“Thousands of employees give their time and talents by volunteering to help non profit organisations and communities. Employee Volunteer Week is the time to reflect on achievements and to take action. The campaign provides companies and their employees with opportunities to get involved in volunteering.”

“Employee Volunteer Week is co-ordinated by Charities Aid Foundation Southern Africa (CAFSA). CAFSA is working with companies and non profit organisations to organise projects and get lots of great volunteer activities going.”

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If you are a new or a regular visitor, that is currently job hunting, I’d like to draw your attention to the 1 click job hunting tool on this site.

Resolutions, BHAG & Make Overs

 Once again we will drink the strawberry kool-aid: New Year resolutions, BHAG (big hairy audacious goals) and life makeovers. It doesn’t last long. Before the end of January, our resolutions have their last gasp and we are not going to resuscitate them. BHAG was nice while it lasted. (If only we didn’t foolishly share it with our boss, and family) And the makeover? As soon as we returned to the office, work happened and life was deferred. We will be here again in 2012.

Back to HR

From the start of the year, HR hurriedly drinks the kool-aid, going through the different flavours, until they are unduly high on the liquid stuff. HR sips it up, not only for themselves, but also for finance, IT, marketing and operations.  Here is to another year of: 

• Business Partners

During the dip from 2008-2010, HR departments lost credibility, unable to effectively partner with line management for bottom line results. Management that had been questioning the value of HR for years, lost patience and in some organisations, closed down the HR department. 

• Talent

People are the most important asset. In the aftermath of the economic meltdown, does anyone believe this cliché anymore? After several rounds of restructuring, companies have let go of managers and highly skilled professionals, together with lower level staff. Talent remains a cost to be cut, not an asset to be valued.

• Work

From construction to finance, frim commodities to telecoms, there is unrelenting pressure from shareholders to do more, with less. There are more demands from different quarters, to deliver quality results, on time, at the lowest cost. There are more deadlines, whether it is external regulators or internal auditors hanging the noose around your neck. There is more administration, partly due to inefficiencies in many HR systems. With a leaner HR department, you have fewer staff for the same head count. There is less money to float around; you have to struggle for training, wellness and pay. 

• Technology

If you’ve spent much your life ignoring or working around technology, here is to another year of catching up. You still don’t get it? That technology is here to stay and will significantly affect your efforts to attract and retain talent. Are you are still trying to control the medium and conversation with talent, especially Generation Y? Give up a losing battle; you can’t put this genie back in the bottle. Do you still block Facebook and You Tube? But staff continues to access it from their Blackberry?  Are you still fighting with the state of the art HR system to do what you expected? Upgrade or explore cloud computing. Late adopters are going to lose out in the war for talent.  

When it comes to wearing the business partner hat, valuing talent, working more with less  and embracing technology, HR has been here before (make it every year since 1999?).  Once again, we will want to believe that this year will be different in HR. We want to believe that it is possible for HR to guide the business through these uncertain times. We want to exceed the expectations of line management and staff. We want to engage talent, starting with those working in HR. And yes, we want to deliver those numbers to shareholders too.

Will you trust the little voice to make this year, in your life and in HR, exceptional and different?

1st in SA: Working Edge Club
Lite (Free) Membership
Careering * JobHunting * Working

7 Reasons to Join

A Working Edge Club Lite (Free) Membership provides ALL of the following exclusive benefits that are NOT available on the website

1.  Dispatch from the Frontlines

Get your career and job hunt up to speed in minutes: each month, I will e-mail you unconventional insights, job market developments, work headlines, companies to watch, employment taxation, new employer-job sites and emerging trends.

2. Career Challenge

Get a personal response: within 24 hours of joining the club, you will be invited to e-mail me your #1 challenge *and* I will respond with my thoughts on your advancing your career.

3.Member Only Reports

Get the inside scoop: for the benefit of members, I release targeted reports on career success, job hunting, hot buttons, remuneration, performance and more

4. Complimentary Invitations to Career & SME Events

Get moving: your membership comes with a complimentary invitation to a career or SME event – attend a live presentation by Yusuf Mahomedy and network with talented individuals that are going places. Some events include presentations or attendence by CEO’s, MD’s, recruitment agents, HR managers and financiers. You may meet your future employer or business partner here.

5. Start Today

Get immediate access: your e-mail address is the admission ticket to the Working Edge Club Lite Membership. Privacy & Confidentiality guaranteed. After you sign up, please rush over to your inbox. Look for an e-mail from me, asking you to confirm that you actually want to join the Working Edge Club and click the activation link. Thereafter I will start rolling out your benefits.

6. Free

The Working Edge Club Lite Membership is 100% free – no strings, no spam and no charge

7. No Downside. All Upside.

Working Edge Club is used at four universities
2500 Employees are on board.
It works. But you have to experience it for your career.
Try the club for a week.
If you are not satisfied, automatically unsubscribe.
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Sign up for the free membership by completing the box alongside with your e-mail address!

Please complete the entry form

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The winner will be randomly drawn and announced on Thursday, 20 March.

