Strategic Workforce Management

Since its inception in January 2005, this column has principally been focused on articulating a best-practice agenda for workforce management hence the term ‘Workforce Solutions’. The term ‘workforce management’ can be used interchangeably with ‘human capital management’ and or ‘human resources management’. In recent times, we have also noticed the growing preference for ‘people management’. Whichever term one has a penchant for, there can be no denying the centrality of ‘workforce’ or ‘human’ in modern-day management! It is precisely for this reason that we are also now talking about ‘strategic workforce management’ or ‘strategic human resource/capital management’.

This article focuses on the evolving subject of strategic workforce management. It gives a conceptual framework of the discipline and proceeds to articulate an agenda for the discipline in Zimbabwe going forward. The formation of an inclusive government has ushered a halcyon phase in Zimbabwe which requires a paradigmatic shift in workforce management from the uncontrollably exuberant days of the past. Indeed, this point was well-said recently by strategic guru Professor Lonnie Strickland when he urged local managers to learn to manage under normalcy.

Internationally, there is a growing body of research that explores the critical role of strategic workforce management in improving organizational outcomes with some evidence of a measurable and positive impact on organizational performance (see Financial Gazette of April 26- May 2 2007). This is happening at a time when workforce managers are calling for increased recognition within their companies.

Indeed, there are growing calls for a boardroom seat for workforce managers. In fact, in the United States of America, the C-level (board level) position of Chief Workforce Officer is now entrenched in most organizations. In Zimbabwe, it has been noted that while organizations are claiming to recognize the strategic role of workforce management, very few organizations actually have a workforce manager/director who has a boardroom seat (Global Workforce Solutions, 2007). A key reason for this sad state of affairs is that workforce management professionals are not doing enough in linking the overall firm performance to focused strategic workforce management initiatives that they would have adopted in their organizations. This takes us to the conceptual framework of strategic workforce management.

Strategic workforce management is all about linking workforce management practices to organizational performance. Its key mediating driver is employee commitment or engagement. The seminal work in this area was produced by Huselid (1995), who examined the relationship between workforce management practices and corporate turnover, profitability and market value. Huselid surveyed senior workforce management executives in a sample of 968 publicly traded corporations in the US regarding the percentage of employees who were covered by a set of workforce management practices generally considered representative of a High Performance Work System (HPWS). After controlling for a number of variables, he found that his workforce management index was significantly related to the gross rate of return on assets (a measure of profitability) and Tobin’s Q (the ratio of the market value of a firm to its book value).

A related study by Delery and Doty (1996) examined the relationship between workforce management practices and profitability in a sample of banks in the US and they found that, in general, workforce management practices were positively related to profitability. Similarly Guthrie (2001) examined the impact of workforce management practices on turnover and firm productivity among a sample of firms in New Zealand. He noted that workforce management practices had an impact on turnover, and that the relationship between retention and productivity was positive when firms implemented high-involvement workforce management practices, but negative when they did not.

Two major studies at the plant level have been conducted examining the relationship between HR practices and firm performance. MacDuffie (1995) found that the workforce management practice ‘bundles’ he measured were related to quality and productivity on auto assembly lines. Meanwhile, Youndt et al (1996) discovered that human-capital enhancing workforce management practices were related to operational performance among a sample of manufacturing plants.

Looking at Zimbabwe at this juncture, there are several areas of workforce management which call for a strategic orientation. Take for instance the aspect of performance management. Going forward, workforce management professionals have to identify those practices which support and reward a culture of high performance. Allied to this has to be a strategic orientation to training and development in organizations to deal with the issues of employee retention and motivation. Of the 27 High Performance Work Practices identified by Huselid in 1995, there is unlimited potential for their use and adoption by local workforce management professionals in championing this strategic orientation. Essentially, workforce management professionals need to come up with local empirical studies that confirm existing literature as part of justifying their role at boardroom level.

Armed with the kind of empirical evidence cited in the foregoing, it is no longer a matter of conjecture that organizations can achieve sustained competitive advantage through the adoption of focused and sustained strategic workforce management practices. Workforce management professionals have to demonstrate to top management how their actions today define corporate success tomorrow. Their ability to do that qualifies them for the so-called ‘C-level’ status or boardroom position alongside the Finance Directors and others.

Zimbabwe: Africa Needs Own Brand To Retain Expertise

Harare — LAST week, the Herald Business carried an article in which we tried gaining access to public perception on ways of halving the problem of intellectual and technical skills flight, known otherwise as brain drain. From responses gained, one factor came out clear: Zimbabwe will not be able to stop brain drain, mostly notably in the medium term.

It would also be very difficult for an economy that has lost significant GDP in the past decade to try and stop expertise from seeking greener pastures elsewhere.The aggregate impact of the skills crisis on national economic development is adverse in the medium to long-term. Mukonitronics chief executive officer Mr Lovemore Mukono feels Africa has not done enough to create own brands to attract and retain expertise. And so, he predicts skills will continue flying away until such a time Africa has "something to call its own".

