Teryl @ Work

If I were 22   May is my birthday month, so a time for celebrations and introspection. In interviews, I often ask our applicants to pretend they are 60, and look back on their careers.   Their dreams range from leaving a legacy to being able to retire by the age of 45. At 22, I had taken my first steps on the career ladder.   I had been promoted from being a PA and Installation Secretary (setting up PoS installations for NCR’s large retailers) to becoming a full time programmer. I had made some extremely poor academic decisions, and realised I had to make some very good career choices.   Software development was a relatively new field when I was in my early 20s, and it became an exciting and fulfilling career. Based on my history what advice would I give myself or a new graduate? It doesn’t matter what you have studied, or what your first job is. Keep looking for your passion, find what makes you happy. If it’s money, and you don’t m...

It has become a cliche, and, like most cliches, there is a mix of truth and fallacy. So what does the average employee look for at work? High pay? Constant access to social media? Extensive leave? Very flexible hours? Well, yes, but research and empirical evidence also shows: Fair treatment  Growth Pleasant colleagues Pleasant working environment A manager who is demotivating can undo any positive effects that great corporate policies can have, while a great manager can mitigate the effects of a less people sensitive business strategy. Some ideas that work some of the time Discuss your reason for being there Sometimes we forget our business purpose or the difference we make to our clients, suppliers and various stakeholders.   Discuss it with your people, if you manufacture chocolate its easy to cover the "we make people feel good" side, but what if you do aluminium sidings?   Find the value in what you do, and share it with everybody. At...

What is the difference?   Over the years, I have been lucky enough to have quite a few mentors, who were generous with their time, ideas and input.  And I have certainly had sponsors, who have recommended me for really good positions and opportunities, as well as head hunting me at just the right time! But once I was in the position of having a mentor who was also a great coach and a sponsor. Sieg Frankenfeld held my current position of heading up  +Accsys (Pty) Ltd  for 4 months as a caretaker, before I was promoted from Sales Director to CEO, and he was, and is, an unbelievable coach. We were at a meeting at our Head Office once, and he was presenting on the company, and he kept saying "I" have done this and "I" have done that.   When we sat down together after the meeting, I queried saying I instead of we about all the positive input and he, smiled, and said "Do you think you will be able to share the failures with your team, too?"  I still use ...

When people used to stay in jobs for 10 plus years, there was time for companies to invest both time and money in training and upskilling employees. In the US, the average tenure is less than 6 years, but it is the under 30's who are moving after short periods.  According to Stats SA, the median employment for the 25 to 34 year old South African worker is 31 months. Their lack of experience means they need more training before they are productive, and they frequently leave before the company recovers its investment.   While companies can make a real effort to improve their retention, the reality is that younger employees are moving more, so a strategy around closing the productivity gap is crucial, and it starts on day one of employment. A structured induction process is critical, no matter what the job level.   The day before an employee joins a full plan should be in place, from setting up email addresses to arranging who is going to greet the new person in recept...