u|Chief October 2017 | South Africa edition

south africa EDITION

ENVER DUMINY, CEO, CAPE TOWN TOURISM

u |chief Issue 1 | October 2017

edito

The exciting thing about doing something different (innovating, blazing a trail, or taking an unexpected turn and carving out a new path) is that you don’t quite know where it will lead to‌ no matter how well you plan.

Breaking ne disruption.

travel debrief.

Illustration: Ruby Loftus Screwing a Breech Ring, a 1943 painting by the British painter Laura Knight (Wikimedia)

CONTENTS

So long, traditional employment

democratic republic of the congo

JON FOSTER-PEDLEY, dean and director of Henley Business School Africa, ponders our working future in the light of business sustainability, education and digital disruption

Photos: xxxxx

JONATHAN ROBINSON, founder of the Bean There Coffee Company, debriefs u|Chief on his recent trip to the DRC.

orial.

south africa EDITION u|chief

This new path you find yourself on could turn out to be boom or bust… or a continual stream of small failures and successes upon which you build a foundation capable of supporting a far bigger vision.

This is how it feels for us with u|Chief. We’re doing something different that we believe is fresh and exciting, yet in many ways it will feel reassuringly familiar to magazine readers.

Our new path is using the digital world to help spread the incredible knowledge and insight that great business minds and leaders have been willing to share with us.

The digital medium adds so much power to our world, as it enables incredible stories and great insight to be shared i n s t a n t l y r i g h t a c r o s s t h e g l o b e – a n d i t ’s t h r i l l i n g t o p l a y a part in developing this new world of communication.

ew ground intellectual property. manufacturing.

Securing revenue for your mental innovations

Sew it goes

Sumaiya De’Mar (Director of SA Fashion Law), shares her insights on the importance and opportunities in the world of patenting.

ZAID PHILANDER is on a mission to change the world one stitch at a t i m e , w r i t e s E U G E N E Y IG A .

Photo: EBEN Photography

social media.

When not sharing is caring S O F U T U R E L EA D E R G N A LS WAR N I N G T C O U R T V E R D I CT S I

With social media all around us, the founder and CEO of leading executive search firm Jack Hammer, DEBBIE GOODMAN-BHYAT sounds a warning on social media sharing

Our mission is to provide a

Ne

canvas on which leaders and pioneers around the world can share their stories, discoveries and insights with the rest of the g l o b a l c o m m u n i t y. S o m e o f o u r content might be mainstream, while other content will be edi-

education.

Sculpting Africa’s Future Leaders

torial that the print media would never have the luxury of publishing. We believe this fresh content can make a major difference to readers and leaders alike.

As an independent publication, our

T h e S i f i s o Le a r n i n g G ro u p s e e ks to b e t h e l e a d i n g

role is to serve as a mouthpiece for

n e w - a g e l e a r n i n g g ro u p i n Af r i c a , w i t h g l o b a l re a c h t h ro u g h t h e p o r t fo l i o o f b ra n d s t h a t i t o p e ra te s .

Sizwe Nxasana

coding.

t h e b r o a d e r b u s i n e s s c o m m u n i t y, a s w e l l a s n i c h e m a r k e t s . To a c h i e v e this, we will share stories and insight that busy leaders really want to read

Coding's call to arms

when they put aside their valuable time for reading… not what marketers w a n t y o u t o r e a d o r k n o w.

With Africa Code Week a month away, we dug deep into the world of coding with CLAIRE GILLISSEN-DUVAL, the Co-Founder and Global Lead of Africa Code Week.

Leaders today need to be inform-

Claire Gillissen-Duval

ed and knowledgeable about so much women leaders.

retail.

Pushing boundaries as a woman in leadership

How technology is driving retail

in Africa

Photos: xxxxx

LISA ANTONOPOULOS, the new COO at Mediterranean Delicacies, shares her insight into the challenges facing women in leadership positions.

Illustration: Thinkstock

ARSHAD ABBA, the South African MD responsible for Africa and joint Vice-President of Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Canback, reports on how the digital era is changing the ways and means of retail across Africa.

The Economist Intelligence Unit report, how technology is driving retail in Africa, describes how e-commerce is changing retail in Africa. The rapid change in the retail landscape is creating a greater availability of products that were not easily accessible in the past and will affect companies’ ability to win in Africa.

travel debrief.

mentors.

Mentor & mentee

ew york city

Phumeza Mgxashe, the new Business Developer for Partners for Possibility, shares her experience of the mentor / mentee relationship.

REACHING PEOPLE.

How I got into their minds

finance & retail.

ANDY HADFIELD, CEO of www.forgood.co.za, tells u|Chief how to build something that customers want, need and use.

C l i v e B u t k o w, C E O o f K a l o n Ve n t u r e P a r t n e r s

ENVER DUMINY, CEO, Cape Town Tourism, debriefs u|Chief on his recent trip to NYC.

Kalon Venture Partners and the Smollan Group have invested R14m in tech startup SnapnSave

Cash in on coupons

m o r e b e c a u s e w e a r e p a r t o f a n e v e r- e x p a n d i n g g l o b a l c o m m u n i t y. T h e y n e e d t o h a v e m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n a n d i n s i g h t a b o u t the rest of the world and the people and opportunities out t h e r e . T h a t ’s w h y w e w a n t t o t h r o w u p d i f f e r e n t o p i n i o n s t o challenge you, and diverse insights to help you lear n more about people on the other side of the fence.

W i t h t h e c o n s t a n t s t r e a m o f f a k e n e w s s w a m p i n g u s , i t ’s a l s o vital to have a clear view on local and international matters, markets and consumers. Fake news of some sort has been w i t h u s t h r o u g h o u t h i s t o r y, b u t t h e d i g i t a l w o r l d i s s p e e d i n g up the spread of this viral plague, and it is creating confusion a s w e l l a s c h a n g i n g t h e c o u r s e o f h i s t o r y. u|Chief hopes to play a small role in speeding up our ability to identify what is and isn’t fake in order that we can see the big

We want to share with you the conversations with knowledge leaders you don't have time for.

disruption.

picture clearly (for ourselves) rather than blindly toeing the

Disrupting the SME Finance Space

party line. Sheep stay close together to protect themselves from the wolves waiting in the darkness… but the opposite

Cre ec for m de m

Retail Capital, a firm that provides working capital to entrepreneurs, is disrupting the SME finance space.

It is introducing game-changing technology enabling many small businesses to access funding for the first time.

Karl Westvig

How the king claimed

“wolves” like us to stay close

Yasee EMGuid rap

together and not break from insurance.

the herd, and they use party lines and fake news to keep us in line.

I believe that the power of digital

|

the throne In the Game of Insurance, a young prince is challenging the staus quo… and building a new empire. u|Chief held court with Gideon Galloway, CEO and Founder of King Price.

disruption and innovation will help to continually break down barriers and monopolies to create a world of incredible freedom, prosperity and social evolution… but what remains unanswered is how the wolves

make yourself heard.

Overcoming the fear of public speaking

is true for humans. The human

Many talented people with expert skills or knowledge would rather die than stand up and speak in public.

However, a simple four-step programme might be all that stands in their way of speaking out and being heard, writes EUGENE YIGA.

themselves will use disruption and innovation for their own ambitions.

Artificial intelligence could be a key p l a y e r i n t h i s s t r u g g l e , a n d i t ’s g o i n g to be fascinating to witness this battle unfold.

Photo: Thinkstock

for the youth.

Builder of.. hope The need to develop an entrepreneurial culture at school level is crucial to future economic growth and social upliftment, writes NELLY MOFOKENG, Managing Director of JA South Africa

Why u|Chief?

We hate the word “boss”, and even “leader” can carry negative connotations. Chief is a title that sounds m o r e i n c l u s i v e , a n d t h a t ’s t h e o n e drum we are happy to beat: as a g l o b a l c o m m u n i t y, w e s h o u l d s t r i v e

g

healthcare.

funding.

INSEAD is the number one school in the Financial Times G l o b a l M B A r a n k i n g s , a n d i t ’s b e e n a t o p - r a n k e d s c h o o l f o r

eating an cosystem r improved medical ecisionmaking

l o n g e r t h a n t h a t . I t a t t r a c t s s o m e o f t h e w o r l d ’s m o s t t a l e n t e d business minds and accepts the best of the best. So, when he was accepted to the programme, Cameron Stevens couldn’t figure out why it was so difficult to secure an educational loan to attend.

It was a struggle. Banks in South Africa weren’t prepared to lend him more than the amount a local MBA would cost – and t h a t ’s i f t h e y w e r e c o m f o r t a b l e w i t h i t a l l . T h r o u g h y e a r s o f e x perience, banks aren’t prepared to extend financing to people w h o w i l l i m m e d i a t e l y l e a v e t h e c o u n t r y w i t h t h e m o n e y.

To p b u s i n e s s s c h o o l o r n o t , i n t e r n a t i o n a l g r a d s t u d e n t s struggle to secure the financial investment into their future.

Lamenting this situation, Cameron founded Prodigy Finance w i t h I N S E A D c o l l e a g u e s . N o w i n i t s t e n t h y e a r, t h i s c o m p a ny crowd sources funding; its student loans are collectively Cameron Stevens

Funding the next leg

cybersecurity.

Prodigy Finance helps post-grads fund international degrees. But it’s more than a loan provider – it’s a community, says founder and CEO Cameron Stevens.

en Khan, Chief Executive Officer at dance, highlights the urgent need for pid changes in local healthcare.

The online shepherd

funded by a community of alumni, institutional investors and qualified private investors who receive both a financial and social retur n.

Students gain access to higher education that they might not otherwise be able to finance. This model enables alumni of top schools to help fund students from their alma mater or home country while ear ning a financial retur n.

cloud computing.

And, for 84 percent of Prodigy Finance-funded students, it was the only way to continue their education as they had no alter native sources of educational financing.

Ta r i r o G o r o n g a i s o n e s u c h s t u d e n t . Z i m b a b w e a n - b o r n , h e

No more excuses

Living in an age of constant connectivity both personally and professionally also comes with a downside: increased security risks.

In fact, the number of cybersecurity attacks increases every year and research has shown that the cost of cybercrimes quadrupled between 2013 and 2015 – with those numbers falling anywhere between $400 billion and $500 billion during that time.

R O Y A LV E S o f A x i s C o m m u n i c a t i o n s S o u t h A f r i c a s h a r e s h i s

LO U I S KO E N , t h e H e a d o f C r i m s o n L i n e ,

thoughts on why developing an effective cybersecurity strategy

c a u t i o n s t h a t t h e re a re s i m p l y n o m o re

for the era of interconnectivity is important.

exc u s e s fo r n ot m o v i n g y o u r b u s i n e s s i nto t h e c l o u d .

Photos: Thinkstock

How smart workers

sa wine industry.

Photo: Thinkstock

human resources.

It is no secret that the world of work is shifting, and that individuals need to prepare for this changing landscape if they want their skills to remain in demand. And the way to do so, is to b e c o m e a S M A R T w o r k e r, s a y s employment expert Georgina Barrick.

Georgin

can

k a Barric “W ithin the next decade – and we are already seeing this happening to some degree – the traditional employer/employee relationship will be largely a thing of the past,” says Georgina Barrick, MD of Cassel&Co, Insource ICT and IT Edge – the specialised recruitment agencies of ADvTECH Resourcing f o c u s i n g o n F i n a n c e , A c c o u n t i n g a n d I T.

future-proof their career prospects advertising.

She says that by 2030, historical workplace structures will overwhelmingly have been replaced by the concept of workers as consultants and their own bosses, who sell their services to client companies.

“As we move away from the idea of the employee working for o n e c o m p a n y, d e p e n d i n g o n t h a t c o m p a n y f o r e v e r y t h i n g f r o m their salary to the promise that they will in all likelihood be able to rely on that company for a safe and ongoing income, individuals need to understand how they can navigate the workplace market in the not-so-distant future,” says Barrick.

S o u t h A f r i c a ’s c u r r e n t e c o n o m i c s l u m p m e a n s c o m p a n i e s a r e

Age of the ‘agency of return’ is here

t i g h t e n i n g t h e i r b e l t s , l o o k i n g f o r w a y s t o o p t i m i s e t h e i r o p e rAnd this is where being SMART comes in. ations and make sure all their strategic efforts reflect positive-

travel debrief.

The advertising industry has shifted from

a focus on beautiful campaigns to driving for h i g h R O I s , s a y s N X T C E O Wa y n e L e v i n e

Land of fine wines?

ly on the bottom line.

W ithin this milieu, the traditional Agency of Record model has begun to make way for the Agency of Return, or strateg i c b r a n d p a r t n e r, w h o u n d e r s t a n d s t h a t w h i l e b r a n d s w o r k with many stakeholders, what they really need is a single view that gives them a no-nonsense understanding of which efforts yield the best retur n on investment (ROI).

N X T C E O , Wa y n e L e v i n e , s a y s w h i l e t r a d i t i o n a l a g e n c i e s m i g h t create beautiful campaigns, brands are often left in the dark when it comes to ROI. “More than ever before, they need to know whether their campaigns worked and how many sales can accurately be attributed to their efforts.”

NXT is a digital innovation business that has worked on renowned brands for the past 10 years. The vision for the business is to harness lessons learnt over the last decade to inform the future and the next level of digital innovation in enhancing its understanding of consumer behaviour and digital customer engagement.

H a v i n g s p e n t s e v e r a l y e a r s w o r k i n g w i t h S o u t h A f r i c a ’s l e a d ing agencies, they have married what they have learnt in the advertising and agency world with their technical expertise.

words of wisdom.

South Africans pride themselves on the superb wines that are produced locally. u|Chief wanted a more balanced view of the industry, so we spoke to Murray Giggins, a former South African wine industry CEO now working Down Under.

the happy workplace.

Nurturing a culture of enabled employees

For any organisation to succeed, it is key that the people who breathe life into its daily operations are truly enabled employees as this helps to create a culture that leads to happy employees and, as a result, business success has a greater chance of growing.

The concept is so simple and it can be applied equaly to a multi-Billion dollar company as well as a small start up… yet, astoundingly, so many organisations fail to implement such a culture.

Levine says a marketing budget is an investment in a brand. ‘ S e n s i b l e i n t e l l i g e n c e a r o u n d K n o w i n g Yo u r C u s t o m e r s h o u l d dictate how it is most effectively spent. And this is where e n r i c h m e n t v e r s u s a t t r i b u t i o n c o m e s i n t o p l a y.

Trevor Raman, President and CEO of Saab Grintek Defence, shares his insight into creating just such an environment.

Cutting through the

ghana Photo: Hillary Lane

Blind inspirational speaker, workshop facilitator and author LOIS STRACHAN debriefs u|Chief on her recent trip to Ghana.

When it comes to helping her clients with rebuilding, rebranding or rebirthing their products, services or business as a whole, CHANTEL OPPELT doesn’t take prisoners and she definitely doesn’t suffer fools.

And the graduates from her academy love her for it.

justice.

to include others and to profit from the power of diversity as well as the benefits that arise from having a d i v e r s e e c o n o m y, s o c i e t y a n d e v e n Mwangi Githahu spoke to South Africa’s Chief Justice, Mogoeng Mogoeng, about the importance of South Africa’s judiciary and laws for Africa and the rest of the world Photo: SA

diverse teams.

Government Communications

Why the “u” before Chief?

An example of South African exceptionalism to be proud of

u|Chief has been designed as a

words of wisdom.

magazine for “you” as a leader (aka a c h i e f ) . W h e t h e r y o u ’ re a F o r t u n e 5 0 0 C E O , a m i d d l e - m a n a g e r, t h e o w n e r o f an SMME, a wannabe business owner or business tycoon, or even a stay-at-

Human Resources consultant ANDREW SONNENBERG digs deep into the pitfalls facing corporations that lack transformational leaders.

Photo: Thinkstock

Organisational doubt & fear

h o m e p a re n t , w e ’ v e c re a t e d a m i x o f content we hope you will find insightful as well as valuable in your life and your work.

disruption.

The mix of content in u|Chief is quite

The

internet

w i d e a n d d i v e r s e b u t , a s a l e a d e r,

solutions

range of insight and knowledge.

i t ’s v i t a l t o h a v e a w i d e a n d d i v e r s e

of

Go chief!

Vinny Perumal is the Managing Director of Macrocomm, a telecoms and technology company that develops smart solutions through IOT.

«

Simon Lewis | Editor the disruptor.

cybersecurity.

Firehorse Media’s MERCÉDES WESTBROOK knows firsthand about running with change.

How to build data security into digital communication

As a managing editor in the custom publishing industry for over 20 years we were aware that disruptions that were coming, first by the whole greening awareness movement… imports, paper and printing costs shot up and there was a call f o r l e s s p r i n t i n g g e n e r a l l y. T h e d i g i t a l a g e d i s r u p t i o n f o c u s s e d in very sharply following that – in less than four years, the magazine industry had to reinvent itself and offer tandem products to market such as websites, content aggregators, online directories, digital magazines and apps.

Miss Reinvention

The digital world has given us incredible freedom, but we cannot afford to let our guard down for a cyber second, writes Striata SA’s Stergios Saltas

To d a y a n y o n e c a n p u b l i s h t h e i r o w n m a g a z i n e , b o o k o r m a r k e t their brand on multiple platforms from their personal desk at home. Simply everyone has the opportunity to be a publisher o r b r a n d m a r k e t e r. M y 1 2 - y e a r- o l d s h o o t s , e d i t s a n d p o s t s h i s s k a t e b o a r d i n g c l i p s t o h i s o w n Yo u Tu b e c h a n n e l . I h e a r d h i m telling his friend how long the video needs to be so he can get advertising possibilities with it. He is perhaps the youngest marketer I know and those sales orders won’t be coming through a fax machine either; he doesn’t even know what a fax machine is.

When I consider the cost of print advertising and the time it took to produce a 100-page print magazine, and where editorial space was always an issue, I am loving the immediacy of the web and where there are no restrictions to publishing parameters, bar societal legalities.

W e u s e d t o t a l k a b o u t t h e s h e l f - l i f e o f t h e c l i e n t ’s a d v e r t i s e ment in a magazine, now you can’t get rid of information post-

Photos: Thinkstock

the disruptor. mentors.

Eleanor scott tale of the mentor Eleanor Scott has been a business coach and mentor for more than 25 years and today mentors and coaches business executives, therapists and ‘developing’ leaders in organizations.

She also mentors Nu Skin leaders and distributors on a daily basis.

ProsperiProp’s LLEW MORKEL looks back on a life of disruption I grew up in Boksburg, and started developing software when I was only 13 years old. The first application I created was for a school project, which I developed in GW-Basic. I remember being one of only two students that submitted their project on a floppy disc. Everyone else handed in printed or handwritten documents.

A disruptor was born.

At 16 I started my commerce education. I found a job as a casual employee at JET stores in Boksburg, and spent every weekend and school holiday for the next three years unp a c k i n g s t o c k , f o l d i n g c l o t h e s o r m a n n i n g a c a s h r e g i s t e r. I lear ned about retail and customers and the value of a hard d a y ’s w o r k .

After school I studied marketing at first, but soon found out that it wasn’t my passion. I left university and started work for a n I n t e r n e t S e r v i c e s P r o v i d e r – o n e o f t h e f i r s t i n t h e c o u n t r y.

It was the Bacher brothers who inspired my entrepreneurial spirit. And, my experience with the Internet helped me land a

Llew Morkel

ceo focus.

job at a major bank, working in its Internet banking division.

O u r t e a m ’s m a n d a t e w a s t o c h a n g e t h e w o r l d o f b a n k i n g ; f i n tech in its infancy!

I qualified as Java software developer and created some of t h e c o u n t r y ’s f i r s t m o b i l e a p p s . B a c k t h e n i t u s e d t o b e t h a t sleek little Nokia 6110 that shimmered in the sunlight. We created a property listing application that worked on the Sony Ericsson P800. The app could take pictures and upload the

travel debrief.

Is there any ideal preparation or lear ning a prospective or aspirant CEO should focus on?

My industry experience is what has given me the tools to build M o s a i c . H a v i n g s p e n t a l o n g c a r e e r i n t h e f i x e d i n c o m e m a rket, I really understand my clients’ needs and we have been able to build a product which is specifically catered to them.

It might sound simple, but there really isn’t any substitute to knowing your clients.

If someone reading this is thinking about setting up their own c o m p a n y, e s p e c i a l l y i n t h e e n t e r p r i s e s p a c e , I w o u l d s a y, spend some time working for your prospective clients. In any business, but especially finance, there are always extra pain points and road blocks that you can only really spot from the inside and it will save you a lot of time and energy if you know them before you build your product.

Starting a company looks easy from the outside but can be enormously challenging. I’ve focused most particularly

What makes an ideal CEO? Heading up Mosaic, my job is twofold. I need to be able to

on the timing of launching our new software and ensuring

articulate our vision, what we stand for and what we offer our

‘product-market fit’. This is an iterative process and requires

c l i e n t s . T h e n , b e h i n d t h e s c e n e s , i t ’s m y j o b t o b u i l d a n d l e a d

relentless dedication to find the exact pain point your

the best team to deliver that vision.

When we started Mosaic a lot of the core team were people who I had worked with for a long time in my previous roles, so I knew that they were the best of the best and were on t h e s a m e p a g e i n t e r m s o f w h a t w e a r e t r y i n g t o a c h i e v e . Yo u cannot buy trust and so selecting people who you’ve had prior experience with and who you know both professionally and p e r s o n a l l y, r e a l l y m a k e s t h e d i f f e r e n c e . A s w e g r o w, p a r t o f t h e challenge is to select the right people to keep that culture of excellence and singularity of purpose going.

Matthew hodgson P O S I T IO N C E O , M o s a i c S m a r t D at a LO C AT IO N U n i t e d K i n g d o m

chicago,, USA PETER KOWALSKI, MD of Formfunc Studio, debriefs u|Chief on his recent trip to Chicago.

Photos: Pixabay

travel debrief.

united states of america

mentoring.

KAREL VERMEULEN, serial entrepreneur and founder of Lubrimaxxx (one of the world’s best personal lubricants), debriefs u|Chief on his recent trip to the USA.

Bronwyn Dugtig, the Head of Community Engagement at Monash South Africa, is the global winner of the McGuire Business Plan Competition

Mentor champion

travel debrief.

travel debrief.

san francisco

turkey Photos: Marion Kate

Travel blogger (and The Girl in Blue Jeans) MARION KATE, debriefs u|Chief on her recent trip to Turkey.

Photos: Julia Ahlfeldt

JULIA AHLFELDT, a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP, debriefs u|Chief on her recent trip to San Francisco.

u |chief Editor

Simon Lewis Writers

René Carayol Eugene Yiga Mwangi Githahu Unathi Nkanjeni Gill Lewis Design Simon Lewis Images Thinkstock Pixabay Pexels Editorial submissions?

Send your ideas to editor@uchief.co.za Advertising enquiries sales@uchief.co.za 021 712 4317 082 065 8569

w w w. u c h i e f . c o . z a This u|Chief Softmag© is published by The Free Range w w w. f r e e r a n g e . c o . z a Wa n t y o u r o w n S o f t m a g © ?

Email simon@freerange.co.za

Illustration: Ruby Loftus Screwing a Breech Ring, a 1943 painting by the British painter Laura Knight (Wikimedia)

disruption.

So long, traditional employment JON FOSTER-PEDLEY, Dean and Director of Henley Business School Africa, ponders our working future in the light of business sustainability, education and digital disruption

T h e d i g i t a l d i s r u p t i o n w o r l d i s u p o n u s a n d i t ’s g o i n g t o t a k e away a lot of traditional employment. It is going to force us to think about the kind of future that we want to create for our children and ourselves, providing us with unique opportunities to change our lives in fundamental ways.

It is difficult to try to hold the tide of digital disruption and globalisation because countries will slide into un-competitiven e s s . Yo u c a n ’ t h o l d t h e w a t e r s b a c k j u s t b y s a y i n g I d o n ’ t l i k e the inconvenience of digital structures changing. Before long, other countries will be better connected, have better access to information and create better business growth processes. And countries that are not using that, face the risk of sliding into oblivion and irrelevance.

We have to create a society or country that is going to make information a priority.

Countries need to be building their skills to be competitive, which if not done, will result in a population of people who are u n d e r- e d u c a t e d a n d n o t g e a r e d f o r t h e g l o b a l a n d c h a n g i n g j o b market. What also happens is that you will find other people, especially young people, who are embracing change, will be using digital media in a creatively and disruptive way in business and changing how things are being done.

In the future, more work will be available for those who know how to create, operate and maintain digital technologies while other job roles will become redundant. W ith the potential to c r e a t e c o n s i d e r a b l e u n e m p l o y m e n t g l o b a l l y, w e n e e d t o f i n d

alternative ways for people to put food on the table and enjoy a quality life. W ithout this we are going to face new forms of global crises.

Learning Digital connectedness is also changing the educational landscape and challenging business schools and other learning institutions to relook at their value proposition. W ith information so widely available on the Inter net and thousands of free online courses, learning institutions can no longer be places where people just sit in a classroom and listen to an expert.

Learning institutions need to transform themselves into spaces o f e n g a g e m e n t a n d d e b a t e , p l a c e s w h e re t h e re a re n o c l e a r a n swers, but rather multiple perspectives. They must be in places w h e re p e o p l e c o m e t o l e a r n t o i n t e r p re t i n f o r m a t i o n a n d u s e knowledge to make sense of conflicting opinions. Having these s k i l l s a re e s s e n t i a l f o r b u s i n e s s i n t h e d i g i t a l a g e .

To c o n t i n u e , y o u m u s t e d u c a t e p e o p l e . S o m e t h i n g m u s t b e d o n e a b o u t i m p r o v i n g p e o p l e ’s s k i l l s a r o u n d t h e s u b j e c t o f digital disruption. There are more than just basic skills such a s b a s i c l a b o u r, b a s i c m i n i n g , a n d b a s i c a g r i c u l t u r e . W e n e e d to understand the effects of new communication methods, and how digital media can be used. One of the biggest challenges is that people have generalised information. Anyone can have general information, but companies need to understand that this can be destroyed by the disruptive revolution.

How eve r, w e s h ou ld n o t f e a r t h i s b e c a u se , a s soon a s pe ople are fea r fu l t h e y b eco m e c o n s e r v a t i v e . T h e s o l u t ion is t o e duc a t e peo p le on h ow to u s e d i g i t a l a s se t s t o b u i l d a de v e loping c ountry. We h ave t o fin d wa y s t o o r g a n i se o u r s e l v e s, use funding

more eff ect iv e ly, w as t e m o n e y l e s s, b u i l d a s se t s, a nd sa v e mone y by n ot i m p or t in g t h in g s t h a t c a n b e s u b s t i t u t e d l oc a lly.

If leaders are to think long term, they need to buy into and commit to education. This starts early in schools by giving children access to decent information and simple computers to do information projects. This is because the value of technology in disruptive education (ie education that is up to ten times m o r e c o s t e f f e c t i v e ) f a c i l i t a t e s g l o b a l i n t e r a c t i o n . Yo u c a n n o w c o n n e c t c o u n t r i e s l i k e I t a l y, U S A , W e s t A f r i c a , o r E u r o p e i n t o a single classroom.

Digital disruption can be used for good or bad. What you can’t do is to stop this from happening.

Yo u c a n a c c e s s i n f o r m a t i o n a n d d a t a t h a t i s a l s o c h e a p . T h i s m e a n s t h a t c h i l d re n n e e d t o h a v e e a s i e r a c c e s s t o t h i s i n f o r m a t i o n . I t w i l l a l l o w c h i l d re n t o m o re e a s i l y u n d e r s t a n d m a r k e t i n g , accessing information on international markets, communicate with people, attracting investment, and develop new ideas. This will help young people learn and invent things. What digital t e c h n o l o g y a l l o w s y o u t o d o i s t o b e a c c o u n t a b l e a n d t a k e re sponsibility at an early age to develop your own ideas.

D i g i t a l d i s r u p t i o n w i l l re s u l t i n a m o re s o p h i s t i c a t e d a n d g l o b a l o r i e n t a t i o n t o w a rd s p o l i t i c s a n d b u s i n e s s m a n a g e m e n t . F o r Africa, we have to find means of connecting with other people, w h e t h e r i t ’s i n C h i n a , t h e U S o r E u ro p e , a n d l e a r n l e s s o n s f ro m t h e m . D i g i t a l e d u c a t i o n c re a t e s m o re d e m o c r a t i s a t i o n i n a c o u n t r y a n d t h a t i s re a l l y g o o d n e w s b e c a u s e i t a l l o w s y o u r c h i l d re n

a n d y o u r c h i l d re n ’s c h i l d re n t o h a v e b e t t e r o p p o r t u n i t i e s .

There are massive education opportunities available by going to the many online resources now available resulting in more ideas flowing in. The downside is that it can be more challenging to establish because of regimes in some countries, which still want to have a monopolistic control over digital resources. Economies that have embraced digital disruption such as Rwanda, are driving a number of initiatives that have increased the amount of available lear ning information, buildi n g e m p l o y m e n t , a n d e m p o w e r i n g p e o p l e e c o n o m i c a l l y, i f n o t y e t p o l i t i c a l l y.

T h e r e a r e m o d e l s t h a t w e n e e d t o l o o k a t . I f w e l o o k a t Ta i wan and South Korea, these are strong political countries that have managed their economies effectively and more or less d e m o c r a t i c a l l y. F o r y o u t o e d u c a t e p e o p l e q u i c k e r, y o u t h e leader needs to be educated or at a minimum to fully understand the power of education. What is needed is a good education system and critical thinking. On balance, digital disruption, like any tool, can be used for good or bad. What you can’t do is to stop this from happening.

connect with jon Jon Foster-Pedley is a Dean, strategist, educator, education designer, speaker, entrepreneur, international business executive, academic and consultant. Director of MBAs and numerous leadership and executive programmes, he is a specialist in strategy, creativity, innovation and executive education. www.fosterpedley.com www.henleysa.ac.za

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customer experience.

Mitigate market disruption

by

maximizing customer experience

As industries across the board find themselves having to transform to keep up with a digital e c o n o m y, c u s t o m e r e x p e r i e n c e ( C X ) i s p l a y i n g a significant role in providing businesses with opportunities for innovation and s u s t a i n a b i l i t y, w r i t e s c e r t i f i e d c u s t o m e r experience professional (CCXP) Julia Ahlfeldt.

Over the past 18 months, CEOs have been waking up to the fact that they need to more actively listen to their customers and manage their experiences, in no small part due to the aggressive emergence of disruptors to their traditional markets.

For those willing to listen, there is no shortage of data to work with. Social media for instance has given every customer a megaphone and brought to light experience issues that may have previously gone unheard. Big data and analytics tools h a v e a l s o e v o l v e d , e n a b l i n g b u s i n e s s e s t o g a t h e r, c o n s o l i d a t e and more meaningfully understand their customers’ experience of their product or service.

W h i l e s t i l l i n i t s i n f a n c y, A r t i f i c i a l i n t e l l i g e n c e ( A I ) i s a l s o i n c re a s i n g l y p l a y i n g a ro l e i n g a t h e r i n g i n s i g h t a s w e l l a s e n a b l i n g c u s t o m e r s t o re s o l v e t h e i r o w n p ro b l e m s , o f t e n v i a c h a t b o t s .

Dealing with data: Boon or bust While the influx of data can be a boon, it can just as easily be a bane, overwhelming customer support teams and causing an array of reactions.

Julia Ahlfeldt

While some companies stick their heads in the sand, others provide half-hearted responses to their customers on social media. Neither is advised.

Rather assess incoming feedback, understand it, and use the insights to affect improvements to both business processes and customer experiences. This also needs to come from the t o p , w h e r e a n o r g a n i s a t i o n ’s l e a d e r s h i p r e c o g n i s e s t h e v a l u e and power of becoming customer centric, and acknowledges the danger of failing to do so.

Nobody knows where the next disruptor will come from, and by the time a new threat starts accruing market share, it may be too late to respond. This is a particularly worrisome risk for larger businesses that are often less agile than their small and medium counterparts.

T h o s e t h a t c a n s u c c e s s f u l l y l e v e r a g e t h e i r d a t a t o u n d e rstand their customers’ experiences will find themselves better equipped to react to, and even mitigate, the impact of a disr u p t o r t o t h e i r m a r k e t a l t o g e t h e r.

Companies often have a great deal of rich information at their fingertips that just needs to be consolidated and evaluated w i t h i n t h e c o n t e x t o f t h e c u s t o m e r j o u r n e y. G a t h e r i n g d a t a a n d making sense of it is thus an essential first step. Insights then need to be translated into real world actions.

Tw o m i s t a k e s m a n y b u s i n e s s e s m a k e a r e t h a t t h e y e i t h e r a ) chase symptoms rather than address underlying causes, or b) approach improving the customer experience as a once-off project vs. an ongoing activity that must be integrated into their business.

Landscape shift Customers themselves are also impacting change. Businesses are now dealing with considerably more tech-savvy consumers, ranging from millennials – notorious for being intolerant of inefficiency – to baby boomers who have become more c o m f o r t a b l e w i t h o n l i n e s h o p p i n g a n d t e c h n o l o g y. B o t h g r o u p s need to be catered to in a way that is consistent and true to a b r a n d ’s p r o m i s e , r e g a r d l e s s o f c h a n n e l .

Across all segments, customers are increasingly willing to resolve simple problems themselves too. This means that, when customers do contact a call centre, the query is likely to be complex, and the person on the other end must be suitably proficient in terms of skills, knowledge and ability to address the concern. Even as AI takes over some of the simpler customer queries, it will likely be used to handle second and third tier customer resolutions in due course too.

Know thy customer So how can businesses stay ahead of this inevitable disruption? Mapping the customer jour ney to create a picture of t h e c o m p a n y ’s l o n g t e r m r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h t h e c u s t o m e r i s a vital start. With this added customer context, turning to big data to glean insights then also becomes more viable; a move t h a t c a n e n h a n c e a b u s i n e s s ’s a g i l i t y t o i n n o v a t e a n d r e m a i n competitive in an increasingly untraditional and unpredictable environment.

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connect with julia Julia Ahlfeldt is a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) who consults to bluechip and multi-national CEOs. www.julia-ahlfeldt.com

C l i v e B u t k o w, C E O o f K a l o n Ve n t u r e P a r t n e r s

finance

Kalon Venture Partners and the Smollan Group have invested R14m in tech startup SnapnSave

& retail.

Cash in on coupons

Bright future for discount vouchers K a l o n Ve n t u re P a r t n e r s ( f o r m e r l y G ro t e c h ) a n d S m o l l a n G ro u p S A b o t h a c q u i re d a m i n o r i t y s t a k e i n S o u t h A f r i c a ’s f a s t e s t g ro w i n g s h o p p i n g c o m m u n i t y, S n a p n S a v e . K a l o n ( a v e n t u re c a p i t a l f u n d ) a n d S m o l l a n G ro u p ( a l e a d i n g i n t e r n a t i o n a l re t a i l s o l u tions business) invested R7 million each. SnapnSave, founded b y M a r k B r a d s h a w, i s S o u t h A f r i c a ’s l e a d i n g c a s h b a c k c o u p o n a p p t h a t g i v e s s h o p p e r s c a s h b a c k o n t h e i r f a v o u r i t e p ro d u c t s , w h e re v e r t h e y s h o p , b y s n a p p i n g a p h o t o o f t h e i r t i l l s l i p .

The launch of SnapnSave comes in the wake of a surging global trend that will see over one billion people globally expected to use digital coupons by 2019. “Mobile-based coupons are part of the daily shopping habits of Europeans and Americans.

Now we’re seeing this trend emerge in South Africa with over 15% of SA smartphone owners already having used a digital coupon. Consumers love saving money and with the state of the economy they are looking at ways to put real cash back i n t o t h e i r o w n p o c k e t s , ” s a y s S n a p n S a v e C E O M a r k B r a d s h a w.

In just over 18 months, SnapnSave has already given SA shoppers over R3.5m cash back into their bank accounts and is about to reach 200 000 app installs. The funding will help grow the app downloads to 500 000 in South Africa within a year and will support entry into Asian and African regional markets: Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam, as well as Nigeria, Kenya a n d a N o r t h A f r i c a n c o u n t r y. S n a p n S a v e w i l l e n t e r t h e s e m a rk e t s v i a S m o l l a n ’s n e t w o r k w h i c h i s p r e s e n t i n m o r e t h a n 5 0 countries and provide services to over 500 000 retailers.

“Our till slip technology means shoppers can get cashback wherever they shop simply by taking a till slip selfie. The tech is all enabled without any till point integration that as a result

means the product can easily scale into markets without any b a r r i e r s , ” a d d s B r a d s h a w. “ W e a r e e x c i t e d a b o u t t h e i n v e s t m e n t a n d i t s g r o w t h o p p o rt u n i t i e s l o c a l l y, i n t o A f r i c a a n d g l o b a l l y, ” s a y s K a l o n C E O C l i v e B u t k o w. T h e i n v e s t m e n t f o r m s p a r t o f K a l o n s ’ s t r a t e g y t o position itself as the preeminent venture capital company in Africa, investing in disruptive digital technologies solving A f r i c a n p r o b l e m s . T h i s a c q u i s i t i o n s t r e n g t h e n s K a l o n ’s c o m mitment to investing in South African entrepreneurs who are disrupting various industries. The fund has raised R90m to date and aims to raise a further R160m by March 2018.

T h r o u g h S e c t i o n 1 2 J Ve n t u r e C a p i t a l C o m p a n i e s s u c h a s Kalon, the SA government aims to stimulate the economy and promote investment in SMEs while providing tax benefits to investors. The tax relief is potentially 45% for individuals and trusts and 28% for companies, which mitigates the investment risk and significantly enhances the potential retur n. Kalon is targeting retur ns of more than 30% per annum and a minimum of five times the money invested over five to seven-years.

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Kalon Venture Partners is a venture capital fund set up under the Section 12J venture capital tax incentive where investors receive a 100% deduction of their investment from their taxable income. Kalon’s board and investment committee consists of tech leaders and entrepreneurs such as, Gil Oved, a dragon in the launch series of Dragons Den, a shark on the South African version of Shark Tank and co-founder of The Creative Counsel, South Africa’s largest advertising agency and Romeo Khumalo, the former COO of Vodacom who now runs his own investment company. Romeo was also a shark on Shark Tank. www.kalonvp.com

ret

How technology is driving retail

in Africa

ARSHAD ABBA, the South African MD responsible for Africa and joint Vice-President of Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Canback, reports on how the digital era is changing the ways and means of retail across Africa.

tail.

A report by The Economist Intelligence Unit – H o w Te c h n o l o g y i s D r i v i n g R e t a i l i n A f r i c a – describes how e-commerce is changing retail in Africa. The rapid change in the retail landscape is creating a greater availability of products that were not easily accessible in the past and will affect companies’ ability to win in Africa.

Many African cities are characterised by many well-organised informal traders, who compete directly with formal retail. E-commerce, although not accessible and affordable to large parts of the population, has increased access for many consumers and has started to bridge the gap to formal retail.

H o w e v e r, t r u s t f o r o n l i n e t r a n s a c t i o n s r e m a i n s a n i m p o r t a n t constraint that needs to be overcome if e-commerce is to flourish across Africa. Although South Africa is more advanced, and formal retail more developed, challenges are prevalent here as well.

Nigeria’s e-commerce growth has been helped by its lack of shopping malls and formal retail.

South Africa, mobile and internet subscriptions far outpace the rest of Africa, remains well placed to take advantage of e-commerce. Retail is more formalised and mature in RSA, and consumers want to find more accessible ways to purchase goods. Key factors that will drive future growth in e-commerce include price competitiveness, improved and more efficient del i v e r y s y s t e m s . A l s o , i m p r o v e d c o n n e c t i v i t y a c r o s s t h e c o u n t r y, increased security and certainty related to online payments.

Another key consideration for companies is how e-commerce might work across borders, as cross-border trade becomes increasingly the norm.

South Africa is primed for rapid expansion given its growing middle class, higher disposable income levels compared to most other countries in Africa, and high internet use. With a more mature market than most emerging countries, South Africa remains competitive. Middle and lower income consum-

ers will continue to make decisions that are influenced by p r i c e a n d v a l u e - f o r- m o n e y.

For South African companies, this paper provides an initial understanding of the changes in retail that are being driven by e-commerce. W ith online retail growing by more than 20% per year since 2000 (Source: World W ide Worx), capitalising on growth will be a key imperative for companies over the next 5-10 years.

The current and expected trends in South Africa will also be important for companies looking to expand operations into other African markets, as South Africa could be the precursor for them. South Africa, along with Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya remains the largest stable opportunities across Sub-Saharan A f r i c a . N i g e r i a ’s e - c o m m e r c e g r o w t h h a s a l s o b e e n h e l p e d b y its lack of shopping malls and formal retail as compared to South Africa. As retail formalises and shopping malls continue to spread, the market will become more competitive and will influence the growth of e-commerce in Africa.

Some of the key shopping categories in South Africa that are primed for this growth are digital goods, clothing, travel, and consumer electronics. While these categories are most ready for growth, supermarkets and other small industries may also see rapid expansion in South Africa.

connect with Arshad Arshad Abba is the Managing Director of EIU Canback SA. www.canback.com

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SMARTPHONES DRIVING AFRICA’S E-C OMMERCE A new EIU report says that smartphones could h e l p e x p a n d A f r i c a ’s e - c o m m e r c e m a r k e t t o U S $ 75 b n w i t h i n t h e n e x t d e c a d e .

R e ta i l i n A f r i c a h a s l a rg e l y b e e n s h a p e d o v e r t h e ye a rs b y a m o re i n fo r m a l s h o p p i n g ex p e r i e n c e t h a n t h a t of t h e We s t . To t h i s d a y, A f r i c a n s p refe r to u s e a n e t w o r k of p h ys i c a l s to re s , s t re e t t ra d e rs a n d i n fo r m a l m a r ke t s o u rc e s fo r t h e i r p u rc h a s e s , w h i c h a re p re d o m i n a n t l y c a r r i e d o u t i n c a s h . T h e re l a t i v e l a c k of s o p h i s t i c a t i o n i n t h e n a t u re of m a n y t ra n s a c t i o n s i n A f r i c a ref l e c ts a p a u c i t y of i n f ra s t r u c t u re , a s w e l l a s i n s u f f i c i e n t fa m i l i a r i t y a n d t r u s t w i t h a l te r n a t i v e s o u rc e s .

