http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za/plugins/macgurublog_menu/macgurublog.php?uid=2 Viljoen Consulting Reality Check Blog http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za/plugins/macgurublog_menu/comment.php?rid=772 Jim Rohn says that “Success is neither magical nor mysterious.  Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying the basic fundamentals.”

I think that what Jim is trying to say is that ‘success’ doesn’t just happen like something that appears magically out of thin air.  Success is not a mysterious thing that just appears, but rather something that happens as a result of a whole lot of actions that have to take place and many of these actions have to take place in a specific sequence.

Like anything else in life, success is something that is easily achieved with proper planning and like anything else you need to have ‘actions’ or deliverables that need to be met and by meeting these ‘deliverables’ your success will ‘magically and mysteriously’ appear!

Decide what it is that you want to achieve and by when you want to achieve it.  It really is no good wanting to achieve something and not having a “by when” date that it needs to be achieved by.  You obviously need to know exactly what it is that you want to achieve.  Not being 100% sure about this will usually mean that you wander around life in a perpetual fog.

Once you have decided what you want to achieve and by when you want to achieve it, then you need to put a plan into place around what you need to do in order to achieve your goal.

Remember that each step that has to be taken should have a deadline date by which time it should be completed.

Think about it for a moment – let’s take one of my favorite authors, Dean Koontz – when he writes a book he needs to have, at the very beginning of the process, an outline or some sort of an idea of what the story is going to be about.  Then he has to have a date by when the book must be completed.  Between the idea for the book and the date by which it has to be completed, a certain amount of research needs to take place and of course the book itself has to be written as well as proof read and then there are the re-writes etc.  Clearly he has to allocate a dedicated amounted of time to the research as well as the actual writing of the book.  Now be that a number of hours per day or a specific number of words per day, he needs to have some sort of schedule in place in order for him to successfully meet his goals.

Obviously he needs to remain focused on these goals and committed to meeting his deadlines –failing to be focused or committed will result in . . . .  well no book being completed on time.  That I’m afraid is the bottom line!

So for me the ‘magical’ moment is when I complete the final task, on time.  In that moment of completion the success takes place and I can quite honestly say that there is nothing quite like that particular feeling, on earth.

That successful moment is one of the most magical that you will ever experience.

So plan, then execute and finally celebrate your magical moment!



http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za/plugins/macgurublog_menu/comment.php?rid=771 HR – How to Report Work Related Incidents – Part 1

By Nikki Viljoen of Viljoen Consulting CC – May 2013

The Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) has several requirements in terms of the reporting of incidents that occur in the workplace.

Let’s have a look at some of these through our protagonists.

Mike has a Postnet store in a busy mall.  He supplies certain stationary as well as services related to business operations such as (but not limited to):
-    Photocopying of documents
-    Binding of manuals
-    Faxing
-    E-mails and internet usage

Joe is one of the employees who works on the counter.

A client enters the store and wants 200 manuals copied and bound.  There are two items on each page so the pages therefore have to be cut in half before they are all bound.

Joe works quickly and efficiently for a while until, whilst he is busy with the guillotine cutting the pages in two he notices something lying on the floor.  Without thinking about what he is doing, he steps back to pick it up off the floor and the guillotine handle drops with a loud thud, cutting the back of his hand badly and severing his pinky finger.  There is blood everywhere and some of the female staff are screaming with fright.  Joe, shakily looks down at his damaged hand in disbelief and reacts to the sight of so much blood by promptly fainting!  As he falls down one of the female staff, Lizzy, tries to assist him but trips over a box of photocopy paper and falls down hitting her head on the corner of the Photostat machine.

There are now two unconscious individuals lying on the floor with blood everywhere!

So what has to be reported?

Clearly Mike needs to take immediate action in terms of the medical requirements of his staff.  Once the ambulance has arrived and taken care of the two staff, there are obviously certain requirements in terms of OHSA that have to be met as well as certain requirements in terms of the Workmen’s Compensation Fund that need to be dealt with in order for the claims to be approved and paid out.

