South Africa has an unemployment crisis, there is no mincing of words here. What is most concerning is the youth unemployment rate, which is predicted to be sitting at 52% as of 2018?

Whilst these seem like impossible odds to go up against, we at NKWALI M are sure that Human Resources can play a role in combatting this crisis.

The biggest threat is leaving the youth uneducated.

Whilst the country continues to see the professionalizing of many former “unskilled” jobs, many of the youth are left behind as they have no access to the education that can ensure their success.

Nkwali M knows that as a Human Resources group that has positioned itself with SETAs and Municipalities in order to offer training from youth who seek to be relieved from their current economic status, there are tangible results from training programmes that can lead to life-altering employment opportunities.

Giving the youth a fighting chance through training is of the utmost importance in today’s economic climate.

NKWALI M is currently training over 4000 youth in the construction sector and will continue to make youth development a priority.

Nkwali M

Nkwali M Group is both holistic and cutting edge, offering the best in Human Capital services.

Propelling Human Capital

As the fourth industrial keeps bringing in new changes to the workplace it is important to note how the Human Resources function may be impacted.

Technology Supplements Humanity, it doesn’t Replace it.

Placing special emphasis on the “human” in Human Resources is now more important than ever because as much as businesses want to automate, they don’t exclusively want to deal with “robots”.  At the end of the day, a candidate is a person, and the decision to hire is based on a human decision too. Taking your candidates along the hiring process through automation will make your business easier to manage but treating them as humans to assure them they are not just a collection of data will ensure a more optimistic candidate. Hiring and interviewing can be set against criteria in the automation process but ultimately a person is not just their CV. The face-to-face element of the hiring process cannot be replaced by even the more sophisticated technology.

The new wave of technology isn’t just for the FinTech’s or the Mega-Corporations, automation has never been easier to implement, and many smaller businesses are utilizing this approach to make running a business more efficient. This can be said for the Human Resources world where it is increasingly easy to automate the candidate process.

Human Resources is Human after all.

Going into 2020 the Human Resources function, be it internal or external, is a median between the increasingly automated world and the people behind the process and it is essential to remain ‘human’ during these times.

Nkwali M Group is both holistic and cutting edge, offering the best in Human Capital services.

Nkwali M Group: Propelling Human Capital.

Nkwali M, Human Capital experts since 2005

The Office Environment is essentially an ecosystem. Like an Ecosystem, the office space is divided by functions and furthermore by roles, and HR is tasked with managing the different personalities that arise from the roles. Each personality offers something different to ensure the survival of the ecosystem.

Kay Vitee, a highly respected voice in the staffing solutions world, wrote an article that helped identify the three main personalities in the office space and how to manage them. ( http://hrpulse.co.za/health-and-safety/managing-your-office-environment/230092-how-to-manage-3-personalities-in-your-office-environment )

The article lists the personalities as “the workhorse”, “the creative” and “the smooth talker”. Although there are many different personality types most employees fall into one of these three.

The Workhorse is the person in the office who is the reliable one, they take pride in getting the job done and they are always willing to help. What this means it they often take on a too high workload and don’t voice their stress. Managing them will be letting them do their work but monitoring their workload and stress levels.

The Creative is the person full of ideas. Quick to the brainstorm and always useful at problem-solving. Being an idea generator often means that many of their ideas will take no fruition. They take being shut down personally and this ultimately means that they need you to listen to them, understand where they come from but also be firm on when ideas arent feasible. This is an open communication sort of management where they feel heard without being pandered to.

The Smooth Talker is the person who contributes to meetings and discussions and sells ideas. They sell you on themself. Management should not fall for their charm, but rather understand their strengths and weaknesses and let them flourish whilst reigning them in when necessary.

The fourth personality which I think should be included on this list is “The Chameleon”. They change tactics when it is best suited, they can talk to and relate to many different backgrounds and personalities. This person is ideally the person you should have in control of your office as they know how to balance personalities and work to people’s strengths.

