Even though lockdown restrictions have eased, and most businesses and industries have reopened, we know that we’re still far from being out of the woods. Economists are predicting another recession and there is no doubt that South Africa’s economy is depressed.
A white person in South Africa writing about racism is like a criminal talking to the victim about integrity. As a white South African, born during the apartheid years, I question my right to even discuss the matter. I also struggle with the guilt of not having done more to challenge the status quo during the apartheid years, and worry if I will ever earn the credibility of black people.
When Andile Nqandela left his corporate job to launch Brimis Engineering, it was because he had spotted a clear gap in the market and an opportunity for change in the corporate culture that predominated in the engineering sector.
A global pandemic, world-wide recession, spiking unemployment, and glaring inequalities shape South Africa’s current reality. It’s easy to become overwhelmed by negativity. However, we are at the precipice of a new world order, where humanity and inclusion will take priority over individual greed and wealth accumulation.
I grew up participating in the school protests during the 1980s on the Cape Flats in Cape Town. The burning sensation of tear gas, the angry voices, riot police and the all-encompassing violent clashes with the inevitable brutal arrests that followed were scary, unrelenting and real.
We are all biased, whether we like it or not, and whether we accept it or not. It is part of the human condition. The problem is that if unconscious bias is left unchecked, it can have an insidious way of eroding our thoughts, feelings, beliefs and, as a result, the conclusions we draw and act upon.
Now more than ever, what we say we do as leaders, and what we actually do, becomes critical. Organisations can no longer hide behind a good story of how great their culture is, with a well-worded core values poster placed strategically on the reception wall. It is April 2020 and we are living through a pandemic. This ‘new normal’ has forced thousands of people into working remotely and for many, in isolation.
No great career ever started with a lack of self-belief. When we were building Sorbet, we understood that if our employees (whom we called citizens) believed that their purpose was to touch lives, then they would find meaning in their own lives and would strive to achieve bigger things. Rewards naturally follow this mindset, and financial security becomes a reality.
For many years I have advocated the business approach of ‘people before profit’. I’ve always believed that if you focus on people and service, profit will follow, but if you focus on profit instead, people become a cost burden. The resulting culture is not conducive to great customer service because people end up feeling like things, and without the commitment and support of people, profit becomes an elusive objective.
