questions that make others search for answers. These questions are often a little challenging to answer. By listening carefully, we get more awareness of ‘what makes them tick’. Combined with the other tips in this article, our growing awareness of ‘others’ enables us to influence them. When we know their kid’s names, their favourite team, their anxieties within the family, we can adapt to support them and be proactive in noting significant events in their lives, rather than being passive. This philosophy of influence was described in depth by the great Dale Carnegie8.

8. How to Win Friends & Influence People, Carnegie, D. Publ. Simon & Shuster 1936.

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Example Questions to Help Others Develop If I was not contactable and an action was needed now, what would you do?

So, tell me about the strengths, and the weaknesses, of that approach?

And, if there was another weakness (of that approach), what is that other weakness9 ?

We both want you to exceed expectations. If there was one thing (that) I could change to help you to have more success at {context}, what is that one thing I can do?

In a nutshell, what is most important about that now?

What else about that?

If there was one area where we could focus, one area that would make a significant difference to achieving your outcome, what is that one area where we can focus now?

And if you did know?

Do you think it would be helpful to review your initial goal and outcomes and then to decide best to focus attention?

If there is a root cause for this situation, what is that root cause?

What do you care most about in relation to your goal?

How can I best serve your interests and objectives now?

Are we REALLY Listening?

When people are talking, many of us are not getting the whole message because we have ‘gone internal’ to process it in different ways. Look at the figure which shows, at the top, a message being spoken (a straight line of speaking) and how a listener may not hear some parts of the message due to internal processes, as described in the figure.

In this case, the listener is judging, comparing interpreting, anticipating (what the speaker may say soon) or rehearsing (if they are expected to speak next). During these phases of internal processing, the listener fails to hear the message. It means that if they do speak, they may repeat something said earlier (as if new information) or another error worse than that.

People who wish to be better listeners may need a multi-pronged remedy. For example: Before the meeting, make positive statements such as: • If I listen really well, I shall give better answers • I trust myself to speak clearly without rehearsing TRAINING & employment magazine

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37 During the meeting: Notice when you go internal and force yourself to listen.

Exquisite Listening is also a great place to start before using another powerful tool that is quick to learn and use; this tool adds to your impact and influence with others. This additional tool is called ‘Reflective Language’.

Reflective Language Reflective Language is the process of using words or phrases (used by someone else), in your response to them. Combined with a following question, you double the efficacy of this approach. When we use someone else’s words and phrases is says to them: • I am listening • I care about what you have to say.

When we interpret or use more educated language, the listener is likely troubled and going ‘internal’ to work out what we were trying to express, and therefore missing what you say next.

Examples of Reflective Language The Other: “I thought my result with the client was successful.”

You: “Successful result is good. What could have been improved?”

The Other: “I’m not sure where to start with this project.”

You: “What do you think you could do in order to move from not sure to first steps with this project?”

Measure Progress Practice using one or two significant words when responding to others. You can always follow your statement with a question, as used earlier, to seek further information, or to help them think more deeply about their subject.

Questions and the Power of Silence Earlier, we discussed using questions rather than making statements, giving information or providing directions. Many executives are shy about silences and fail to leverage them.

Here is an example of a challenging question: “You have told me some strengths of this plan that sound good, thank you, but now tell me what the lesser-strengths or weaknesses are, and what unplanned consequences could take place?”

When we ask challenging questions, some people will go internal to seek out the answers.

During this period of introspection, we should maintain silence, since speaking to them may stall their productive learning. If they become distracted, just ask all, or only part of the question again, “.. lesser-strengths and weaknesses..?” This second time will invariably yield a starting point for learning and if it does not, you can always say, “What are your thoughts about the impression of this plan with regulators?”

Another use of powerful silence is when taking leadership to speak in meetings and when taking the stage to present or facilitate. In meetings, never speak when others are speaking or when they have not yet noticed you. You may make a gesture (a raised hand, for example, or a small cough) and check that you have the space/attention before speaking. On the stage, always feel and look comfortable with your own silence; wait and watch calmly until TRAINING & employment magazine

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38 you have full attention. Silence is one factor in charismatic presence and the easiest one to emulate.

Measure Progress If you are wary of silence in conversations, try to sit with them longer. Be aware of how other, successful leaders use silence after asking questions. In meetings, plan to take leadership and when presenting, use silence to create charismatic presence.

Master Followship Tips 1.

Step into challenge with eyes and ears open

2.

Ask questions, listen and adapt

3.

Take a slower path that involves and encourages others

4.

Share the glory

5.

Be calm rather than busy

6.

Exceed your expectations and those of others too

7.

Accept responsibility for failure (no blaming)

8.

Know your stuff

9.

Be fair, not strictly rule-based

10.

Walk-the-talk, be authentic (no faking).

New Perspectives for Tricky Relating

9. The semantic construct suggests, FIRSTLY, to the hearer, that there is another weakness, and SECONDLY, asks (in the PRESENT TENSE) what that weakness is? This construct opens up a neural pathway and the brain is powerless to resist. If rapport is good, most people, most of the time, will find the answer.

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39 You have had another difficult encounter with a peer or boss. You’ve tried thinking about it, over and over, but the logical approach has not yielded a working solution. The situation needs fixing, but what can you do? The figure shows your situation with this other person, but includes an imaginary observer, some distance away, who is all-seeing, hearing and sensing!

This exercise is a quick way to get helpful perspectives and to test a method that is less-based on logic and more-based upon insight. Here is how we run through it.

Step 1: In your mind, go back to the situation. Experience it as if real, so you are hearing, seeing, feeling and noticing in this situation, as if it is happening right now.