OHSA states that an incident has to be reported when:
-    A person dies or
-    A person becomes unconscious or
-    A person suffers the loss of a limb or part of a limb or
-    A person is otherwise injured or becomes ill to such a degree that he is likely either to die or
•    Suffer a permanent physical defect or
•    Is likely to be unable for a period of at least 14 days either to work or continue with the activity for which he was employed or is usually employed.

Mike of course now has to provide two reports - one being for Joe who was unconscious and who may also lose part of a limb and one for Lizzy who was knocked unconscious.

Both Joe and Lizzy were at work performing  their normal work duties when the incident took place so therefore both are entitled to claim from the Workmen’s Compensation Fund but both incidents also need to be reported in terms of the OHSA requirements.

Next time we will look at some of the other reporting requirements.



http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za/plugins/macgurublog_menu/comment.php?rid=770 There is a great deal of eye winking and chuckling from the Gogos (one of the local native names for Grandmother), around the term CEO (Chief Executive Officer) or even Director, here in South Africa.  It seems that everybody that you talk to is either a self- named, self-styled CEO or they aspire to be one!

The fact of the matter is that with the New Companies Act coming into effect, the whole landscape, in terms of business ownership has changed dramatically.

In the good old, bad old days anyone could be a Director of a company and in fact there were many individuals who make careers out of being Directors of Companies.  I have actually heard of a lady who was a Director of something like 37 different Companies.  She earned a considerable sum of money from each of the Companies for doing very little work, but having her name on the Company Letterheads.  Other than attending meetings and perhaps voicing an opinion or two there was little to do and of course there was very little responsibility.

You see before the introduction of the New Act, responsibility was only really held by very few individuals.  Directors like the Financial Directors who were obviously responsible for looking after the financial side of the business were far and few between.  The Sales Director for example was responsible for ensuring that sales targets were met (often by any means possible), never carried the responsibility for the financial well- being of the Company.

Let me explain – often when a Company found themselves in financial difficulty the Financial Director was made responsible because it was his responsibility to ensure that the ‘numbers’ were correct and that expenses were controlled.  In this situation the Sales Directors would usually absolve themselves from any blame by saying something along the lines of “I brought in the sales and that is what I am responsible for, I am not in charge of the expenses.”  Hardly fair I am sure you will agree as in my experience the sales people have no problem running up huge expenses.

The New Act makes all Directors equally liable and accountable for what happens in the business.

Let me say that again – all the Directors are equally and jointly responsible for what happens in the Company.

Next time we will look at some of the risks that Directors should be aware of and also how best to manage them.

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EARLY WARNING

All About Procurement Fraud – Part 6


By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting February 2013.

Last time we looked at some of the different types of issues that need to be looked at around procurement. 

Today we will have a look at some more.

As we said one of the ways to limit procurement fraud is to ensure that you have a proper procurement policy in place and that it is adhered to and checked on a regular basis. We looked at the Needs Analysis, Timing and Suppliers. Then we looked at Supplier Communication and Negotiation and then Supplier Liaison, Logistics Management and Tender Notification. Other issues that need to be taken into account when implementing the procurement process are (but not limited to):

In this the final issue on procurement fraud let’s look at some of the practical processes that can be included  (but not limited to) in your procedure in order to limit fraud.

-    Make sure that the procedure is that there has to be a minimum of 3 quotes.
-    Make sure that all the suppliers, who have submitted quotes, have contactable references and do the reference check.
-    The person, in your company, who submits the quotes, should not be the person who authorizes the use of the supplier (unless of course that is you – the business owner).
-    The person, in your company, who orders the products/supplies/service, should not be the person who authorizes the purchase (again, unless of course that is you – the business owner).
-    The person, in your company, who ‘pays’ the supplier should not be the person who authorizes the payment (unless of course that person is you – the business owner).
-    There should be a valid ‘gift’ policy in place to govern/prevent your employees from receiving ‘gifts’ as ‘kick-backs’ from suppliers and/or service providers for ensuring that they become creditors.
-    The most expensive quote does not always translate into the best value for money – make sure that the research is properly conducted to ensure that you get the best value for your money.
-    Make sure that you have a proper Service Level Agreement in place, with realistic consequences for non-delivery and/or to ensure that you are properly covered in terms of compliance.

