HR 101 - When is Theft, not Theft?

HR 101 - When is Theft, not Theft?

By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd 

Please note that this pertains to South African Labour Relations and Best Practice requirements.

One of the most confusing experiences that I ever had is when I caught someone, literally with their hands in the cookie jar.  We held the disciplinary, followed the rules and the staff member was dismissed.  CCMA did not uphold the finding and we ended up paying a huge amount of money as a settlement.  Here’s a similar story – let’s bring in the protagonists.

Mike runs a small retail business in a busy mall.  He has several staff members, but today we are going to meet George and Jane, who are both sales people in the shop.

Everybody works well together and as a team and Mike is grateful to have such a great team.

We all know that month-end in a mall is crazy busy and there is no time to stop and smell the coffee, let alone slip out of the store to go and buy anything.

George has a new girlfriend whom he is besotted over and he is constantly messaging her from his cell phone and even sneaking the odd call while he ‘collects’ product from the stockroom.  Suddenly in the middle of a conversation where he is arranging to meet the love of his life after work for dinner, he runs out of airtime.

Caught up in the moment and concerned that he won’t connect with her that evening, George doesn’t stop to think about what he doing.  George walks into the staff room and takes Jane’s phone out of her handbag that was lying open on the table and calls his girlfriend back.

As he makes the call, Jane walks in and finds George making a call on her phone – she freaks and rushes off to tell Mike!  This is the first hint of any kind of dishonesty and Mike is furious.

When George is confronted, he admits that he took the phone of Jane’s bag and that he used it without permission, but he denies that he ‘stole’ the phone.  Mike disagrees because as far as he is concerned, when you take something without permission – it’s theft.

George is disciplined, found guilty and is dismissed.  George goes to the CCMA and they overturn the dismissal and Mike has to pay out 12 month’s salary as a settlement to George.  Mike is gobsmacked, as I am sure most of you are right about now.

The CCMA found that ‘dismissal was too harsh a penalty in this case because the charge had been “unauthorised possession” of the cell-phone and that nothing was documented about dishonesty or that the “relationship of trust had been destroyed.”

You see ‘Unauthorised possession” is not automatically a dismissible offence and had they proved or shown that George was dishonest or that he could no longer be trusted, the outcome would have been very different.

The reality of the situation is that as individuals, we would never even dream of representing ourselves in a court of law, and yet as Entrepreneurs, we consistently and continuously insist on representing ourselves and our company’s in labour issues.

Please ask for help when you need it, experience shows that it will cost you far less in the long run!

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za

Leadership 101 - The Role and Responsibility of Directors – Part 14

Leadership 101 - The Role and Responsibility of Directors – Part 14

By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd

Please note that this pertains to South African Legislation, the King Requirements and Best Practice.

None of us start our businesses with the intention to fail.

We all start with stars in our eyes and a dream in our hearts, but unfortunately sometimes, no matter how much we plan and implement , things go wrong and we find ourselves in the smelly brown stuff, with huge debts and very little income, if any at all.

This is the time when we have to face the music and if we do it fast enough, we may even find ourselves in a successful Business Rescue situation.

Please understand that it will probably be one of the most difficult things that you will have to do – no one likes to admit that they have failed no matter what the reason, but if the Board and in particular the Directors understand how important it is to act, not only independently, but more importantly, to act quickly and decisively in line with the obligations and regulations of Chapter 6 of the Companies Act, which deals with Companies that are in distressed trading situation, there may be light at the end of the tunnel.

Early intervention will protect the Company from exposure to reckless trading allegations and also demonstrates the Boards fulfilment of their obligations  to all the stakeholders.

To act proactively, the Board must explore all the turnaround opportunities before recognizing that Business Rescue proceedings and taking decisions around the commencement and action thereof, offer a final and formal consideration, but only after all other avenues have been thoroughly researched and investigated.

So what are the key questions that Directors should be asking?

1. First and foremost of course, is to establish if there are any signs that Business Rescue would be on the cards in the future.  If there is a possibility that there could be for whatever reason, this could be averted if we act sooner or even ask for assistance to turn the situation around.

2. Is the Company financially distressed?

3. Is there a reasonable possibility that the Company could be rescued and would the Company be able to recover?

4. Is the Company trading recklessly?

5. Should the Company be placed under Business Rescue and if so should the process be started immediately?

6. Which Business Rescue Practitioner should be appointed. Please do proper research here as that there are (as in all professions), some really dodgy practitioners out there?

