Employment In The ‘Old Days’

WITH reference to the letter by Mr P Muteyauli, headlines ‘Namibian Graduates are Employable’.

I would like to offer the following comment, myself being (now retired) in Namibia for over 50 years and working some 28 years for the then Department of Water Affairs, which put a lot emphasis on training. Incidentally, the then Department Of Water Affairs had officially forbidden racism in the work context already in 1978.To put the record straight: Training and learning is a lifelong process, and having attained a college or university degree, is just another educational qualification, and must be seen as a steppingstone for a career.In the “old” days, and now I mean the so-called “racist Apartheid days” we “Whites” started from scratch.This meant you would, after attaining your high school qualification, go to university or college for three, four or five years, obtain your degree or diploma and you would start as TRAINEE in almost any occupation for at least three or four years fulltime, before you could even think of being promoted to manager.There is no way that a student is able to obtain any decent background knowledge during vacation work lasting a few weeks.It is a sad fact that the word ‘manager’ in Namibia in respect of a post held, has been so downgraded that you get nowadays Sales Managers, for example, who haven’t got a clue what they sell, and what customer care really is, and even worse, they have very little idea of what they are actually supposed to manage.A manager, even with the highest educational qualifications, MUST know the inside and outside and the background of the division he is supposed to manage, right down to the last detail, otherwise he cannot be a leader, because a leader leads foremost by example and experience.It is impossible to obtain that experience during vacation work of a few weeks.This takes years, with gradually mounting responsibilities.A student who has done his work properly at university is burnt out and must take a proper vacation to recuperate, and is in no state to absorb “his new way of life” just like that.Regarding Mr Parkhouse’s report to the committee, the following: I have very carefully read his report, and I found it completely comprehensive and understandable for any normal person.What Mr Parkhouse did in his report was to call a spade a spade.He did not mince words and just stated the facts.This is one of the biggest problems in Namibia, to be permitted to freely state what one thinks is wrong in the country, even if it is not politically correct.The old saying, “Listen to the message, and do not kill the messenger” is very true in Namibia.No matter what Parkhouse’s qualifications are, he was according to my knowledge Human Resources Manager of the Ohlthaver and List Group.This fact alone makes him probably more qualified to make such statements that any other person in the country.I am quite sure that the Namibian Employers’ Federation appointed him as General Secretary for a second time because of his extensive practical experience in labour-related matters, and not for his academic qualifications.Your statement regarding the AAP promoting incompetence is as such very valid.But the political pressure behind this policy instilled in the employers a sense of insecurity, indirectly or directly forcing them to employ anybody that remotely could fit the profile.It is a sad fact that quite a number of businesses run by white Namibians do not expand their business and staff as they would like to and probably could, because of this very same policy.However, I am quite sure that very few appointments in managerial posts have been made where the person appointed could really fill the post to the fullest extent.You just need to take the newspapers and read the long list of investigations that were carried out and where it is obvious that the people involved were either incompetent or criminally negligent or plainly criminal.(Good example is TransNamib, Avid or NDC and ODC).You just need to open any newspaper and it makes the proud, patriotic Namibian sick to read the reports on incompetence and corruption.I agree with one statement of yours wholeheartedly: The Namibian Private Sector is and was notoriously unwilling to train staff, bar a few, very few exceptions.There are various reasons, to mention a few: The virtual absence of loyalty to the employer, to accept and pursue a longish training period, the lack of career orientation, the willingness to listen to criticism (in a training environment this is unavoidable) and what is most important: the willingness to accept responsibility for one’s actions.It is totally unacceptable that a young man 25 years old claims 15 years after Independence that he was previously disadvantaged.The worst statement in your letter reads as follows, and I quote: “A student, based on his ambitions, determines his own work performance.”This is totally and utterly wrong.Performance of a person in a job environment will always be measured by the results he achieves.This performance can only be measured in the business world by the financial successes he achieves for his employer, and nothing else.The individual’s personal ambitions generally are to obtain the best remuneration he can get, which