Finally, use common sense – if the deal is ‘too good to be true’, it usually means exactly that.  Always be alert for charlatans and scammers as they are always on the look-out for gullible business owners.

http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za/plugins/macgurublog_menu/comment.php?rid=768 This is most definitely a case of “Do as I tell you and not Do as I Do!”

Let me explain . . .

You see I started out writing my blogs for my own gratification, my own enjoyment.  Not for the enjoyment of anyone other than myself.  Sounds really selfish, doesn’t it?  But that is the honest truth!

Now most folk will tell you that you need to focus on what your readers want to read about, not what you necessarily want to say and yes, they are usually two very different things. Pretty much like when you are doing the research on what you are going to sell (be it product or service), you need to ascertain what people want rather than what you think they need.

The reality of the situation is that no-one really cares about what you think or indeed what it is that you have to say, unless of course it happens to be what they want to hear or have a need to hear (and yes those are also two very different things to).  If you don’t give them what they want, they will just go somewhere else to get it – yip, people are pretty fickle like that.

Fortunately though, what I wanted to write about because generally it was something that I had just learnt and was excited about and just wanted to share – or alternatively, something that I needed to hear, was also something that most SMME’s (small, micro, medium enterprizes) wanted to read themselves.  I am just lucky that it turned out that way.

That and the fact that I have penned in excess of 1300 articles, makes me believable, especially when they read an article and it resonates with them – the general consensus then is that I must know what I am talking about, so they read another one and so on.

The fact of the matter is that if you are looking to earn money out of your writing, it has to be about the reader – you have to pander to their every need.  You have to strike a chord in them or challenge them or give them righteous indignation – something that makes them think about what you are trying to say that they either wholeheartedly agree with or they completely disagree with.  If it is the latter you need to hope that they are indignant enough to respond to you in some way that will open up a discussion.

Fortunately for me, my blogs (and yes even the business ones) are generally presented in the form of a story, and it’s in the ‘telling’ of the story that I am most successful.  You see, I am a person who sees the words in pictures and when I read I have this whole video thing going through my mind as the words conjure up the most colourful pictures and when I write, I tend to write in the same way.  The words produce pictures in my mind and this is what people tend to grab a hold of. Those pictures in their minds have more impact on the story being told or the lesson that is being learnt than just a bunch of facts and figures would have and this gives the words (or the lesson) great value. 

People usually appreciate getting good value for money and they appreciate it even more if they get the ‘great value’ without having to pay anything, including the usual ‘school fees’ that come with starting a new business or going on your own.

Me, well I don’t really care one way or the other – you see my words give me the greatest value and the most enjoyment, and there’s nothing more that I could actually want from them. The fact that they also make a difference in the lives of others . . .  well that’s just a hidden bonus for both the reader and me!


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I am sure that you have all heard the old adage that “if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it”!  Although many business owners faithfully quote this saying almost on a daily basis, the sad reality is that few actually use it themselves.

The sad reality is that few actually set goals for themselves – goals that they can actually leverage off for their own personal successes. Goals that are specific, that can be measured – that have meaning and make perfectly logical sense.  Goals that motivate and excite you, that make you jump out of bed in the morning, ready and rearing to face the day.

Many business owners strategize for the business, for the staff, for the clients, for the suppliers  . . .  but fail to develop strategies for themselves.  So the challenge today is for you to develop a strategy for yourself, then work out your plan.  It might be something as simple as getting yourself to more ‘self-development’ type workshops or as complicated as working a four day week, and then a three day week and then a two day week and then a four hour week.

Whatever it is, write it down.  Set actions with deadlines and then focus on achieving your goal.

You know that it is something that you should do, you know it is something that you want to do and most importantly, you know it is something that you can do!



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“Optimists enrich the present, enhance the future, challenge the improbable and attain the impossible” says William Arthur Ward.

What a lovely thought!  Actually what a lovely several thoughts!

