BLOGGING TIPS – Where Else to look for Ideas – Part 1
By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting CC January 2012
So last week we had a look at just how easy it is to turn everyday experiences into ideas for articles. Today I am going to give you some more examples of where to look for inspiration.
Using Celebrities & their Causes
We all have our favorite celebrities and many individuals avidly follow what their favorite celebrities are doing and getting up to. Celebrities also often use their status to highlight their pet projects – pretty much like Angelina Jolie uses her name to advance her projects and her position as a UN Ambassador or Al Gore who highlights Global Warming.
Using my friend Jacques the gardener again, his ideal celebrity to use to promote his business “Grow your own food” to highlight how we can all feed ourselves as well as grow our own little sustainable food businesses, would be someone like Annie Lennox or Cameron Diaz or Leonardo de Caprio, who are all very outspoken about our carbon footprints and issues around hunger and the starving poor – all of which can be addressed in some way by growing our own food.
Sure Jacques would have to do a little research on the exact or specific areas of their passions and commitments, but with his commitment to sustainable and organic food growing, there would be a wealth of information on the issues that they stand for, that he would be equally as passionate about.
I can see the article right now starting with words that go something along the lines of “Like Annie Lennox who strongly believes that no child should go to bed hungry – neither do I! Growing your own food and . . . .”
Keeping a Journal
Now I know that keeping a journal can be a real pain in the rear end – especially if it is something that you have not done all your life.
Oprah Winfrey often talks about the “gratitude” journal that she keeps and how she writes down at least 3 things every day that she is grateful for. So what about keeping a journal, either as a full journal about your business day or if that is too much, then say 3 things a day that you learnt, discovered, noticed, experienced etc. about your business?
In the case of my friend Jacques the gardener, this could be a full journal on the gardens that he works in and what works and what doesn’t (and yes all gardens are very different depending on the type of soil or how much sun they get etc.) or the project that he is involved with and how they are progressing or evolving or it could be on the things that he researched on that day and how they could change whatever it is that he needed to do the research for.
I am sure that you can see that that would open up a huge amount of possibilities and inspire a great number of things to write about.
Next time we have a look at a few more options for inspiration. Until then don’t forget to have fun with your writing.
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
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Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Templates, Policies & Procedures on Sale until 29th February 2012
Templates, Policies & Procedures on Sale until 29 February 2012
Is there a problem between your sales and your delivery that is impacting on your accounts receivable? Could be a problem with your work or document flow.
Are your orders not being processed timeously or correctly? Could be a problem with your processes?
Do all of your staff ‘do their own thing’ when it comes to performing their administrative and/or operational duties. Could be your processes are not documented or are too complicated for them to stick to.
Are you aware of the requirements of the “New Company’s Act” and what your responsibilities are in terms of that Act?
If your reply to the first 3 questions was “yes”, chances are that your response to the 4th one was “No”!
Sadly, the reality is the impact that not having proper Templates, Policies & Procedures will have on your bottom line. Losses that will be caused, not only from theft but also from lack of consistent good quality productivity, or loss of a sale or client because of bad or shoddy service.
Many small business owners and ‘start-ups’ are very passionate about the product or service that they are providing or wanting to provide – that goes without question! Many more are so caught up with the ‘making’ the sale or getting the new customer, that the very infrastructure or “business of business” is badly neglected. Often the result of that is that hard fought for (and won) contract is negated and lost due to poor or non-existent delivery or bad customer service or worse yet, shoddy administration or operational requirements. Lost clients more often than not, translate into bad word of mouth publicity and that is not good for any company, big or small.
Much of this can be resolved, by just having the correct simple procedure or template or policy in place and in fact having some of these in place is a legal requirement.
In keeping with the fact that it is a brand new year, and many of us have the ‘intention’ of doing things the right way, or even better this year, I am putting all of my Templates, Policies and Procedures on sale until the end of February. Seeing that most of them are quite generic, this is a great opportunity for you to get the year going in the right direction.
Pricing Structure
For purchases up to R5 000 there will be a 7.5% discount
For purchases over R5 000 and up to R7 500 there will be a 10% discount.
For purchases over R7 500 and up to R10 000 there will be a 15% discount.
For purchases over R10 000 there will be a 20% discount
The Templates, Policies and Procedures cover topics such as (but not limited to)
The Acts
Administrations/Operations/Finance
Kitchens
HR
OHSA (Occupational Health & Safety)
Retail (including stock control)
Fleet Management
If you would like to see a detailed list of what is available, please contact Nikki Viljoen on 083 702 8849 or Nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za
Let’s work together to grow sustainable businesses.
Is there a problem between your sales and your delivery that is impacting on your accounts receivable? Could be a problem with your work or document flow.
Are your orders not being processed timeously or correctly? Could be a problem with your processes?
Do all of your staff ‘do their own thing’ when it comes to performing their administrative and/or operational duties. Could be your processes are not documented or are too complicated for them to stick to.
Are you aware of the requirements of the “New Company’s Act” and what your responsibilities are in terms of that Act?
If your reply to the first 3 questions was “yes”, chances are that your response to the 4th one was “No”!
Sadly, the reality is the impact that not having proper Templates, Policies & Procedures will have on your bottom line. Losses that will be caused, not only from theft but also from lack of consistent good quality productivity, or loss of a sale or client because of bad or shoddy service.
Many small business owners and ‘start-ups’ are very passionate about the product or service that they are providing or wanting to provide – that goes without question! Many more are so caught up with the ‘making’ the sale or getting the new customer, that the very infrastructure or “business of business” is badly neglected. Often the result of that is that hard fought for (and won) contract is negated and lost due to poor or non-existent delivery or bad customer service or worse yet, shoddy administration or operational requirements. Lost clients more often than not, translate into bad word of mouth publicity and that is not good for any company, big or small.
Much of this can be resolved, by just having the correct simple procedure or template or policy in place and in fact having some of these in place is a legal requirement.
In keeping with the fact that it is a brand new year, and many of us have the ‘intention’ of doing things the right way, or even better this year, I am putting all of my Templates, Policies and Procedures on sale until the end of February. Seeing that most of them are quite generic, this is a great opportunity for you to get the year going in the right direction.
Pricing Structure
For purchases up to R5 000 there will be a 7.5% discount
For purchases over R5 000 and up to R7 500 there will be a 10% discount.
For purchases over R7 500 and up to R10 000 there will be a 15% discount.
For purchases over R10 000 there will be a 20% discount
The Templates, Policies and Procedures cover topics such as (but not limited to)
The Acts
Administrations/Operations/Finance
Kitchens
HR
OHSA (Occupational Health & Safety)
Retail (including stock control)
Fleet Management
If you would like to see a detailed list of what is available, please contact Nikki Viljoen on 083 702 8849 or Nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za
Let’s work together to grow sustainable businesses.
BUSINESS TIPS - Planning to Succeed - Part 2
BUSINESS TIPS – Planning to Succeed – PART 2
By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting CC December 2011
Following on from last time, let’s look at some of the other guidelines that can be used by SMME’s to plan for the success of their business.
Organizational Chart
Contrary to popular belief, an organizational chart is not just about knowing which staff report into which departments or which individuals head up the various departments. Having a proper organizational chart makes it that much easier for business owners to see or visualize the company with all its various divisions and compartments.
This in turn makes it easier to put strategy and infrastructure in place and it will also allow business owners to respond to changing markets, trends and opportunity, a lot faster and more effectively. Having a plan or chart clearly visible has a great impact – much more than something that is merely a thought or an idea and that is kept only in the mind.
The organizational chart also means that intensions are clear and well defined and this makes it a lot easier to communicate these intentions to your staff.
Positional Contracts
Although all the staff need to have their own contracts – having contracts that are specific to a position is always a good thing. Apart from the fact that the staff member concerned will be under no misconception about what their role in the company is, the business owner also gets to define that particular role and make their expectations clear.
The easiest way for me (and I suspect that this is standard practice) is to start at the top of the organizational chart and work your way downwards.
Remember of course to have the list of requirements for each task readily at hand and make sure that your expectations and requirements are clear.
KPI’s
KPI’s of course are “Key Performance Indicators” and they are how the performance of the staff member is to be measured. Remember the old adage “If you can’t measure it you can’t manage it?” Well here’s the thing – it’s true and the best way to set those measurements and implement them is in the KPI’s or job descriptions. That way, as the business owner, your intention is made clear from the start and the consequences of not meeting your expectation is also documented.
Just make sure though, that when you hire someone for a position that they are capable of performing the required task or you will be responsible for setting them up for failure. The days of hiring someone because they had cute dimples or because they had long gorgeous legs and then dismissing them at some stage because you discovered that the work was not being done, are no longer here. You, as the business owner also have a responsibility for ensuring that the person you hire is qualified and/or capable of doing the work.
How-to Manuals
It is of the utmost importance – most especially if you have staff – to document ‘how to’. Ensuring that your staff all complete tasks in the same way will ensure that things get done properly and consistently and will also provide you with something to measure their performance by.
Actually if the truth be told, even if you don’t have staff, having checklists for yourself for all the tasks that you perform will ensure that you don’t forget to do things when you are interrupted by the phone and/or a client.
Documenting your ‘how-to’ will also remove all sorts of emotional issues like (but not limited to) “but I thought you meant” or “I thought I would do it like this today” or my personal favorite “But I always do it like this!” Instructions that are simple and clear provide the groundwork for work that is correctly and timeously performed, leaving little room for error and oversight.
So, there you have it – the basic plans that you should have in place as you venture out into the world of Business Owner.
Don’t forget to check your plans and goals on a regular basis though – not only to see that you are still going in the right direction, but also to ‘tick off’ your accomplishments as and when you realize them. Then of course there are always the little ‘tweaks’ that need to be done and you change direction due to market trends and legislational requirements.
Good luck on your new venture and don’t forget to have fun along the way.
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
By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting CC December 2011
Following on from last time, let’s look at some of the other guidelines that can be used by SMME’s to plan for the success of their business.
Organizational Chart
Contrary to popular belief, an organizational chart is not just about knowing which staff report into which departments or which individuals head up the various departments. Having a proper organizational chart makes it that much easier for business owners to see or visualize the company with all its various divisions and compartments.
This in turn makes it easier to put strategy and infrastructure in place and it will also allow business owners to respond to changing markets, trends and opportunity, a lot faster and more effectively. Having a plan or chart clearly visible has a great impact – much more than something that is merely a thought or an idea and that is kept only in the mind.
The organizational chart also means that intensions are clear and well defined and this makes it a lot easier to communicate these intentions to your staff.
Positional Contracts
Although all the staff need to have their own contracts – having contracts that are specific to a position is always a good thing. Apart from the fact that the staff member concerned will be under no misconception about what their role in the company is, the business owner also gets to define that particular role and make their expectations clear.
The easiest way for me (and I suspect that this is standard practice) is to start at the top of the organizational chart and work your way downwards.
Remember of course to have the list of requirements for each task readily at hand and make sure that your expectations and requirements are clear.
KPI’s
KPI’s of course are “Key Performance Indicators” and they are how the performance of the staff member is to be measured. Remember the old adage “If you can’t measure it you can’t manage it?” Well here’s the thing – it’s true and the best way to set those measurements and implement them is in the KPI’s or job descriptions. That way, as the business owner, your intention is made clear from the start and the consequences of not meeting your expectation is also documented.
Just make sure though, that when you hire someone for a position that they are capable of performing the required task or you will be responsible for setting them up for failure. The days of hiring someone because they had cute dimples or because they had long gorgeous legs and then dismissing them at some stage because you discovered that the work was not being done, are no longer here. You, as the business owner also have a responsibility for ensuring that the person you hire is qualified and/or capable of doing the work.
How-to Manuals
It is of the utmost importance – most especially if you have staff – to document ‘how to’. Ensuring that your staff all complete tasks in the same way will ensure that things get done properly and consistently and will also provide you with something to measure their performance by.
Actually if the truth be told, even if you don’t have staff, having checklists for yourself for all the tasks that you perform will ensure that you don’t forget to do things when you are interrupted by the phone and/or a client.
Documenting your ‘how-to’ will also remove all sorts of emotional issues like (but not limited to) “but I thought you meant” or “I thought I would do it like this today” or my personal favorite “But I always do it like this!” Instructions that are simple and clear provide the groundwork for work that is correctly and timeously performed, leaving little room for error and oversight.
So, there you have it – the basic plans that you should have in place as you venture out into the world of Business Owner.
Don’t forget to check your plans and goals on a regular basis though – not only to see that you are still going in the right direction, but also to ‘tick off’ your accomplishments as and when you realize them. Then of course there are always the little ‘tweaks’ that need to be done and you change direction due to market trends and legislational requirements.
Good luck on your new venture and don’t forget to have fun along the way.
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
Monday, January 23, 2012
MOTIVATION - Strong Desire
MOTIVATION – Strong Desire
By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting CC – January 2012
Napoleon Hill says “The starting point of achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desires produce weak results, just as a small amount of fire produces a small amount of heat.”
I guess this means, more or less, the same as ‘you reap what you sow’ or ‘you get out what you put in’ and it certainly makes logical sense to me, which is probably why I am often really surprised at the number of people who sit back and wait for stuff to happen for them and then when nothing happens they lament – loudly – about how unfair life is and that they didn’t get what they deserved.
My eyes roll upwards and my head shakes from side to side as I try and grasp at their logic. Strangely enough though, on some level, this victim ‘hard done by’ role that they choose to go through life with, does seem to resonate with many and they are commiserated with and empathized with and held up as shining examples of how unequal some are.
Now actually seeing those words in print before my eyes, brought a smile to my face and a giggle to my lips. You see, for me going through life with that kind of attitude would not only be soul destroying it would also be exhausting! I mean can you imagine forcing yourself to feel like that all the time? Now that must be really hard work!
For me the level of motivation is directly attributable to the level of desire – if I really, really and I mean really, want something – I will do everything in my power to get it. The less I desire something, the less motivated I am and therefore the less amount of effort I will put into getting it. Yip, it’s official – I am definitely driven by my desires.
Here’s a thought though – often those desires and the achievements that are realized as a result of those desires, mean nothing to anyone other than yourself and for me, those are the greatest achievements. Let me explain – I write for my own enjoyment. Sure I share the writing with anyone in the world who cares to read the words and yes I do believe that they can change the course of someone’s world but to be quite honest, I don’t really worry about whether anyone is reading my words or what they may or may not think about my words – I write so that I can see the words and often I write about things that I most need to hear or to see or to understand. Every now and then I get a mail from a total stranger, in another country, on the opposite side of the world, who thanks me for the words that I have shared.
My achievement was writing an article, which was based on my desire to write. Once the article is written, I don’t give it much more thought. That said however, the achievement is made all the more sweeter, when I do hear from someone who has been touched by my words. That praise, that acknowledgement, those accolades just make my desire that much stronger and so the circle continues.
My desire is really strong and therefore my goals will be met and my challenges will be overcome and I will succeed. What about you – do you even know what your desires are?
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
By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting CC – January 2012
Napoleon Hill says “The starting point of achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desires produce weak results, just as a small amount of fire produces a small amount of heat.”
I guess this means, more or less, the same as ‘you reap what you sow’ or ‘you get out what you put in’ and it certainly makes logical sense to me, which is probably why I am often really surprised at the number of people who sit back and wait for stuff to happen for them and then when nothing happens they lament – loudly – about how unfair life is and that they didn’t get what they deserved.
My eyes roll upwards and my head shakes from side to side as I try and grasp at their logic. Strangely enough though, on some level, this victim ‘hard done by’ role that they choose to go through life with, does seem to resonate with many and they are commiserated with and empathized with and held up as shining examples of how unequal some are.
Now actually seeing those words in print before my eyes, brought a smile to my face and a giggle to my lips. You see, for me going through life with that kind of attitude would not only be soul destroying it would also be exhausting! I mean can you imagine forcing yourself to feel like that all the time? Now that must be really hard work!
For me the level of motivation is directly attributable to the level of desire – if I really, really and I mean really, want something – I will do everything in my power to get it. The less I desire something, the less motivated I am and therefore the less amount of effort I will put into getting it. Yip, it’s official – I am definitely driven by my desires.
Here’s a thought though – often those desires and the achievements that are realized as a result of those desires, mean nothing to anyone other than yourself and for me, those are the greatest achievements. Let me explain – I write for my own enjoyment. Sure I share the writing with anyone in the world who cares to read the words and yes I do believe that they can change the course of someone’s world but to be quite honest, I don’t really worry about whether anyone is reading my words or what they may or may not think about my words – I write so that I can see the words and often I write about things that I most need to hear or to see or to understand. Every now and then I get a mail from a total stranger, in another country, on the opposite side of the world, who thanks me for the words that I have shared.
My achievement was writing an article, which was based on my desire to write. Once the article is written, I don’t give it much more thought. That said however, the achievement is made all the more sweeter, when I do hear from someone who has been touched by my words. That praise, that acknowledgement, those accolades just make my desire that much stronger and so the circle continues.
My desire is really strong and therefore my goals will be met and my challenges will be overcome and I will succeed. What about you – do you even know what your desires are?