7. Is the Business Rescue Practitioner that you are about to appoint, sufficiently experienced and sufficiently independent to actually rescue the business?

8. What are the Board’s obligations to the stakeholders, the courts and the appointed representatives?

9. Are we fulfilling our obligations as a Board as well as individual Directors, in line with laid down procedures of the Business Rescue proceedings?

Remember that Business Rescue is there to assist . . .  but obviously if the Company is too far gone, it may be impossible to revive it.  So it is of the utmost importance to take action sooner rather than later.

Next time we will have a look at Alternative Dispute Resolution.

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za

Networking 101 – Getting that Job

Networking 101 – Getting that Job

By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd -

Everybody is looking for ‘that job’!

Irrespective of whether you are working for a boss or self employed or in your own business, we are all looking for ‘that job’!  You know the one that I mean – that elusive cushie job that has the money all flowing in, be it money or because it’s easy, or full of challenges or even just because it is something that you really love doing and you’re in a constant state of euphoria.  Doesn’t really matter what the reason behind it is, the reality is that we all want it.

Do we ever get it?  Well I’m not too sure about you guys, but I certainly do, quite often in fact and even when I was in the Corporate world, there were moments when I got ‘that job’, so I am pretty sure that it must be the same for most folk.

Thing is though, the more often I get it, the more I want it!  Now that’s the beauty of Networking – the more I Network, the more often I get to get ‘that job’.  How cool is that?

Let’s take the Corporate world for a moment.  The Corporate world and the so called global economic meltdown (nope, I still haven’t bought into it and the results of this can be clearly seen in the growth spurt in my financials) are not really a good mix.  Millions of people worldwide have been retrenched, major projects have been stopped midway or abandoned altogether and even, what was considered the most secure position in the Corporate world, could very well be non existent tomorrow (fear will do that to you every time).  Now think about it for a minute, could you imagine the thoughts going through the head of a Corporate somebody, who has been retrenched and who is desperate for work and who has never done Networking of any kind?  That’s got to be a really scary place to be.

Yet here we are as small business owners and entrepreneurs, with the world at our feet, with opportunities that abound and the majority of us don’t Network properly either.  What a shame!

Successful Networkers, ensure that the networking never stops.  It doesn’t stop because you’ve landed the perfect job/project/client (insert what you would like here), it’s in your blood and when you are not Networking, you are thinking about Networking – well at least it’s like that for me.  I am constantly out and about, meeting new people, building relationships, connecting people, referring people. 

Is it not logical then, that I get to meet and engage with people who need a specific service that I can provide?  Is it not logical then, that I get to land ‘that job’ on a far more frequent basis than someone who doesn’t Network?

Is it not logical then, that we should all be out there Networking, engaging with others and connecting others in order for us also to be connected to others and referred to others and in so doing growing our businesses and landing ‘that job’? 

It is to me!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za  or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za

Business Tip – An Amazing Journey

Business Tip – An Amazing Journey

By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd

If you had told me years ago that this lifetime is made up of several journeys, I probably would have laughed you out of the ball park.

Thing is though, we do go on several journeys.  Some of these journeys that we go on are personal and some are business or even work or professional in nature.  Some we take on our own and others we share with husbands, wives, lovers, children, friends, clients, colleagues and even business partners.

There are journeys that are long and arduous or lifetime journeys and others that are short term, perhaps for a specific period, for a specific project or customer or even a special friend.  Each journey has its own starting place and its own ending place.  Some you may even start alone and then pick up some passengers along the way.  Some you may start with a whole bunch of people but end on your own.

Each journey is its own unique experience.  Each experience may be similar but all are quite different.  Some are pleasant and fun and some are just disgusting and we can’t wait for them to end.

Think about it for a moment – we would all like to think that we give all our customers great service and perhaps we do, but there is always a client that will get a little extra.  A little extra care and attention, or a little extra effort or extra time that we don’t charge for.

Let’s face it, the way we treat our customers is not always dependent upon the quality of the journey that we are taking with them.  Customers who always pay on time and who don’t give us a hard time, may actually not be the customers that we ‘give’ more to and we need to be seriously very careful about this because they should be the customers that we treat as VIP guests.  Difficult customers who are yelling and shouting at us all the time, who are never satisfied and who we have to battle to get money out of, are traditionally the customers that we bend over backwards for and quite frankly that’s just not right!  In fact those are the customers that we should be firing, not pandering to.