However, in trying to find answers to the skills flight problem, Herald Business applied a situation: In view of the skills crisis, what are the prospects Zimbabwe would be able to fulfil its Millennium, Development Goals by 2015? While we had a variety of possible solutions to brain drain on Zimbabwe's economy, this paper has selected a mini-question and answer conducted with a Harare-based human resource consultant, Mr Anthony Jongwe of Global Workforce Solutions.

From what you will notice in the following paragraphs, the problem of brain drain can be solved by adding new knowledge to existing employees. Additional training is key, according to Jongwe.
Higher incentive will help to stem brain drain, but this will not work in the long run.

Below is an excerpt from the interview. Interviewer, Jeffrey Gogo is represented JG and Anthony Jongwe (AJ).

JG: What is your assessment of the human resources base in Zimbabwe at current? I mean, local industry and commerce has come under severe strain, as a result of brain drain, what impact does this have on economic performance?

AJ: There is no doubt that post-independent Zimbabwe invested significantly in human capital development. The phenomenal expansion in the higher and tertiary education sectors since 1980 and the correspondingly high input-output ratios of that expansion bear testimony to this fact. It is now common knowledge that a country's human resource base can be a major source of national competitive advantage. Sadly, post-2000 Zimbabwe has witnessed accelerated skills flight in a trend generally known as 'brain drain'. Although the loss of skills can also be attributed to the deleterious effects of the HIV/Aids pandemic, voluntary emigration by skilled professionals has largely been responsible for the 'brain drain'. This loss of valuable skills is a threat to national economic performance both in the medium to long-term. Already, many sectors of the economy are grappling with a skills crisis manifesting itself in the form of skills gaps and skills shortages. Skills gaps are defined when employers believe that their employees are not fully proficient to carry out the requirements of the job role. Skill shortages are defined as a lack of applicants for vacant posts with the right skills and qualifications. There is anecdotal evidence that skills shortages account for the majority of hard-to-fill vacancies among professional staff and skilled trades in various sectors of the economy. Although the skills crisis is not unique to Zimbabwe as other countries within Sadc are also grappling with the issue, it is imperative that all key stakeholders put their heads together and come up with a credible national response to what is now a national crisis.
Research shows that the impact of skill shortages and skill gaps reflects in increased workloads, customer service difficulties, loss of business, delay of new products, increased operating costs, quality problems, and difficulties in introducing new working practices.
The mining sector has been hardest hit by the skills crisis. RioZim and Bindura Nickel have each reported on the negative effects of the skills crunch on productivity and safety outcomes respectively in their financial statements.

JG: What can Zimbabwe do to stop, or at least halve rampant flight of skills?

AJ: An obvious response to this seemingly easy but difficult question would be to look at the so-called 'push and pull factors' associated with the brain drain in search of remedies. However, the reality of the situation is that there is a global war for talent and as companies increasingly become global in their operations, there is nothing that can stop them from traversing the globe in search of human capital. Similarly, skills will always go wherever they command a premium. Against this backdrop, we argue that the most credible and effective response to the skill shortages lies in increasing training given to existing workforce. Companies need to scale up their learning and development activities as part of dealing with the long-term deleterious effects of the skills crunch. Government needs to create an enabling environment for companies to come up with interventions that enable them to attract, retain and develop human capital. This obviously translates to long-term national economic competitiveness in an increasingly global environment. Let me reiterate that resolving the skills crisis requires a holistic response by all stakeholders i.e Government, business and labour and can never be solved through piecemeal or parochial interventions by individual actors.

JG: In your assessment, what strategies have companies adopted, if at all, adopted in stemming brain drain?

AJ: In a bid to combat the skill gaps and skill shortages in the economy, employers (who also include Government) have increased salaries and introduced retention allowances/perks for professional staff and there is also evidence of increased trainee programmes (Graduate Trainee Programmes and Apprenticeships). The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has also been supportive of the mining sector's efforts to stem the brain drain by introducing forex-denominated incentives for critical skills in the sector. We argue that the most credible and effective response to the skill shortages lies in increasing training given to existing workforce.
Companies need to scale up their learning and development activities as part of dealing with the long-term deleterious effects of the skills crunch. Clearly, this training involves two choices:
1 -- Employers can be encouraged to train for their own needs, in which case the emphasis must be on retention of staff and a less dynamic market for the skill,

2 -- or employers can be encouraged to draw skills from the market, in which firms need to be encouraged to train beyond their own needs to supply skills to the marketplace.

There is need for an integrated approach to training at firm, enterprise, sector and national levels to deal with skill bottlenecks in internal and external labour markets.Organisations which invest in staff tend to be happier and more productive places to work and have lower employee turnover. In some companies, training programmes have reduced staff turnover by 70 per cent and led to a return on investment of 7,000 per cent. Such learning organisations produce more outputs and outcomes and pay attention to individual needs in clients as well as workers. Although training costs time and money, it is fundamental to a successful learning organisation.

Link to this story: http://allafrica.com/stories/200803120103.html

Ministry gears to tackle Brain Drain

Over the past few years, higher education institutions, principally state universities, have lost their competitiveness as evidenced by perennial student unrest, inadequate operational budgets from the fiscus, and staff exodus due to poor conditions of service. The net effect has been disruption to teaching, research and community involvement activities thereby compromising the integrity of the outputs of higher education institutions. This has in turn impinged negatively on higher education’s stated mission of producing high quality, patriotic and competent workforce for Zimbabwe.

