The outcome of the ANCs long-awaited KwaZulu-Natal conference was a win for the Thuma Mina crowd. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
Getting the people side of a business right has always been a top priority when striving to create a competitive advantage. The millennial workforce is changing the way we do business: organisations have to be creative and innovative to keep their talented employees.
Business owners who wonder what the best course of action is to achieve a happy workforce should start by looking at the human resources (HR) advice to hand, or by seeking expert outsourced HR advice. Particularly In small-to medium-sized businesses where there is insufficient HR capacity, outsourced expert HR advice will help business owners to implement transactional HR efficiencies and effect transformational change.
Keeping up with governance
There are many legislative requirements in the South African environment that all companies must meet to become, and remain, compliant. From an HR perspective, labour, employment equity, skills development legislation and fair and effective business processes are key governance issues that require some navigation. HR specialists can advise business owners on compliance risks and equip them with the ability to formulate and implement the processes that best suit their specific business dynamics, while creating a workforce that is engaged and delivers its best work.
Creating competitive advantage through effective talent management
Transactional compliance is necessary, but on its own will not provide business owners with a competitive advantage nor ensure the employee capacity to support sustainable growth.
Effective talent management involves defining the work that is required to implement the strategy, and thus the skills of the employees required to ensure this happens. It may mean re-evaluating the roles of existing staff — assessing the existing arsenal, making the most of staff skills and mitigating the risks in line with identified weaknesses.
Finding the right people as a business grows is a critical aspect in achieving business success. Business owners must ensure that the right people are in the right jobs, doing the right things. Accountability must be built at all levels and employees must be provided with sufficient reward and recognition to ensure they go the full distance. Building employees’ succession to leadership roles also becomes a strategic issue as a business grows. These are all aspects that an HR expert can assist with.
Establishing an HR service delivery model
Specialist HR advice can help business owners examine the most effective model for delivery of HR services in their environment, from governance to talent management. It can ensure that the HR function is capacitated sufficiently (through people, systems and processes) to deliver on essential operational tasks while providing the business with high-value strategic services such as talent acquisition, performance management and engagement.
The best advice will focus on doing only those activities that contribute to the achievement of strategic business objectives, through determining the core competencies of the business and capitalising on these and other organisational strengths, such as the values and behaviours that shape the culture of the business.
Manda Doveton is a principle consultant for Mazars HR Advisory Services. She fulfilled the role of HR director for Mazars, South Africa from 2008 to 2015; the firm achieved Top Employers accreditation for 2016