is fully understandable.But he must earn this money or the benefits first by delivering results to his employer, and not vice versa.Retired Employee Via e-mailIncidentally, the then Department Of Water Affairs had officially forbidden racism in the work context already in 1978.To put the record straight: Training and learning is a lifelong process, and having attained a college or university degree, is just another educational qualification, and must be seen as a steppingstone for a career.In the “old” days, and now I mean the so-called “racist Apartheid days” we “Whites” started from scratch.This meant you would, after attaining your high school qualification, go to university or college for three, four or five years, obtain your degree or diploma and you would start as TRAINEE in almost any occupation for at least three or four years fulltime, before you could even think of being promoted to manager.There is no way that a student is able to obtain any decent background knowledge during vacation work lasting a few weeks.It is a sad fact that the word ‘manager’ in Namibia in respect of a post held, has been so downgraded that you get nowadays Sales Managers, for example, who haven’t got a clue what they sell, and what customer care really is, and even worse, they have very little idea of what they are actually supposed to manage. A manager, even with the highest educational qualifications, MUST know the inside and outside and the background of the division he is supposed to manage, right down to the last detail, otherwise he cannot be a leader, because a leader leads foremost by example and experience.It is impossible to obtain that experience during vacation work of a few weeks.This takes years, with gradually mounting responsibilities. A student who has done his work properly at university is burnt out and must take a proper vacation to recuperate, and is in no state to absorb “his new way of life” just like that.Regarding Mr Parkhouse’s report to the committee, the following: I have very carefully read his report, and I found it completely comprehensive and understandable for any normal person.What Mr Parkhouse did in his report was to call a spade a spade.He did not mince words and just stated the facts.This is one of the biggest problems in Namibia, to be permitted to freely state what one thinks is wrong in the country, even if it is not politically correct.The old saying, “Listen to the message, and do not kill the messenger” is very true in Namibia.No matter what Parkhouse’s qualifications are, he was according to my knowledge Human Resources Manager of the Ohlthaver and List Group.This fact alone makes him probably more qualified to make such statements that any other person in the country.I am quite sure that the Namibian Employers’ Federation appointed him as General Secretary for a second time because of his extensive practical experience in labour-related matters, and not for his academic qualifications.Your statement regarding the AAP promoting incompetence is as such very valid.But the political pressure behind this policy instilled in the employers a sense of insecurity, indirectly or directly forcing them to employ anybody that remotely could fit the profile.It is a sad fact that quite a number of businesses run by white Namibians do not expand their business and staff as they would like to and probably could, because of this very same policy.However, I am quite sure that very few appointments in managerial posts have been made where the person appointed could really fill the post to the fullest extent.You just need to take the newspapers and read the long list of investigations that were carried out and where it is obvious that the people involved were either incompetent or criminally negligent or plainly criminal.(Good example is TransNamib, Avid or NDC and ODC).You just need to open any newspaper and it makes the proud, patriotic Namibian sick to read the reports on incompetence and corruption. I agree with one statement of yours wholeheartedly: The Namibian Private Sector is and was notoriously unwilling to train staff, bar a few, very few exceptions.There are various reasons, to mention a few: The virtual absence of loyalty to the employer, to accept and pursue a longish training period, the lack of career orientation, the willingness to listen to criticism (in a training environment this is unavoidable) and what is most important: the willingness to accept responsibility for one’s actions.It is totally unacceptable that a young man 25 years old claims 15 years after Independence that he was previously disadvantaged. The worst statement in your letter reads as follows, and I quote: “A student, based on his ambitions, determines his own work performance.”This is totally and utterly wrong. Performance of a person in a job environment will always be measured by the results he achieves.This performance can only be measured in the business world by the financial successes he achieves for his employer, and nothing else.The individual’s personal ambitions generally are to obtain the best remuneration he can get, which is fully understandable.But he must earn this money or the benefits first by delivering results to his employer, and not vice versa.Retired Employee Via e-mail