Fortunately, the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education has come up with a timely and ambitious programme to tackle these challenges. This emerged during a media briefing held by the Minister, the Hon. Dr Stan Mudenge in Harare last Friday. In the past, government has been the main supporter of higher education. In most instances, the state provided 95 percent budgetary support for those higher education institutions that it is responsible for. Thus, state higher education institutions have largely been a free good that is openly accessible, and essentially a public service. Under the new programme, government seeks to involve other key stakeholders such as the private sector, multi-lateral donor agencies and parents/guardians in addressing these challenges.

To that extent, the Ministry has set up three multi-stakeholder committees to deal with the challenges. The first committee focuses on promoting private-public partnerships (PPPs) in higher and tertiary education while the second committee focuses on brain drain and human capital mobilisation. The third committee has been set up to spearhead the annual research and intellectual exposition. These committees are expected to identify and proffer effective responses to the various challenges facing the Ministry, and indeed, the country in terms of harnessing adequate resources critical in repositioning higher and tertiary education into a key partner in nation-building and development.

This article focuses on the work that is being done by the Brain Drain and Human Capital Mobilisation Committee (or Intellectual Homelink) in addressing the twin challenges of brain drain and human capital mobilisation.

Brain drain is a global phenomenon which is associated with the loss of professionals (doctors, university lecturers, engineers etc), usually from developing countries to developed countries. The statistics on brain drain for Africa and Zimbabwe are staggering. According to World Bank and United Nations sources, Africa lost 60,000 professionals between 1985 and 1990 and the continent loses 20,000 professionals annually. For Zimbabwe, it is estimated that 500,000 skilled professionals are in the Diaspora. Significantly, USD4 billion is spent annually on the salaries of approximately 100,000 Western expatriates in Sub-Saharan Africa. While acknowledging that reversing brain drain may not always be possible or even desirable, there is emerging consensus that innovative ways have to be found to help those countries buffeted by brain drain to transform it into a ‘brain gain’ for all.

The Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education’s Brain Drain and Human Capital Mobilisation Committee is mandated to deal with the issue of skills shortages wrought about by the ‘brain drain’. As part of this brief, the committee is tasked with exploring various innovative ways in which this ‘brain drain’ can be turned into a ‘brain gain’ for the country. Essentially, the goal of the committee is to keep more professionals here in Zimbabwe while reaping the benefits of expatriate Zimbabweans. To that extent, the committee has identified a number of stakeholders that it is working with in this important mandate. These include UNESCO, UNDP, IOM, ILO, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Academic and Research Network (ZARNET) and various local organizations spanning business, media and government.

The work of the Brain Drain and Human Capital Mobilisation Committee draws largely from the technical input from UNESCO which has conducted a number of studies globally aimed at addressing the effects of brain drain. Of particular significance is UNESCO’s ongoing private-public partnership with Hewlett Packard (HP) in the area of alleviating ‘brain drain’ through what is now known as the UNESCO-HP Brain Gain Initiative. Since 2003, this initiative has launched a number of projects in Europe, Latin America and Africa aimed at ‘reversing the brain drain through mobilisation and internationalisation of human capital in the global economy to enable both the sending and receiving countries benefit from skills and experience of migrating professionals’. The first joint UNESCO-HP project to counter brain drain in Africa was launched in November 2006. Under this “Piloting Solutions for Reversing Brain Drain into Brain Gain for Africa”, the UNESCO-HP partnership aims to help reduce brain drain in Africa by providing grid computing technology to universities in Algeria, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and Zimbabwe. The project aims to re-establish links between researchers who have stayed in their native countries and those that have left, connecting scientists to international colleagues, research networks and funding opportunities. Faculties and students at beneficiary universities will also be able to work on major collaborative research projects with other institutions around the world. To that extent, the Brain Drain and Human Capital Mobilisation Committee is at the centre of implementing this ambitious project in Zimbabwe. Already, the UNESCO-HP partnership has since availed to the committee the ICT equipment critical in launching the brain gain project. The ICT equipment includes high quality HP printers, a server and several desktop computers. According to Dr Washington Mbizvo, the ministry’s Permanent Secretary and Chairman of the Brain Drain and Human Capital Mobilisation Committee, the project will create digital Diasporas thereby linking university researchers who have stayed at home to scientific resources beyond Zimbabwe and to colleagues in the Diaspora. This will be facilitated through grid computing which is based on the same concept as the World Wide Web in that it allows the sharing, processing and storage of huge amounts of data.

From the foregoing, it is clear that the Brain Drain and Human Capital Mobilisation Committee has its work cut out. Brain drain should no longer continue to evoke negative emotions of loss. A multi-stakeholder approach is critical in turning brain drain into brain gain. Going forward, it is this column’s intention to track the progress of the Brain Drain and Human Capital Mobilisation Committee in its important mandate of reversing brain gain and human capital mobilisation for Zimbabwe.