T h a t i s c h a n g i n g , h o w e v e r. I n c re a s i n g a c c e s s to te c h n o l o g y, v i a a v e n u e s s u c h a s s m a r t p h o n e s , i s h e l p i n g c o n s u m e rs i n p re v i o u s l y h a rd to re a c h a re a s to a c c e s s a l l m a n n e r of e - c o m m e rc e o p p o r t u n i t i e s , i n c l u d i n g e m e rg i n g A f r i c a n fa s h i o n . A l a rg e n u m b e r of m a l l s h a v e b e e n b u i l t i n A f r i c a , a n d c o n s u m e rs f l o c k to t h e s e i n o rd e r to p a r ta ke i n a m o re e n g ro s s i n g s h o p p i n g ex p e r i e n c e , w h i c h c o n s t i t u te s a d a y o u t fo r m a n y fa m i l i e s . T h i s i s l e a d i n g to a “ l e a pf ro g g i n g ” ef fe c t w h e re a n i n c re a s i n g n u m b e r of A f r i c a n s a re e m b ra c i n g t h e p o te n t i a l of e - c o m m e rc e b y u s i n g m o b i l e s , ra t h e r t h a n p e rs o n a l c o m p u te rs ( P C s ) , fo r t h e i r o n l i n e p u rc h a s e s .

Es t i m a te s a s to t h e p o te n t i a l va l u e of A f r i c a ’s e - c o m m e rc e va r y, b u t i t c o u l d b e w o r t h a s m u c h a s U S $ 75 b n p e r ye a r w i t h i n t h e n ex t d e c a d e . H oweve r, s eve ra l o b s ta c l e s to e - c o m m e rc e g row t h re m a i n , i n c l u d i n g fe a r of f ra u d a m o n g A f r i c a n c o n s u m e rs , a l o g i s t i c s n e t wo r k b e s e t by p ro b l e m s , t h e f ra g m e n te d n a t u re of A f r i c a n re ta i l m a r ke ts , a p re s s i n g n e e d to i m p rove te l e c o m s n e t wo r k i n f ra s t r u c t u re a n d t h e e n t re n c h e d p ro b l e m of i l l i te ra cy a m o n g a s i g n i f i c a n t p ro p o r t i o n of t h e A f r i c a n p o p u l a t i o n .

A re c e n t Ec o n o m i s t I n te l l i g e n c e U n i t re p o r t u s e s b e s p o ke E I U C a n b a c k d a ta to h i g h l i g h t t h e c o u n t r i e s a n d m e t ro re g i o n s i n t h e A f r i c a n c o n t i n e n t w i t h t h e b i g g e s t p o te n t i a l fo r e - c o m m e rc e g row t h , w h i l e h i g h l i g h t i n g t h e t re n d s a n d d eve l o p m e n ts i n t h e m a r ke t . T h e s c o re s m a r r y t h e s i ze of a n a d d re s s a b l e m a r ke t ( i n te r m s of i n c o m e l eve l by h o u s e h o l d o r i n d i v i d u a l ) to a ra n g e of ex te r n a l - e nv i ro n m e n t i n d i c a to rs re l a t i n g to t h e ove ra l l b u s i n e s s e nv i ro n m e n t s u c h a s m a r ke t o p p o r t u n i t i e s , m o b i l e s u b s c r i b e r p e n e t ra t i o n ra te s ( p e r 1 0 0 p e o p l e ) a n d P C ow n e rs h i p ( p e r 1 0 0 p e o p l e ) .

Among the key takeaways from the analysis are (South Africa):

• S o u t h A f r i c a i s t h e m o s t p r i m e d to ta ke a d v a n ta g e of t h e p o te n t i a l of e - c o m m e rc e i s S o u t h A f r i c a , w h e re m o b i l e p e n e t ra t i o n ra te s a re h i g h e r, i n f ra s t r u c t u re i s m o re s o p h i s t i c a te d a n d t h e m i d d l e c l a s s m o re ex p a n s i v e a n d w i l l i n g to e n g a g e i n o n l i n e p u rc h a s i n g .

• T h e c o u n t r y l a g s b e h i n d t h e U S a n d E u ro p e i n te r m s of e - c o m m e rc e , a l t h o u g h t h e l o c a l b u s i n e s s - to - c o n s u m e r m a r ke t a l s o of fe rs a n u m b e r of s e r v i c e s s i m i l a r to t h o s e fo u n d i n i ts ove rs e a s c o u n te r p a r ts . Wo r l d W i d e Wo r x , a l o c a l te c h n o l o g y re s e a rc h f i r m , e s t i m a te s t h a t o n l i n e s p e n d i n g s u r p a s s e d R 9 b n ( U S $ 61 0 m ) i n 2 0 1 6 , re a c h i n g t h e i m p o r ta n t m i l e s to n e of 1 % of t h e R 9 0 0 b n ove ra l l re ta i l m a r ke t .

• O n l i n e re ta i l h a s b e e n g ro w i n g b y m o re t h a n 2 0 % p e r ye a r s i n c e 2 0 0 0 , a c c o rd i n g to t h e f i r m . A 2 0 1 5 s t u d y b y a m a r ke t re s e a rc h f i r m , I p s o s , re v e a l e d t h a t 2 2 % of S o u t h A f r i c a n i n te r n e t u s e rs s a i d t h a t t h e y h a d m a d e p u rc h a s e s o n l i n e a n d 4 8 % ex p e c te d to d o s o i n f u t u re .

• I n a d d i t i o n , m a n y S o u t h A f r i c a n s e n g a g e i n c ro s s b o rd e r s h o p p i n g , f u r t h e r b ro a d e n i n g t h e o p p o r t u n i t i e s fo r re v e n u e g a i n s fo r e - ta i l e rs . A c c o rd i n g to a c ro s s b o rd e r c o m m e rc e re p o r t b y a g l o b a l p a y m e n ts f i r m , P a y P a l , a n d I p s o s , i n 2 0 1 6 a ro u n d 4 3 % of S o u t h A f r i c a n s s h o p p e d a c ro s s b o rd e rs .

• B o t h m o b i l e p e n e t ra t i o n a n d m o b i l e i n f ra s t r u c t u re a re n o ta b l y m o re a d v a n c e d i n S o u t h A f r i c a c o m p a re d w i t h t h e re s t of t h e c o n t i n e n t . T h e m a r ke t h a s re a c h e d m a t u r i t y, w i t h a p e n e t ra t i o n ra te of 1 7 1 % i n 2 0 1 6 , w h i c h w e fo re c a s t to r i s e to j u s t u n d e r 1 97 % b y 2 0 2 1 .

• T h i s r i s e i s l i ke l y to b e f u e l l e d , i n n o s m a l l p a r t , b y t h e d e m o g ra p h i c s h i f t of g re a te r s w a t h e s of t h e b l a c k p o p u l a t i o n j o i n i n g t h e ra n ks of t h e m o re a f f l u e n t , w i t h g re a te r d i s p o s a b l e i n c o m e s . O n t h e i n f ra s t r u c t u re s i d e , a l a c k of s p e c t r u m a v a i l a b i l i t y h a s h i n d e re d m a n y o p e ra to rs ’ a t te m p ts to i m p ro v e b o t h n e t w o r k c o v e ra g e a n d s p e e d . T h i s h a s t h e refo re h a d a n i m p a c t o n p ro v i d e rs ’ a b i l i t y to e n c o u ra g e ta ke - u p of 4 G c o n n e c t i v i t y, w h i c h i s e s t i m a te d to h a v e a c c o u n te d fo r j u s t 4 % of a l l mobile subscriptions in 2016.

A F U L L C O P Y O F T H E R E P O RT I S AVA I L A B L E FO R D O W N L O A D H E R E :

healthca

Creating an ecosystem for improved medical decisionmaking Yaseen Khan, Chief Executive Officer at EMGuidance, highlights the urgent need for rapid changes in local healthcare.

are.

Poor point-of-care medical decision-making costs t h e h e a l t h c a r e s e c t o r b i l l i o n s o f r a n d e v e r y y e a r, w h i l e t h o u s a n d s o f p a t i e n t s s u f f e r u n n e c e s s a r i l y.

The Gauteng Health Department alone has paid out R1.017-billion to settle 185 medical negligence claims since January 2015. Considering the significant additional legal costs that were incurred as each claim was contested, the actual c o s t t o t h e d e p a r t m e n t i s l i k e l y f a r g r e a t e r. T h e consequences experienced by the patients behind these claims are untold.

T h i s , s a y s Ya s e e n K h a n , C h i e f E x e c u t i v e O f f i c e r at EMGuidance, a digital clinical support platform connecting medical professionals with locally relevant medicines information, clinical guidelines, and clinical tools, is only the tip of the iceberg. “ S o u t h A f r i c a n m e d i c a l p ro f e s s i o n a l s a re u n d e r immense pressure to improve patient outcomes despite oft e n b e i n g u n d e r re s o u rc e d . D e l i v e r i n g t h e b e s t p a t i e n t c a r e i n a c o m p l e x a n d o v e r b u rd e n e d h e a l t h s y s t e m i s a c o n s i s t e n t c h a l l e n g e f a c e d b y m e d i c a l p ro f e s s i o n a l s , a n d i s c e n t r a l t o i m p ro v i n g t h e e n t i r e h e a l t h s y s t e m . T h e e x p e n d i t u r e o n m e d i c a l negligence claims is but one indicator that we are not rising

"The potential claims against the Gauteng Health Department are close to R13.5 Billion, or nearly 40% of the entire provincial health budget." – Yaseen Khan.

up to this challenge. Recent figures state the potential claims a g a i n s t t h e G a u t e n g H e a l t h D e p a r t m e n t a re c l o s e t o R 1 3 . 5 B i l l i o n , o r n e a r l y 4 0 % o f t h e e n t i re p ro v i n c i a l h e a l t h b u d g e t .

T h e b u d g e t a r y s h o r t f a l l c r e a t e d t h ro u g h t h i s a g a i n u n d e r m i n e s h e a l t h c a r e p r o v i d e r s ’ a b i l i t y t o i m p ro v e p a t i e n t o u t c o m e s , c re a t i n g a p e r p e t u a l l o s e - l o s e s i t u a t i o n . T h e o n l y w a y t o b r e a k t h i s c y c l e i s t o d i s r u p t i t w i t h a p o i n t o f c a re p l a t f o r m t h a t e m p o w e r s t h e h e a l t h - f o rc e a n d i m m e d i a t e l y i m p r o v e s t h e a c c u r a c y o f d i a g n o s i s , t r e a t m e n t , a n d p re s c r i b i n g , � e x p l a i n s K h a n .

A key part of the issue is the overworking of doctors and other point-of-care medical professionals as a result of the o n - g o i n g s k i l l s s h o r t a g e i n t h e h e a l t h c a r e s e c t o r. T h i s c r e a t e s highly pressured decision-making circumstances. Doctors and medical professionals therefore have a pressing need to efficiently access the most appropriate, locally relevant

treatment and prescription recommendations, instead of having to rely on ‘Googling’ and finding inter nationally authored content, which doesn’t speak to local patient, disease, and health-system factors.

Staying awake for extended hours led to a 300% increase in preventable mistakes that caused patient deaths.

“The issue of overworked doctors received headlines in 2016, with some doctors working shifts of up to 36 hours at a time.

These long hours severely impact doctors’ ability to make accurate medical decisions at the point of care, which often undermine doctors’ ability to improve patient outcomes. A study conducted in 2006 found that staying awake for extended hours led to a 300% increase in preventable mistakes that caused patient deaths.”

Reengineering point of care decision-making in healthcare Khan and co-founder Mohammed Dalwai decided to create a platform for point-of-care medical professionals such as doctors, nurses, clinicians, and pharmacists, providing free, instant access to locally relevant and up-to-date treatment guidelines, protocols and consistently updated medicines information.

“By providing a centralised digital access point for locally relevant clinical guidelines on behalf of a wide range of medical institutions, doctors are equipped with up to date, locally

relevant information that can eliminate inaccurate or inapprop r i a t e d e c i s i o n s a t t h e p o i n t o f c a r e . T h r o u g h o u r p r o p r i e t a r y, interactive, and consistently updated, and fully-referenced medicines section, created in partnership with a national network of pharmacologists, specialists and medical institutions, EMGuidance also guides medical professionals to provide the correct prescriptions, playing a huge role in improving the accuracy and efficacy of treatments.”

As an example, Khan cites a recent partnership with the South African Antibiotic Stewardship Programme: “When anti-microbial resistance patter ns change, we would be able to send a push notification to doctors’ phones to alert them, presenting them with the relevant anti-microbial therapy guidelines for their region. By creating a direct link to primary healthcare providers, we can facilitate an improved flow of contextual information that can reduce errors and enable improved patient outcomes.”

In 1990, tuberculosis infected 7.1 million people a year and killed 2.5 million of them, but since these victims were adults it went unnoticed. Murrary pointed out that, with early intervention, a brief course of chemotherapy would cure 90 percent of tuberculosis patients for less than $250 per person.

Epic Measures: One Doctor.

Seven Billion Patients.

Jeremy N. Smith

GET BLINKIST

BLINKIST EXTRACT FROM

L eve r agi ng data f o r i m p ro v e d p a tien t c a re Growth on the platform has so far been largely organic, with word-of-mouth driving downloads of the mobile app. “We have more than 5 500 registered medical professionals accessing the platform, as well as a critical threshold of core partners from the public and private sectors. We’re now starting to see certain usage patter ns and trends emerging, which will guide t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f a d d i t i o n a l f u n c t i o n a l i t y. F o r e x a m p l e , s i n c e w e t r a c k u s a g e , a n o n y m o u s l y, b y l o c a t i o n , w e a r e a b l e t o d e tect increased volumes of searches relating to certain conditions, which may help inform how healthcare authorities react to an outbreak of specific diseases in a certain region.”

Khan stresses the importance of providing accurate and practical clinical guidelines and medicines information to point-ofcare healthcare professionals.

“Many of the current healthcare resources take months, or years, to update with new information, and often exclude medicines providers who are unwilling to pay a fee to be included.

Our platform is updated consistently to ensure users always access the most up-to-date and relevant treatment and referral guidelines and medicines information. Another important thing we are also seeing is how junior doctors are using the platform as a bridge between highly-theoretical classroom knowledge and their practical day-to-day field work.”

The future of (tech-assisted) healthcare EMGuidance is available in South Africa via the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. A lite version is available in s e v e r a l o t h e r A f r i c a n c o u n t r i e s i n c l u d i n g Ta n z a n i a , B o t s w a n a , Ghana, Cameroon, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, Uganda, and Kenya.

“We’ve developed the platform and connected a broad range of primary healthcare role players in an independent, trusted and controlled environment. We expect future development to be guided by the needs of the doctors, clinicians, nurses, pharmacists, medicines providers and healthcare regulators using the platform, who all provide important input via formal feedback channels as well as through their day-to-day usage patter ns.

“Based on initial interactions, we are considering incorporati n g t h i n g s l i k e i n - a p p d o c t o r- t o - d o c t o r c o m m u n i c a t i o n s , d i g i tal prescriptions, and the integration of point-of-care medical devices. The benefit of taking a platform approach is that we can build a far richer suite of resources that are tailored to the specific needs of our users.” w w w. e m g u i d a n c e . c o m

connect with yaseen Yaseen Khan is the founder and CEO of EMGuidance (the Essential Medical Guidance App, available on Google Play or the App Store). www.emguidance.com

«

my way.

Long showers and going barefoot

"When I'm feeling stuck, my secret move is to take a long shower. I combination of the solitude, the humidity, the grey noise of falling the fact that my laptop isn't waterproof. I can only imagine the disc Archimedes would have made, if showers were invented back then

"I love being barefoot. I've visited malls, attended university, and h caught a flight barefoot. Somehow, I feel less social pressure with I haven't figured out why, but I think it's partially because of how st know I look, so any hope of upholding a lofty pretence is futile. Als like I can walk much further barefoot. It's probably time to see a po

"I can also play the pan flute, beatbox, and moonwalk. Probably ev though I can't say I've tried." ÂŤ

I love being barefoot. Somehow, I feel less social pressure with no sho

It's some water, and coveries n...

have even no shoes. tupid I so I feel odiatrist...

ven at once,

, oes.

ARJUN KHOOSAL is the CEO and CoFounder of Kandua

travel d

democratic republic of the congo

Photos: xxxxx

debrief.

JONATHAN ROBINSON, founder of the Bean There Coffee Company, debriefs u|Chief on his recent trip to the DRC.

Te l l u s a b o u t y o u r r e c e n t b u s i n e s s t r i p ?

The DRC is a challeng

Most recently I visited the small holder

particularly because i

farmers we work with in the DRC through

by international busin

the Virunga Coffee Company in Butembo,

travellers, which make

which is in North Kivu (approximately

authorities to take ad

350km north of Goma).

maximise their revenu

What was memorable about the trip?

The roads and genera

Tr a v e l i s a n i n c r e d i b l e e x p e r i e n c e . I s e e

make doing business

first-hand the effects of direct and fair

ing. At times, the road

trade with small scale farmers. I always

and Butembo, which i

retur n enriched and more committed to

take up to 10 days. T

o u r D i r e c t F a i r Tr a d e b u s i n e s s m o d e l – n o t

ever do not detract fr

o n l y d o w e p a y F a i r Tr a d e p r i c e s f o r o u r

credible energy and p

coffee, but we actively seek to establish

by the joy and commi

direct and long-term relationships with our

and their real desire t

producers.

rewarded for an excep

DRC FACT FILE National motto “Justice – Peace – Work” Official language French Recognised national languages Lingala, Kikongo, Swahili, Tshiluba Land area 2 345 409 km2 (905,567 sq mi) Population 82 243 000 (2017 estimate) Density 34.83/km2 (90.2/sq mi) Total GDP (PPP) $68.331 billion (2017 estimate) Per capita GDP $788 Currency Congolese franc (CDF) Time zone WAT and CAT (UTC+1 to +2) Vehicles Cars drive on the right Calling code +243 Largest city Kinshasa (population 11 116 000) (SOURCE WIKIPEDIA)

Virunga

ging environment, t is not frequented

ness people or leisure

es it easy for local vantage and try to

ue.

al infrastructure also extremely challeng-

d trip between Goma

is a mere 350km, can he challenges, howom the farmers’ in-

passion. I was struck tment of the farmers

to produce and be

ptional coffee.

What was memorable about the trip?

ing, hydroelectric pow

These trips are primarily about relation-

are endless.

ship building. We work very closely with the producers of our coffee. Our annual

What surprised you a

visits are vital for keeping business re-

Goma in the DRC is a

l a t i o n s h i p s s t r o n g a n d t r a n s p a r e n t . D u r-

The city in many parts

ing my most recent trip, we were able to

with black volcanic ro

secure a new lot of sundried coffee, which

eruption of the Nyirag

we can’t wait to introduce to the South

g i v e s t h e c i t y a r a w, r

African market.

disconcerting feel, bu

heightening the sense

alive! I was also surpr challenges of doing b

aged that, despite the

Congolese people are

How did you grow pe travel experience?

Whenever I drink a cu

humbled by the hard w

hands that make my e

cup possible. Each co

hand-picked, and I wi What opportunities did you identify

e f f o r t f o r g r a n t e d . Tr a

during the trip?

farmers who produce

W ith its abundance in natural resourc-

minds me of this fact.

es, the DRC has so much potential. The growth I witnessed in the coffee sector

Did you take away an

was so encouraging. I believe that if the

sons or experiences

DRC can sustain levels of peace and sta-

lear n from?

b i l i t y, t h e o p p o r t u n i t i e s , f o r b o t h c o f f e e

Be grateful. In my fam

and many other industries (such as min-

something goes wrong

wer and agriculture)

about the country?

always surprising.

s is still covered

ock from the 2002

gongo volcano. This

rough and sometimes

ut at the same time

e s . Yo u r e a l l y d o f e e l

rised by the extreme u s i n e s s , b u t e n c o u r-

ese difficulties, many

e making things work.

ersonally from this

up of coffee, I am

work and the many

enjoyment of that

offee bean is

ill never take that

avelling to meet the our coffee re-

.

ny valuable lesthat others can

m i l y, w h e n e v e r

g that is not really

a big deal, we often use the phrase “first

e n v i r o n m e n t – i t ’s n o t

w o r l d p r o b l e m s ” . Tr a v e l l i n g t o E a s t A f r i c a

pockets and big budg

(the DRC in particular) gives perspective on life and reminds me of the many privi-

Any fun memories?

leges and conveniences that I often take

A real highlight was th

for granted.

N y i r a g o n g o Vo l c a n o i n

tional Park in the DRC What did you learn about the way the

covers some spectacu

people of the DRC work and live?

the top of the active v

One of the coffee washing stations we

night around the crate

visited outside Butembo was just beau-

the hot molten lava –

tiful. The staff running the station take such pride in their work environment,

Where would you like

with painted murals and planted gardens

time you visit the DR

depicting the Virunga Company logo. I

ing region for busine

was impressed with what can be created,

We try to visit differen

without a huge investment towards transforming a working environment. Dedication, positive attitudes and support of the whole team, create a healthy work

t always about deep

gets.

he trek up to the

n the Virunga Na-

C. The two-day trek

u l a r s c e n e r y. O n c e a t

volcano, we slept the

e r, l o o k i n g d o w n i n t o amazing!

e to go the next

trip. At Bean There we source coffee from Ta n z a n i a , R w a n d a , D R C , E t h i o p i a , K e n -

RC or the surround-

y a , a n d B u r u n d i . B u r u n d i a n d Ta n z a n i a

ess or pleasure?

are next on the list. Due to some political

nt producers each

challenges in Burundi, we haven’t been able to visit in the last two years – we are looking forward to connecting with the M u s e m a C o - o p l a t e r i n t h e y e a r.

What did you learn about the people and the country itself that tourists could lear n from?

A l w a y s t r e a d l i g h t l y a n d h u m b l y.

Constantly look for opportunities to learn.

I t ’s g o o d t o s i n g w h i l e y o u w o r k … e v e n i f you’re out of tune!

«

connect with Jonathan Jonathan Robinson is the founder of the Bean There Coffee Company. www.beanthere.co.za

coding.

Coding's ca With Africa Code Week coming up in October, we dug deep into the world of coding with CLAIRE GILLISSEN-DUVAL, the Co-Founder and Global Lead of Africa Code Week.

Claire Gillissen-Duval

.

Offering an introduction to Web echnologies (HTML, CSS, Javascript, PHP, QL), this workshop gives students a good nderstanding of a typical website rchitecture and teaches them to create a ully operational, mobile-friendly website.

all to arms

18-25 Web Development october workshop at MuvaTech.

Mozambique, Oct 2016 2017 Confidential

25

What is coding and why is it so relevant today… and for tomorrow?

When I grew up, coding used to be for the tech-savvy kids, the next logical step after they managed to dismantle the first PC they got their h a n d s o n . 4 0 y e a r s l a t e r, w e l i v e i n a s u p e r- c o n n e c t e d w o r l d w h e r e ICT equals more than the sum of its parts: beyond a set of commands to

Contact us if you need help finding partners to orchestrat your event!

activate a device, coding has grown into an actual language – as in “system of communication used by a particular country or community” to share, explore and g r o w t o g e t h e r. S o m e e v e n s a y, ( w i t h g o o d r e a s o n , t h a t c o d i n g is about the closest thing to a superpower that can be taught in the digital era.

To d a y, m o r e t h a n 9 0 % o f p r o f e s s i o n a l o c c u p a t i o n s r e q u i r e d i g i t a l s k i l l s a n d l a s t y e a r, T h e A f r i c a n E c o n o m i c O u t l o o k r e p o r t e d that in the youth labour markets of 36 African countries, there was a 54 percent mismatch between the job seekers’ skills and actual employers’ requirements. Why do we need to act now?

Because the skills gap is only going to widen if we don’t: by

For a coder, there is no such thing as a problem without a solution, and a challenge is just another opportunity to create something new.

p te

2020, the world will need no less than 400 million digitally educated boys and girls who are groomed and ready to thrive i n t h e g l o b a l k n o w l e d g e e c o n o m y. * ( * S O U R C E : C É S A R A L I E R TA , P R E S I D E N T A N D C H A I R M A N O F F O U N D AT I O N T E L E F Ó N I C A )

Steve Jobs said: “I think everybody in this country should lear n how to program a computer because it teaches you how to think.” How can you add to his words?

S t e v e J o b s , t o g e t h e r w i t h m o s t o f t h e w o r l d ’s l e a d e r s a c c o r d ing to Code.org (Sheryl Sandberg, Bill Gates, Chris Bosh, former President Obama and Stephen Hawking) all agree t h a t c o d i n g i s t h e l a n g u a g e o f t h e 2 1 s t c e n t u r y, a n d s o m u c h more at the same time. Coding definitely teaches one to think, and to think outside of the box – tapping into your c r e a t i v i t y, c r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g a n d p r o b l e m - s o l v i n g s k i l l s – a l l the while teaching you to collaborate beyond physical and geographical boundaries.

F o r a c o d e r, t h e r e i s n o s u c h t h i n g a s a p r o b l e m w i t h o u t a solution, and a challenge is just another opportunity to create something new and culturally relevant. Not to mention that

c o d i n g i s t h e m o s t t r a n s v e rsal subject in education: it can be leveraged to solve a v a r i e t y o f p r o b l e m s f r o m v i rtually any other subject.

What is the current situation in terms of school education and coding?

In 2017 and despite great gains in secondary education participation over the past decade, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, young Africans are either excluded from or propelled into the workforce rather than being prepared for it. The

Š 2017 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.

outcome in both cases is a waste of talent and potent i a l , w i t h y o u t h b e i n g p r e v e n t e d f r o m c o n t r i b u t i n g t o A f r i c a ’s development.

With 103 million youth, Africa is the youngest population in the world and has the opportunity to be the fastest growing digital consumer market on the planet, provided young people a r e e m p o w e r e d t h r o u g h I C T. W e l l a w a r e o f t h e s t a k e s a t h a n d , gover nments are more and more committed to helping youth become technology savvy and strive to make coding a daily reality in the classroom.

But in a world that is more and more interconnected, there are some things gover nments can’t do in isolation anymore:

Let’s face it: Too many young women are standing clear of ICT careers because they feel unsupported. Our role is not just to encourage African girls and women to see technology and entrepreneurship as a viable career option. We also need to gather a critical mass of key stakeholders and role models to nurture them and support their hunger for learning, creative ventures and dreams for change.

Director of EMEA Corporate Social Responsibility at SAP

Co-founder & Global Lead, Africa Code Week

Confidential

corporations, non-profits and social/tech entrepreneurs have the opportunity to step up and help fill this gap in ways that gover nments cannot. Renewed, cross-border collaboration is the name of the new socio-economic game, and this is exactly what initiatives like Africa Code Week are bringing to the table: a shared-value platform where gover nments, nonprofits and private sector partners can join forces to bring coherence and scale to digital literacy programs and drive change in an u n p r e c e d e n t e d w a y.

Ta k e M o r o c c o , C a m e r o o n a n d G h a n a f o r i n s t a n c e , w h e r e 165,000, 62,000 and 51,000 kids respectively lear nt coding a s p a r t o f A f r i c a C o d e W e e k l a s t y e a r. T h e s e n u m b e r s a r e l i v ing proof that when gover nments endorse such initiatives, the

9

sky is the limit when it comes to youth empowerment through ICT on a nationwide scale. The fact that we now have UNESCO ( t h r o u g h t h e i r Yo u t h M o b i l e i n i t i a t i v e ) a n d 1 5 g o v e r n m e n t s o n board, only 3 years after the initiative was launched, speaks volume on the importance and impact of private-public partnership in this digital day and age.

What are the challenges in terms of poor facilities for most of our kids – and how can learning to code perhaps change the future of our majority of potentially unemployed kids?

T h i s i s a c o r e p i l l a r o f A f r i c a C o d e W e e k ’s m i s s i o n : t o m a k e coding education accessible to all children, from connected cities all the way to remote, rural areas. It is also the vision of H . E P r e s i d e n t G u r i b - F a k i m i n M a u r i t i u s o r O n d o S t a t e G o v e rn o r i n N i g e r i a , t o n a m e a f e w. B e y o n d e n d o r s i n g A f r i c a C o d e Week, they commit to spreading coding education across every t o w n , v i l l a g e a n d c o m m u n i t y, e n s u r i n g t h a t n o c h i l d i s l e f t b e h i n d . H o w ? B y e n c o u r a g i n g t e a c h e r s t o t a k e p a r t i n t h e Tr a i n t h e - Tr a i n e r s e s s i o n s o r g a n i z e d i n t h e r u n u p t o O c t o b e r e v e n t s in every participating cMake o u n the t r y.event beginner friendly...

Don't focus on the technicalities, try to show th fun and practical aspect of whatever technolog Tbeing h e sused. ustainability of

initiatives life Africa

CEvent o d e format W e e kis up r e to l i eyou s on

time for students t t hBut e allow m e aenough n i n g fhands-on ul colla b-

18-25 october 2017

create something on their own.

oration of like-minde dwhatever p a r t n etools r s e&atechnologies ger to Use you're s u p pmost o r t familiar A f r i c awith Code

Although we do recommend freely available o Week at the grasssource tools and frameworks. Learning someth rcompletely o o t s l e vnew e l .can G obeointimidating gle is .

one of them, and they wAasmile n t aand l l sat friendly u d e n t satmosphere to

Can help break the ice and make those, who d consider themselves "technical" at ease.

2017: Bigger, bolder, better 5 new countries onboard:

18-25 october 2017

1 week 35 countries 500,000 children/youth Š 2016 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.

7

have the opportunity to learn and get excited about compute r s c i e n c e ( C S ) . To s p r e a d t h e e x c i t e m e n t a b o u t A f r i c a C o d e Week in 2015, 2016, and 2017, Google has funded the Cape To w n S c i e n c e C e n t r e t o o f f e r s m a l l g r a n t s ( $ 1 , 0 0 0 U S D ) t o organizations and grassroots groups who want to give more kids aged 5 to 18, especially those who may not have access to many CS learning opportunities, a chance to engage with computer science.

While access to computer labs is an indisputable challenge, the only way to overcome it is through existing and new partnerships over the years to come. This is why we always welcome new business partners eager to sponsor or support the initiative in the communities that most need it.

Through Africa Code Week over 10,000 teachers have been trained, with each teacher training 76 youth on average.

Last but n ot leas t: w hi l e a c c e ss a n d

skilled volunteers into coding instructors

co n n ect iv ity is k ey for n a t i o n s t o e mp o wer you th, w e s h all a ls o re me m b e r t h a t th e first ge n e rcoding at ionworkshops of c o dfore rchildren s h o n&eyouth d t hwith eir

skills w ith ou t local a sscience in gle centres, I n t e rschools, n e t c NGOs, o n n eetc. ction – simply b ecau s e th e re wa s n o su c h t h i n g as th e I nte r n et b ack i n t h e d a y s. To d a y,

to empower the next generation of African

th ere are m anleaders y w a&y sentrepreneurs t o l e a r nacross c o d35i ncountries. g both o ffline an d on lin e , s t a r t i n g wi t h S c r a t c h and the Afr ica C od e We e k c o u r s e s st a r t as skilled volunteers to teach code to

i ng Septe m b erhundreds 26 on o p e n&Steens A P.cduring o m .Africa of children Code Week events.

© 2017 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.

I s c o d e a g e - n e u t r a l ? C o u l d a 5 5 - y e a rold nearing the end of their career dip into coding and discover a new career… or is it only really relevant to millennials or the young?

If coding is a language, then it is as age neutral as learning English. Not to mention that the world doesn’t have enough people who can code, or as Richard Branson once said: “I learned how to fly a hot air balloon when I was 30,000 feet up

© 2017 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.

Internal

44

Confidential

33

and my life was in the balance: you can learn skills at any age but why wait when we can teach everyone to code now?”

More good news is that lear ning code is fun and exciting for all ages: just look at the smiles on teachers’ face as they n a v i g a t e t h e i r w a y t h r o u g h S c r a t c h d u r i n g A f r i c a C o d e W e e k ’s Tr a i n - t h e - Tr a i n e r s e s s i o n s a n d y o u w i l l g e t a s e n s e o f h o w f u n c o d i n g c a n b e f o r a d u l t s . E m p o w e r a t e a c h e r, e m p o w e r a c l a s s r o o m , t h e y s a y : s i m i l a r l y, i f t e a c h e r s a r e f a l l i n g i n l o v e with the lear ning materials they are experiencing first hand, chances are their pupils will too.

SAP skilled volunteers have trained over 10,000 teachers on S c r a t c h a c r o s s 3 0 c o u n t r i e s s o f a r, a n d w i t h a n a v e r a g e r a t i o of 76 students introduced to coding in 2016, Africa Code Week is offering an “opportunity to marvel at what the future holds for young Africans.” These are the words of SAP CEO Bill McDermott, for whom “leading companies have a moral o b l i g a t i o n t o i n i t i a t e p e o p l e i n t o t h e m o d e r n e c o n o m y, r e g a r d less of where they come from.”

What are the different options out there for people to lear n code? Should they look at just learning some basics that can either add to their life or help a bit in their career or business through coding… or could they get value by having an eye on becoming an expert?

O d d l y e n o u g h , c o m p u t e r p ro g r a m m i n g s t i l l i s o n e o f t h e m o s t u n d e r r a t e d p ro f e s s i o n s a l t h o u g h i t s p ro j e c t e d g ro w t h r a t e o f 17% between 2010 and 2020 is twice as fast as any other job o u t t h e re . W h y i s t h a t s o ? B e c a u s e t h e a n s w e r t o s o c i e t y ’s m o s t p re s s i n g , i n c re a s i n g l y c o m p l e x c h a l l e n g e s a re i n t h e c o d e .

W h e t h e r y o u ’ re l o o k i n g t o s t a r t a c a re e r i n t h e i n d u s t r y, a n e w h o b b y o r j u s t t o u n d e r s t a n d t e c h n o l o g y, l e a r n i n g c o d i n g h a s n u m e ro u s b e n e f i t s i n s t o re f o r y o u . B e y o n d c o d i n g a s t h e n e w l a n g u a g e o f t h e 2 1 s t c e n t u r y, y o u w i l l l e a r n t o ‘ t h i n k l i k e a c o d e r ’ .

T h i s i s e x a c t l y w h a t w e a re i m p a r t i n g w i t h A f r i c a C o d e We e k : a c u l t u re o f i n n o v a t i o n a n d c re a t i v i t y t h a t i s k e y t o u n l o c k a n e w

JSomething Micasa teac coding to Ro there pupils in Ma

w o r l d o f o p p o r t u n i t i e s , n e w j o b s , n e w c a re e r s , n e w m a r k e t s a n d n e w c o n n e c t i o n s f o r p re s e n t a n d f u t u re g e n e r a t i o n s .

7: Bigger, bolder, better

A5l tnew h o u gcountries h t h e r e a ronboard: e many tools and MOOCs available out

to lear n coding, Scratch is a wonderful, free resource for people of all ages to get started. But don’t let its building-block, playful approach fool you into thinking it is only for beginners:

eek Computer programming is one of the most underrated professions ountries although its projected growth rate 17% between 2010 and 2020 is 000 ofchildren/youth twice as fast as any other job.

Scratch is a powerful leverage for anyone eager to take their coding skills to the next level, from building games all the way to mastering robotics and flying drones.

How does SAP offer and what are your competitive advantages in terms of teaching coding?

A f r i c a C o d e W e e k ’s s t r e n g t h l i e s i n i t s g r o w i n g n e t w o r k o f over 100 engaged partners: bold visionaries, committed doers, passionate teachers – all utterly convinced that the young generation is holding unprecedented keys, not just to their f u t u r e , b u t a l s o t o t h e w o r l d ’s f u t u r e . T h i s i s w h a t e n a b l e s t h e i n i t i a t i v e t o r e a c h h i g h e r g o a l s y e a r o v e r y e a r.

To g e t h e r, w e a r e n o w g e a r i n g u p t o e m p o w e r h a l f a m i l l i o n young Africans with coding skills from October 18 to 25 across 35 countries. This is twice the scope and 25 times

g from 18-25 ching Rwandan october ay 2016

2017

more beneficiaries than our initial goal of 20,000 across 17 countries back in 2015. SAP Africa Code Week provides many ways to get involved, from becoming a Coding Instructor and hosting coding workshops for young people all the way spons o r i n g t h e i n i t i a t i v e a s a p a r t n e r.

Women can also start mentoring girls in their community by joining the eskills4girls.org initiative launched by our strategic p a r t n e r B M Z ( G e r m a n y ’s F e d e r a l M i n i s t r y f o r E c o n o m i c C o o p eration and Development). Joined by UNESCO and Africa Code Week and endorsed by G20 Leaders in a statement annexed to their Leaders’ Declaration at the Hamburg Summit in July 2017, #eskills4girls is on a mission to increase the access of women and girls in the digital world and to boost relevant education and employment opportunities on a global scale.

What interesting anecdotes can you share about people who have learned to code?

Although I am not a coder myself, I was fortunate enough to

Enroll t offline

be surrounded by them all my life and throughout my career at S A P. T h e s e s o f t w a r e d e v e l o p e r s a n d t e c h l e a d e r s a r e l i t e r a l l y changing the world with the sheer beauty of their code. They a r e t h e v e r y s o f t w a r e a r c h i t e c t s a n d b r i l l i a n t m i n d s w h o l i t e ra l l y w r o t e t h e s t o r y o f E R P t e c h n o l o g y, a n a l y t i c s a n d b u s i n e s s i n t e l l i g e n c e a s w e k n o w i t t o d a y.

Women can also start mentoring girls in their community by joining the eskills4girls.org initiative.

I love the way they think, and our conversations often turn into a spirit-lifting exchange that renews the very way I see the world. And when asked why they became who they are, they all point to a specific point in time. It could be the day t h e y d i s m a n t l e d t h e i r f i r s t h a r d d r i v e w i t h a m e r e s c r e w d r i v e r,

today! All materials are also accessible for those with limited Internet access.

or the first time they played Space Invaders on an Atari c o m p u t e r. M o s t o f t h e m s a y i t happened in a split second.

There was a before and an a f t e r, a n d e v e n t u a l l y t h e y became a tech evangelist or s o f t w a r e e n g i n e e r. I b e l i e v e this is at the heart of Africa Code Week: we want to secure the chance for that s p a r k t o h a p p e n ‌ a n d n u rture it afterwards so that the

beauty of young Africans’ code ends up impacting individuals, families, communities and society at large.

What can leaders (and parents) do in terms of guiding and helping their people (and kids) to learn coding?

AS our High Patron H.E. President Gurib-Fakim reminded us on June 18 at the launch of Africa Code Week 2017 in Mauritius: “family is the first innovation lab.” As a matter of fact, research shows that when communities, parents and schools work together to support learning, students perform better academi c a l l y a n d s t a y i n s c h o o l l o n g e r. T h e s i n g l e m o s t i m p o r t a n t p r e d i c t o r o f s t u d e n t s u c c e s s i s t h e f a m i l y ’s a t t i t u d e t h a t l e a r n i n g is a positive, joyful and valuable experience. More and more

18-25 october 2017

r, bolder, better

w countries onboard:

countries

17

30

35

2015

2016

2017

© 2016 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.

africa code week 2017

ries hildren/youth

Africa Code Week’s mission is to empower future generations with the coding tools and skills they need to thrive in the 21st century workforce and become key actors of Africa’s economic development. www.africacodeweek.org

2025 6

The single most important predictor of student success is the family’s attitude that learning is a positive, joyful and valuable experience. p a r e n t s a r e a t t e n d i n g o u r Tr a i n - t h e - Tr a i n e r s e s s i o n s b e c a u s e they too want to be an active vector of change for the young generation: teaching code to their kids and encouraging them every step of the way is now a top priority for them.

Why should a high-profile business leader lear n to code?

As the Fourth Industrial Revolution gathers speed and disrupts every facet of work and business, leaders from the public and private sectors need new thinking to ensure they equip themselves, as well as their workforce, with the digital skills needed to survive and thrive.

Advances in computing are accelerating the pace of innovation and enabling companies to develop, test, launch and a d a p t n e w p r o d u c t s a n d s e r v i c e s i n r e c o r d t i m e . H o w e v e r, without the requisite talent, companies and gover nments will have an impaired ability to keep up with the pace of change, and will soon find themselves outperformed by more agile competitors.

ÂŤ

connect with Claire Claire Gillissen-Duval is the Director, EMEA Corporate Social Responsibility at SAP and the Co-Founder and Global Lead of Africa Code Week.

# social media.

When not sharing is caring

T U R E L EA D E R S U F O T G N I N R A W G N A LS C O U R T V E R D I CT S I

With social media all around us, the founder and CEO of leading executive search firm Jack Hammer, DEBBIE GOODMAN-BHYAT sounds a warning on social media sharing

Social media aggregators are rapidly gaining traction in the executive search and recruitment industries, and anyone planning on rising through the ranks in their careers should be on the alert with this trend, a leadership expert war ns.

“Most people will be aware that they should be careful on social media if they are on the hunt for a new position, as it has for a while now been standard practice for hiring manage r s t o r e v i e w a c a n d i d a t e ’s o n l i n e p r o f i l e b e f o r e c o n s i d e r i n g a n i n t e r v i e w, ” s a y s D e b b i e G o o d m a n - B h y a t , C E O o f J a c k H a m m e r, rated one of the top 3 executive search firms in South Africa.

“However that approach seems almost quaint now in the face o f t h e r a p i d e v o l u t i o n o f t h e p e o p l e a g g r e g a t i o n i n d u s t r y, ” she says.

