Seasoned strategic executive and FNB Home Finance’s Client Experience Head Dr Simphiwe Patric Madikizela delivered a webinar titled: Crafting and Implementing Business Strategies during the COVID-19 Pandemic uncertainty.
The event was hosted by UKZN’s Graduate School of Business and Leadership (GSB&L) as part of its Webinar Series aimed at empowering postgraduate students, alumni and business partners with information that will enable them to navigate the unprecedented challenges presented by the pandemic.
The lecture was part of a strategy and organisational module taught at the business school and saw Madikizela unpack the following:
• The crucial role of leadership during the pandemic
• Decision making and the importance of using data in the decision-making process
• The importance of governance and ethics
• Challenges in implementing business strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic
• The relevant skills required given the fourth industrial revolution and going forward
Madikazela highlighted that during the pandemic, companies should take care of people first before profits as staff is the greatest asset that an organisation has.
‘COVID-19 has been with us for almost two years. If we just think back to a few years ago, we were talking about the fourth industrial revolution and then COVID came. In these times, we need to be clear as leadership by putting people first. We can’t put profit first because the economy will recover and what will we do without the people? If you take care of your people, they will take care of the business,’ he said
Turning to South Africa’s high unemployment rate and the skills that are currently relevant, Madikizela said that jobs are constantly advertised; hence, the question arises as to whether there is a mismatch between the skills required by the market and those possessed by graduates.
‘Universities and business schools need to ask themselves how relevant the skills of the graduates they are producing year after year are to the skills required by the market. We need to have those conversations; we need to adjust and adapt because it’s a digital world now.’
Madikizela went on to explain that South Africans do not have a problem with coming up with visions, plans and strategies; the biggest challenge is implementation. He emphasised that the country has very good programmes, strategies and policies such as the National Development Plan but implementation is very slow.
‘South Africa has a very big problem of sound policies on paper but the implementation is lacking and we need to be truthful about this. This has been a major challenge for years in the government and public sector. Look at the frequent service delivery protests and schools where we hear sad stories of pupils drowning in pit latrines. We need to implement and implement fast! Slow progress is what is killing us as a country,’ he said.
Words: Thandiwe Jumo
Photograph: Supplied