I know that after writing this article I am going to do some serious evaluations on my clients.  Going forward, the customers that do what I tell them to, who pay on time and who give me very little hassle are going to be treated like the Kings and Queens that they surely are and those who give me as much grief as they are able, who don’t pay on time and who are just generally unpleasant to deal with are a) going to be charged an additional tax which I am going to call FOST (Full of S&*T Tax) and that is going to be dependant on how much hassle they give me and b) I am going to keep records of who pissed me off the most and give them points for bad behaviour, bad attitude and bad payments and c) I am going to set a limit on what I am prepared to put up with and when they reach their limit, I am going to fire their asses and get myself some more decent clients!

The journey that I want to take with my clients must be one of mutual respect.  It must be an amazing journey where we both profit from each other.  I can think of nothing worse than having to bend over backwards for clients who do not respect me, who do not respect what I do for them and who keep demanding more and more from me and at the same time they disrespect me, by not paying me on time or always wanting more and more of a discount.

Yip – that’s what I am going to do in future! Work with ‘like minded’ people.  People who respect what I do, who respect me and who value what I do for them. 

What about you?  What kind of journey do you want to travel and have with your clients?

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za

Inspiration - Curiosity

Inspiration -  Curiosity


By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd

Today’s quote comes from the infamous Walt Disney, who says “Around here, however, we don't look backwards for very long.  We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we are curious...and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”

Imagine, if you will – never having the desire to do something new, or to the desire to learn about something new?  For a Gemini, this is the most scariest thing to even think about!

Curiosity is a natural thing – think of a young child as they touch something for the first time, or they discover something for the first time.  The look of absolute wonder and then the joy that crosses their faces and how their expressions change.

Or how about our animals, I know I am often amused at the antics of my cats, who ‘check’ everything out, like the grocery shopping bags.  I often enter the kitchen to find all the cupboard doors standing wide open and I know that Kochanie (my youngest unmarried daughter of the feline variety) has been ‘checking’ everything out again to ensure that everything is in its place.

So don’t, whatever you do, stifle curiosity in your children or yourselves.  Let it out and enjoy the travels that it takes you on, down the different pathways of life.

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za

HR - The Charge – Sexual Harassment

HR - The Charge – Sexual Harassment

By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd 

Please note that this pertains to South African Labour Relations and Best Practice requirements.

I have been reading some very interesting case studies lately and thought that it might be a good idea to share some of these with you.  Now before anyone does the usual ‘knee jerk’ and the government’s legislation etc., let me be very clear on one thing.  The law (irrespective of whether it is labour law or commercial law or any other specific law) is always open to interpretation – just keep that in mind always.

So let’s bring in the protagonists – Mike, who owns a retail outlet, selling CD’s and DVD’s, in a busy mall.  Mike employs George, who is the supervisor and Julie (amongst others) who is a sales person.

Mike goes off to attend a meeting one Monday and comes back to absolute chaos.  Julie is in floods of tears and it is evident that all the female staff in the store are really angry with George.  Mike starts to investigate.

Apparently, or so the story goes from the female perspective, George and Julie received new stock, as was the norm on a Monday morning, that came with posters.  The one poster was of the lead singer of a band, standing in a typical “Michael Jackson” pose with his hand on his genitals.  Julie was disgusted at the visual effect of the poster and commented that it should not be displayed in the windows for children to see and George, from the male perspective, thought that the poster was hilarious and that there was nothing disgusting about it.

To illustrate his point (and I suspect to tease Julie), George jumped up and started dancing around Julie, to the music that was playing in the store and every time he came around to the front of her, he gyrated and put his hands over his genitals, mimicking Michael Jackson’s dance moves.

The men found this absolutely ‘fall down funny’ but the women were outraged.  George, intent on getting his dance moves just right, misread Julie’s protests of his dance and continued to dance around her.  Julie felt that his behaviour was disrespectful and unprofessional and George oblivious to this, just continued to gyrate and dance.

Eventually his dance routine was interrupted, when a whole group of customers entered the store, they had to be attended to.

The male staff saw this as a bit of harmless fun, but the female staff saw this as disrespectful behaviour as well as a form of sexual harassment as he had gyrated and ‘grabbed his genitals’ in Julie’s face.

Understandably, Mike was really annoyed with George.  Not only was his behaviour unprofessional, but as the supervisor he should have been setting an example.  Sexual harassment is a dismissible offense and Mike went through the process of the disciplinary.  George was found guilty and was dismissed.

George lodged with the CCMA and unfortunately Mike lost the case.