There are numerous aggregators out there, from companies s u c h a s E n t e l o , Ta l e n t B i n , P i p l a n d m a n y o t h e r s . A l t h o u g h t h e offering differs from product to product, essentially social media aggregators scrape and pull in everything they can harvest online and offline about a particular candidate, sometimes even from the deep web, which then gives a company a comprehensive view of a candidate.

As Pipl states on its website, it is a “one-stop shop for people data”. These tools are used not only for the identification of suitable candidates, but also for screening purposes.

“Although these aggregators are not yet ubiquitous in the local i n d u s t r y, a n y o n e w h o i s s e r i o u s a b o u t t h e i r c a r e e r a n d e x p e c t s to progress through the ranks should know that the inter net never forgets, and that what they write, do or say online now may well become part of the social media profile presented to

"Now, more than ever, it is important not to be naïve or thoughtless with your personal or professional information." h i r i n g m a n a g e r s 2 , 5 o r 1 0 y e a r s f r o m n o w. ” Goodman-Bhyat says the information is already being collated by companies that need to make a decision about whether a candidate will be a good culture fit – based on their social and other habits – but that aggregators and scraping is becoming an integral part of the process, rather than an additional box to check during the profiling stage.

“In a recent client meeting, I was again reminded of the importance of cultivating a professional online persona. While presenting a shortlist of candidates for a leadership role in East Africa, the client instantly checked each and every candidate on Facebook and LinkedIn, and immediately made a call on whether to interview or not, supported by what he saw online,” she says.

The growing role of social media analysis in the workplace f u r t h e r c a m e i n t o s h a r p f o c u s r e c e n t l y, w i t h a U S c o u r t r u l i n g in favour of hiQ Labs in San Francisco.

Reuters.com explains that the company had used LinkedIn data to build algorithms capable of predicting employee behaviors, such as when they might quit. While LinkedIn tried to put a stop to this, a federal judge ruled that they could not

"The lesson is that the personal has become the professional.

You can’t expect your personal social media profiles – or any information posted under your name – to be considered out of bounds."

prevent the company from accessing public profile data, and ordered LinkedIn to remove technology preventing hiQ from accessing public profiles within 24 hours.

“The case is considered to have implications beyond LinkedIn and hiQ Labs and could dictate just how much control companies have over publicly available data that is hosted on their services,” Reuters noted.

“The lesson here is that the personal has become the professional, and that you can’t expect your personal social media profiles, or any information posted under your name – whether it be a comment on a newspaper article or pics of you letting your hair way down at AfrikaBur n, to be considered out o f b o u n d s . A d d i t i o n a l l y, t h r o w a w a y c o m m e n t s a n d p o s t s a r e easily forgotten, but they will not be erased from the web as r e a d i l y a s t h e y a r e f r o m t h e m e m o r y, ” s a y s G o o d m a n - B h y a t .

“Consider the Facebook reminders that pop up daily – of things you said, did and posted a decade ago – would you be happy for that information to be published under your name again today?”

Goodman-Bhyat says future leaders should seriously consider t h e i r a p p r o a c h t o t h e i r o n l i n e p r e s e n c e i n g e n e r a l a n d m a y, like many are starting to do, consider a much more conservative style going forward, and actively cultivate their professional persona online. “ N o w, m o r e t h a n e v e r, i t i s i m p o r t a n t n o t t o b e n a ï v e o r

Photo: ssssss

thoughtless with your personal or professional information.

The unintended consequences can be massive, and massively c a r e e r- l i m i t i n g . ”

«

Debbie Goodman-Bhyat

connect with debbie Jack Hammer finds leaders who grow great companies and is rated in the top 3 executive search firms in SA and globally (through their IRC partnership). www.jhammer.co.za

"My father and I love classic cars and so we joined this group called the Piston Ring. It is a great forum to at least appreciate these cars, by no means am I a mechanic I barely fit the look of an accountant apparently.

He kicks back with the Pistol Ring and World of Tanks "The Piston Ring, based at Modderfontein in Gauteng, is the largest car club of its type in South Africa with over 850 members, and is proudly affiliated to the South African Vintage and Veteran Association.

"I am also part of a gaming clan for a game called World of Tanks. We enter competitions and basically nerd out at gaming events." ÂŤ

my way.

RICHARD BENSTED is the Director of the iShack Innovation Consultancy.

manufact

turing.

Sew it goes ZAID PHILANDER is on a mission to change the world one stitch at a t i m e , w r i t e s E U G E N E Y IG A .

As a boy growing up Woodstock, Cape To w n , Z a i d P h i l a n d e r w a s f a s c i n a t e d w i t h little inventions, and sewing. So much so that he often got a spanking for taking things apart and losing interest when he needed to put them back together again.

“I had a lot of interests,” he recalls. “For a long time I wanted to be a veterinarian, then a food technologist, and also an i n t e r i o r d e s i g n e r. A n d i n m y y o u n g e r y e a r s , I wanted to be a space monkey that tests plumbing with Batman!”

Both his parents worked full-time and were determined to support their five children, which resulted in his mother tur ning to craft to earn extra income.

With his folks busy at work, Zaid develo p e d a c l o s e r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h h i s e l d e r s i s t e r, w h o l e a r n e d h o w t o c u t , s e w, a n d d e s i g n f r o m b o o k s b e f o r e s h e m o v e d o n to an Italian dressmaking school.

"In my younger years, I wanted to be a space monkey that tests plumbing with Batman."

W h i l e o t h e r c h i l d r e n p l a y e d ‘ b l i n d m a n ’s b l u f f ’ , Z a i d c h o s e t o be ‘blinded’ by sewing hems by hand, cutting brown paper p a t t e r n s a n d s t i t c h i n g o n b u t t o n s . T h i s w a s h i s s i s t e r ’s a t t e m p t

at keeping Zaid busy by teaching him how to unpick hemlines and doing cuttings: the work every seamstress dislikes!

“The first time my family bought an industrial machine, I was s e v e n a n d t o o s h o r t t o re a c h t h e p e d a l s , ” h e s a y s . “ S o i n s t e a d o f f e e l i n g d e s p o n d e n t a n d g i v i n g u p , m y s i s t e r a n d I c re a t e d a contraption made with a crutch and a hosepipe. The crutch would tie to my elbow and hit the pedal while my feet would d a n g l e i n t h e a i r.

“I would sew with one hand pressing onto the crutch and the other guiding the fabric into the machine. I decided that day that I wouldn’t want anyone else to feel that they are limited due to a physical characteristic.”

Making products with 100% love After a few hours, Zaid was sewing his first set of hand pupp e t s w i t h t h e m a n m a d e c o n t r a p t i o n u s i n g h i s e l b o w. H e t h e n advanced to making simple garments and projects for neighb o u r s , f a m i l y, a n d f r i e n d s . B u t e v e n t h o u g h h e s a y s s e w i n g was second nature to him, there were challenges.

“In my earlier years I was discouraged as during that time everyone lost their jobs in the CMT (cut, make, and trim) industry as South Africa opened our labour gates to China and we lost several clients who chased cheaper labour solutions to their wares,” he recalls. “I was also teased by peers f o r w a n t i n g t o s e w a s i t w a s s e e n a s a w o m a n ’s c a r e e r.

S o I d i d i t f o r m y s e l f a l o n e , a s i t b r o u g h t m e j o y. ” At age 20, Zaid studied environmental awareness with great results. He was even nominated and selected as a Climate Change Champion through the British Council Project, ‘Low Carbon Futures’.

Inspired by the project and due to his nature-loving days as a boy scout, he chose to mix his two passions together and d e c i d e d t o s t a r t h i s o w n c o m p a n y, c r e a t i n g b a g s i n t h e m o s t planet-friendly way he could think of and developing an envir o n m e n t a l l y - c o n s c i o u s m o v e m e n t w i t h i n t h e f a s h i o n i n d u s t r y.

To d a y t h e c o m p a n y, c a l l e d I S c r e a m & R e d , n o t o n l y p r o d u c e s bags, but also teaches people with disabilities how to make t h e m a n d p l a n s t o g r o w t h e i n i t i a t i v e e v e n f u r t h e r.

“We teach people with disabilities how to design bags made f r o m r e c y c l e d s e a t b e l t s , r e u s e d u p h o l s t e r y, a n d r e j e c t e d sample fabric books,” Zaid says.

“All our makers are taught within their homes, eliminating travel time and allowing them to work in a pressure-free environment on a flexi-time basis.They create a product that is made 100% with love and with the skills to sustain employment to significantly improve their lives.”

Creating a planet-friendly movement within the fashion industry I Scream & Red sources all materials within the vicinity of production to minimise carbon emissions on each product. It also engages in activations around people with disabilities, teaching them how to design and start businesses of their own.

The company offers sewing classes, any CMT services to the public, and even screen printing with non-toxic pastes, using selections of organic cottons for the stitching and lining.

“We pride ourselves in being a planet-friendly company whilst doing it in a socially r e s p o n s i b l e w a y, ” Z a i d s a y s . “ I s t r i v e t o i n s p i r e , s e w, a n d c r e a t e a p l a n e t - f r i e n d l y m o v e m e n t w i t h i n t h e f a s h i o n i n d u s t r y, o n e stitch at a time.”

E v e r s i n c e a h e w a s a l i t t l e b o y, Z a i d h a s believed that sewing was neither a talent nor a gift that was given to him by a ‘higher power’. Instead, he thinks of it as a responsibility that he decided to undertake; a responsibility that he would use his talents and knowledge for the betterment o f t h e e n v i r o n m e n t , s o c i e t y, a n d t h e f a s h i o n i n d u s t r y.

“I strive to create a planet-friendly movement within the fashion industry, one stitch at a time.”

“As a young boy I was told that sewing is for the opposite s e x a n d t h a t I d i d n o t f i t t h e p r o f i l e , ” h e s a y s . “ Ye t a g a i n s t a l l odds – my length, my strength, and apparently my gender – I a c c o m p l i s h e d w h a t I w a n t e d : t o s e w. To d a y I t r a i n p e o p l e w i t h disabilities to sew these planet-friendly items as I can relate to how society puts limitations on you. Now my task is not only to prove them wrong, but to inspire others to do whatever they believe they want to achieve. For me, the choice began with a needle and thread.” w w w. i s c r e a m a n d r e d . c o . z a

«

— Eugene Yiga

human resources.

How smart workers

can

Geo

future-proof their career prospects

It is no secret that the world of work is shifting, and that individuals need to prepare for this changing landscape if they want their skills to remain in demand. And the way to do so, is to b e c o m e a S M A R T w o r k e r, s a y s employment expert Georgina Barrick.

arrick orgina B

“W ithin the next decade – and we are already seeing this happening to some degree – the traditional employer/employee relationship will be largely a thing of the past,” says Georgina Barrick, MD of Cassel&Co, Insource ICT and IT Edge – the specialised recruitment agencies of ADvTECH Resourcing f o c u s i n g o n F i n a n c e , A c c o u n t i n g a n d I T. She says that by 2030, historical workplace structures will overwhelmingly have been replaced by the concept of workers as consultants and their own bosses, who sell their services to client companies.

“As we move away from the idea of the employee working for o n e c o m p a n y, d e p e n d i n g o n t h a t c o m p a n y f o r e v e r y t h i n g f r o m their salary to the promise that they will in all likelihood be able to rely on that company for a safe and ongoing income, individuals need to understand how they can navigate the workplace market in the not-so-distant future,” says Barrick.

And this is where being SMART comes in.

“SMART is an acronym for the profile of future-fit workers: S p e c i a l i s t , M o b i l e , A d a p t a b l e , R e s i l i e n t a n d Ta l e n t e d . B e i n g SMART will be the key to surviving and thriving in the new world of work,” she says.

Barrick says the driving forces behind the changing work environment include rapid and ongoing technological innovation, which is responsible for the disruption of historic industries and old economic systems. This gives rise to new industries and jobs, but also means that an estimated 50% of all jobs currently in existence – including white collar roles – will become automated.

While these are certainly scary times, they are also exciting, as we enter an age where the goal of a bigger return for less work may be achieved. “ A l r e a d y, w e a r e s e e i n g e v i d e n c e o f s o - c a l l e d c r e a t i v e d e s t r u c tion in rising global unemployment, declining average length of service, increasing mid-career transitions and disruption across all industries,” says Barrick.

“Over the next five years, the World Economic Forum estimates that we’ll see the decline of job families like Office, Administrat i o n , M a n u f a c t u r i n g a n d P r o d u c t i o n . C o n v e r s e l y, t h e r e s h o u l d be a rise in the importance of Business and Financial Operat i o n s , I n f o r m a t i o n Te c h n o l o g y, M a t h e m a t i c a l , A r c h i t e c t u r a l a n d Engineering roles.

“While these are certainly scary times, they are also exciting, as we enter an age where the goal of a bigger retur n for less work may be achieved, but only if you have the right skills and are able to adapt to a rapidly changing work environment.”

Barrick says global research has identified four major trends that will impact the world of work over the next 15 years: 1. FLEXIBILITY “ G l o b a l l y, w e a r e s e e i n g a c o n t i n u a t i o n o f t h e g r o w i n g t r e n d towards short term work. According to the Inter national L a b o u r O r g a n i s a t i o n ’s ‘ T h e C h a n g i n g N a t u r e o f J o b s ’ , 7 5 % of the global workforce is currently employed on temporary or short-term contracts.

“It is believed that by 2030, workers will work ‘with’, not ‘for’, c o m p a n i e s a n d w i l l w o r k w i t h m u l t i p l e ‘ c l i e n t s ’ s i m u l t a n e o u s l y, joining skills guilds, rather than becoming employees.

“The focus will be on knowledge workers, who can do their jobs anywhere and at any time.

“This idea of workers as entrepreneurs will promote flexibility and autonomy – and will benefit high-skill workers.”

2. LIFELONG LEARNING A l r e a d y, t h e i d e a t h a t y o u s t u d y a n d t h e n u s e w h a t y o u ’ v e lear ned to follow a career at one company throughout your life has become obsolete, notes Barrick.

“Lifelong lear ning, where workers constantly reskill or renew skills every 5 years, is becoming the norm,” she says.

3. QUALITY VS QUANTITY “The emphasis is shifting away from chasing money at all costs to a focus on critical values, like work/life balance, happiness and fulfilment,” says Barrick.

“In future, there will increasingly be a shift away from the culture of ‘overwork’ towards a system where work is enmeshed in life – and reward is based on expertise and results, and not on job title or length of service.”

4 . T E C H N O L O G I C A L I N N O VAT I O N Te c h n o l o g y a l r e a d y e n a b l e s r e m o t e w o r k a n d , a s f i b r e b e c o m e s the norm in South Africa, internet speed is no longer the inhibitor it was 10 years ago. “ O v e r t h e n e x t 1 5 y e a r s , i t ’s p r e d i c t e d t h a t r a p i d t e c h n o l o g i c a l innovation will promote 24/7 work performed by employees in different geographic locations and time zones. The traditional notion of a ‘cor ner office’ as we know it today will become o b s o l e t e a s w o r k e r s w o r k r e m o t e l y, h o t d e s k a n d c o l l a b o r a t e in ways we can’t yet imagine.”

“Ultimately what all of this means, is that individuals need to become more adaptable, and be able to manage their careers w i t h g r e a t e r r e s i l i e n c e a n d f l e x i b i l i t y, ” s a y s B a r r i c k .

“They also need to become adept at building their personal brands and selling themselves on a fluid job market. Reputation management, customer relations and negotiation will be k e y t o t h e w o r k e r o f t h e f u t u r e . A d d i t i o n a l l y, t h e y n e e d t o t a k e responsibility for lifelong lear ning and regular upskilling, with a good dash of entrepreneurship thrown in.”

Employers of the future also need to adapt, she war ns. “They will need to be able to manage complexity and ambigui t y e f f e c t i v e l y, a n d q u i c k l y a n d e f f i c i e n t l y i d e n t i f y s k i l l s g a p s a n d t a p i n t o t h e f r e e l a n c e m a r k e t . A d d i t i o n a l l y, e m p l o y e r s should already start investigating how they can develop collaborative, global, and virtual working environments in order to attract the best talent.

ÂŤ

connect with Georgina Georgina Barrick is the MD of Cassel&Co and Insource.ICT/ IT Edge, all divisions of ADvTECH Resourcing. www.cassel.co.za www.advtech.co.za

u

Alone time in the car helps energise and focus one of SA’s top businessmen

It’s been a bumper year for the diverse AEEI investment group, with the listing of its food division, impressive results, and several industry awards including recognition for its financial performance and its empowered management team who steer the various companies within the group.

In addition to the numerous company acknowledgements, Abdulla himself has been honoured with an Oliver Empowerment Award as the Top Empowered Business Leader of the Year 2017 and the country’s first Vision 2030 Future Maker: Driver for Change.

South Africa’s top business leader is also a passionate family man, a keen sportsman and someone who appreciates that the finer things in life do not just fall out of the sky, but come as a result of hard work and

dedication to one

One of his key e to continue oper all the companie family and his ch music while drivi

“Everyone needs happens to be th get to switch off or listen to an int ideas. Doing so

my way.

e’s craft.

enjoyments (that also helps balance the energy needed rating at the level he does – sitting on the boards of es the Group has interests in, travelling and attending hildren’s school events and functions) is listening to ing in the sanctuary of his newly acquired Jaguar XF.

s some alone time,” says Abdulla “and mine just he journey to and from the office or meetings, where I the phone, immerse myself in the music I want to hear, teresting podcast while reflecting and thinking up new in comfort, is an added benefit.” «

Group Chief Executive Officer KHALID ABDULLA is the driving force behind JSE-listed African Equity Empowerment Investments (AEEI).

inspirin

Pushing bound as a woman leadershi

LISA ANTONOPOULOS, the new COO at Mediterranean Delicacie her insight into the challenges facing women in leadership posit

ng leaders.

daries n in ip

es, shares tions.

Illustration: Thinkstock

Mediterranean Delicacies, the lifestyle food company has a new addition on board in the form of Chief Operations Officer (COO), Lisa Antonopoulos. With a career that has spanned different cor ners of the earth, Lisa is used to pushing the boundaries, both in terms of continents and i n h e r r o l e a s a w o m a n i n t h e f o o d i n d u s t r y.

Her first parameter expansion occurred after starting her career in the airline industry with Singapore Airlines, from where she accepted a job offer in London with a leading independent provider of airline catering and provisioning services, Gate Gourmet.

Beyond the comfort zone “This job meant pushing the boundaries of my comfort zone, requiring me to leave the town in which I’d grown up,” says the Mediterranean Delicacies COO, about joining an organisat i o n w h e r e s h e k n e w v e r y f e w p e o p l e . “ Tr u t h b e t o l d , I w a s n ’ t entirely sure I could succeed in the job, but I did not want to spend the rest of my career wondering ‘What if ’,” she says about taking the leap which reshaped her view of the world and her definition of leadership. This resulted in becoming part of the inner workings of the exciting industry of the diverse and dynamic environment of airline catering while being exposed to several Management conferences in Frankfurt and Zurich, gaining insight to Inter national standards, LEAN/ best practice and process optimisation within operational areas.

While there were many exciting opportunities and experiences, it was the challenging moments which impacted on her both p e r s o n a l l y a n d i n h e r c a r e e r.

“One of the biggest challenges was that of stereotyping. At the

b e g i n n i n g o f m y c a r e e r, I w a s o n e o f v e r y f e w f e m a l e l e a d e r s within the In-flight Catering industry specifically within an operational environment,” comments Lisa.

“I was trivialized because I was young and so-called pretty and treated as though that was all there was to me,” she remembers. While this left her feeling invisible, often being excluded from informal power networks such as the golf club, pubs, clubs and do on, it served as a catalyst to further her studies of Management Development through the School of business leadership (Unisa) and GIBS.

I wasn’t entirely sure I could succeed in the job, but I did not want to spend the rest of my career wondering ‘What if'?

“At first this added another dimension of pressure to my daily workload as I had to study on top of meeting my deadlines.

But the qualifications certainly helped me grow into more s e n i o r r o l e s w i t h i n m y c a r e e r, ” s h e r e m a r k s .

Lisa brings her vast experience to the Mediterranean Delicacies brand, using lessons learned along the way to facilitate finding the best solutions for both brand and the people worki n g f o r t h e c o m p a n y.

“While my vision is strongly aligned to our mission statement at Mediterranean Delicacies to innovate, manufacture and sell food products of outstanding quality produced in a controlled hygienic environment using only the finest wholesome

fresh ingredients, my focus is also on creating a workplace that respects and values people from diverse backgrounds, enabling all employees to reach their maximum potential,” says the Management Development graduate whose ideals have also been informed by two role models who have impacted on her choices and direction taken both in terms of her personal life a n d c a r e e r.

The impact of role models “ R o l e m o d e l s l i k e F a c e b o o k ’s S h e r y l S a n d b e r g h a v e i n s p i r e d me to make a difference and break through glass ceilings, both my own and those in the workplace. Sheryl Sandberg has defin i t e l y i n f l u e n c e d m e a s a l e a d e r a n d a s a w o m a n i n a l e a d e rship position,” remarks Lisa, who was particularly influenced by her role model after attending a workshop in Zurich as part o f t h e l a u n c h o f S h e r y l S a n d b e r g ’s b o o k , L e a n I n .

“Both the book and the workshop shine a light on gender differences, offering practical advice to help women achieve their goals,” says Lisa about the book which challenges women to change the conversation from what women can’t do to what we can do, and serves as a rallying cry for us to work together to create a more equal world.

“I lear ned to be more confidant after this workshop and refer to Lean In often when I need to be reminded that I can achieve anything I put my mind to,” says the Mediterranean Delicacies COO, whose career was also influenced by a second role mode l , h e r m o t h e r.

“Some of my fondest memories are of the times spent cooking with my mom in the kitchen,” she says about the influence on her passion for food which was formed at a young age, togeth-

er with her choice of the kitchen as the favourite room in her home. “When I’m home, I spend most of my time there,” she s a y s . “ I t ’s o p e n p l a n , ” L i s a s a y s o f t h e k i t c h e n w h i c h o v e rlooks her herb garden. “ T h e s u n s h i n e s t h r o u g h t h e w i n d o w s f o r m o s t p a r t o f t h e d a y, giving me the perfect excuse to indulge in my love for cooking and trying out new recipes,” says the woman who believes in c o n t i n u o u s l y p u s h i n g b o u n d a r i e s , b e i t i n h e r c a r e e r, h e r o w n kitchen or innovating in the rather larger kitchen of Mediterranean Delicacies. “ Yo u w i l l o n l y k n o w y o u r l i m i t s i f y o u c o n t i n u a l l y t e s t t h e m , ” Lisa explains. “Life is not a dress rehearsal. There are times when we hit the invisible barrier of the glass ceiling which can p o t e n t i a l l y t h w a r t s u c c e s s . H o w e v e r, e x p e r i e n c e h a s t a u g h t me that this doesn’t have to be our sealed fate.

“Every generation, every business, every human being faces challenges. The point is what we do with them and how you a d a p t a n d g ro w t h ro u g h t h e m . M y e x p e r i e n c e s b e a r t e s t a m e n t t o H e n r y F o rd ’s w i s e w o rd s : W h e t h e r y o u t h i n k y o u c a n o r y o u t h i n k y o u c a n ’t – y o u a re r i g h t . T h i s h a s b e c o m e a d r i v i n g f o rc e i n m y l i f e – t o g o b e y o n d w h a t I t h i n k I c a n d o a n d t o b e a ro l e model to others to help them push the boundaries and discover t h e w o r l d o f p o s s i b i l i t y w h e n w e g o b e y o n d o u r p e rc e i v e d l i m i tations,” concludes the Mediterranean Delicacies COO.

connect with lisa Lisa Antonopoulos is the COO at Mediterranean Delicacies, a division of BM Food Manufacturers (Pty) Ltd. www.mediterraneandelicacies.co.za

«

REACHING PEOPLE.

How into t

I got their ANDY HADFIELD, CEO of www.forgood.co.za, tells u|Chief how to build something that customers want, need and use.

The only way to figure out what customers want as opposed to what they need, is to ask and test. Customers pay for what they need, but not always what they want - understanding the difference is vital and timing is everything.

AN HADF 5 TIP

BUILDING

I’ve had a really interesting set of experiences, where I’ve been able to use technology to tackle specific challenges across quite a variety of industries. While I’ve had some successes that I’m proud of, I’ve also worked on many projects that have been tried, tested and failed… Never b e s c a r e d t o f a i l – t h a t ’s w h e r e t h e b e s t l e a r n ing comes from.

The only way to figure out what customers want as opposed to what they need, is to ask and test.

Here are a few examples of interesting projects – where getting into the “mind” and figuring out the timing was almost more important than the p r o j e c t i t s e l f . A t F N B w e c r e a t e d t h e b a n k ’s f i r s t official Facebook presence. Back in 2008/09 Facebook was very new (scary) to business.

D e v e l o p i n g t h i s t h r o u g h F N B ’s P r e m i e r / P l a t i num segment, a segment very much focused on relationships, gave us the opening we needed to experiment. After some early successes (and

1L

2 L I ST

3 ITE EVE

4 CH T

5G H AN

NDY FIELD’S PS FOR

G P R O D U CT S

L I ST E N

T E N AG A I N RAT I O N I S E R YT H I N G

E C K YO U R TIMING G E T YO U R N DS D I R T Y

confidence building), the rest of the bank followed suit – they now dominate the social media landscape in t h e b a n k i n g s e c t o r.

T h e we b 2 .0 c r a z e b a c k in 2009/2010 h e l p e d c re a t e a n a p p e t it e w it hin c o mp a n i e s f o r a n e w, more mode r n u s e r-c e n t r i c d e si g n a nd se t of digit a l se r v i c e s . P e o p l e s t a r t e d t o re a lise t ha t d i g i t a l c o u l d d o sa l e s – a nd w it h t he se s t a r s a l i g n e d , we g o t t o build SA’s fir st t r u e “sh o p ” f o r b a n k i ng produc t s.

Imagine getting a cheque account from the comfort of your couch?

Sounds normal today… but back then, it wasn’t.

With Real Time Wine, we saw an interesting gap in the market – there were no resources for your rookie wine drinker in SA, only for wine snobs (who understood the crazy language used to figure out which wine was good and which wasn’t).

This app was a good example of a product that people wanted, but didn’t need – and therefore w e r e n ’ t w i l l i n g t o p a y f o r. T h e numbers were good, the community was unique – but the start-up didn’t generate enough revenue.

Fast forward to the present, with forgood.co.za. We’re playing in the social impact space, testing another two interesting customer “needs”. Corporates in South Africa want to build bigger employee volunteering programmes – but they’re doing it on Excel instead of using an automated platform. Citizens in South Africa are becoming more socially active – but many don’t know where to start. We connect people (and companies) to causes. Time will tell!

Andy’s 5 tips for building products 1. Listen.

2. Listen again.

3 . I t e r a t i o n i s e v e r y t h i n g . D o n ’ t t r y t o b e p e r f e c t . S o u t h A f ricans always try to build something perfectly before they launch it – if you wait that long, you’ll either run out of money or the market would have moved on.

4. C heck your timing. If you’re ahead of the curve, how easy will it be to educate your market? Do they care enough to buy something they don’t know they need yet?

5. G e t y o u r h a n d s d i r t y, e n g a g e a s m u c h a s p o s s i b l e w i t h your customers. Everyone talks about scale; not enough people talk about caring for individual experiences. Find y o u r S u p e r FA N S . L o v e t h e m .

«

connect with andy Andy Hadfield is a South African entrepreneur in the technology sector and co-founder of forgood, a social impact startup that connects people to Causes. www.forgood.co.za

The purpose of a start-up is to find a sustainable business model.

Many founders spend too much time working on a product in isolation, without knowing whether there are actually any real customers for the product.

Every start-up should first find out whether there’s an actual demand for their product before they start building it.

The Lean Startup

by Eric Ries

GET BLINKIST

BLINKIST EXTRACT FROM

Photos: ASOS

THINGS

retail legend.

KATIE SMITH of retail technology experts Edited.com dissects the incredible growth and success of the ASOS brand.

S

you need to know about the ASOS strategy

There aren’t many retailers that can claim a 32% sales increase r i g h t n o w. B u t A S O S d i d j u s t t h a t , i n t h e f o u r m o n t h s t o J u n e this year and is expecting full year profits to be £79.4m.

C l e a r l y, t h e r e a r e t h i n g s y o u n e e d t o k n o w a b o u t A S O S .

What is it about its strategy that means the OG of trend-led e - c o m m e r c e s t i l l h a s r o o m t o g r o w, i n a n i n c r e a s i n g l y c r o w d e d marketplace?

O f c o u r s e , t h e r e ’s n o t o n e s i m p l e t h i n g t h e r e t a i l e r i s d o i n g t o m a k e t h e i r m i l l i o n s . S o r r y, t h a t w o u l d b e t o o e a s y. I n s t e a d t h e r e ’s a c o m b i n a t i o n o f f a c t o r s b a l a n c e d o u t t o r e s u l t i n b o t t o m l i n e g r o w t h . L e t ’s g o t h r o u g h t h e A S O S S t r a t e g y

1 . Tr e n d i s t o p p r i o r i t y At the very centre of the ASOS masterplan is an undying commitment to trend. Nearly half (41%) of the current offering arrived in the last three months, and the site receives between 2,500 and 7,000 new products every week. Newness drives the business.

ASOS is meticulous on the timing of its trends too – the retailer doesn’t drop singular styles into stock, it waits for full stories to be in stock and launches them in the one hit (hence the variance in new product releases each week). And the retailer is among the first in the industry to break those trends.

Ta k e t h e c o l o r y e l l o w, w h i c h i s o n i t s w a y t o b o o t i n g m i l l e n n i al pink off trend top-spot. ASOS began increasing its stock of t h e s h a d e d r a m a t i c a l l y i n M a y, i n t r o d u c i n g m o r e t h a n t w i c e a s many new products as in April 2016. The rest of the UK market still lags on this trend. Across the full market there was a rise in new arrivals in June, a month later than ASOS, but by only 32% compared to a year ago. We expect to see this ramp up in

the following months, but ASOS are already in prime position to take the win.

T h i s s k i l l w i t h t i m i n g n o t o n l y f e e d s t h e r e t a i l e r ’s c o n t e n t , b u t having a full range of merchandise for a trend story places them as an authority on trend within consumers’ minds.

This skill with timing and having a full range of merchandise for a trend story places them as an authority on trend within consumers’ minds.

2. At any cost Tr e n d e v e n t a k e s a p r e c e d e n t o v e r p r i c e . D a t a s h o w s t h a t ASOS isn’t trying to be cheapest. In fact, its price architecture is very different from other trend-led youth retailers like Boohoo, H&M and Forever 21. Instead, ASOS opts to have s t a n d - o u t p r o d u c t , a t a n y c o s t ( w i t h i n r e a s o n ) . A S O S ’s p r i c i n g is more in line with traditional catalogue retailers than with fellow fast-fashion, trend-led e-commerce players.

On branded goods, ASOS frequently buy into a higher range o f p r i c i n g t h a n t h e b r a n d s s t o c k o n t h e i r o w n s i t e s . T h a t ’s t h e c a s e w i t h b o t h N e w L o o k a n d Wa r e h o u s e . A S O S w a n t s t h e best, most unusual product. One way it differentiates its assortment is by working directly with brands to produce product with its own consumer in mind. In fact, 5% of the branded offering is merchandised as being ‘exclusive’. And prices on

those exclusives skew higher than the rest of the assortment.

A S O S u s e s t h e s e e x c l u s i v e s t o d r i v e s p e c i f i c t r e n d s i t ’s f o c u s i n g o n . F o r e x a m p l e , c o l o r : t h e r e ’s a g r e a t e r e m p h a s i s on shades of pink and yellow in their exclusive selection than in their non-exclusive offering.

E x c l u s i v e s a r e a l s o u s e d t o r e i t e r a t e A S O S ’s a c t i v e w e a r d i f f e rence – something the retailer has recently upped the ante on – featuring exclusives with Puma, Ellesse and Nike.

3. Despite that, there’s a reliable core A l t h o u g h t r e n d i s A S O S ’s g o l d e n c h i l d , t h e r e t a i l e r s t i l l h a s a solid range of replenished core items. In fact, more than 8% of the current offering was first introduced more than a year ago.

T h a t ’s m o r e t h a n a t F o r e v e r 2 1 , w h e r e p r o d u c t 1 2 m o n t h s o r o l d e r o n l y a c c o u n t s f o r 3 % o f t h e o f f e r i n g , o r To p s h o p a t 5 % .

S o w h a t ’s i n t h e c o r e ?

• Own-brand blue and black denim for women and men.

• To m m y H i l f i g e r t e e s a n d s h i r t s f o r m e n • Birkenstocks, Nike and Converse footwear • Bras – strapless and styles which run in larger cup sizes • S imp le ow n - b r an d sh i r t s a n d b l o u s e s i n wh i t e , na v y a nd bla c k • Lace occasionwear dresses • Items from ASOS Curve and Mater nity lines

ASOS’s pricing is more in line with traditional catalogue retailers than with fellow fast-fashion, trend-led e-commerce players.

4 . T h e r e ’ s a d i s t i n c t a p p r o a c h to discounting A S O S h a s a s t r o n g s t a n c e o n d i s c o u n t i n g , c h o o s i n g t o p a rtition its reduced product off into an outlet section rather than saturate its main offering with too many price slashes.

T h a t w a y i t ’s o n l y t h e m o s t a r d e n t o f s a l e s s h o p p e r s w h o w i l l discover the ASOS outlet section. The retailer even introduces new branded product directly into the outlet section.

Outside of outlet, discounting is mostly promotional, with key dates in June and December sales as well as driven by email discount codes. In the last three months, 20 out of 40 email n e w s l e t t e r s ( w o m e n ’s ) h a v e m e n t i o n e d s a l e s . G i v e n t h e s t r o n g emphasis on trend and the approach to discounting, ASOS may want to reassess this.

5 . Me n s w e a r t a k e s a b a c k s e a t I t ’s w e l l s t o c k e d , b u t m e n s w e a r i s n ’ t a m a j o r d r i v e r o f b u s i n e s s for ASOS. There were more than three times the number of f u l l p r i c e w o m e n s w e a r s e l l o u t s i n t h e l a s t m o n t h t h a n m e n ’s .

Menswear accounts for 38.5% of the entire offering but only 23.8% of full price sell outs.

ASOS is aware that its menswear customer shops differently to i t s w o m e n s w e a r c u s t o m e r. B e c a u s e i t k n o w s t h e h a b i t s o f t h e womenswear shopper innately – and has an aptitude for building tech to suit the way they shop – ASOS focus its innovation on women.

6. Smart brand mix A S O S ’s r e a l t r u m p c a r d i s t h e s c a l e o f i t s o w n - b r a n d a s s o r t ment. With petite, tall, plus size and maternity lines, along with premium and reworked vintage, ASOS manages to greatly extend its consumer reach. Athird of the assortment is ownbrand, with the majority of own-brand falling under the ASOS main collection.

As the branded strategy has focused on unique product over price point, the private-label business gives ASOS the space t o b e p r i c e c o m p e t i t i v e . I t a l s o s h o w c a s e s t h e r e t a i l e r ’s u n d e rstanding of trend and timing.

all about asos Africa ASOS is a global fashion destination for 20-somethings, selling cutting-edge fashion and offering a wide variety of fashion-related content, making ASOS.com the hub of a thriving fashion community.

ASOS sells over 80,000 branded and own-brand products through localised mobile and web experiences, delivering from our fulfilment centres in the UK, US, Europe and China to almost every country in the world. www.asosplc.com

Brands @ASOS focus on unique product over price but private-label allows ASOS to be price competitivetweet Outside of own-brand, the bestselling brands at ASOS are New Look (which accounts for 1.6% of offering), River Island (1.5%) Nike (1.2%), Boohoo (0.7%), French Connection ( 0 . 8 % ) , Te d B a k e r ( 0 . 4 % ) . I t w o u l d b e a g o o d i d e a f o r A S O S t o e x t e n d t h e i r F r e n c h C o n n e c t i o n a n d Te d B a k e r a s s o r t m e n t as they hit the higher price points.

T h e s e a r e n ’ t t h e o n l y t r i c k s u p A S O S ’s s l e e v e s . W e ’ v e n o t touched upon its successful wedding collection, looked at best-selling categories or discussed its fresh look at activew e a r. I f t h a t ’s t h e k i n d o f d a t a y o u ’ d l i k e t o c h e c k o u t , y o u should check out a demo of our software!

«

EDITED is a retail technology company that helps leadi n g b r a n d s a n d r e t a i l e r s l i k e To p s h o p a n d R a l p h L a u r e n t o have the right product at the right price, at the right time.

EDITED is the world leader of real-time data for apparel r e t a i l e r s w o r l d w i d e . w w w. e d i t e d . c o m T H I S A R T I C L E WA S F I R ST P U B L I S H E D O N T H E E D I T E D W E B S I T E . V I E W T H E O R I G I N A L A RT I C L E H E R E , A N D E N J OY T H E I R OT H E R I N D U ST R Y I N S I G H TS A N D I N T E L L I G E N C E .

intellectual property.

Securing revenue for your mental innovations Sumaiya De’Mar (Director of SA Fashion Law), shares her insights on the importance and opportunities in the world of patenting.

Photo: EBEN Photography

I D E A S C O M E T O A L L O F U S I N VA R I O U S F O R M S . T h e a b i l i t y to generate new ideas is part of our inherent nature. The produ c t o f a p e r s o n ’s m e n t a l a c t i v i t y i s r e f e r r e d t o a s i n t e l l e c t u a l p r o p e r t y, t h e v a l u e o f w h i c h s h o u l d n o t b e u n d e r e s t i m a t e d i n our digital age.

Not everybody has the inclination to start a business and there is no need to start a business to harness your ideas and monet i s e t h e m . Yo u r i n t a n g i b l e a s s e t s c a n s t i l l b e u s e d f o r c o m mercial advantage through licensing, which means selling your ideas to companies and ear ning a royalty income from that.

How often do we hear of people coming up with brilliant ideas, only to let them disappear and then see someone else implem e n t i n g o r p r o f i t i n g f r o m t h e m . I t ’s n o t e n o u g h t o h a v e t h e i d e a w i t h o u t i m p l e m e n t i n g i t . To q u o t e R o b i n S h a r m a , “ I d e a t i o n without execution is delusion”. Which means the next time you come up with an excellent idea, execute it!

The next time you come up with an excellent idea, execute it!

To s e e i f y o u h a v e a n i d e a t h a t i s m a r k e t a b l e , t h e f i r s t s t e p i s t o d o t h o r o u g h r e s e a r c h . Yo u c a n n o t p a t e n t a n i n v e n t i o n t h a t has already been created anywhere in the world. Start by doing an inter net search on Google Patents. This should give you a pretty clear idea of what has already been patented and forms part of the ‘state of the art’.

If your idea has not been patented and is completely unique, it would suit you to draw up a strategy document to market

y o u r i d e a t o t h e r i g h t c o m p a n y. T h e n c o m p i l e a l i s t o f c o m panies that could benefit from your idea. All you need to do is demonstrate a problem and how your idea could provide a s o l u t i o n . To d e v e l o p a p r o t o t y p e o f t h e i d e a , y o u c o u l d g e t a graphic designer to do a visual representation for you. A proper strategy should outline the benefits of the idea and contain a detailed description of it, pictures relating to it, as well as your contact information.

O n c e y o u ’ v e c o m p l e t e d t h i s p ro c e s s , y o u c a n f i l e a P ro v i s i o n a l P a t e n t A p p l i c a t i o n a n y w h e re i n t h e w o r l d . A c c o rd i n g t o t h e C o m p a n i e s a n d I n t e l l e c t u a l P ro p e r t y C o m m i s s i o n ( C I P C ) , “ F i l i n g a p ro v i s i o n a l a p p l i c a t i o n i s q u i t e i n e x p e n s i v e a n d g i v e s y o u 1 2 m o n t h s t o c o n s i d e r t h e c o m m e rc i a l w o r t h o f y o u r i n v e n t i o n a n d t o re s o l v e i s s u e s s u c h a s f i n a n c e a n d l i c e n s i n g . T h e n y o u c a n d e c i d e w h e t h e r t o c o n t i n u e w i t h p a t e n t p ro t e c t i o n . ” P a t e n t s p r o t e c t n e w t e c h n o l o g y, i n v e n t i o n s a n d o t h e r f o r m s of innovation. Once all the requirements of a patent application are satisfied and the patent is issued, no other entity can manufacture or market the invention. The final patent lasts two decades and then enters public domain.

If there is competition in other countries, an inter national patent can also be registered. The search for South African patents can be conducted at the CIPC offices or online. Filing a provisional patent application allows you to put the words ‘patent pending’ on it.

When establishing contact with companies, approach their marketing department, which can even be done via LinkedIn. Inform them that you’ve developed a product which you would like to submit to their company for review and what their

process is. They would most likely ask you to email your strategy to them. Most companies would love to pay royalties for a w i n n i n g i d e a , s o i t ’s i m p o r t a n t t o i d e n t i f y a n d c o m m u n i c a t e with the most suitable companies.

When a company sees your idea and they want to license your c o n c e p t , i t ’s t i m e t o n e g o t i a t e a d e a l . I t c o m e s d o w n t o w h a t you are granting and what they are licensing. In their mind, they need something tangible. This is where a Licensing Agreement comes in, whereby the terms are agreed upon in writing.

E s s e n t i a l l y y o u l i c e n c e t h e u s e o f y o u r i d e a t o t h e c o m p a n y, who then produces and markets the idea. In exchange you get payment in the form of royalties.

Most companies would love to pay royalties for a winning idea.