Step 2: Think for a moment about the ‘other’; what you know about them, how they move, express, look and sound. Decide to move a short distance and ‘become the other’. As you move, take on their age, gender, appearance and then look back at yourself to experience as well as you can, what the ‘other’ experience is like. From the other, what do you notice, what do you want, what is going on in the relationship?

Step 3: Think about the insights from Step 2. As ‘the Other’, maybe you discovered a need or another unexpressed vulnerability? When back, as your self, decide whether the other’s need is real; what can you do to help satisfy it; to change your next encounter?

Step 4: Decide to move further, if possible, to the ‘Observer’ position. You will be detaching from any emotion in the space and be able to see, hear, feel and notice, even from a distance. When you turn, you will see yourself and the ‘other’ in that same meeting, as if happening now….

Step 5: As ‘Observer’, self-question, ‘what is happening with them; what are their individual needs; how are their behaviours being mis-interpreted by each person’? The observer perspective may discover that the ‘other’ is needing to be confident about you and is impatient for you to set out clear actions and bring them to the table.

Step 6: From the real world of now, consider what these insights give you and then plan for the next encounter as if the insights are real.

It is a truism that, if something is not working in a relationship, change something, anything, but do not continue to do the same thing and thereby get the same result! My own experiences and those of countless global leaders, is that a planned change of mindset and behaviours based upon this exercise is fruitful!

Energy for Dealing with Problem Relationships When things are difficult in a relationship, many executives agonize and then bury their heads because they feel powerless. Some others go for full-frontal assault which, with confrontational spirit has little chance of changing anything for the better! If still agonizing and wondering whether to reach out or not, consider using the insights from the exercise above, then consider the 51% Rule10, here: In any given interaction I am 51 per cent responsible for the result of that interaction.

The 51 Percent Rule means that stalemate cannot happen; you have a bit more responsibility than the ‘other’! Now you have to do something. Different people have other rules to determine how many attempts they will make, 1, 2 or 3 times is the limit for most people!

End-Note Your author has included traits that lead to Followship that are quick to learn, test and apply. Of course there are others, perhaps for another article or book! Because our success is dependent upon relationships, it is paramount to leverage our skills to increase Followship.

10. Extract from McLeod, A.I. Me, Myself, My Team – Using NLP to be a Team Player, (Crown House, 2nd Edition, 2006).

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40

Employment Relations in Mauritius A Modern perspective and New Challenges

by Emeritus Professor Ved Prakash Torul

Consultant: Employment Law and Industrial Relations Professor V.P. Torul B.A (Hons); Dip. Public Administration; Higher Edu. Diploma; Dip Admin Magt; Dip in Management; LLB; LLM; LLD Emeritus Professor of Law Consultant Employment Law and Industrial Relations Mediator Singapore Mediation Centre

T

he Employment Relations Act (2008) and (2019) as amended is a proactive statutory instrument borne out of a presevered consensus building process between the social partners so as to promote and maintain a harmonised employment relations climate in Mauritius. Part II of the code of Practice on Basic Employment Relations Principles provides a guideline to a modern perspective, and addresses a the same time the new challenges facing employment relations in response to the dynamic and changing landscape in the Mauritian economy that is largely influenced by the advent of globalization and development in various sectors such as finance, tourism, textile, manufacturing, ICT/BPO, freeport and seafood.

Within the fast developing economic context, expediency requires a fresh look at employment relations from a modern perspective. The world of work has been transformed since the Industrial Relations Act 1973 was enacted which brought changes in employment relations in Mauritius. Now, the modern trend in employment relations follows the dictates of following phenomena: Firstly, in Mauritius, the world of work has undergone substantial changes due to competitive pressures and the justification to reduce unit labour costs. Employers are aiming at more systematic reappraisals of organizational structures and redefining the enterprisesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; core activities. The legal consequences of many of these developments have been felt, particularly, in variation of contract of employment and the application of the law relating to the termination of employment due to operational requirements, transfer of undertakings and mergers.

Secondly, due to high level of literacy among the Mauritian labour force, employees/ employers understand better the traditional vehicle for regulating the employment relationship through a contract of employment. Employees mainly are reasonably conversant with their rights under the employment law. These rights include among others, the right to decent work environment, the right not to have the contract unfairly terminated, the right to contractual information, the right that no term of the contract should be discriminated, minimum period of notice, the right not to have pay deducted unlawfully, a minimum right for maternity leave for women, paid leave, maximum working hours, statutory minimum pay etc.

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41 Thirdly, through several statutory interventions, the state has empowered employees to match their bargaining power with that of the employer. Presently in the labour market, individual labour law is giving place to collective labour law. The relationship with an employer is not only inspired by the belief in equality of individuals, but it is also determined by the statutes and collective bargaining. There is now an extensive overlapping between individual and collective rights.

Fourthly in the modern employment relations context a concern is raised whether the common law contract of employment has the ability to regulate the complexities of employment relationship. In Mauritius, it is commonly known that the legal basis for employment relationship remains a contract of employment. But with the advent of statutory provisions and strategies for collective bargaining, the effect of a contract of employment is slowly eroding, and equality of bargaining power is being recognized. Though the relationship of an employee and employer under a contract of employment is founded in power and subordination, employment relations is emerging from its various narrow confines of seeing employees only as an economic commodity programmed to increase productivity and enhancing profit for the enterprise, to a greater supportive approach in which the focus is more on building a broad based commitment between the employer and the employee through a new participative culture and a more democratic industrial society philosophy.

