Read Part I of this post here
1) The
employer/employee divide.
Poor employer/employee
relationships limit growth up to 60% of the time. According to Mr. Dennis Tawah
in an interview published in the December 2008 edition of Upgrade magazine, ‘‘there
is a general fear of bestowing trust in employees’’. Mr. Tawah who is now the
supply chain manager of Canon in the United Arab Emirate, worked in Bamenda for
years. He feels that this is because employees are not usually involved in the
decision making process of the day to day running of most companies. He goes
further to explain that ‘‘employers need to show their employees that their
opinions count, that they are not only their bosses but colleagues as
well’’.
Mr. Acha, the manager of
Dreamland Restaurant, a household name in the restaurant business, attests to
this statement citing the cold relationship he has with his boss. “I don’t
remember the last time I had a five minute chat with my boss”, he says. This
could be construed to mean trust in him on the part of his boss, but is it not safe
to conclude that employees need a degree of latitude from their employers to be
able to perform at optimum capacity? This brings us to the following point:
2) Lack
of trust in employees.
Most employers in
Bamenda tend to be the ‘‘do it yourself ’’ bosses. While most employees will
complain that their bosses do not trust them to make wise decisions relating to
the business, employers on the other hand do not hesitate in aggressively
highlighting every mistake they make. Talking
to Jacky Sendze, the CEO of Bambuiy Engineering on the issue, she was quick to
point out that most workers deliberately do not want to make decisions because
of fear that it could backfire if things go wrong, even when they have the authority
to do so. “There is nothing wrong in failing so you can be corrected
subsequently. Shying away from these responsibilities only makes workers lazy
and the bulk of the work comes back to the bosses”, she adds.
Could this be the
same reason why most companies with their headquarters out of Bamenda make all
the decisions on behalf of their branch managers? What role do branch managers therefore
play if power is so centralized? Numvi
Wallace a Cameroonian studying in Denmark now in Cameroon on research on the
topic of decentralization remarks that ‘bottom up decision making is more
productive since those at the bottom are in direct contact with the challenges
and can make sound decisions in relation to these problems more than those at
the top of the pyramid’. On the contrary the top-down decision-making structure
means that business units are unable to respond rapidly to competitive trends.
This is one of the reasons why nimble start-up companies, with few managerial
layers to wade through are often able to surprise their larger competitors and claim
a profitable niche in the marketplace.
Only agile and resilient organizations – and people –
will thrive and make billions in this new era. Employers must allow the
employees to have the audacity to take bold steps, learn from their mistakes
and make corrections quickly and accordingly. This means employees should be
deployed in flexible project teams rather than confined to a single pre-defined
job. But at the same time, individual accountability must be clearly delineated
from team accountability. This makes for a results-oriented and fast-paced organization
where a culture of shared values and principles exists, an empowered work force
that has permission to take action, and a broad network of colleagues working
under common standards with shared goals, of course with the guidance of
bosses.
3)
Lack of proper training of employees.
Why would an
organization be reluctant to invest in training its employees if it makes them
more skilled?
There are four
resources all organizations must manage: money, equipment, information, and
people. Investment in better equipment will speed up production and reduce
waste. Information is power. Data about products, prices and customers are
essential to every business. Investment in training and development of
employees makes them more productive and effective in their jobs. Even a
moderate training can have a substantial effect. The purpose of training and
management development programs is to improve the employee’s competence and
organizational capabilities. When the organization invests in improving the
knowledge and skills of its employees, the investment is returned in the form
of more productive and effective employees.
Unfortunately, most
employers have a bias about the training and development of their employees. To
some employers, they do not see any direct return on investment (ROI). To some
others, the fear is that training makes their employees more likely to being
whisked away by other employers offering a bigger carrot.
Identifying a
problem is half solving it. Employers should sit up and do just the right thing.
Employers should invest in capacity building within their company structures to
see their companies grow.
4) Remuneration.
Entrepreneurs in
Bamenda have yet to find the one silver bullet that can ensure sustainability
and growth in a weak and struggling economy. A certain degree of growth comes
from improving a company's performance from within and that requires an
energized, innovating talent force. It is surprisingly tough attracting and
retaining talent despite high unemployment. Many companies in the North West can’t
find enough skilled people, such as marketers and managers which are in short
supply. This, however, is attributed to very small pay packages, accorded to
employees, reason why they migrate out of the region to seek greener pastures
in big cities like Yaoundé and Douala. “Our
salaries are very low. It is for the lack in motivation and incentives that we
must look for alternative means to make ends meet. Picking up two or three
passengers as we go along helps us a lot...” a bus driver who refuses to
identify himself protests. This of course is one of the reasons why majority of
the accidents on our highways only works to the disadvantage of the transport
companies.
5) Greed.
In Bamenda, greed
has not only become an acceptable phenomenon, it has become legal. It is greed
that makes people amass wealth irrespective of whom they trample upon or who
they take from. This attitude stifles the young from dreaming, thereby killing potential
billionaires. It is greed that makes those who have “made it” to take from
those who are still on their way up the ladder of growth. Greed gives unscrupulous
folks the temerity to take advantage of the weak, stripping them of their will
to live for something as opposed to just living.
Business should be a
fair game. You give something to get something in return. The average businessman in the North West
takes something for nothing 80% of the time. How much love can you show your
community or your country than to give back some of what they gave to you?
6) Weak
organizational structures
An organizational
structure refers to the pattern or structure of jobs as well as
responsibilities in an organization. A structure is composed of departments or
divisions within a specific management hierarchy and how these inter-relate. It
should also provide a set of rules and procedures for each department as well
as a rough outline of high-level goals. In clearer terms, an organizational
structure will refer to how the various departments within an enterprise
inter-relate. It is imperative to note here that all departments rely on each other,
meshing smoothly for the growth of the organization.
A well-structured
system has the obvious positive effects on the company.
Business people
have yet to realize that for any business to thrive in a rapidly changing
environment like Bamenda, decision-making at times need to be swift and out of
the norm. This can only be attained when companies are well organized with
every department carrying out their specialized functions well. But we are
faced with a situation where business systems of days gone by are still so
rigidly practiced today.
7) Tax
related issues.
It is very easy to cast Taxation as the villain, as a heartless institution
put in place to cheat or punish honest hardworking people. But
taxation is concerned about one thing only: generating
revenue
for the state. The officials who
go around “harassing” the little man struggling to make a coin don't make the
tax laws; they only enforce them. However, it is how
these laws are enforced that affects the businesses. Many businesses have
closed, stayed small or changed business names, thereby loosing goodwill
accrued over the years and revenue because of tax related issues.
Far too often, however, businessmen or even firms find it difficult to comprehend
tax systems because they have little or no understanding of its dynamics. They
become skeptical of the motives of tax officials. As a result, they favor small
or less conspicuous business ventures over major initiatives. That is one of
the reasons why most businesses fear advertisement because it exposes them not
only to new clients and investors, but also attracts the legal attention of the
state and therewith the hot and corrupt gaze of the tax collectors, hence the
limitation of growth and expansion.