An interesting example of a successfully patented idea is the story of Spanx. Spanx is the most popular shapewear worn by

references 1 . C o m p a n i e s a n d I n te l l e c t u a l P ro p e r t y C o m m i s s i o n ( C I P C ) w w w. c i p c . c o . za / i n d ex . p h p / t ra d e - m a r ks - p a te n ts - d e s i g n s - c o p y r i g h t / p a te n ts / 2 . S te p h e n Ke y : O n e S i m p l e I d e a : Tu r n yo u r d re a m s i n to a l i c e n s i n g g o l d m i n e w h i l e l e t t i n g o t h e rs do the work 3 . B i o g ra p h y w w w. b i o g ra p h y. c o m / p e o p l e / s a ra - b l a ke l y - 0 3 1 41 6 4 . F o r b e s w w w. fo r b e s . c o m / s i te s / c l a re o c o n n o r / 2 0 1 2 / 0 3 / 1 2 / h o w - s p a n x- b e c a m e - a - b i l lion-dollar-business-without-advertising/#5f2a7b44d646

women throughout the world, made famous by celebrities who claim to wear them under their red carpet dresses.

It is not about being an expert.

It starts with one simple idea.

Spanx founder Sarah Blakely was working in sales when she came up with a new business idea. She wanted to wear a pair of white trousers, but couldn’t find any undergarment she liked to wear under it, so she created her own solution by cutting the feet off a pair of panty hose.

After realising the brilliance of her innovation, she worked on her new business venture, finalised the design and registered her patent. In 2012 Blakely was featured on the cover o f F o r b e s M a g a z i n e a s t h e w o r l d ’s y o u n g e s t f e m a l e s e l f - m a d e billionaire.

As evidenced, it is not about being an expert. It starts with one simple idea that can potentially generate revenue and the execution of that idea in tangible form. Licensing can be used to multiply the effect of the idea, allowing you to benefit lucratively from your mental assets.

– Sumaiya De’Mar

connect with Sumaiya Sumaiya De’Mar is the Founder and Director of SA Fashion Law www.safashionlaw.co.za sumaiya@safashionlaw.co.za

«

HOT PROP ERTY WAYNE BERGER of Instant Property shares his insight into trends in the property industry.

property trends.

T h e re a re s eve ra l n e g at i ve i n f l u e n c e s i m p a ct i n g o n t h e f l u i d i t y a n d s u c c e s s o f t h e p ro p e r t y m a r ket at t h e m o m e nt . T h e s e i n c l u d e : S o u t h Af r i c a ’ s j u n k stat u s , p o l i t i c a l u n c e r ta i nt y , h e av y m a n u fa ct u ri n g c o n s i d e rat i o n s d u e to l a b o u r i s s u e s a n d a l a c k o f s k i l l e d l a b o u r.

A s a re s u l t , m a n y o rg a n i s at i o n s w i t h i n t h i s s e cto r a re a d o pt i n g a Wa i t a n d s e e at t i t u d e . T h i s c a n b e s e e n f ro m t h e i nve sto r l eve l to t h e te n a nts a s u n c e r ta i nt y i m p a cts o n b u s i n e s s d e c i s i o n s . B a n ks a re a l s o b e i n g c a u t i o u s w i t h l e n d i n g a n d t h i s i s sta g n at i n g i n d u st r y a ct i v i t y . T h at s a i d , t h e re ’ s a s a y i n g t h at i n to u g h e c o n o m i c c l i m ate s , opportunities arise.

T h e re a re st i l l re s i l i e nt a re a s t h at m a y n ot b e a s a f fe cte d b y t h e s e n e g at i ve i n f l u e n c e s , fo r exa m p l e C a p e To w n i s n ot a s a f fe cte d a s J o h a n n e s b u rg , a n d t h i s t y p e o f d i f fe re nt i a l a l s o f i l te rs d o w n i nto s p e c i f i c s u b u r b s . F o r t h e te n a nt t h i s m e a n s t h at t h e l a n d l o rd w i l l b e m o re d e s p e rate to f i l l t h e i r v a c a n c i e s a n d w i l l i n g to n e g ot i ate .

Yo u w i l l b e e m p o w e re d a n d c a n s h o p a ro u n d .

F o r t h e p ro p e r t y i nve sto r, m a n y l a n d l o rd s m y fe e l p re s s u re to s e l l a s s ets s o i f y o u a re c a p i ta l f l u s h i n t h e s e m a r kets t h e re a re b a rg a i n s to b e fo u n d , e s p e c i a l l y i f y o u re s e a rc h c o r re ct l y a n d d o n ’ t b u y h a st i l y . T h e r u l e o f t h u m b fo r t h e p ro p e r t y a u ct i o n i s t h at i n to u g h t i m e s t h e re a re b a rg a i n s , b u t i n b u l l i s h t i m e s t h e p r i c e ta g i s at a p re m i u m .

«

connect with wayne Wayne Berger is the Managing Partner at iShack Ventures, which includes Instant Property in their portfolio. www.instantproperty.co.za

travel d

New york city

debrief.

ENVER DUMINY, CEO, Cape Town Tourism, debriefs u|Chief on his recent trip to NYC.

Te l l u s a b o u t y o u r r e c e n t t r a v e l s ?

networking opportunit

M o s t re c e n t l y, t h e L o v e C a p e To w n t e a m a n d

case of business trave

I t r a v e l l e d t o N e w Yo r k C i t y, U S , t o s i g n

and I made it to a few

a t r a d e a n d m e d i a p a r t n e r s h i p a g re e m e n t

attractions, including

w i t h N Y C & C o m p a n y, o u r c o u n t e r p a r t s

Park, The Highline, an

t h e re . I t ’s i m p o s s i b l e n o t t o b e s t r u c k b y

the global Broadway s

t h e s h e e r s i z e a n d e n e r g y o f N e w Yo r k , a c i t y f a m i l i a r t o u s f ro m m a n y T V s h o w s

We’ve been developin

a n d m o v i e s . We ’ re p ro u d t o b e a s s o c i a t e d

relationship for some

with them, to be placed in the category of

to meet up with our fr

world-class destination should make Ca-

carry on as if no time

petonians and South Africans thrilled.

The people you meet

travel experience, and What was memorable in terms of the

our stories.

travel and business experience?

As far as this travel experience went, a

What results did you

lot of it was consumed with meetings and

this trip?

ties, as is always the

As mentioned, the trip was to sign a part-

e l , h o w e v e r, t h e t e a m

nership deal, the first of its kind between

w of the landmark

N e w Yo r k a n d a n y c i t y o n t h e A f r i c a n

L a d y L i b e r t y, C e n t r a l

continent – a landmark deal. This will see

nd also getting to see

C a p e To w n To u r i s m a n d N e w Yo r k & C o m -

sensation Hamilton.

pany sharing our marketing platforms to encourage visitors to go to each city re-

ng this international

s p e c t i v e l y, a n d a l s o s h a r i n g b e s t p r a c t i c e .

y e a r s , s o i t ’s g o o d

riends there and

What opportunities did you identify?

has passed at all.

As a developing nation, we must always

are central to any

be on the lookout for opportunities; we’re

d we enjoy sharing

looking to increase awareness around all

u achieve through

t h a t S o u t h A f r i c a h a s t o o f f e r, a s w e l l a s seeking opportunities to develop more direct flights, for example, to provide ease of access. Getting there and back is

part of the challenge, so increased flights

has been facing, and

between both cities would encourage

ny doesn’t get distrac

business development across a number

trip there worthwhile,

of industries. We are also working via our

experiences are alway

N a t i o n a l D e p a r t m e n t o f To u r i s m t o e n g a g e

stood out most for me

with the Department of Home Affairs, in

liness of locals and a

d e v e l o p i n g a V I S A Wa i v e r P r o g r a m f o r

focus on customer se

South Africans travelling to the US.

m a n y o f u s i n C a p e To

in order to ensure tha What surprised you about the country –

the centre of everythi

positively and negatively?

s a y t h a t ’s a p o s i t i v e a

W h a t ’s g r e a t a b o u t N e w Yo r k i s t h a t t h e

tive situation.

c i t y h a s i t s o w n i n d e p e n d e n t c h a r a c t e r, so no matter what may going on outside

How did you grow pe

– p o l i t i c a l l y, s o c i a l l y – N Y C & C o m p a n y

travel experience?

continues to seek ways to attract visitors.

I was inspired by the

We’re aware of the challenges the US

across there, as well

yet NYC & Compa-

cted from making a ensuring that visitor

individuals I met. They have impressive resources, but they’re also looking for ways to maximise potential with what they have.

ys top of mind. What

T h a t ’s w h a t w e h a v e t o d o l o c a l l y – r a t h e r

e was the friend-

than being limited by what we have, we

very high level or

ervice, something that

own need to work on,

need to ask ourselves, how can we make it work for us, how can we make what we have grow?

at the customer is at n g w e d o . Yo u c o u l d

approach to a nega-

What lesson did you learn or pick up during this trip that you would like to share with others?

Possibility thinking is great, but it can

ersonally from this

take many months or years to see the f r u i t o f a d r e a m c o m i n g t o l i f e . P e r s e v e r-

creativity I came

ance and hard work go hand-in-hand with

as the energy of the

seeing a dream realised. And its amazing

to hear how many people love our South

eyes, watching how th

African accent – so don’t be ashamed to

T h a t ’s w h y t r a v e l s t i r s

speak up and laugh out.

want to see the world

live in it. No matter w Wa s t h e r e s o m e t h i n g a b o u t h o w t h e y d o

find people you can re

business or live their lives that readers

sonal, human level, an

could benefit from experiencing?

plenty to offer our vis

I believe that international travel opens

s o i t ’s a p l e a s u r e t o e

you up to fresh perspectives. There are no

in other countries to g

rights or wrongs about different lifestyles,

t h e m s e l v e s . T h e r e ’s X

but you can gain inspiration through

was printed on a coffe

s e e i n g t h e w o r l d t h r o u g h s o m e o n e e l s e ’s

back from NYC, which

h e y w o r k a n d p l a y.

d e r f u l l y “ U k u h a m b a K u k u b o n a – Tr a v e l l i n g

s so many of us – we

opens a window to the world”

d and the people who

where you go, you’ll

Any fun memories?

e l a t e t o o n a p e r-

Every memory is a fun one, as it is filled

nd South Africa has

with so many possibilities, and one is

sitors in that regard,

reminded of how beautiful the world is,

encourage people

but also how amazing our City is that we

get here to see for

sometimes take for granted.

Xhosa saying, which

ee mug on my flight

Where would you go to next time if you

h sums this up won-

visited for business or pleasure?

I’m privileged to travel to many places

w h a t ’s f u n t o d o a n d s

p r o f e s s i o n a l l y, t o s h a r e t h e g o o d n e w s o f S o u t h A f r i c a . I d e a l l y, I ’ d l i k e t o s e e m o r e

What did you learn a

of the Middle East and UAE countries –

L o c a l l y, w e ’ r e s t a r t i n g

t h e r e ’s m u c h a b o u t C a p e To w n , i n p a r-

in increased cultural s

t i c u l a r, t h a t w o u l d a p p e a l t o t h e M u s l i m

comes to our visitors,

t r a v e l l e r, s o I ’ d l i k e t o m a k e s u r e t h a t t h a t

ism operators are tran

message gets out there.

into more languages,

options for visitors fro Having travelled around SA in 2010 with

grounds – and that ex

t h e F I FA S o c c e r W o r l d C u p , I ’ v e f o u n d

options to providing p

many welcoming places. Business trav-

rections to places of

el doesn’t always provide opportunities

a c c o m m o d a t i o n . I t ’s a

to explore, but I do love to get into local

ing your business offe

neighbourhoods to meet people and find

have a home away fro

out what makes them tick – they’re the ones who can tell you their local secrets –

What were the langu

Photos: Pixabay

see.

W e l l , N e w Yo r k , a l t h o u g h a f i r s t - l a n g u a g e E n g l i s h - s p e a k i n g c i t y i s l i k e C a p e To w n , a

a b o u t N e w Yo r k e r s ?

c u l t u r a l m e l t i n g p o t . Yo u c o u l d b e s p e a k -

g to realise the value

ing to someone in Spanish one minute and

sensitivity when it

then in French the next. Wherever you go,

, s o l a r g e r t o u r-

t a k e p h r a s e b o o k s ( o r G o o g l e Tr a n s l a t e ! )

nslating literature

and pick up languages as you go. If not,

or providing more

just say I am South African and Madiba

om different back-

is our father – the recognition and assis-

xtends from menu

tance you will receive will astound you…

prayer facilities or di-

enjoy your travels.

«

worship near holiday

all about personalis-

ering so that visitors

om home.

uage challenges?

connect with enver Enver Duminy is the Chief Executive Officer at Cape Town Tourism. www.capetown.travel

ment

Mentor

toring.

Bronwyn Dugtig, the Head of Community Engagement at Monash South Africa, is the global winner of the McGuire Business Plan Competition

champion

Te l l u s a b o u t t h e M c G u i r e B u s i n e s s P l a n C o m p e t i t i o n ?

While working at Monash South Africa (MSA), I was completing a p o s t g r a d u a t e d i p l o m a i n C o r p o r a t e G o v e r n a n c e . O n e o f M S A’s g l o b a l p a r t n e r s – L a u re a t e I n t e r n a t i o n a l U n i v e r s i t i e s – a d v e rt i s e d t h e M c G u i re B u s i n e s s c o m p e t i t i o n t h ro u g h s t u d e n t n e t works and was immediately excited. For many years I have been m e n t o r i n g y o u n g p e o p l e w h o a re s o c i a l e n t re p re n e u r s , t h ro u g h m y ro l e a s H e a d o f C o m m u n i t y E n g a g e m e n t a t M S A a n d I ’ d h a d t h e c o n c e p t o f t h i s v e n t u re f o r q u i t e s o m e t i m e . S o , I t h o u g h t : h e re ’s a c h a n c e t o t e s t m y k n o w l e d g e a n d k n o w - h o w.

Preparation of the competition was really tough. The first part of the venture was a business plan submission, a 4-pager which consisted of the background, venture, financial forecast and a business canvas. I pulled a team together and completed this is just two days, so you can imagine how excited we were when we were short-listed! There were 150 submissions from almost 30 countries and we were thrilled to represent Africa in t h e t o p 3 f o r t h e p o s t - g r a d u a t e c a t e g o r y.

Young people are hungry for information of how to grow and improve themselves… however, they are not supported in this process.

The second part of the competition was much more work.

Having proved that we had a good concept, the next step was to prepare a 45-minute pitch. We put a lot more time into this – most of the work was really unpacking our value proposition, m a r k e t i n g a n d g r o w t h s t r a t e g y, r e v e n u e m o d e l t h a t w a s a l l based on market research.

We structured our pitch around the call to safe-guard and p r o m o t e d e m o c r a c y, b u t a l s o o f f e r i n g a s u s t a i n a b l e h y b r i d business model that will not be reliant on grants and funding.

U l t i m a t e l y, w e h a d t o s h o w w h a t w e h a d t o o f f e r a n d t h e n a s k the McGuire panel to ‘sit at our table’, so to speak.

Please share some background to your career?

I have always been passionate about people. As a young idealist growing up I wanted to do something that bigger than myself and make a positive impact on the world. This was probably first influenced by my dad, Brian du Rand, who was passionate about value-based business and transformation in South Africa. After school I travelled a lot while I was studying development studies correspondence and I lear nt so much about people and the world, but nowhere in the world compares to South Africa!

When I came back to SA I started work at the United Nations, which was my dream job. I also worked part time Coolpolitics, which merged youth culture with political debate. At this point in my life I realised that my passion and strength comes from working with people, I met some of the students and academics at MSA through a mutual friend.

At MSA we have young people from all over the world who immediately fell in love with this uniquely African campus. I then decided to join the vision of MSA and applied for a job in the Community Engagement department. I have been working at MSA for six years and have never looked back. At MSA I have found my calling, which allows me to be part of a journey that impacts hundreds of young people. I started out at MSA as the Administrator of Community Engagement and four years later I found myself as Head of Department.

What is your secret when it comes to mentoring?

Throughout my career I have had very different but exceptional mentors who have taught and helped m e a l o n g t h e w a y. I m e n t o r others in the same way as I was mentored.

T h e s e c re t t o m e n t o r s h i p is honesty and vulnerabilit y. P e o p l e n e e d re a l p e o p l e w h o a re n ’t a f r a i d t o t a l k about their fears – you can d r a w s o m u c h m o re s t re n g t h f ro m a re a l p e r s o n t h a n f ro m s o m e o n e w h o p re t e n d s t o h a v e a l re a d y ‘ m a d e i t ’ o r have all the answers.

Another important aspect is helping teach your mentee to take constructive critical feedback. If you can learn this e a r l y i n y o u r c a r e e r y o u w i l l m o v e f o r w a r d a l o t f a s t e r.

The secret to mentorship is honesty and vulnerability.

I always teach my students that nothing beats hard work and that if you want something you have to put the hours in to get it – this includes attending mentoring sessions.

I love my job and I have really found my purpose in launching the careers of young leaders.

What are the difficulties mentors face?

One of the most difficult situations that a mentor can face is that they often feel like they are trying to row a boat with mentees who are not working together with you.

M e n t o r s h i p i s a b o u t e m p o w e r m e n t , b u t i t ’s a t w o - w a y p r o c e s s t h a t r e l i e s o n t h e a t t i t u d e o f t h e m e n t e e . I u n d e r s t a n d m e n t o rship as the mentee steering a boat and different mentors pro-

v i d e t h e w i n d o r m o t i v a t i o n a l o n g t h e w a y. Yo u c a n n o t m e n t o r someone who doesn’t want to be mentored. I always tell my s t u d e n t s I w i l l m e e t t h e m h a l f w a y, a n d t h a t t h e y n e e d t o s e e k out and create their own opportunities including participating in the mentorship progress.

You cannot mentor someone who doesn’t want to be mentored.

I always tell my students I will meet them halfway.

How have you benefitted from mentoring in your life?

I have had exceptional – but all different – mentors from all walks of life. They have all provided a unique perspective on my life, and all of these different experiences have allowed me to think differently about myself and how I influence others.

What are the main challenges young people face today?

Yo u n g p e o p l e a r e h u n g r y f o r i n f o r m a t i o n o f h o w t o g r o w a n d i m p r o v e t h e m s e l v e s … h o w e v e r, t h e y a r e n o t s u p p o r t e d i n t h i s process. Our research has shown us that young people are hungry to learn about politics and access information – howe v e r, a t t h e s a m e t i m e , t h e y f e e l p o w e r l e s s a n d h a v e b e c o m e dissolusioned in the political process.

Research has shown that fewer than 15% of the first-time voters in our last local elections even registered to vote and that 55% of university students feel democracy is not necess a r y f o r g o v e r n a n c e . Yo u n g p e o p l e w a n t t o s e e c h a n g e h a p p e n but they are not looking to democratic structures to help them achieve this.

Te l l u s a b o u t y o u r u n i q u e w i n n i n g b u s i n e s s i d e a , M y Vo i c e ?

Working in the field of community engagement and citizenship, I have often worked with organisations who promote a c t i v e c i t i z e n s h i p t h r o u g h e m p o w e r m e n t o r t e a c h i n g l e a d e rs h i p . H o w e v e r, i n d e v e l o p i n g e m p o w e r e d y o u n g l e a d e r s , w e also need to teach them how to participate in the democratic process, voter education is an important aspect to stabilising o u r d e m o c r a c y a n d i n t u r n s t a b i l i s i n g o u r e c o n o m y. M Y V O I C E incorporates a unique combination of six elements; critical thinking, leadership, public speaking, debate, active citizenship and voter education.

H o w d i d y o u r e s e a r c h t h e c o n t e n t f o r M y Vo i c e ?

This content is researched and designed by our team who are experts in their field, with a range of qualifications that include a PhD & MA in Political Studies, MA in Education: Design and Innovation, Corporate Governance, Development Studies, African Politics and International Relations. The MY VOICE Active Citizenship Curriculum will include a period of 8-10 weeks of actively discussing, debating and experiencing the topics of human rights, socio-economic and legal rights, democratic institutions and functioning, policy development, voter rights and responsibilities, leadership and so on.

Yo u w e r e g u i d e d b y t h e S o u t h A f r i c a n C o n s t i t u t i o n … have you gained any greater insight from studying it?

The constitution is a beautiful constructed manifesto that is firmly based on human rights. A friend of mine often talks about human rights as two wings: one is our ‘rights’, the other is our ‘responsibility’ and, in order to make the constit u t i o n a r e a l i t y, w e n e e d t w o w i n g s t o f l y. I f y o u n e e d t h e constitution through this lens you discover we all have a lot of work to do.

What are the challenges facing our ‘bor n free’ generation?

In the past 11 years human rights are declining worldwide, and understanding the why and the how a democracy functions is not formally or extensively taught to the next generation.

A s a y o u n g d e m o c r a c y, t h e ‘ b o r n f r e e s ’ a r e i n h e r i t i n g o u r democracy and, like many part of the world, the youth are not taught the responsibility that goes with our rights. We need the next generation to safeguard our rights through the use of the political democratic system, otherwise we lose them again.

What are your plans for using the prize money and the oneyear mentorship to grow your project?

We will be using the start-up grant to establish our branding a n d m a r k e t i n g s t r a t e g y, p a r t n e r s h i p d e v e l o p m e n t , a d m i n i s t r a tion and to complete the pilot programmes.

The greater Laureate team has been really supportive and we connect with them on an ongoing basis, the mentorship they provide and experience of running a global education institution will certainly contribute towards helping us scale and becoming sustainable.

Young people want to see change but are not looking to democratic structures to help them achieve this.

W h a t a r e y o u r l o n g - t e r m g o a l s i n t e r m s o f M y Vo i c e a s w e l l as your other plans and projects?

Ultimately we want to contribute towards safeguarding the

Mentorship is about empowerment, but it’s a two-way process that relies on the attitude of the mentee. quality of democracy through developing youth to be well-informed, active and responsible citizens in South Africa. We want to educate lear ners capable of being responsible and engaged leaders aware of their environment and their responsibility in and to society and offer knowledge and skills for youth to be able to have a voice and make a difference i n s o c i e t y. W e w a n t t o g r o w a n d o f f e r a p l a t f o r m f o r y o u t h t o connect, debate and engage on a national level.

For people involved in disruption, what message do you have in terms of the challenges and opportunities of having a vision, planning it, building it and managing it?

I h a v e a g re a t t e a m , t h a t k e e p s o n g ro w i n g . I w o u l d e n c o u r a g e a l l e n t re p re n e u r s w h o g e n e r a l l y a re p e o p l e w h o a re n ’t a f r a i d o f re s p o n s i b i l i t y, t o re s i s t t h e t e m p t a t i o n t o d o e v e r y t h i n g a l o n e , m y a d v i c e w o u l d b e : f i n d p e o p l e w h o s h a re y o u r v i s i o n , who can challenge you, critically evaluate your work and who energize you.

«

connect with Bronwyn Bronwyn Dugtig is the Head of Community Engagement at Monash South Africa and the National Director for YouthActionNet, where she runs the MSA LEAD (Leading Entrepreneurship for African Development) programme www.msa.ac.za

The serv

Illustration: Thinkstock

my way.

vient leader

• My management style is called servient leadership, which is selfless leadership. When I walk into the office my approach is what can I do for my colleagues who work with me - not for me - rather than what they can do for me. I believe I’m a resource and they can utilise me to make their work easier.

• I start every new day as if it is my first day at work. It is important for managers to recognise that you have to start the day afresh and that you have to forget about yesterday. Reset your mind and your whole expectation for a new day. The movie Groundhog Day comes to mind where every day is the same. Do not get stuck in a routine as you won’t be able to grow. «

“I believe I’m a resource and they can utilise me to make their work easier."

CLAUDE SCHUCK, regional manager for Africa at Veeam

Llew Morkel

the disruptor.

ProsperiProp’s LLEW MORKEL looks back on a life of disruption I grew up in Boksburg, and started developing software when I was only 13 years old. The first application I created was for a school project, which I developed in GW-Basic. I remember being one of only two students that submitted their project on a floppy disc. Everyone else handed in printed or handwritten documents.

A disruptor was born.

At 16 I started my commerce education. I found a job as a casual employee at JET stores in Boksburg, and spent every weekend and school holiday for the next three years unp a c k i n g s t o c k , f o l d i n g c l o t h e s o r m a n n i n g a c a s h r e g i s t e r. I lear ned about retail and customers and the value of a hard d a y ’s w o r k .

After school I studied marketing at first, but soon found out that it wasn’t my passion. I left university and started work for a n I n t e r n e t S e r v i c e s P r o v i d e r – o n e o f t h e f i r s t i n t h e c o u n t r y.

It was the Bacher brothers who inspired my entrepreneurial spirit. And, my experience with the Internet helped me land a job at a major bank, working in its Internet banking division.

O u r t e a m ’s m a n d a t e w a s t o c h a n g e t h e w o r l d o f b a n k i n g ; f i n tech in its infancy!

I qualified as Java software developer and created some of t h e c o u n t r y ’s f i r s t m o b i l e a p p s . B a c k t h e n i t u s e d t o b e t h a t sleek little Nokia 6110 that shimmered in the sunlight. We created a property listing application that worked on the Sony Ericsson P800. The app could take pictures and upload the

p r o p e r t y o n l i n e b e f o r e t h e a g e n t e v e n l e f t t h e p r o p e r t y. T h i s app had all the potential of disrupting the estate agent market – but it was ahead of its time. Back then very few people knew what an app was.

New technology brings new opportunities and the establishment knows they need to embrace it or get left behind.

My first real success as a fintech entrepreneur came with the launch of an online escrow platform. This platform made it possible for the ordinary person to setup a safe transaction between two or more parties, without the need for a lawyer or a bank to mediate the transaction. We managed to put a product in the market that would disrupt cross-border trading and the need for letters of credit.

I sold the escrow business and used my time to focus on a new vision. I set out to make it possible for the middle to low income ear ner to benefit from the wealth creating power of p r o p e r t y. P r o s p e r i P r o p w a s b o r n a b o u t t w o y e a r s l a t e r. P r o s periProp uses Blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies to create new opportunities in property investment.

We created a business model that will ultimately make it p o s s i b l e f o r s o m e o n e t o b u y i n t o a n a r r a y o f t h e w o r l d ’s t o p share portfolios for as little as R25. That R25 ear ns the same interest, and the same capital appreciation as a million-dollar investment in the same shares.

Disruption will happen.

It is inevitable. New thinking will always challenge the establishment. New technology brings new opportunities and the establishment knows they need to embrace it or get left behind. The challenge for us, the disruptors, is to find ways to work with and lear n from the establishments.

I ’ v e l e a r n e d t h a t i t ’s i m p o r t a n t t o k n o w y o u r s t r e n g t h s a n d leverage partnerships and encourage collaboration in order for disruption to be effective – it cannot work in isolation.

The problem with disruptive technologies is that they are just tech. They aren’t a business. There is so much more to a business than just the tech – just ask UBER. We can lear n from the establishments about being a business. I believe that the establishment has a big role to play in offering the necessary legal frameworks, supporting the client, bringing t r u s t a n d b i g b r a n d p o w e r.

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Llew Morkel is the CEO and founder of ProsperiProp.

You are a business person NOT a super human SO FOCUS ON WHAT YOU KNOW IN YOUR BUSINESS & LEAVE THE ACCOUNTING TO US Leaders in professional and timeous accounting, tax, SARS and statutory compliance services.

Call: 010 140 2255 Email: Info@bnsolutions.co.za Web: www.bnsolutions.co.za

the hum

Organisational doubt & fear

man factor.

l r

Human Resources consultant ANDREW SONNENBERG digs deep into the pitfalls facing corporations that lack transformational leaders.

There are differing views on the core purpose of an organization, ranging from the narrow purpose of generating wealth for shareholders (Friedman, 1970) to the broader ‘stakeholder perspective’ (Even & Freeman, 1988) emphasizing wider eng a g e m e n t a n d a p o s i t i v e c o n t r i b u t i o n t o s o c i e t y. I r r e s p e c t i v e of which perspective one favours, in this age of exponential technological advancement and digital disruption, the struggle f o r c o m p e t i t i v e a d v a n t a g e i s r e a l . M o r e o v e r, t h e p r e s s u r e o n CEOs, executive and leadership teams to perform and deliver often unrealistic growth targets is relentless.

The expectation on these teams which is cascaded down t h r o u g h t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n a l h i e r a r c h y, i s : “ . . . D e l i v e r e x t r a o rd i n a r y r e s u l t s o f t e n w i t h v e r y o r d i n a r y, l i m i t e d o r s o m e t i m e s no resources at all”. This is a hallmark of an excellent service organization (Frei & Morriss, 2012). A common consequence o f t h i s t y p i c a l s c e n a r i o , h o w e v e r, i s o r g a n i z a t i o n a l d o u b t a n d l e a d e r s h i p f e a r.

Although seldom explicit, the hierarchically advantaged fear that they will be unable to deliver to ever increasing targets.

S e n s i n g t h i s f e a r, t h e w i d e r o r g a n i z a t i o n ( c o m p r i s e d o f m a n y followers) in turn, doubt the individual and/or collective lead-

The ability to make other people better is based on feeling good oneself. When I am not feeling safe, grounded, valued and confident, I find it more difficult to make others feel that way.

ership ability and capacity to lead the organization to sustainable success. Fear and doubt are the enemy of creativity and innovation. Creative expression and innovation are essential ingredients of organizational transformation and sustainability ( U n g e r e r, U n g e r e r & H e r h o l d t , 2 0 1 6 ) .

I a g r e e w i t h F r e i & M o r r i s s ’ ( 2 0 1 2 , p . 8 ) d e f i n i t i o n o f l e a d e rship being about “...making other people better as a result of your presence and making sure that the impact lasts in your a b s e n c e ” . H o w e v e r, t h e a b i l i t y t o m a k e o t h e r p e o p l e b e t t e r is based on feeling good oneself. When I am not feeling safe, grounded, valued and confident, I find it more difficult to m a k e o t h e r s f e e l t h a t w a y.

T h e ro l e o f l e a d e r s h i p i n s u s t a i n e d o r g a n i z a t i o n a l s u c c e s s c a n n o t b e o v e re m p h a s i z e d . A l t h o u g h I w h o l e - h e a r t e d l y e n d o r s e t h e v i e w t h a t w e a re a l l l e a d e r s i n o u r o w n u n i q u e w a y s , i t i s t h e f o r m a l , l e g i t i m a t e l e a d e r s w h o ( t h ro u g h a w i d e r e n g a g e m e n t p ro c e s s ) c re a t e t h e v i s i o n , m i s s i o n , o r g a n i z a t i o n a l c u l t u re a n d v a l u e s . T h e s e s t r a t e g i c p h i l o s o p h i e s a re w h a t m a k e t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n t i c k ( U n g e re r, U n g e re r & H e r h o l d t , 2 0 1 6 ) .

I n h i s s e m i n a l w o r k o n h u m a n m o t i v a t i o n e n t i t l e d “ M a n ’s Search for Meaning”, Austrian psychiatrist Victor Frakel (1946)

d o c u m e n t e d t h e f u n d a m e n t a l i m p o r t a n c e o f m e a n i n g i n a s u rvival context. In more recent times, this universal concept has been expanded by Simon Sinek (2009) in his book “Start With the Why”. In an organization, as in life, having a purpose (a meaningful role) and understanding how this contributes to the o v e r a l l s u c c e s s o f t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n i s k e y, w h e t h e r a l e a d e r o r a f o l l o w e r.

E s s e n t i a l l y, e v e r y o n e n e e d s t o f e e l s a f e , s e c u r e , n e e d e d , v a l ued, meeting survival, security and belonging needs on Abrah a m M a s l o w ’s ( 1 9 4 3 ) ( I n M a n n i n g & C u r t i s , 2 0 1 5 ) h i e r a r c h y of needs framework. These basic needs may sound straight forward but not every leader is able to meet them. When one

list of sources organisational doubt and fear •

Fr i e d m a n , M . 1 970 .

T h e s o c i a l re s p o n s i b i l i t y of b u s i n e s s i s to i n c re a s e i ts p rof i ts . N e w Yo r k T i m e s M a g a z i n e , S e p te m b e r 1 3 , 3 2 - 3 3 , 1 2 2 - 1 26 .

•

Ev a n , W. M . , Fre e m a n , R . E . 1 9 8 8 .

A s ta ke h o l d e r t h e o r y of t h e m o d e r n c o r p o ra t i o n : Ka n t i a n c a p i ta l i s m . I n T. B e a u c h a m p & N . B o w i e ( Ed s . ) , E t h i c a l t h e o r y a n d b u s i n e s s . E n g l e w o o d C l i f fs , N e w J e rs e y : P re n t i c e H a l l . 75 - 9 3 .

•

Fre i , F. , & M o r r i s s , A . 2 0 1 2 .

U n c o m m o n S e r v i c e . B o s to n : H a r v a rd R e v i e w P re s s .

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U n g e re r, M . , U n g e re r, G . & H e r h o l d t , J . 2 0 1 6 .

C r ys ta l l i s i n g t h e S t ra te g i c B u s i n e s s La n d s c a p e . R a n d b u rg : K R P u b l i s h i n g .

•

Fra n ke l , V. 1 9 4 6 .

•

Manning, G., & Curtis, K. 2014.

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Sinek, S. 2009.

M a n ’s S e a rc h fo r M e a n i n g . V i e n n a : B e a c o n P re s s .

T h e A r t of Le a d e rs h i p . N e w Yo r k : M c G ra w H i l l .

S ta r t W i t h W h y : H o w G re a t Le a d e rs I n s p i re Ev e r yo n e to Ta ke A c t i o n . N e w Yo r k : P e n g u i n G ro u p .

•

Sinek, S. 2014.

Le a d e rs Ea t La s t . Lo n d o n : P e n g u i n G ro u p .

layers on levels IV and V needs of respect and fulfilment, truly effective leadership becomes more challenging. Feeling respected, supported, inspired and empowered in addition to the afore-mentioned basic human needs is the catalyst for unleashing human potential.

This is the gift that transformational leaders bring. They articulate and instil belief in a vision, rally support and unleash passion, commitment and sacrifice from others in the achievement thereof, making them feel safe and valued in the process. They care deeply and believe in their vision and the work required to achieve it, not allowing obstacles to impede this. They build critical mass, and collectively achieve what was once considered unachievable.

General George J. Flynn (In Sinek, 2014, p. xii) said that “... professional competence is not enough to be a good leader; good leaders must truly care about those entrusted to their care”. Through consistently living these behaviours, leaders r e m o v e o r g a n i z a t i o n a l d o u b t a n d f e a r.

When p eop le fe e l s a f e , se c u re , n e e d e d , re s p e c t e d a nd v a lue d th ey are en gaged . E n g a g e d e m p l o y e e s e x p e n d disc re t iona r y effort t ow ard ach ievi n g o r g a n i z a t i o n a l g o a l s – t he ma gic , t ha t drives or gan iza tion s f o r wa rd . L e a d e r s, i n t u r n , ne e d t o re c ogniz e and rewa rd th e s e e ff o r t s t o c o mp l e t e t h e v i r t u o us c irc le .

connect with andrew Andrew Sonnenberg is an HR consultant, an associate at Yellowtreehub and former Head of HR: Retail Operations at Woolworths in South Africa.

Andrew@yth.co.za

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words o

of wisdom.

Cutting through the

When it comes to enabling her clients with rebuilding, rebranding or rebirthing their products, services or business as a whole, CHANTEL OPPELT doesn’t take prisoners and she definitely doesn’t suffer fools.

And the graduates from her Institute love her for it.

In my tre n d an alys is o f c l i e n t s , I h a v e n o t i c e d t h a t ma ny c lie nt s have ex c e lle n t id eas a n d s k i l l s t h a t c o u l d b e o ff e re d t o t he business com m u n it y, b u t t h e y a re c h a l l e n g e d wi t h t he a r t ic ula t ion and acti on in g of th e s k i l l s . T h e c h a l l e n g e s a re n o t house d in t he ir i ntellect u a l facu lt ie s b u t , i n f a c t , o r i g i n a t e f ro m a la c k of unde rstan d in g of w h at s its i n t h e i r wo u n d s.

To b e c l e a r, t h i s p ro c e s s i s n o t a t a l l a b o u t w o u n d a d o r a t i o n , i n s t e a d , i t a l l o w s t h e i n d i v i d u a l t o n a v i g a t e t h e a re a s o f t h e wound that would keep them ‘stuck’ as opposed to catapult them to new levels of integration.

My working philosophy is that there is no such feeling as ‘stuck’, as stuck is not a feeling, it is an outcome.

My working philosophy is that there is no such feeling as ‘stuck’, as stuck is not a feeling, it is an outcome. The biggest part of my work is enabling the client to cleanly identify the decisions they are not prepared to re-alter to create an alternate outcome to ‘stuck’. For the most part, what underpins the choice to hold fast to a decision is the need to ensure that certain guarantees remain in place.

For instance, some people say, “I’d like to leave my marriage BUT I’ve already ‘invested’ so much time and effort into it”. The result is that they hold onto the illusion that they DESERVE to reap the return on investment, and this overpowers any other factors they are prepared to take into consideration to create an alternate reality.

Based on this, clients are therefore, unable to translate some of these concepts and ideas into tangible business products, s e r v i c e s o r s y s t e m s . To y i e l d s p e c i f i c re s u l t s , I h a v e d e v e l o p e d a program based on reflexive principles – in other words, understanding cause and effect and how the individual contributes to that system of working.

The Innovation Management and New Product Development Program© is for anyone who wants to transition into their own excellence with a view to craft a unique and viable career for themselves – knowing full well that excavation of the wound is paramount. The outcome of this process is that they are viewed as market and thought leaders in their field, as their journey itself is unique.

This is an individual process that has a specific structure, tone, timing and project management component to it. I am clear that the translation of the concept to product is time-consuming.

“Effective communication sees both partners actively and comfortably exchanging ideas in a dialogiue that could strengthen the entire organisation.”

The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business

by Josh Kaufmanon

GET BLINKIST

BLINKIST EXTRACT FROM

To f a c i l i t a t e t h e s u p p o r t o f t h a t , I e n s u r e t h a t e x e c u t i v e assistance is available to all participants. This alleviates the data management, receiving, tracking and filing of all necessary documentation.

T h e p ro g r a m c u l m i n a t e s i n a n e x h i b i t i o n o f t h e i n d i v i d u a l ’s p ro d uct or services at a business forum. The forum includes industry l e ad ers from t h e for m a l , i n f o r ma l , l o c a l a n d i n t e r na t iona l se c t or s.

This is a unique opportunity to showcase concepts as well as to p re s e n t a n e x i s t i n g m a r k e t i n w h i c h t o n e t w o r k .

The intention is to bring the customer to the client and to create a space that can hold and contain business at a different frequency.

The essence of the work speaks to intrinsic values of ownership and collective acknowledgement of the power we hold within to c re a t e s u b s t a n t i a l c h a n g e t h a t i s s h a re d b y a l l . E m p o w e r m e n t as an outcome cannot be achieved unless an individual is able to ascertain value and voice to their lived experience.

My intention with my work is to impact the Gini co-efficient in SA, by ensuring that each citizen understands their individual wound and has sufficient inter nal scaffolding to extricate the gold that lies within.

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connect with Chantel Chantel Oppelt is a medical intuitive, life strategist and founder of the Chantel Oppelt Institute for Applied Alchemy. The Institute’s flagship offering is the Innovation Management and New Product Development Program.

Chantel Oppelt A brief insight into the Woman who believes that Hope Inspires Action Chantel Oppelt is an Industrial Psychologist by trade, and a Medical Intuitive by calling. She is the Director of The Chantel Oppelt Institute for Applied Alchemy, whose core focus is on acknowledging what lies within and, through alchemical processing, allow our frequency to impact the world’s we move in. The unique combination of her qualifications and gifts have unlocked many people’s life intricacies beyond the boundaries of the professional world.

Her ability to bring the unseen aspects of ourselves into workable, tangible parts bring healing at a fundamental level. She has the ability to facilitate and extrapolate the power that is housed in these unseen parts.

An international facilitator that works in highly charged, conflict environments to bring conflict resoluteness has had phenomenal, multi-dimensional impact in terms of what is possible. Chantel is a professional who stands firm in what she believes and calls out the best in everyone and every atmosphere. Her approach is direct and her style is engaging.

"My intention with my work is to impact the Gini coefficient in South Africa by ensuring that each citizen understands their individual wound and has sufficient internal scaffolding to extricate the gold that lies within."

just

of Sou and laws re

An example of exceptionalism

tice.

Mwangi Githahu spoke to South Africa’s Chief Justice, Mogoeng Mogoeng, about the importance uth Africa’s judiciary for Africa and the est of the world Photo: SA

Government Communications

f South African to be proud of

While it is right and fitting to beware tales of exceptionalism wherever they come from, when such stories are bor ne out in facts then there is little harm in a little chest thumping.

Now in its 21st year of existence, the South African constitution is an exceptional document and continues to be hailed as one of the most liberal and progressive charters in the world.

If the judicial branch of government is the final interpreter of the constitution, then surely it follows that that the judiciary and the supreme court are the guardians of the constitution.

I n A p r i l t h i s y e a r I h a d t h e p r i v i l e g e t o i n t e rview the Chief Justice of South Africa, Mogoeng Mogoeng, on the sidelines of the Conference of C o n s t i t u t i o n a l J u r i s d i c t i o n s o f A f r i c a ( C C J A ) i n C a p e To w n . T h e CCJA is an independent institution established by constitutional judiciaries in Africa, to ensure that the judiciary in each member state supports and deepens democracy by upholding c o n s t i t u t i o n a l i s m a n d t h e r u l e o f l a w.

"We are energised to make sure that our constitutional democracy is not a democracy in name only, but it’s a real democracy."

D u r i n g t h e A p r i l C o n g r e s s i n C a p e To w n , C h i e f J u s t i c e M o g o eng was elected chairman of the CCJA. Chief Justice Mogoeng put in words and gave examples of just how important South

A f r i c a ’s j u d i c i a r y a n d l a w s a r e t o A f r i c a a n d indeed the rest of the world in terms of legal input and governance.