Fifthly, at present, phenomenal changes are taking place in the existing modes of labour market in Mauritius. The country is undergoing through global pressures as well as internally induced structural economic and political reforms that are having profound effects on national policies and in turn on employment relations. The Employment Relations Act 2019 and the Workersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Rights Act 2019 are instances of concerted attempts to bring reforms in employment relations thereby envisioning futuristic labour market institutions in the form of, among many, the National Tripartite Council, commission for Conciliation and Mediation and the National Remuneration Board which as a tripartite forum, empower the state, the employers and the employees integrally to promote effective consultation, negotiation, facilitation and co-operation to resolve labour disputes.

What are then the new challenges facing employment relations in Mauritius?

Due to prevailing dynamic labour market in Mauritius, employment relations has become vital for the promotion of social justice and economic development. Social dialogue and social partnership have become the central features of the new Mauritian employment and industrial relations system which are based on 1. Recognising the democratic rights of the workers, trade unions and employers; 2. Building a productive employment relationship through the promotion of good faith behaviour and mutual trust in all aspect of work relations; 3. Promoting collective bargaining; 4. Encouraging the dispute and conflict settlement mechanism.

From the above modern perspectives, the tripartite institutions have to look at employment and individual relations in Mauritius, not as an exclusive segment of activity in the economic, social and political organisation. They have to, in fact, improve on the employees/employers relationship which is an important phenomenon in the fabric of our highly complex and dynamic industrial society. Therefore, the challenge of the institutions, borne out of imperatives of socio-economic conditions, have to widen their focus on organizational issues, labour conflicts and values enhancing good human relations between employers, workers and trade unions which have become a new standardised norm to the necessary conditions of harmonious employment relations at the workplace.

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42 As these challenges are ever increasing, institutions have to align themselves with the Economic and Social Policy of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) which underpins the shift away from an adversarial to a more consensus-based employment relations. The ILO policy as its governing principle: “actively promoting tripartite dialogue and involvement of social partners in the design and implementation of structural adjustment programmes and policies with a view to achieving social consensus, while working to strengthen the capacity of worker’ and employers’ organizations to play an effective role in structural adjustment activities.”

To measure up with the ILO’s policy statement in structural adjustment, it needs a reorganisation in focus, structure and processes to achieve the following: • Conflict to be regarded as natural in employment relationships, and it is to be best managed through centralized negotiations between the employer and employees/ trade unions.

• Relationships between the employers and employee/trade unions are to be institutionalised in tripartite structures and a strong interdependence among all the parties has to be acknowledged.

• Encourage consensus building as opposed to adversarial relations.

• Through centralised negotiations, avoid the potential for numerous destructive conflicts in the workplace.

• Devise mechanisms to build a less strike-proned industrial society.

• Encourage parties to reach agreements which not only satisfy the immediate needs of their own constituencies, but also to take into account the needs of the broader society.

A Final Remark and a Point of Reflection To enable the parties to understand the quality of employment relations that prevails between them, the Code of Practice of the Employment Relations Act, provokes the Employer/Management and the employee/Unions to address the question as to whether: 1. They are engaged constructively and committed to develop the necessary conditions conducive to harmonious employment relations at work?

2. They are addressing employment relations and human resources management issues in a spirit of openness, trust, honesty, mutual respect and understanding?

3. They are adopting the right mindset to address conflict with a view to reaching a win-win situation through compromise or consensus, wherever possible?

4. They are ready to be recognised as social partners on the same footing?

The above questions will ever remain the modern perspective and new challenges of employment relations in Mauritius.

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43

Education of Quality for ALL (EQFA) - Myth or Reality!

Vinayagum Chinapah (Sweden and Mauritius) is Professor, Chair Holder and Head of the Institute of International Education (IIE), Department of Education, Stockholm University, Sweden since 2009. He joined IIE in 1976 and served in different professional and research capacities from a lecturer up to the present position as Professor and Director. He had a Master Degree in Pedagogy with Honors at Charles University, Prague (1977) and a PhD in International and Comparative Education at Stockholm University (1983). He served as Deputy-Director of IIE for the period 1983-1992.

By Professor Chinapah took leave from IIE in 1992 to be at UNESCO Professor Vinayagum Chinapah Headquarters in Paris as Director of the Joint UNESCO-UNICEF International Program on Monitoring the Quality of Education and Stockholm University Learning Achievement which covered some 80 countries worldSWEDEN wide during the period (1992-2006). He also served for one year as UNESCO Regional Educational Adviser for the Arab States, UNESCO Regional Office, Beirut, Lebanon (2007-2008) before returning back to lead IIE in January 2009. Professor Chinapah is member of various research associations and research councils and author and co-author of some 70 books, chapters in books, scientific journal articles as well as some 160 reports, conference papers, training manuals and prototypes for capacity building workshops world-wide. He has done research, training, and consultancies for several UN agencies (UNESCO, UNICEF. UNDP, FAO); International agencies (The World Bank, OECD); bilateral agencies (SIDA, Finnish CIMO, CIDA, Commonwealth Secretariat) and several national governments and institutions in some 140 countries world-wide over the past 40 years. He has supervised and co-supervised more than 60 PhD students and some 450 MA students who successfully completed under his leadership their thesis and graduated during the period 1981-2020.

