Breakfast Seminar: Business as (Un)usual - Driving your bottom line through your employees

Business is at a crossroads. Robert Reich, professor at the University of California, argues in a new documentary Inequality for All that the widening inequality between the middle classes and the super-rich is threatening the US economy. And, addressing inequality in South Africa in his new book Suspended Revolution, Professor Adam Habib, Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Witwatersrand, warns our economic elites to "compromise now or risk losing everything". That risk is dramatically illustrated in the recent labour disputes which resulted in Amplats losing millions due to lost output, and BMW losing production of about 13,000 vehicles and deciding to halt investment and expansion plans. Clearly business cannot go on as usual - something has got to give.

The inconvenient truth is that workers are of strategic importance to companies of all sizes. Yet managers all too frequently misunderstand or underestimate the impact that workers have on bottom line results. Let's face it, when the chips are down aspects such as costs, margins, stock levels or product mixes usually get all the attention, while people performance hardly features in the equation. Managers are adept at measuring their company's financial results, but do not seem to know how to measure how their workers' performance drives those results. This doesn't make sense, according to Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric: "There are only three measurements that tell you nearly everything you need to know about your organisation's overall performance: employee engagement, customer satisfaction, and cash flow."

In these introductory talks, Johan and Dieter will unlock the surprising truth about people performance. They will use case studies and research data to:

• Show why investing your time and energy to enable your workers to be more engaged and committed to the company make absolute business sense;
  
• Share how you can drive your bottom line results from the bottom up, through your employees;
  
• Outline what you need to do to create and sustain a work environment where your employees will be highly engaged and optimally productive.

Their talks will focus on what you need to do to build a company that is a great place for great people to do great work - a company with a winning culture where your employees are recognised and treated as a long term competitive advantage.

Presenters

Johan Poolman

Johan Poolman: Management consultant, leadership coach and speaker. Enthusiastic cheerleader for human potential in the workplace. Believes in people as a long term competitive advantage in any organisation. Developer of a number of leadership and people performance development programmes with a strong bias towards employee engagement and strengths-based organisations. Founder and CEO at Mindset Management Programs.

Dieter Veldsman

Dieter Veldsman: Registered Organisational Psychologist, specialising in organisational development and talent, performance and people solutions. Passionate about helping others to find meaning in their work. Experience in various industries, including aviation, financial services, hospitality, marketing, education, construction and manufacturing. Regular speaker at international conferences on organisational storytelling, leadership, engagement and the millennial workforce.

Venues and dates

Gauteng: 5 November 2013 (Centurion); 6 November 2013 (Sandton); 7 November 2013 (East Rand)
Western Cape: 8 November 2013 (Century City)

Cost

R150 per delegate.

Registration

Register online by clicking here or send an email to moc.eganamtesdnim@retsiger.