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
Thursday, January 19, 2012
EARLY WARNING - Does a Traffic Fine Have an Expiry Date
EARLY WARNING
Does a Traffic Fine Have an Expiry Date?
By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting January 2011.
One of my clients was telling me the story, the other day, of the time that he got pulled over, in what appeared to be a routine police check point. Now I am not talking about a story that happened years ago, but rather one that has happened in the last month or two. I know that I saw a really marked increase in the number of traffic check points along the roads over the Christmas period and the period leading up to the holidays. In fact, coming back from visiting a client in Germiston in early December 2011, I went through a road block on the M2 (I mean the metro police were pulling people off on the highway) and on the same day there were 3 road blocks on Beyers Naude (between Auckland Park and Cresta). Talk about overkill. Like most people, I just put it down to the police looking to ensure that they get their annual bonus’s as this appears to be the only time that they are out in full force like this.
Anyway the story goes . . . my client was not perturbed about going through the road block, his licenses were in order and he did not have any outstanding fines . . . or so he thought. He was pulled over and asked to produce his driver’s license – no problem. They checked the license disk on his windscreen – no problem. Another member of the police force joined the fellow that was attending to him and there was a lot of loud talking and gesturing going on. Perplexed, my client innocently asked “is there anything wrong?” That’s when it all went pear shaped.
You see sometime in the year 2000, my client got a fine in the amount of R100. Apparently it was posted to him and again, apparently it had not been paid. In view of the fact that this happened 11 years ago, my client was not too concerned because debts are supposed to be prescribed after 3 years. Isn’t that how we all understand it? Well like my client and myself, you would also be incorrect, if this is what you thought.
Apparently, in terms of the Prescription Act (and I must admit that I haven’t read this particular Act myself, so I am going on hearsay), the Act does not make provision for the prescription period on debts to the government (both local and/or national). There is a huge argument about whether a traffic fine (or any fine for that matter I guess) is a debt or not and there does not appear to be consensus on this.
What there is consensus about though is this – according to an article in the AA newsletter, a traffic fine is the result or consequence of an offence and as an offence “in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act it is illogical to conclude that a debt linked to a criminal offence can prescribe.”
So the bottom line is that my client (and any one else out there who has outstanding fines from long ago) is liable to pay the R100 fine.
What still amuses me of course, is the fact that it took them 11 years and a random road block to find my client. Even stranger is that he has worked for the same company at the same business address for all that time as well as resided at the same residential address for all that time. I guess the metro police had to dig deep into the proverbial barrel for that particular R100.
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
Does a Traffic Fine Have an Expiry Date?
By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting January 2011.
One of my clients was telling me the story, the other day, of the time that he got pulled over, in what appeared to be a routine police check point. Now I am not talking about a story that happened years ago, but rather one that has happened in the last month or two. I know that I saw a really marked increase in the number of traffic check points along the roads over the Christmas period and the period leading up to the holidays. In fact, coming back from visiting a client in Germiston in early December 2011, I went through a road block on the M2 (I mean the metro police were pulling people off on the highway) and on the same day there were 3 road blocks on Beyers Naude (between Auckland Park and Cresta). Talk about overkill. Like most people, I just put it down to the police looking to ensure that they get their annual bonus’s as this appears to be the only time that they are out in full force like this.
Anyway the story goes . . . my client was not perturbed about going through the road block, his licenses were in order and he did not have any outstanding fines . . . or so he thought. He was pulled over and asked to produce his driver’s license – no problem. They checked the license disk on his windscreen – no problem. Another member of the police force joined the fellow that was attending to him and there was a lot of loud talking and gesturing going on. Perplexed, my client innocently asked “is there anything wrong?” That’s when it all went pear shaped.
You see sometime in the year 2000, my client got a fine in the amount of R100. Apparently it was posted to him and again, apparently it had not been paid. In view of the fact that this happened 11 years ago, my client was not too concerned because debts are supposed to be prescribed after 3 years. Isn’t that how we all understand it? Well like my client and myself, you would also be incorrect, if this is what you thought.
Apparently, in terms of the Prescription Act (and I must admit that I haven’t read this particular Act myself, so I am going on hearsay), the Act does not make provision for the prescription period on debts to the government (both local and/or national). There is a huge argument about whether a traffic fine (or any fine for that matter I guess) is a debt or not and there does not appear to be consensus on this.
What there is consensus about though is this – according to an article in the AA newsletter, a traffic fine is the result or consequence of an offence and as an offence “in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act it is illogical to conclude that a debt linked to a criminal offence can prescribe.”
So the bottom line is that my client (and any one else out there who has outstanding fines from long ago) is liable to pay the R100 fine.
What still amuses me of course, is the fact that it took them 11 years and a random road block to find my client. Even stranger is that he has worked for the same company at the same business address for all that time as well as resided at the same residential address for all that time. I guess the metro police had to dig deep into the proverbial barrel for that particular R100.
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
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
BLOGGING TIPS - Where to Look for Ideas
BLOGGING TIPS – Where to look for Ideas
By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting CC January 2012
I know that I seem to be harping on about this, but every day I encounter people who seem quite keen to start a blog, but who have no idea what to write about.
It is sometimes extremely frustrating for me when this happens because as I talk to them and ascertain exactly what they do and what their passion is, it is abundantly clear that they have a huge amount of knowledge on their subject or specialty and that there is a copious amount of material that they could write about. Even every day things that occur could become a source of inspiration.
Whilst we were on holiday over the Christmas period, my friend Jacques and I were taking photos. We took photos of everything that moved (and many things that didn’t) and I jokingly said to Jacques “we should start a blog on Things I Saw Today or Things I Did Today!” The look that he gave me clearly stated that I had lost the plot – again! I had a good laugh, you see Jacques is a gardener. He works with many communities, showing them how to grow their own food and then how to turn the surplus into sustainable income and I realized that he was thinking how a photo of a clump of bobbing seaweed (being what we saw that day) could be turned into an article that would have any impact on the work that he does.
So I started to ask the questions (and happily I did know the answers because the tour guide had told us):
q. What does the bobbing seaweed tell us?
a. That there is no perlemoen (abalone) in the area because that is what they feed on – the poachers have harvested everything.
q. So would you harvest the seaweed?
a. Yes I would if I had, or wanted to start a perlemoen farm.
q. So what would the benefits be of starting a perlemoen farm?
a. Well it would replenish the stocks that have been depleted through poaching and it is a healthy organic source of food and if properly managed is extremely sustainable and . . . .
All of that because of a clump of seaweed bobbing in the ocean – a whole bunch of stuff to write about (not to mention a whole host of opportunities for someone)!
We all have these kinds of experiences during our day – things that we see, encounters with people who we deal with and people who tell us their stories. Each and every one of them has the propensity to become a blog article that highlights something in our businesses. We just have to be open to the possibilities.
Personally, I think that the biggest challenge that most people think they have, when they want to write a blog, is the ‘how to write’ it and not the ‘what to write’! As always my advice here is – write it exactly the way you would if you were telling someone the story, as if you were engaged in a discussion with someone and you were telling them what happened.
So now – who thinks that they don’t have anything to put into a blog?
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
By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting CC January 2012
I know that I seem to be harping on about this, but every day I encounter people who seem quite keen to start a blog, but who have no idea what to write about.
It is sometimes extremely frustrating for me when this happens because as I talk to them and ascertain exactly what they do and what their passion is, it is abundantly clear that they have a huge amount of knowledge on their subject or specialty and that there is a copious amount of material that they could write about. Even every day things that occur could become a source of inspiration.
Whilst we were on holiday over the Christmas period, my friend Jacques and I were taking photos. We took photos of everything that moved (and many things that didn’t) and I jokingly said to Jacques “we should start a blog on Things I Saw Today or Things I Did Today!” The look that he gave me clearly stated that I had lost the plot – again! I had a good laugh, you see Jacques is a gardener. He works with many communities, showing them how to grow their own food and then how to turn the surplus into sustainable income and I realized that he was thinking how a photo of a clump of bobbing seaweed (being what we saw that day) could be turned into an article that would have any impact on the work that he does.
So I started to ask the questions (and happily I did know the answers because the tour guide had told us):
q. What does the bobbing seaweed tell us?
a. That there is no perlemoen (abalone) in the area because that is what they feed on – the poachers have harvested everything.
q. So would you harvest the seaweed?
a. Yes I would if I had, or wanted to start a perlemoen farm.
q. So what would the benefits be of starting a perlemoen farm?
a. Well it would replenish the stocks that have been depleted through poaching and it is a healthy organic source of food and if properly managed is extremely sustainable and . . . .
All of that because of a clump of seaweed bobbing in the ocean – a whole bunch of stuff to write about (not to mention a whole host of opportunities for someone)!
We all have these kinds of experiences during our day – things that we see, encounters with people who we deal with and people who tell us their stories. Each and every one of them has the propensity to become a blog article that highlights something in our businesses. We just have to be open to the possibilities.
Personally, I think that the biggest challenge that most people think they have, when they want to write a blog, is the ‘how to write’ it and not the ‘what to write’! As always my advice here is – write it exactly the way you would if you were telling someone the story, as if you were engaged in a discussion with someone and you were telling them what happened.
So now – who thinks that they don’t have anything to put into a blog?
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
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
BUSINESS TIPS - Planning to Succeed - Part 1
BUSINESS TIPS – Planning to Succeed – PART 1
By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting CC December 2011
It’s no secret that in order for you to succeed in life, there has to be some sort of plan and obviously this also applies to business success as well. In fact I would even go so far as to say that the ‘devil is in the detail’. The more information and detail in the plan, the more you can ‘measure’ yourself to see how you are doing and the more likely it is to succeed.
The problem of course is that many folk have no idea what needs to go into a plan and this statement is backed up and evidenced by the many businesses that fail because individuals have failed to make plans or set goals of any kind.
Here are some guidelines on what you need to look at in order to plan properly.
Vision
Your vision, of course, is your dream or your intention. It is the ultimate goal. It could be something as dramatic as having your particular product in every home in the country by xxxx date or as simple as providing training to 500 SMME’s (small, medium, micro enterprises) on a monthly basis.
What it should perhaps include however is what kind of product and why it should be in every household or what kind of training and why it will make a difference.
Mission Statement
For me, the mission statement is a simple plan on the ‘how to’ achieve your vision. So how do you intend getting your product into every household or how do you intend getting the SMME’s into your training. At this stage I wouldn’t go too in depth but rather have the basics down as these can be fleshed out at a later stage or as and when you get to the information that you need.
At this point it is also a good idea to start getting your figures in place – the budgets. Number crunching is not always as difficult as we seem to think it is – just start with the basics and then the detail can be fleshed out from there.
Culture Statement
I must admit, when I ask this particular question, I am often met with a very confused look as well as the statement - “The What . . . . ?” Every business has a culture and pretty much like we are ‘masters of our own destiny,’ we also have a choice about the type of culture we want our businesses to be. The way that you deal with customers and your suppliers or your staff would largely affect the type of culture that your business will become. In many instances, the culture of the company is determined by ethnic or religious influences but whilst we may be influenced by these external factors, it is equally important to ensure that our ethics also influence the culture of the company.
Often, it’s “Who we are” and our beliefs (and I am not talking about religion here), that are what attract people to do business with us.
Goals
Whether we want to admit it or not we all have goals – some of them are really simple and we make them without even thinking, like “I need to get to work by 08h30am this morning”. Of course that is a goal – is it one that you need to write down – not necessarily. Some of them can be seriously difficult and complicated, well actually – if the truth be told, we make them seriously difficult and complicated.
For me the easiest way to put my goals into perspective is to break things down into bite size chucks. Where do I want to be in a year or two years or three years or even five years. That’s the end goal – then break it down into the components – what do I need to do to get there and how long will that take me. Once you have written all of that down, it is easier to set goals with time lines, be those timelines hours, days, weeks, months or even years.
Let me give you a simple example. I want to paint my home and I want it done and completed at the end of say 6 months. What do I need to do to get that done? How many rooms are there, in which order will I paint the rooms. What has to be done before I can paint (preparation), how long will that take me for each room (preparing the walls, covering and/or moving furniture, purchasing paint, brushes, etc)? What has to be done once the room has been painted (clean-up and uncovering and/or moving furniture etc).
Now I have an idea of all the tasks that must be done and I can assign a time frame to each and if my time frames are reasonable and I stick to them, I can complete my task within the time period that I gave myself or not – you see here I can now adjust my ‘end result’, if that is what is required. I have documented my goal and set a plan in place in order to achieve my goal – I can measure myself at every step along the way and see how I am doing.
In the same way and in every aspect of your business, this simple type of goal setting and planning can be implemented to ensure that you achieve what ever it is that you wish to do.
Next week we will have a look at the rest of the guidelines that I spoke about at the beginning of this blog.
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
By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting CC December 2011
It’s no secret that in order for you to succeed in life, there has to be some sort of plan and obviously this also applies to business success as well. In fact I would even go so far as to say that the ‘devil is in the detail’. The more information and detail in the plan, the more you can ‘measure’ yourself to see how you are doing and the more likely it is to succeed.
The problem of course is that many folk have no idea what needs to go into a plan and this statement is backed up and evidenced by the many businesses that fail because individuals have failed to make plans or set goals of any kind.
Here are some guidelines on what you need to look at in order to plan properly.
Vision
Your vision, of course, is your dream or your intention. It is the ultimate goal. It could be something as dramatic as having your particular product in every home in the country by xxxx date or as simple as providing training to 500 SMME’s (small, medium, micro enterprises) on a monthly basis.
What it should perhaps include however is what kind of product and why it should be in every household or what kind of training and why it will make a difference.
Mission Statement
For me, the mission statement is a simple plan on the ‘how to’ achieve your vision. So how do you intend getting your product into every household or how do you intend getting the SMME’s into your training. At this stage I wouldn’t go too in depth but rather have the basics down as these can be fleshed out at a later stage or as and when you get to the information that you need.
At this point it is also a good idea to start getting your figures in place – the budgets. Number crunching is not always as difficult as we seem to think it is – just start with the basics and then the detail can be fleshed out from there.
Culture Statement
I must admit, when I ask this particular question, I am often met with a very confused look as well as the statement - “The What . . . . ?” Every business has a culture and pretty much like we are ‘masters of our own destiny,’ we also have a choice about the type of culture we want our businesses to be. The way that you deal with customers and your suppliers or your staff would largely affect the type of culture that your business will become. In many instances, the culture of the company is determined by ethnic or religious influences but whilst we may be influenced by these external factors, it is equally important to ensure that our ethics also influence the culture of the company.
Often, it’s “Who we are” and our beliefs (and I am not talking about religion here), that are what attract people to do business with us.
Goals
Whether we want to admit it or not we all have goals – some of them are really simple and we make them without even thinking, like “I need to get to work by 08h30am this morning”. Of course that is a goal – is it one that you need to write down – not necessarily. Some of them can be seriously difficult and complicated, well actually – if the truth be told, we make them seriously difficult and complicated.
For me the easiest way to put my goals into perspective is to break things down into bite size chucks. Where do I want to be in a year or two years or three years or even five years. That’s the end goal – then break it down into the components – what do I need to do to get there and how long will that take me. Once you have written all of that down, it is easier to set goals with time lines, be those timelines hours, days, weeks, months or even years.
Let me give you a simple example. I want to paint my home and I want it done and completed at the end of say 6 months. What do I need to do to get that done? How many rooms are there, in which order will I paint the rooms. What has to be done before I can paint (preparation), how long will that take me for each room (preparing the walls, covering and/or moving furniture, purchasing paint, brushes, etc)? What has to be done once the room has been painted (clean-up and uncovering and/or moving furniture etc).
Now I have an idea of all the tasks that must be done and I can assign a time frame to each and if my time frames are reasonable and I stick to them, I can complete my task within the time period that I gave myself or not – you see here I can now adjust my ‘end result’, if that is what is required. I have documented my goal and set a plan in place in order to achieve my goal – I can measure myself at every step along the way and see how I am doing.
In the same way and in every aspect of your business, this simple type of goal setting and planning can be implemented to ensure that you achieve what ever it is that you wish to do.
Next week we will have a look at the rest of the guidelines that I spoke about at the beginning of this blog.
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
Monday, January 16, 2012
MOTIVATION - Be Willing ti Improve Yourself
MOTIVATION – Be Willing to Improve Yourself
By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting CC – December 2011
James Allen says “People are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves. They therefore remain bound.”
This particular human trait was made quite prevalent during my holiday this year. Here’s the story – I met this older man (let’s call him George), who has a real problem with acidity in his system. It’s really bad. Not only does the poor old man suffer with arthritis but his legs are full of open sores that he then scratches badly in an attempt to stop the itching. From what I can gather, he has been to several doctors and none can assist – I now know why.
You see George loves to drink wine – in particular dry white wine, but if there is no white wine open, he will gladly accept a glass (or three) of red wine or anything else alcoholic that is going. George is also partial to tomatoes and granadilla’s and . . . . . . I’m sure you get the picture.
