FROMTHE CEO

Team work is everything. But teams

comprise individuals. This month I celebrate

the individual’s role in the team, particularly

in decision making.

Decisions govern our lives. They can have

a direct impact on the performance on the

teams at work. We think we are making the

same decisions every day but we do not. A

famous study by Nobel Prize winner Daniel

Kahneman, who will be visiting South Africa

shortly, shows that each decision is actually

a comparatively new one. Each decision

reflects different times, situations, people

and challenges. They always accompany

uncertainty.

Kahneman reminds us about decision

making processes that go wrong with

simple explanations. First, we tend

towards overconfidence thinking that we

are repeating a previous decision when we

are not - so good judgment and wisdom is

required. You may wish to leave work early

for personal reasons. You feel it is OK. Many

staff members have done the same before

suggesting it is the norm. Your wisdom could

tell you that you are sending an irresponsible

message to all. The Company pays with loss

of manpower because of lack of planning

or problem solving which could have been

resolved the night before. A behaviour

pattern starts in the team initiated by one

bad influence. Bosasa has a corporate

culture of personal initiative. Sometimes a

speedy decision is required. If a situation

requires rapid response, waiting for the

team to meet before a decision is made is

false economy. Growing the individual as

an independent thinker who makes good

judgment calls, is a reason why so much is

invested in personal development at Bosasa.

For an example, when a Bosasa security

guard at Oliver Tambo Airport acts swiftly

to abort a crime, speed of individual action

preceded by personal decision making is

required. The appreciative letters we receive,

demonstrate personal responsibility vested

in speedy decision making. These individual

decisions guarantee safety for ORT patrons

and they celebrate the Bosasa reputation

of excellence. No decision in itself could be

catastrophic. Decision making is therefore

a sign of character, integrity and personal

responsibility.

In the Bosele I have asked individual

employees to suggest ways of preventing

waste and improving our services. The best

idea and contributor is rewarded. Impressive

‘fact’ collection underscores these great

ideas. For instance if you believe paper

is wasted, monitor where there is excess

usage, calculate the cost to the company

and the cost saving before you decide to

put the idea forward. Alternative approaches

to bad habits are welcomed. Choosing this

alternative requires a good decision making

process. Never forget that decisions can

affect a bigger team picture. A valuable

tool is heightened personal mindfulness.

If applied in this situation we can become

acutely aware of all factors in our decision

making processes and rise above personality

issues. Knowledge sharing is an example.

Often, people have knowledge and do not

wish to share it because they believe their

jobs may become redundant in the process.

A ‘mindful’ approach to this situation would

take cognizance of the fact that not sharing

important information is more likely to make

a job redundant. Mindful sharing encourages

conscious cooperation, collaboration and

selflessness. The team benefits and finally so

does the individual. If you wish to grow your

decision making ability know that it may start

off as a conscious exercise as you drive for

perfection. It soon becomes an unconscious

competence providing the groundwork has

been laid.

Good decision making aims at solutions.

Technology plays its role. Somebody once

said that ‘If people are so bad at making

decisions, how did we get to the moon?’

The answer from the famous Massachusetts

Institute of Technology may have sounded

disconcerting. “People did not get to the

moon – NASA did,” Of course people were

part of the equation. What MIT was saying

is that innovative technology enables the

seamless delivery of service. SharePoint

will soon be introduced to Bosasa. This

technology will allow you to make informed

decisions within seconds. We have given

you that platform in order to perform with

excellence. Before you make the next

important decision reflect on your objectives.

Consider the resources you need, and the

implications of the decision on your team.

You are the catalyst for change. Make the

decision. But ground it in reality first.

God Bless.

NKOKHELI

1 FROM THE CEO

Words GAVIN WATSON

BOS031_0313

2FROM THE EDITORS

Much has been written this month in the

mass media about mental poverty. Our minds

need to be constantly enriched; after all we

are a knowledge management company. So

today Bosele introduces this debate through

one of the hottest discourses in the corporate

world and universities today – mindfulness.

Mindfulness has now scientific significance.

It means that behaviour can be changed

with self reflection which leads to multi-

dimensional personal growth. This quiet

observation practice described more

commonly in Christian language as

contemplation enriches our experience of the

world.

The Bible requires of us to reflect on the

will of God. Leaders require us also to

be conscious of our contributions to the

company. Not changing behaviour leads to

personal poverty. Personal poverty refers to

four elements: physical, mental emotional

or spiritual deficits in our lives - perhaps all

four. Mindfulness as an exercise is sweeping

corporates world-wide, medical schools and

universities as a subject.