Understanding 'Brain Drain'

THERE is a growing battle for talent worldwide. In Zimbabwe, this skills shortage is the key driver of wage inflation, which is expected to increase in 2006 as civil servants and other employees make incessant demands for cost-of-living salary adjustments. It is this writer's view that here in Zimbabwe, the so-called 'brain drain' and the deleterious effects of HIV/AIDS have spawned the skills shortage.

The 'brain drain' is projected to continue as long as the adverse economic conditions persist.This week's instalment examines closely the concept of brain drain. It begins by defining "brain drain" and proceeds to review literature on the subject matter.

There appears to be several definitions of "brain drain" Some scholars say a "brain drain" occurs when people leave home to study abroad, and then stay abroad (Kwok and Leland, 1982). Other say it occurs when people work and study at home when young, and work abroad when older (Lucas, 1988; Azariadis and Drazen, 1990). Brain drain is traditionally viewed as the movement of highly skilled workers - sometimes referred to as knowledge workers - from their home countries to countries that offer them greater opportunities in their area of specialty as well as in terms of living conditions and lifestyle (Tansel and Gungor, 2003). However, another prevalent form of brain drain is the failure of students to return to their native countries after going abroad to study.

In this instalment we shall use the term brain drain simply to mean the emigration of skilled workers - in the default case emigration permanently but in extensions to the discussion temporarily.Africa is suffering from a brain drain, losing one third of its professionals to the developed world.

In Zimbabwe, it is estimated that almost three million out of the country's total 14 million Zimbabweans, the majority of whom are professionals, are living outside the southern African country (UNDP, 2006). The figure is estimated to comprise almost half of the country's working population. The International Organization on Migration (IOM) says the number of persons living outside their country of birth has doubled over the last 35 years. It estimates that more than 175 million people are migrants worldwide and that one in every 35 persons is a migrant. "This trend can be expected to continue in the coming decades," warns IOM.

The focus of most brain drain studies is usually on researchers, scientists and engineers (RSE). This category of knowledge workers can be expanded to include medical, information technology, and business professionals (Mosley and Hurley, 1999; Arlene Richards, 2001; Janet Scott, 2002). It was estimated that in the past 10 years about half of the Ethiopians who went abroad for study or training did not return. In 1997 alone more than 1,000 professionals left Zimbabwe for Britain and there were now an estimated 10 000 Nigerian academics employed in the United States. In Ghana and Zimbabwe three quarters of all doctors migrate within a few years of completing their medical degree. (Naledi Pandor, 2006).

The brain drain issue has received considerable attention from the Zimbabwean media as a serious economic and social problem particularly within the context of the protracted economic crisis. Professor Chetsanga has also investigated Zimbabwe's brain drain problem (2003).From a global perspective, the issue of brain drain is even more pronounced. In the USA, 12.8 per cent of all US Research and Development (R&D) workers in 1993 were foreign-born, and 29.3 per cent of the R&D workers with science or engineering PhDs were immigrants (Johnson and Regets, 1998). Most of the OECD-born, immigrant scientists and engineers with science and engineering doctorates come from the United Kingdom and Canada. If non-OECD countries are included, there are three times as many foreign-born scientists in the USA from China and twice as many from India as there are from the United Kingdom. This reflects findings (Johnson and Regets, 1998) that Asian science and engineering PhDs in the USA far outnumber Europeans and non-US North Americans and that almost 40 per cent of them make firm plans to stay (Peter Hall, 2005)

Having defined brain drain and reviewed applicable literature on the issue, we now proceed to identify the key determinants of brain drain. Understanding these is key to evolving effective policy interventions. A key question is why knowledge workers move from source countries to destination countries. For individual migrants, migration offers the prospect of a better life. For each individual, there is a net gain wherever the benefits of life in the destination country exceed those in the country of origin and the difference between the two is not swallowed up by the costs of moving. Benefits must be interpreted widely to depend on both income and the range of other contributions to an individual's welfare - which, for a researcher, will include the interest and challenge of the work as well as the social and work environment more generally. It is assumed that workers only move if they expect a net gain.Standard economic models (Sjaastad, 1962; Todaro, 1969) emphasise expected income differentials as the main driver of migration. However, non-economic issues also play an important role in migration decisions among knowledge populations (Peter Hall, 2005). According to Hall, ties of family, friends and culture will exert a pull to stay at home though in widely varying degrees. For others, the attractions of new experiences and a new start may be strong. This is particularly true for academic researchers where research programmes are usually self-determined. They will stay at home if, other things equal, source country offers a better base than destination country for pursuing their interests. A good example here would be the study of ecological systems, animal species or natural resources peculiar to source. Business-based researchers may stay home, too, if they continue to be challenged by tasks at least as interesting to them as they know are available abroad. In brief, the key determinants become the nature of the tasks as well as the professional environment.