Introduction There is a bourgeoning literature with an open discourse over the question whether an Education of Quality for ALL (EQFA) remains a myth or is it still a reality! There is a national discourse in Mauritius right now on the actual implementation of a policy for EQFA in view of the results shown for the 2019 students’ cohorts of the School Certificate (SC) and the Higher School Certificate (HSC) examination/performance, respectively. The author has written extensively on this “problematics” after several years of international and comparative research in this field of scientific inquiry. This policy paper is based on the sole premise that “(F)ailing or passing learners do neither represent nor justify what is learnt and what is not learnt”. There is therefore a need, more than ever, to understand the dynamics in teaching and learning within the framework of an education of quality for ALL (EQFA) based upon a learner-centered pedagogy so as to establish what must be taught and how each learner must be better prepared to optimize her/his learning potentials and attributes (Chinapah, TRAINING & employment magazine

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44 2010:15).1 The overriding remaining question is whether we have, or whether we do make use, of informed-educational policymaking with evidence-based research to address this policy question. It is within the EQFA framework that I can think of any new educational paradigm for learning and instruction.

As many scholars have often argued, “research for research sake” which is based and locked only within the research community, does not have any impact whatsoever on educational policymaking. It will make no difference to the community of learners and their teachers. Husén and Kogan (1980) devoted an entire book several decades ago to this concern in their publication entitled “Educational Research and Policy-Making – How Do they Relate”. To this effect, I would like to propose in this brief policy paper that learnercentered education cannot be separated from an Education Quality for ALL (EQFA).

The recent years have witnessed serious paradigm shifts in the policy-discourse of what might constitute education quality in leaving a number of pertinent questions unanswered, for example who defined it, in which contexts, for what purpose, in whose interests, and for whose benefits, the latter being the most crucial one. The grand educational paradigms have not so changed that much the policy-discourse in order to effectively address EQFA with learner-centered pedagogy and learning, and on what goes on in the classroom.

Likewise, the several initiatives that were taken to assess EQFA through worldwide surveys of learning outcomes did not change that much the implied policy-discourse. Chinapah and Cars (2010:4)2 argued in their review of such surveys that “(t)hese national, regional and international assessments allow for the benchmarking of student performance against corresponding international standards. Learning outcomes in classrooms are often characterized by diversity with a wide range of abilities, which may include some students requiring special needs and supports. This indicates that standards and how to achieve them must be tailored to every student. These concerns for equity and diversity in education access and opportunity is such an alarm against external prescriptive standards, which is developed at national and international level.” 3 UNESCO, immediately after the World Forum of Education for ALL (EFA) in March 2000 in Dakar, Senegal made an in-house inventory to come to reasoning and to provide a solution to this bourgeoning issue for its Member States. I had the honour to be assigned the responsibility and coordination of this task and wrote then, the UNESCO position policy paper of Education Quality from the inputs drawn in this inventory (Chinapah, 2003).4 Much of the elements from this UNESCO position policy paper will be used in this brief presentation and discussion. At the international development cooperation level, focus on research on learning outcomes has increased various stakeholders’ attentions on results, which may increase accountability based on performance. In the academia itself, such a pursuit has 1 Chinapah, V. (2010) “Education of Quality For All – Myth or Reality!” Keynote Address at the INTERNATIONAL INVITATIONAL CONFERENCE-MAURITIUS, Millennium Development Goals Revisited: Transforming Teaching, Learning and Leadership in Commonwealth Contexts, 29 June - 1 July 2010, Mauritius.

2 Chinapah, V., and Cars, M. (2010) “Glocal Efforts towards Quality Education for All”, Paper accepted and presented at the World Comparative Education Society, Istanbul, Turkey.

3 Chinapah, V. (1997) Handbook on Monitoring Learning Achievement: Towards Capacity- Building.

UNESCO, Publishing, Paris.

4 Chinapah, V. (2003). « UNESCO Position Paper on Quality Education ». Chapter 6:1 in UNESCO (ed.), The Renewal of Secondary Education in Africa (pp: 398-408). UNESCO Publishing, Paris.

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45 been very enriching through school survey research initiatives. The richness, implications, trengths and weaknesses of these surveys, whether they are international, regional, national, cross-sectional or longitudinal, have been constantly under review. For example, in their recent review of the findings from such kind of research, Chinapah, et at., (2010:4) concluded as follows: However, from a comparative research perspective across different nations, barely very little is known about what constitutes effective teaching and effective learning in different situational contexts, both between- and within- countries.

The more so, hardly any explanation is given for children from different socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds in different types and school locations. “An equal opportunity to learn is no less a human right than an equal entitlement to be in school, regardless of parental income, gender, language or ethnicity…. In many countries, however, large disparities in learning achievement point to deep disparities in opportunity. What students achieve is heavily influenced by both the type of school they attend and the characteristics of their family backgrounds” (UNESCO 2010: 107). Even in a country like Sweden, it is recently argued that among the different factors influencing educational achievement, “segregation”, “decentralization”, “streaming” and “individualization” are all important features determining the level of attainment in the Swedish compulsory schools (Skolverket – Swedish National Agency for Education, , 2010).

I can bear witness from several educational systems’ performance that EQFA is a reality in few countries but remains still a myth in most countries of this planet – developed and developing - after having assessed them in my earlier responsibility at UNESCO for the program “Quality Education. I believe that we urgently need at international, regional, national and local levels genuine leadership, collective wisdom and a clear vision for EQFA. Only then, right decisions could be made by the right people and for the right purposes in order to achieve EQFA. This is possible and it is precisely the message I shall deliver in this brief policy paper by looking at EQFA from an international and comparative perspective.