The famous Pillsbury Company in the

UK was able to double its turnover

by causing its personnel to practice a

conscious awareness of how they manage

customers, interactions and relationships

and business processes such as sales

and procurement. What it means within

our context, is a quiet and comprehensive

evaluation of the environment in which

we engage without reacting negatively.

After gathering meaningful information

we can then choose to respond calmly to

challenging situations without anger or

frustration. Dignified observation techniques

reduce stress and heighten observation

powers. The best detectives in the world

are experts in mindfulness. Evidence based

research reports that there are dramatic

changes to health and well-being, body

structure (neurons of the brain) memory and

cognitive functioning with its practice. It also

eliminates body pain.

Mindfulness makes us aware of the

importance of enriching our knowledge

and our contributions to the world – in this

instance Bosasa. Through mindfulness we

become conscious of nutrition, nurturing

quality relationships with others, health and

personal performance. With mindfulness

we enrich ourselves with essential skills,

growing our God given talents. Mindfulness

is experienced in prayer as well. It is the

reverse of the poverty coin.

Mindfulness suggests that our wild

nanosecond reactions to situations in life

serve to impoverish our mental and physical

health. It suggests instead that we evaluate

all situations, calmly. Mindfulness reduces

impoverishing conflict. In pausing we choose

to build relationships and not destroy

them. Complacency perpetuates poverty

of achievement. Mindfulness recognises

that we share unique interdependence with

others, a team process which enriches our

lives and performance. Emotional and

mental poverty is a negative choice.

Reflecting on the CEOs blogs mindfully,

engages us with his vision. Being individually

mindful of Bosasa’s needs and its bigger

picture in pursuit of its global and domestic

initiatives – can change the Company’s

positioning in turn. Which road do you

choose?

BOS026_0313

FROMTHE EDITORS

Words DENISE BJORKMAN

WATSONLINE / TRUTHONLINE 5

WINNING DECISIONS: HOW TO GET IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME 5

PLAY TO WIN 7

HIGH PERFOMING WORKTEAMS 9

CONTENTS

FROM THE CEO 1

FROM THE EDITOR 2

CONTENTS 3

FEATURES 11

SHARING YOUR WATSONLINE INSIGHTS 11

ADVICE FOR NEW MANAGERS 21

A CORNERSTONE OF BRICS AND THE FUTURE 25 B.R.I.C.S. 27

FEEDBACK RE PE / EAST LONDON IMBIZO 28 DCS SOCCER TOURNAMENT 50

3 CONTENTS

17/04/2013 - 1962ED3 - MTG

COVER DESIGN

A CORNERSTONE OF BRICS AND THE FUTURE

ARTICLE ON PAGE 15

disclaimerBOSELE is the official publication of THE BOSASA GROUP. All material is strictly copyright and all rights are reserved. No portion of this magazine may be reproduced externally, wholly or in part, in any form without the consent of the Bosasa Group. The views and opinions expressed by the contributors to this publication are not necessarily the views and opinions of the publishers, the Bosasa Group or its associates. While every effort has been taken to ensure the completeness or accuracy of the published information, errors and omissions may occur.

WHAT SIGNAGE DOES FOR BOSASA 13

TIPS FOR MAKING A CELL PHONE VIDEO 14

INTRO TO SHAREPOINT & YAMMER 15

THE BOSASA KARATE KID 18

IKA / CULINARY OLYMPICS - GLOBAL COOKING COMPETITION 19

BRANDS / SUPPORT SERVICES 19

BRIGADIER BOSHIELO COMIC STRIP 62

COMPETITION 60

BOSELE EDITORIAL TEAM

chief editorDENISE BJORKMAN

sub editor/sVELILE PHATOTHEMBI MODUNGWABELINDA PHETO

contributorsKEITH BUTLERRIANA MALONEYIRIS DE JAGERASANDA PANTSHWADR LOUIS SCHOLTZDINEO MOERANECARLOS BONIFACIOJOHANN FOURIEDUDU DUBECHARLES McBETHSIBUSISIWE MAJOLAJOHAN ABRIELYNN LOOTSTREVOR MATHENJWAALLISTER ESAUGILLIS KOENDESMOND DE VRIESJASON STOLTZON-IT 1 TEAMYDC HEAD OFFICE TEAMPABALLO SEIPEI

photographyEKAYAMEDIA

design & layoutMPHO MOJELATEBOGO MATSIMELAELLA VAN DER WALT

illustrationRIAAN VAN ZYL

project managementGEOFFREY GREEN

stategy & productionJASON STOLTZ

commissioning officerPAPA LESHABANE - DIRECTOR(CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS)