In have suggested that George take some ‘base powder’, which is an alkaline type powder that will assist with neutralizing the acid in his body, but that of course won’t help on a long term basis because George puts more acid into his body than anything can neutralize. The result of course is, that according to George – ‘the doctors don’t know what they are doing and he doesn’t believe a word that they are saying.”
I carefully explained to George that he would need to cut down on his alcohol intake as well as the acidic fruit and vegetables that he favors and that together with the intake of ‘base powder’ would help to reduce the level of acid in his body. Ron declined to reduce his alcohol intake, but he will “try” the base powder.
The reality of the situation is that George’s body will continue, unsuccessfully, to battle to remove the acid from his system. He will continue to suffer from arthritis and he will of course, continue to experience open sores on his legs. More importantly he will continue to increase his acid intake as he drinks more and more white wine or red wine or anything else alcoholic that he can lay his hands on. Sadly, I will be the villain in the story as I will be the one who told him to take ‘base powder’ of course it doesn’t work.
As you can see from the story, George wants his circumstances to change but he is unwilling to change his own lifestyle in order for that to occur.
Many of us, both in our personal lives and our business lives, lament things that we would like to change. Whether it is to do with our health or our finances or our clients (or lack thereof) or anything for that matter that makes us sad or makes life difficult for us, yet we seem unable or unwilling to change what we are doing.
I think it was Einstein who said something along the lines of “Stupidity is doing something over and over in exactly the same manner and then expecting the outcome to differ!”
When things are not going the way that you want them to in life, something has to change. The quicker we realize that and make the change(s), the quicker (and easier) it will be for us to get on with life. Holding onto something and hoping that it will change, without us making any kind of change within ourselves, is just a waste of time. The problem of course is that not only is it just a waste of time, but it is also a very negative and destructive course to take.
So I’m off to make a list of all the things that are not working for me and part of my goals for 2012 is to do things differently, make the changes and so ensure that my life going forward is easier, mellower and more rewarding.
What changes are you going to make?
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
By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting CC – December 2011
James Allen says “People are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves. They therefore remain bound.”
This particular human trait was made quite prevalent during my holiday this year. Here’s the story – I met this older man (let’s call him George), who has a real problem with acidity in his system. It’s really bad. Not only does the poor old man suffer with arthritis but his legs are full of open sores that he then scratches badly in an attempt to stop the itching. From what I can gather, he has been to several doctors and none can assist – I now know why.
You see George loves to drink wine – in particular dry white wine, but if there is no white wine open, he will gladly accept a glass (or three) of red wine or anything else alcoholic that is going. George is also partial to tomatoes and granadilla’s and . . . . . . I’m sure you get the picture.
In have suggested that George take some ‘base powder’, which is an alkaline type powder that will assist with neutralizing the acid in his body, but that of course won’t help on a long term basis because George puts more acid into his body than anything can neutralize. The result of course is, that according to George – ‘the doctors don’t know what they are doing and he doesn’t believe a word that they are saying.”
I carefully explained to George that he would need to cut down on his alcohol intake as well as the acidic fruit and vegetables that he favors and that together with the intake of ‘base powder’ would help to reduce the level of acid in his body. Ron declined to reduce his alcohol intake, but he will “try” the base powder.
The reality of the situation is that George’s body will continue, unsuccessfully, to battle to remove the acid from his system. He will continue to suffer from arthritis and he will of course, continue to experience open sores on his legs. More importantly he will continue to increase his acid intake as he drinks more and more white wine or red wine or anything else alcoholic that he can lay his hands on. Sadly, I will be the villain in the story as I will be the one who told him to take ‘base powder’ of course it doesn’t work.
As you can see from the story, George wants his circumstances to change but he is unwilling to change his own lifestyle in order for that to occur.
Many of us, both in our personal lives and our business lives, lament things that we would like to change. Whether it is to do with our health or our finances or our clients (or lack thereof) or anything for that matter that makes us sad or makes life difficult for us, yet we seem unable or unwilling to change what we are doing.
I think it was Einstein who said something along the lines of “Stupidity is doing something over and over in exactly the same manner and then expecting the outcome to differ!”
When things are not going the way that you want them to in life, something has to change. The quicker we realize that and make the change(s), the quicker (and easier) it will be for us to get on with life. Holding onto something and hoping that it will change, without us making any kind of change within ourselves, is just a waste of time. The problem of course is that not only is it just a waste of time, but it is also a very negative and destructive course to take.
So I’m off to make a list of all the things that are not working for me and part of my goals for 2012 is to do things differently, make the changes and so ensure that my life going forward is easier, mellower and more rewarding.
What changes are you going to make?
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
Friday, January 13, 2012
HR - What to do with Domestic Workers
HR – What to do with Domestic Workers
By Nikki Viljoen of Viljoen Consulting CC , December 2011
A number of my clients have found themselves either on the wrong side of the law or alternatively with a sullen, at odds with the world, domestic worker. Neither are fun to deal with and the reality is that meeting the requirements as an employer is not that difficult and having the correct procedures in place is not that difficult and usually calms the waters as your domestic employee now feels secure in their employment and you will have the means to measure their performance as well as have the law on your side in terms of the disciplinary codes.
Firstly let’s define who “Domestic Employees” are. They are your daily helpers, your maids, your chars, your gardeners. They are also your drivers or care givers to the elderly, the frail or the disabled as well as child minders or anyone who cares for your children. In short, they are anyone who works in your household.
Here are some of the basic legal requirements.
Contracts
Like any other employee, your domestic worker needs and is entitled to have a written contract in place, irrespective of whether they are full time and even if they only work one day a week.
Like any other employment contract all the terms and conditions of the employment need to be listed. Issues such as, but not limited to:
- Starting and ending times
- Pay rate
- Leave requirements (include not only annual leave, but also sick leave and Family Responsibility leave)
- Duties
- Any special requirements such as when leave must be taken or cannot be taken etc.
Obviously your domestic worker needs to understand clearly what these terms and requirements are, so you need to go through them slowly and carefully and if necessary, in her/his home language to ensure that they do in fact understand what your expectations are. If your domestic worker is illiterate, make sure that you explain things in simple terms.
No one can be forced to sign a document and many domestic workers are terrified of putting their ‘mark’ to anything. So if your domestic worker refuses to sign, you can fulfil your compliance requirements by documenting this on her/his document and then giving them a copy of the document. Don’t forget to keep one for yourself though – ensuring that you have also documented the refusal to sign the document and the date that the document was given to her/him.
Wages and Related Criteria
The rate of pay for Domestic worker’s, like any other category, is protected by law and there are minimum rates of pay for hourly/daily/weekly/monthly paid individuals. Workers who work in the rural areas for example are entitled to a different level of pay to those working in the cities and things like whether they are ‘live in’ or if they have to take public transport, are also taken into consideration. So you would need to familiarize yourself with what these differences are. Please go to the Department of Labour’s website (http://www.labour.gov.za ) to get this information.
Remember that if your domestic worker/gardener works for you for more than 24 hours a month (and yes this means if you have someone in to help you once a week, this does apply to you), you have to register with the Department of Labour as an employer. Once you have received your registration number, you have to register your employee for UIF. The UIF is calculated at 2% of the employees total wage. The employee has to pay 1% (which must be deducted from her/his wages) and the employer has to pay 1% as well. This money has to be paid over to SARS (South African Revenue Services) every month and before the 7th of the following month.
All employees are entitled to receive a pay slip indicating what their remuneration is, what deductions have been made and how much leave they are entitled to. In the case of casual and/or ‘piece’ workers, it is suggested that you get them to sign in receipt for any money that has been given to them for services rendered. This will remove any emotional outbursts such as “I worked all day cleaning the garage and I never got paid!”
Leave Related Issues
The usual suspects apply – Annual Leave, Sick Leave, Family Responsibility Leave and of course Maternity Leave.
Just like any other employee, your domestic workers are entitled to paid annual leave and this is calculated at the usual three weeks (15 working days) per annum for full time workers or 1 (one) day for every 17 (seventeen) days worked.
In terms of sick leave, the cycle is also 36 months and the domestic worker is entitled to an amount of paid sick leave that is equal to the number of days that she/he would normally have worked during a period of six weeks or 30 days is she/he is full time employed. So for example, your once a week char/gardener, in this instance would be entitled to 6 days and your full time (Monday to Friday) domestic employee would be entitled to 30 days paid leave for every 36 month period.
For the first six months of employment however, your domestic worker is only entitled to 1 (one) day’s sick leave for every 26 days worked.
Like all other forms of employees, your domestic worker is entitled to 4 (four) months unpaid maternity leave and you are obliged to ‘re-employ’ them after their 4 months is up. Remember also, that you cannot dismiss them for being pregnant or getting pregnant and doing so would be considered ‘unfair’ by the CCMA and you would be fined and find yourself hugely out of pocket. So don’t do it.
Domestic employees who are employed for more than 24 hours a month (again this applies to your weekly char or gardener too) are also entitled to take Family Responsibility Leave in the amount of 5 (five) days per annum.
Bits and Pieces
All the other HR requirements that apply in the Corporate Employment world also apply to domestic employees. So this of course means that you cannot just dismiss, you have to have a fair and reasonable reason for wanting to dismiss your domestic worker.
The rules around discipline also apply, so written warnings and disciplinary hearings need to take place and be documented in the usual fashion.
Performance appraisals should also take place at least annually and increases and/or bonus should relate to the results of these, also government will insist on a minimum annual increase.
Issues around retrenchment still apply and in terms of this employers are governed and restricted in exactly the same way as any other employer would be.
The rest of the terms and conditions in the Basic Conditions of Employment Act also then still will apply to your domestic employees and you need to be aware of the fact that non-compliance to any of these could result in you receiving a visit from the Department of Labour inspector who may then issue a compliance order and/or even issue you with a fine.
The simple or most cost effective measure of course, is to ensure that you are compliant and keep yourself that way.
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
By Nikki Viljoen of Viljoen Consulting CC , December 2011
A number of my clients have found themselves either on the wrong side of the law or alternatively with a sullen, at odds with the world, domestic worker. Neither are fun to deal with and the reality is that meeting the requirements as an employer is not that difficult and having the correct procedures in place is not that difficult and usually calms the waters as your domestic employee now feels secure in their employment and you will have the means to measure their performance as well as have the law on your side in terms of the disciplinary codes.
Firstly let’s define who “Domestic Employees” are. They are your daily helpers, your maids, your chars, your gardeners. They are also your drivers or care givers to the elderly, the frail or the disabled as well as child minders or anyone who cares for your children. In short, they are anyone who works in your household.
Here are some of the basic legal requirements.
Contracts
Like any other employee, your domestic worker needs and is entitled to have a written contract in place, irrespective of whether they are full time and even if they only work one day a week.
Like any other employment contract all the terms and conditions of the employment need to be listed. Issues such as, but not limited to:
- Starting and ending times
- Pay rate
- Leave requirements (include not only annual leave, but also sick leave and Family Responsibility leave)
- Duties
- Any special requirements such as when leave must be taken or cannot be taken etc.
Obviously your domestic worker needs to understand clearly what these terms and requirements are, so you need to go through them slowly and carefully and if necessary, in her/his home language to ensure that they do in fact understand what your expectations are. If your domestic worker is illiterate, make sure that you explain things in simple terms.
No one can be forced to sign a document and many domestic workers are terrified of putting their ‘mark’ to anything. So if your domestic worker refuses to sign, you can fulfil your compliance requirements by documenting this on her/his document and then giving them a copy of the document. Don’t forget to keep one for yourself though – ensuring that you have also documented the refusal to sign the document and the date that the document was given to her/him.
Wages and Related Criteria
The rate of pay for Domestic worker’s, like any other category, is protected by law and there are minimum rates of pay for hourly/daily/weekly/monthly paid individuals. Workers who work in the rural areas for example are entitled to a different level of pay to those working in the cities and things like whether they are ‘live in’ or if they have to take public transport, are also taken into consideration. So you would need to familiarize yourself with what these differences are. Please go to the Department of Labour’s website (http://www.labour.gov.za ) to get this information.
Remember that if your domestic worker/gardener works for you for more than 24 hours a month (and yes this means if you have someone in to help you once a week, this does apply to you), you have to register with the Department of Labour as an employer. Once you have received your registration number, you have to register your employee for UIF. The UIF is calculated at 2% of the employees total wage. The employee has to pay 1% (which must be deducted from her/his wages) and the employer has to pay 1% as well. This money has to be paid over to SARS (South African Revenue Services) every month and before the 7th of the following month.
All employees are entitled to receive a pay slip indicating what their remuneration is, what deductions have been made and how much leave they are entitled to. In the case of casual and/or ‘piece’ workers, it is suggested that you get them to sign in receipt for any money that has been given to them for services rendered. This will remove any emotional outbursts such as “I worked all day cleaning the garage and I never got paid!”
Leave Related Issues
The usual suspects apply – Annual Leave, Sick Leave, Family Responsibility Leave and of course Maternity Leave.
Just like any other employee, your domestic workers are entitled to paid annual leave and this is calculated at the usual three weeks (15 working days) per annum for full time workers or 1 (one) day for every 17 (seventeen) days worked.
In terms of sick leave, the cycle is also 36 months and the domestic worker is entitled to an amount of paid sick leave that is equal to the number of days that she/he would normally have worked during a period of six weeks or 30 days is she/he is full time employed. So for example, your once a week char/gardener, in this instance would be entitled to 6 days and your full time (Monday to Friday) domestic employee would be entitled to 30 days paid leave for every 36 month period.
For the first six months of employment however, your domestic worker is only entitled to 1 (one) day’s sick leave for every 26 days worked.
Like all other forms of employees, your domestic worker is entitled to 4 (four) months unpaid maternity leave and you are obliged to ‘re-employ’ them after their 4 months is up. Remember also, that you cannot dismiss them for being pregnant or getting pregnant and doing so would be considered ‘unfair’ by the CCMA and you would be fined and find yourself hugely out of pocket. So don’t do it.
Domestic employees who are employed for more than 24 hours a month (again this applies to your weekly char or gardener too) are also entitled to take Family Responsibility Leave in the amount of 5 (five) days per annum.
Bits and Pieces
All the other HR requirements that apply in the Corporate Employment world also apply to domestic employees. So this of course means that you cannot just dismiss, you have to have a fair and reasonable reason for wanting to dismiss your domestic worker.
The rules around discipline also apply, so written warnings and disciplinary hearings need to take place and be documented in the usual fashion.
Performance appraisals should also take place at least annually and increases and/or bonus should relate to the results of these, also government will insist on a minimum annual increase.
Issues around retrenchment still apply and in terms of this employers are governed and restricted in exactly the same way as any other employer would be.
The rest of the terms and conditions in the Basic Conditions of Employment Act also then still will apply to your domestic employees and you need to be aware of the fact that non-compliance to any of these could result in you receiving a visit from the Department of Labour inspector who may then issue a compliance order and/or even issue you with a fine.
The simple or most cost effective measure of course, is to ensure that you are compliant and keep yourself that way.
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
Thursday, January 12, 2012
EARLY WARNING - Be Alert for Duplicate Car Keys
EARLY WARNING – Be Alert for Duplicate Car Keys
By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting – January 2012
I have taken the below information directly off a newsletter that I received from the AA. I hope that the information contained herein, stops at least one person from being scammed. Be careful out there and always be aware of what is happening around you – if something doesn’t feel right, chances are it isn’t!
Regards
Nikki
Be on the alert for car keys duplication when buying a car privately
Buying a car online can be an easy and safe process, but you should always be vigilant, as there are fraudsters out to defraud you. AA Autobay warns prospective buyers to be extra cautious when buying a car online due to an increase in the cases where car keys are duplicated before the sale is finalised.
“Duplication of car keys is one of the scams seen as a trend for fraudsters to find an easy way to scam the buyer by stealing the car after the purchase,” says Karla Strydom spokesperson for AA Autobay.
When buying a car privately, you are at risk of fraudsters masquerading as sellers who are always on the lookout for ways to defraud unsuspecting car buyers of their hard earned money. Once the buyer has paid the full price for the car, a location for handover is arranged and the real keys are given to the new owner, while the fraudster is left with a duplicate. As a result, the fraudster has full access to the car and buyer’s personal information, so they can steal the car back from the buyer’s home or workplace. “Prospective car buyers shouldn’t be fooled by a smooth sale process, which may ultimately leave them with nothing,” says Strydom.
Buying a car privately from a reputable and professional seller protects the buyer from such scams. At AA Autobay the entire process and transaction is facilitated end-to-end for the buyer and seller, minimising the risk of unknown factors in the sale process. AA Autobay hands over the purchased car to the buyer at AA Autobay’s premises on the seller’s behalf, and in so doing, ensures that none of the buyer’s personal information is disclosed to the seller. This process ensures that the vehicle cannot be stolen by the fraudster, who impersonates a genuine seller, and whom may have a copy of the car keys to use at a later point to steal the vehicle back from the buyer.
The buyer and seller can rest assured of a peace-of-mind deal by using AA Autobay to facilitate the vehicle sale and purchase process. “We understand that when buying a car, consumers need protection against fraudsters, and against having their hard earn money embezzled from them. That is why AA Autobay does the necessary checks to ensure the seller is indeed the owner of the vehicle and is legitimate. A further precaution includes the protection of contact details as well as addresses of buyers and sellers to protect them against any other fraudulent activity,” concludes Strydom.