Education of Quality for ALL (EQFA) – The Pillar for Human Development Guaranteeing human rights to an education of quality for all remains one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century. No more excuses. An education of quality for ALL can empower humankind to make choices, to improve the quality of our life, and to foster our positive attitudes towards each other. The annual Education for ALL (EFA) Global Monitoring Reports (GMRs) continues ringing the alarm bell with barely any impact at national and classroom levels. There is therefore no time to spare as the evidence clearly points at actions and not just at mere rhetoric. There is more than ever a genuine concern about an EQFA. School quality varies across countries and absolute levels of learning are very low in many poor countries. Ensuring that there are adequate, well motivated and trained teachers is vital for effective learning. Furthermore, there is a broad consensus in the international educational community that the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and especially Goal No. 4 “Quality Education” would only remain “wishful thinking” if no significant efforts are made to improve the teaching-learning processes and students’ learning outcomes. There is no doubt that the world would require ambitious but doable multilateral framework to accelerate progress for the implementation of the 2030 SDGs Agenda, and namely “Quality Education”.

Macro-Level Development Contexts for Learner-Centred Quality Education Education does not develop in a vacuum. It had not and will not. The contexts under which TRAINING & employment magazine

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46 it develops are equally important. It is within this perspective that quality in education should be conceived and effectively implemented. We are often talking of globalisation.

Globalisation may also mean marginalization of some segments of our most deprived populations. Improved quality in education for ALL should orient globalisation policies, strategies and actions with a human face. The rapid transformation of many societies into the so-called “knowledge-based societies” where knowledge and information increasingly determine new patterns of growth and wealth creation and open-up possibilities, should address more effectively poverty reduction and poverty alleviation strategies through different education and learning channels. Knowledge-based and -led development holds the promise that many of the problems confronting human societies could be significantly alleviated if only the requisite information and expertise were systematically and equitably employed and shared. One major challenge for the international community is how to ensure the free flow of, and equitable access to, knowledge, information, data and best practices across all sectors and disciplines. For the free flow to be meaningful, access to knowledge alone will not be enough. Other needs must also be addressed, such as building human capacities and technical skills and developing content necessary to translate knowledge and information into assets of empowerment and production.

It is true that the dimensions of ‘quality’ in education need to be redefined in such a broad context of national development goals and in the search for the most effective strategies to make that development sustainable. Quality education should not be only for a few but for ALL. The urgency to address the needs of learners who are vulnerable to marginalization and exclusion through responsive educational opportunities was pointed out some 20 years ago at the Dakar World Education Forum in April 2000. All learners should be given the right to receive the kind of quality education that does not discriminate on grounds of race, class, disability, ethnicity, religion, language, gender or capability.

Any successful EQFA operational framework requires genuine broad-based partnership of major education, and education-related stakeholders, namely the state, regional and local authorities, civil society organizations, associations and groupings, the private sector and above all, parents, teachers and the individual learners themselves. A primary educational challenge for quality in education for ALL is, therefore, the complete elimination of inequalities and barriers that are related to gender, rural-urban location, ethnic or cultural differences and the standards of living. We should need to undermine the inherited imbalances where the rich segment of humankind is becoming educationally richer while the poor segment, educationally poorer. Neither the internationally acceptable and often exported educational models nor any standard model may fully recognise national specific problems and priorities and the differences in their manifestations, gravity and magnitude from region to region, from country to country, and from locality to locality. Sustainable quality in education for ALL programs would therefore necessitate general additional support and resources to educational foundations of different types, forms and levels in order to bring determined improvement of people’s lives based on empowerment, equal partnership and mutual respect. This can only be realised through building and strengthening nations’ endogenous human capacities.

EQFA calls upon promoting experimentation, innovation and the diffusion and sharing of information and best practices as well as policy dialogue in education. For instance, ICTs may offer the potential to expand the scope of learning, breaking through traditional constraints of space and time as well as boundaries of current education systems. The accelerating privatization of educational goods and services, partly driven by the potential and impact of ICTs, poses an entirely new challenge for the international community. The challenge is to TRAINING & employment magazine

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47 define the best use of ICTs for improving the quality of teaching and learning, introducing a higher degree of flexibility in response to societal needs, lowering the cost of education and improving internal and external efficiencies of educational system.

Strategies for improving the quality of education and instruction for ALL should provide learners with choices on how they receive information (input modes); on how they practice what they learn (the activities, the processes), and on how they demonstrate what they have learned (output modes). In curriculum differentiation there are many instructional strategies that may help teachers vary their input and output modes, and methods of practice based on individual learner needs. For example, in the field of vocational education and training, it is proposed that such pedagogy should be equally oriented towards school directors and support personnel to focus on learning methodologies and activities that encourage discovery, critical and independent reflection, and auto-learning process. Better use of the new information communication technologies (ICTs) can boost the quality of teaching and learning when conceived and geared towards policies and practices of an education of quality for ALL. Thoughtful programs may, however, be more effective in specific in-service teacher training such as simulated practice-teaching opportunities, and professional upgrading opportunities. Use of communications technologies inevitably shifts interpersonal relations among learners, teachers, parents and stakeholders. These shifts will improve quality only if they can expand and promote mutual understanding based on the respect of diversity Likewise, EQFA cannot be conceived without partnership and participation of major stakeholders. Promoting policy dialogue between all actors and stakeholders in education (governmental, non-governmental – teachers’ associations-, civil society and private sector and intergovernmental organisations) is a major prerequisite for EQFA to succeed. Altogether, good quality teaching and learning processes require an instruction which is appropriate to each child’s learning needs, abilities, and learning styles (active, co-operative, democratic, gender-sensitive learning). Structured content and good quality materials and resources are to be provided. Teacher capacity, morale, commitment, status, and income - and their recognition of child rights is to be enhanced.

As we have observed, definitions of quality education are mushrooming today due to the complexity and multifaceted nature of the concept. The terms excellence, value for money, efficiency, effectiveness and world class education have been used interchangeably while referring to quality education. There is, however, considerable consensus that exists around the basic dimensions of quality education. For example the recent results from an international survey carried out in diverse historical, socio-economic, cultural and political settings (e.g. United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, Thailand and South Africa) showed that there are three major components forming good quality and effective schooling, namely: (1) Good Teacher-Pupil Relationships; (2) Support for Learning Difficulties; and (3) Good Communications with Parents.

