January is always a time of reflection and introspection. We set goals for ourselves, we plan how we will grow our businesses and we focus on making the year at hand our best year yet. Given the past two years, there’s an even greater sense of urgency this year in terms of improving ourselves and our businesses. The question is, where do we begin? At the Hatch Institute, our mantra
If you’ve been in a strategy session over the past few weeks that has focused on where your business can trim back costs in the new year, you’re far from alone. Budget planning for 2022 has largely consisted of how businesses can continue to operate while being very conservative in what they spend. This invariably leads to a conversation about people, as staff are generally a business’s largest
Business owners should focus on their employees this year and 2021 will lay the foundation for a stronger, healthier business. South Africa (22 January 2021) – It’s an understatement to say that no one expected 2020 to turn out the way it did. This time last year, my team and I were planning an industrial theatre production and in-person culture training. The launch and growth of the Hatch Institute looked very
Sorbet Group founder Ian Fuhr believes South Africa has a political leadership crisis Problems with poor leadership have revealed themselves in the recent local government elections. Voters largely shunned political parties and their leaders. Ian Fuhr is not surprised by this, saying there is an ‘overwhelming sense of hopelessness’ about the quality of leadership in politics. Ian Fuhr, the man who founded the Sorbet chain of beauty salons, believes that
BE TRUTHFUL TO THE TRUTH (Reflections of apartheid – 1995) A poem by Ian Fuhr Did I raise my voice when others were not heard Did I break the laws to prove they were absurd Did I opt for silence or just silence the options. Did I remove the thorns from an unjust education Did I answer the cries of a tormented nation Did I fail to act or
Complaining about ‘reverse racism’ and BEE serves no one. South Africa’s white youth should be focusing on entrepreneurship instead. Johannesburg: 45 years ago, on the 16th of June 1976, 13-year-old Hector Pietersen was shot and killed when South African police opened fire on black students protesting the enforcement of teaching in Afrikaans. The now iconic photo of Mbuyisa Makhubu carrying Hector’s body is generally considered to be the turning
When I launched Sorbet in 2004, I had a culture framework that I had spent decades designing and testing, learning as I went along. The result was that I had a very clear idea around the type of culture I wanted to champion at Sorbet, and I started implementing it from the moment we launched. Ultimately, I believe our culture was responsible for our growth, and why Sorbet became
Ian Fuhr: 100% focused on helping South African organizations to build strong company cultures By Charndré Emma Kippie Serial Entrepreneur and Founder of the Sorbet Group and The Hatch Institute, Ian Fuhr, has come a long way since starting his very first business in the late 1970s. Today, he is a respected serial entrepreneur with seasoned experience in leadership and creating exemplary company cultures. For Ian, culture always
Business: Forget empty Freedom Day platitudes, take action instead South Africa has many things to be proud of. It was 27 years ago when we successfully transitioned from the apartheid regime into a democratic republic without disintegrating into civil war; our first democratic elections saw a nearly 100% voter turnout; and we have one of the most progressive and inclusionary constitutions in the world. South Africa is the