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
By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting – January 2012
I have taken the below information directly off a newsletter that I received from the AA. I hope that the information contained herein, stops at least one person from being scammed. Be careful out there and always be aware of what is happening around you – if something doesn’t feel right, chances are it isn’t!
Regards
Nikki
Be on the alert for car keys duplication when buying a car privately
Buying a car online can be an easy and safe process, but you should always be vigilant, as there are fraudsters out to defraud you. AA Autobay warns prospective buyers to be extra cautious when buying a car online due to an increase in the cases where car keys are duplicated before the sale is finalised.
“Duplication of car keys is one of the scams seen as a trend for fraudsters to find an easy way to scam the buyer by stealing the car after the purchase,” says Karla Strydom spokesperson for AA Autobay.
When buying a car privately, you are at risk of fraudsters masquerading as sellers who are always on the lookout for ways to defraud unsuspecting car buyers of their hard earned money. Once the buyer has paid the full price for the car, a location for handover is arranged and the real keys are given to the new owner, while the fraudster is left with a duplicate. As a result, the fraudster has full access to the car and buyer’s personal information, so they can steal the car back from the buyer’s home or workplace. “Prospective car buyers shouldn’t be fooled by a smooth sale process, which may ultimately leave them with nothing,” says Strydom.
Buying a car privately from a reputable and professional seller protects the buyer from such scams. At AA Autobay the entire process and transaction is facilitated end-to-end for the buyer and seller, minimising the risk of unknown factors in the sale process. AA Autobay hands over the purchased car to the buyer at AA Autobay’s premises on the seller’s behalf, and in so doing, ensures that none of the buyer’s personal information is disclosed to the seller. This process ensures that the vehicle cannot be stolen by the fraudster, who impersonates a genuine seller, and whom may have a copy of the car keys to use at a later point to steal the vehicle back from the buyer.
The buyer and seller can rest assured of a peace-of-mind deal by using AA Autobay to facilitate the vehicle sale and purchase process. “We understand that when buying a car, consumers need protection against fraudsters, and against having their hard earn money embezzled from them. That is why AA Autobay does the necessary checks to ensure the seller is indeed the owner of the vehicle and is legitimate. A further precaution includes the protection of contact details as well as addresses of buyers and sellers to protect them against any other fraudulent activity,” concludes Strydom.
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
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
BLOGGING TIPS - Write When You do have Ideas
BLOGGING TIPS – Write When You do have Ideas
By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting CC December 2011
I’m sure that by now, most of you understand that I do love to write. Actually, if the truth be told – if I don’t write every single day, I feel as though something is missing in my life. You know what I mean – that feeling that you have forgotten to do something, but you can’t think of what that ‘something’ is.
The fact of the matter though is that despite the huge amount of material and ideas that I have for articles and stories – sometimes I am just not in the mood to write. Sometimes, although the idea for the article is scrumptious and delicious and absolutely perfect – I’m not, and the words just won’t flow and as I once was so inspired, so uninspired I am right now. That’s usually when I fling my arms heavenward and declare “Someone has messed with my mojo!”
When I am in this frame of mind – well there’s actually no point in actually even trying to write! I know because I have tried before – many times and all that happens is I’ve written a load of absolute drivel, messed up a perfectly good idea, then irritated and annoyed myself beyond reason.
Conversely, there are times when I can’t seem to stop writing – when ideas flow like running water and it feels like the pen won’t keep up with my thoughts or my fingers won’t move quickly enough over the key board. When this happens, I can produce an article every 15 to 20 minutes and I have been known to write far into the night, often forgetting to eat or drink or even go to the bathroom.
I really do love it when I am in this space because this is the time when I write articles in advance. The articles for my column in the “Your Business Magazine” (http://bizmag.co.za) may be written for the entire year, in one sitting. Speeches for Toastmasters, or functions where I am the guest speaker or on occasions even new workshops that I have been asked to facilitate, are written during these times and are therefore ready long before they are actually needed.
There’s nothing quite like getting to a deadline knowing that the article has been written and that there is no need for panic or haste – especially when it is one of those times when I really don’t feel like writing about anything!
So use your time of inspiration to write to your heart’s content and put the ‘writings’ into your own panty to be used as and when you are uninspired or just not in the mood. This way you can continue to love what you do instead of becoming irritated and resentful when you are forced to do something that you really don’t feel like doing.
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
By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting CC December 2011
I’m sure that by now, most of you understand that I do love to write. Actually, if the truth be told – if I don’t write every single day, I feel as though something is missing in my life. You know what I mean – that feeling that you have forgotten to do something, but you can’t think of what that ‘something’ is.
The fact of the matter though is that despite the huge amount of material and ideas that I have for articles and stories – sometimes I am just not in the mood to write. Sometimes, although the idea for the article is scrumptious and delicious and absolutely perfect – I’m not, and the words just won’t flow and as I once was so inspired, so uninspired I am right now. That’s usually when I fling my arms heavenward and declare “Someone has messed with my mojo!”
When I am in this frame of mind – well there’s actually no point in actually even trying to write! I know because I have tried before – many times and all that happens is I’ve written a load of absolute drivel, messed up a perfectly good idea, then irritated and annoyed myself beyond reason.
Conversely, there are times when I can’t seem to stop writing – when ideas flow like running water and it feels like the pen won’t keep up with my thoughts or my fingers won’t move quickly enough over the key board. When this happens, I can produce an article every 15 to 20 minutes and I have been known to write far into the night, often forgetting to eat or drink or even go to the bathroom.
I really do love it when I am in this space because this is the time when I write articles in advance. The articles for my column in the “Your Business Magazine” (http://bizmag.co.za) may be written for the entire year, in one sitting. Speeches for Toastmasters, or functions where I am the guest speaker or on occasions even new workshops that I have been asked to facilitate, are written during these times and are therefore ready long before they are actually needed.
There’s nothing quite like getting to a deadline knowing that the article has been written and that there is no need for panic or haste – especially when it is one of those times when I really don’t feel like writing about anything!
So use your time of inspiration to write to your heart’s content and put the ‘writings’ into your own panty to be used as and when you are uninspired or just not in the mood. This way you can continue to love what you do instead of becoming irritated and resentful when you are forced to do something that you really don’t feel like doing.
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
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
BUSINESS TIPS - Social Media - What Gives
BUSINESS TIPS – Social Media - What Gives
By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting CC – December 2011
Many of my clients seem to be tearing their hair out because of staff taking time away from their designated jobs to ‘play’ on the social media sites or incessantly chat on their cell phones.
Twenty years ago Social Media was simply the radio or television and was relatively harmless to business – I mean it was quite easy to ensure that staff were not glued to the TV or the radio. With the introduction of WWW (World Wide Web) and the internet however, things have changed drastically and currently employers are bearing the brunt of it.
Today we have all sorts of distractions such as (but not limited to) Facebook and Twitter and don’t forget BBM (Blackberry Messenger)! According to an article written by Jan Du Toit entitled “Social Media: Guidelines on the policy for employees using social media for non-business purposes”, employees spend as much as 79% of their business day, playing on social networking and/or gaming sites. Never mind the work that doesn’t get done, there is also the cost of the resource that the company will ultimately be responsiblefor. Just how long can any company, regardless of its’ size, continue doing business under these circumstances – my guess is not very long at all.
There have also been reported incidents where employees have been dismissed because of how they have disparaged bosses and/or colleagues and/or clients, publically – what kind of damage does that do to the reputation of the company as well as the individual? Yes, technology has advanced us as a species into a wonderful world, where there is so much to explore and learn – sadly, it has also caused huge problems in terms of the way that it is being abused by individuals who have no control over their own actions and who are addicted to the games or the interaction. Sadly many of us find that are lives are now governed by gadgets.
It is obvious, that in order for SME’s (small, medium enterprises) as well as big corporate companies, to survive the technical revolution, certain measures need to be implemented to ensure that staff spend their work time actually working and not playing in their personal capacities. Enter the Social Media Policy. This will set clear guidelines to ensure that staff do not abuse company resources and provide clear definitions between what is and isn’t allowed.
Here are some of the types of issues that would need to be addressed:
If the employee is using media sites for business purposes, they must be aware of and clear on (but not limited to):
- Which social media sites can be used and when.
- The legality of postings and whether they are ethical or disrespectful and disparaging.
- The company’s confidentiality policy should not be breeched, this should include the personal details of management, colleagues and even clients and suppliers.
- Company details and information should be correctly disclosed, and only the official company logo should be used.
- In terms of compliance or legislation, it is also a good idea to ensure that all copyright laws are adhered to.
- Media type statements and/or public postings should always first be cleared by the employer and/or his/her designate.
- etc.
For employees using the internet, social media (including cell phones and IM {instant messages applications}), they should be (but not limited to).
- Company policy on the use of company equipment as well as what social sites can be used and when
- Company confidentiality policy must not be breeched in any way, so company information must be kept safe
- The company code of conduct should be upheld
- Employees should only post in their personal capacities and not on ‘behalf of’ the company, their colleagues, clients and/or service providers and suppliers.
- Usage of cellphones should also be included here.
- Etc.
Furthermore, employees should be made aware of the consequences, should they fail to comply with the policy and a reminder that internet and e-mail and in the case of company cell phones, usage can and will be monitored.
It’s also a good idea to include this on the letter/contract of appointment, making sure that employees understand that when they sign their letters/contract, they also give employers permission to monitor the internet/e-mail/cell phone usage of the employer.
Please contact Nikki, if you require assistance with this policy and/or any other policies/procedures/templates that you may require.
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
By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting CC – December 2011
Many of my clients seem to be tearing their hair out because of staff taking time away from their designated jobs to ‘play’ on the social media sites or incessantly chat on their cell phones.
Twenty years ago Social Media was simply the radio or television and was relatively harmless to business – I mean it was quite easy to ensure that staff were not glued to the TV or the radio. With the introduction of WWW (World Wide Web) and the internet however, things have changed drastically and currently employers are bearing the brunt of it.
Today we have all sorts of distractions such as (but not limited to) Facebook and Twitter and don’t forget BBM (Blackberry Messenger)! According to an article written by Jan Du Toit entitled “Social Media: Guidelines on the policy for employees using social media for non-business purposes”, employees spend as much as 79% of their business day, playing on social networking and/or gaming sites. Never mind the work that doesn’t get done, there is also the cost of the resource that the company will ultimately be responsiblefor. Just how long can any company, regardless of its’ size, continue doing business under these circumstances – my guess is not very long at all.
There have also been reported incidents where employees have been dismissed because of how they have disparaged bosses and/or colleagues and/or clients, publically – what kind of damage does that do to the reputation of the company as well as the individual? Yes, technology has advanced us as a species into a wonderful world, where there is so much to explore and learn – sadly, it has also caused huge problems in terms of the way that it is being abused by individuals who have no control over their own actions and who are addicted to the games or the interaction. Sadly many of us find that are lives are now governed by gadgets.
It is obvious, that in order for SME’s (small, medium enterprises) as well as big corporate companies, to survive the technical revolution, certain measures need to be implemented to ensure that staff spend their work time actually working and not playing in their personal capacities. Enter the Social Media Policy. This will set clear guidelines to ensure that staff do not abuse company resources and provide clear definitions between what is and isn’t allowed.
Here are some of the types of issues that would need to be addressed:
If the employee is using media sites for business purposes, they must be aware of and clear on (but not limited to):
- Which social media sites can be used and when.
- The legality of postings and whether they are ethical or disrespectful and disparaging.
- The company’s confidentiality policy should not be breeched, this should include the personal details of management, colleagues and even clients and suppliers.
- Company details and information should be correctly disclosed, and only the official company logo should be used.
- In terms of compliance or legislation, it is also a good idea to ensure that all copyright laws are adhered to.
- Media type statements and/or public postings should always first be cleared by the employer and/or his/her designate.
- etc.
For employees using the internet, social media (including cell phones and IM {instant messages applications}), they should be (but not limited to).
- Company policy on the use of company equipment as well as what social sites can be used and when
- Company confidentiality policy must not be breeched in any way, so company information must be kept safe
- The company code of conduct should be upheld
- Employees should only post in their personal capacities and not on ‘behalf of’ the company, their colleagues, clients and/or service providers and suppliers.
- Usage of cellphones should also be included here.
- Etc.
Furthermore, employees should be made aware of the consequences, should they fail to comply with the policy and a reminder that internet and e-mail and in the case of company cell phones, usage can and will be monitored.
It’s also a good idea to include this on the letter/contract of appointment, making sure that employees understand that when they sign their letters/contract, they also give employers permission to monitor the internet/e-mail/cell phone usage of the employer.
Please contact Nikki, if you require assistance with this policy and/or any other policies/procedures/templates that you may require.
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
Monday, January 09, 2012
MOTIVATION - What Can Be - Must Be
MOTIVATION – What Can Be – Must Be
By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting CC – December 2011
Today’s words come from Abraham Maslow who says “A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write if he is ultimately to be at peace with himself. What one can be, one must be!”
Sounds about right don’t you think? Yet for many it is one of the most challenging things that they ever attempt to do!
I think I can safely say that everyone has a life’s purpose – it’s ultimately the reason that we humans visit this planet called earth. Yet for so many, a purpose in life is the last thing that they think about or even contemplate and how very sad is that.
For many, merely putting one foot in front of the other in order to ensure that they have food for their children is about as much as they can allow themselves to think about. They are so focused on that, that any thought other than that intrudes and is instantly banished. Any thought would be considered as an imposition, an evil or a bad thing as it detracts them from their sole purpose which is to put that food on the table.
Many of these souls are damaged in mind and/or in body – broken by the weight of their world. Damaged by what they consider their ‘lot in life’, imprisoned by their own minds and fears and how incredibly sad is that.
Here’s the thing though – it is my belief that we all have some sort of potential that we have to fulfill. We all have something inside of ourselves that drives us, something that makes us cling tenaciously to life itself and until we firstly discover what that “thing” is, what that potential is and secondly until we fulfill that potential we are doomed to wonder around as though we are lost.
I know that on a personal level, if I don’t write something every day it is as though I have forgotten to do something – something is missing or not completed.
If that is how I feel and I believe that I know what my life’s purpose is, I cannot even begin to understand or comprehend what people who are merely existing through life must feel.
Life is designed to be lived to the full, to be enjoyed and savored and to have fun. So dig down deep, find your passion and your life’s purpose and start living by being all that you can be and fulfill that potential that is so uniquely yours!
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
By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting CC – December 2011
Today’s words come from Abraham Maslow who says “A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write if he is ultimately to be at peace with himself. What one can be, one must be!”
Sounds about right don’t you think? Yet for many it is one of the most challenging things that they ever attempt to do!
I think I can safely say that everyone has a life’s purpose – it’s ultimately the reason that we humans visit this planet called earth. Yet for so many, a purpose in life is the last thing that they think about or even contemplate and how very sad is that.
For many, merely putting one foot in front of the other in order to ensure that they have food for their children is about as much as they can allow themselves to think about. They are so focused on that, that any thought other than that intrudes and is instantly banished. Any thought would be considered as an imposition, an evil or a bad thing as it detracts them from their sole purpose which is to put that food on the table.
Many of these souls are damaged in mind and/or in body – broken by the weight of their world. Damaged by what they consider their ‘lot in life’, imprisoned by their own minds and fears and how incredibly sad is that.
Here’s the thing though – it is my belief that we all have some sort of potential that we have to fulfill. We all have something inside of ourselves that drives us, something that makes us cling tenaciously to life itself and until we firstly discover what that “thing” is, what that potential is and secondly until we fulfill that potential we are doomed to wonder around as though we are lost.
I know that on a personal level, if I don’t write something every day it is as though I have forgotten to do something – something is missing or not completed.
If that is how I feel and I believe that I know what my life’s purpose is, I cannot even begin to understand or comprehend what people who are merely existing through life must feel.
Life is designed to be lived to the full, to be enjoyed and savored and to have fun. So dig down deep, find your passion and your life’s purpose and start living by being all that you can be and fulfill that potential that is so uniquely yours!
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
Thursday, December 22, 2011
EARLY WARNING - Travellers Beware
EARLY WARNING – Travellers Beware
By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting – December 2011
It’s holiday time again and sadly the scamsters are always devising ways of parting you from your hard earned cash or belongings.
Here are some tips that I found on the internet, to keep you safe:
“While we have pinpointed the countries where these crimes seem to pop up most frequently, any one of them could happen just about anywhere.
1. Fool’s Gold: France
If you’re walking the streets of Paris and someone appears to have found a gold ring at your feet, congratulate them and keep on walking. The ring is a plant and the person who pretends to have found it will use just about any sob story to get you to buy it off them.
2. Monkey Business: Bali, Indonesia
Proving that thieves don’t always come in human form, the monkeys at Bali’s Uluwatu Temple are notorious for swiping from tourists everything from sunglasses to cameras and then running off into nearby bushes. Seconds later, their conniving trainer, dressed as a temple official, appears to report that if given a few rapiah to buy bananas, he can coerce the monkeys into giving back the booty.
