How to Prepare for the Next Economic Upturn
The economic environment in which a business operates significantly affects its performance. One central responsibility of a business owner or manager is to manage the business in a way that makes the most of prevailing circumstances. You might need to trim your non-core expenses and replace fixed costs with a higher variable cost component; this could mean hiring temporary as opposed to full-time staff, or leasing equipment on a pay-per-use basis. Cash flow crunches have ruined many a good business;when business is slow look for unmoved inventory and slow selling products to put up for sale at discounted prices. Replenish merchandise in controlled quantities only as needed. It is also important to maintain price stability; be mindful of how consumers are experiencing the downturn and its impact not only in terms of their buying decisions but also their ability to pay their debts if you sell to them on credit. What has caused the current economic slump in South Africa? Besides unemployment, inequality, poverty, crime, and HIV/AIDS that continue to plague the country, sectors like agriculture, mining and manufacturing are in decline while the trade and current account deficit (CAD) has widened. Household indebtedness has reached worrying levels in a low-interest rate environment parallel to mounting inflationary pressures. Overall growth has slowed down, which is a risky proposition for South Africa. Luckily, the sound fiscal position has cushioned the economic slowdown somewhat. Consider how your business can help improve the lives of people struggling to survive. Such families have either limited or no resources, such as money, education, and reliable contacts. If your business is a bakery or grocery store you could incorporate a mobile food truck service to your business and sell goods in low-income areas at discounted prices. As long as you research the feasibility of this kind of venture you can let your creativity soar. You will need to comply with relevant regulations (consult the Department of Health) and obtain the necessary permits. Other worthwhile ideas to help poor communities include sponsoring an amateur sport team (uniform, equipment, coaching); or upgrade a public recreation park (liaise with the local municipality to plant trees and lawn, install children’s playground equipment). These projects will not only contribute to the well being of the community, but will also attract media attention and gain publicity for your business. There exists a common belief that the development of small-scale industry could become a prime mode of economic growth that will impact positively on poverty alleviation. However, two prime obstacles hamper this vision, namely a shortage of entrepreneurial skills and a scarcity of technological know-how and job skills. An economic downturn offers a business the opportunity to train jobseekers that you may want to employ in the future or equip them with essential skills to pursue self-employment or seek formal employment elsewhere. This gesture to train and develop human capital places your business’ social responsibility in a strong position within your community. Structured on-the-job training must however be cost-effective to the business; the process should ideally be outcomes-based, which means the learner is taught relevant theory that is supported by practical demonstration (through mentoring and feedback), followed by practical application of newly learned skills. Once the learnership is completed, the employer can decide whether to sign the learner on for a new learnership, employ the learner or release the learner for future employment by another organization. To be successful every business needs a focused strategy, a philosophy of continuous improvement, decisive and resilient management, loyal personnel and top class customer service, more so in an economic slowdown. Yet it is common during a period of...
Read MoreStrategy to upgrade South Africa’s nursing profession!
A growing imperative – to implement a strategy to upgrade South Africa’s nursing profession! Nursing is one of the most honorable professions, yet adverse conduct of poorly trained nurses is witnessed in South Africa’s hospitals and clinics on a daily basis. The local healthcare sector – both public and private — urgently needs more nurses with advanced nursing skills and leadership education, which in short calls for a long overdue shake-up of the nursing profession. A general consensus is held that the training provided by some nurse’s colleges fail to adequately prepare trainees in theoretical knowledge and expected outcomes (specialist theory and practical experience) necessary to execute relevant duties to a professional standard. In 2012 the National Department of Health convened a nursing summit to address nursing challenges in the country. From that summit, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi appointed a ministerial task-team to develop a plan of action to address education and practice issues to rebuild and revitalize South Africa’s flagging nursing fraternity. The Minister launched the National Strategic Plan for Nurse Education, Training and Practice for 2012/13 – 2016/17. It is critical that South Africa’s healthcare system be brought up to standard by the time the National Health Insurance rolls out, to ensure that nurses are fully operational to address the country’s healthcare needs. Lifelong Learning The healthcare sector is regularly criticized for its lack of resources, inconsistent staff-patient ratios, poor management, long queues and waiting times, and overall lack of sanitation control. The plan focuses on fostering a culture of lifelong learning in an effort to attain high standards of professionalism and well-resourced practice environments for nurses and midwives. It also aims to boost strong leadership skills at all levels within the healthcare sector, including advanced clinical skills in mental health nursing, pediatric nursing and post-operatory nursing. Nursing is a lifelong educational commitment. Working nurses will be duty-bound to go back to school to constantly upgrade their credentials to gain greater employability, higher salaries, and explore diverse career options in fields like disaster response, emergency preparedness, and wellness promotion. While many leadership education programs do not require you to be a nurse, they do help refine communications skills; teach the fundamentals of healthcare economics; identify and harness resources; and relate critical thinking to problem solving. SA Nursing Council at helm Regulations affirm that all nursing colleges in the country have until 2015 to upgrade their syllabus and tertiary education methodology to meet the criteria to register as higher education and training institutions with the Council of Higher Education. This means about 300 operational nursing colleges will not only be regulated by the SA Nursing Council, but will also have to be declared higher education institutions in compliance with the provisions of the Higher Education Act (as amended in 2008). The qualifications of teachers and lecturers will be scrutinized. The expectation is that professional nurses on completion of their studies would be competent to run wards and teach junior nurses. Professional nurses must be trained to drive an ambulance, serve as an undertaker, and adapt to work proficiently in poorly equipped facilities, operate a generator, and practice transpersonal human care and caring to facilitate patient recovery. The intention of higher education is also to increase the number of nurses accredited to initiate anti-retroviral treatment without a doctor. Retired Nurses’ Forum In an effort to preserve task-specific expertise within the healthcare sector members of the Retired Nurses’ Forum agree to guide and mentor ward sisters, student nurses and new recruits to correct behavior that is observed as not professional, reinforce a personal approach to professionalism, and inspire excellence. Proficient retired nurses work in labour wards,...
Read MoreAbout Theresa
I’m a published author of four business books and have written a number of self-study tutorials [creative writing; editing and proofreading; business writing; and self-publishing] and an eBook [Workplace Harmony]. I am an experienced writer, editor and publisher. 
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