Typically, discussion on the brain drain invariably leads to an assessment of the gains and losses associated with the problem. According to Naledi Pandor "What this means is that African countries are funding the education of their nationals only to see them contributing to the growth of developedcountries with little or no return on (their) investment," Although this outflow is seen as a constructive dynamic by some commentators, the situation requires intervention especially if Africa is to realise its development objectives.Studies show that many immigrant scholars from the developing countries, particularly from Asia and Latin America, contribute tremendously in development processes of their native countries while still located abroad. Migrant remittances constitute a significant source of foreign exchange and a strong element of domestic demand in labour exporting countries, representing a substantial proportion of their export proceeds and their GDP, even without counting the often considerable flows through unofficial channels. They play a role in the economy of these countries in the form of foreign exchange, the lack of which puts a constraint on their development. Chenery and Bruno (1962) consider the lack of foreign exchange in LDC's as an "external strangulation" for development, depriving them of the required capital imports. Therefore, remittances, whose share in the available foreign exchange of labour exporting countries is high, may substitute for the lack of other sources, such as proceeds from exports or aid.

The remainder of this instalment explores some of the policy interventions that can be pursued to counter the deleterious effects of the brain drain in source countries. According to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Zimbabwe should urgently address push factors that have led to a massive loss of skilled personnel. The UNDP contends that much of the brain drain bedevilling Africa in general and Zimbabwe in particular, can be attributed to 'a difficult macroeconomic environment and high cost of living and taxation affecting disposable incomes and salaries'. The current brain drain from Zimbabwe should not be viewed solely from the employment problem created by the conditions of the ongoing economic crisis and ensuing uncertainties. Smart labour (RSE workers) will be influenced by international income differentials in making location decisions but they will also be sensitive to the long-term prospects of being able to pursue the problems that interest them. Increasing total government R&D spending or the share of basic research alone will raise a country's R&D wages and, ceteris paribus, retain and even attract (through circular migration) knowledge workers.

Our Universities are losing experienced academic researchers because of poor investments in R&D.It is this writer's contention that the issue of brain drain will generate intense debate going forward in view of the raging global battle for talent that is unfolding. There is need for more research on the dynamics of brain drain in view of globalisation.

Interview with Professor Strickland

On 27 July 2009, the British Council Management Express hosted Professor A.J (Lonnie)Strickland at a local Harare hotel under the monthly Management Forum series. Professor Lonnie Strickland is the co-author of the number one selling Strategic Management textbook in the world Strategic Management: Quest for Competitive Advantage. With sales of over two million copies the book is used at 950 Universities worldwide and is published in five languages. A Miller Strategic Management Professor at the University of Alabama in the USA, Professor Strickland has been a very popular speaker on the subject of strategy and implementation. I had an opportunity to chat with the renowned strategic management guru on the sidelines of this event and the following are some of the excerpts from that interview:

Shereni Jongwe (SJ): I feel extremely honoured to have you for this interview Professor. I must admit that I have used one of your books, Crafting and Executing Strategy during my MBA studies and found the cases extremely useful in applying theory. Looking back, what appears to be the milestones that have shaped the discipline of strategic management over the years?

Professor A J Strickland (Lonnie): The field of Strategic Management is a relatively new field. The first book on the discipline was by Christian Andrews. Prior to that, strategy was commonly associated with the military. It must be pointed out that there were not much tools of strategy since 1971. Later on, Michael Porter and Henry Mintzberg (as well as others) did exceptional work in terms of developing new tools. So looking back, I can say that Strategic Management as a body of knowledge has grown from 14 pages to over 1000 pages and it continues to grow. Another milestone can be observed in accounting. There was a paradigmatic shift from compliance accounting to management accounting, with the latter being heavily relied on by strategists in decision-making.

SJ: How do you characterize the discipline of strategic management today, and could you proffer some insights into the possible growth trajectory of the discipline, going forward?

Lonnie: One can observe three key characteristics shaping the discipline today and in the future. First, there has been a big change in the volume of data available for use in strategic planning. The advent of search engines e.g. Google means that anyone now can do strategic analysis. Looking at the information systems involved with strategy, one can also track the increasing reliance on Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a tool in strategic decision-making. Over the years, I have observed that the time horizon has changed from the traditional 10 years to 3 years. This is particularly true for the developed countries where technological changes have spawned new businesses and altered consumer behaviour and trends. For a country undergoing change like Zimbabwe, it means the time horizon is as small as 3 months! The growth in online shopping has given birth to businesses such as Amazon and eBay that have gone on to do well in setting new markets that never existed. The advent of wireless technology, particularly the use of cell phones, has opened new opportunities in banking. In Zimbabwe, the introduction of 3G technology will create scope for cell phone banking. It must be noted that there has been exponential growth in the use of cell phones in Africa over the last few years and the trend is set to continue in future. Globally, internet banking is now larger that traditional banking based on branch networks.

SJ: It appears that you have consistently relied on the case-study approach in illuminating the discipline of strategic management yet there has been criticism of the case-study approach by other management gurus, notably Henry Mintzberg. What are your own reactions to such criticism?

Lonnie: It should be noted that the teaching of Strategic Management has also changed. The case method has been successful because it gives students the opportunity to practice through role-playing. Going forward, there is need to come up with exciting and highly interactive cases. I have observed the growth in the use of management simulations and these have proven to be very stimulating for students.