3. Automatic Theft Machine: Trinidad and Tobago
Using x-ray film, thieves in Trinidad construct a pocket that slips into the card slot of an ATM, holding it hostage. A helpful and observant bystander then miraculously appears to suggest that typing in a PIN backwards will release the card. Unfortunately, when the bystander later retrieves the pocket, the victim’s money will be released as well.
4. Postcards from the Edge: Italy
Kids outside the Stazione Termini have been known to thrust pen and postcard into the hands of tourists and ask for help writing a letter “home”. Then they dictate a story of poverty and hunger so disturbing that said tourist is often guilted into handing over some cash.
5. At Your Service: United States of America
The bottom line with this scam is that room service charges should always go on the credit card the hotel already has on file. If the waiter or waitress who delivers your food demands cash or a card, the egg on your plate is soon going to end up on your face.
6. A Crappy thing to Do: Argentina
Should someone on the streets of Buenos Aries try to wipe non-existent bird droppings from the back of your shirt, chances are that’s not all they’re wiping off you. Teams working in pairs use this technique to rob distracted and disgusted victims. An even messier French version of this trick includes real mustard.
7. Customer Surprise: Bali
Another in the seemingly endless array of ATM scams, this one involves a false “Customer Service” phone number posted on a card-swallowing machine. When the victim calls it, he or she is asked for the card’s PIN number, hotel and contact information, and assured the card will be returned soon after.
8. The Exchange Game: Zimbabwe
Street scammers here offer tourists incredible exchange rates provided that the transaction takes place in a secluded café. At the café, the money is counted out on top of the table, but rolled up into a rubber band under it; the explanation being that police may be watching. Needless to say, the tourists later discover a large discrepancy between the amount counted and the amount given.
9. Front Desk Phonies: United States of America
In this simple but highly destructive scam, sleepy unsuspecting hotel guests are awakened by a very early morning or very late night call from the front desk asking for credit card information. It’s not until much later when they realize that ‘front desk’ was actually a front for something else.
10. Funny Money: China
Although efforts are being made to solve this problem, the Chinese money supply has a significant amount of fake currency in circulation with much of it ending up in the hands of clueless tourists. Short of carrying around a counterfeit detector, the best way to avoid this is to refuse 50’s or 100’s altogether, or accept them only from banks.”
I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a pleasant holiday – take care, travel safely and I will ‘see’ you all in the New Year.
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
By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting – December 2011
It’s holiday time again and sadly the scamsters are always devising ways of parting you from your hard earned cash or belongings.
Here are some tips that I found on the internet, to keep you safe:
“While we have pinpointed the countries where these crimes seem to pop up most frequently, any one of them could happen just about anywhere.
1. Fool’s Gold: France
If you’re walking the streets of Paris and someone appears to have found a gold ring at your feet, congratulate them and keep on walking. The ring is a plant and the person who pretends to have found it will use just about any sob story to get you to buy it off them.
2. Monkey Business: Bali, Indonesia
Proving that thieves don’t always come in human form, the monkeys at Bali’s Uluwatu Temple are notorious for swiping from tourists everything from sunglasses to cameras and then running off into nearby bushes. Seconds later, their conniving trainer, dressed as a temple official, appears to report that if given a few rapiah to buy bananas, he can coerce the monkeys into giving back the booty.
3. Automatic Theft Machine: Trinidad and Tobago
Using x-ray film, thieves in Trinidad construct a pocket that slips into the card slot of an ATM, holding it hostage. A helpful and observant bystander then miraculously appears to suggest that typing in a PIN backwards will release the card. Unfortunately, when the bystander later retrieves the pocket, the victim’s money will be released as well.
4. Postcards from the Edge: Italy
Kids outside the Stazione Termini have been known to thrust pen and postcard into the hands of tourists and ask for help writing a letter “home”. Then they dictate a story of poverty and hunger so disturbing that said tourist is often guilted into handing over some cash.
5. At Your Service: United States of America
The bottom line with this scam is that room service charges should always go on the credit card the hotel already has on file. If the waiter or waitress who delivers your food demands cash or a card, the egg on your plate is soon going to end up on your face.
6. A Crappy thing to Do: Argentina
Should someone on the streets of Buenos Aries try to wipe non-existent bird droppings from the back of your shirt, chances are that’s not all they’re wiping off you. Teams working in pairs use this technique to rob distracted and disgusted victims. An even messier French version of this trick includes real mustard.
7. Customer Surprise: Bali
Another in the seemingly endless array of ATM scams, this one involves a false “Customer Service” phone number posted on a card-swallowing machine. When the victim calls it, he or she is asked for the card’s PIN number, hotel and contact information, and assured the card will be returned soon after.
8. The Exchange Game: Zimbabwe
Street scammers here offer tourists incredible exchange rates provided that the transaction takes place in a secluded café. At the café, the money is counted out on top of the table, but rolled up into a rubber band under it; the explanation being that police may be watching. Needless to say, the tourists later discover a large discrepancy between the amount counted and the amount given.
9. Front Desk Phonies: United States of America
In this simple but highly destructive scam, sleepy unsuspecting hotel guests are awakened by a very early morning or very late night call from the front desk asking for credit card information. It’s not until much later when they realize that ‘front desk’ was actually a front for something else.
10. Funny Money: China
Although efforts are being made to solve this problem, the Chinese money supply has a significant amount of fake currency in circulation with much of it ending up in the hands of clueless tourists. Short of carrying around a counterfeit detector, the best way to avoid this is to refuse 50’s or 100’s altogether, or accept them only from banks.”
I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a pleasant holiday – take care, travel safely and I will ‘see’ you all in the New Year.
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
Friday, October 28, 2011
HR - All About the Polygraph (and other such Tests)
All about the Polygraph (and other such Tests)
By Nikki Viljoen of Viljoen Consulting CC , October 2011
The reality of the matter, if you own your own business, is that you have staff. The reality of the matter if you have staff and if you trade here in South Africa, is that you will experience theft and/or fraud in the workplace. That’s just the way that it is.
What is really important however, is how we deal with it, whether it is from an employer or employee perspective!
On a personal level, I have no problem undergoing a polygraph test or any other type of security test for that matter because – well because I have nothing to hide, so I have no fear about what the results may show.
“But what about people’s rights?” I hear everyone shouting!
Let’s be honest, these days the criminals probably have more rights than their victims and sadly often the innocent get caught up in the mess and that is not something that is unique to South Africa.
Here’s the thing though – both the employer and the employee have rights and not dealing with these rights in a fair and responsible manner is what often gets us into trouble.
The employer who has suffered the loss, be it theft or fraud, has the right to investigate by whatever means he or she has available to them. That loss may result in the closure of the business or the loss of jobs for the other employees. It may have caused the company to come into disrepute and caused the loss of clients or income and sadly this is not something that the employees think of when they cause mischief. Usually it is all about their greed and what they can get away with.
So what is the correct procedure? Well first of all the employee needs to agree, in writing, to having the test performed.
For me, it is a pretty simple and fair requirement and so that my clients don’t have to get everybody’s signature every time something goes pear-shaped, I have a clause in the letter of appointment that says that the employer “reserves the right” to have these various tests done when and if necessary and by the employee signing said contract, they have given written authority to the employer.
Be fair though, even if you do have the written authority of the staff member to run one of these tests, make sure that the person who is conducting the test is properly registered. Actually, if they are not registered psychologists any result that they come to would be considered ‘unscientific, unethical and illegal’ as per the 1986 Industrial Courts finding between Mahlangu v CIM Delatk. Obviously questions need to be pre-set prior to the test taking place, so that questions are not specifically tailored to the staff member in question. This really means that tests need to be run fairly, without bias and certainly without any kind of hidden agenda.
Remember of course that from a legal point of view, the results of a polygraph test only indicate some sort of deception and this of course means that the employer then needs to continue on with the investigation. It does not conclusively prove guilt and you cannot just fire or dismiss someone because they failed their test as the test is known to be not 100% accurate.
Also remember that even though the staff member has signed saying that they agree to the test you cannot actually force them to take one and you cannot dismiss them for refusing to take the test – the charge would have to be amended to ‘breach of contract’.
If the staff member refuses to sign giving authority to the employer to undergo the test a charge of ‘ breach of duty of good faith’ can be brought. In these circumstances it is also a good idea to ‘show’ that there are ‘special circumstances that exist that oblige an employee to assist management in the investigation of an offence’. This will greatly assist your cause.
Clearly however, it is really important to distinguish between all the charges and which one relates to what because if you just charge with say . . dishonesty and the staff member just refused to subject themselves to the test, you are going to end up putting your hand in your wallet . . . . . again!
As usual though, if you are not 100% sure of what you are doing make sure that you seek the services of an experienced Labour Consultant.
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
By Nikki Viljoen of Viljoen Consulting CC , October 2011
The reality of the matter, if you own your own business, is that you have staff. The reality of the matter if you have staff and if you trade here in South Africa, is that you will experience theft and/or fraud in the workplace. That’s just the way that it is.
What is really important however, is how we deal with it, whether it is from an employer or employee perspective!
On a personal level, I have no problem undergoing a polygraph test or any other type of security test for that matter because – well because I have nothing to hide, so I have no fear about what the results may show.
“But what about people’s rights?” I hear everyone shouting!
Let’s be honest, these days the criminals probably have more rights than their victims and sadly often the innocent get caught up in the mess and that is not something that is unique to South Africa.
Here’s the thing though – both the employer and the employee have rights and not dealing with these rights in a fair and responsible manner is what often gets us into trouble.
The employer who has suffered the loss, be it theft or fraud, has the right to investigate by whatever means he or she has available to them. That loss may result in the closure of the business or the loss of jobs for the other employees. It may have caused the company to come into disrepute and caused the loss of clients or income and sadly this is not something that the employees think of when they cause mischief. Usually it is all about their greed and what they can get away with.
So what is the correct procedure? Well first of all the employee needs to agree, in writing, to having the test performed.
For me, it is a pretty simple and fair requirement and so that my clients don’t have to get everybody’s signature every time something goes pear-shaped, I have a clause in the letter of appointment that says that the employer “reserves the right” to have these various tests done when and if necessary and by the employee signing said contract, they have given written authority to the employer.
Be fair though, even if you do have the written authority of the staff member to run one of these tests, make sure that the person who is conducting the test is properly registered. Actually, if they are not registered psychologists any result that they come to would be considered ‘unscientific, unethical and illegal’ as per the 1986 Industrial Courts finding between Mahlangu v CIM Delatk. Obviously questions need to be pre-set prior to the test taking place, so that questions are not specifically tailored to the staff member in question. This really means that tests need to be run fairly, without bias and certainly without any kind of hidden agenda.
Remember of course that from a legal point of view, the results of a polygraph test only indicate some sort of deception and this of course means that the employer then needs to continue on with the investigation. It does not conclusively prove guilt and you cannot just fire or dismiss someone because they failed their test as the test is known to be not 100% accurate.
Also remember that even though the staff member has signed saying that they agree to the test you cannot actually force them to take one and you cannot dismiss them for refusing to take the test – the charge would have to be amended to ‘breach of contract’.
If the staff member refuses to sign giving authority to the employer to undergo the test a charge of ‘ breach of duty of good faith’ can be brought. In these circumstances it is also a good idea to ‘show’ that there are ‘special circumstances that exist that oblige an employee to assist management in the investigation of an offence’. This will greatly assist your cause.
Clearly however, it is really important to distinguish between all the charges and which one relates to what because if you just charge with say . . dishonesty and the staff member just refused to subject themselves to the test, you are going to end up putting your hand in your wallet . . . . . again!
As usual though, if you are not 100% sure of what you are doing make sure that you seek the services of an experienced Labour Consultant.
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
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
CPA - Consumer Complaint Procedure - Part3
CPA – Consumer Complaint Procedure – Part 3
By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting CC- October 2011
Following on from last time, as promised here is some additional contact information.
Please note that the telephone/fax/cell numbers were correct at the time the original information was received by myself, however I cannot guarantee that it is still correct or that information has not changed in the interim. Should the information be incorrect please check your telephone directory or contact 1023 to obtain the correct numbers.
Government Bodies
Consumer Commission 086 184 3384
Public Protector Tel: 012 366 7000
Fax: 012 262 3473
Toll Free: 0800 011 2040
Department of Trade & Industry Tel: 012 394 9500
Call Share: 012 663 5693
Tribunal Tel: 012 663 5615
Fax: 012 663 5693
Provincial Sonsumer Protection Offices
Gauteng Tel: 011 355 8006
Fax: 011 355 8019
Western Cape Tel: 080 000 7081
Fax: 021 483 5872
Eastern Cape Tel: 040 609 3050
Fax: 040 609 3201
Free State Tel: 051 400 4852
Fax: 051 400 9610
Kwazulu Natal Tel: 031 310 5300
Fax: 031 310 5416
Limpopo Tel: 015 293 8300
Fax: 015 291 1336
Northwest Tel: 018 387 7872
Fax: 018 392 5660
Northern Cape Tel: 053 839 4000
Fax: 053 831 3669
Consumer NGO’s
South African National Consumer Union Tel: 012 428 7122
Fax: 086 672 8585
National Consumer Forum Tel: 012 428 7071
Fax: 012 428 7284/5019
National Black Consumer Union Tel: 011 982 2585
Industry Bodies
Advertising Tel: 011 781 2006
Advertising Standard Authority (ASA) Fax: 011 781 1616
Auctions Tel: 082 555 3458
S A Institution of Auctioneers
Banking Tel: 011 838 0035
Obudsman for Banking Services Share call: 086 080 0900
Banking Tel: 011 645 6700
Banking Association Fax: 011 645 6800
Competition Commission Tel: 012 394 3200
Dental Ombudsman Tel: 086 011 3334
S A Dental Association Tel: 011 484 5288
Direct Marketing Association Tel: 011 781 8019
Fax: 086 626 0758
Direct Selling Association Tel: 011 726 5300
Fax 011 482 2000
Electrical Contractors Association SA Tel: 011 392 0000
Fax: 011 974 9402
National Electricity Regulator Tel: 012 401 4600
Fax: 012 401 4700
Escom Call Centres
Central Region: Braamfontein Tel: 086 003 7566
Eastern Region: Westville Tel: 086 020 4560
Southern Region: East London Tel: 086 014 0014
Tel: 043 702 5270
North Eastern Region: Witbank Tel: 086 000 1414
Tel: 013 693 5000
North Western Region: Bloemfontein Tel: 086 003 7566
Northern Region Tel 086 010 0304
Western Region: Cape Town Tel: 021 915 3203
Estate Agency Affairs Board Tel: 011 731 5600
Fax: 011 880 9725
Fax: 011 880 9831
Franchise Association SA Tel: 011 615 0359
Fax: 011 615 3679
Furniture Traders Association Tel: 011 789 6770
Fax: 086 656 8872
Kitchen Specialists Association
Gauteng and Cape Town Tel: 086 010 9290
Kwazulu Natal Tel: 086 550 56296
National Home Builders Registration Council Tel: 011 317 0010
Fax: 011 317 0141
Housing Consumer Protection Trust Tel: 011 333 8501
Fax 011 333 1050
Hospital Complaints Tel: 011 478 0156
The Hospital Association SA Fax: 011 478 0410
Council of Medical Schemes Tel: 012 431 0500
Fax: 012 431 0608
South African Medical Association Tel: 012 481 2000
Fax: 012 481 2100
South African Pharmacy Council Tel: 012 319 8500
Fax: 012 321 1492
South African Optometric Association Tel: 011 805 4517
Fax: 011 805 3882
Health Professional Council of SA Tel: 012 338 9300
Fax: 012 328 5120
Law Society of SA Tel: 012 366 8800
Fax: 012 362 0969
Motor Industry Ombudsman Tel: 012 841 2945
Fax: 012 841 2842
Timeshare Institute of SA Tel: 021 914 9693
Retailers Association Tel: 011 726 5300
S A Bureau of Standards Tel: 012 428 7911
Tel: 012 428 6006
Fax: 012 344 1568
S A Tourism Tel: 011 895 3001
Cell: 083 123 6789
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
By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting CC- October 2011
Following on from last time, as promised here is some additional contact information.
Please note that the telephone/fax/cell numbers were correct at the time the original information was received by myself, however I cannot guarantee that it is still correct or that information has not changed in the interim. Should the information be incorrect please check your telephone directory or contact 1023 to obtain the correct numbers.