A Framework for Action

Education of Quality for ALL (EQFA) is the driving force for moving towards a learner-centered pedagogy. Without clear vision and mission accompanied with informed educational policy-making, resourceful implementation strategies, well trained “educational front-line implementers”, and last but the least, an empowered targeted beneficiaries, very little can be expected from contemporary systems of education to move from “teaching to the examination and testing” towards EQFA. Concomitantly, no progress towards an EQFA will be possible without substantial changes in the curriculum, despite all the theoretical TRAINING & employment magazine

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48 advancements, scientific discourses, and so called “experts’ advice”, as is advocated in this brief policy paper. In the light of this remark, let me now conclude in proposing a framework for action that can be of interest for further discussion, elaboration and scientific inquiry.

EQFA should be able to satisfy both basic as well as lifelong learning needs of the individual. A learner-centered pedagogy should enrich the lives of learners for their all-round development.

The SDGs No.4 “Quality Education” should therefore be implemented in its totality; otherwise it will continue being a myth. In this context, we need to re-emphasize that “ (R)egardless of gender, wealth, location, language or ethnic origin, quality education for all requires: (1) healthy, well-nourished and motivated students; (2) well-trained teachers and active learning techniques; (3) adequate facilities and learning materials; (4) a relevant curriculum that can be taught and learned in a local language and builds upon the knowledge and experience of the teachers and learners; (5) an environment that not only encourages learning but is welcoming, gender-sensitive, healthy and safe; (6) a clear definition and accurate assessment of learning outcomes, including knowledge, skills, attitudes and values; (7) participatory governance and management; and (8) respect for and engagement with local communities and cultures”. Further: • Policies and strategies for quality improvement necessitate integrated and wellbalanced perspectives for all levels, types and forms of education. There is also an urgent need to adopt effective policies and strategies to identify and include the socially, culturally and economically excluded. This requires participatory analysis of exclusion at household, community and school levels, and the development of diverse, flexible, and innovative approaches to learning and an environment that fosters mutual respect and trust.

• Measurable and monitoring indicators of quality education should not only focus on learning inputs but also on learning environments at home, and in the community, on learning processes, and learning outcomes (short-term and long-term). For example, in the area of life skills, multiple quality indicators are needed to account for health, prevention, nutrition, civics and environmental awareness as well as social and communicative skills of learners. Such quality indicators are very important for both formal and non-formal education programs.

• Strengthening of democratic structures and institutions, participatory governance and the empowerment of civil society organizations, local educational managers, planners and administrators are indispensable for broad-base commitment towards quality education. Quality education requires good leadership and appropriate human resource development policies and implementation strategies.

• Think-tank mechanisms and networks for quality education are to be set-up to assist Member States in promoting a trans-disciplinary approach within the curricula and educational processes through guidelines, methodologies and other special instruments.

• A global dialogue on quality education needs to be cultivated through synergies and strategic alliances. Sharing experiences, outcomes and knowledge of innovative and successful programs and research and development initiatives on quality education should be strengthened.

All partners of education - nationally, regionally and internationally – should be brought together to further strengthen this collective perspective of an Education of Quality for ALL (EQFA).

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Leaders must master all the complexities of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 In January 2020, the chief executive of Google, Mr. Sundar Pichai, called for Artificial Intelligence (AI) to be regulated in an article in the Financial Times. He emphasized the requirement to have tailored rules in several areas of the new industrial revolution.

We all recognize the tremendous potential of the new technologies as game-changers in many aspects of our daily lives. However, they also expose various challenges and dangers which shall not be undermined.

J

uneid Kodabux is a barrister called to the Bar of Mauritius since 2009. He is the Head of Department of the African Guarantee Fund since January 2016.

He was previously a senior associate in a top-tier law firm in Mauritius and has been involved in both the corporate and litigation fields.

He has been actively involved in the global business sector in Mauritius and in relation to company secretarial duties. He holds a Bachelorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Degree in Law from the University of Birmingham (UK) and also successfully completed the Bar Vocational Course at the College of Law (UK).

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Regulators around the world are today coming up with new laws and guidelines to regulate the use of AI and other new technologies as part of the IR 4.0. This is proving to be a very fine balancing exercise between ensuring that society benefits from the new technologies which are now fully embedded in our daily routine and the need to ensure that society is protected from the new dangers that these new technologies entail. There is also the need to make sure that the legislation does not kill innovation amongst the new tech entrepreneurs.

The workplace is gradually transforming itself into a complex environment where all the players at the different levels from governance to operations have to ensure that they fully comply with all legislations relating to the new technologies.

The leaders who will excel are those who are fully confident to cope with all the unknowns and ready to master all the complexities of the IR 4.0. They have to prepare themselves and their organisations and staff for the digital transformation that is currently sweeping across the globe. This involve investing in empowering their staff with more skills to give them a cutting edge when dealing with all the new technologies and may even lead to a re-training of their current workforce.

The leaders must ensure that each and every one in their organization are aware of the legal implications of all the new technologies â&#x20AC;&#x201C; how to ensure data is fully protected, how to protect oneself from any hacking or cyber-attack and even, the consequences of misusing company property online and in the technological field.

IR 4.0 is bringing along a whole rethinking process. The excellent leader should not shy away from allowing his staff from using the new technologies to explore new ways of carrying out their duties and meeting their objectives.