It is one thing to start a business. It is another thing, to grow that business to the next level.  Having worked with SMME’s and co-operatives over the years, I regularly come across people that are stuck in the start-up phase.  While there are opportunities to grow the business, they often struggle with three areas:

1.  Business strategy

Entrepreneurs often lack the knowledge, skills and experience to create a growth orientated strategy.   If your strategy looks the same as the one that you had in your business plan three years ago, you are unlikely to significantly grow the business. You need to update, even reinvent the business strategy towards growing your client base, offerings and bottom line. Get this wrong, and your business will be spinning its wheels for a long time.

2. Funding

Growth is a blessing and a curse. It is great to finally have clients coming through the door and wanting to do business with you. It is not so-great to find that you don’t have enough equipment, manpower or resources to deliver the goods. Or that your debtors books and stock levels are squeezing your cash flow.  Now is the time to explore funding options, that will keep the wheels of your business turning.

3. Marketing & Sales

Just because you grew the business up to the current level with little or no marketing, does not mean that you can grow it further in the same manner.  To unlock future growth, you must ramp up marketing efforts, whether you are dealing with business (B2B) or consumers (B2C).  In practice, entrepreneurs are overwhelmed with the hundreds of marketing channels, tactics and tools, all promising a customer at the end of the line.  Unless you get a new set of marketing wheels for your business,  growth will remain wishful thinking.

The Small Business Growth Conference  

Given the challenges above, I was excited to come across the Small Business Growth Conference – Cape Town. As indicated in the title of the conference, it is focused on what small businesses need to do to grow their business.   The conference covers business strategy, funding, finance, operations and marketing your business. The eight presentations are delivered by an impressive line up of speakers, all focused on growing your business this year. Besides the conference, you can also attend the exhibition on the day and connect with relevant business providers

Read more about the conference over here

Win Tickets to the Small Business Growth Conference – Cape Town

I have two tickets up for grabs, valued at R 990 excl VAT!  The winner will be randomly drawn and announced on Thursday, 20 March.

Enter with a Tweet

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MBA Jobs Goes LIVE!

Get Access to the latest MBA Jobs in SA

To get unlimited, free access to the latest MBA jobs, anywhere in South Africa, all that we require is a once off Tweet or Facebook update announcing the launch of Worksucks – MBA Jobs, click the link below to get started!

2011/2012 Graduates

For the class of 2011 graduates or those graduating this year, you are on the verge of a new, sometime confusing, journey to the workplace.

While the recession may officially be over, it does not mean that graduates should expect abundant job opportunities. From 2009 – 2011, many organisations restructured jobs and retrenched staff, including managers. They also reviewed the fit between their business and workforce. Even though the economy is slowly turning for the better, organisations are tightly managing jobs, head count and employment costs. However, few organisations, whether they are a blue chip corporate, parastatal, operate without graduates in their workforce. Some SME’s also tap into the graduates pool each year, preferring to train and develop an individual; that may eventually join them as a shareholder.

The ongoing war for talent means that organisations will need to attract bright, committed graduates to their business. The skills shortage is alive and kicking in several industries – from accounting, engineering and healthcare, management and ICT.  Employers are recruiting selectively, seeking graduates that can create value in their business.

In a competitive market,  graduates should their pencil in 3 areas:

1.   Expand your job search

These days, graduates have dozens of channels to identify and apply for positions. Your job search should include the university employment board, online job sites, recruitment agency sites, careers section of a company site, graduate publications,national and local newspapers. You should also participate in student clubs that are relevant to your field of study. Through out your job search, keep an eye on employers that use Facebook, Mxit Linkedin and Twitter for vacancies. Finally, don’t underestimate word of mouth referrals, from lecturers, friends and professionals in your network.

2.   Graduates & Recruitment Programmes   

Many companies fill their annual intake through graduate recruitment programmes, usually in the second and third quarters of the year.  To stack the odds in your favour, soak up information about the company, their business and opportunities in advance of them coming to campus. Grab every opportunity to visiting their recruitment stands and engage their team. Don’t fall into the trap of only attending presentations by the well known corporates. You may find excellent job opportunities in a smaller, unfamiliar organisations as well.

3.  Accumulate Experience on the Job                                     

If you have accumulated working experience in your first/second year, build on it in the months ahead. If you don’t have any working experience, get started today. When graduates wait until graduation day to seek experience, they are on the back foot, having lost time during their studies to do so.  Join brand ambassador programmes, where you can develop your leadership and communication skills. Explore casual and temping jobs in schools, fast food outlets and SME’s. Graduates can also volunteer your services to non government organisations over the weekends and during holiday periods. Remember that low or non existent pay, is a short term trade off for the valuable experience on the job.

Graduates Bonus: Join the Working Edge Club

In 2009, we launched the Working Edge Club, a first in the country project to assist students & graduates build their career, for free. We support graduates , by providing mindsets, tools and actions to explore and go after what you want.  Graduates get access to career content, job hunting events and entrepreneurship opportunities, join here.

In conclusion, while 2011/2012 promises to be a challenging year for graduates, by expanding your job search to dozens of channels,. preparing for GRP and accumulating experience, you can shine in a competitive market.

I wish you the very best in your career and job hunt this year.

(UJ Graduate Recruitment Guide, 2010)