During the discussion the Chief Justice spoke of the constitution and its relevance beyond S o u t h A f r i c a ’s b o r d e r s s a y i n g h e t h o u g h t t h e painful experience the country went through b e f o r e b e c o m i n g a c o n s t i t u t i o n a l d e m o c r a c y, “informs not only the highly progressive constitution that we have, but also the institutions that we have in place to strengthen and prom o t e o u r c o n s t i t u t i o n a l d e m o c r a c y. ” H e a d d e d , “ N o w, b e c a u s e o u r e x p e r i e n c e w a s v e r y p a i n f u l a n d i s s t i l l re l a t i v e l y f re s h , w e a re e n e r g i s e d t o m a k e s u re t h a t o u r c o n s t i t u t i o n a l d e m o c r a c y i s n o t a d e m o c r a c y i n n a m e o n l y, b u t i t ’s a re a l d e m o c r a c y. T h e ro l e t h a t w e c a n p l a y, a n d h a v e i n a v e r y s m a l l w a y b e g u n t o p l a y a l re a d y, i s t o s h a re o u r e x p e r i e n c e s i n t e r m s o f t h e p ro g re s s m a d e i n t e r m s o f s t re n g t h e n i n g o u r d e m o c r a c y with sister countries in Africa, to say: This is what we’ve been able to achieve. If you think it can work for you, please by all m e a n s w e a re w i l l i n g t o s h a re o u r e x p e r i e n c e s w i t h y o u . ” Without going into too much detail, the Chief Justice said t h e r e w e r e c o u n t r i e s f r o m a r o u n d t h e c o n t i n e n t t h a t h a d b o rr o w e d h e a v i l y f r o m S o u t h A f r i c a ’s j u r i s p r u d e n c e .

“We know of some countries that came to South africa and said: Look, the way you appoint judges is commendable. How do you go about it, because we would want to bring about s i m i l a r c h a n g e s i n o u r o w n c o u n t r y. A n d w e k n o w – I d o n ’ t

want to name names – but we know of a country that has adopted a judicial appointments mechanism that is virtually identical to that of South Africa.”

Again w it h ou t n am in g n a m e s, t h e Ch i e f J u st i c e told of a not he r co u n try w h ic h in rece n t y e a r s c a l l e d o n t h e S o u t h Afr ic a n judic iary fo r ad vic e on h ow t o se t u p a c o n s t i t u t i o n a l c our t a nd t he n w ent ba ck to es ta b lis h a c o u r t a s a d v i se d b y t h e Sout h Afr ic a ns.

“And [there have been] others who want certain improvements on the operations of their courts have approached us and said l e t ’s h a v e a d i s c u s s i o n o n h o w t o g o a b o u t d o i n g t h i s . [ T h e r e are] others who are looking at taking the institutional independence of their judiciary several steps forward have come to look at the office of the chief justice [which is] our administrative arm and said: Look, we’d like to lear n more from you about your structure. How does it operate? “ S o i n t h a t w a y, w e ’ v e b e e n a b l e t o p l a y a m e a n i n g f u l r o l e a t a regional level, at a continental level, and even some jurisdictions outside of Africa have approached us for intervention.

Yo u ’ l l b e a m a z e d t o l e a r n t h a t w h e n e v e r t h e E u r o p e a n c o n f e r-

ence [or] the Asian conference have got their meetings of their associations of chief justices, they have almost without fail invited South Africa as the only African country to come and make an intervention, to come and exchange views with them in relation to how best their systems could be improved.

“This year in January we had a meeting with the European Court of Human Rights and at least two jurisdictions asked us: What suggestions do you have as South Africa, because we know that in your own country courts enjoy independence.

And we’ve had the opportunity to share some views with them “We were also humbled to lear n from the jurisdictions represented at the European Court of Human Rights that our jurisp r u d e n c e , o u r c a s e l a w, i s o f t e n r e f e r r e d t o a t t h a t l e v e l , a t a continental level there.”

Part of the reason for the existence of the CCJA, is the exchange of best practices. Members share experiences and strengthen each other and this is what has enabled a significant contribution to the development of the jurisprudence of member countries.

The Chief Justice feels that there is hope that Africa could one day be a stronghold for the rule of law around the world.

“If only we can be united in the vision that has long been waited for: the vision of demonstrating to all that African people have what it takes to take their continent to the greatest h e i g h t s t h a t i t w a s o n c e k n o w n f o r, ” h e s a i d .

«

Mwangi Githahu is a freelance jour nalist based in Cape To w n a n d i s o n Tw i t t e r @ M w a n g i G i t h a h u .

analysis.

A continent of coups no more

The Kenyan Supreme Court’s decision to annul the results of the presidential election over “irregularities and illegalities” underscored the significant strides Africa has made on democracy and accountability, argues David Pilling for the Financial Times.

“The world still regards Africa as a continent of coups. That view is hopelessly out of date. In 1990, 12 African leaders owed their position to a military putsch, with only six in charge as a result of multi-party elections, according to the Brookings Institution.

By 2016, 45 leaders had gone through a multi-party process – many, admittedly, far from perfect – with none in subSaharan Africa having gained power directly through a coup d’état.”

SOURCE: CNN's Fareed Zakaria and the Global Public Square team newsletter (6 September 2017) compiled by Global Briefing editor Jason Miks.

Sign up HERE for the daily Fareed's Daily Briefing newsletter.

JANE STEVENSON, Strategic Director of Magnetic Storm

my way.

It starts with the why?

“I start most of my responses to questions my team asks with a 'why' – and if they can’t answer that then I usually don’t answer them (in the nicest way possible). And chocolate is always the right answer in any situation.

“I start most of my days with deep breathing exercises and very, very, strong coffee, and I always start a Monday with a motivational quote relevant for where I am in my life, and ponder on it for the week.

"Every day I will spend time snuggling with my rescue fur babies, and time talking to and scratching heads of my eight tortoises (yes, they really are responsive and damn quick!). «

“Chocolate is always the right answer in any situation."

sa wine i

Land of fine w

industry.

wines?

South Africans pride themselves on the superb wines that are produced locally. u|Chief wanted a more balanced view of the industry, so we spoke to Murray Giggins, a former South African wine industry CEO now working Down Under.

Te l l u s a b o u t y o u r b a c k g r o u n d i n t h e w i n e i n d u s t r y ?

I h a v e s p e n t 2 0 y e a r s i n t h e S o u t h A f r i c a n w i n e i n d u s t r y, w h i c h have seen me operate in various sectors, from retail and distrib u t i o n , t o p r o d u c t i o n a n d s e r v i c e s t o i n d u s t r y. M y i n s i g h t m i g h t n o t b e u n i q u e a n d i t m a y t h e r e f o r e j u s t c o n f i r m t h e r e a l i t y. A s I have recently moved to Australia, now running a business in a similar sector to the one I ran in South Africa, I don’t think I am yet qualified to offer an opinion on this industry or market, s u f f i c e t o s a y i t i s v e r y d i f f e r e n t . B i g g e r, b e t t e r r e s o u r c e d a n d quality brand driven. It has challenges and it has problems, but the Oz market is on a huge resurgence, with 30% growth in exports in the last year based on demand from China. So new e x c i t e m e n t a n d i n v e s t m e n t s e e m s t h e o r d e r o f t h e d a y.

What is the state of the wine industry in South Africa?

The SA wine industry is made up of three categories of prod u c e r s . T h o s e t h a t m a k e m o n e y, t h o s e t h a t d o n ’ t a n d t h o s e that don’t care or rather don’t depend on the making of wine to survive. The first category has around 15% of SA wine producers, the last two is made up of in the region of 85%. The bulk of SA wines sells around R25/litre and only 5% sells for the equivalent of R65 or more. 60% of SA wine is bulk and the prices are dictated by bigger marketing corporates who ultimately supply the multiple supermarkets, most offshore. Those producers that have invested in their business, built brands and diversified their markets tend to not only survive but also p r o s p e r. To o m a n y c a r r y d e b t a n d l i m p f r o m o n e v i n t a g e t o t h e n e x t w i t h v a r y i n g d e g r e e s o f q u a l i t y, q u a n t i t y a n d a b i l i t y t o

Partner with local brand builders who understand the overseas markets.

m a i n t a i n f i n a n c i a l s t a b i l i t y. I t ’s a h i g h l y c o m p e t i t i v e e n v i r o n ment, over 750 wine producers and thousands of actual wine b r a n d a l l c o m p e t i n g f o r m a r k e t s p a c e w i t h b e e r, s p i r i t s a n d r t d ’s . T h e l e a d i n g w o r l d w i n e c o n s u m p t i o n p e r c a p i t a c o u n tries consume around 40 litre per annum, while South Africa in comparison drinks 7 litres. We are the in the top ten – probably number 9 – of wine producers in the world, making us the lowest per capita wine drinkers in the world of all wine producing countries!

Australia is at about 25 litres with half the population! We do not have a wine culture in SA, it is seen as an elitist drink by s o m e a n d , q u i t e f r a n k l y, m o s t a l c o h o l s o l d i n S A i s u s e d f o r e f f e c t r a t h e r t h a n p l e a s u r e . S e e m s g l o o m y, b u t t h e r e a r e s t i l l producers that make world class wines. Our wineries are great destinations and the winelands amongst the most desirable places to live and work. We just can’t all survive in a Bacchanalian vocation.

What are the challenges facing the industry?

Building volume quality and quantity brands that are owned by the producers. We are a production-oriented industry and few have built brands that deliver on this challenge, exceptions b e i n g C h a r l e s B a c k , D G B , Va n L o v e r e n a n d L e o p a r d s L e a p .

But the bulk of our exports, 70%, ends up in bulk going to the U.K. or EU for bottling/bagging in brands few South Africans would recognise.

What are the opportunities for stakeholders?

Take ad v a n ta ge of th e p o o r Ra n d a n d p a r t n e r w it h loc a l br a nd build er s w h o u n d e r s t a n d t h e o v e r se a s ma r k e t s. Tr y ge t more o w n ers h ip of t h e rou t e t o ma r k e t a n d a c c e ss t o br a nd e quit y, th u s secu r in g d em a n d , p r i c e a n d r a n d h e d g e f or off shore sa le s.

What are the successes you have seen across the industry?

Those producers that built their own brands and invested in marketing. Keeping a strong presence in the local market.

S e e h o w D u To i t s k l o o f , R o b e r t s o n a n d P e r d e b e r g w i n e s a r e achieving this strategy and growing their market share. Past masters are DGB, Fairview as mentioned. Also see players in t h e s m a l l e r f a m i l y o w n e d s p a c e s u c h a s ; S i m o n s i g , Wa r w i c k , Wa t e r f o r d a n d D e G r e n d e l . T h e l a t t e r s t a r t e d a s r e c e n t l y a s 2006. Granted that the last two come from extensively capital resourced families. But Mike Ratcliffe has built his brand by shear determination and marketing savvy to a very recognised and followed SA wine brand, he has burnt a lot leather and air miles to achieve his success.

Opportunities lie in finding a story that resonates with the local market.

What are the opportunities across the industry for new entrants into the market or for improving the supply chain?

Opportunities lie in finding a story that resonates with the local m a r k e t , s e e h o w w e l l Va n L o v e r e n h a v e d o n e w i t h F o u r C o u s ins. Then being able to own the route to market, i.e. Brand owner that knows and controls access to market, from sales to distribution. Distribution is a key area and remains an opportunity as there are few that can provide a dedicated and quality route to market. There are too few off consumption outlets and on consumption for the number of wines available in SA. Buildi n g b r a n d i s h a r d . K e e p i n g i t t o p o f m i n d i s h a r d e r. S o a s i g n i f icant investment in marketing and strategy is as important as buying a press or cellar full of barrels.

I s t h e r e a n y t h i n g a b o u t t h e w i n e i n d u s t r y t h a t m i g h t s u rprise the public or business people in other industries?

They are very passionate about what they do. They love their jobs and they get a kick out of doing it. It is a vocation that whilst not highly paid, provides for high level of job satisfaction. W inemakers are popular! They travel, eat out and live in wonderful environments, this makes up for their middle class e a r n i n g s … b u t t h a t ’s a g e n e r a l i s a t i o n .

How do people in other countries view South African wine?

I think South Africa has unique wine-growing areas, some close to the sea, some in high altitudes and lots of different types of “terroir”, which provides for wonderful stylistic wines t h a t p r o v i d e i n t e r e s t a n d U S P. W e h a v e a m i x o f o l d a n d n e w world style and our wines are fantastically priced! I would say we provide some of the best value for money in the world.

In what ways is our industry better than other countries... and where do we need to raise the bar?

D i f f i c u l t t o s a y, w h i l s t t h e r e a r e p o c k e t s o f e x c e l l e n c e , p e o p l e who passionately produce wines that rival the worlds best, Mullineux Wines, Eben Sadie and the boys of Kanonkop all of whom have been recognised as world class winemakers by their peers. One should take a leaf from their book. Stay focussed on what they are good at and only accept wine excellence as their quality measure.

«

connect with murray Murray Giggins is the General Manager at Grapeworks Consumables & Tanium Machinery & Equipment in Australia.

He was previously the CEO of Enartis South Africa. www.grapeworks.com.au

mentors.

Eleanor scott tale of the mentor Eleanor Scott has been a business coach and mentor for more than 25 years and today mentors and coaches business executives, therapists and ‘developing’ leaders in organizations.

She also mentors Nu Skin leaders and distributors on a daily basis.

Please share some background in terms of how you have helped to develop, equip and mentor leaders for the future in families, businesses and communities?

For the past two decades I have invested in developing people from all walks of life. As a mother I developed and equipped my children to lear n and lead where ever they had an opportun i t y. To d a y t h e y b o t h o w n a n d m a n a g e v e r y s u c c e s s f u l b u s i nesses. As a nursing sister and midwife I groomed the younger student nurses, in business I have always desired to raise up the next level of leadership in order to pass on the business baton. Mentoring in the community forms part of my tithing of my time, treasure and talent.

Yo u s t a t e y o u r l i f e p u r p o s e a s “ h e l p i n g p e o p l e m a x i m i z e their potential for an abundant life.” What are the challenges of this and what are the strains, stresses and demands it places on the mentor?

My mentorship philosophy is focused on the mentee – not on my desires or plans for their future. W ith this focus the pressure is not on me to perform but rather to influence the mentees to desire to be more and fulfil their potential.

How do you ensure you keep yourself focused on your goal and purpose in the life of your mentee?

My commitment to my mentees is to help them stay focused on T H E I R p u r p o s e a n d p l a n s , i t ’s n o t a b o u t m e , i t ’s a b o u t t h e m being the best they can be with my help.

What is the best advice for a mentee in terms of how to get the most out of the relationship with their mentor?

Its a relationship built on trust, so the mentee must “connect” with the mentor and there must be some inspirational connection for the relationship to be beneficial

M a n y l e a d e r s f i n d i t d i f f i c u l t t o m e n t o r t h e i r o w n f a m i l y.

What is your advice in terms of being able to have a similar influence or effect on others close to them?

Influencing people is just one of the skills required for effect i v e m e n t o r s h i p . P e r s o n a l l y, m y f a m i l y m e n t o r s h i p i s n o t f o rmal or structured… but it is happening!! I try to find teachable moments through questions and conversations with people c l o s e t o m e . I d o , h o w e v e r, e n c o u r a g e a l l p e o p l e t o h a v e mentors who speak into their lives.

The education “system” is failing our children and not equipping them for life and work in the future.

What are the challenges of developing entrepreneurs?

The greatest challenge in any relationship is missed expectat i o n s … a n d i t ’s n o d i f f e r e n t w i t h m e n t o r s h i p . L e a d e r s h i p a n d entrepreneurship are very closely linked, so there are common signs evident among successful individuals. In general, entrepreneurs have great ideas and passion but often lack the “business know how”.

What insight do you have in terms of the crucial field of early childhood development and education?

This is a big question and I would not do it justice in one s e n t e n c e . H o w e v e r, i n m y o p i n i o n t h e e d u c a t i o n “ s y s t e m ” i s failing our children and not equipping them for life and work in the future.

W h a t ’s y o u r s e c re t f o r g ro w i n g f ro m a R 2 - m i l l i o n p e r a n n u m b u s i n e s s t o o n e o f S A’s t o p 2 0 n o n - l i s t e d c o m p a n i e s ?

N o s e c r e t , r e a l l y, j u s t a p u r s u i t o f m y p a s s i o n t o m a k e a d i f ference in early childhood development through moms who wanted to contribute to their households financially while being great moms and the primary educator of their children.

How do you keep track of everything going on in such a big business when you are working with so many people?

I have developed systems that work for me and learnt the skill o f i n t e n t i o n a l l i s t e n i n g i n o r d e r t o r e m e m b e r.

Te l l u s a b o u t y o u r r o l e a s E x e c u t i v e M e n t o r t o T h e H o p e Factory and some of the best learnings and experiences you have had along the way?

This was a role for a season at The Hope Factory during a period of transition from the founder to a new CEO and the appointment of new Executives. They also desired to introduce a new programme to assist entrepreneurs in business to become sustainable beyond three years. I helped select, recruit train and develop the team in JHB and PE. What mistakes have you made as a mentor and coach that other mentors or coaches can lear n from?

The mistakes I have lear nt from … are not to allow co-depende n c e i n y o u r r e l a t i o n s h i p s . I t ’s t h e i r j o u r n e y a n d a m e n t o r ’s j o b is to assist and encourage along the way and being their best cheerleader – not to do the job for them!

connect with Eleanor Eleanor Scott is the founder and CEO at Impact Mentoring Academy and mentors Nu Skin leaders and distributors on a daily basis. www.nuskin.com

«

Every year, $7 trillion is spent on global health, and it is Murray’s goal to make sure this money is used in the best possible way.

This is why, in 2012, Murray’s studies began focusing on intervention and including reasons why diseases were breaking out in the first place.

One leading root cause is household air pollution: it’s the 4th biggest risk factor.

One simple but significant step would be for governments to encourage cleaner methods of cooking and heating by offering subsidies.

Epic Measures: One Doctor.

Seven Billion Patients.

Jeremy N. Smith

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make yo

Overcoming the fear of public speaking

ourself heard.

Many talented people with expert skills or knowledge would rather die than stand up and speak in public.

However, a simple four-step programme might be all that stands in their way of speaking out and being heard, writes EUGENE YIGA.

Photo: Thinkstock

I t ’s b e e n s a i d t h a t p e o p l e f e a r p u b l i c s p e a k i n g m o re t h a n d e a t h .

Not so for Monique Rissen-Harrisberg, founder and CEO of The Vo i c e C l i n i c . O v e r t h e l a s t t h re e d e c a d e s , t h e c o m p a n y h a s c h a n g e d t h e l i v e s o f h u n d re d s o f t h o u s a n d s o f i n d i v i d u a l s , f ro m p o l i t i c i a n s a n d C E O s t o t e l e v i s i o n p re s e n t e r s a n d s p o r t s s t a r s .

“The key is to find a balance between projecting confidence and enthusiasm whilst retaining integrity and sincerity in all f o r m s o f c o m m u n i c a t i o n , ” s h e s a y s . “ I t ’s a b o u t d e v e l o p i n g a voice that inspires others while projecting a professional, confident, and commanding presence.”

Here are four key tips that can change your life too.

1 . D o y o u m u m b l e , s p e a k t o o q u i c k l y, s l o w l y, o r s o f t l y ?

If you mumble, people assume you are lazy and inconsiderate.

I f y o u s p e a k t o o s o f t l y, y o u ’ l l a p p e a r h e s i t a n t a n d u n s u r e o f y o u r s e l f . W h a t ’s t h e s o l u t i o n ?

“The quality of our voice accounts for 38% of our communication message,” says Rissen-Harrisberg. “We are assessed according to the tone, pace, pitch, and clarity of our speech.

One needs to speak with a deep, resonant, and clear voice t h a t p r o j e c t s s t r e n g t h , w a r m t h , c l a r i t y, a n d a u t h e n t i c i t y. ”

The key is to find a balance between projecting confidence and enthusiasm whilst retaining integrity and sincerity in all forms of communication.

2. Do you need to improve your accent?

We tend to speak the way our friends and family speak, as those are the people who have the most influence over us w h e n w e a r e y o u n g . B u t i n t o d a y ’s w o r l d , i t i s e s s e n t i a l t h a t we are understood, and that whatever language we are using s h o u l d b e t r u e t o i t s r h y t h m s a n d f l o w.

“When one is speaking English, one needs to be familiar with the formation of both consonants and vowel sounds in order to understand how the language should be articulated,” Rissen-Harrisberg says. “The flow of speech and neutral vowel is also essential to effective English pronunciation.”

3. Do you need to upgrade your presentation skills?

W h e t h e r i t ’s t h e s t r u c t u r e a n d c o n t e n t o r t h e d e l i v e r y a n d style, most people could improve their presentation skills.

W h a t ’s t h e b e s t w a y t o a v o i d d e a t h b y P o w e r P o i n t ?

“One needs to pay particular attention to the introduction a n d c o n c l u s i o n o f t h e p r e s e n t a t i o n , a n d a l s o o n e ’s d r e s s a n d

i m a g e , ” R i s s e n - H a r r i s b e r g s a y s . “ O n e a l s o n e e d s t o l e a r n v a rious tools of the trade, such as ‘hooks’, opening statements, participation strategies, and many more tricks to keep an audie n c e i n t e r e s t e d i n w h a t y o u h a v e t o s a y. ”

4. Are you terrified of public speaking?

When one stands up to address an audience, this is often accompanied by ‘butterflies in the stomach’, an increased heart rate, breathlessness, perspiration, and a feeling of being out of control. How does one deal with these unpleasant feelings? “ A n a d re n a l re s p o n s e o f t e n p ro d u c e s a f i g h t o r f l i g h t re s p o n s e , ” says Rissen-Harrisberg. “One needs to turn the ‘flight’ (wanting to remove oneself from the situation) into a ‘fight’ (seizing and making the most of the opportunity). One needs to turn fear into enthusiasm and energy by focusing on skills and techn i q u e s i n s t e a d o f b o w i n g d o w n t o n e r v o u s n e s s a n d a n x i e t y. ” – Eugene Yiga

«

The poverty trap has some more specific aspects.

For instance, a major problem for poor countries is often their geographical positions.

That’s because many of these developing nations lack the conditions necessary for economic growth.

That might mean their climate is too hot for consistent agricultural success or that the country is riddled with deserts and mountain chains, making for poor farming conditions and high transportation costs.

The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time

by Jeffrey Sachs

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travel d

ghana Photo: Hillary Lane

debrief.

Blind inspirational speaker, workshop facilitator and author LOIS STRACHAN debriefs u|Chief on her recent trip to Ghana.

assist, and solution-fo entrepreneurial spirit vade Ghana and is ev

ing sidewalk business busy streets.

While I’ve since learn with disabilities often

Ghana, I found people

whether it was in offe Tr a v e l i n g a s a p e r s o n w h o i s v i s u a l l y impaired, whether on business or leisure, may sound like a challenge. Having had the opportunity to travel extensively since losing my sight at the age of 21 I feel I’m q u a l i f i e d t o s a y t h a t i t ’s p o s s i b l e t o g a i n a good sense of a place and culture using your other senses. This was true of my recent trip to Ghana, where I was presenting a keynote at a conference on disability in Africa.

Sadly my schedule didn’t allow me to experience much of Accra or Kumasi so I d i d n ’ t g e t a r e a l s e n s e o f w h a t i t ’s l i k e l i v i n g a n d w o r k i n g t h e r e . H o w e v e r, I f i n d I’m left with strong impressions from my time in Ghana that will stay with me for some time.

I found the Ghanaian people warm and w e l c o m i n g . T h e y a r e f r i e n d l y, w i l l i n g t o

as I climbed out of a

me to navigate my wa

ocused. I enjoyed the

ence venue. It also made my life signif-

t h a t s e e m s t o p e r-

icantly easier that English is the official

ident from the thriv-

language of Ghana.

ses that line most I was startled at the high percentage of imported groceries we saw in Ghana – ed that people face challenges in

e willing to assist me,

from South African milk to Spanish fruit juices. I was also very aware of how much business is cash-based – neither of the

ering a helping hand

guest houses at which I stayed accept-

bus, or in assisting

ed credit cards. I was also unprepared

a y r o u n d t h e c o n f e r-

for the number of unexpected costs that

Photos: Pixabay

mounted up, in the form of gratuities for those who assisted us as we travelled. I wasn’t so much surprised by the fact of the payments as the amounts. On one occasion we were charged almost R800 to load 25 bags onto a bus. I don’t know if this is normal practice in Ghana or whether it was because we were visitors to the c o u n t r y.

As a speaker and workshop facilitator in the field of disability and inclusion, my visit to Ghana helped me to internalize the real challenges faced by gover nments and organisations developing policies and strategies to increase the inclusion, education and employability of persons with a d i s a b i l i t y. T h i s w a s a m e s s a g e t h a t w a s strongly brought home at the conference I attended and will inform the work I do.

The insight made me realize once again how fortunate I am that I have the education, knowledge, and resources to live a productive and independent life despite my blindness and to travel as extensively as I do to broaden my experiences.

One of the memories that will remain most vividly in my mind was when our bus had a tyre blowout on the 5-hour trip from Kumasi to Accra.

I was impressed, not only by how efficiently our bus driver and his co-driver changed the tyre, but by the number of other buses that stopped to check if there was anything they could do to help and I’m not meaning trying to gain extra passengers from amongst those of us who were stranded on the side of the road!

Instead, they stopped to offer the use of a hydraulic jack or other tools.

To m e , t h a t e p i t o m i z e s t h e s p i r i t o f t h e Ghanaian people.

If asked whether I’d go back to Ghana should the opportunity present itself I would answer positively yes. The only change I’d make is to ensure I had more time to experience the places I visited, and to buy a lot more of the delicious Ghanaian chocolate I discovered while I was there.

«

connect with lois Lois Strachan is a blind inspirational speaker, workshop facilitator, author, blogger and world-traveler who demystifies disability to increase the inclusion of persons with disabilities into society and the workplace. She is the author of “A Different Way of Seeing: A Blind Woman’s Journey of Living an ‘Ordinary’ Life in an Extraordinary Way” and the illustrated children’s books, “The Adventures of Missy Mouse”, available through her website or Amazon. www.loisstrachan.com

How the kin claime

the th

insurance.

ng ed

hrone In the Game of Insurance, a young prince is challenging the staus quo‌ and building a new empire. u|Chief held court with Gideon Galloway, CEO and Founder of King Price.

W h a t g o t K i n g P r i c e o f f t h e g r o u n d ? Wa s i t t h e p r e m i s e o f premiums that decrease, was it how you set up working with insurers… or was it all about a cool logo and website?

Insuran c e is a gr u d ge p u rc h a s e , u n d e r s t a n d a b l y, a nd I a lw a y s l ooked f or a w a y t o m a k e i t l e ss so . Ou r d e c re a s ing pre mium mod el a lle v ia te s th e ‘ e i n a ’ f o r o u r c l i e n t s . I t g o t us off t he ground and kee p s u s ah ead . Cu s t o m e r se r v i c e i s a n o t h e r a re a w e ’re kn ow n for b u t eve n t h i s i sn ’t e n o u g h o f a d i ff e re nt ia t or.

O ur d ecre a s in g p rem i u m m o d e l i s o u r U S P (n o o t he r insure r in th e w orld d oes t h is , a s f a r a s we k n o w). Bu t , I w a nt e d more , w hich le d t o ‘ c u s t om e r i s k i n g ’, a c l o s e l y -h e l d v a lue . This in t ur n l e d to ou r u n iq u e in t e r n a l c u l t u re , wh i c h l e a v e s no room for a ny th in g st iff an d s t iflin g i n t h e wa y d o b u si n e s s. We re c ognise innovatio n a n d im p le m en t b e t t e r wa y s o f d o i n g t h i n g s, a ll t he t ime .

I decided to take the greed out of the equation and rather offer insurance that’s fair and logical.

How did the initial idea spark and what was the process of taking the idea to market?

I’ve been in the insurance industry for many years and I rem e m b e r w o n d e r i n g w h y p r e m i u m s n e v e r d e c r e a s e . I n i t i a l l y, I raised the issue at the insurer I was working at but, because their business model is structured as it is, they were in no position to amend it.

I now understand that their model is based on greed. So, I decided to take the greed out of the equation and rather offer i n s u r a n c e t h a t ’s f a i r a n d l o g i c a l .

What kept you going when people tried to dissuade you from continuing your ‘crazy idea’?

Well, when I had spent all my savings and my wife and I didn’t own a house, I started to wonder whether my idea would ever come to fruition. I remember going for a run and asking God for guidance. I was three years into pitching and seeking investors, with nothing to show for it.

All my savings were gone and I had two kids and a wife to take care of. I never heard God telling me stop, so I didn’t.

A year and 40 pitches later I found an investor who was willing to bring my idea to life.

What challenges did you go through with your website to make the user experience optimal?

One of our challenges was registering the domain name King Price. When we started the registration process, we realised that the name was registered (and unused) by someone in Queenstown. It took a road trip and a little convincing, but eventually he gave us the rights to the name.

How do you ensure you keep pushing the envelope?

We have a fantastic team of people who are well-equipped to keep up with the latest advances that our business needs to make. I’m proud to say that they’re consistently on the ball and ensure that King Price is way ahead of its game on all the f i e l d s t h a t m a t t e r.

What gave you ‘the right’ to become the founder of such a visionary company?

I b e l i e v e i t ’s m o r e a c a l l i n g t h a n a r i g h t . I ’ m p a s s i o n a t e a b o u t w h a t I d o a n d I ’ v e a l w a y s b e e n a n e n t r e p r e n e u r. I l o v e creating, starting and building innovative businesses.

Are you computer savvy and app savvy… or do you just hire the right people?

I’m computer savvy but I also firmly believe in hiring people who are more capable and knowledgeable than I a m . T h i s a l l o w s t h e b u s i n e s s t o f l o u rish. Entrusting skilled people to use their abilities to enhance a business can only work in the best interest and d e v e l o p m e n t o f t h e c o m p a n y. I a d v o cate strongly for all entrepreneurs to hire the right people to fill the right positions.

Based on what you’ve envisioned, believed in, and made happen, how do you see the potential for disruption in other industries to create a better local and inter national economy?

Just as the industrial revolution changed the world, so artificial intelligence is going to affect every industry and force companies to evolve whether they’re willing or not. And the ramifications for local, national and inter national economies are going to be massive. We’re at the beginning phase of a time of massive development. The question for companies is whether they’re at the forefront, and using the potential to gain a disruptive lead, or lagging behind.

Entrepreneurs tend to want to ho instead to being open to g

Yo u r a d v i c e f o r o t h e r d i s r u p t o r s ?

I s a y i t a l o t b u t I ’ l l s a y i t a g a i n : I t ’s better to have a small slice of a pie t h a t ’s w o r t h s o m e t h i n g t h a n t o h a v e a large slice of a pie that has no value.

If it means having to sell a stake in your business to investors who can b r i n g i n re v e n u e a n d o p e n p a t h s t h a t y o u c o u l d n ’t h a v e d o n e o n y o u r o w n , t h e n d o i t . E n t re p re n e u r s t e n d t o w a n t to hold on to ownership of their ideas i n s t e a d t o b e i n g o p e n t o g ro w i n g t h e i r businesses.

What do you see as the challenges and opportunities in insurance?

T h e w o r l d ’s c h a n g i n g w e a t h e r p a t ter ns and increasingly devastating natural disasters have the potential to be a big challenge. Also, we’ll soon have self-driving cars hitting the market hard, which will see insurers having to evaluate and cover this totally new risk. Risks inherent to technology will also challenge t h e i n d u s t r y. I n s u r i n g c y b e r r i s k s i s g o i n g t o b e c h a l l e n g i n g .

Is King Price moving international?

We’ve already established a strong business in Namibia, and we’ll soon venture into Botswana and Mauritius as well. Then, watch out world!

old on to ownership of their ideas growing their businesses.

Te l l m e a b o u t h o w y o u l e a d y o u r t e a m ? Yo u ’ r e a p p a r e n t l y s o m e w h a t q u i r k y a n d d o n ’ t t a k e y o u r s e l f s e r i o u s l y.

I lead a team of highly motivated and self-driven individuals that I don’t have to micro-manage. This leaves me more time t o f o c u s o n g r o w i n g t h e b u s i n e s s . I t ’s b e e n s a i d t h a t I h a v e n ’ t done much growing up as far as my wild heart is concer ned. I come to work to have fun and I truly believe that if you aren’t having fun then you’re doing something wrong.

We always tell our clients that we take what we do very serio u s l y, b u t o u r s e l v e s … n o t s o m u c h ! M y d r e s s c o d e i s a r e f l e c tion of who I am. I love my shorts and flip-flops and, in our kingdom, they’re completely appropriate attire for the CEO and everyone else.

How do you see the office and the employee of the future?

I t ’s d e f i n i t e l y a p l a n f o r u s t o o w n o u r o w n c a m p u s , w i t h f a c i l ities that’ll truly empower us to ‘live with purpose’, which is another value. We’ve just opened an on-site training academy to host our new employee induction sessions, up-skill current employees, and enable further education for all our employees

to help them be the best version of themselves. In the future, we’ll probably have even more toys at the office, to encourage our employees to have fun at work. We’d also love to offer our employees more benefits. Our employees are just as important to us as our clients, and staff happiness is a key focus for us.

W e d o w h a t w e c a n t o c r e a t e a n e n v i r o n m e n t t h a t ’s c o n d u c i v e for them as individuals.

We take what we do very seriously, but ourselves… not so much.

Yo u l a u n c h e d w i t h a b a n g a n d m a d e a b i g i m p a c t . H o w have you continued that success, and what challenges h a v e y o u , a s a d i s r u p t o r, c r e a t e d f o r t h e i n d u s t r y ?

We remain agile. This means we make decisions and execute actions faster than our competitors, which enables us to stay ahead of trends and challenges. Key to this is our analytics system, which allows each manager to see their KPIs and measure their performance against their targets at any time, i n r e a l - t i m e . N o t o n l y d o e s t h i s c r e a t e a c c o u n t a b i l i t y, i t a l l o w us to be proactive and make the correct decisions for the business at the right time. We don’t wait for month-end reports to assess our performance and then try to rectify probl e m s r e t r o s p e c t i v e l y.

«

connect with gideon Gideon Galloway is the founder and CEO of King Price Insurance, an innovative disruptor in the insurance industry. www.kingprice.co.za

disrupt

The

internet of

solutions Vinny Perumal is the Managing Director of Macrocomm, a telecoms and technology company that develops smart solutions through IOT.

tion.

Macrocomm is a telecommunications and technology focused company poised to become the leader in Smart Solutions in Souther n Africa. Through its partner ecosystem, Macrocomm has developed solutions to create a unique story for Smart City Management and, as an accredited reseller of mobile, data, networking and i n f r a s t r u c t u r e r e l a t e d p r o d u c t s a s s t a n d - a l o n e o f f e rings (or as part of its Internet of Things (IOT) portfolio) Macrocomm provides tur nkey solutions leveraging c o n n e c t i v i t y, d e v i c e s a n d a n a l y t i c s . u | C h i e f s p o k e t o M a c r o c o m m ’s M D , V i n n y P e r u m a l .

How have you disrupted?

We are a smart solutions business that har nesses the power of the Internet of Things (IOT) combined with machine-to-machine (M2M) communications. We drive innovation through tur nkey solutions that automate communications between central systems and remote devices, thereby eliminating the need for regular human intervention and as such, improving accuracy and reducing costs.

The best example of how we’ve disrupted is within the public and private utility space. Macrocomm is called on to provide solutions to help improve revenue collection for municipalities and enhance customer experience.

U n i q u e a p p l i c a t i o n s o f I O T i n t r a d i t i o n a l i n d u s t r i e s s u c h w a t e r, electricity and gas for instance include; • Smart meters for accurate billing and collection, • E n e r g y u s a g e s t a t s t o d e s i g n e n e r g y m a n a g e m e n t s o l u t i o n s to reduce peak demand, and • Sensors for water management and leak detection.

These ultimately provide stability to the municipalities revenue collection system, and allow for integration across the technical, financial and management departments.

O u r I O T s o l u t i o n s o f f e r p o w e r f u l t o o l s f o r t h e u t i l i t i e s s e c t o r, e n a b l i n g g r a n u l a r v i s i b i l i t y i n t o e n e r g y u s a g e h o u r- b y - h o u r. I t also allows for remote management of network equipment and distribution automation, as well as predictive maintenance all through the analytics management software.

The trick is to reduce complexities, while making it easy for the customer to adopt new services and customise according to their requirements and experience.

What has worked?

Our approach allows us to reduce complexities and it pushes us to think more smartly (out of the box). The outcome is most effective when we work with customers to identify challenges. More and more, IOT applications are connecting via cloud computing. This facilitate ease of scalability in distributed IOT deployments. It also provides access to inexpensive big data analytics.

The trick is to reduce complexities, while making it easy for the customer to adopt new services and customise according to their requirements and experience. Customers should not

be locked in, but given the opportunity to innovate and adapt solutions that best suits their environment and challenges.

How you have failed?

Because there are so many use cases for IOT applications, we’ve lost our way in and amongst the possibilities. We also experience failure to launch.

Focus on getting the first idea out, create the market and then grow the market where the future opportunities are.

What are the secrets to disruption?

Create the need and create a market, don’t let others tell you t h a t i t ’s i m p o s s i b l e . L o o k a t t h e p r o b l e m f r o m a u n i q u e p e rspective through disruption – avoid taking the usual approach and explore new ways to tackle the challenges.

Focus on getting the first idea out, create the market and then grow the market where the future opportunities are – a connected world of devices creates endless possibilities. Applications of M2M and IOT solutions is limited only by the imagination and creativity of their users.

«

connect with vinny Vinny Perumal is the Managing Director of Macrocomm Telecommunications, a leader in Smart Solutions in Southern Africa. www.macrocomm.co.za

Innovation is all about gaining insight, and you can do so by studying the habits and preferences of your target customers until you fully understand their needs.

A great example is Sam Walton, who founded Wal-Mart in 1962. He didn’t invent self-service shopping, but he did see this new trend as the future of commerce.

He immediately understood the tremendous cost reduction that could be achieved by placing clerks only at checkouts, rather than throughout the store.

Nail It then Scale It: The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Creating and Managing Breakthrough Innovation

by Nathan Furr and Paul Ahlstrom

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Cameron Stevens

Funding the next leg Prodigy Finance helps post-grads fund international degrees. But it’s more than a loan provider – it’s a community, says founder and CEO Cameron Stevens.

funding.

INSEAD is the number one school in the Financial Times G l o b a l M B A r a n k i n g s , a n d i t ’s b e e n a t o p - r a n k e d s c h o o l f o r l o n g e r t h a n t h a t . I t a t t r a c t s s o m e o f t h e w o r l d ’s m o s t t a l e n t e d business minds and accepts the best of the best. So, when he was accepted to the programme, Cameron Stevens couldn’t figure out why it was so difficult to secure an educational loan to attend.

It was a struggle. Banks in South Africa weren’t prepared to lend him more than the amount a local MBA would cost – and t h a t ’s i f t h e y w e r e c o m f o r t a b l e w i t h i t a l l . T h r o u g h y e a r s o f e x perience, banks aren’t prepared to extend financing to people w h o w i l l i m m e d i a t e l y l e a v e t h e c o u n t r y w i t h t h e m o n e y.

To p b u s i n e s s s c h o o l o r n o t , i n t e r n a t i o n a l g r a d s t u d e n t s struggle to secure the financial investment into their future.

Lamenting this situation, Cameron founded Prodigy Finance w i t h I N S E A D c o l l e a g u e s . N o w i n i t s t e n t h y e a r, t h i s c o m p a ny crowd sources funding; its student loans are collectively funded by a community of alumni, institutional investors and qualified private investors who receive both a financial and social retur n.

Students gain access to higher education that they might not otherwise be able to finance. This model enables alumni of top schools to help fund students from their alma mater or home country while ear ning a financial retur n.

And, for 84 percent of Prodigy Finance-funded students, it was the only way to continue their education as they had no alter native sources of educational financing.

Ta r i r o G o r o n g a i s o n e s u c h s t u d e n t . Z i m b a b w e a n - b o r n , h e

w a s r a i s e d o n a f a r m i n S o u t h A f r i c a a n d r e c e i v e d h i s u n d e rgraduate degree in electrical engineering from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Having spent his formative years without a c c e s s t o e l e c t r i c i t y, h e w a s d e t e r m i n e d t o a t t e n d a t o p i n t e rnational business school to develop the network and business acumen to work towards ensuring every African child has access to this resource.

His admittance to Harvard Business School was just the first step in that process. He considered loans from South African banks, but they weren’t right for him. Indeed, the high rates of interest might have made accepting one prohibitively expensive. And he was one of the lucky ones.

Banks aren’t equipped to consider a possible future scenario; they only look to past earnings.

After an American undergraduate degree, Farai Mwamuka worked in South Africa for five years before an MBA became t h e n e x t o b v i o u s s t e p i n h i s c a r e e r. H e a p p l i e d f o r a n d r e ceived a Prodigy Finance loan after his admission to London B u s i n e s s S c h o o l . A n d , h e ’s n o t s u r e h e w o u l d h a v e m a d e i t t o campus otherwise.

Though he would have reached out to every person he knows, he believes it would be nearly impossible. “I don’t think I’d have been here without Prodigy Finance. I mean I may have been here, but it would have been extremely tough.”

W h i l e d e v e l o p i n g t h e f o u n d a t i o n s o f t h e c o m p a n y, C a m e r o n

considered the obstacles that stood in the way of his own education. An MBA from a prestigious institution almost alwaysconfers a higher income, but banks aren’t equipped to consider a possible future scenario; they only look to past ear nings. Prodigy Finance developed a predictive model that considers the bump up graduates receive when they re-enter the job market, allowing them to extend higher amounts than students would otherwise obtain.