However, the key aspect is to ensure that any activities in the IR 4.0 field is carried out within the ambit of the regulations and legislations that are being put in place. www.tnemag.mu

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Branding

Experiential branding, the next frontier?

We are not in vacuums…but in continuums! And product brands today are playing the role of this continuum, with their parents, Corporate Brands. To what extents brands and corporate brands are being managed strategically in Mauritius? What is the role of senses in making brands happen?

Ashraf Oozeerally, strategic thinker, expert in complex rebranding projects and founder of OneEssence, a niche and boutique strategic brand consultancy shares some interesting perspectives in the article below.

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We all live in environments, interior and exterior. From the very moment our eyes open till we prepare ourselves to go to bed again, we are overwhelmed with what we see, hear, smell and feel… Our senses guide us all the way through. We are continuously being guided or even remote-controlled by our individual tastes to take decisions, choosing our interior deco, looking for convenient food, selecting our clothes, buying our appliances, watching videos shared on Whats App and scanning through newspaper ads at home and billboards while driving to the office. On this daily journey, are we conscious how brands connect the dots each second, each hour that elapses through our senses?

What really turns us on, as customers, and truly satisfy us? Our business leaders tend to focus much attention on issues like mergers & acquisitions, business process reengineering, matching core-competencies with operational capabilities, defining matrix structures for effective knowledge-based organizations, profitability, productivity and efficiency which are essential…But we tend to be quite far from our customer-base and fail to listen to them attentively.

What really provides Value to customers? Value is provided simply by satisfying needs. In our modern world, where most consumers have met their basic needs for food, clothing and shelter, Value is and will be more and more provided by satisfying customer’s sophisticated aesthetic and experiential needs. Aesthetics Marketing and Experiential Branding is not an about esotery or mysticism! It’s just about the vitality of providing opportunities for organizations and brands alike to appeal to customers/end-users through a variety of sensory experiences and thus benefit both the customer and the organization though enhanced satisfaction and loyalty.

Of all so called management gurus, Tom Peters is the most sensitive www.tnemag.mu

51 to design management and aesthetics issues. In his book “Liberation Management”, he thus devotes an entire chapter to issues connected to design. He has compiled a list of 140 items, entitled “Design is…” : – An easy-to-use FedEx airbill – The formal position of the Chief Designer on the Corporate Organization Chart – Great Brochures – Part of everyday vocabulary throughout the organization.

The British Design Council has for instance taken a central role in integrating design management issues in all walks of Industry. As early as in the 90s, this organization stressed that design was an essential ingredient for competitiveness. What an intelligent link between Design Management and International Competitivity! This coordinated effort even acknowledges that innovation and creative activity is not only the realm of designers and creative people but belong to us all… The entire organization should be made aware of the language of design and aesthetics. The mission of the British Design Council reading as “To inspire the best use of design by the UK, in the world context, to improve prosperity and wellbeing” gives us an idea how things are taken seriously.

Esteem measures the degree to which the target audiences regard and respect a brand— in short, how well it is liked. When companies grow larger and become more mature, brand esteem becomes more and more important. Today, companies often use indirect experiential branding methods to build brand esteem. One way to do this is through the Internet and social networking websites, which raises the holistic element in any experiential branding strategy but also by using all senses in a holistic way. This highlights the needs to work with multi-disciplinary experts to implement a real holistic approach, not by cosmetic approaches, cosmetically termed 360° by agencies. A real 360° approach needs both offline and on-line brand integration. Not just slogans and wishful thinking…

We should also not forget that differentiation is a brand’s ability to stand apart from others, and to gain consumer choice, preference and loyalty. It is the degree to which consumers find a brand unique. A compelling and memorable brand experience can attract customers’ attention and maintain their interest, and therefore contribute to brand differentiation.

Olfactory branding, for instance a strong ‘differentiation’ component in branding has long been recognized as being one of the most powerful vector of bottom-line growth and brand loyalty booster in almost all industries.

Not only in retail environments but in corporate offices as well, where a number of psychological studies have proven a direct correlation with office scenting and increased productivity, morale and motivation.

Due to its direct link with the centers of memory, feeling and emotions through the limbic-cerebral system, scent marketing has proven to be very effective across all industries to glue the consumer to increased sales and the employee to better productivity. It is really a breakthrough, that thanks to brand consulting, an innovative company, Sensory Marketing Solution is in a position to propose signature scents for all kinds of brands operating in Mauritius and in Reunion.

If we want to connect deeply to our end-users, it is really key that we provide the right kind of experiences to them. This cannot happen by accident but by design only. This is why strategy is critical to make things happen. Without proper integration across the whole organization through proper brand consulting methodology, no holistic approach TRAINING & employment magazine

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52 in handling organizational issues is possible. This is the real meaning of Corporate Branding.

So, all boils down to strategy, and how in organizations, brands are taken seriously. Are brands being measured by a set of KPIs to be achieved by Brand Managers and Teams only? Or do we go some levels higher up in the organization itself? What is the weight given to the People component in Brands?

What do we have here in Mauritius?

Design and aesthetics should permeate all walks of our life in Mauritius if we want to be a country in tune with its time. But if we have a mere look at our external environments, we are very far from perfection! How landscaping, for example, is under-used. Just imagine the various species of plants and trees that could be used to beautify our public spaces, roadsides, roundabouts and parks â&#x20AC;&#x201C; supplying fresh oxygen to our polluted spaces, complementing shadows for pedestrians, refreshing the eyes of local residents and tourists alike! We are just now starting to have some bus-stop booths with some form of design. What about interiors of reception areas and office halls? In some places, you can really feel the importance of aesthetics and refinement, but at times, especially in the public sector, you are welcome, without any welcoming note, by a dull receptionist, without even a smile and a pot of artificial flower with dusted petals! We should be inspired with initiatives like Porlwi by light which was an interesting art & culture festival that hinted about the power of experience design.