Here’s the thing – although the charge of “Sexual Harassment” is an extremely serious one, the CCMA found that “the dismissal was too harsh because it was an isolated incident and was unlikely to be repeated.”

Sure, George’s behaviour was inappropriate, but no-one had been sexually assaulted or raped or threatened and as I have said many times – the punishment must fit the crime.

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za

Leadership 101 - The Role and Responsibility of Directors – Part 13

Leadership 101 - The Role and Responsibility of Directors – Part 13

By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd

Please note that this pertains to South African Legislation, the King Requirements and Best Practice.

The topic on the table today is Integrated Reporting and Disclosure.

So what is this and where does it come from?

The Integrated Reporting and Disclosure is a King III requirement and it deals with the integration of the financial information with any other company information for disclosure purposes.

It has three principles and these are: -

1. That it is the responsibility of the Board to “ensure the integrity” of the final integrated report.
2. The financial reports should be “integrated” with the Company’s “sustainability reporting and disclosure.”
3. It is important to have the sustainability and disclosure “independently assured.”

How is the report made up?

The Integrated Report needs the following:-
- It needs to be published on an annual basis.
- It needs to be made up of “substance over form” and should not just be a ‘copy and paste’ type exercise
- It should be “complete, timely, relevant, accurate and accessible and comparable with past performances of the company.
- It should also contain ‘forward looking information.’
- It should be used to ‘document the company’s performance with respect to economic, social and environmental issues.’
- King III states that it should ‘reflect the choices made in the strategic decisions adopted by the Board in the context in terms of ‘economic, social and environmental issues.’
- It should include the company’s ‘operations and plans to improve the positives and address the negatives.’
- It should describe how the company made its’ money.
- In terms of the Annual Financial statements, the report should include whether the company will continue to be ‘a going concern in the financial year ahead.’
- If there are any concerns about whether the company can continue to trade as a going concern in the new financial year, then the plans that have to implemented in order to address this must be tabled.
- Sustainability of the company is of the utmost importance and any issues around this should be reported honestly and openly.

So what are the key questions that the Directors should be asking?

1. In view of the fact that ‘sustainability” is of the utmost  importance, the leading question should be whether the Company has a Sustainability strategy and policy in place?

2. Obviously whether sustainability is considered part of the ongoing business activities should be discussed and agreed upon.

3. “Are sustainable development issues integrated into the business management systems and departments, such as (but not limited to) risk, environment, legal and financial.”

4. Has any of the sustainability principles been built into all of the individual performance agreements?

5. Does the company have suitably qualified Directors and executives who will have the responsibility for the company’s sustainable development?

6. Is there someone in the company that can be the custodian of the content as well as the integrated report?

7. Do we have to follow the GRI G3/G4 (Global Reporting Initiative) guidelines?

Obviously if you are an SMME or even a middle of the market type company, this would seem like an overkill.  That said large Corporate and Listed companies certainly would need to have this discussion at Board level at the very least.

Next time we will have a look at Business Rescue and the important role that this plays within any size business.

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za

Networking 101 - Don’t Waste Referrals!

Networking 101 - Don’t Waste Referrals!

By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd

One of my absolute pet hates, in Networking, is the person that I take the time to give referrals to and who doesn’t do anything with them!  I swear, it drives me absolutely crazy!

One of my colleagues, no actually she has become a friend over the years, does this to me and I often want to take her and shake her – hard! 

Here’s the story:

I met (let’s call her Jane) about two years ago at a Networking event.  She is one of those people who has great energy and attracts all manner and means of people to her.  She gave me her card and I promised to contact her – two months later I was still trying to contact her. She never, never answers her cell phone and the same goes for the landline.  How she gets and keeps clients is beyond me, but that is another story for another day.

I bumped into Jane at another Networking event and she gave me a hard time because ‘you promised to call and I haven’t heard from you’ – I suggested that it might be a good idea to check all her voice mail messages both on her cell phone and her land line.  The next day she called me, apologizing profusely for not returning any of my calls – clearly she had not listened to her voice mail messages for some time.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, we got together at her establishment.  Now I understand why she never answers the phone or returns messages.  A meeting that would normally take an hour, took all of four hours.  This woman runs all day, round and round and up and down and this way and that way and quite honestly she achieves very little of anything and a huge deal of nothing!  She has boundless energy and my goodness, she sure does use it all – doing nothing but running around – but I digress.