I have always believed that I am a ‘realistic optimist’.  I remember sitting in my English Major class in college in the early 70’s and making that statement, in front of the whole class, to the teacher (who I still consider one of my closest friends some almost 45 years down the line), and her looking at me as though I had ‘lost the plot’ when she said “Exactly what does that mean?”

To be completely fair, I have been asked that very same question many times since then and explained as I will here.

Let me put it this way (and I am going to give my beliefs around South Africa here as an example), I have great faith in South Africa.  I think that we have huge potential to grow as a nation, to join together in making this country the best that it can be.  I believe that if we all work together and all do our bit, that we can eradicate poverty, crime and corruption.  That is the optimist in me talking.  The reality of course is that we may very well grow but that will be a huge climb because unfortunately the fact of the matter is that not all members of the nation will be ‘pulling’ in the same direction. Not all will be working to eradicate poverty because some will be stealing the food/opportunity/ money for education etc. right out of the hands of those poor people.  Not all will be working to eradicate crime and corruption, because many will be actually working very hard in their chosen professions of crime and corruption! That’s the realist in me talking.

So whilst I am very enthusiastic about the potential of the country I am also acutely aware of the challenges that face us all if we are to get it right.

Thing is though, although I am very aware of the challenges, I am also inspired enough to want to do something to make the whole thing work.  I am still prepared to ‘do my bit’ to make a difference and to motivate and perhaps even inspire others to also do their bit, no matter how small or how ‘little’ that bit is, because you see – all the ‘little’ bits will at some point join up to become a ‘big’ bit and that ‘big’ bit will make a huge difference and that ‘huge difference’ will ‘enrich the present, enhance the future, challenge the improbable and attain the impossible’.

As much as the reality is that there will always be those who are pessimistic about the future, the reality is also that the impossible can be obtained, if everyone ‘Chips in’ and does their ‘little’ bit.



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Last time we looked at some of the records that need to be kept in order to ascertain the trends of absenteeism.

This time we will look at what you need to do in order to try and get to the root of the problem.

You need to do an audit on your company to see if you can highlight the problem areas. 

Included in your audit should be the following (but not limited to):
-    Is there a documented leave policy in place and do all of your staff know the possible consequences of abuse to absenteeism.
-    Whether or not the line managers and/or supervisors (and indeed even you yourself) manage the absenteeism.  Do all the employees face the same consequences or do some employees get preferential treatment?
-    Are the workspaces and/or working conditions comfortable, are your staff working in a safe environment, is there sufficient lighting and air circulation etc.
-    Are there any other factors that could have any bearing on job satisfaction?  If so, these could be part of the absenteeism problem.

There are several ways in which to conduct this type of audit, and it doesn’t have to cost you a fortune and it can be done ‘in-house’ as long as the person(s) conducting the assessment remains impartial and of course there cannot be any ramifications and/or adverse consequences  for the answers that you get from your employees.

One of the most successful ways to conduct this type of audit is by interviewing the staff.  Ideally this would be done with the line managers and employee representatives.  Another way to do this is to get the staff to complete a questionnaire or survey on the important issues – this of course can be done anonymously.

Some of the questions that could be asked are (but not limited to):-
-    What work do you do?
-    What are your responsibilities (as you understand them)
-    What department do you work in
-    Do any of the following impact on your work (work flow and/or quality of the work that is produced):
•    Level of noise
•    Attitude of fellow staff members and to fellow staff members
•    Attitude of management and to management
•    Availability of tools and equipment
•    Training to use the tools and equipment (and include in here computer and technical skills too)
•    Physical layout and accessibility of the work areas in relation to the work flow
•    Personal circumstances that may make coming to work difficult
•    Personal health problems
•    Any other factor that may make coming to work difficult

Don’t forget to include something where the staff can give suggestions on how to improve the situation – many years ago we had quite a fantastic response to this, with really great ideas.  We turned it into a competition and the person who came up with the most realistic, doable, innovative suggestion won a weekend away at the Company’s timeshare.

Many of the suggestions were put into practice and the absenteeism took a nose dive and stayed there.