Another aspect of the Prodigy Finance business model is the c o m m u n i t y d y n a m i c t h a t u n d e r l i n e s e v e r y t h i n g i t d o e s . I t ’s n o t just a loan provider; the company continues to enhance the student experience by hosting live talks, webinars, and networking events across the globe. The community team assists arriving students with airport-to-campus transfers and local SIM cards for their mobile phones.

The personal engagement is evident from the moment applicants interact with Prodigy Finance. And, for Farai, that connection is inspiring. “It makes me feel good that the reas o n I ’ m h e r e i s a c t u a l l y b e c a u s e o f L B S a l u m n i . I t ’s g o t t h a t p e r s o n a l c o n n e c t i o n t o i t , a n d I t h i n k t h a t ’s g r e a t . I t h i n k a l s o i t e n c o u r a g e s m e t o w a n t t o g i v e b a c k i n t h e s a m e w a y. ” Ta r i r o , t o o , f e l t t h e c o n n e c t i o n . “ I f e e l l i k e I ’ m b o r r o w i n g f r o m s o m e o n e t h a t I k n o w. T h a t s e n s e o f c o m m u n i t y m e a n s I w o u l d do anything to pay back the loan - to make sure that other students get the same opportunity that I got.”

E n g a g e m e n t , t r a n s p a r e n c y, a n d c o n n e c t i o n r u n t h r o u g h t h e company which has grown from a team of three to a company that currently employs 130 staff, representing 25 different n a t i o n a l i t i e s t h r o u g h o u t t h e i r o f f i c e s i n C a p e To w n , L o n d o n ,

a n d N e w Yo r k . A n d , P r o d i g y F i n a n c e w i l l c o n t i n u e t o g r o w ; they’ve just secured R3.19 billion in additional funds that will be directed to new student loans, as well as options for refinancing existing, unfavourable loans.

According to Cameron, “the investment will allow us to double the size of our student portfolio. We believe in financial inclusion and talent mobility and look forward to continuing to help inter national students break the funding barrier and further their education at top schools”.

To d a t e , P r o d i g y F i n a n c e h a s p r o v i d e d o v e r $ 3 2 5 m i l l i o n i n educational loans to over 7,100 students – and 78 percent of them come from developing markets where access to financing is often limited.

The company offers loans to inter national students from 118 c o u n t r i e s t o a t t e n d t o p b u s i n e s s , e n g i n e e r i n g , p u b l i c p o l i c y, and law programmes.

And, although the first few loans were disbursed in 2007, five students have already repaid their loans in full and have begun investing in the next generation of Prodigy-Finance funded students. After all, getting into grad school should be the hard part; geography and wealth shouldn’t hinder those opportunities.

«

connect with cameron Cameron Stevens is the founder and CEO of Prodigy Finance Limited. Cameron is a serial entrepreneur with a special focus on social entrepreneurship and early stage technology investing. www.prodigyfinance.com

PRODIGY FINANCE Prodigy Finance was founded in 2007 by South African Cameron Stevens. The company provides loans to international students from 118 countries to pursue their post-grad degrees.

Loans are available students pursuing masters-level degrees in business, engineering, public policy, and law.

The company has grown from a staff of 3 to 126 in 10 years. It employs talent from 25 countries.

To date, over 7100 students have received over R4.32-billion in loans.

Loans are collectively funded by a community of alumni, institutional investors and qualified private investors.

They receive both financial and social returns.

Prodigy Finance uses a predictive scorecard in addition to historical data to determine loan amounts.

No cosigner or collateral is required to secure a Prodigy Finance loan. And, there are no penalties for early repayment.

In August, the company raised R3,19-billion to double the size of its portfolio.

Learn more about loans and the Prodigy Finance community at prodigyfinance.com.

cyberse

The onli shepher

Living in an age of constan

fessionally also comes with

In fact, the number of cybe

and research has shown th

between 2013 and 2015 – between $400 billion

R O Y A LV E S o f A x i s C o m thoughts on why developi for the era of in

ecurity.

ine rd

nt connectivity both personally and pro-

h a downside: increased security risks.

ersecurity attacks increases every year

hat the cost of cybercrimes quadrupled

– with those numbers falling anywhere and $500 billion during that time.

mmunications South Africa shares his ng an effective cybersecurity strategy terconnectivity is important.

W ithin the moder n business environment, employees can communicate and collaborate with customers and colleagues from anywhere and anytime, using virtually any device or platform because of technology trends such as mobility and cloud comp u t i n g . I n t h i s e r a o f i n t e r c o n n e c t i v i t y, i n f o r m a t i o n c a n a l s o frequently flow between the business and suppliers or partners, while employees utilise big data analytics solutions to g a t h e r a n d d i s s e m i n a t e a n e v e r- i n c r e a s i n g a m o u n t o f d a t a o n consumers and market trends as well opportunities. While the interconnectivity has led to efficiency gains on an individual and company-wide level, it has also led to increased security risk, because it has made cybersecurity and physical security more complex.

To mitigate risks in this kind of an open ecosystem, you need all the vendors operating off the same cybersecurity playbook.

Where a security manager in charge of physical security systems might have exclusively focussed on creating a closed system that can never be breached, s/he must now adopt a more ecosystem-centric approach. This is the result of converging technologies, with the industry migrating from analogue to IPbased technology for instance, and making use of a new IoT ecosystem, which has culminated in every cybersecurity measure having an impact on everything else on the network.

Even if physical security is run on a separate network from

Roy Alves the corporate IT infrastructure (an impractical and expensive solution) human beings are fallible: an inadvertent connection to a broadband router; an accidental cross connection in a wiring closet or any number of unintentional oversights. In the face of all these challenges, how do you develop an effective cybersecurity strategy?

Securing an interconnected web of systems The solution is to find an optimal way of merging the best practices of both the physical security world with the best practices of a traditional IT domain, without introducing new cybersecurity vulnerabilities for other components in the converged system.

In a converged ecosystem such as an IP-based physical security scenario, the cyber threats and vulnerabilities become far more complex. Not only does the number of components

increase, so do the number of vendors that are supplying that t e c h n o l o g y a n d t h e n u m b e r o f u s e r s a c c e s s i n g t h e m . To m i t i gate risks in this kind of an open ecosystem, you need all the vendors operating off the same cybersecurity playbook.

Finding common ground to mitigating cyber risks I T, p h y s i c a l s e c u r i t y a n d t e c h n o l o g y m a n u f a c t u r e r s s h o u l d b e working as a cohesive unit – reaching consensus on current standards and current cyber mitigation technologies that really reflect “Highest Common Denominator” cyber risk mitigation techniques.

In most cases, the video surveillance cameras and video management system (VMS) are selected on two main criteria: their specific intended use – perimeter protection, surveillance in crowded public areas, etc. – and the strength of the vendor to s a t i s f y t h a t s p e c i f i c u s e . B u t t h e r e ’s a t h i r d c r i t e r i a t h a t n e e d s to be considered as well: does Camera Manufacturer A support the same security protocols as VMS Manufacturer B and do t h e s e p r o t o c o l s t i e s e a m l e s s l y i n t o I T ’s c u r r e n t s u i t e o f h a r d ware, software and cyber protection protocols?

Who owns connectivity?

S i n c e t h e e c o s y s t e m r u n s o n I T ’s i n f r a s t r u c t u r e , i t r a i s e s another important question: Who is responsible for the connectivity? Do cybersecurity strategies for the physical security

network-attached systems and device now belong to IT? Or does the physical security department mandate that IT support the cybersecurity technologies built into physical secur i t y ’s s o l u t i o n s ? T h e s i m p l e s t a n s w e r i s t h a t p h y s i c a l s e c u r i t y m a n a g e m e n t n e e d s t o w o r k w i t h i n t e g r a t o r s a n d m a n u f a c t u re r s t o d e v i s e s o l u t i o n s t h a t a r e i n h e r e n t l y s u p p o r t i v e o f I T ’s current methodologies for cyber risk mitigation.

Making sure cybersecurity is a team effort The similarities in cyber protection technologies between IoT and physical security might be self-evident, but there are some key concer ns that should remain at the forefront o f a n y s y s t e m b u i l d e r. N o m a t t e r h o w s o p h i s t i c a t e d I o T d e v i c es and systems become they still operate in an IT world. And as such, they need to adopt a cooperative cyber protection s t r a t e g y. M a t u r e I o T t e c h n o l o g i e s s u c h a s p h y s i c a l s e c u r i t y will need to evolve to benefit from some of the emerging IoT cyber protection techniques.

I n t h e m e a n t i m e , t h o s e i n t h e t r e n c h e s w i l l h a v e t o u n d e rstand the environment their organisation exists in and address the increasing risk of cyber threats as a joint effort between v e n d o r, s e c u r i t y p r o f e s s i o n a l s a n d I T. W e n e e d t o w o r k w i t h common tools to provide the end-user with the best possible cyber protection while living within budgetary constraints.

Roy Alves, Axis Communications South Africa

connect with roy Roy Alves is Country Manager at Axis Communications South Africa. www.axis.com/za/en/

«

travel d

san francisco

Photos: Julia Ahlfeldt

debrief.

JULIA AHLFELDT, a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP, debriefs u|Chief on her recent trip to San Francisco.

Te l l u s a b o u t y o u r r e c e n t t r a v e l s ?

tour of their offices, a

I recently spent three weeks in the US.

the staff canteen (whi

I’ve lived in South Africa for several years,

best staff canteen foo

but I’m originally from the US. I try to

Airbnb is one of my fa

visit at least once or twice per year to see

a brand that has care

f a m i l y, s p e a k w i t h c o l l e a g u e s a n d c l i e n t s , a n d k e e p a p u l s e o n w h a t ’s h a p p e n i n g i n the American market. At first, I’d refer to these annual trips as “going home”, but now I truly feel like I have two “homes”.

I t ’s r e j u v e n a t i n g t o r e t u r n a n d r e c o n n e c t with my Americanness, but after a few weeks, I find myself longing to retur n to South Africa.

Where did you go, and what was memorable in terms of the travel and business experience?

I spent time in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Portland. It was a tour de West Coast! The motivation for the trip was both personal and professional. In addit i o n t o c a t c h i n g u p w i t h f r i e n d s a n d f a m i l y, I also conducted some interviews for my recently launched podcast, Decoding the

customer experience,

C u s t o m e r. O n e o f m y i n t e r v i e w s w a s w i t h

to look under the bon

Desirree Madison-Biggs, who is the head

hand about some of t

of customer experience at Airbnb. I had

have aided their succ

the opportunity to spend part of a day at

release any spoilers b

A i r b n b ’s H Q i n S a n F r a n c i s c o D e s i r r e e a n d

episode is published,

I had a great conversation, she gave me a

from my day at Airbnb

and we had lunch in

standing that their team culture is a key

ich was definitely the

d i f f e r e n t i a t o r. T h e o r g a n i z a t i o n l i v e s a n d

od I’ve ever eaten).

breathes its values, and looks after its

avorite examples of

people. These strategies have paid off.

fully curated a great W h a t o p p o r t u n i t i e s d i d y o u i d e n t i f y d u ring the trip for yourself and your organization, as well as for other industries?

The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is g r o w i n g b y l e a p s a n d b o u n d s . I t ’s c l e a r that this will be an important part of customer experiences in the future. One of the evenings that I was in San Francisco, I went over to some friends’ house f o r d i n n e r. T h e h u s b a n d n o w w o r k s f o r a company that has developed a fairly sophisticated AI robot toy for children.

The robot knew everyone in the house by name, could recognize facial expressions and had learned how to beat the humans at particular games. It was fascinating to w a t c h m y f r i e n d ’s s o n p l a y w i t h t h e r o b o t .

We are on the precipice of a whole new world of human/AI interactions, and comso it was fascinating

nnet and learn first-

panies need to understand how they will leverage this.

he strategies that ess. I don’t want to

before the podcast but I walked away

b w i t h a c l e a r u n d e r-

What surprised you about the country – positively and negatively?

American customer service is excellent.

Being service-minded is something that is

ingrained in our culture, and while negative customer service experiences do also happen in the US, on a v e r a g e t h e b a r i s s e t m u c h h i g h e r.

When I’ve been away for a while and jump back into the American consumer world, great customer service sometimes takes me by surprise.

The tech sector has flourished in recent years. This comes with benefits and drawbacks. In San Francisco, an influx of highly paid tech workers has driven up the host of housing, forcing many long-term residents to move elsewhere. These underlying tensions were palpable

to learn rather than a

at times.

embarrassment. This think outside of the b

Wa s t h e r e s o m e t h i n g a b o u t h o w t h e y d o

risks and champion c

business or live their lives that you feel that people living in other countries

The world around us i

could benefit from knowing or experi-

q u i c k l y, s o o r g a n i z a t i o

encing?

ure out ways to encou

Americans are optimists. They are more

vation, but this will on

likely to view a mistake as an opportunity

ronments that are sup

Any fun memories?

Ye s ! O n m y l a s t d a y i n S a n F r a n cisco, my husband and I decided to be tourists in our former home town. We walked through our old neighborhood, recounted memories, and visited the place where we first met. San Francisco is an i n c r e d i b l y p i c t u r e s q u e c i t y, a n d i t will always hold a special place in my heart.

Where would you go to next time if you visited for business or pleasure?

The East Coast is definitely on n e x t y e a r ’s i t i n e r a r y. source of shame or enables people to

Te l l u s a f e w u s e f u l p h r a s e s o r w o r d s .

ox, take calculated

South Africans are probably aware of this

hange.

through US-produced media, but Americans use slightly different vocabulary and

is changing very

may not be familiar with the words that

ons will need to fig-

are commonplace in South Africa. For ex-

urage internal inno-

ample, if you are asking for directions and

nly happen in envi-

reference the “zebra” or the “robot”, you

pportive.

will get a few quizzical looks!

connect with julia Julia Ahlfeldt is a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) who consults to bluechip and multi-national CEOs.

«

advertising.

Age of the ‘agency of return’ is here The advertising industry has shifted from

a focus on beautiful campaigns to driving for h i g h R O I s , s a y s N X T C E O Wa y n e L e v i n e

S o u t h A f r i c a ’s c u r r e n t e c o n o m i c s l u m p m e a n s c o m p a n i e s a r e t i g h t e n i n g t h e i r b e l t s , l o o k i n g f o r w a y s t o o p t i m i s e t h e i r o p e rations and make sure all their strategic efforts reflect positively on the bottom line.

W ithin this milieu, the traditional Agency of Record model has begun to make way for the Agency of Return, or strateg i c b r a n d p a r t n e r, w h o u n d e r s t a n d s t h a t w h i l e b r a n d s w o r k with many stakeholders, what they really need is a single view that gives them a no-nonsense understanding of which efforts yield the best retur n on investment (ROI).

N X T C E O , Wa y n e L e v i n e , s a y s w h i l e t r a d i t i o n a l a g e n c i e s m i g h t create beautiful campaigns, brands are often left in the dark when it comes to ROI. “More than ever before, they need to know whether their campaigns worked and how many sales can accurately be attributed to their efforts.”

NXT is a digital innovation business that has worked on renowned brands for the past 10 years. The vision for the business is to harness lessons learnt over the last decade to inform the future and the next level of digital innovation in enhancing its understanding of consumer behaviour and digital customer engagement.

H a v i n g s p e n t s e v e r a l y e a r s w o r k i n g w i t h S o u t h A f r i c a ’s l e a d ing agencies, they have married what they have learnt in the advertising and agency world with their technical expertise.

Levine says a marketing budget is an investment in a brand. ‘ S e n s i b l e i n t e l l i g e n c e a r o u n d K n o w i n g Yo u r C u s t o m e r s h o u l d dictate how it is most effectively spent. And this is where e n r i c h m e n t v e r s u s a t t r i b u t i o n c o m e s i n t o p l a y.

The ‘Agency of Retur n’, is a shift from the typical approach of big campaigns that push brand loyalty which is often built from misinformed data which results in loss of revenue for the brand. The model of ‘Agency of Retur n’ removes fake customer profiles, misinformed data, etc, which regularly limits the b r a n d ’s u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f i t s d i v e r s e c u s t o m e r s .

NXT wants the brands it partners with to resonate with their customers on an emotional level. “This depends on knowing the customer intimately and marketing from the inside out,” says Levine.

H e s a y s t h e c o m p a n y ’s u n i q u e C I C L O P S ( C o m m o n I n t e r e s t Community) methodology aims to do just that. “CICLOPS helps us build an accurate picture of brands’ customers by looking at micro-incentivised engagement.

“By rolling out a series of micro-campaigns, we’re able to accurately analyse what customers are responding to, and then attribute their customer profiles based on their engagements (real data).

“These micro-campaigns invite customers to be a part of the jour ney and enjoy it as we are truly aiming to understand and meet their needs – hitting the mark with accuracy and predictable results.”

“These micro-communities have common interest – so instead of one big campaign, we target specific campaigns at specific c o n s u m e r g r o u p s . T h i s i s c a l l e d a t t r i b u t i o n – i t ’s a b o u t p u t t i n g the customer at the centre and building the data around the individual. We have seen this approach impacting the bottom l i n e d i r e c t l y, ” s a y s L e v i n e

He adds that traditional ROI funnels depend on a journey in which the goal is set, but those customers who are lost along the way are ignored. “We believe in Retur n on Investment funnels. We examine where and how customers dropped off or ‘leaked out’ of the funnel, and look at what we can we do to a d d r e s s t h i s . I n t h i s w a y, w e g e t t h e m b a c k o n t h e P e r p e t u a l Path to Purchase.”

Levine says NXT is leaps and bounds ahead of its competitors as a result of one important fact – the space is only 20 years old. “People were first introduced to the Inter net in 1996. I started my first with a web-based company in 1997. There are probably only a handful of us in the country who were there f r o m t h e b e g i n n i n g u n t i l n o w. “ O u r s t re n g t h i s t h a t w e ’ re v e r y f l e e t - f o o t e d . We h a v e re a d j u s t ed our business model eight times since inception. Being in t h e i n n o v a t i o n s p a c e , w e o f t e n f i n d o u r s e l v e s a t a c ro s s ro a d s a n d h a v e t o c h o o s e w h i c h p a t h t o f o l l o w. We k n o w w e a re n o t g o i n g t o b e d o i n g t h e s a m e t h i n g i n t w o y e a r s ’ t i m e . I t ’s i n t e re s t i n g , h a rd t o f o re c a s t a n d w e ’ re t a k i n g r i s k s a l l t h e t i m e .

“Our customers choose us because we deliver on time, every time and on budget. They know they can trust our execution.

We have built a strong reputation and when we promise something, it happens.”

«

connect with Wayne Wayne Levine is the CEO at NXT\ Digital Innovation, an award-winning integrated agency. www.nxt.co.za

Miss Reinvention

the disruptor.

Firehorse Media’s MERCÉDES WESTBROOK knows firsthand about running with change.

As a managing editor in the custom publishing industry for over 20 years we were aware that disruptions that were coming, first by the whole greening awareness movement… imports, paper and printing costs shot up and there was a call f o r l e s s p r i n t i n g g e n e r a l l y. T h e d i g i t a l a g e d i s r u p t i o n f o c u s s e d in very sharply following that – in less than four years, the magazine industry had to reinvent itself and offer tandem products to market such as websites, content aggregators, online directories, digital magazines and apps.

To d a y a n y o n e c a n p u b l i s h t h e i r o w n m a g a z i n e , b o o k o r m a r k e t their brand on multiple platforms from their personal desk at home. Simply everyone has the opportunity to be a publisher o r b r a n d m a r k e t e r. M y 1 2 - y e a r- o l d s h o o t s , e d i t s a n d p o s t s h i s s k a t e b o a r d i n g c l i p s t o h i s o w n Yo u Tu b e c h a n n e l . I h e a r d h i m telling his friend how long the video needs to be so he can get advertising possibilities with it. He is perhaps the youngest marketer I know and those sales orders won’t be coming through a fax machine either; he doesn’t even know what a fax machine is.

When I consider the cost of print advertising and the time it took to produce a 100-page print magazine, and where editorial space was always an issue, I am loving the immediacy of the web and where there are no restrictions to publishing parameters, bar societal legalities.

W e u s e d t o t a l k a b o u t t h e s h e l f - l i f e o f t h e c l i e n t ’s a d v e r t i s e ment in a magazine, now you can’t get rid of information

Where I think we are losing the battle is with well-written, in-depth content that offers meaning and long-term loyalty posted on the digital highway! Once it is out there, it stays f o r e v e r, w h i c h i s a p l u s f o r t r a n s p a r e n c y.

My own career has been disrupted. At 50 years of age I have had to reinvent myself for the digital age in order to survive.

To d a y I a m n o t j u s t a n e d i t o r, I a m a b l o g g e r, c o n t e n t m a r k e t e r, seo and advertising copywriter and publicist.

I first learnt how to use a computer when I studied Journalism, today we have University students graduating with degrees in digital content marketing who will be producing ebooks and ezines, who will never see the inside of a printer or be called out on the weekend for colour matches. The print industry is in crises, and those that have survived and offer both a print and digital arm are still bridging the gap between reaping income

from both digital and print advertising and newsrooms are short staffed, under strain and afraid for their jobs. I speak to e d i t o r ’s w h o a r e w o r k i n g t h e s a m e c a p a c i t y o f w h a t t h r e e p e o ple used to do.

While market relevancy and global reach has increased, where I think we are losing the battle is with well-written, in-depth c o n t e n t t h a t o f f e r s m e a n i n g a n d l o n g - t e r m l o y a l t y. S o m u c h i n f o r m a t i o n o n l i n e i s p u r e c l u t t e r, i t h a s b e c o m e h a r d t o s i f t through and find the gems, the real deal changers for brands and for their markets. But it is a wave that we must ride… flexibility and adaption to change are the only way to survive a n d i f y o u a r e f o c u s s e d a n d d i s c e r n i n g e n o u g h , t o t h r i v e . I t ’s exciting because there is risk and a sense of the unknown.

Closer to home I tussle with how to explain to my three kids that PewDiePie with 54.1 million subscribers is not an icon I really want them to listen to or follow…

«

w w w. f i r e h o r s e m e d i a . c o . z a

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finance.

The Changing Role of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) RENÉ CARAYOL runs the rule over the new role of the bean-counter-in-chief

There was a time not so long ago when the CFO was purely a technocrat and consequently unfairly derided as a simple ‘bean counter’. So those who passed their chartered accountancy exams looked forward to a career of being gleefully ‘narrow a n d ‘ d e e p ’ . I n t h e t i m e s o f c e r t a i n t y, t h e y h a d v e r y s p e c i f i c q u e s t i o n s t o a n s w e r a n d t h e y d i d j u s t t h a t p e r f e c t l y.

They provided essential technical expertise and policed the processes and procedures of the organisation with zealous c o n t r o l . T h e y w e r e n o t i n t h e b u s i n e s s o f b e i n g p o p u l a r, b u t a p a r t f r o m t h e C h i e f E x e c u t i v e O f f i c e r, t h e y a p p e a r e d t o w i e l d the most authority and power at the top of the organisation.

The profession appeared to attract those of a more scientific bent with a head for numbers, with perhaps little interest in the ‘softer’ skills. In many respects, they were the original ‘geeks’.

D u r i n g t h e 8 0 ’s a n d 9 0 ’s w i t h t h e r i s e a n d r i s e o f c o m p u t e r p o w e r, I T h a d n o t y e t b e c o m e s t r a t e g i c t o t h e o r g a n i s a t i o n but, it was a huge and rising cost.

We can no longer wait for the data – we have to make judgement calls. This is what we call Leadership.

C o n s e q u e n t l y, f l e d g l i n g I T f u n c t i o n s f o u n d t h e m s e l v e s u n c o m fortably reporting to the CFO. This was during a period where most opportunities or challenges for the organisation could be d e a l t w i t h i n a v e r t i c a l , n e a t a n d t i d y m a n n e r. I t w o u l d e i t h e r be an HR issue or a Marketing issue or even a Finance issue,

but these in the main, could be dealt with purely and solely by that function.

W ith the changing nature of business, and the advent of more enterprise wide IT systems, it soon became very rare for any c h a l l e n g e a n d o p p o r t u n i t y t o b e s o n e a t a n d t i d y. I n s t e a d , nearly every opportunity or issue cuts right across the organisational structure. Most new initiatives now demand cross functional activity and cross functional teams, and nearly all of them require the attention and input of the corporate finance function.

This demands essential collaboration right across the organisation. This in turn has made new demands on the capability and behaviour of the CFO. There was a time when the data a l o n e w o u l d p r o v i d e 1 0 0 % o f t h e a n s w e r, i n t o d a y ’s f a s t m o v ing and unforgiving markets with uncertainty becoming the norm, the data rarely provides 70% of the solution.

In order to keep the organisation moving and functioning at pace, we can no longer wait for the data – we have to make judgement calls. This is what we call Leadership.

Along with the need for collaboration, this has started to paint a new requisite profile for the new age CFO. In recent history when any business goes through difficult times that lead to a change in the incumbent CEO, there tends to be two different types of candidate – if its assumed that the business outlook will be difficult then the preferred choice tends to be a senior executive from one of the control functions, and this is nearly always Finance. If the business outlook is more positive or requires transformation, then we

tend to see the CEO usually coming from one of the revenue generating business units.

In quite simplistic terms, in times of change or growth firms tend to go for the most enterprising CEO, in times of difficulty or constraint it is highly likely that the appointment would be a practicing CFO.

What is needed is a little less management and a lot more leadership.

In recent times, we have seen the appointment of a number of n e w b a n k i n g C E O ’s a n d a f t e r t h e d i f f i c u l t i e s o f t h e g l o b a l f i nancial crash witnessed the appointment of a number of former investment bankers – this appeared counter intuitive and a few b a n k s h a v e a l r e a d y p a i d a h e a v y p r i c e f o r t h e i r a u d a c i t y.

H o w e v e r, w i t h D e u t s c h e B a n k m a k i n g t h e m e d i a h e a d l i n e s for all the wrong reasons, what appeared to be a safety-first a p p o i n t m e n t o f t h e i r C F O t o t h e C E O ’s o f f i c e a p p e a r s t o h a v e b a c k f i r e d q u i t e d r a m a t i c a l l y.

The CFO will always remain a key player both for the Executive Te a m a n d t h e B o a r d o f D i r e c t o r s , b u t n o w a d a y s b e i n g a t e c h nocrat alone is no longer enough. What is needed is a little less management and a lot more leadership.

T h e n e w a g e C F O n e e d s t o b e a n e x p e r t c o m m u n i c a t o r, s t r o n g team player with the ability to influence and persuade not just use the blunt instrument of command and control. Their increasing influence and ownership of the corporate strategy r e q u i r e s a m o r e r o u n d e d b u s i n e s s l e a d e r.

Those thinking of studying accounting and hoping to become a CFO, should not be put off by the new demands on the CFO, as this has now become the price of entry to all who would wish to sit in the top executive teams. And, oh, by the w a y, y o u s t i l l h a v e t o b e a q u a l i t y t e c h n o c r a t b u t n o w a d a y s that is secondary to the ability to lead and influence.

“Forecasts may tell you a great deal about the forecaster; t h e y t e l l y o u n o t h i n g a b o u t t h e f u t u r e . ” – Wa r r e n B u f f e t t .

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R e n é C a r a y o l | r e n e @ c a r a y o l . c o m | w w w. c a r a y o l . c o m

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Builder of.. hope The need to develop an entrepreneurial culture at school level is crucial to future economic growth and social upliftment, writes NELLY MOFOKENG, Managing Director of JA South Africa

e youth.

In the 2017 budget speech, concerning statistics about South A f r i c a ’s c u r r e n t e c o n o m i c s t a t e w e r e n o t e d : o v e r h a l f o f a l l grade five lear ners in South Africa are unable to read adequately in any language, and 75% of school leavers are left unemployed five years after entering the labour market.

Looking at these figures in the context of the current 26.5% u n e m p l o y m e n t r a t e , i t ’s c r u c i a l t h a t o u r c o u n t r y ’s l e a d e r s a n d partners find alternative ways to empower the youth to help t h e m b e c o m e s e l f - s u f f i c i e n t a d u l t s . H o w e v e r, y o u n g p e o p l e a r e groomed to join the workforce as employees, instead of being exposed to skills that enable them to independently pursue their own entrepreneurial ventures once they leave school.

75% of South African school leavers are left unemployed five years after entering the labour market.

Focusing on entrepreneurial development at an early age has a positive ripple effect – equipping young people with the tools to uplift themselves means that many of them will not have to rely on an employer to ear n a living once they leave school.

They will be better empowered and prepared to pursue their own entrepreneurial efforts, which will help to lower the unemp l o y m e n t r a t e a n d b o o s t t h e c o u n t r y ’s e c o n o m y t h r o u g h t h e development of more small businesses.

S m a l l b u s i n e s s e s b o o s t S A’ s e c o n o m y Research by Global Entrepreneurship Monitor shows that s m a l l b u s i n e s s e s a r e r e s p o n s i b l e f o r o v e r 5 0 % o f j o b o p p o rtunities in South Africa, while the National Development Plan envisions 11 million new jobs created by 2030. Most of these j o b s a r e e x p e c t e d t o s t e m f r o m t h e s m a l l b u s i n e s s s e c t o r.

T h i s p r o v e s t h a t S M M E s a r e t h e b a c k b o n e o f o u r e c o n o m y.

H o w e v e r, y o u n g p e o p l e a r e s t i l l l a c k i n g t h e s k i l l s r e q u i r e d t o establish and run their own businesses. Research shows that 8 0 % o f s t a r t - u p s f a i l w i t h i n t h e f i r s t y e a r, d u e t o a l a c k o f resources as well as experience and understanding of what it takes to run a business.

While there are numerous inter nships, apprenticeships, and lear ning programmes already in place for young adults, availing adequate opportunities – particularly in rural areas of g r e a t n e e d – r e m a i n s e l u s i v e . I n a d d i t i o n , m o r e e n t r e p r e n e u rial development programmes need to be introduced at school level, but the success of these initiatives rely heavily on private sector funding.

Working with the Department of Education, the private sector has the potential to implement more accessible lear ning programmes to support the development of all lear ners across the country and make a positive impact on employment levels.

This can be achieved through integrated school curriculums and even after school initiatives, for example.

T h e s u c c e s s r a t e o f p r o g r a m m e s l i k e J A S o u t h A f r i c a ’s ‘Environmental Entrepreneurs’ Programme for primary school lear ners, as well as the ‘Mini Enterprise’ platform offered at high school level reflects the importance of such initiatives.

These serve as proof of the positive impact that entrepreneurial development programmes introduced at school level have on the youth and within their societies.

Young people must, from an early age, be encouraged to innovate and be problem-solvers.

L e t ’s s u p p o r t t h e y o u t h t o b e c o m e s u c c e s s f u l , a c t i v e a n d c o n t r i b u t i n g m e m b e r s o f s o c i e t y t h r o u g h t h e s e e n t r e p r e n e u rship-focused initiatives and, by extension, make a positive i m p a c t o n t h e S o u t h A f r i c a n e c o n o m y a t l a r g e . L e t ’s i n v e s t i n t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f t o m o r r o w ’s l e a d e r s .

As acknowledged by the Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress 2017, “Entrepreneurship m u s t b e p a r t o f t h e s c h o o l c u r r i c u l u m . Yo u n g p e o p l e m u s t , from an early age, be encouraged to innovate and be problem-solvers. They must be given the skills to turn ideas into viable businesses. “ M o s t i m p o r t a n t l y, t h e y m u s t l e a v e s c h o o l a p p r e c i a t i n g t h a t entrepreneurship can be a viable career option.”

connect with nelly Nelly Mofokeng is the Managing Director of Junior Achievement South Africa, offer a platform of opportunity for all young people in South Africa. www.jasa.org.za

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A lot of people think that doing tons of things at once is the most productive use of their time, but this logic is dead wrong.

That’s because multi-tasking does not equal productivity.

When switching from Task A to Task B, our attention stays attached to the first activity, which means we can only half-focus on the second, which hurts our performance.

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World

by Cal Newport

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YO U N G E N T R E P R E N E U R S C L E A N U P AT JA AWA R D S

Inspiring youth entrepreneurship has been celebrated at the annual JA South Africa Company o f t h e Ye a r c o m p e t i t i o n , h o s t e d by C i t i , w i t h E p i t o m e o f E l i t e I n d u s t r y, a b u s i n e s s f r o m t h e Sedibelo Secondary School in Rustenburg winn i n g t h e o v e r a l l t i t l e fo r i t s m u l t i - p u r p o s e , e n v i r o n m e n t - f r i e n d ly c l e a n e r m a d e f r o m n a t u r a l ingredients.

La s t K i n g s & Q u e e n s f ro m G re s s w o l d S e n i o r S e c o n d a r y S c h o o l f ro m J o h a n n e s b u rg c a m e s e c o n d w i t h i ts i n n o v a t i v e m u l t i p u r p o s e d e s k c o n ta i n e rs , a n d P h o l a 9 1 1 f ro m Fe r r u m H i g h S c h o o l i n N e w c a s t l e to o k t h i rd p l a c e fo r i ts f i rs t a i d k i ts . S h i n i n g S ta rs f ro m D o u g l a s M b o p a S e c o n d a r y S c h o o l i n M o t h e r w e l l w a s a w a rd e d t h e S p i r i t of E n t re p re n e u rs h i p f l o a t i n g t ro p h y fo r i ts e n t re p re n e u r i a l s p i r i t t h ro u g h o u t t h e competition. “ T h e w i n n i n g te a m s a n d f i n a l i s ts i n t h i s ye a r ’s c o m p e t i t i o n a l l d e m o n s t ra te d t h e g re a t o u tc o m e s w e h o p e to a c h i e v e f ro m o u r w i d e ra n g e of ex p e r i e n t i a l e n t re p re -

n e u rs h i p p ro g ra m m e s , ” s a ys N e l l y M ofo ke n g , M a n a g i n g D i re c to r of J A S o u t h A f r i c a . “ T h i s ye a r ’s g ro u p of f i n a l i s ts i m p re s s e d u s i m m e n s e l y w i t h t h e i r i d e a s a n d p re s e n ta t i o n s , a n d h a v e c e r ta i n l y s e t a b e n c h m a r k fo r n ex t ye a r ’s l e a r n e rs . ” N i n e te a m s of l e a r n e rs i n G ra d e 1 0 a n d 1 1 f ro m a c ro s s S o u t h A f r i c a p re s e n te d t h e i r u n i q u e b u s i n e s s i d e a s c re a te d a n d exe c u te d a s p a r t of J A S o u t h A f r i c a M i n i E n te r p r i s e a n d E n t re p re n e u rs h i p p ro g ra m m e s to a j u d g i n g p a n e l of b u s i n e s s p e o p l e a n d o t h e r i n d u s t r y p rofe s s i o n a l s . J u d g e s p ro v i d e d c o n s t r u c t i v e fe e d b a c k to t h e te a m s to s u p p o r t t h e i r d e v e l o p m e n t a n d u n d e rs ta n d i n g .

J u d g e s ’ a s s e s s m e n ts w e re b a s e d o n s e v e ra l c r i te r i a , i n c l u d i n g b u s i n e s s i d e a c l a r i t y, t h e te a m ’s a b i l i t y to t h i n k c r i t i c a l l y, u n d e rs ta n d i n g b a s i c b u s i n e s s p r i n c i p l e s a n d t h e s u s ta i n a b i l i t y a n d re l e v a n c e of t h e p ro d u c t o r s e r v i c e to s o c i a l re s p o n s i b i l i t y.

A l l l e a r n e rs h a d a t te n d e d a s e r i e s of w o r ks h o p s w h e re m e n to rs h e l p e d t h e m f i n e t u n e t h e i r b u s i n e s s i d e a s a s w e l l a s t h e i r p ro b l e m - s o l v i n g , l e a d e rs h i p a n d p re s e n ta t i o n s k i l l s to p re p a re t h e m fo r t h e c o m p e t i t i o n .

E p i to m e of E l i te I n d u s t r y w a s a w a rd e d a c a s h e q u i v a l e n t p r i ze fo r t h e i r s c h o o l to t ra n s p o r t t h e te a m a n d a c h a p e ro n e to J o h a n n e s b u rg to a t te n d t h e J A A f r i c a R e g i o n a l C o m p a n y of t h e Ye a r C o m p e t i t i o n ta k i n g p l a c e f ro m 5 - 9 D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 7 , to b e h o s te d b y J A S o u t h A f r i c a i n J o h a n n e s b u rg . T h e y w i l l c o m p e te w i t h w i n n e rs f ro m o t h e r c o u n t r i e s i n t h e S A D C re g i o n .

“J A S o u t h A f r i c a ’s p a r t n e rs h i p w i t h C i t i s p a n s o v e r 3 0 ye a rs , w i t h C i t i f u n d i n g a n u m b e r of p ro g ra m m e s a i m e d a t e m p o w e r i n g s c h o o l l e a r n e rs a n d o u t - of - s c h o o l yo u t h , ” s a ys M ofo ke n g . “ T h i s i s t h e t h i rd ye a r t h a t C i t i h a s s p o n s o re d t h e J A S o u t h A f r i c a C o m p a n y of t h e Ye a r e v e n t , a n d w e a re l o o k i n g fo r w a rd to a l o n g a n d p ro s p e ro u s p a r t n e rs h i p i n ye a rs to c o m e . ” P e te r C ra w l e y, C C O S A / T TS S S A H e a d a t C i t i a t te s ts to t h e c o m m o n g o a l of c re a t i n g m o re o p p o r t u n i t i e s fo r t h e d e v e l o p m e n t of yo u t h e n t re p re n e u rs h i p i n S o u t h A f r i c a s h a re d b y J A S o u t h A f r i c a a n d C i t i . “ T h e C i t i Fo u n d a t i o n h a s c o m m i t te d U S $ 1 0 0 m i l l i o n o v e r t h e n ex t t h re e ye a rs to p re p a re 5 0 0 , 0 0 0 yo u n g p e o p l e a l l o v e r t h e w o r l d fo r to d a y ’s c o m p e t i t i v e j o b m a r ke t , ” s a ys C ra w l e y. “ W i t h r i s i n g yo u t h u n e m p l o y m e n t ra te s g l o b a l l y, i t i s i m p e ra t i v e to h e l p yo u t h b u i l d t h e i r c o n f i d e n c e a n d c u l t i v a te t h e i r l e a d e rs h i p s k i l l s a n d competitiveness.”

S c h o o l s s e l e c te d to p a r t i c i p a te i n t h e C o m p a n y of t h e Ye a r C o m p e t i t i o n : S e d i b e l o S e c o n d a r y S c h o o l ( M o r u l e n g V i l l a g e , R u s te n b u rg , N o r t h We s t ) G re s s w o l d S e n i o r S e c o n d a r y S c h o o l ( J o h a n n e s b u rg , G a u te n g ) Fe r r u m H i g h S c h o o l ( N e w c a s t l e , Kw a Z u l u - N a ta l D o u g l a s M b o p a S e c o n d a r y S c h o o l ( M o t h e r w e l l , Ea s te r n C a p e ) Kg a ko a S e c o n d a r y ( R a m o n g w a n a , L i m p o p o ) Mhlume Secondary School (Mbombela, Mpumalanga) C l u b v i e w H i g h S c h o o l ( W i ts i e h o e k , Fre e S ta te ) Le n te g e u r S e c o n d a r y S c h o o l ( Le n te g e u r, We s te r n C a p e ) E m a n g M m o g o C o m p re h e n s i v e ( K i m b e r l y, N o r t h e r n C a p e ) J u nior A chievement S outh Af r i c a (JA S o u t h Af r i c a ) i s a no n- prof i t o rgan i s ati o n af f i l iate d to JA Worldwide (www.j a wo r ld wi de .o rg ), o ne of t he la rg e s t b us i n e s s e d uc ati o n o rganisa tions in the world, o pe ra t i ng i n ove r 120 c o u nt r i e s . Fo r th e p as t 3 8 ye ars , JA So u t h Africa ha s been prov i di ng e sse nt i a l e nt re pre ne u r i a l a n d f i n an c i al l i te racy p rogram mes to young people of a ll a g e s, a c ro ss t he c o u nt r y, i n b o th r ural an d ur b an e nvironments. JA’s unique, expe r i e nt i a l pro g ra mme s i g ni te t he s p ark i n yo un g p e o p l e to re al ise the opportunities a nd fa c e t he re a li t i e s of 21st c e nt ury wo r k an d l i fe .

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Emplo engage

Human Resources consultant AND delves into a not-so-secret ingredie

insight#

oyee ement

DREW SONNENBERG ent for business success

What is employee engagement?

Whilst companies continue to debate the merits of custome r- c e n t r i c , p r o d u c t - c e n t r i c a n d p e o p l e - c e n t r i c s t r a t e g i e s amongst others, the one thing that is beyond debate is that p e o p l e e x e c u t e s t r a t e g y. A l t h o u g h c u s t o m e r s m a y b e a t t h e heart of a company (and products regarded as the lifeblood) without people serving their needs albeit in an ever increasingl y d i g i t i s e d m a n n e r, t h e y b e c o m e i r r e l e v a n t .

The need for a motivated and inspired workforce, energised to exceed customer needs is becoming increasingly important for moder n organisations (Bakker & Demerouti, 2008). Organisations of all sizes are striving to achieve improved results t h r o u g h i n c r e a s e d a t t e n d a n c e , r e t e n t i o n a n d c u s t o m e r l o y a l t y.

Employee engagement is widely regarded as an answer to this (Magem, 2017).

From an academic perspective, several theoretical approaches defining the employee engagement concept have emerged, i n c l u d i n g : ( 1 ) K a h n ’s ( 1 9 9 0 ) p e r s o n a l r o l e e n g a g e m e n t , ( 2 ) M a s l a c h e t a l . ’s ( 2 0 0 1 ) b u r n o u t a n t i t h e s i s a p p r o a c h , ( 3 ) D e m e ro u t i e t a l ’s j o b d e m a n d s - r e s o u r c e s ( J D - R ) m o d e l ( 4 ) H a r t e r e t a l . ’s ( 2 0 0 2 ) s a t i s f a c t i o n - e n g a g e m e n t a p p r o a c h , a n d ( 5 ) S a c k ’s (2006) multidimensional approach. (Shuck, 2010).

