ARTICLE 11
MOTIVATING PEOPLE IN SOUTH AFRICA: PRACTICAL
LESSONS
CEO-IT journal (Asia)
A vital tool for any
senior executive is the stimulus of travel and the opportunities
for learning this provides. South Africa provides a perfect example.
'Village mentality' is
an unconscious affliction suffered by many who do not travel. They
have little idea of what the world is like outside their village
and at best hold a distorted view of current affairs born through
newspaper reports and television newscasts.
Akin to 'village mentality' is another syndrome called 'institutionalisation'
whereby every single person in the institution conforms to ossified
thinking and behaviour patterns that evolved many years ago. Village
mentality and institutionalisation leads to the grave danger of
arrogance and complacency. "We think we know all the answers because
this is the way we have been doing it in the village and the institution
for the last twenty years."
The 'village' of course could be your company. The 'institution'
could be your government organisation. You do not have to look too
far to find examples of companies that have gone out of business
because of this mentaliy - or of government organisations that suffer
from this syndrome.
So here is a practical step you can take as a CEO to avoid this
mentality. Visit South Africa. You will learn a lot.
As I write I am working in Cape Town. Last week I was running motivation
and customer service seminars in Johannesburg. Wow! Here are two
cities that really do buzz, where people are putting behind them
their recent frightening history and creating an incredibly bright
future. The people, of all races, are friendly, warm, energetic
and striving constantly for improvement. Labour is cheap, prices
are low, standards are high and the infrastructure is great. I am
in a little hotel in a place called Bellville (outside Cape Town)
and I have succeeded from my room in downloading my e-mail first
time on each occasion. This is more than can be said of a certain
five star hotel I recently stayed at in Marina Square, Singapore
where it took three days to receive e-mail into my room and where
none of the hotel staff really bothered about my problem (I could
not make a connection).
South Africa boasts some really progressive companies. Take Discovery
Health for example. In nine years Adrian Gore, CEO has built up
a health care insurance company that thrives on innovation and which
epitomises the best in customer service. Whenever I present seminars
in South Africa participants tell me that Discovery Health is the
company that offers the best service. Samantha Burns, General Manager
of Customer Relations at Discovery tells me that the secret is 'personalisation'.
The company is moving away from standard letters and mechanised
responses and is liberating its employees to personalise their approach
to customers. The employees love this freedom, it motivates them
and enables them to be create.
Another progressive South African company is Adcorp which, amongst
other activities provides professional services such as recruitment
and hiring out temporary staff. Litsa Roussos a main board director
and CEO of one of their subsidiaries told me "A company's vision,
mission or strategy is totally worthless unless all employees feel
passionate about it." Litsa certainly exudes that passion and excitement
and this has led to her company being viewed by the Johannesburg
Stock Exchange as one of the most progressive in the country. I
visited their offices in Rosebank last week and was incredibly impressed
with the spirit and vitality of all the employees I met there. Another
example of a South African company that is injecting passion and
creativity into its approach is a national chain of jewellery shops
which has its head office here in Cape Town. Galaxy Jewellers are
pioneering an approach based on 'adding emotional value' and 'genuine
love'. This comes through in their advertising and the way they
aim to motivate employees as well as serve customers. Mike Smith,
National Operations Manager at Galaxy told me that the company's
strategy is to differentiate itself from its large number of competitors
by 'adding emotional value' to everything the company does. The
focus on the world 'love' is critical. The company wants its employees
to 'love' coming to work, to 'love' serving customers as well as
to have customers who associate the company and its products (for
example diamond rings) with 'love'.
So watch out! The slouching Asian tiger might soon become a cunning
South African lion. South Africa is going places. When you arrive
here you sense the spirit and the desire. There is pride in this
country. Last week I drove around Soweto, a township outside Johannesburg
with a population greater than Singapore. The streets were clean,
there was energy, there were smiles and people were working hard.
South Africa is not without its problems in terms of AIDS, unemployment
and migrants from countries further North. However corruption is
on its way out, crime is being being reduced dramatically, especially
in Johannesburg and the country can boast a vast range of assets
from its climate, to its countryside, tourist potential, its modern
industries as well as to its people.
To be honest if I was thinking of making a major investment to develop
my company I might well be thinking of South Africa as opposed to
Asia. The Sout African government's progressive 'batho pele' (people
first) approach will pay dividends.
Do not be complacent! Do allow yourself to be afflicted with village
mentality or the syndrome of institutionalisation. Visit to South
Africa, see the positive improvements that are being made and learn
the lessons!
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THE
STIMULUS CLINIC
Each month Dr Freemantle
answers a question put to him by readers. The following question
has been raised by quite a few people.
Q:
What impact does culture have on motivation and customer service?
Dr David Freemantle
replies:
A:
The underlying principles of motivation and service are the
same irrespective of which country you were born in and culture
you were brought up in. What differs is behavior, this obviously
varies from country to country. Culture is evolutionary and
the key factor for any CEO is to determine the type of culture
he or she would like to see reflected in the company through
the behaviours of its employees. Cultural diversity is fascinating
and can provide a positive dimension to the way a company
relates to its employees and customers. Culture is all about
allowing people to 'be themselves' and 'express themselves'
is the way they wish. That should be the underlying principle
and objective of any CEO, whatever country he or she originates
from.
Should you have a question for Dr Freemantle's
STIMMULUS CLINIC please e-mail him at: team@superboss.co.uk
He will do his best to reply personally. One question will
be chosen every |
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: DR
DAVID FREEMANTLE
Dr David Freemantle is one of the
world's leading experts on customer service and motivation. He has
written fourteen best-selling business books including the widely
acclaimed "What customers like about you" and more recently "The
Stimulus Factor". "The BUZZ" and "The BIZ". These books are based on his extensive research
worldwide. His book THE EIGHT SUNS OF ASIAN SERVICE was published
in Singapore in November 2002.
He is based in Windsor
UK where he lives with his Venezuelan wife Mechi and two children
Ruth-Elena and Linnet. He welcomes contact by e-mail from readers
(e-mail address as above).
ARTICLE COPYRIGHT © Dr
David Freemantle
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