Government Bodies
Consumer Commission 086 184 3384
Public Protector Tel: 012 366 7000
Fax: 012 262 3473
Toll Free: 0800 011 2040
Department of Trade & Industry Tel: 012 394 9500
Call Share: 012 663 5693
Tribunal Tel: 012 663 5615
Fax: 012 663 5693
Provincial Sonsumer Protection Offices
Gauteng Tel: 011 355 8006
Fax: 011 355 8019
Western Cape Tel: 080 000 7081
Fax: 021 483 5872
Eastern Cape Tel: 040 609 3050
Fax: 040 609 3201
Free State Tel: 051 400 4852
Fax: 051 400 9610
Kwazulu Natal Tel: 031 310 5300
Fax: 031 310 5416
Limpopo Tel: 015 293 8300
Fax: 015 291 1336
Northwest Tel: 018 387 7872
Fax: 018 392 5660
Northern Cape Tel: 053 839 4000
Fax: 053 831 3669
Consumer NGO’s
South African National Consumer Union Tel: 012 428 7122
Fax: 086 672 8585
National Consumer Forum Tel: 012 428 7071
Fax: 012 428 7284/5019
National Black Consumer Union Tel: 011 982 2585
Industry Bodies
Advertising Tel: 011 781 2006
Advertising Standard Authority (ASA) Fax: 011 781 1616
Auctions Tel: 082 555 3458
S A Institution of Auctioneers
Banking Tel: 011 838 0035
Obudsman for Banking Services Share call: 086 080 0900
Banking Tel: 011 645 6700
Banking Association Fax: 011 645 6800
Competition Commission Tel: 012 394 3200
Dental Ombudsman Tel: 086 011 3334
S A Dental Association Tel: 011 484 5288
Direct Marketing Association Tel: 011 781 8019
Fax: 086 626 0758
Direct Selling Association Tel: 011 726 5300
Fax 011 482 2000
Electrical Contractors Association SA Tel: 011 392 0000
Fax: 011 974 9402
National Electricity Regulator Tel: 012 401 4600
Fax: 012 401 4700
Escom Call Centres
Central Region: Braamfontein Tel: 086 003 7566
Eastern Region: Westville Tel: 086 020 4560
Southern Region: East London Tel: 086 014 0014
Tel: 043 702 5270
North Eastern Region: Witbank Tel: 086 000 1414
Tel: 013 693 5000
North Western Region: Bloemfontein Tel: 086 003 7566
Northern Region Tel 086 010 0304
Western Region: Cape Town Tel: 021 915 3203
Estate Agency Affairs Board Tel: 011 731 5600
Fax: 011 880 9725
Fax: 011 880 9831
Franchise Association SA Tel: 011 615 0359
Fax: 011 615 3679
Furniture Traders Association Tel: 011 789 6770
Fax: 086 656 8872
Kitchen Specialists Association
Gauteng and Cape Town Tel: 086 010 9290
Kwazulu Natal Tel: 086 550 56296
National Home Builders Registration Council Tel: 011 317 0010
Fax: 011 317 0141
Housing Consumer Protection Trust Tel: 011 333 8501
Fax 011 333 1050
Hospital Complaints Tel: 011 478 0156
The Hospital Association SA Fax: 011 478 0410
Council of Medical Schemes Tel: 012 431 0500
Fax: 012 431 0608
South African Medical Association Tel: 012 481 2000
Fax: 012 481 2100
South African Pharmacy Council Tel: 012 319 8500
Fax: 012 321 1492
South African Optometric Association Tel: 011 805 4517
Fax: 011 805 3882
Health Professional Council of SA Tel: 012 338 9300
Fax: 012 328 5120
Law Society of SA Tel: 012 366 8800
Fax: 012 362 0969
Motor Industry Ombudsman Tel: 012 841 2945
Fax: 012 841 2842
Timeshare Institute of SA Tel: 021 914 9693
Retailers Association Tel: 011 726 5300
S A Bureau of Standards Tel: 012 428 7911
Tel: 012 428 6006
Fax: 012 344 1568
S A Tourism Tel: 011 895 3001
Cell: 083 123 6789
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
Monday, October 24, 2011
MOTIVATION - Just Take the First Step
MOTIVATION – Just Take the First Step
By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting CC – October 2011
Dr. Martin Luther King Jnr said “Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”
Ironically, I had to give a speech the other day around the theme of liberty and chose the topic “Freedom from Fear”.
You see, as children we are fearless – well certainly we were when I was a child, growing up. I remember hearing the scary stories around the table or the campfire – you know the ones I am talking about. The ones that make you giggle and squirm deliciously whilst you try and show the grown ups (or grups as I called them then), just how brave you were.
To be honest, I never really heard the ‘traditional’ Grim’s Fairy tales because I preferred to sit at the cook’s fire at the staff quarters on the farm, and there I heard the traditional African stories - stories of a different kind. I heard tales of the tokalosh and skelms that hunted stealthly at night on unsuspecting prey. I heard tales of witchdoctors who were shape shifters and magic muti spells or ‘juju’ and I along with the other children would squeal with delight as we listened intently at this strange and mystifying folklore. The tales and stories being handed down from generation to generation. We would giggle behind our hands and try and make ourselves as tiny and as little as possible so as to be a very small target for the magic that was sure to come out of the darkness and we shivered in delicious anticipation and our toes curled in terror and we peered into the night to see if we would be the first to see which shape the witchdoctor had become.
Were we terrified – oh absolutely! But we were also fearless and brave! Our ancestors demanded it and we were willing to face the test and be recognized.
Slowly but surely as time passed, our fearlessness, our confidence in ourselves and our abilities, have been stripped away from us. Slowly but surely, the fear that most adults carry with them as part of their baggage, was shared with or indoctrinated into us. You know the ones . . . . the ‘don’t climb up there, you’ll fall” or “Don’t do that you’ll get hurt!”
And you know what? They were absolutely right . . . we did get hurt!
We lost our fearlessness and we replaced it with fear. We lost our self confidence and we replaced it with insecurities. We lost our trust - trust in ourselves and who we are – and we replaced it with self doubt – how terribly sad is that!
For many of us, this meant the end of our risk taking days. We could no longer be Captain Kirk going beyond time to exotic galaxy’s. We could no longer be Captain Hook sailing off to unmapped lands to face untold dangers. We could no longer be Zorro or Tonto or General Custer or Huckleberry Finn or even Tom Sawyer, going on wild and carefree and fearless adventures . . . and how incredibly sad is that?
As Entrepreneurs however we have once again become fearless. We have taken that first step into the unknown and unchartered territories. We have faced uncaring bank managers and unsupportive spouses and nagging children and hungry pets – oh yes! My cat bites me when I have been out of the house too long!
We have struggled to make sense of the numbers and battled with business plans or marketing or branding or the logistics and HR and hell . . . even government red tape and legislation, much of which many of us had never even heard of, much less had to contend with. We have faced our most ardent critics and judges – ourselves – and we have prevailed. We have once again found our fearless selves – even if it is only for a few moments at a time.
Fortunately for me, I never entirely lost the ‘wild child’ that I was and many of my friends will attest to that. I can often be fearless, but I long for the days when it was the natural order of things – when my toes curled in terror and I shivered in delicious anticipation of seeing the frightening apparition taking the form of the witchdoctor as he appeared out of the swirling mists and the darkness.
And so I challenge you to let go of the fear and to find your own freedom from that fear.
Take that step, irrespective of how scared and frightened you are – take that first step, you’ll find the next one will be so much easier.
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
By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting CC – October 2011
Dr. Martin Luther King Jnr said “Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”
Ironically, I had to give a speech the other day around the theme of liberty and chose the topic “Freedom from Fear”.
You see, as children we are fearless – well certainly we were when I was a child, growing up. I remember hearing the scary stories around the table or the campfire – you know the ones I am talking about. The ones that make you giggle and squirm deliciously whilst you try and show the grown ups (or grups as I called them then), just how brave you were.
To be honest, I never really heard the ‘traditional’ Grim’s Fairy tales because I preferred to sit at the cook’s fire at the staff quarters on the farm, and there I heard the traditional African stories - stories of a different kind. I heard tales of the tokalosh and skelms that hunted stealthly at night on unsuspecting prey. I heard tales of witchdoctors who were shape shifters and magic muti spells or ‘juju’ and I along with the other children would squeal with delight as we listened intently at this strange and mystifying folklore. The tales and stories being handed down from generation to generation. We would giggle behind our hands and try and make ourselves as tiny and as little as possible so as to be a very small target for the magic that was sure to come out of the darkness and we shivered in delicious anticipation and our toes curled in terror and we peered into the night to see if we would be the first to see which shape the witchdoctor had become.
Were we terrified – oh absolutely! But we were also fearless and brave! Our ancestors demanded it and we were willing to face the test and be recognized.
Slowly but surely as time passed, our fearlessness, our confidence in ourselves and our abilities, have been stripped away from us. Slowly but surely, the fear that most adults carry with them as part of their baggage, was shared with or indoctrinated into us. You know the ones . . . . the ‘don’t climb up there, you’ll fall” or “Don’t do that you’ll get hurt!”
And you know what? They were absolutely right . . . we did get hurt!
We lost our fearlessness and we replaced it with fear. We lost our self confidence and we replaced it with insecurities. We lost our trust - trust in ourselves and who we are – and we replaced it with self doubt – how terribly sad is that!
For many of us, this meant the end of our risk taking days. We could no longer be Captain Kirk going beyond time to exotic galaxy’s. We could no longer be Captain Hook sailing off to unmapped lands to face untold dangers. We could no longer be Zorro or Tonto or General Custer or Huckleberry Finn or even Tom Sawyer, going on wild and carefree and fearless adventures . . . and how incredibly sad is that?
As Entrepreneurs however we have once again become fearless. We have taken that first step into the unknown and unchartered territories. We have faced uncaring bank managers and unsupportive spouses and nagging children and hungry pets – oh yes! My cat bites me when I have been out of the house too long!
We have struggled to make sense of the numbers and battled with business plans or marketing or branding or the logistics and HR and hell . . . even government red tape and legislation, much of which many of us had never even heard of, much less had to contend with. We have faced our most ardent critics and judges – ourselves – and we have prevailed. We have once again found our fearless selves – even if it is only for a few moments at a time.
Fortunately for me, I never entirely lost the ‘wild child’ that I was and many of my friends will attest to that. I can often be fearless, but I long for the days when it was the natural order of things – when my toes curled in terror and I shivered in delicious anticipation of seeing the frightening apparition taking the form of the witchdoctor as he appeared out of the swirling mists and the darkness.
And so I challenge you to let go of the fear and to find your own freedom from that fear.
Take that step, irrespective of how scared and frightened you are – take that first step, you’ll find the next one will be so much easier.
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
Friday, October 14, 2011
EARLY WARNING: Department of Labour Warns Employers of "S A Legal Act" Scam
EARLY WARNING – Department of Labour Warns Employers of “S A Legal Act” Scam
Good day all – I received this through the S A Labour Guide Newsletters. Please take note
Regards
Nikki
DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR WARN EMPLOYERS OF ‘SA LEGAL ACT’ SCAM
Media Release Issued By Department of Labour
The Department of Labour is warning business to be wary of people from a company called SA Legal Act claiming to be subcontractors of the department who are selling copies of the country’s labour legislation.
It has since come to the attention of the department that there are people who have already visited company premises around Pretoria/Tshwane area presenting themselves as subcontractors of the Department of Labour and selling copies of Labour Legislation.
“It is alleged that the person(s) from SA Legal Act rocked up in one company insisting that the company buys the documents for display before the Labour Inspectors come for inspection,” said Labour Department Deputy Director-General Inspection & Enforcement (IES) Siyanda Nxawe.
The peddlers of ‘so called’ labour legislation sell copies relating to Basic Conditions of Employment Act, Employment Equity, Occupational Health, Skills Development Amendment Act, Law of Dismissal, Construction Regulation, Sector Determination, Code of Good Practice on the employment of people with Disabilities and the New Tobacco.
“Members of the public, employers and organizations are warned of this scam where people also pose as Labour Inspectors and sell them pieces of legislation. The Department of Labour does not sell legislation information and services of the Department are provided at no cost to workers, employers and general public,” Nxawe said.
The Department also wishes to warn companies and public never to deposit money into bank accounts of scammers. It is also not true that the above mentioned legislation(s) were valid for three years. SA Legal Act is selling the various pieces of legislation in the form of posters and charts, of which a copy sells for amounts of between R280 and R310.
The charts and copies of the Labour Acts can be bought from the Government Printers at marginal rates than those quoted by SA Legal Act or can be downloaded from the website of the Department of Labour at www.labour.gov.za.
The Government Printers have offices is Pretoria, telephone number (012) 334 4508/4509/4510, and they also have offices in Cape Town, telephone number (021) 465 7531.
Issued by Mr. Page Boikanyo
Departmental spokesperson
Department of Labour
Good day all – I received this through the S A Labour Guide Newsletters. Please take note
Regards
Nikki
DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR WARN EMPLOYERS OF ‘SA LEGAL ACT’ SCAM
Media Release Issued By Department of Labour
The Department of Labour is warning business to be wary of people from a company called SA Legal Act claiming to be subcontractors of the department who are selling copies of the country’s labour legislation.
It has since come to the attention of the department that there are people who have already visited company premises around Pretoria/Tshwane area presenting themselves as subcontractors of the Department of Labour and selling copies of Labour Legislation.
“It is alleged that the person(s) from SA Legal Act rocked up in one company insisting that the company buys the documents for display before the Labour Inspectors come for inspection,” said Labour Department Deputy Director-General Inspection & Enforcement (IES) Siyanda Nxawe.
The peddlers of ‘so called’ labour legislation sell copies relating to Basic Conditions of Employment Act, Employment Equity, Occupational Health, Skills Development Amendment Act, Law of Dismissal, Construction Regulation, Sector Determination, Code of Good Practice on the employment of people with Disabilities and the New Tobacco.
“Members of the public, employers and organizations are warned of this scam where people also pose as Labour Inspectors and sell them pieces of legislation. The Department of Labour does not sell legislation information and services of the Department are provided at no cost to workers, employers and general public,” Nxawe said.
The Department also wishes to warn companies and public never to deposit money into bank accounts of scammers. It is also not true that the above mentioned legislation(s) were valid for three years. SA Legal Act is selling the various pieces of legislation in the form of posters and charts, of which a copy sells for amounts of between R280 and R310.
The charts and copies of the Labour Acts can be bought from the Government Printers at marginal rates than those quoted by SA Legal Act or can be downloaded from the website of the Department of Labour at www.labour.gov.za.
The Government Printers have offices is Pretoria, telephone number (012) 334 4508/4509/4510, and they also have offices in Cape Town, telephone number (021) 465 7531.
Issued by Mr. Page Boikanyo
Departmental spokesperson
Department of Labour
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
BLOGGING TIPS: Stealing Content & Idea
BLOGGING TIPS – Stealing Content & Ideas
By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting CC September 2011
I was asked the other day whether I had ever ‘stolen ideas and/or content”? To be quite honest I was gob smacked! Now I can see you all shaking your heads and wondering if I have lost all of my marbles!
Here’s the thing, more often than not, (probably around 99.9999% of the time), something that I have heard or something that I have seen or something that I have read about, has sparked an idea for an article, in my mind.
Logic must tell you that it would be impossible for me to actually experience every single thing that I write about. Of course that does not mean that I cannot write about the lesson that needs to be learnt or in fact learn the lesson from someone else myself.
Look, let’s be honest here – I am not saying that you should plagiarize anyone’s work or not give an author credit for something that they have written. That for me, goes without saying. Words that you use that were written by someone else should be correctly credited. That’s not only a legal issue, but for me it is also a moral one.
What I am saying though, is that words, or pictures often spark another idea or are often the basis of another idea that will usually end up as an article. Pretty much like the question that was asked that has now become this article.
This is often one way that allows ideas to be shown in perhaps a different context or from another viewpoint.
The fact of the matter is that I have several websites that I visit on a daily basis and several newsletters that I get on one feed or another and I also subscribe to several magazines and am constantly reading books that pertain to business or biographies and even non-fiction. The fact of the matter is that all of this reading makes something ‘click’ and somewhere, something has made me think and that thought has resulted in an article being written.
So whilst I don’t condone or promote ‘theft’ of someone else’s work or that an article that someone else wrote be attributed to yourself, I do feel that we all get ideas from somewhere and even when we do ‘research’ we are still using other people’s work to validate what we are doing.
Think about it for a minute – and then go and write your own article!
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
By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting CC September 2011
I was asked the other day whether I had ever ‘stolen ideas and/or content”? To be quite honest I was gob smacked! Now I can see you all shaking your heads and wondering if I have lost all of my marbles!
Here’s the thing, more often than not, (probably around 99.9999% of the time), something that I have heard or something that I have seen or something that I have read about, has sparked an idea for an article, in my mind.
Logic must tell you that it would be impossible for me to actually experience every single thing that I write about. Of course that does not mean that I cannot write about the lesson that needs to be learnt or in fact learn the lesson from someone else myself.
Look, let’s be honest here – I am not saying that you should plagiarize anyone’s work or not give an author credit for something that they have written. That for me, goes without saying. Words that you use that were written by someone else should be correctly credited. That’s not only a legal issue, but for me it is also a moral one.
What I am saying though, is that words, or pictures often spark another idea or are often the basis of another idea that will usually end up as an article. Pretty much like the question that was asked that has now become this article.
This is often one way that allows ideas to be shown in perhaps a different context or from another viewpoint.