Although definitions of engagement tend to be numerous and inconsistent, all sources generally agree that “engaged employees feel a sense of attachment toward their organisation, investing themselves not only in their role, but in the organisation as a whole (Robertson-Smith & Markwick, 2009, p. 5).

Most definitions tend to define engagement by its outcomes and the outputs of an employee to the benefit of the company (Magem, 2017), often highlighting the attachment toward the

company felt by engaged employees who invest themselves in both the job and the entire organisation. (Robertson-Smith & Markwick, 2009). Based on research of the theory outlined above, the following definition of employee engagement, is proposed: Employee engagement is the extent to which an employee feels emotionally attached and proudly committed to the organisation, its values and goals, delivering over and above what the job requires through the investment of their discretionary effort.

Employee engagement is the extent to which an employee feels emotionally attached and proudly committed to the organisation, its values and goals.

Why is it so important?

The increasing importance of employee engagement was highlighted by Johnson (2004, p. 1) when he proposed that “the ability to engage employees, to make them work with our business, is going to be one of the greatest organisational battles of the coming 10 years�. In addition, an engaged workforce, associated with passionate, committed employees who are willing to go the extra mile in their performance, has become a key source of competitive advantage for businesses today (Shuck, Rocco & Albernoz, 2011).

Like culture, employee engagement is becoming a CEO-level issue. Approximately nine out of ten executives who responded to the 2016 Deloitte Global H u m a n C a p i t a l Tr e n d s s u r v e y, r a t e d e n gagement as an important (38 percent) or very important (48 percent) company p r i o r i t y. T h e f a c t o r s d r i v i n g t h i s f o c u s include the increasing transparency and a c c e s s i b i l i t y o f t h e o r g a n i s a t i o n ’s e m ployment brand, an increasing need to attract technologically-skilled workers fuelled by increased digitisation and the intense competition for Millennial talent ( B e r s i n , G e l l e r, Wa k e f i e l d , & Wa l s h , 2016).

An increasingly mobile, diverse and multigenerational workforce, which includes up to five generations of workers, is comprised of a mix of various cultures, races, genders and sexual orientations who demand a more flexi b l e , e m p l o y e e - c e n t r i c w o r k e n v i r o n m e n t . Ye t r e s e a r c h i n d i cates that only 11 percent of companies have a highly inclusive work environment and only 4 percent indicate that they are very good at engaging Millennials and other generations in the workplace (Bersin et al., 2016).

Mann and Harter (2016) note that for the 15 years that Gallup has been tracking employee engagement in the United States of America (U.S.), 32 percent of employees in the U.S. are engaged in their jobs and workplaces and are thus involved

in, enthusiastic about and committed to their work and workplace. Only 13 percent of employees across the globe were found to be engaged in their work. Results of a recent Gallup survey indicate that only 9 percent of the South African (S.A.) workforce is actively engaged, with 91 percent disengaged and, of that 91 percent, 45 percent were found to be actively disengaged (Kelley Group, 2017).

The high levels of employee engagement – or the lack thereof – highlight a key issue for employers as engagement is b e c o m i n g a ‘ t e m p e r a t u r e g a u g e ’ f o r a c o m p a n y ’s a b i l i t y t o

proactively address employee issues (Bersin et al., 2016) and “…every interaction with employees can have an impact on e n g a g e m e n t a n d o r g a n i s a t i o n a l p e r f o r m a n c e ” ( M a n n & H a r t e r, 2016, p. 1).

Numerous studies have found a positive correlation between a disengaged workforce and higher labour tur nover (Kelly & Quest, 2017). The consequences of labour or organisational tur nover has been the focus of many studies (Wells & Peache r y, 2 0 1 1 ) a n d i n c l u d e , a m o n g s t o t h e r t h i n g s , a d v e r s e i m p a c t s on customer service, employee morale, efficiencies (Abbasi & H o l l m a n , 2 0 0 0 ) a n d o r g a n i s a t i o n a l p e r f o r m a n c e ( Wa l t r o u s , Huffman, & Pricherd, 2006).

Compounding this adverse impact is the fact that, according to Abbasi et al. (2000), the brightest talent are the most likely e m p l o y e e g r o u p t o l e a v e t h e o r g a n i s a t i o n . G r o b l e r, Wa r n i c h , Carrell, Elbert and Hatfield (2006) note that the disruptive and costly impact of turnover makes it an outcome that positive, healthy organisations avoid. They add that high staff tur nover is costing S.A. millions of rand a year as a result of lower prod u c t i v i t y, q u a l i t y p r o b l e m s a n d i n c r e a s e d a c c i d e n t s .

The Saratoga Institute (2006) believes that “the war for talent has shifted from a battle of acquisition to one of retention”.

The Saratoga Institute (2006) believes that “the war for talent has shifted from a battle of acquisition to one of retention”.

They note that employee tur nover costs are significant and often hidden in items such as training, recruitment, selection a n d t e m p o r a r y s t a f f i n g . H i n k i n a n d Tr a c e y ( 2 0 0 0 ) e s t i m a t e the cost of losing each employee to be as much as twice the p e r s o n ’s s a l a r y. A l t h o u g h 2 0 0 p e r c e n t m a y b e b u l l i s h , p r o j e c t ed costs of between 100 and 150 percent more management level jobs are not.

The following simple example may illustrate the lost retur n on investment to companies as a result of disengagement: A m a n a g e r o n a to ta l a n n u a l c o s t to c o m p a n y of R 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 w h o i s o n l y 5 0 % e n g a g e d e s s e n t i a l l y d e l i v e rs o n l y R 5 0 0 0 0 0 p e r a n n u m v a l u e to t h e c o m p a n y. T h i s e q u a te s to a R 5 0 0 0 0 0 ‘ l o s s ’ . S h o u l d t h i s m a n a g e r re m a i n w i t h t h e c o m p a n y fo r 3 ye a rs a t t h e s a m e l e v e l of ( d i s ) e n g a g e m e n t , t h e l o s t re t u r n e s c a l a te s to R 1 . 5 m i l l i o n o v e r t h e t h re e ye a r p e r i o d . T h e l i ke l i h o o d of t h i s m a n a g e r b e i n g a n i n s p i ra t i o n a l l e a d e r i s v e r y s l i g h t . Te a m m e m b e rs a re m o re l i ke l y to b e c o m e u n i n s p i re d a n d t h u s l e s s e n g a g e d , d e l i v e r i n g to t h e m i n i m u m re q u i re m e n ts of t h e i r j o b ; a s t h e y to o w i l l s t r u g g l e to s e e a v a l u e p ro p o s i t i o n t h a t exc i te s a n d m o t i v e s t h e m b e yo n d p e r h a p s t h e i n i t i a l exc i te m e n t of j o i n i n g a n e w c o m p a n y o r te a m .

A s s u m i n g t h a t t h e m a n a g e r h a s a c c o u n ta b i l i t y to l e a d a te a m of f i v e p e o p l e w i t h a c o m b i n e d c o s t to c o m p a n y of R 2 . 5 m i l l i o n , t h e p o te n t i a l f u r t h e r l o s s of c o m p o u n d e d d i s e n g a g e m e n t c o u l d c o n s e r v a t i v e l y e q u a te to a f u r t h e r R 75 0 0 0 0 . A p p l y t h i s l o g i c a c ro s s a n o rg a n i s a t i o n of s c a l e a n d o n e s e e s e i t h e r t h e f r i g h te n i n g l o s s o r m a s s i v e o p p o r t u n i t i e s t h a t ex i s t w i t h i n o rg a n i s a t i o n s a c ro s s t h e g l o b e to d a y.

T h i s i s a d m i t te d l y a n o v e r - s i m p l i f i c a t i o n , b u t i l l u s t ra te s t h e l o s s of R O I a t a b a s i c l e v e l ef fe c t i v e l y.

The changing structure of companies is placing an increasing focus on empowered teams and team leadership (Bersin et al, 2016). Research indicates that managers account for up to 70 percent of variance in employee engagement scores with one in two job-leaving American adults indicating that they had left their job to get away from their line manager and improve their lives (Harter & Adkins, 2015). Swindall (2007) endorsed a simi l a r v i e w, i n d i c a t i n g t h a t t h e v a s t m a j o r i t y o f e m p l o y e e s d o n ’ t leave companies, but leave bosses.

A recent Gallup survey (cited by the Kelley Group, 2017) indicated that 67 percent of the staff who were surveyed would l i k e t h e i r m a n a g e r s t o l e a d a n d c o m m u n i c a t e b e t t e r. I n t h e i r study of Pharmaceutical salespersons, Mulki, Fernando and Locander (2006) established that trust in a supervisor is a critical element enabling an ethical climate resulting in enhanced job satisfaction, increased organizational commitment and reduced tur nover intention.

Classifying employee engagement types Gallup differentiates between three types of employees: Engaged, not-engaged and actively disengaged. Engaged employees work with passion and feel a profound connection t o t h e c o m p a n y. T h e y d r i v e i n n o v a t i o n a n d m o v e t h e o r g a n i s a tion forward. Not-engaged employees are essentially ‘checked o u t ’ . T h e y a r e s l e e p w a l k i n g t h o r o u g h t h e i r w o r k d a y, p u t t i n g i n time but not energy or passion into their work.

Actively disengaged employees are not only unhappy but are acting out their unhappiness. Every day these employees undermine what engaged co-workers accomplish. (Robertson-Smith & Markwick, 2009); (Lolitha & Johnson, 2016).

So what?

Irrespective of how employees are classified, many employe e s a r e g e n e r a l l y d i s e n g a g e d i n t h e w o r k p l a c e t o d a y. T h i s i s harmful and costly to organizations, including the high cost of s t a f f t u r n o v e r. T h e f o u r t h i n d u s t r i a l a g e c h a r a c t e r i s e d b y c y b e r- p h y s i c a l s y s t e m s , b i g d a t a , s u p e r a n a l y t i c s a n d a d v a n c e d communications infrastructure is upon us. Industry 4.0 is best d e s c r i b e d b y Wa r r e n B e n n i s ( 1 9 9 1 ) w h e n h e p r o p h e t i c a l l y stated that: “the factory of the future will be staffed by a man and a dog…the man will be there to feed the dog, and the dog will be there to make sure the man doesn’t touch anything”.

As employers get their heads around exponential technological advancement both inside and outside the workplace driving an abundance of data, there is a tendency to focus more on spreadsheets and numbers than on people.

In this age of hyper-connectivity and hyper-everything we seem less connected and engaged on a human level than we ever were.

I r o n i c a l l y, i n t h i s a g e o f h y p e r- c o n n e c t i v i t y a n d h y p e r- e v e r y thing we seem less connected and engaged on a human level than we ever were. Companies tend to view their annual emp l o y e e e n g a g e m e n t s u r v e y, o r t h e m o r e r e c e n t p h e n o m e n o n o f abridged quarterly ‘pulse surveys’, as sufficient to ensure an engaged workforce. Asking employees how they feel repeatedly is simply not enough. Just as it seems natural to build a business around the needs of exter nal customers, it is the inter nal customers, or staff members, who ensure that these

needs are sustainably met.

A c c o u n t a b i l i t y f o r p e o p l e ’s w e l l b e i n g a n d p ro d u c t i v i t y s i t s w i t h l e a d e r s h i p . A c c o rd i n g t o F l y n n ( i n S i n e k , 2 0 1 4 , p . x i i ) “ … a l e a d e r w h o t a k e s c a re o f t h e i r p e o p l e a n d s t a y s f o c u s e d o n t h e w e l l b e i n g o f t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n c a n n e v e r f a i l ” . F u r t h e r m o re , a s l e a d e r s “ … i t i s o u r s o u l re s p o n s i b i l i t y t o p ro t e c t o u r p e o p l e a n d , i n t u r n , o u r p e o p l e w i l l p ro t e c t e a c h o t h e r a n d a d v a n c e t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n t o g e t h e r ” ( S i n e k , 2 0 1 4 , p . 1 8 ) . L e a d e r s h i p c re a t e s c u l t u re , o r “ t h e w a y w e d o t h i n g s a ro u n d h e re ” , w h i c h i n t u r n s e r v e s a s t h e f r a m e w o r k o r t e m p l a t e f ro m w h i c h e m p l o y e e s o p e r a t e . T h e c u l t u re o f a n o r g a n i s a t i o n c a n e i t h e r s e r v e t o e n h a n c e o r d e t r a c t f ro m l e v e l s o f e m p l o y e e e n g a g e m e n t .

A n e n g a g e d w o r k f o rc e i s c l e a r l y a f u n d a m e n t a l c o m p o n e n t o f sustainable business success. Employee engagement should be t h e f o u n d a t i o n o n w h i c h a n e m p l o y e e v a l u e p ro p o s i t i o n i s b u i l t .

T h i s t r a n s l a t e s i n t o a n e m p l o y e e e x p e r i e n c e , w h i c h d i re c t l y impacts on the customer experience and hence the success and sustainability of the business. In my experience, a consistent communication and engagement methodology and framework t h ro u g h o u t t h e o r g a n i s a t i o n i s a n e s s e n t i a l v e h i c l e f o r s t r a t e g y e x e c u t i o n a n d a n e n g a g e d w o r k f o rc e . I t i s p r i m a r i l y w h a t I h a v e d r i v e n f o r t h e p a s t d e c a d e re a l i s i n g p h e n o m e n a l re s u l t s .

There is no silver bullet for success in business but the solut i o n ( i n t h e o r y a t l e a s t ) i l l u s t r a t e d b y t h e ( a d m i t t e d l y o v e r- s i m plified) virtuous Leadership-People-Customer (LPC) Model© below seems simple enough: I t ta ke s c o n n e c te d , c a r i n g a n d fo c u s e d l e a d e rs h i p to m o t i v a te , i n s p i re a n d e n g a g e e m p l o ye e s w h o i n t u r n n u r t u re c u s to m e r re l a t i o n s h i p s , re i n fo rc i n g l e a d e rs h i p c o n n e c te d n e s s ,

Connected, caring and focussed leadership

sustainably successful business

happy customers

motivated, inspired and engaged employees

Figure 1: the virtuous Leadership-People-Customer (LPC) Model ©

c a re a n d fo c u s , c re a t i n g a w i n n i n g c u l t u re a n d a s u s ta i n a b l y s u c c e s sf u l b u s i n e s s .

Engaged employees are key to this equation and the ‘unlock’ is LEADERSHIP (more of that in a future article). Unleashing the human energy and potential requires effort beyond engagement surveys. It requires leadership to move beyond the comfort zones of their offices and spreadsheets and make themselves vulnerable through building real relationships with their people.

«

connect with andrew Andrew Sonnenberg is an HR consultant, an associate at Yellowtreehub and former Head of HR: Retail Operations at Woolworths in South Africa.

Andrew@yth.co.za

list of sources employee engagement •

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travel d

turkey P h o t o s : M a r i o n K a t e , w w w. g i r l i n b l u e j e a n s . c o m

debrief.

Travel blogger (and The Girl in Blue Jeans) MARION KATE, debriefs u|Chief on her recent trip to Turkey.

Te l l u s a b o u t y o u r r e c e n t t r a v e l s ?

Heading back to Ista

I r e c e n t l y w e n t t o Tu r k e y, a c o u n t r y I h a v e

time in Afayon, where

n o w v i s i t e d 1 6 t i m e s . F l y i n g Tu r k i s h A i r-

hotels have thermal p

lines is a direct flight from Johannesburg to Istanbul overnight, so my trips always

What was memorable

start in Istanbul where I spend a few days

From the business pe

and then I map out a different route each

t h e Tu r k i s h A i r l i n e s h e

time so that I can explore different towns

w a s a n e y e - o p e n e r. I

a n d c i t i e s i n t h e c o u n t r y.

up the stairs and half

on the wall and a sign This past trip took me to Kas, a beautiful

“First impressions cou

town on the Aegan coast that looks out

smartly dressed, rega

onto the Greek Island of Meis. I hired a

tion within in the com

car and drove down the coast to see

around with speed an

Demre (better known as The Father

almost silence in the

C h r i s t m a s To w n ) . A l o n g t h e w a y i s t h e

unnecessary chit-chat

S u n k e n C i t y, a n o t h e r b e a u t i f u l s p o t .

loud laughing, no che

TURKEY FACT FILE Anthem “The Independence March” Official language Turkish Capital Ankara Largest city Istanbul Currency Turkish lira Time zone FET (UTC+3) Land area 783,356 km2 (302,455 sq mi) Population 79,814,871 (2017 estimate) Density 102/km2 (264.2/sq mi) Total GDP (PPP) $2.082 trillion (2017 estimate) Per capita GDP $25,776 BLACK SEA BULGARIA Cars Drive on the right

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MARION KATE’S Useful Turkish Phrase Guide

• MERHABA | HELLO OD • C O K G U Z E L | V E RY G O • EKMEK | BREAD • C AY | T E A • S U | WAT E R

when walking through office, I did not see a

ing on their cellphone

on discipline, which is ioural trait and somet

I also had the opportu

the flight simulators in

are able to “keep up t

world-class machine a

Turkish Airline s wa s named the 2018 Five -Star Global Airline by the Airline pa ssenger Experience Association (APE X) of f icial airline s rating.

h a large, open-plan

to know that we are in good hands when

single person play-

aboard their aircraft. After that I explored

e. The company runs

the kitchens of the company that produc-

s a cultural behav-

es the food for the airline and I was highly

hing I find refreshing.

impressed by the levels of hygiene and the variety of meals they prepare. What

unity to sit in one of

I found interesting was that many of the

n which the pilots

long-haul flights for the larger carriers

their hours�: it is a

actually have an on-board chef to prepare

a n d i t ’s c o m f o r t i n g

meals for passengers.

Food is always something that makes or

what the difference is

breaks an experience for passengers, and

cost airline and an air

to fully illustrate how the flight attendants

a Skytrax winner six y

and ground crew work together to deliver such a high service, Do & Co had us sit in

What opportunities d

a make-shift plane, with the proper seats

during the trip?

and narrow walkways. They then delivered

The re is a lot more roo

the food and drinks to us while explaining

c ount r y a s w e ll a s t he

h o w d i f f e r e n t m e a l s a r e s e r v e d o n d i f f e r-

Afr ic a ns, a nd t he re a re

ent flights and how the food and drinks

on bot h pla t for ms. Fro

are sourced.

t he re ha s be e n signific Sub- Sa ha r a re gion, w i

This entire experience opened my eyes to

Dur ba n a nd Ca pe Tow n

the world of flying and made me realise

bour ing c ount r ie s. The

Joha nne sbur g t o I st a n A traditional drink of the Ottomans,

t r ue . I t flie s a t a c onv e

“serbet” take s it name from the Ara bic

e a r ly in t he mor ning in

word “sariba”, which means “to drink“.

s between a low-

y o u t o g e t o n wi t h y o u r d a y. The Tur kish

rline that has been

A i r l i n e s a r r i v a l l o u n g e – a s w e ll a s t he de -

y e a r s i n a r o w.

p a r t u re l o u n g e a t A t a t u r k A ir por t – is she e r l u x u r y. W i t h a t t e n t i o n h a v i ng be e n pa id t o

did you identify

t h e f i n e st d e t a i l , t h e re i s n ot hing a t r a v e lle r c a n wa n t f o r. T h e l o y a l t y c a rd progr a m is

o m to market t h e

another added benefit.

a i rl i ne to So u th

e s o many benefit s

From the country perspective, South

o m the airlin e’s s id e ,

Africans don’t need a visa for visits of up

c an t g row th in th e

to 30 days – the eVisa is obtained online

th fl i g hts fro m J H B ,

within minutes and is free. Once inside the

n , as w ell as n eigh-

c o u n t r y, y o u r m o v e m e n t i s n o t r e s t r i c t e d

e d i re ct flig h t f rom

and you can go wherever you want. This is

n b u l i s a dream c om e

one of my big loves, as I will decide at the

e n ien t t ime and lan d s

last minute to climb onto a bus and travel

n I s tan bul, allow in g

a c r o s s t h e c o u n t y.

I t ’s e x t r e m e l y c o s t - e f f e c t i v e , a n d y o u

The well-known South

would be surprised at how far the Rand

Defy appliances has r

c a n g o i n Tu r k e y. T h e r e a r e a l s o v a r i o u s

b y Tu r k i s h - o w n e d A r ç

travel options within the country which are

their strategy of expa

all perfectly safe, ranging from single trav-

markets in Africa.

ellers to women and family groups.

Tu r k e y i s e v e r y t r a v e l l e Besides having plenty of options within

the size of the country

the travel industry (which includes winter

landscape, varying cu

s k i i n g ) , t h e r e ’s a l s o t h e i m p o r t o f p r o d u c t s

re g i o n s , a n d t h e f a c t t

like textiles. The manufacture of clothing,

country situated in Eu

linen, shoes and so on is of the highest q u a l i t y, a n d v e r y w e l l - p r i c e d .

What surprised you a

The friendliness of the Edirne wa s the capital of the Ottoman

disciplined country an

Empire for 88 years. It boa sts more

still able to enjoy life.

than 600 monuments and of fers

proud and hard-worki

the be st Ottoman cuisine.

h African brand of

never too much effort to go the extra mile.

recently been bought

They also have a beautiful countryside: in

çelik Group as part of

m y o p i n i o n , t h e d r i v e a l o n g t h e Tu r q u o i s e

nding into emerging

Coast could outdo Chapmans Peak any d a y, a n d i t ’s f r e e . T h e r e ’s a l s o n o l i t t e r anywhere, from Istanbul to the quaint sea-

e r ’s p o t o f g o l d , f ro m

side towns and inland villages.

y and the contrasting i s i n e i n d i ff e re n t

On the negative side, English is not spo-

t h a t i t ’s t h e o n l y

k e n e v e r y w h e r e s o , a s a t r a v e l l e r, i t c a n

u ro p e a n d A s i a !

be difficult to communicate outside the big tourist spots, although the locals don’t

about the country?

give up trying. With hand signals and lots

e people. It is a very

of smiling, the problem is always resolved.

nd yet the people are

T h a n k g o o d n e s s f o r G o o g l e Tr a n s l a t e –

. They are a nation of

and there is W iFi just about everywhere,

n g p e o p l e , a n d i t ’s

a n d i t ’s e a s i l y a c c e s s i b l e .

How did you grow personally from this

never been made to fe

travel experience?

unwanted in the coun

I have become very independent as a r e s u l t o f m y f r e q u e n t v i s i t s t o Tu r k e y, I

What lesson did you

have also lear nt a lot more about doing

during this trip that

business with men. Most decision-making

share with others?

positions are held by men, so I have had

Speak to people arou

to learn how to think like a man. I have

the time to pronounce

also learnt not to be swayed by comments

correctly when you ar

in the media that are often out there to

always carry a busine

just cause damage, but rather to make

pocket. As South Afri

decisions based on my own experiences.

and obnoxious at time

to pay attention to a c I have learnt a lot about being open-mind-

dress, and to speak a

ed and tolerant of other cultures and religions. I am a total opposite of the

Wa s t h e r e s o m e t h i n g

s t e r e o t y p i c a l Tu r k i s h c i t i z e n , b u t I h a v e

locals do business o

eel uncomfortable or

that people living in other countries

t r y.

could benefit from knowing?

T h e Tu r k i s h p e o p l e a r e a v e r y h a r d - w o r k -

learn or pick up you would like to

i n g a n d u n i t e d s o c i e t y. T h e y a r e a l s o v e r y family-orientated. When they work they w o r k h a r d … b u t , w h e n i t ’s f a m i l y t i m e , i t ’s

nd you and take

family time. There is no going off on

e t h e p e r s o n ’s n a m e

a Sunday as a split family so that the

re introduced… and

husband can play golf and the wife can

ess card in your

have coffee with her friends.

cans, we can be loud

es, so it is important

First run in 1979, this year the Vodafone

c o u n t r y ’s c u l t u r e a n d

Istanbul Marathon will be sta ged on

a c c o r d i n g l y.

g about how the

or live their lives

12 November and will be run over two continents (Europe and Asia). The race starts on the Asian side just before the Bosphorus bridge, with a prize of approximately US35,000 for the winner.

They also don’t waste money on frivolous

bread out of the lugga

t h i n g s – t h e y s a v e t h e i r m o n e y, a s m a k i n g

His wife had made it a

big purchases like a house or a car using

ed to taste it!

cash is the preferred option to creating debt and having to pay interest.

Then there was the ve Istanbul in December

Any favourite memories?

seen such large snow

T h e r e w e r e s o m a n y. I s t a y e d i n a r u r a l

docihia I once watche

village once where the people where so

sitting in a carved-ou

friendly and all the food was home-made.

been a church. It was

I took a ferry at midnight to Cyprus on the Tu r k i s h s i d e , h a d s o m u c h f u n a n d t h e n

In Bursa, I went up th

retur ned, travelling to the far Easter n Side

in the world – it stops

o f Tu r k e y t o a s i t e c a l l e d A n i . I t t a k e s o v e r

change over into anot

16 hours to tavel there by bus from Is-

was beautiful at the to

tanbul, and every time I have been to this

had African interior de

town of Kars it has been an adventure.

There was once a man on the bus who

Where would you go

insisted the bus stop 10 minutes after we

visited for business

left a rest stop so that he could get his

This is a difficult choi

Got a taste for

Turkey?

age compartment.

and he said he need-

ery heavy snowfall in 2015: I have never

wflakes. In Cappa-

ed the sunset while t rock that had once

s a breathtaking site. e longest cable car

s halfway up and you h e r c a r. T h e s n o w

op and the main hotel

e c o r a t i n g i n t h e f o y e r. to next time if you or pleasure? ce. I love Istanbul

For more information on the 5th Turkish Film Fe stival and bookin g details, visit w w w.cinemanouveau.co.za, follow on Twitter @sterkinekor or Facebook (Cinema Nouveau).

Download the Ster-Kinekor App on your smart phone for update s, news and to book tickets from your mobile. For more info, call Ticketline on 0861 MOV IES (668 437).

and the vibe, but I als

C o a s t . H o w e v e r, i f I w

the mountains are alw

My son also wants me

of Batman, so that I c

Facebook – he finds t

What cultural tips for you have for v i s i t o r s t o Tu r k e y ?

Te a i s a l w a y s o f f e r e d – b u t d o n ’ t r e f u s e a c u p o f Tu r k i s h t e a , a s i t i s s e e n a s r u d e .

Women should not wear revealing clothes, especially not in a business environment.

Also, women should not cross their legs when seated.

so love the Aegan

Hugging is not a form of greeting, but the

want some quiet time

shaking of hands is acceptable.

ways a firm favourite.

Once you get to know a person you should

e to go to the town

greet them with three kisses on the cheek:

can check in there on

left, right, left. The same applies when

that entertaining.

you are saying goodbye.

connect with marion

«

www.girlinbluejeans.com

What makes an ideal CEO? Heading up Mosaic, my job is twofold. I need to be able to articulate our vision, what we stand for and what we offer our c l i e n t s . T h e n , b e h i n d t h e s c e n e s , i t ’s m y j o b t o b u i l d a n d l e a d the best team to deliver that vision.

When we started Mosaic a lot of the core team were people who I had worked with for a long time in my previous roles, so I knew that they were the best of the best and were on t h e s a m e p a g e i n t e r m s o f w h a t w e a r e t r y i n g t o a c h i e v e . Yo u cannot buy trust and so selecting people who you’ve had prior experience with and who you know both professionally and p e r s o n a l l y, r e a l l y m a k e s t h e d i f f e r e n c e . A s w e g r o w, p a r t o f t h e challenge is to select the right people to keep that culture of excellence and singularity of purpose going.

ceo focus.

Is there any ideal preparation or lear ning a prospective or aspirant CEO should focus on?

My industry experience is what has given me the tools to build M o s a i c . H a v i n g s p e n t a l o n g c a r e e r i n t h e f i x e d i n c o m e m a rket, I really understand my clients’ needs and we have been able to build a product which is specifically catered to them.

It might sound simple, but there really isn’t any substitute to knowing your clients.

If someone reading this is thinking about setting up their own c o m p a n y, e s p e c i a l l y i n t h e e n t e r p r i s e s p a c e , I w o u l d s a y, spend some time working for your prospective clients. In any business, but especially finance, there are always extra pain points and road blocks that you can only really spot from the inside and it will save you a lot of time and energy if you know them before you build your product.

Starting a company looks easy from the outside but can be enormously challenging. I’ve focused most particularly on the timing of launching our new software and ensuring ‘product-market fit’. This is an iterative process and requires relentless dedication to find the exact pain point your

Matthew hodgson P O S I T IO N C E O , M o s a i c S m a r t D at a LO C AT IO N U n i t e d K i n g d o m

c u s t o m e r s f e e l a n d t h e n s o l v i n g f o r i t . T h a t b e i n g s a i d , i t ’s really all about timing and launching too early will see you fail as the market isn’t ready for you. Going too late and new entrants are already competing away market share and profi t a b i l i t y. T h i s i s t h e s i n g l e m o s t i m p o r t a n t d e c i s i o n f o r e a r l y stage companies to consider and this balancing act cannot be sufficiently emphasised.

T h e n o n t o t h e d e c i s i o n a ro u n d y o u r t e a m a n d t h e i r a b i l i t y t o execute. I always say to people who ask me how I’ve selected t h e t e a m t h a t t h e re i s n ’t m u c h s p a c e i n t h e c o c k p i t o f a ro c k e t .

C h o o s e f e l l o w t r a v e l l e r s w h o y o u c a n re l y o n g i v e n t h e i r e x p e rt i s e a n d w h o a re a p l e a s u re t o w o r k w i t h .

T h e n i t ’s v i t a l l y i m p o r t a n t t o m a k e s u re t h a t t h e p ro d u c t y o u a re l a u n c h i n g h a s a s u s t a i n a b l e p ro p o s i t i o n a n d i s e x t e n s i b l e . We ’ re a l w a y s a s k e d w h a t o u r ro a d m a p f o r n e w f e a t u re s a n d f u n c t i o n s l o o k s l i k e a n d t h i s d r i v e s o u r t h i n k i n g a ro u n d e n s u r i n g t h a t w e re m a i n re l e v a n t t o o u r c l i e n t s . T h a t b e i n g s a i d , s o m e t i m e s i t makes sense to take bold risks in anticipation of client demand a n d t h i s re q u i re s d e e p a n a l y s i s . F o r i n s t a n c e , w e ’ re w o r k i n g with Natural Language Generation partners to deliver automated re p o r t i n g f ro m o u r p l a t f o r m . We ’ v e n o t b e e n a s k e d f o r i t b u t i t ’s a natural and logical addition to the platform.

We’re always focused on accessing broad networks which open up avenues to partner with other complimentary busin e s s e s a n d s o I ’ d b e r e m i s s i f I d i d n ’ t t h i n k a b o u t t h a t d a i l y.

Remember you can’t build everything and so focus on where you have a competitive advantage and partner with or outs o u r c e w h e r e y o u c a n g e t t o m a r k e t f a s t e r.

L a s t l y, l o o k a t y o u r b u s i n e s s m o d e l a n d m a k e s u r e t h a t y o u

stress test it under all scenarios. As entrepreneurs, we’re all guilty of positive bias and so this can cloud rigorous analysis of financial outcomes under challenging or negative conditions. We never stop looking at this as the road to profitability isn’t straight.

Sometimes it makes sense to take bold risks in anticipation of client demand and this requires deep analysis.

What is the key to striking the right balance as a visionary leader or an expert in your field?

I think you have to be able to do both. If you don’t have the vision, you can’t get clients excited enough to come on the jour ney with you. If you aren’t an expert in your field, you will n e v e r m a k e i t t o t h e e n d o f t h a t j o u r n e y.

In banking especially you are going to be sitting across the table from some very intelligent people. If you don’t know t h e d e t a i l s y o u a r e g o i n g t o c o m e u n s t u c k v e r y q u i c k l y. E v e n some of the people we deal with within the banks don’t fully grasp the scale of the technology problem which we tackle at Mosaic until they really investigate their own systems.

Yo u c a n ’ t g e t a n o f f - t h e - s h e l f d a t a b a s e s o l u t i o n f o r t h e s e problems. We have to really understand how the bank works t e c h n o l o g i c a l l y a n d w h a t i t l o o k s l i k e f r o m t h e d a y t o d a y p e rs p e c t i v e o f t h e e n d u s e r, t h e n b u i l d a s y s t e m t h a t i s t a i l o r e d to all these factors.

At the same time, what we are doing with Mosaic is proposing a fundamental transformation of the way that fixed income desks operate in banks. When we start talking about artificial intelligence and automation, some people start to get nervous because it can sound like proposing to replace their job with a few lines of code. Part of our role is to paint the vision of the f u t u r e o f f i x e d i n c o m e t r a d i n g , w h e r e t h e t r a d e r ’s l i f e i s e a s i e r and they are far more profitable because they have the tools which Mosaic provides at their fingertips.

Remember the power of compounding. Try to do just one impactful thing every day.

By the end of the year, you’ve done roughly 250 things to improve your business.

What advice do you have for young CEOs in terms of coping with the immense pressure and expectations on them?

Again I think it comes down to building the best team. As the CEO, you cannot possibly do everything or be intimately i n v o l v e d i n e v e r y d e c i s i o n . Yo u h a v e t o f i n d p e o p l e w h o y o u really trust and are the very best at what they do and then give them the space to perform. My role is then to make sure that everyone is pulling in the same direction and ensuring we are making progress.

I t ’s v i t a l t o r e m a i n p o s i t i v e u n d e r e v e n t h e m o s t c h a l l e n g i n g of times as your team will respond positively to consistency a n d a ‘ c a n - d o - n e v e r- s a y - d i e ’ a t t i t u d e . I a l w a y s k e e p r e m i n d i n g

myself to operate from a transformational rather than transactional perspective. W ith software such as ours, we’re focused on improving our clients profitability and market share and that requires consultative sales and deep domain expertise. If y o u r e a l l y k n o w w h a t y o u a r e t a l k i n g a b o u t , i t ’s o n l y a m a t t e r of time before you can transform your clients environment and a s a c o n s e q u e n c e t h e t r a n s a c t i o n a n d i n v o i c e w i l l f o l l o w.

I spend much of my time focusing on our core value proposition and what unique technology we require to maintain and g r o w t h a t p o s i t i o n . I t ’s e a s y t o g e t s w a y e d b y t h e n e x t n e w ‘big thing’. Have faith and confidence in your idea and hold the line. Many companies have failed due to the dwindling conviction of the CEO given how long it can take to build and sell your product. That said, be flexible enough to know when you’re missing the mark and then pivot.

R e m e m b e r t h e p o w e r o f c o m p o u n d i n g . Tr y t o d o j u s t o n e i m p a c t f u l t h i n g e v e r y d a y. B y t h e e n d o f t h e y e a r, y o u ’ v e d o n e roughly 250 things to improve your business. After two years, those ~500 enhancements will begin to feed off each other and suddenly you’ll arrive at a place you never imagined would be possible.

L a s t l y, h a v e f u n . Ta k i n g o n t h e c h a l l e n g e o f b u i l d i n g a c o m pany is so hard, we love to break the tension and long hours w i t h l a u g h t e r.

«

connect with MATTHEW Matthew Hodgson is the founder & CEO at Mosaic Smart Data in the United Kingdom. www.mosaicsmartdata.com

mentors

M m

s.

Mentor & mentee Phumeza Mgxashe, the new Business Developer for Partners for Possibility, shares her experience of the mentor / mentee relationship.

I signed up as Mentee for a structured mentorship programme l a u n c h e d b y t h e B u s i n e s s w o m e n ’s A s s o c i a t i o n ( B W A ) o v e r a decade ago. I was a new manager and had a diverse portfolio.

My two mentees were two business owners, who were running successful and growing enterprises. They advised me on delegation and upward communication. One was particularly b i g o n r e a d i n g t o e m p o w e r o n e s e l f . Ye a r s , l a t e r, a g a i n t h r o u g h the BWA, I was mentored by an entrepreneur who helped me access and optimise EQ development tools, for my personal growth.

In my early 30s, I signed up as a Mentor under the banner of Big Brothers Big Sisters, an inter national NGO that matches youth at risk with mentors. I mentored a young girl who lived in an orphanage. She had seen the ugliness of the world and I wanted to help her see and experience its beauty too. Every s e c o n d S a t u r d a y, I s p e n t a f e w h o u r s w i t h h e r. W e h a d t r i p s t o the beach and museums; we went hiking and sometimes, shopping. I wanted her to know that children are meant to be loved and affirmed. Our relationship ended when she was reunited w i t h h e r f a m i l y t w o y e a r s l a t e r.

Partners for Possibility is a leadership and principal support process through which business leaders and school principals are partnered in a reciprocal co-learning and co-action partnership where they work together to facilitate positive change at the school (while at the same time developing their leadership skills).

The programme is typically funded by companies who want to invest their CSI and skills development funds in a meaningful initiative.

I mentored a young girl who had seen the ugliness of the world and I wanted to help her see and experience its beauty too.

A few years ago, two colleagues, who were inter ns in the dept I was running, asked me to mentor them. The organisation did not have a structured mentorship programme but I was able to draw on my own experience having been on the other side.

This was an interesting jour ney of mutual lear ning. They were young, eager and very bright. I encouraged them to study f u r t h e r, i f c o n d i t i o n s a l l o w.

They have graduated with post-graduate qualifications; one is busy with a PhD and one is with a corporate in Johannesburg.

Although I would now not call them my mentees, I continue to pop an email every once in a while to check up on them, and v i c e v e r s a . T h e y a r e p e o p l e I g e n u i n e l y c a r e f o r.

C u r r e n t l y, I h a v e v e r y w i s e w o m e n i n m y l i f e , w h o a r e m y sounding boards. I consult them and seek their input, e s p e c i a l l y w h e n m a k i n g i m p o r t a n t l i f e d e c i s i o n s . P e r s o n a l l y, mentorship has been invaluable to my life.

connect with phumeza Phumeza Mgxashe is the Business Developer for Partners for Possibility. www.pfp4sa.org/

ÂŤ

Karl Westvig

disruption.

Disrupting the SME Finance Space R eta i l C a p i ta l , a f i r m t h a t p ro v i d e s w o r k i n g c a p i ta l to e nt re p re n e u rs , i s d i s r u pt i n g t h e S M E f i n a n c e s p a c e .

I t i s i nt ro d u c i n g g a m e - c h a n g i n g te c h nology enabling many small businesses to a c c e s s f u n d i n g fo r t h e f i rst t i m e .

R e t a i l C a p i t a l ’s C E O K a r l W e s t v i g b e l i e v e s t h a t d i s ruption is changing the lives of both entrepreneurs and small businesses – providing a solution to access finance, a big issue in South Africa. “Smaller businesses find it difficult to raise funding which many need desperately for working capital, stock or to fund expansion and acquisitions,” Westvig says.

"Smaller businesses find it difficult to raise funding which many need for working capital, stock or to fund expansion and acquisitions."

“Banks don’t want to do small deals, and these size companies are operating day-to-day or week-to-week, have low levels of gover nance, no assets to leverage, no strong administrative structures nor up to date books.”

T h i s d o e s n o t m e a n , h o w e v e r, t h a t t h e y a r e n o t e l i g i b l e f o r f u n d i n g o r t h a t t h e y a r e n o t i n a g o o d p o s i t i o n t o r e p a y.

Retail Capital has found ways to work around these problems, creating a model which has not only disrupted the SME finance i n d u s t r y, b u t c r e a t e d a c o m p l e t e l y n e w f u n d i n g a v e n u e f o r s m a l l b u s i n e s s . A n d i t ’s t h e o n l y f u n d e r i n S o u t h A f r i c a t h a t can provide a one minute tur naround on the viability of a loan.

The company uses credit card sale information to determine how much finance it will extend to businesses, and analyses

trading patter ns from this data to come up with a flexible repayment schedule. “ T h e w a y w e g e t a r o u n d t h e s e c h a l l e n g e s i s t o l o o k a t h i s t o rical trading patterns, specifically sales made via debit and credit card,” explains Westvig. “Businesses just require a mobile point of sale (mPOS) – a smartphone, tablet or wirel e s s d e v i c e t h a t f u n c t i o n s a s a c a s h r e g i s t e r. ” The model was originally developed with another disruptive device (iKhokha terminals), but the platform is also availab l e t o o t h e r m P O S ’s t h a t h a v e t h e n e c e s s a r y d a t a a n d R e t a i l Capital services them through a mobile app or portal. Using card information, “we review the value, volume and recency of transactions and built a model that assesses them for credit,” he says.

“The beauty of this is that it is all automated behind the scenes, so we can give a prequalified offer to businesses that banks and other lenders are reluctant to finance – from food trucks to informal market traders, hair salons and other micro and small enterprises,” he shares. “The only requirement is that they accept credit cards.”

Once they log on, they can see immediately if they are prequalified for an amount (average loan is R25 000), and they c a n s i m p l y a c c e p t t h e o f f e r, t e r m , a n d v a l u e o f l o a n , l a s t l y s i g n electronically and Retail Capital makes the funding available on t h e s a m e d a y.

Retail Capital can make real time offers because it has access to real time data, so the offer will change as tur nover goes up and down. Any non-qualifiers at that point can come back at any other point and check if there are offers.

Top performers aren’t content with performing tasks they have already mastered, but instead strive to constantly improve and develop skills beyond their current level.

Such attempts to perform tasks that are out of their reach force them to focus intently, and also sends strong signals to their brains and bodies that they need to adapt.

Bounce: The Myth of Talent and the Power of Practice

by Matthew Syed

GET BLINKIST

BLINKIST EXTRACT FROM

“There is no face-to-face, paperwork nor declines, so it takes around 60 seconds to get access to funding,” Westvig says.

“We do all the behind the scenes work – manage the relationship and risk as well as fund the transaction.”

"The beauty of this is that it is all automated behind the scenes."