The Nkwali M Group is always looking for the latest edge to see what the future of the workplace is. As a Human A Resources Consultancy firm in South Africa, we know that international trends will reach our shores and we value the power of staying on top.

It may be time to start rethinking what a “workweek” is. When a huge multinational company like Microsoft employs a 4-day work week in Japan, a country known for its work ethic, and produces a positive result it may be time to re-examine your own business. https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-4-day-work-week-boosts-productivity-2019-11?IR=T

Our recruitment division ObiPoint has posted their first blog! The blog post is about the recruitment of Junior Positions and how they can be an investment in your company.

The Human Resources function within a business is to ensure the best management of Human Capital. That being said the function can also ensure the development of the youth and help our economy grow.

Visit ObiPoint for the full post:

The general panic of the working public when hearing of an “industrial revolution” is fair. With AI and computing power being the forefront of business everywhere the future of the workplace is uncertain. The role of Human Resources should never come second to overall trends as these two topics are intersectional. (further reading https://sabpp.co.za/the-role-of-human-resource-professionals-in-navigating-the-new-world-of-work-by-desere-kokt/ )

Businesses that follow the trends and have analysts pulling data from every corner of the internet to help predict the future and make a move forward should use this data to not only see what trends they should invest in but how they can invest in their human capital differently.

Industrial Revolutions get their bad rap from the infamous first industrial revolution, but the world is a different place now. With the understanding that human capital is the most valuable assets and no matter what changes in technology brings there will always need a for a workforce on some level; times of major shifts should be met with shifting the investment in your human capital to ensure they are best prepared for the future and in turn your company.

Shifting Investment, How Human Resources can better your position in the Industry 4.0

Your Human Resource strategy should evolve with the times if your sector is in a reshaping then you should investigate how it is being reshaped and see what value you can add to your employees in order to keep up with the trends. If your marketing function is performing well but there is a shift towards digital marketing, then you should invest in training in order to keep them up to standard.

It is the goal of Human Resources to ensure your workforce performs at its best and training is the most important investment you can make during these periods of industry shifts.

The panic and uncertainty should be met with level-headedness guided by your Human Resources Strategy and investment in training should be your first call to action in times of shift to ensure your workforce is up to date.

Every year workplaces rely on their Human Resource department to perform the obligatory “Wellness Week” in which the company gives back to their employees with a focus on relaxation and produce healthy minds, as healthy minds lead to healthy work.

Whilst this is important, and much appreciated by the employees there is a slight fault in the thinking that one week will produce a healthy work force. The process of ensuring your employees are happy and healthy is an ongoing one that is supported by the creation of a strong corporate culture where employees feel valid and can communicate their feelings both positive and negative in a safe space that can accommodate both conflict and resolution of conflict.

Kgomotso Mopalami head of Knowledge at the South African Board of Peoples Practices writes that, “Good health can be a core enabler of employee engagement and therefore, employers have an obligation to safeguard employees’ well-being; this does not only benefit employees but organisations as well as the entire society”

With employee wellness being beneficial to the employee and the employer it is time to think about Human Resources can do to aid in this process of wellbeing.

• With a proactive approach where employees needs are met consistently the wellbeing of employees will be taken care of as the company runs rather than a reactive approach that can halt the progress of the company to deal with issues after they happen.

• An effective employee well-being strategy should be tailor made to the corporate culture of the company, and its content based on the organisation’s needs and characteristics, as well as those of its employees. There is no cookie-cutter strategy.

• Whilst one off wellness programmes are not the cure, they still do play an important part in a good wellbeing strategy.

• Promoting healthy decisions such as serving healthy food during meetings, having healthy food in the canteen, have smoke free zones.

• Ensure that health and well-being is not a series of standalone initiatives, but integrated into the organisation’s culture, leadership and people management practices

• Continually Evaluate and improve well-being initiatives to ensure the continuity of employee wellbeing.

Implementing a well-rounded well-being strategy benefits the employees but also strengthens the employer value proposition which will attract and retain the best talent.