Happy staff are the foundation of success

EMPLOYEES are the single most important element of a company. A motivated, engaged and continuously upskilled workforce can provide the edge in the fast-changing world of business.

The focus of the Deloitte Best Company to Work For awards, held last month in Johannesburg, was leading and developing staff - and the need to keep employees in the fold.

Chess was used as an analogy for the benefits to be reaped by management if it can get a team to pull together while still giving each individual the capacity to "win the game".

Guest speaker Dave Duarte, who was named young global leader by the World Economic Forum earlier this year, said winning companies tended to be those with a focus on continuous training and support.

Duarte is CEO of Treeshake, which according to his website helps companies "to respond to the latest digital opportunities and trends".

The results of the Deloitte surveys, which are used to rate the companies, enable management to understand the psyche of employees.

The surveys also help to take the temperature of morale in the workplace, and to understand what is needed to attract and retain the best people.

The surveys, being anonymous, allow individuals to express their thoughts with no sugar-coating.

Strong opinions are also to be expected since employees invest so much of their time and energy into a company.

As Lwazi Bam, Deloitte CEO, said: "Employees are the toughest critics."

In the past few years companies from southern and eastern Africa have started to take part in the survey as the advantages of understanding staff and skills requirements become increasingly evident.

Employees are asked to rate their companies according to:

Their sense of confidence in the organisation;

The organisation's ethics and integrity;

Operational effectiveness;

Their relationship with their superior;

Their sense of "inclusion" in the organisation;

Whether they feel they are developing their careers;

Overall job satisfaction;

Work-life balance;

Performance and recognition; and

Remuneration.

Each participating organisation has a feedback presentation on its individual survey results after the awards. Results from the past three years have shown that the global economic downturn has had a material effect on employee satisfaction in South Africa.

This has been seen in a steady drop in satisfaction noted by employees, particularly with regard to remuneration and confidence in the company.

Similar trends were found in Botswana, but in Namibia and Kenya the scores were trending upwards, possibly indicating greater optimism as those countries experienced economic growth in spite of globally depressed conditions.

Companies that have taken cognisance of the responses of their employees have tended to move steadily up the results table.

Trevor Page, director of Deloitte Consulting, said: "One of the reasons [for this was] that companies use the survey to benchmark themselves against a relevant peer group and adjust their people initiatives accordingly."

The survey is also a vital benchmark for companies expanding into other African countries.

Deloitte Africa Human Capital Trends 2014, a study released earlier this year, indicated that the most urgent staffing needs of such companies involved skills.

The major issues were around finding and keeping people who have the know-how to perform specific functions in company.

The problem of skill scarcities and the impact this has on the entire workforce was also a headline issue, as were the challenges faced by human resources departments in a rapidly shifting environment which demands frequent changes in the types of training provided.

Just as vital for companies that move into different countries is to understand the perceptions of their employees, their value systems and methods of communication - as well as what they value in the employer-employee relationship.

Skills development invariably involves technology and the best ways to use the latest available tools, trends and apps.

The use of social media, and mobile banking and payment systems in Africa for example, has picked up exponentially in the past few years and harnessing this power is vital for most multinational companies.

The downside of technology is that the internet can distract, overwhelm and get in the way of productivity.

According to Duarte, information is no longer in short supply - it is human attention that is scarce.

He noted that while writing e-mails people get "e-mail apnoea" - they tend to hold their breath.

Dynamic and agile leadership was required to manage the flood of information that was available and to help provide the filters needed.

Revenue and earnings growth alone could not continue to be the only measure of a company's success, and leaders needed to do more than simply drive the bottom line.

Bam said one of the most important tasks of business was to improve living conditions in society.

"Business makes available the products and services that improve people's lives. At the same time it provides enough money to allow people to afford these products and services."