The fact of the matter is that I have several websites that I visit on a daily basis and several newsletters that I get on one feed or another and I also subscribe to several magazines and am constantly reading books that pertain to business or biographies and even non-fiction. The fact of the matter is that all of this reading makes something ‘click’ and somewhere, something has made me think and that thought has resulted in an article being written.
So whilst I don’t condone or promote ‘theft’ of someone else’s work or that an article that someone else wrote be attributed to yourself, I do feel that we all get ideas from somewhere and even when we do ‘research’ we are still using other people’s work to validate what we are doing.
Think about it for a minute – and then go and write your own article!
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
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
WORKSHOP : JOHANNESBURG : A Basic Practical Guide to Starting a Business
A Basic Practical Guide To Starting A Business – 9 November 2011
Hosted by Sisibukula, Viljoen Consulting, German Chamber and Business Engage (formerly WIF).
Getting started in the right direction will ensure a smooth transition from 'wannabe' to business owner and will allow you to focus on what you are good at - you know, getting that product and/or service to market. Ensuring that you have everything in place and working correctly, will ensure maximum productivity with minimum effort and will always affect your bottom line.
Getting your processes and procedures in place will ensure that your business is built on a strong infrastructure that usually translates into a sustainable business.
The workshop deals with the everyday issues that arise when starting a new business. It saves time and energy as well as money. Time in that you don’t have to spend time in queue’s trying to get the correct documentation, or doing research on the Internet or anywhere else for that matter, trying to find out what you have to do and where you have to go in order to do it.
A Basic Practical Guide To Starting A Business is broken up into the following main titles below and starts off with the difference between a Sole Proprietor, a small company (formerly Close Corporation) and a Company and how to register each of these entities.
- Accounting Records & General
- Banking Accounts
- Receipts and Banking
- Cheque Payments and/or Internet Payments
- Invoices
- Credit Notes
- Bank Reconciliations
- Petty Cash
- Control of Numbered Stationery
- Computerised Accounting
- Staff & HR Issues
- Security/Safety
- Money Laundering
- Filing
- Stock Control
No prior knowledge of Starting A Business is necessary for this highly effective but simple to understand workshop that promises to equip you with powerful tools to register and manage your business on a practical level.
About the Facilitator – Nikki Viljoen
Nikki Viljoen is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who has her own company called Viljoen Consulting.
Nikki has in excess of 30 years experience in this field both from a banking perspective as well as from a Corporate perspective.
Having seen a huge gap in the SMME market, Nikki started Viljoen Consulting to assist SMME’s to become compliant and to establish controls and processes and to implement structure into the smaller companies to give them greater stability, and to encourage sustainability.
Nikki’s business blog http://www.businessreality.blogspot.com/ or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za/ was recently internationally rated at 8.9 out of a possible 10. This places Nikki 5th in the world in her category. With her blog Nikki shares useful Business and Personal tips with anyone who cares to read it.
Date: Wednesday 9th November 2011
Price: R950.00 per delegate (includes breakfast/lunch/refreshments and course material)
Venue: German Chamber
47 Oxford Road
Forrest Town
Johannesburg
Time: 08.30 to 3.30/4.00 pm. (Registration from 08.00 onwards). Please allow additional travelling time to combat traffic.
RSVP: no later than Monday 7th November 2011 . Space is limited therefore bookings will be accepted on a first come first serve basis.
Please contact:-
German Chamber delegates please contact Shaan Padayachy on 011 486 2775 or spadayachy@germanchamber.co.za
Business Engage ( formerly Women in Finance) delegates please contact Colleen Larsen on colleen@womeninfinance.co.za or 084-353-9865.
Everyone else please contact Nikki Viljoen on nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or 083 702 8849 for booking details.
Hosted by Sisibukula, Viljoen Consulting, German Chamber and Business Engage (formerly WIF).
Getting started in the right direction will ensure a smooth transition from 'wannabe' to business owner and will allow you to focus on what you are good at - you know, getting that product and/or service to market. Ensuring that you have everything in place and working correctly, will ensure maximum productivity with minimum effort and will always affect your bottom line.
Getting your processes and procedures in place will ensure that your business is built on a strong infrastructure that usually translates into a sustainable business.
The workshop deals with the everyday issues that arise when starting a new business. It saves time and energy as well as money. Time in that you don’t have to spend time in queue’s trying to get the correct documentation, or doing research on the Internet or anywhere else for that matter, trying to find out what you have to do and where you have to go in order to do it.
A Basic Practical Guide To Starting A Business is broken up into the following main titles below and starts off with the difference between a Sole Proprietor, a small company (formerly Close Corporation) and a Company and how to register each of these entities.
- Accounting Records & General
- Banking Accounts
- Receipts and Banking
- Cheque Payments and/or Internet Payments
- Invoices
- Credit Notes
- Bank Reconciliations
- Petty Cash
- Control of Numbered Stationery
- Computerised Accounting
- Staff & HR Issues
- Security/Safety
- Money Laundering
- Filing
- Stock Control
No prior knowledge of Starting A Business is necessary for this highly effective but simple to understand workshop that promises to equip you with powerful tools to register and manage your business on a practical level.
About the Facilitator – Nikki Viljoen
Nikki Viljoen is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who has her own company called Viljoen Consulting.
Nikki has in excess of 30 years experience in this field both from a banking perspective as well as from a Corporate perspective.
Having seen a huge gap in the SMME market, Nikki started Viljoen Consulting to assist SMME’s to become compliant and to establish controls and processes and to implement structure into the smaller companies to give them greater stability, and to encourage sustainability.
Nikki’s business blog http://www.businessreality.blogspot.com/ or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za/ was recently internationally rated at 8.9 out of a possible 10. This places Nikki 5th in the world in her category. With her blog Nikki shares useful Business and Personal tips with anyone who cares to read it.
Date: Wednesday 9th November 2011
Price: R950.00 per delegate (includes breakfast/lunch/refreshments and course material)
Venue: German Chamber
47 Oxford Road
Forrest Town
Johannesburg
Time: 08.30 to 3.30/4.00 pm. (Registration from 08.00 onwards). Please allow additional travelling time to combat traffic.
RSVP: no later than Monday 7th November 2011 . Space is limited therefore bookings will be accepted on a first come first serve basis.
Please contact:-
German Chamber delegates please contact Shaan Padayachy on 011 486 2775 or spadayachy@germanchamber.co.za
Business Engage ( formerly Women in Finance) delegates please contact Colleen Larsen on colleen@womeninfinance.co.za or 084-353-9865.
Everyone else please contact Nikki Viljoen on nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or 083 702 8849 for booking details.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
BUSINESS TIPS - Company Operations Manual
BUSINESS TIPS – Company Operations Manual
By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting CC – September 2011
Every company should have an Operations Manual. Okay, this is so important that I am going to have to say it again – irrespective of whether you have one employee, or one hundred employees or one hundred thousand employees – every company should have an Operations Manual.
An Operations Manual is the “how to” guide. It is a ‘living’ document that evidences and outlines every process in your business and it should have various sections (as outlined below). It should be checked and reviewed at the very least, annually to ensure that it is up to date and in line with legislation. Obviously, the size of the business will determine how big or long the manual is and obviously depending on the sector that the company is in, there may or may not be sections that are applicable. For example, if you are in a services type industry (say a financial advisor), you may not have any stock and therefore would not have any need for stock control. Remember always to try and keep it as simple as possible.
The sections that you may require are (but not limited to):-
1. Introduction
a. This should include a brief history of the company – how and why it was started and also the purpose of the manual.
b. The company’s business objectives and mission/vision statement should be included here.
c. A list of the products and/or services provided should be featured here.
2. Organogram
a. Once you get to 3 or 4 departments, this should be split into two. The first one should show just the departments and where they report into. For example HR should report into Operations, Accounts into the Financial Director and so on. The second organogram should include the names of the individuals who head up the departments as well as the name of the individuals that report into them – so in this case Jane Doe and Joe Public who are clerks in the accounts department report into Suzie Stressed out who is the Accounts Manager and she reports into Philip Pedantic who is the Financial Director and so on.
b. The function of each department should also be outlined as well as which department supports which activity and so on.
c. The job descriptions for each particular job (not person) should be filed here too. For example Jane may be the receptionist as well as a debtors clerk and the warehouse data capturer. This of course means that Jane should have 3 different job descriptions.
d. Don’t forget to include the details of the company, such as (but not limited to) address of branch offices and contact details for key personnel.
3. General Information
This section would be the general type information for the staff and would include things like, but not limited to:-
a. General attitude towards clients, suppliers, colleagues and management.
b. How to deal with customer/supplier/colleague/management queries, complaints or visitors
c. Housekeeping – such as personal hygiene and dress code
d. Do’s and don’ts. Examples of this is “do be at work 15 minutes before you are due to start working” or “don’t partake of illegal substances and/or alcohol whilst on duty” and so on.
4. HR and Administration thereof
This section is self explanatory and would deal with some of the below mentioned sub sections:
a. Hiring practices – who authorizes new employees, what are the job spec requirements, what the interview process is, what forms/templates need to be completed including SARS, Department of Labour, Workmen’s Compensation etc. Legislation registration requirements etc. Letters/contracts of employment to be issued etc.
b. When and how employees are paid, including full time or permanent employees and/or casual (one day) employees.
c. Frequency of salary reviews and/or bonus requirements as well as advancement opportunities.
d. Benefits paid by the company (if any), staff contributions and payroll deductions. These also need to be carefully explained so that the staff understand them properly.
e. Disciplinary policy and procedures, including letters of warning and/or notice to attend a disciplinary and/or letter of reprimand and don’t forget the Certificate of Service.
f. Hours of Operation including Annual Leave, Sick Leave, Family Responsibility Leave, Unpaid Leave, Maternity Leave, Paternity Leave and Study Leave – where applicable.
g. Attendance requirements as well as overtime and holidays and remuneration pertaining to these issues.
h. Labour Laws - Basic Conditions of Employment Act, Labour Relations Act and “Best Practices”
i. Any other policies and procedures such as (but not limited to) Smoking requirements, Sexual Harassment or Alcohol and Substance Abuse etc.,
5. Products and Services
This section is also self explanatory but should include:-
a. Your sales procedure and credit authorization requirements.
b. Customer relations and complaints process.
6. Operational Procedures
These should include a departmental flow chart and authorization process for each department and for each process. It would also include detailed ‘step-by-step’ procedures such as ‘once the sale has been completed and signed the order goes to administration where it is checked and data captured and then to the warehouse for the goods to be ‘picked and packed’ then the stock goes to dispatch where the stock is released to the driver and the invoice is produced and then…’ etc. A copy of each document and/or template used should be included with the procedure.
7. Administration
This should include the following (but not be limited to):-
a. Departmental administrative procedures and authorization requirements that would also indicate responsibility and accountability.
b. Templates for each requirement, for example Petty Cash Reconciliation.
c. Procedures on how to complete each template and the purpose of such document.
d. The document flowchart as well as due dates and deadlines.
8. Safety and Security
This would include (but not be limited to) safety issues around the premises, the personnel, company assets and information so issues around:-
a. Safety of the premises (in-house or outsourced), security cards/access cards etc. Access to safes and/or restricted areas
b. Safety of the staff, compliance with OHSA (Occupational Health & Safety Act), including safety gear etc.
c. Managing the importance of the safety of the employee as well as the company.
d. Protection of company assets and the requirements around that
e. Safety around company confidential information as well as client information etc.
f. Key and password control.
g. Incident reports
9. Emergencies
a. How to deal with accidents, staff, visitor and client accidents as well as company vehicle accidents.
b. What to do in case of fire or theft or hold ups or car jacking and all the telephone details that pertain to these.
c. What to do in case of power failure or burst water pipes, or gas leaks.
d. Incident reports
10. Maintenance & Repairs
Procurement policies pertaining to these service providers as well as their contact details.
a. Procedures pertaining to authorization of these service providers as well as authorization for the repair.
b. Authorization and control of after hour access to premises
c. Key controls
d. Refuse removal
e. Handling of equipment
f. Procedures around damage and/or loss to property and/or premises
g. Incident reports.
11. Legal
a. Legislation around local and national requirements and rules and regulations that are industry specific.
b. The ‘how to’ and ‘who with’ handling of regulatory agencies and/or municipalities.
c. Inspections that have taken place and the reports that were issued.
d. Record keeping requirements.
e. Maintaining of ethical standards
f. Green and carbon footprint issues.
Quite a lengthy but comprehensive list, I am sure that you will agree – but a very necessary one at the end of the day. This will evidence that you have a policy of full transparency and that you have nothing to hide.
Your employees will also have an understanding of what is and what isn’t acceptable and also know what the consequences of their actions will be.
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
By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting CC – September 2011
Every company should have an Operations Manual. Okay, this is so important that I am going to have to say it again – irrespective of whether you have one employee, or one hundred employees or one hundred thousand employees – every company should have an Operations Manual.
An Operations Manual is the “how to” guide. It is a ‘living’ document that evidences and outlines every process in your business and it should have various sections (as outlined below). It should be checked and reviewed at the very least, annually to ensure that it is up to date and in line with legislation. Obviously, the size of the business will determine how big or long the manual is and obviously depending on the sector that the company is in, there may or may not be sections that are applicable. For example, if you are in a services type industry (say a financial advisor), you may not have any stock and therefore would not have any need for stock control. Remember always to try and keep it as simple as possible.
The sections that you may require are (but not limited to):-
1. Introduction
a. This should include a brief history of the company – how and why it was started and also the purpose of the manual.
b. The company’s business objectives and mission/vision statement should be included here.
c. A list of the products and/or services provided should be featured here.
2. Organogram
a. Once you get to 3 or 4 departments, this should be split into two. The first one should show just the departments and where they report into. For example HR should report into Operations, Accounts into the Financial Director and so on. The second organogram should include the names of the individuals who head up the departments as well as the name of the individuals that report into them – so in this case Jane Doe and Joe Public who are clerks in the accounts department report into Suzie Stressed out who is the Accounts Manager and she reports into Philip Pedantic who is the Financial Director and so on.
b. The function of each department should also be outlined as well as which department supports which activity and so on.
c. The job descriptions for each particular job (not person) should be filed here too. For example Jane may be the receptionist as well as a debtors clerk and the warehouse data capturer. This of course means that Jane should have 3 different job descriptions.
d. Don’t forget to include the details of the company, such as (but not limited to) address of branch offices and contact details for key personnel.
3. General Information
This section would be the general type information for the staff and would include things like, but not limited to:-
a. General attitude towards clients, suppliers, colleagues and management.
b. How to deal with customer/supplier/colleague/management queries, complaints or visitors
c. Housekeeping – such as personal hygiene and dress code
d. Do’s and don’ts. Examples of this is “do be at work 15 minutes before you are due to start working” or “don’t partake of illegal substances and/or alcohol whilst on duty” and so on.
4. HR and Administration thereof
This section is self explanatory and would deal with some of the below mentioned sub sections:
a. Hiring practices – who authorizes new employees, what are the job spec requirements, what the interview process is, what forms/templates need to be completed including SARS, Department of Labour, Workmen’s Compensation etc. Legislation registration requirements etc. Letters/contracts of employment to be issued etc.
b. When and how employees are paid, including full time or permanent employees and/or casual (one day) employees.
c. Frequency of salary reviews and/or bonus requirements as well as advancement opportunities.
d. Benefits paid by the company (if any), staff contributions and payroll deductions. These also need to be carefully explained so that the staff understand them properly.
e. Disciplinary policy and procedures, including letters of warning and/or notice to attend a disciplinary and/or letter of reprimand and don’t forget the Certificate of Service.
f. Hours of Operation including Annual Leave, Sick Leave, Family Responsibility Leave, Unpaid Leave, Maternity Leave, Paternity Leave and Study Leave – where applicable.
g. Attendance requirements as well as overtime and holidays and remuneration pertaining to these issues.
h. Labour Laws - Basic Conditions of Employment Act, Labour Relations Act and “Best Practices”
i. Any other policies and procedures such as (but not limited to) Smoking requirements, Sexual Harassment or Alcohol and Substance Abuse etc.,
5. Products and Services
This section is also self explanatory but should include:-
a. Your sales procedure and credit authorization requirements.
b. Customer relations and complaints process.
6. Operational Procedures
These should include a departmental flow chart and authorization process for each department and for each process. It would also include detailed ‘step-by-step’ procedures such as ‘once the sale has been completed and signed the order goes to administration where it is checked and data captured and then to the warehouse for the goods to be ‘picked and packed’ then the stock goes to dispatch where the stock is released to the driver and the invoice is produced and then…’ etc. A copy of each document and/or template used should be included with the procedure.
7. Administration
This should include the following (but not be limited to):-
a. Departmental administrative procedures and authorization requirements that would also indicate responsibility and accountability.
b. Templates for each requirement, for example Petty Cash Reconciliation.
c. Procedures on how to complete each template and the purpose of such document.
d. The document flowchart as well as due dates and deadlines.