SJ: Still on the subject of case studies, it appears that there has been greater reliance in your books on cases originating mostly from Europe and the United States of America. What appears to be the constraints to the evolution of good cases from, say, Africa or Asia? What can be done to promote the development of such cases, going forward?

Lonnie: Europe and the United States of America constitute the largest market. I have been a strong advocate of cases written in the Zimbabwean market. In our new book (16th Edition of Crafting and Executing Strategy), we feature two new cases on Zimbabwe i.e. Econet Wireless and Shearwater. I must point out that for the past 20 years, I have been pushing local academics to write local cases. It is imperative that local academics develop this habit. There are great stories about Zimbabwe e.g. mining history of Zimbabwe, tobacco industry and tourism. Cases are designed to teach and local cases assist students to identify more with local issues. To promote relevance of some of our cases to diverse markets such as Africa and India, we have identified locals to adapt the cases to suit the local context. In South Africa, we are working with staff at the University of Stellenbosch along these lines.

SJ: In recent times, you have made numerous visits to Zimbabwe, and hopefully other parts of Africa. How do you characterise the state of the discipline of strategic management?

Lonnie: I have been to most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa e.g Kenya, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. In all my travels, I have concluded that Strategic Management is alive and well in Zimbabwe! I have been impressed with the quality of Zimbabwean managers, especially how they have stayed abreast with the field. Clearly, the Internet has facilitated learning and the grasp of Strategic Management is very good. Significantly, Zimbabwean managers have rewritten a portion of Strategic Management under uncertainty- there is no book on that!

SJ: Looking specifically at Zimbabwe today, what can you identify as the key strategic issues facing both executives and corporate managers?

Lonnie: I would say local managers now need to learn how to manage businesses under normalcy. In the past, the tendency has been on managing for survival where the key strategic issues were fuel, raw materials, foreign currency etc. Change entails that focus should now be on managing businesses for strategic global competitiveness. Zimbabwe needs to produce world-class products if it can compete globally.

Shereni (Anthony) Jongwe wrote this article in his capacity as Secretary General of the British Council Management Express Steering Committee. To get a copy of the full interview, send an e-mail to: consultgws@gmail.com or phone on 0913 002 275

New Constitution must protect workers

I have been following the debates surrounding the constitution-making process with keen interest. This isn’t surprising. As a consummate graduate of political science, I have been fortunate enough to have passed through the hands of such eminent thought leaders as distinguished political scientist and fellow Financial Gazette columnist, the late Professor Masipula Sithole, Professor Eliphas Mukonoweshuro, Dr John Makumbe, Joyce Kazembe, Eldred Masunungure and Professor Jonathan Nathaniel Moyo, to name but a few.

There is no doubt in surmising the centrality of a constitution or bill of rights in Zimbabwe’s unfolding economic, social and political landscape. Indeed, there is a strong school of thought that the political crisis that Zimbabwe endured for close to a decade was largely a result of a dysfunctional and badly mutilated Lancaster House constitution. Another school of thought posits that a new democratic constitution is the sine qua non for Zimbabwe’s full reintegration into the global community of nations. Here, there is guarded optimism that it is only through a new democratic constitution that Zimbabwe will be able to address the outstanding issues/benchmarks of rule of law, respect for property rights, and good democratic governance critical in this rapprochement with the Western world.

I have read and heard arguments about why the Kariba Draft constitution should be used and equally strong arguments of why this process should be confined to Parliament alone, perhaps through some kind of ‘Constitutional Commission’ as was the case in year 2000.

Surely, the idea of constitution-making is never the preserve of a few individuals or political parties. The words of former United States Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr James D. McGee are instructive here. Commenting on the need for the constitution-making process to be inclusive, Ambassador McGee said: “The U.S. Constitution begins ―’We the people…’ for a reason; because the Constitution creates a government of the people. It is not- ‘We the major political parties’ or- ‘We the chief negotiators because it’s not their constitution. It is everyone’s. No constitution will succeed if it isn’t supported by the people”

Listening to the various arguments advanced so far e.g. by Professor Jonathan Moyo, ZANU PF and the two MDC formations, one is persuaded by Dr Lovemore Madhuku, who has been at the forefront of the ‘people-driven’ process. I have had opportunity to track the National Constitutional Assembly's (NCA) strong arguments (as contained in their detailed document released on 15/04/2009) against the Kariba Draft Constitution and am fully convinced that, going forward, Zimbabwe needs an inclusive constitution-making process that wins the support of the people of Zimbabwe.

For all intents and purposes, ‘people-driven’ means involving all key stakeholders in determining the content of the draft constitution. There is no better reflection of this ‘people-driven’ mantra than the just-ended All-Stakeholders Constitutional Conference and the resultant agreement on the 16 thematic areas, which essentially, are the sections of the envisaged constitution. This process will assume greater relevance when the thematic sub-committees traverse the length and breath of Zimbabwe, gathering the wishes and aspirations of every Zimbabwean without fear or favour. To put the cherry on the cake, the people of Zimbabwe will have the opportunity to participate in a referendum. To me, that is what ‘people-driven’ is all about. I do not, however, agree with the NCA and ZINASU on their preferred strategy of having a parallel constitution-making process outside the one currently taking shape under the control of the Parliamentary Select Committee. That would not only be wasteful of resources but also border on selfish intransigence on their part.