Understand though that there will always be employees who have health problems and whose children have health problems  and these will always affect the absenteeism.  Be understanding where reasonable but use the “Leave Policy” correctly and make sure that there are consequences for abuse.


http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za/plugins/macgurublog_menu/comment.php?rid=764 Last time we looked at some of the different types of issues that need to be looked at around procurement. 

Today we will have a look at some more.

As we said one of the ways to limit procurement fraud is to ensure that you have a proper procurement policy in place and that it is adhered to and checked on a regular basis. We looked at the Needs Analysis, Timing and Suppliers. Then we looked at Supplier Communication and Negotiation. Other issues that need to be taken into account when implementing the procurement process are (but not limited to):

1.    Supplier Liaison
Of course it is important for the supplier to perform and at this point in the process that is exactly what needs to be done.  It makes sense therefore to have some sort of scorecard in place around the performance of the supplier.  By now there should have been at least one or two deliveries and re-orders and the whole experience needs to be evaluated.  Should the supplier have not met your basic requirements, then it is obviously time for you to consider alternative suppliers and/or options.

2.    Logistics Management
Whilst we all have expectations around our suppliers and their delivery of our goods, it is incumbent upon us to ensure that we manage the whole process. Issues around (but not limited to) shipment, delivery and payment need to be monitored closely and of course the terms and conditions of the contract must be met at all times.

There may instances where ‘installation’ needs to take place and then training needs to be effected.  Clearly this would also need to be monitored carefully as well.

3.    Tender Notifications
Should your company be large enough to require and/or need tenders to go out to meet your procurement requirements then obviously this would necessitate a whole different workflow.  There are software systems that can be utilized or you can also outsource these requirements.  Obviously you can also keep this ‘in-house’ but I would suggest that careful consideration be taken into  how the whole process should work and of course a lot of research would need to be undertaken in order for this to be as painless as possible.

Be sure to document the process so that there are clear lines of what the requirements are and make sure that each step is monitored carefully.

Next time we will have a look at a few more steps that need to address in your procurement process.

http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za/plugins/macgurublog_menu/comment.php?rid=763 I was asked the other day by my Life Coach what it is about blogging that I find so addictive, having penned over 1300 articles.  I must admit I had to stop for a moment and think carefully about my answer and I am so glad that I did.

You see I have been struggling for some time now to get articles written.  It’s not for a lack of material you understand (I probably have enough material to keep me writing an article a day for the rest of my life and beyond).  The problem for me is a lack of time, or rather to be completely honest with myself (as well as you lot) and more to the point, a lack of organizing my time!  There . . . . I’ve said it!

I have on many occasions stated that I often write about what I most need to hear and this is again one of those instances.  I am ashamed to say that I have become a procrastinator of note!  Shocking hey!  To the point that every time I see an article about procrastination, I hastily file it without even opening it – now that’s just me being a huge coward on top of everything!

The really sad thing about all of this is that on some level I have to write every single day (and I am not talking about Policies and Procedures here either) in order for me to be fulfilled – it is my one creative outlet and I know and understand that if I don’t write and express myself and dig down deep into the core that is essentially me – well then I don’t grow and if I don’t grow  - well a part of me dies!  That sounded quite melodramatic don’t you think?

So what happened – why is it that I have not been writing every day – the simple answer is . . . life.  I have allowed the everyday clutter and clatter to creep into what is fundamentally time that should be sacred to me.  The ‘slap upside the head’ for me was yesterday when I had a meeting with a client who wants me to mentor him and we were discussing time constraints and how we would fit it into our respective diaries and he said “I know that on a Friday you like to catch up on your admin and that you like to take some time for your ‘dream time’, so let’s have the meeting on a Friday.”  My ‘knee jerk’ reaction to that was – Noooooooo!  Actually, now that I have really thought about in (in the writing of this article to be exact), the answer is still a resounding “No!”

I have to take back my ‘me’ time!  I have to get back into the habit that was mine for so long, where writing an article was part of my daily stuff – the daily stuff that matters.  I have to get back to doing what is best for me, in order for me to grow as a human being and an individual.

So if you are going through the same dilemma, understand it is about facing the ‘time thief’, even if that is you and taking control of your life.