The take-up has been exceptional, with one in four who are offered the facility making use of it,” says Westvig. “There is good repayment performance and around 70% of customers repeat,” About 50% of the businesses Retail Capital is funding are woman-owned, and more than 40% are black owned. And because it is mobile and online, this funding is also not limited to urban areas.

A l t h o u g h t h e r e a r e s i m i l a r m o d e l s i n t e r n a t i o n a l l y, l i k e I w o c a i n t h e U K , R e t a i l C a p i t a l ’s m o d e l i s s p e c i f i c a l l y d e s i g n e d f o r t h e type of businesses operating in South Africa. But these are based on e-commerce transactions rather than on physical debit and credit card transactions.

«

connect with Karl Karl Westvig is the Chief Executive Officer of Retail Capital, the market leader in South Africa which provides businesses with alternative funding solutions to traditional small business loans. www.retailcapital.co.za

travel d

chicago,, USA Photos: Pixabay

debrief.

PETER KOWALSKI, MD of Formfunc Studio, debriefs u|Chief on his recent trip to Chicago.

Peter Kowalski, MD of Formfunc Studio,

inspiring to hear what

travels internationally as the exclu-

achieving in their resp

sive distributor in South Africa of the

although there are so

brand Humanscale. Humanscale is the

d i s c u s s i o n s . I t ’s r e a l l y

premier designer and manufacturer of

opportunity to bond w

ergonomic products for a more comfort-

people.

able workplace. Their award-winning ergonomic office solutions are designed

What results did you

t o i m p r o v e t h e h e a l t h , e f f i c i e n c y, a n d

this trip?

quality of work life.

The trip to Chicago w terms of building a re

Te l l u s a b o u t y o u r r e c e n t t r a v e l s ?

executive in the US. W

In the last year I have travelled to Hong

cept for a new factory

Kong, Amsterdam, Cologne, London and

be nett positive to the

Chicago for sales meetings with my Humanscale country Manager counterparts.

What other opportun

Sounds really boring but truthfully quite

identify for yourself

t our colleagues are

We received approval in principle from

pective markets –

our partners, which means that we have

me serious strategy

the green light to develop a facility very

y festive and a great

u n i q u e t o o u r i n d u s t r y, a n d o n e t h a t w i l l

with like-minded

be an African first. These are exciting times as we have an opportunity to become pioneers for genuinely earth-friendly

u achieve through

production in Africa!

was meaningful in

What surprised you about the country

lationship with the

during your visit?

We presented a con-

It was not my first time in the US, but it

y facility that aims to

still knocks me to see how the US lives in

e environment.

excess – everything is supersize!

nities did you

What do the locals do that you feel

during the trip?

people in other countries could benefit

from knowing?

globally is about doin

Our Partners, Humanscale, announced

u l t i m a t e l y, m e a n s t h a t

their intention to become a nett positive

bad things to the env

( t o t h e e n v i r o n m e n t ) g l o b a l b u s i n e s s . I t ’s

not genuinely sustaina

a n i n d u s t r y f i r s t a n d i t ’s f a s c i n a t i n g l i s t e n ing to the team promoting the idea that

Any fun memories?

“sustainability” as we all understand it,

Sitting next to a 65-ye

i s a b a d w o r d . I t ’s r e a l l y f o r w a r d t h i n k i n g

Amtrak train from Chi

stuff as what we are currently preaching

He had no idea where

g less bad which,

Where do you plan to travel to next?

t we’re still doing

Nairobi – we are opening a new branch

i r o n m e n t a n d t h a t ’s

office in East Africa to strengthen our

able in the long run.

e x p o r t o p p o r t u n i t i e s f r o m t h e C a p e To w n b a s e d f a c t o r y.

e a r- o l d r e t i r e e o n a n c a g o t o Wa s h i n g t o n .

e South Africa was!

«

connect with peter Peter Kowalski is the MD of Formfunc Studios. www.formfunc.co.za

mentoring.

MY MENTOR AND SOU eight years is a former m been in the IT industry f conversations about life often bounce ideas off h He started at the bottom organisations and there industry who lean on him him in terms of leadersh

I’m fortunate enough to time, but when it comes more structured and I’ll a coffee or a breakfast. trends and sometimes

I just need to have som it right or whether I’m m grounded and it hopefu decision.

CLAUDE SCHUCK, regional manager for Africa at Veeam, shares his secrets to mentoring that makes

He is an industry vetera going through, so he oft

“If you learn personally from someon and has been there more than o

my mentorin

UNDING BOARD for the last managing director who has for many years. We have e, work and decisions and I’ll him before I’ll ask for advice. m and went on to run big e are now a few leaders in the m. I’ve learned the most from hip and my approach to it.

o play golf with him from time to s to mentoring, I like to keep it set up our conversations over . We talk about the industry and

meone to vet whether I’m seeing missing something. It keeps me lly helps me make the correct

an with experience of what I’m ten has good advice to give.

WHEN IDENTIFYING A MENTOR, leaders should choose someone with experience and confidence and preferably not a person they directly report to, but rather someone laterally in the organisation, or above that or an individual who is not part of the same organisation.

I believe you grow in your professional capacity and if you learn personally from someone who has spent time in the saddle and has been there more than once, it accelerates your path.

I have a handful of individuals in the industry who reach out to me for advice over a cup of coffee or via a telephone call. In the conversations they would ask me for my opinion and lean on me to guide them.

The best piece of advice I’ve received from my mentor is to separate emotion from fact. As individuals we become emotional and make emotional decisions that are probably not in the business’ best interest. You have to look at the facts and remove your emotions as feelings change quickly, but facts remain. «

ne who has spent time in the saddle once, it accelerates your path."

ng blueprint

travel d

bali Photo: Pixabay

debrief.

Jane Stevenson, Strategic Director of Magnetic Storm, debriefs u|Chief on an inspiring 10 days in Bali.

Finding flow

B e hind t he sc e ne s, I h

Te n d a y s i n B a l i f o c u s i n g o n t o o l s t o b u i l d

t o be c ome a n a c c re dit

high performing teams that will accelerate

ma nc e Consult a nt t hro

Magnetic Storm on its business develop-

st it ut e .c om, a nd t he m

m e n t p a t h w a y ? Yo u ’ d b e t t e r b e l i e v e i t .

na t e d in a progr a mme

t he E nt re pre ne ur I nst it Many have wondered what I was doing in

R oge r Ha milt on’s V isio

Bali, and few questioned if it really works.

Now that I have come down from cloud

Let me explain. Put si

nine, I can begin sharing snippets of the

path of least resistanc

experience.

time when something

everything seemed to work. Those days where you feel you achieved more than y o u t h o u g h t p o s s i b l e . T h a t ’s f l o w.

W h e n y o u a r e p a r t o f a t e a m i n f l o w, p r o ductivity increases, results improve dram a t i c a l l y, y o u h a v e m o r e f u n a n d f e e l m o r e connected to the organisation as you are d o i n g w h a t c o m e s n a t u r a l l y.

Understanding that everyone has talent a n d v a l u e t o a t e a m , i t ’s a b o u t f o c u s ing on natural abilities of individuals and assessing where they are best suited to s e r v e t h e b u s i n e s s n e e d s . Yo u n e e d t o have the right people in the right role, in the right team.

Once you have this, you then have an easi e r o p p o r t u n i t y t o b u i l d a h a p p y h i g h - p e r-

h a ve b een stud y in g

forming team, a product of clear entrepre-

te d Fl ow and P e r for-

neurial vision and strong leadership.

o u g h entrep reneu r s in-

m i c ro - deg ree c u lm ihe ld f o r d elega te s a t

As a qualified Flow and performance consultant I can now implement what I have

tu t e co urse fou n d er,

lear nt here at Magnetic Storm and within

o n V i l l a Reso rt , in B a li.

o t h e r o r g a n i s a t i o n s , t o b u i l d h i g h p e r f o rm a n c e . I t ’s a p r o c e s s , n o t a q u i c k f i x b u t

imply; flow is the

the results are phenomenal, and I cannot

ce. Think of a

wait to get started. In addition to the time

felt ‘easy’, and

spent concluding my studies, I had a free

weekend to explore the island. Bali is a magical island, and I left feeling enriched.

The Balinese culture is one of sincere g r a t i t u d e a n d h u m i l i t y. S h o p o w n e r s t h a n k y o u f o r v i s i t i n g t h e i r s t o r e , a s y o u e n t e r, whether you purchase an item or not.

They believe in serving others. Their devotion to faith is felt in every interaction, in e v e r y t h i n g t h e y d o a n d s a y. I t ’s t h e l i t t l e t h i n g s t h a t m a t t e r, l i k e y o u r c h o i c e t o v i s i t their business or the care and pride they put into meal preparation. Each ingredient serves a purpose to heal and care for the b o d y a n d m i n d , a n d i t ’s p r e s e n t e d i n a way that would give professional Wester n c h e f s a r u n f o r t h e i r m o n e y.

Every person I met in my two weeks in Bali appeared to live in the moment; from sweeping steps to providing a tourist dir e c t i o n s . A n d i t ’s n o t b e c a u s e t h e r e m i g h t

be something in it for

I t ’s s i m p l y t h e w a y t h e

ingrained in them that natural way of being.

To b e s o g i v i n g , h a p p y their norm, despite th

of possessions. It mad

get so caught up in th

what people think of u

deal, what we own/dri

But imagine the happi

i f y o u w e re i n t h e m o m a l l i t o ff e r s i n e v e r y t h i i t ’s t i m e t o c h a n g e o u

connect with ja

Jane Stevenson is Stra Magnetic Storm. www

t h e m f i n a n c i a l l y.

ey live, and it is so

re a l i s i n g t h e p o t e n t i a l b e n e f i t s t h a t w o u l d c o m e o u r w a y.

t i t ’s a n u n f o r c e d , Eat Pray Love indeed! Thank you, Bali, for feeding my mind and my soul.

y and full of love is e poverty and ‘lack’

d e m e re a l i s e h o w w e

h e p a s t , t h e f u t u re ,

us, chasing the next

i v e , w h e re w e l i v e .

iness you would feel

ment, enjoying life for ng you do? Perhaps r way of being and

ane

ategic Director of w.magnetic.co.za

«

my way.

Chris Ogden's

8 top tips

to find your work Zen • I minimise leftover emails in my outbox. Leftovers mean the pile is queuing up for tomorrow. Instead, I forward any emails I am not directly needed for to the right team member internally.

• Be healthy. Do what pleases you on this level, but be active in some way: it clears your mind and obliterates unimportant things.

• Support your “other” passions, not just the work one.

• Practice what you preach – failure to do so makes you a bad leader.

• Plan tomorrow tonight, from diary items to your “to do lists”.

• Flush your mind – don’t do the same thing every day. Mix it up, go to a seminar that isn't exactly in the same space as you, drive a different way to work. Don’t get stuck in a rut – it makes you stale.

• Learn to prioritise. So often we get stuck in the meaningless stuff purely for comfort reasons.

• Have a mentor, No matter how big you think you are, there are always bigger fish with something to teach you. «

CHRIS OGDEN heads up innovation house RubiBlue.

“Flush your mind – don’t do the same thing everyday."

cyberse

How to bu data secu into digital communic The digital world has given us incredible freedom, but we cannot afford to let our guard down for a cyber second, writes Striata SA’s STERGIOS SALTAS

ecurity.

uild urity l cation

Digital communication is pretty ubiquitous these days. Emailed monthly statements from your bank, marketing newsletters f r o m y o u r f a v o u r i t e r e t a i l e r, o r i n v o i c e s f r o m y o u r m o b i l e s e rvice provider are all types of digital communications.

To d a y ’s c u s t o m e r s w a n t t o b e a b l e t o a c c e s s t h e i r i n f o r m a t i o n i n s t a n t l y, w h e r e v e r t h e y a r e a n d i r r e s p e c t i v e o f w h a t d e v i c e they are on. Digital communication technologies fulfill that demand. They also meet supplier needs to manage their costs and efficiencies. Digital communications enable companies to p r o v i d e t h e i n f o r m a t i o n t h e i r c u s t o m e r s w a n t w i t h o u t i n c u rring printing and mailing costs, and the associated production overhead. Digital correspondence also allows companies to e n g a g e c u s t o m e r s i n t e r a c t i v e l y v i a t h e i r c u s t o m e r ’s p r e f e r r e d channel – email, web portal or mobile app.

Data that is captured and stored electronically is vulnerable to t h e f t , h o w e v e r, a s r e c e n t h i g h - p r o f i l e s e c u r i t y b r e a c h e s s h o w.

Personal customer information (whether individuals or organisations) needs to be kept secure, but security measures cannot be too cumbersome or employees and customers will find ways to get around them – or worse. A recent survey from Net P r o m o t e r S c o r e ( N P S ) s a y s u p t o a t h i r d o f a n o r g a n i s a t i o n ’s customer base could move elsewhere if the security layers emb e d d e d i n t o a s y s t e m a r e n o t u s e r- f r i e n d l y.

Digital transformation – or moving paper documents and processes to digital ones – is necessary for any number of reasons, but this does not mean that documents have to be placed at risk once they become digital. Digital documents can be protected at every stage of their life cycle – from creation, to transit over the internet, to storage and end of life – using a combination of security measures.

Document protection solutions should provide multiple layers of protection, beyond network level security (firewalls) and encryption at the database level. Encrypt and protect each individual customer document regardless of where it is – stored in a database, travelling via the Inter net, or saved o n a c u s t o m e r ’s d e v i c e .

Up to a third of an organisation’s customer base could move elsewhere if the security layers embedded into a system are not user-friendly.

Confidential documents should never be transferred unprotected – either via email, the web or on a mobile app. Documents should always be encrypted and password protected.

This not only protects the contents from attack, but also acts as a safeguard in case of human or system error where a confidential document is sent to the wrong recipient.

Providing encrypted and password protected documents will also ensure customers keep their information safe when it is stored on their own devices. Emailed/downloaded documents are stored automatically on different devices and are vulnerable if the device is hacked or stolen, unless saved in a protected format.

Education is critical The best technology in the world cannot protect against humans and human error (or malice). For this reason employees need to be adequately and regularly trained on what can happen, how to recognise it and how to avoid being the point of failure in a data breach.

Businesses must also constantly educate their customers on how to recognise a legitimate versus a fraudulent communication to help them protect themselves against phishing attacks (where an email is spoofed in a bid to get a customer to give away their personal information).

Employees need to be adequately and regularly trained on what can happen, how to recognise it and how to avoid being the point of failure in a data breach.

Organisations can effectively do this by adopting a set of email standards – elements of a communication that are always included in any communications from the company and are hard for fraudsters to fake. For example, consistent personalisation,

partial account numbers, mobile numbers or address details and authentication tools such as digital signatures, all work to combat potential loss of personal identifiable data.

The second, equally important, part of this strategy is to constantly reinforce what emails from your company will never contain or request.

For example, repeatedly tell customers that your company will never send an email linking to a security page requiring a login, neither will you ever ‘suspend their access’ and request an urgent logon to mitigate a security risk.

Given the many advantages of digital communication, compan i e s c a n n o t a ff o rd t o s t i c k t o t r a d i t i o n a l ‘ p r i n t a n d p o s t ’ m e t h o d s . D i g i t a l c o m m u n i c a t i o n s e n a b l e c o m p a n i e s t o i m p ro v e t h e i r c u s t o m e r e x p e r i e n c e a n d d e l i v e r t h e p ro d u c t s a n d s e r v i c e s t h e i r c u s t o m e r s n e e d , w h e n a n d w h e re t h e y n e e d t h e m .

Companies communicating digitally need to bear in mind the risks, and ensure that security is built into any tools they use from the ground up. They must ensure that employees undergo recurring risk training, so that they do not become the weak point in the chain, and they must ensure they include customer education in their digital communications strategy from the get go.

«

connect with Stergios Stergios Saltas is the Managing Director of Striata SA. He has 15 years’ experience in the ICT industry and is responsible for guiding Striata’s strategic direction and operational performance in the African region. www.striata.com

travel d

united states of america

debrief.

KAREL VERMEULEN, serial entrepreneur and founder of Lubrimaxxx (one of the world’s best personal lubricants), debriefs u|Chief on his recent trip to the USA.

Te l l u s a b o u t y o u r r e c e n t t r a v e l s ?

is a good lesson for o

I recently had the wonderful opportunity

I had a three-hour lay

to travel to the USA for the first time.

ton airport, I decided

I have had to transit through USA airports

thing and walked arou

in the past on most of my travels, but

shops. Then I decided

had never set foot on USA soil before.

real American hambur

Where did you go and what was memo-

W o w, i t w a s s o g o o d

rable from the trip?

with oily chips and all

I f l e w w i t h E m i r a t e s f r o m C a p e To w n t o

baseball magazine. I f

D u b a i . E n r o u t e t o Wa s h i n g t o n I m i s s e d

is the American way”.

my connecting flight to Atlanta and took

shucks! I still had a S

a three-hour Uber drive to my final desti-

nection plug for my la

nation – the beautiful town of Hiawassee

s e a r c h o f a n a d a p t e r. ”

o n t h e H i w a s s e e R i v e r. I w a s a s e x c i t e d as a child in a candy store! The reason I

When I eventually fou

missed my connecting flight to Atlanta

at the electronic boot

other travellers. As

Afrikaans, so we just kept on talking.

y o v e r i n Wa s h i n g -

Eventually I had to cut him short as I real-

to do the touristy

ised I was running late. I dashed to my

und, visiting the little

departing gate, only to discover I had

d to have my first

missed my connecting flight by five min-

r g e r.

utes! I was furious with myself. The ladies at the flight desk were very understanding

– a fatty burger patty

and friendly and they booked me on the

l! Then I picked up a

next flight out – free of charge. That flight

felt like “oh yes, this

was two hours later but, having learnt my

. Then I realized: “Oh

lesson, I made sure that I sat waiting at

South African con-

that gate and did not move.

aptop,” so I went in

”

I took this trip after attending a five-day intense workshop that offered training

nd one, the guy

th spoke a bit of

o n M e g a S a l e s a t D a m i e n E l s t o n ’s l a k e house. He is the CEO of the JT Foxx

F o u n d a t i o n . J T F o x x i s t h e w o r l d ’s # 1

O ur Ube r dr iv e r pic ke d

w e a l t h c o a c h a n d p l a t f o r m s p e a k e r. T h e r e

Dodge t r uc k. He w a s e

w e r e 1 0 s t u d e n t s i n a t t e n d a n c e a n d , w o w,

w e ha d a gre a t t ime dr

what a life-changing experience it was!

t old us a lot a bout Am

luc ky t o ge t him, a s Ub I was the only South African and I met

ma lly t r a v e l so fa r out ,

such wonderful people from different

t ur ne d from holida y a n

countries and nationalities. We all bonded i n a r e a l l y m e a n i n g f u l w a y.

There are no Uber dri Hiawassee, so luckily

T h e E mir a te s c a b in cre w o n t h e f l i g h t f ro m

other team members r

Cap e To w n to Du b ai we re e xc e l l e n t . T h e y

got a lift back to the a

w ere in good s p ir its , f u l l o f e n e r g y a n d mad e su re w e w e re a l wa y s c o m f o r t a b l e a n d

What did you achiev

had en ou gh to eat and d r i n k . T h e y t o o k

At the five-day event

g reat ca re of u s , b u t I c a n ’t sa y t h e s a m e

strong networking con

abo u t th e fligh t from D u b a i t o Wa s h i n g t o n .

up with two financial

d u s up in a h u ge, re d

and authors – Michael and Robby

e x t remely friend ly an d

Mathews. They wrote a chapter for me in

riv i n g w ith h im a s h e

m y u p - c o m i n g f i r s t b o o k , Ye s Yo u C a n !

m e ri ca. We w ere v e r y

I t I s N e v e r To o L a t e To A c h i e v e Yo u r

b e r dri vers d on ’t n or-

First Million Rand. I am very grateful and

, b ut h e h ad ju s t re-

blessed. I also teamed up with some of

n d needed th e m on e y.

the other members, and we are going to d o s o m e f u t u r e e v e n t s t o g e t h e r. W e a r e a l l

vers in the county of

s t i l l i n c o n t a c t w i t h e a c h o t h e r.

for us most of the

rented cars and we

I was grouped with Dan Woodruff from

airport with them.

London. We shared accommodation, which proved to be a great saving, as

e on this trip?

accommodation is very expensive in the

I managed to build

USA. We bonded very well and we keep

nnections. I teamed

on motivating and coaching each other

literacy teachers

in business.

What future opportunities did you

This was very time-co

identify during the trip?

plus side, the security

I teamed u p w it h ot h e r h i g h l y s u c c e s sf u l

f r i e n d l y, a s w e r e m o s t

entrep re n e u r s w h o are c o n t r i b u t i n g t o my

they hear you are from

up coming b ook , w h ic h i s sc h e d u l e d f o r release in O c tob e r 20 1 7 . I a l so sh a re d a l o t

It also took some time

o f my Lu b r im ax x x p er s o n a l l u b r i c a n t s a m -

ing bagels, pancakes

ples w ith m y grou p m e m b e r s . We a re n o w

breakfast. Where is th

strateg is in g h ow to g e t L u b r i m a xxx i n t o t h e USA and N or w a y m a r k e t s .

What surprised me ab

Hiawassee is that it is What surprised you about the country?

are no fences and the

It was quite an experience going through s e c u r i t y. N o l a p t o p s w e r e a l l o w e d f l y i n g

I loved driving on the

in from Dubai and they even unpacked

are so much wider tha

all our hand luggage in front of everyone,

traffic lights are suspe

a n d j u s t a b o u t s t r i p - s e a r c h e d e v e r y b o d y.

cable. That was some

onsuming but, on the

How did you grow personally from this

y staff were all very

travel experience?

t of the locals when

I feel so honored and blessed that I could

m a n o t h e r c o u n t r y.

v i s i t t h e U S A a n d m e e t a l l t h e s e w o n d e rful people. They have a friendly culture

e to get used to havand doughnuts for

he healthy stuff?

and display great open-heartedness. I will go back soon! I feel richer as a person, bolder and with new-found courage to speak to strangers and just to be myself.

bout the county of

s so green – there

Any fun memories?

e yards are all huge.

Lots of fun memories. My hamburger experience and missing my connecting

roads because they

flight. Searching for my friend at Atlanta

an our roads. The

airport: I was at Domestic while he was

ended from an aerial

at International arrivals. I eventually take

ething to get used to.

a shuttle to get to him after walking for

almost an hour in this huge and busy

What did you learn a

airport searching for him. Then there

They teach us in busi

were the boat rides, jet skis and other

know your audience w

fun activities at the lake house – after

Know the culture and

a full day of intensive training we were

try you are going to v

free to just breakout and enjoy these

travel book on the US

watersports. Oh, did I mention the food?

about the culture and

To p - q u a l i t y a n d v e r y t a s t y !

Always have your pas

tion with you when yo What is your next business trip?

and want to order a d

We are going to Los Angeles in November

ter your age, they will

to attend the Mega Success event, where

identification.

I will be interviewing the actor Al Pacino.

I am beyond excited. We will then rent a

Any words of motiva

campervan to travel up North for about

| W h a t e v e r y o u t h i n k i

three weeks. This is going to be for busi-

| M y t h o u g h t s , m y w o

ness and pleasure.

are powerful forces

about Americans? ness that you should

when you do a talk. people of the counisit. I bought a little

SA to educate myself t h e d o ’s a n d d o n ’ t s .

| Practice daily gratitude. | P r a c t i c e m i n d f u l n e s s e v e r y d a y. | S t o p a l l n e g a t i v e s e l f - t a l k . S t o p s a y i n g “I Can’t”. | Tu r n y o u r i m p o s s i b l e i n t o “ I ’ m P o s s i b l e ” . | S u r r o u n d y o u r s e l f w i t h p e o p l e t h a t believe in you.

ssport or identifica-

| Yo u r n e t w o r k = y o u r n e t w o r t h .

ou go to a restaurant

| I a m w o r t h y t o h a v e a l l m y d r e a m s

drink: it doesn’t mat-

l always ask you for

come true. | Believe in yourself and love yourself.

«

connect with karel

ation to share?

is true to you, it is! rds and my actions of attraction.

Karel Vermeulen is a serial entrepreneur, inspirational speaker, business transformation coach, author and the founder of Lubrimaxxx personal lubricants. www.lubrimaxxx.com

the happy workplace.

Nurturing a culture of enabled employees For any organisation to succeed, it is key that the people who breathe life into its daily operations are truly enabled employees as this helps to create a culture that leads to happy employees and, as a result, business success has a greater chance of growing.

The concept is so simple and it can be applied equaly to a multi-Billion dollar company as well as a small start up‌ yet, astoundingly, so many organisations fail to implement such a culture.

Trevor Raman, President and CEO of Saab Grintek Defence, shares his insight into creating just such an environment.

Many companies are acknowledging the importance of creating robust company cultures that encourage a people-first environment, and are conducive to lear ning and growth. Enabled employees are positive, motivated, productive, accountable and energetic, and this, in most instances, leads to satisfied clients and positive business outcomes.

It is sometimes easier said than done, but the impact of enab l e d e m p l o y e e s o n a c o m p a n y ’s b o t t o m l i n e c a n b e t h e d i f f e rence between succeeding and failing. So how do you nurture a culture of enabled employees?

Ta r g e t t h e r i g h t i n d i v i d u a l s W h e n m a r k e t i n g a v a c a n c y, f o c u s o n a t t r a c t i n g a n d h i r i n g p e o ple who identify with the same value system, which should be communicated in the interview process. Hiring employees who d o n ’ t i d e n t i f y w i t h t h e c o m p a n y ’s c u l t u r e o r v a l u e s c a n p r o v e challenging and potentially cause more harm than good.

Organise solid induction sessions Never underestimate the time or resources invested in a solid i n d u c t i o n p r o c e s s . T h i s i s t h e f i r s t s t e p i n a n e w e m p l o y e e ’s jour ney and thorough induction sessions will help them identify w i t h a c o m p a n y ’s v a l u e s y s t e m .

O n c e i n d u c t i o n i s c o m p l e t e , i t ’s i m p o r t a n t t o s c h e d u l e r e g u l a r discussions around skills development, so that employees are a w a r e o f t h e c o m p a n y ’s i n v e s t m e n t i n t h e m , a n d d o n ’ t f e e l t h a t there is no room for growth.

Fo s t e r a n e f f e c t i v e m a n a g e m e n t t e a m A culture of enabled employees is driven by an effective management team who lead by example, and have created an

environment where employees can thrive. At each level of a c o m p a n y, r e s p o n s i b i l i t y a n d d e c i s i o n - m a k i n g p a r a m e t e r s should be outlined, and open, transparent discussions should be used to encourage greater employee confidence.

An effective management team is one that empowers and encourages employees to make well researched decisions, w h i l e a l s o g u i d i n g t h e m a l o n g t h e i r j o u r n e y. T h i s t r u s t - b a s e d relationship will often result in consistent growth and lear ning, and help change mindsets to see opportunities as opposed to c h a l l e n g e s . E f f e c t i v e l e a d e r s c e l e b r a t e d i v e r s i t y, e n c o u r a g e entrepreneurship and self-worth, and allow for collaboration and empowerment.

Nurture trust and empowerment Enabled employees, who are not afraid to fail and who have earned the trust of their management teams, become empowe r e d a m b a s s a d o r s f o r a c o m p a n y. B y t r u s t i n g e m p l o y e e s t o practice well-thought-out decision making and allowing them to identify risk and rewards ensures that the urgency for business is never lost.

Tr u s t a n d e m p o w e r m e n t i s r e i n f o r c e d b y r e c o g n i t i o n . H o n e s t recognition leads to better relationships between employees and their managers, and the more enabled an employee feels the more likely they are to continue performing positively and i n t h e b e s t i n t e r e s t s o f t h e c o m p a n y.

connect with trevor Trevor Raman is the President and CEO of Saab Grintek Defence, a local defence and security company with over 730 employees. www.saabgrintek.com

ÂŤ

Taking to the skies and going casual keeps Henk's feet on the ground "When I made the change in my life to be less formal and more relaxed it really changed me. At least once a week I wear my jeans, 'running takkies' and a T-shirt to work. Still neat, but casual.

"I enjoy a spur-of-the-moment, unplanned breakfast or lunch out of the office. Sometimes alone, sometimes with my wife. Another small thing which makes a big difference is to deviate from the normal day-to-day routines, which can include sometimes working from home. It makes a world of a difference to just sit and take in the moment around you, really live in the moment." ÂŤ

HENK OLIVIER, MD OF OZONE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS

my way.

"Power paragliding gives me time to just do something I can enjoy and get away from the stress of running a business."

cloud computing.

No more excuses LO U I S KO E N , t h e H e a d o f C r i m s o n L i n e , c a u t i o n s t h a t t h e re a re s i m p l y n o m o re exc u s e s fo r n ot m o v i n g y o u r b u s i n e s s i nto t h e c l o u d .

Some might have missed the big announcement in June that Microsoft will be opening cloud data centres in South Africa n e x t y e a r. F o r s m a l l b u s i n e s s e s , t h e r e h a s n e v e r b e e n a b e t t e r time to take the plunge and take their business into the cloud.

Not only will it dramatically impact their IT costs, but securing t h e i r c r i t i c a l d a t a w i l l b e c o m e s i g n i f i c a n t l y e a s i e r.

Despite the volumes written about the benefits of running at least parts of your business in the cloud, South African SMMEs remain curiously reticent about taking the first steps in this global trend. Anecdotal evidence from local vendors shows that local cloud adoption stands at a meager 30%. When compared to global figures of around 70 to 80%, we are coming across as rather technophobic.

The reasons for not embracing cloud services may stem from a number of issues.

Despite the leaps and bounds made in cloud offerings, there is still a perception that this is only for companies with upward of 20 employees. Not only was the cloud thought to be appropriate only for large companies, but the idea still persists that implementing a cloud solution is costly and difficult.

More than this, the more traditional thinkers still want to own and see where their company data is stored. Financial managers like the idea of writing down the hardware over three years and then sweating out an extra year or two.

This attitude is not helped by the smaller IT support companies who see cloud services as a threat to their traditional support businesses.

H o w e v e r, s m a l l b u s i n e s s o w n e r s a r e d o i n g t h e m s e l v e s a s e r i ous disservice by not investigating the benefits of moving at least some of their IT functions into the cloud.

Safety first T h e r e ’s n o t h i n g l i k e a m a j o r b r e a c h o r m a l w a r e a t t a c k t o f o c u s t h e m i n d s o f b u s i n e s s l e a d e r s o n t h e n e e d f o r d e c e n t s e c u r i t y.

U n f o r t u n a t e l y, f o r t h e s m a l l b u s i n e s s o w n e r, t h i s c a n b e a daunting litany of jargon-filled, alarmist news stories and daily security war nings from their antivirus software.

There is still a perception that this is only for companies with upward of 20 employees.

U n f o r t u n a t e l y, m a l w a r e i s g e t t i n g i n c r e a s i n g l y s o p h i s t i c a t e d .

While most of us know not to click through on a suspicious link in an email, or download an attachment with an usual file extension, some websites carry adverts which redirect to infected sites. Even the most diligent user can be duped into exposing themselves, and their business networks, to malicious software.

The often-overlooked cost of falling victim to ransomware or other malicious attacks, is that your vital data (like financial i n f o r m a t i o n ) a r e i m m e d i a t e l y o u t o r r e a c h . M u r p h y ’s l a w w i l l o f t e n h a v e t h i s h a p p e n a t c r i t i c a l t i m e s , l i k e f i n a n c i a l y e a rend. But even on a day-to-day basis, losing access to your data puts you at significant operational risk, not to mention the reputational damage incurred when having to explain to

customers and partners that your internal security is clearly not up to scratch.

Cloud-based services such as Office 365 eliminate much of the security pain. The reality is that large cloud services, like Microsoft, are financially invested in securing your data and services. Staying ahead of the security curve is one of their key business requirements.

Financial managers like the idea of writing down the hardware over three years and then sweating out an extra year or two.

What is more, should you inadvertently fall prey to malicious s o f t w a r e y o u c a n r e s t e a s y. M i c r o s o f t e m p l o y s m u l t i p l e l a y e r s of redundancy and backups of information at the datacenter level, so it can be restored.

This means if you lose your data, either by a breach or by a t e r m i n a l m a c h i n e f a i l u r e ( y e s , t h a t ’s t h e c u p o f c o f f e e a l l o v e r your laptop), you can request assistance and access all your s t o r e d d a t a , o r, i f m a l w a r e h a s a l r e a d y i n f i l t r a t e d y o u r f i l e s , roll back to the last version of your files, before the attack. Of course, we should all remember to backup our devices and this habit should continue to be encouraged by business leaders.

It’s faster and more cost-effective Cloud services have rapidly decreased in cost over the last f i v e y e a r s . A t a r o u n d R 7 4 p e r u s e r, p e r m o n t h , a c o m p a n y

o f t h r e e m e m b e r s c o u l d h o s t t h e l i o n ’s s h a r e o f t h e i r d i g i t a l office needs for the same price they would pay for a lunch at a r e a s o n a b l y p r i c e d s t e a k h o u s e – b e f o r e d r i n k s ! W h a t ’s m o r e , the setup and installation costs are not prohibitive and, when it comes to good corporate gover nance, they can also rest easy that they have ticked all the boxes when it comes to data protection, business continuity and protection of personal information.

It doesn’t have to be all or nothing F i n a l l y, m o v i n g y o u r b u s i n e s s i n t o t h e c l o u d d o e s n ’ t h a v e t o be a Big Bang scenario. Opting for just a few of your services – such as email – going onto the cloud can be a way for you to become comfortable before migrating the rest of your IT functions.

Most small companies already make use of payroll services offered over the cloud, with little or no disruption. W ith personal details and sensitive information like remuneration residing outside the company not being an issue, there is no reason why any business owner should feel any concer n about migrating the rest of their digital functions.

F o r s m a l l e r b u s i n e s s e s , i t ’s a c o n s t a n t b a t t l e t o d r i v e e f f i c i e n cies into the organisation, while maintaining high operational standards. For business owners, this means taking the next step and securing their digital future – in the cloud.

connect with louis Louis Koen is the owner of Crimson Line, a Cloud Migration Specialist. www.crimsonline.co.za

«

T h e S i f i s o Le a r n i n g G ro u p s e e ks to b e t h e l e a d i n g n e w - a g e l e a r n i n g g ro u p i n Af r i c a , w i t h g l o b a l re a c h t h ro u g h t h e p o r t fo l i o o f b ra n d s t h a t i t o p e ra te s .

education.

Sculpting Africa’s Future Leaders

Sizwe Nxasana

Sifiso Lear ning Group (SLG) is an integrated lear ning group introducing a new teaching and lear ning model which spans from early childhood development age all the way to tertiary education level. In addition, the group also has publishing, edtech and properties entities.

I t ’s i m p o r t a n t f o r t h i s c o u n t r y t o h a v e a n o t h e r m o d e l o f e d u c a t i o n f r o m 1 8 m o n t h s o l d r i g h t u p t o t e r t i a r y, offering alter natives in terms of how lear ning and teaching take place. This includes how teaching and learning spaces look, what content is available for consumption in learning and what platforms exist to leverage technology for student-centred lear ning.

I n t h e c o n t e x t o f o u r c o u n t r y, i t ’s i m p o r t a n t t o a d d r e s s some of the issues that we face and elevate them, such as African leadership and developing African literature.

The group seeks to be the leading new-age lear ning group in Africa with global reach through the portfolio of brands that it operates.

The vision of the group is to produce and develop current and future leaders from the African continent at global s t a n d a r d s a n d r e l e v a n t t o t h e 2 1 s t c e n t u r y. S L G , t h r o u g h its Sifiso and Future Nation entities, works to provide education, content, tools and environments for the fulfillment of the potential of future and current African leaders. u|Chief spoke to Sizwe Nxasana (CA, SA), the Head of Sifiso Lear ning Group and the Founder of Future Nation Schools.

Why is education so important to you and your wife, Dr Judy Dlamini?

Education is close to our hearts and is something that we have always been involved in because we believe a new way of teaching is required if we are to produce leaders that are fit f o r a n e v e r- c h a n g i n g a n d d e m a n d i n g f u t u r e . E d u c a t i o n i s a l s o a key ingredient in developing young people for the future and moulding them into innovators and change makers. We want to be part of education to help bring about the change required in the global environment.

Future Nation Schools is part of the SLG portfolio. What is the aim of these schools?

Future Nation Schools aim to create the best lear ning environment, develop the best teachers and content, and create an entire academic and socio-emotional support structure to give every child who comes through our doors the optimal lear ning experience, specifically crafted to their individual needs and strengths.

What education model are the Future Nation Schools based on?

Future Nation Schools are characterised by student-centred lear ning, high academic standards, problem-solving skills, applied research and development, innovation, leadership and entrepreneurship, and African studies. We do this by delivering a world-class academic programme within the context of an African framework and through a project-based lear ning p e d a g o g y.

What sets Future Nation Schools apart from the traditional school structure?

The world is changing. We now have access to knowledge about almost everything at the click of a button.

Across the globe, education is rapidly evolving to produce students who are not only skilled enough to deal with these changes, but also more innovative and creative in coming up with solutions to our current challenges.

Our model thus aims to give children the best start in life by: • E m p l o y i n g t o p a c a d e m i c t a l e n t We plan to ensure that they keep their skills fresh, relevant and up-to-date.

• P r o m o t i n g d i v e r s i t y We want teachers who have worked in banks and have built houses; teachers who are writers and artists, because we know that nothing can replace life experience.

We believe in diversity in every aspect – from cultures to skill sets to teachers’ unique journeys to becoming educators.

• P r o m o t i n g c o n t i n u o u s l e a r n i n g a n d a c c e s s t o t o p content We a re on a le a r n i n g j o u r n e y t h ro u g h o u t o u r liv e s a nd w e w a nt to en cou r a ge s tu d e n t s t o a l wa y s b e a wa re o f t he ir c a pa c it y t o g ro w a n d d eve lop b e y o n d e v e n wh a t we c a n giv e t he m. • P r o v i d i n g a s a f e a n d b e a u t i f u l l e a r n i n g e n v i r o n m e n t Sch ools n o lon ger n e e d t o b e a p l a c e o f e n d l e ss c or r idor s a nd desk s in s tr aigh t ro ws. A s o u r wa y o f t e a c h i n g c ha nge s, w e w ant t o cre a te s p a c e s t h a t e xc i t e c h i l d re n a n d e ne r gise t he m.

Exterior of the Future Nation School in F l e u r h o f , S o u t h We s t J o h a n n e s b u r g

What core values is Future Nation Schools built on?

Its aim is to spearhead the African education revolution by providing a model that is both futuristic, technology enabled

and epitomises excellence in Africa! It is built on the values of d i v e r s i t y, f u n , p a s s i o n , e x c e l l e n c e , i n t e g r i t y a n d r e s p e c t .

How have parents responded to the Future Nation Schools concept so far?

Parents have accepted and embraced the Future Nation S c h o o l s c o n c e p t e n t h u s i a s t i c a l l y. T h e y t h i n k t h a t i t i s r e freshing, helps their children develop faster and is exposing them to new ways of learning and understanding the society around them. Parents feel that their children can make a real difference in their lives and society at large, and Future Nation Schools offers exactly what they have been looking for to achieve this.

How does it plan to change or disrupt the current publishing system in South Africa?

Sifiso Publishers also plans to create platforms where content creators can showcase their talent and make it more accessible to larger target markets. More people need to have access and more talent needs to be exposed.

ÂŤ

w w w. f u t u r e n a t i o n s c h o o l s . c o m

EDUCATION THROUGH PUBLISHING Another arm of SLG is Sifiso Publishers.

Sifiso Publishers develops and publishes modern educational and entertainment content based on the principles of Project Based Learning, catering to indigenous languages and speaking for the African continent context. Sifiso Publishers aims to instill and inspire excellence in Africa and ensure access to information in print and digital mediums for academic and non-academic purposes.

Freaks often have great ideas but strugg1e with making a living, as they don’t understand how business works.

You can’t sell your ideas if you don’t have a basic understanding of finance, marketing or even sales!

Mark Ecko, the designer of Ecko Unltd, promoted his ideas cleverly when he was first starting out. He airbrushed clothing with graffiti, and painted people’s nails.

He stayed devoted to his art and often tailored his work to the interests of his customers’ communities, which helped him build a loyal customer base.

The Freaks Shall Inherit the Earth: Entrepreneurship For Weirdos, Misfits and World Dominators

by Chris Brogan

GET BLINKIST

BLINKIST EXTRACT FROM

"It is really important to approach every employee as an individual."

my way.

Taking it outdoors to clear the mind “From a leadership perspective, it is really important to approach every employee as an individual. We are all different, and with that we need to take a different leadership approach in order to get the most out of people.

“Exercise is a really important part of my day. I try and get at least 45 minutes exercise in every day, and preferably outdoors, it helps to clear the mind and to focus, sometimes this time even helps to find the solutions to challenging business dynamics, and most importantly, it is a massive de-stress agent. I prioritise exercise, I can always get back to work afterwards with a clearer mind and more energy.” «

ANDREW MACKENZIE heads up Boomtown creative agency.

words of wisdom.

"No-one is born hating anoth because of the color of his sk background or his religion. Peo learn to hate, and if they can hate, they can be taught to love comes more naturally to the heart than its opposite. – NELSON MANDELA QUOTE

.

er person kin or his ople must n learn to e, for love e human ."

BARACK ROCKS TWITTER Former US President Barack Obama set the record for the most-liked tweet in history when he posted a Nelson Mandela quote (in three tweets) as his message to the Twittersphere in response to the tragic violence in Charlottesville, Va., in August. The first of Obama's tweets passed the 2.7 million likes mark that singer Ariana Grande’s heartfelt tweet after the Manchester terrorist attack in May. The third most-liked tweet of all-time at time of writing was Ellen DeGeneres’ Oscars selfie tweet from the 2014 Academy Awards (2.4 million likes). * Obama has one of the most-followed Twitter accounts (@BarackObama), with 93.3 million followers.