Tag: employee morale

The phenomenon of job-title inflation has gained traction in South Africa, driven both by young professional’s ambition for accelerated career progression and employers' efforts to engage staff while managing costs. This trend has led to an increase in roles with prestigious titles, such as 'Lead', 'Vice President', or 'Manager', being offered to individuals with limited experience, skills, or corresponding salaries.

As the Matric Class of 2023 nears the conclusion of their school career, a few of these learners will recognise Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) as a section in business studies. However, B-BBEE – and how companies decide to implement their skills development initiatives – may be the defining factor that determines some of these young people’s career prospects and future.

Meetings have been a part of the business landscape and company calendar for as long as anyone can remember, and indeed have played a valuable role as a forum to communicate, collaborate and innovate. However many, perhaps even most meetings today no longer serve a strategic purpose and have, instead, become reflexive diary entries that contribute little and can, indeed, hurt more than help, a leadership expert.

A new workplace trend has emerged, called loud labourers, which will only add pressure to the lives of already stressed business managers. In keeping with our mandate to help businesses manage numerous labour-related challenges, from legislation to post-COVID-19 trends such as quiet quitters, we are drawing attention to loud labourers – a term used to describe workers who ‘talk the talk, but barely walk the walk’.

With the mounting cost of monthly expenses such as rent, transport, food, and electricity, financial stress has become a growing concern for South Africans who are trudging through these tough economic times.

An effective rewards and recognition program helps businesses achieve their strategic objectives by attracting and retaining talent, increasing employee engagement and morale, aligning employee behaviour with business objectives, and fostering a sense of ownership and accountability.

Hiring employees who misrepresent their qualifications can be a costly mistake for employers. Not only does it damage the reputation of the company, but it can also lead to a loss of productivity and profits. Fortunately, employers have legal recourse when an employee has misrepresented their qualifications during the hiring process, including claiming back remuneration.

Just under two-thirds of white-collar professionals have admitted to ‘rage applying’ to new jobs since the beginning of the year. The trend, which has seen a spike since New Year appraisals, occurs when professionals retaliate to a particularly bad day at work by firing out multiple applications to new roles.

These are difficult times. The COVID-19 pandemic has proved to us that we cannot rely on tomorrow to be like today; there is no such thing as ‘business as usual’. The social and economic upheaval has been devastating, and its effects long-lasting, making these times even more uncertain. The antidote to this uncertainty is clarity.

One of the phrases that emerged in the last two years as more companies adopted remote working was 'the new normal.' At the time, most of us took that to mean that – along with having to wear masks and sanitise our hands at every opportunity – businesses that found they could continue operations on a remote working basis would continue to do so in perpetuity.