Trevor Gothan, News24 User
South Africa's economy is alive, but not flourishing. It is growing, but not fast enough to provide enough jobs for all our unemployed and those joining the labour market each year.
A lot of forum focus has centred on poor implementation of (essentially) reasonable policies such as AA & BEE, which is only part of the problem. The Department of Home Affairs investigation, following which management admitted they could not fire anyone for a triviality such as incompetence, is another critical issue.
If the Government, aided by unions, makes it so difficult to get rid of non-performers, it should be no surprise that there is a huge reluctance by all employers to hire new people, especially PDIs, who would be so much more protected.
Employers are not in the business of hiring diplomas, or CVs, but a level of performance by the new appointee that will create enough income to more than cover his/her cost to the company. Ignoring this will ensure the ultimate failure of the organisation.
A major hurdle is that even an honest CV is no guarantee of subsequent good performance. A perfectly good, qualified, hardworking appointee may not function fully in the company for dozens of different reasons and end up being a liability, rather than an asset.
Employment, like marriage, requires some chemistry to be really successful. But this chemistry is complex and difficult to predict with accuracy. Ideally, the employer should be able to test drive (hire and fire) a few models until he/she finds the one that really suits the needs of his company.
In the end, there will be no fewer people employed, just more efficient organisations with better suited staff to their specific needs. Such companies are more likely to prosper and expand and create more (not less) job opportunities. Only the lazy con artists would be sidelined and therefore object to this outcome.
I am not proposing abuse of employees and codes of conduct are still essential to prevent unscrupulous employers from maltreating their staff. I am simply suggesting that we cannot afford to make lifelong guarantees of continuing employment before an appointee has even started to work.
Mediocre performances
One person I fired for poor performance hated me at first, but later admitted that his job bored him silly. I counselled him to find work in a field he loved, which he did. He was unhappy with the poorer initial pay, but did so well that he earned two promotions in his first year.
Eighteen months later he came to take me out for lunch for doing him the best favour of his life. At that stage he was earning more than me and had been offered shares in his new company.
Being fired once or twice does not mean you are a failure. It's just an experience to help you identify what doesn't suit you and focus you differently.
I am afraid unions do not want to understand this principle and their attitude of entrenching their members in their workplaces will keep our national performance mediocre and the (more capable) unemployed just that - unemployed!
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