I gave Jane probably about 15 to 20 referrals.  People who could assist her in the running of her business.  Suppliers that would be able to give her better rates than the ones that she was currently using.  Investors that would love to get their teeth into just one of her various projects. Even people that she should Joint Venture or collaborate with, to get her product out there.  Finally I gave her my very long list of Networking opportunities – all of which I make use of on a very regular basis.

Eagerly I waited to hear what was happening.  Day after day went by and I did not hear a thing from anybody!  No-one phoned me up to tell me that she had contacted them, she didn’t let me know if she had set meetings up with anyone.  Nothing, not a peep from anyone!

Eventually on one of our get ‘togethers’ I asked her what, if anything was happening with all the referrals that I had given her.  To give Jane her due though, she did manage to look quite sheepish when she told me that she hadn’t done anything.

Now that on its own is bad enough.  Thing is though, when I refer someone I always copy them on the mail and then physically introduce the two to each other on an e-mail.  This meant of course that there were 15 to 20 people who were waiting for Jane to contact them.  Six weeks to two months had gone by since I had sent the mails (at great expense of time to myself I might add) and even if Jane contacted them at this late stage they would think her highly unreliable, due to her tardiness in getting back to them, and they would in all probability not really want to do any kind of business with her.  Who could blame them – certainly not me.

From time to time Jane asks me to forward any invitations that I get to attend a Networking event and from time to time she asks me if I know of someone that does one thing or another. So now, now what – well one thing is for certain, Jane will not be getting any more referrals from me. When she asks the question nowadays, I just change the subject and move the conversation in another direction.

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za  or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za

Business Tips – Some More Common Mistakes – Part 2

Business Tips – Some More Common Mistakes – Part 2

By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd 

Let’s be honest here, we all have good days and bad – we’re human after all and sometimes that’s just the way things are.  Of course that does not mean that we just sit back and do nothing!  What it does mean though is that we have to work extra hard at getting ourselves re-motivated.  Our lives and our businesses depend on it!

Instead of beating yourself up when you are feeling low though, try doing something different.  Do something that you absolutely love, or at the very least, do something that will take you out of the normal routine – go and watch a movie or take yourself ‘out for tea’ or ‘out for a meal’, or go for a massage, but take yourself away from your day to day drudge and troubles – chances are that when you come back you will be in an altogether different frame of mind and you can then get back onto the treadmill – ready to face whatever may come your way.

You need to understand that you will have to exercise great patience and tenacity when you have your own business.  It is more than likely that you will need to speak with someone whom you can brainstorm with or bounce ideas off or who can (and will) challenge you and keep you motivated and going in the right direction.  We all need a little help every now and then and having a mentor is usually a good thing – remember to ‘pay it forward’ though and help or mentor someone else too.

Keeping your emotions in check is also something that you will need to do, especially when you are making decisions that will have a huge impact on your business.

Decisions, of course, need to be made only after careful consideration, after a good deal of research and even more clear headed soul searching, in order for them it have the greatest beneficial impact.  Decisions made ‘on the fly’ or without any kind of deliberation could have serious negative financial implications, which could bring about the demise of your business.  So always think things through first.

A business needs to grow and that is a good thing – it’s a natural thing and it evidences that the product or service that you are offering is of value and that there is a demand for it.

Here’s the thing though that you need to be aware of and plan for.  When you grow, your will need more money to facilitate the expansion.  Ensure that your growth is measured and gradual and that you don’t grow too quickly as that will take more finance away from the day to day running and working capital of the business, which in turn would impact hugely on the cash flow and therefore the well-being of the company.

Whatever you decide to do and however you decide to do it, remember why you started the business in the first place and remember to have fun!

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za

Inspiration – Creating New Plans

Inspiration – Creating New Plans

By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd 

The great Napoleon Hill writes ‘The majority of man meet with failure because of their lack of persistence in creating new plans to take the place of those which fail.”

There it is – that word persistence!  It’s the one thing that I am convinced that we are all born with.  Without it none of us would have learnt how to sit up and crawl, to walk and to run.  None of us would be where we are now.  None of us would have achieved what we have and certainly none of us would be the people that ultimately we have become.

Sadly, like learning to fear, where we were once ‘fearless’ as children, many of us seem, to have lost our ‘persistence’ along the way too.

Sadly, like those of us who literally ‘live in fear,’ those who have lost their ‘persistence’ will not stick around long enough to make anything work, or even long enough to enjoy the fruits of their own endeavors and actually, truth be told, they will set themselves up for their own failures and downfall.

So remember to be consistently persistent in order to achieve your dreams and aspirations.

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za