8. Safety and Security
This would include (but not be limited to) safety issues around the premises, the personnel, company assets and information so issues around:-
a. Safety of the premises (in-house or outsourced), security cards/access cards etc. Access to safes and/or restricted areas
b. Safety of the staff, compliance with OHSA (Occupational Health & Safety Act), including safety gear etc.
c. Managing the importance of the safety of the employee as well as the company.
d. Protection of company assets and the requirements around that
e. Safety around company confidential information as well as client information etc.
f. Key and password control.
g. Incident reports
9. Emergencies
a. How to deal with accidents, staff, visitor and client accidents as well as company vehicle accidents.
b. What to do in case of fire or theft or hold ups or car jacking and all the telephone details that pertain to these.
c. What to do in case of power failure or burst water pipes, or gas leaks.
d. Incident reports
10. Maintenance & Repairs
Procurement policies pertaining to these service providers as well as their contact details.
a. Procedures pertaining to authorization of these service providers as well as authorization for the repair.
b. Authorization and control of after hour access to premises
c. Key controls
d. Refuse removal
e. Handling of equipment
f. Procedures around damage and/or loss to property and/or premises
g. Incident reports.
11. Legal
a. Legislation around local and national requirements and rules and regulations that are industry specific.
b. The ‘how to’ and ‘who with’ handling of regulatory agencies and/or municipalities.
c. Inspections that have taken place and the reports that were issued.
d. Record keeping requirements.
e. Maintaining of ethical standards
f. Green and carbon footprint issues.
Quite a lengthy but comprehensive list, I am sure that you will agree – but a very necessary one at the end of the day. This will evidence that you have a policy of full transparency and that you have nothing to hide.
Your employees will also have an understanding of what is and what isn’t acceptable and also know what the consequences of their actions will be.
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
Monday, September 12, 2011
MOTIVATION - Believe Your Dream
MOTIVATION – Believe Your Dream
By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting CC – September 2011
Eleanor Roosevelt said “The future belongs to those who believe in their dreams”.
Having recently watched “The Mountain Within” and read the book with the same title, by Herta Von Stiegel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRqt2wtIqzk), the issue around our dreams and hopes and goals and aspirations has once again hit home – hard!
In retrospect, I find that I am guilty of not dreaming enough! Strange as that may sound, the fact of the matter is that I have become too caught up in the day to day struggle of getting things done, of juggling the balls and ensuring that they all remain in the air. The fact of the matter is that realistically, I need to schedule some time in my diary – some quiet time to think, to dream and to engage with that part inside of me that allows thoughts and dreams to become reality.
Growing up on a huge farm in the then Rhodesia, “Dream time” was something that I did on a daily basis and it was done naturally and without any conscious thought to how important it is in everyone’s life.
Dreams of visiting Russia as I read books on the colourful character, that was Rasputin and the deep love between Nicolas and Alexandra, or the man of action that was Peter the Great and all the loves of Catherine the Great, turned into reality when I visited Russia in 2001. I can still remember the grown ups (or grups as I called them as a child) laughing at me and mocking me when I vocalized my intention of visiting Russia day. You see, this was the early 60’s and of course on-one visited communist countries then. I remember the sting of their laughter and my own 5 year old resolution – I would visit Russia one day!
I also remember standing at the canal, outside the Cathedral of the Resurrection in St. Petersburg, right at the spot where they tried unsuccessfully to drown Rasputin. My thoughts this time, full of emotion – full of pleasure, at the realization of the fact, that this particular dream had never died. This dream, had stood the test of time and had endured some 40 odd years to become a reality.
I cannot begin to tell you all the thoughts that went through my mind. I was exhilarated and humbled at the same time. Excited, sad, awed and also proud. One thing that I do remember though, is the thought that played itself over and over again in my mind (and I am sure that I even said the words out loud at some point too), “I told you I would come to Russia one day!”
And that’s exactly how it should be – that’s how it can be – our dreams turning into reality – our dreams becoming our future.
So, I don’t know about you, but I now have my diary at hand and I will book the time and hopefully I will be able to return to that childhood time, when ‘dream time’ was a natural thing and where I will once again be in charge of the future that I will take part in and that will become my reality.
What about you? Do you “dream” enough?
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
By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting CC – September 2011
Eleanor Roosevelt said “The future belongs to those who believe in their dreams”.
Having recently watched “The Mountain Within” and read the book with the same title, by Herta Von Stiegel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRqt2wtIqzk), the issue around our dreams and hopes and goals and aspirations has once again hit home – hard!
In retrospect, I find that I am guilty of not dreaming enough! Strange as that may sound, the fact of the matter is that I have become too caught up in the day to day struggle of getting things done, of juggling the balls and ensuring that they all remain in the air. The fact of the matter is that realistically, I need to schedule some time in my diary – some quiet time to think, to dream and to engage with that part inside of me that allows thoughts and dreams to become reality.
Growing up on a huge farm in the then Rhodesia, “Dream time” was something that I did on a daily basis and it was done naturally and without any conscious thought to how important it is in everyone’s life.
Dreams of visiting Russia as I read books on the colourful character, that was Rasputin and the deep love between Nicolas and Alexandra, or the man of action that was Peter the Great and all the loves of Catherine the Great, turned into reality when I visited Russia in 2001. I can still remember the grown ups (or grups as I called them as a child) laughing at me and mocking me when I vocalized my intention of visiting Russia day. You see, this was the early 60’s and of course on-one visited communist countries then. I remember the sting of their laughter and my own 5 year old resolution – I would visit Russia one day!
I also remember standing at the canal, outside the Cathedral of the Resurrection in St. Petersburg, right at the spot where they tried unsuccessfully to drown Rasputin. My thoughts this time, full of emotion – full of pleasure, at the realization of the fact, that this particular dream had never died. This dream, had stood the test of time and had endured some 40 odd years to become a reality.
I cannot begin to tell you all the thoughts that went through my mind. I was exhilarated and humbled at the same time. Excited, sad, awed and also proud. One thing that I do remember though, is the thought that played itself over and over again in my mind (and I am sure that I even said the words out loud at some point too), “I told you I would come to Russia one day!”
And that’s exactly how it should be – that’s how it can be – our dreams turning into reality – our dreams becoming our future.
So, I don’t know about you, but I now have my diary at hand and I will book the time and hopefully I will be able to return to that childhood time, when ‘dream time’ was a natural thing and where I will once again be in charge of the future that I will take part in and that will become my reality.
What about you? Do you “dream” enough?
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
Wednesday, September 07, 2011
The Mountain Within - By Herta Von Stiegel
I first met Herta in July 2009 when she was our guest speaker at a Women In Finance Hot Tables Dinner and I was blown away by this 50+ year old tiny, soft spoken woman, who had climbed Mount Kilamanjaro and lead a team of 28 other climbers, some of who were mentally and physically disabled. She showed us the trailer of the documentary and went through some of the leadership lessons that were highlighted in the trailor. I was humbled.
I next met Herta in Botswana when Colleen and myself went to do a 3 day training session to the Women In Finance branch in Gaberone and it was there that I learned that she was internationally renound and recognised in the finance world and that her Company Ariya Capital, whose head office is in London, had a branch office in Gaberone, clearly the drums of Africa were now firmly entrenched in her blood - here's a bit more about what it is all about.http://www.ariyacapital.com/index.ph...ta-von-stiegel
Since then, every time that Herta comes our to SA, I try and have a short visit with her - I find her inspirational, motivational and always full of information.
Herta is also on the governing body of the Committee of 200, which is an international women's organization. "Members are leading women executives from for profit public and private companies, are the key decision makers and are directly responsible for the success of their company or business unit's bottom line. Our members have demonstrated a track record of success and accomplishments and are committed to giving forward to future businesswomen" Actually, they have to be directly responsible for funds in excess of $250 million.
Herta and 19 of her C200 colleagues were out here in SA during the course of the last two weeks, where they interviewed and chose several woman candidates for bursaries and they will also mentor these ladies - a rare and magnificient opportunity. Herta also lauched the full movie of The Mountain Within and launched her book of the same title at a huge gathering at Monte Casino Il Grande theatre on Tuesday evening.
Women in Finance co-ordinated the whole C200 time here in SA,from UCT to GIBBS, the interviews and the launch of movie and books in Cape Town and Johannesburg and it was wonderful as a committee member of WIF, to have the opportunity of being part of this. Of course I got to spend some time with Herta (even if it was only about 15mins or so) and I have a signed copy of the book, which I have been unable to put down.
Some of the information on the back of the book "In July 2008, international business executive Herta Von Stiegel led a group of disabled people to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for charity. The story was captured in the award winning documentary The Mountain Within - and now the expedition has inspired this remarkable work, which blends the gripping tale with powerful leadership lessons and conversations with many of the world's most influential business leaders: Kay Unger, Sung-Joo Kim, Dr Joachim Faber, Baroness Scotland of Asthal, Marsha Serlin, Dr Karl (Charly) and Lisa Kleissner, Martha (Marty) Wikstrom, Sam Chisholm, Minister Mohamed Lotfi Mansour, Karin Forseke, President and Lt. General Seretse Khama Ian Khama, Christie Hefner, Abeyya Ai-Qatami, Hon. Al Gore and David Blood, Dr Mohamed "Mo" Ibrahim. Life may be full of obstacles, but it is the mountain within that most often needs to be conquered. No matter your challenges or where you are on your climb to the top, this unique work helps you become a resilient leader capable of guiding your team to achieve even the most challenging goal." Here is a trailer of the film.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3114359/
I am about 3/4 of the way through the book already, and because I know the story and seen the movie, the reading is going very quickly. I do know that I will read it a second time at a more gentle pace, as there is so much to learn from the lessons. It is a great read and I strongly recommend everyone to go and get yourselves a copy.
I next met Herta in Botswana when Colleen and myself went to do a 3 day training session to the Women In Finance branch in Gaberone and it was there that I learned that she was internationally renound and recognised in the finance world and that her Company Ariya Capital, whose head office is in London, had a branch office in Gaberone, clearly the drums of Africa were now firmly entrenched in her blood - here's a bit more about what it is all about.http://www.ariyacapital.com/index.ph...ta-von-stiegel
Since then, every time that Herta comes our to SA, I try and have a short visit with her - I find her inspirational, motivational and always full of information.
Herta is also on the governing body of the Committee of 200, which is an international women's organization. "Members are leading women executives from for profit public and private companies, are the key decision makers and are directly responsible for the success of their company or business unit's bottom line. Our members have demonstrated a track record of success and accomplishments and are committed to giving forward to future businesswomen" Actually, they have to be directly responsible for funds in excess of $250 million.
Herta and 19 of her C200 colleagues were out here in SA during the course of the last two weeks, where they interviewed and chose several woman candidates for bursaries and they will also mentor these ladies - a rare and magnificient opportunity. Herta also lauched the full movie of The Mountain Within and launched her book of the same title at a huge gathering at Monte Casino Il Grande theatre on Tuesday evening.
Women in Finance co-ordinated the whole C200 time here in SA,from UCT to GIBBS, the interviews and the launch of movie and books in Cape Town and Johannesburg and it was wonderful as a committee member of WIF, to have the opportunity of being part of this. Of course I got to spend some time with Herta (even if it was only about 15mins or so) and I have a signed copy of the book, which I have been unable to put down.
Some of the information on the back of the book "In July 2008, international business executive Herta Von Stiegel led a group of disabled people to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for charity. The story was captured in the award winning documentary The Mountain Within - and now the expedition has inspired this remarkable work, which blends the gripping tale with powerful leadership lessons and conversations with many of the world's most influential business leaders: Kay Unger, Sung-Joo Kim, Dr Joachim Faber, Baroness Scotland of Asthal, Marsha Serlin, Dr Karl (Charly) and Lisa Kleissner, Martha (Marty) Wikstrom, Sam Chisholm, Minister Mohamed Lotfi Mansour, Karin Forseke, President and Lt. General Seretse Khama Ian Khama, Christie Hefner, Abeyya Ai-Qatami, Hon. Al Gore and David Blood, Dr Mohamed "Mo" Ibrahim. Life may be full of obstacles, but it is the mountain within that most often needs to be conquered. No matter your challenges or where you are on your climb to the top, this unique work helps you become a resilient leader capable of guiding your team to achieve even the most challenging goal." Here is a trailer of the film.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3114359/
I am about 3/4 of the way through the book already, and because I know the story and seen the movie, the reading is going very quickly. I do know that I will read it a second time at a more gentle pace, as there is so much to learn from the lessons. It is a great read and I strongly recommend everyone to go and get yourselves a copy.
Monday, September 05, 2011
MOTIVATION - Making the Decision
MOTIVATION – Making the Decision
By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting CC – September 2011
Harvey Mackay says “People begin to become successful the minute they decide to be.”
Yes – actually it is that simple! I think that for most of us, certainly for me, this is true. We have been conditioned to believe that being successful is hard work, and I suppose that to some degree there is a certain amount of work that needs to be done, but for me – the mindset is what is most important.
We’ve all heard, and I am sure even uttered the words on occasion “It can’t be that easy!” When things just seem to slot in, or fall into place – that lucrative deal that you have signed just as the previous one was ending, or even more unusual, robots turning green just as you are about to apply the brakes – all way to work or home!
I have learnt over the years that it is actually that easy. When my mindset is right and I am going in the right direction – things just seems to fall into place. When I am totally committed to what it is that I am doing, my plans are in place and I am mentally geared up – things seem to be very easy.
It’s when I am not sure, or hesitant, when I haven’t done as much research as I probably should have or I am not completely sure of what it is that I am doing that I tend to second guess myself.
When I second guess myself is when the doubts start creeping in – you know which ones I mean, not only the ones that I am prepared to vocalize and get out onto the table, but also those that I very seldom admit to - even to myself – those that I grapple with and do battle with in the dead of the night.
By the time it gets to that point, I know on every level that I am ‘dead’ in the water and that there is no way that whatever it is that I am doing, is going to be successful. You see, I have on some level decided that I cannot do it! That is the decision that has been made and therefore that is the decision that will be successful.
So here’s the bottom line – if it is success that you are looking for then clearly that is the decision that needs to be made.
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
By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting CC – September 2011
Harvey Mackay says “People begin to become successful the minute they decide to be.”
Yes – actually it is that simple! I think that for most of us, certainly for me, this is true. We have been conditioned to believe that being successful is hard work, and I suppose that to some degree there is a certain amount of work that needs to be done, but for me – the mindset is what is most important.
We’ve all heard, and I am sure even uttered the words on occasion “It can’t be that easy!” When things just seem to slot in, or fall into place – that lucrative deal that you have signed just as the previous one was ending, or even more unusual, robots turning green just as you are about to apply the brakes – all way to work or home!
I have learnt over the years that it is actually that easy. When my mindset is right and I am going in the right direction – things just seems to fall into place. When I am totally committed to what it is that I am doing, my plans are in place and I am mentally geared up – things seem to be very easy.
It’s when I am not sure, or hesitant, when I haven’t done as much research as I probably should have or I am not completely sure of what it is that I am doing that I tend to second guess myself.
When I second guess myself is when the doubts start creeping in – you know which ones I mean, not only the ones that I am prepared to vocalize and get out onto the table, but also those that I very seldom admit to - even to myself – those that I grapple with and do battle with in the dead of the night.
By the time it gets to that point, I know on every level that I am ‘dead’ in the water and that there is no way that whatever it is that I am doing, is going to be successful. You see, I have on some level decided that I cannot do it! That is the decision that has been made and therefore that is the decision that will be successful.
So here’s the bottom line – if it is success that you are looking for then clearly that is the decision that needs to be made.
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
Thursday, September 01, 2011
CPA - Consumer Complaint Procedure - Part 2
CPA – Consumer Complaint Procedure – Part 2
By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting CC- September 2011
Following on from last time, let’s have a look at some more of the “how to” around the raising of a complaint, process. We have covered the different types of complaints as well as a broad outline of the process of the complaint. Now let’s have a look at ‘where to complain’.
Part of the ‘intent’ of the CPA is to promote ‘consumer activism’ and this is done by getting consumer groups to lodge complaints on behalf of the consumers. These various groups obviously need to be properly accredited (because they would need to be properly trained) and they would therefore also be able to give proper support to, or advice as well as educate consumers about what they are protected against and also the role that consumers need to take on, to make the CPA successful. These consumer groups would also be responsible for publications on the subject, as well as do the research and they would then be tasked with “alternative dispute resolution through mediation or conciliation.”
As a result of this and in compliance with the ACT, the National Consumer Commission was established. This body is responsible to investigate consumer complaints, pretty much like the National Consumer Tribunal was established by the National Credit Act, to investigate the violations and transgressors of the ACT.
Currently there are several ways to lay the complaint. These are, (but not limited to):-
1. The DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) – customer contact center: 0861 843 384
2. The DTI office of Consumer Protection (OCP): 012 394 1439/1558/1076
3. E-mail: contactus@thedti.gov.za. Please be advised however, that this particular e-mail address is protected from spam and you will need to have Java Script enabled on your computer in order to view it.
4. Website: The DTI website address is http://www.thedti.gov.za
5. National Consumer Tribunal (NCT): (012) 663 5615 or registry@thenct.org.za. Again, please be advised that this e-mail address is also protected from spam and you will need to have your Java Script enabled in order to view it.
Next time we will have a look at some more useful contact information.
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
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