People Power and Enterprises

A business may have impressive infrastructure, be ideally positioned to attract customers and own state-of-the-art equipment and tools.

But business owners often fail to recognise that employees are a company’s most significant assets.

As a result, staff are not properly recruited, carefully chosen, constantly trained and attractively remunerated to perform optimally.

Don’t the owners of these underperforming enterprises with such high potential take note of the customer feedback on social media? One wonders why owners cannot comprehend what is so glaringly obvious to customers, and take remedial action.

An accommodation provider at Keetmanshoop is a great example. This modern facility boasts spacious and well-appointed bedrooms, lovely gardens and public areas and secure on-site parking.

Despite offering so much potential, when it comes to management, staff and catering, the hotel is a poor option for a business traveller.

Hospitality and food critics are better positioned to comment further on those aspects, so I shall limit my opinions to staffing matters.

The norm in the hospitality sector is for staff to be properly trained and periodically retrained to adequately meet the needs of guests.

Remuneration should be set at a level to retain employees, and a strategy put in place to offer attractive career pathways.

From reception to housekeeping and the kitchen, employees are issued with branded uniforms, smartly attired and well groomed.

It all starts with the recruitment process – a hotel must never become a workplace for the owner’s unemployed relatives and friends.

The same principles apply to any enterprise. It is essential for entrepreneurs and managers to identify talent and leverage their knowledge and skills for the benefit of the individual and the company.

The business of business must always be its own people, no matter how difficult it is for business owners to balance concerns about metrics, turnover and profitability.

Employees lead a company to success, and people-focused businesses are highly regarded for their customers and employee satisfaction.

Such companies focus on human relationships and specifically places the owner-employee relationships over profits by creating a positive work environment.

• Danny Meyer can be contacted at danny@smecompete.com