Having said this, it is imperative that I devote the remainder of this article to an articulation of a human resources (HR) viewpoint on the constitution-making process. It is hoped that this treatise will serve as a reference guide to employers, employees and trade unions alike in understanding how the envisaged constitution will impact on their rights and responsibilities within the ambit of labour relations. It is also hoped that the Zimbabwe Institute of Personnel Management of Zimbabwe (IPMZ) will play its role, as the professional custodian of human resource practice in the country, in the constitution-making process now underway.

The one good thing about Zimbabwe to date has been its commitment to improving the country’s labour laws. This, it has done through a raft of progressive interventions namely, ratification of key International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions, ratification of allied United Nations conventions such as CEDAW, and progressive reform of the various pieces of labour legislation, principally, the Labour Relations Act. To a large extent, Zimbabwe can be regarded as one of those few countries in Africa with dynamic labour laws that really protect the rights of the workers. Going forward, there is need to safeguard these gains by ensuring that the envisaged constitution has a clear section devoted to Labour Relations.

The South African Bill of Rights/Constitution is widely regarded as one of the most progressive in the world. It may therefore serve as a guide to employers, employees and trade unions as they contribute towards the constitution-making process underway. Section 23 of the South African Constitution is devoted to Labour Relations and outlines the specific workers' rights that must be contained in the new constitution. This section guarantees workers the right to fair labour practices, to form and join trade unions, and to participate in union activities and strikes. Likewise, employers have the right to form and join employers' organisations and to take part in their activities. These groups have the right to organise, form federations and engage in collective bargaining. The right to strike is written into the Constitution, but the right of employers to lock out their workers is not expressly included. However, the Labour Relations Act grants employers this right in certain situations. Other rights e.g. freedom from slavery, servitude and forced labour; freedom of assembly, picket, demonstration and petition; and freedom of trade, occupation and profession are also adequately covered under other sections of the constitution.

In conclusion, it is important that the envisaged constitution protects the rights of workers, employers and unions alike in such a way that they reflect tripartism, which is the cornerstone of modern-day labour relations.

ZIMBABWE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

The Zimbabwe Youth Development Programme for Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Social Action



Facilitated by



Global Workforce Solutions (Pvt) Ltd
‘Specialists in innovative workforce management and migration advisory solutions’

P.O Box HD 56
Harare
Zimbabwe

E-mail: consultgws@gmail.com

Tel: +263 913 002 275 (Zimbabwe)
Tel: +27835 508 748 (South Africa)

Objective

The objective of the programme is to broaden leadership, entrepreneurial skills and economic opportunities for disadvantaged youth in Zimbabwe through targeted initiatives for young people that contribute to their development as individuals and to the development of their communities.

Context

The creation of the inclusive government by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of the MDC and President Robert Mugabe of ZANU-PF early this year has created tremendous potential for economic and social development. The protracted political and economic crisis witnessed between 1999 and 2008 had unleashed significant suffering amongst the vulnerable groups in society such as the youth, women and children. The economic meltdown saw the deepening in the incidence of poverty and unemployment. This made the possibility of achieving any of the relevant Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) for Zimbabwe (particularly MDG 1 relating to the eradication of poverty) remote. Today, Zimbabwe’s work is cut out. Not only has the country to restore civil and other constitutional liberties as a basis for full re-engagement with the international community, but the country must also come up with viable policy interventions to deal with myriad economic and social challenges. A key socio-economic challenge is that of deepening youth unemployment in Zimbabwe. Young people need support and guidance in facing the many challenges of today as well as emerging ones. Youths of Zimbabwe should be encouraged and empowered to participate actively in addressing societal problems. This calls for a multi-sectoral approach involving business, donors, government and educationists aimed at mainstreaming youth development in the policy-making process. It is against this backdrop that Global Workforce Solutions has designed the Zimbabwe Youth Development Programme for Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Social Action aimed at broadening leadership, entrepreneurial skills and economic opportunities for disadvantaged youth in Zimbabwe through targeted initiatives for young people that contribute to their development as individuals and to the development of their communities.

Programme Goals

1. To equip Zimbabwean youths with leadership skills and technical competencies critical in assisting them to grow as individuals and prime-movers in the development of their communities
2. To recognise excellence in youth leadership, entrepreneurship and social action through the award of the prestigious ‘Leadership Champion’
3. To work closely with other key stakeholders in the crafting of a holistic, non-partisan and dynamic Youth Development Strategy for Zimbabwe
4. To facilitate the sharing of knowledge in the area of best-practice youth development approaches locally, regionally and internationally and to build upon these.

Programme Content

The Zimbabwe Youth Development Programme for Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Social Action curriculum is structured around Character Development, Skills Development, and Competency-Based Outcomes. Run twice a year, this unique programme equips about 40 youth interns with vital leadership skills and technical competencies that contribute to their development as individuals and to the development of their communities. Please send an e-mail to: consultgws@gmail.com to request detailed programme curriculum.

