Working For Your Staff

A minimum national wage is commonplace in many countries, and the introduction of one here has been mooted for years.

So, the government’s recent announcement to introduce one in Namibia should not come as a surprise.

Through a collective bargaining arrangement between employers and employees, a minimum level of remuneration already exists in many sectors.

Enterprises may have the best plant, machinery, equipment and tools, but employees are needed to productively use such assets.

It is a no-brainer that without staff to make quality products, provide needed services – on time every time – and to quality standards, the operations of an enterprise of any size would grind to a halt.

So, with good reason, it is important for an employer, entrepreneur, or management to acknowledge that people are indeed their firm’s greatest asset and should be remunerated fairly for their labour.

But it cannot be a one-sided relationship, and it is a fact that there are people who want a job, but not necessarily work.

When asked to spell out challenges they faced and continue to encounter in starting or growing their business, without hesitation entrepreneurs would say finding and keeping good employees tops the list.

Most would say it poses a greater challenge than accessing funding or borrowing money from a bank.

Employees’ productivity, skills, and attitude towards work make or break a firm.

This is the very reason why we work with entrepreneurs, especially the owners of fledgling enterprises.

The entity I am with, which supports income growth and job creation in the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector, always advises entrepreneurs on the importance of hiring staff with appropriate skills for the job and the right attitude towards work.

We caution against employing a jobless relative or an unemployed friend who has fallen on hard times.

Staff members are a firm’s greatest asset, but many entrepreneurs, especially the owners of the fledgling firms we work with, often wonder if they are.

One cannot blame them for questioning the validity of such a notion when an employee fails to report for duty on a day most needed to help complete a job, pitching up days later with a lame excuse.

Or when an employee returns to work many days after their annual leave has ended, or disappears for a few days without prior arrangements.

There are also those employees who are constantly sidetracked by friends coming to the office, or who are distracted from doing a job by a barrage of WhatsApp postings and SMS text messages during work hours.

Like employers, employees have responsibilities and obligations, and it starts with helping and not hindering the firm they work for, so that the enterprise operates profitably and thereby sustainably.

They must refrain from making outrageous wage increase demands because of personal financial indiscipline.

Employees should also avoid excessive consumption that gets them into trouble with loan sharks, then making the lack of financial discipline an employer’s problem.

Employers create jobs, and it is a fact that Namibia’s MSME sector is the country’s largest provider of jobs.

Is this sector being consulted on the proposed national minimum wage the government is so anxious to introduce, one wonders?

• Reach Danny Meyer at danny@smecompete.com