The future is and will be: how holistic are we really able to handle our corporate and product brands alike? Are we ready for this Challenge?

Ashraf Oozeerally Brand Strategist & CEO OneEssence oneessencebrand@gmail.com www.one-essence.com OneEssence, a niche and boutique strategic brand consultancy has been founded by Ashraf Oozeerally in 2011 after years of expertise and complex deliveries in the field of branding since 1992. Ashraf has handled all kinds of brand-related challenges since then. With his 7 years exposure to consulting and corporate branding at DCDM from 1996-2003, he comes up with a unique integrated branding methodology, deepening its expertise by demonstrating the capability to handle any kind of challenge in any industry. He has most certainly handled the islandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first rebranding project when a top-of-mind ice cream brand was impacted with a bacteria! While classical advertising agencies could not come up to a proper solution, his integrated approach resulted in an increase in market share after a series of strategic solutions were implemented. Ashraf has also been spearheading and implementing experiential branding ( also known as sensory marketing ) since 2011 with a unique proprietary user-orgasmic experiential brand framework, integrating the 5 senses with spirituality â&#x20AC;&#x201C; all blended with an inside-out approach centered around People to create Power Brands. He has thus delivered major branding and re-branding/re-positioning/re-engineering projects like Polytol Paints ( 2011), BlancheBirger ( 2015) rebranding into Birger, Construction Industry Development Board ( 2016), Polytechnics Mauritius ( 2017), Fudz Delivery App ( 2018) and Sensory Marketing Solution ( 2019-20). OneEssence is in a unique position to use the brand as a platform to shift-paradigms and solve complex issues thanks to strategy & brand consulting with the collaboration of multi-disciplinary experts. He has also been initiating Nation Branding here, when in years 2000, he walked the talk with late Wally Olins, world recognized authority in the subject-matter ( founder of Wolf Olins and then Chairman of Saffron Consultants) by explaining various GOM departments about the need to stop sectoral marketing and create a nation-wide platform by shifting to Brand Mauritius.

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U

Udemy Secures $50 Million Investment from Long-time Partner, Benesse Holdings

demy, the largest global marketplace for learning and teaching online, announced today, the 19th of February 2020, that the company’s long-time partner in Japan, Benesse Holdings, Inc., has agreed to invest $50 million in Udemy with a valuation of $2 billion.

“Benesse is an important strategic partner for Udemy, and this investment is a testament to the strength of our relationship and the opportunity ahead of us,” said Gregg Coccari, CEO of Udemy.

“Access to the latest workplace skills is crucial for success everywhere, including Japan; and Udemy is the world’s largest marketplace enabling professional transformation. With this partnership, we envision a world where more people can continue to learn continuously throughout their lives,” said Tamotsu Adachi, Representative Director, President and CEO of Total Funding Raised Benesse Holdings Inc. “Udemy and Benesse are incredibly synergistic businesses. This investment is the

by Largest Global next progression in our business relationship and demonstrates our confidence in what we can Education Marketplace accomplish together.”

The funding round follows a Exceeds $200 Million year of considerable growth for the company globally. Udemy celebrated its ten-year anniversary in January 2020 and also marked over $350 million in lifetime payments to instructors sharing their knowledge on the global platform. The company plans to further invest in markets around the world and will expand its San Francisco headquarters as well as grow its offices in Denver, Colorado; Dublin, Ireland; Gurgaon, India; Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Ankara, Turkey. Udemy is represented by Roland Dubois Consulting Ltd in Mauritius.

In 2019, Udemy also grew its Udemy for Business subscription-based corporate learning product internationally with a fully localized product experience and new course collections in Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, and German, taught by native instructors. In addition, Learning Paths were introduced, enabling organizations to build personalized learning experiences to achieve specific outcomes, such as employee onboarding and career development. In 2019, Udemy for Business reached the milestone of serving over 5,000 corporate customers globally. Customers choosing to upskill their employees with Udemy for Business include Adidas, Booking.com, Pinterest, Toyota, and Wipro, among others.

About Udemy

With a mission to improve lives through learning, Udemy is the world’s largest online learning destination that helps students, businesses, and governments gain the skills they need to compete in today’s economy.

Millions of students are mastering new skills from 57,000 expert instructors teaching over 150,000 online courses in topics from programming and data science to leadership and team building. For companies, Udemy for Business offers an employee training and development platform with subscription access to 4,000+ courses, learning analytics, as well as the ability to host and distribute their own content. Udemy for Government is designed to upskill workers and prepare them for the jobs of tomorrow. Eighty percent of Fortune 100 companies trust Udemy for employee upskilling. Udemy is privately held and headquartered in San Francisco with offices in Denver, Brazil, India, Ireland, and Turkey. Udemy investors include Insight Partners, Prosus (Naspers Ventures), Norwest Venture Partners, and Stripes.

About Benesse

Benesse Group is guided by a corporate philosophy of “Benesse = Well-Being.” Benesse conducts business in the fields of domestic and global education, senior nursing care and childcare, and gives customers the support to make the best lifestyle choices – the ones that lead to the long-term betterment of their lives. In the 60 plus years since the founding in 1955, Benesse has accumulated knowledge in the fields of education and senior nursing care and has provided such services by developing close ties to the customers.

RDCL team TRAINING & employment magazine

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Representative of Udemy

Together We Design The Future.

WE ARE A CONSULTANCY FIRM SPECIALIZED IN TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT.

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