Programme Facilitator

The Zimbabwe Youth Development for Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Social Action is the brainchild of Shereni Itayi Jongwe- the Principal Consultant and Founder of Global Workforce Solutions who is also the Principal Facilitator of the programme. Anthony has worked as Deputy Dean and acting Dean of Students at the University of Zimbabwe where he has come to appreciate the dynamics of youth issues and challenges in Zimbabwe.

The programme relies on the expertise of other facilitators currently on its database but also welcomes other experts who are interested in working with Global Workforce Solutions under this programme. To join our dedicated team of facilitators, please send your detailed CV highlighting areas of strength and at least three names of contactable referees to: consultgws@gmail.com

Programme Focus

The success of this programme hinges on sound and fruitful collaborations amongst various stakeholders. To that extent, interested stakeholders are strongly urged to contact Global Workforce Solutions with specific suggestions/advice on how best the Zimbabwe Youth Development Programme on Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Social Action can be strengthened in support of its broader objectives. Typically, this programme involves significant funding and this calls for strategic partnerships between Global Workforce Solutions and others stakeholders. Global Workforce Solutions therefore encourages interested stakeholders to contact it in ensuring that their concerns are incorporated under the aegis of this programme.

Contact Details

Shereni Jongwe l Principal Consultant l +263 913 002 275 l consultgws@gmail.com

The recent launch of the Decent Work Programme in Zimbabwe by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) is a welcome development particularly as it relates to the achievement of specific Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and poverty reduction in Zimbabwe.

The protracted economic crisis of the past decade had dampened prospects for meaningful progress in the realisation of the MDGs. Importantly; the economic crisis had spawned serious inequalities in income distribution in the country resulting in a high gini co-efficient for Zimbabwe. Consequently, poverty had become entrenched against a backdrop of reduced social spending from the fiscus. The deindustrialisation that accompanied this economic crisis meant that many workers were retrenched and joined the swelling ranks of the unemployed. Many people were driven into the informal economy to make ends meet. Now we all know that the informal economy is essentially ‘uncaptured’, to borrow Goran Hyden’s term in ‘The uncaptured peasantry’, and is characterised by practices that do not conform to national standards. On the other hand, the protracted political crisis resulted in a polarised environment which made social dialogue impossible. In fact, there was such marked mistrust between government and business on one hand, and labour on the other. Attempts at forging a tangible social contract, the essence of tripartism, were in vain.

These conditions make the ILO Decent Work Initiative particularly relevant to Zimbabwe in these times of transition and national healing as dictated by the Global Political Agreement. It is without doubt that post-independent Zimbabwe, relative to its peers in Sub-Saharan Africa, had made significant strides in reforming its labour laws. The country is signatory to most ILO Conventions. However, the events of the past few years had put a damper on such notable successes requiring that the country refocuses itself on this trailblazing agenda.

The Decent Work Country Programme provides the necessary platform for such a course of action.According to the ILO website, the organization’s primary goal today is ‘to promote opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive work, in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity’.

This overarching philosophy is buttressed by four strategic objectives: the promotion of rights at work; employment; social protection; and social dialogue. On the other hand, the United Nations Millennium Summit of September 2000 came up with eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to be achieved by 2015 that respond to the world's main development challenges:
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education; Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women; Goal 4: Reduce child mortality; Goal 5: Improve maternal health; Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability. It is thus clear from the foregoing that the ILO Decent Work programme seeks to compliment focused government actions aimed at achieving goals 1 and 3. There is general consensus that there is a nexus between success in goal 3 and the attainment of goals 4, 5 and 6.

The Decent Work initiative is predicated on tripartism whereby government, business and organised labour are required to initiate policies and programmatic interventions aimed at achieving decent work. The cornerstone of decent work is the creation of robust socio-economic policies which guarantee basic security and employment whilst taking into account the dynamics of the external environment. Here, there is general acknowledgement that globalisation has spawned a number of opportunities and threats for various national economies.One of the key aspects of the Short Term Emergency Recovery Programme is the reformation of the country’s labour policies to make them more responsive to regional and international trends. This is critical in attracting foreign direct investment and also ensuring meaningful employment creation for citizens of this country.

Looked at from this context, one of the key roles of the inclusive government within the framework of the decent work initiative would be to craft sound economic and industrial policies. On its part, business would be expected to create jobs. The current business environment in which foreign products are flooding the local markets is antithetical to the decent work initiative. This makes the argument for increased capacity utilisation in our industries all the more plausible. As far as labour is concerned, there are several initiatives that it can take within the framework of the Decent Work Initiative but there are significant hurdles going forward. For once, trade unions need to acknowledge the reality that they have lost a significant portion of their power base to the informal economy. This therefore calls for a paradigmatic shift in terms of their focus. Trade Unions would need to continue advocating for ‘a living wage’ but they also need to advocate for other issues such as unemployment benefits and the provision of training to those in the informal economy so that they can be ‘captured’ in the formal economy.

A key role of organised labour within the framework of STERP would be to foster social dialogue through workplace democracy.In conclusion, it is thus clear from the foregoing that the Decent Work Initiative requires tripartism to succeed. It is also clear that developing countries cannot expect to eradicate poverty without emphasis on the importance of decent work insofar as it links with the MDGs.