contact boselePRIVATE BAG 2002KRUGERSDORP1740

+27(0)11 662 6435bosele@bosasa.com

websitewww.bosasagroup.com

4CONTENTS

INTELLECT & CAPITAL’S IDEA FACTORY 60

INTELLIPUZZLE 61

INTELLIPUZZLE WINNERS - EDITION 2 62

MBP FEATURES ON SOWETO TV 20

BOSASA IT FIGHTS SPAM 23

YOUTH CENTRES KEEP THEIR CERTIFICATION 29

CERTIFICATION OFFERS VICTORY CELEBRATION FOR MYC 29 ELVIS IS TRANSFORMING WASTE MATERIAL INTO ART 30

PROCUREMENT’S STRATEGIC PLAN OF ACTION 31

THE PROCUREMENT TEAM WELCOMESA NEW KID IN THE BLOCK 32

TRUSTMASTER PROCUREMENT 35

RECRUITMENT 49

GIVING BLOOD A GIFT OF LIFE 36

KNOWLEDGE RESOURCE CONFERENCE 37

KGWERANO TRAINING WEEK @ MBP 39

THE WATSON CORPORATE UNIVERSITY: NO MORE YOUR AVERAGE TRAINING DEPARTMENT 40

LICENCED TO SKILL 43

HOW TO DELEGATE EFFECTIVELY 45

CHRRISTINA HERBST - BOSASA’S MOTHER HEN 47 SERVICE EXCELLENCE AT OR TAMBO 49

FUGITIVE ILLEGAL PORTERS & TOUTERS RUN FROM BOSASA SECURITY 50

THANK YOU LETTERS 51

SONDOLO IT’S ACHIEVEMENTS 53

VIP PEOPLE PAYROLL SYSTEM 55

BOSASA IS GOING GREEN 57

PIONEERING THE FUTURE

“teams2win”:WINNING DECISIONS: HOW TO GET IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIMEThere was a time when most business

decisions could be made on the basis

of intuition, common sense or specialist

experience. Those days are over. Today,

it has become very important to make

sound business decisions quickly, and your

chances of actually doing that in practice are

enhanced if you have in place a decision

making process which is structured, sound

and consistent.

Making good decisions have a four stage

process:

1. Frame problems accurately – the

framing you use will determine the

viewpoint from which the problem is

seen.

2. Gather intelligence effectively – the

knowable facts as well as everything

that is “unknowable” at present.

3. Come to a conclusion – which should

flow-on naturally from the framing

applied and the intelligence gathered.

4. Keep learning systematically from

your experiences – so that you can

improve or even make early refinements

during implementation.

Add to this a preamble where you take the

time to set your course efficiently (by asking

the right questions) and a follow-up stage

where you take care to apply everything that

has been learned and you’ll have a robust

and useful decision making process.

Preamble – Set your course

Before plunging into making a decision,

stop and decide how you are going to make

a decision. By carrying out a quick initial

assessment, you can figure out how next to

spend your time and available resources.

Stage 1 - Frame Accurately

Frames are the perspective through which

we view the world. The way any problem is

framed exerts enormous influence over the

options for solutions that are considered, and

the solutions which are ultimately chosen.

Thus, the first step in making a good decision

is to stop and consider how your mental

frames may distort the decisions you make.

Stage 2 - Gather Intelligence

Today, there’s loads of information available

on any topic. The challenge is to turn that

information into worthwhile insights by:

• Evaluating the known facts intelligently.

• Factoring in the unknowable as

accurately as possible.

• Filtering out any biases – like undue

optimism or false efficiency.

Stage 3 – Reach a Conclusion

Many decisions get made by default. Instead,

there are four basic approaches good

decisions makers use to reach a conclusion:

1. Intuitive – using gut feelings alone.

2. Rules-of-thumb – using tailored or

generic shortcuts.

3. Decision weighing –using the relative

importance approach.

4. Value analysts – incorporating key

values into the decision.

Stage 4 – Learn from your Past

Experiences

Experience means knowing what has

happened. Learning means to know why

it happened, so it can be either avoided

or repeated in the future. A good decision

making process will incorporate a systematic

evaluation of experiences both good and

bad.

Follow-up – Apply Your Learning

Just knowing about the decision making

process is not any use at all. The real

benefits are derived by applying what you

know consistently and rigorously. Do that,

and every decision you make in the future

can turn out to be a winning decision.

In Conclusion:

As Bosasa leaders we are to concentrate

our efforts on making concise, accurate

decisions… the first time. This requires a

clear thinking strategy and ability to reason

wisely. Practice this discipline of decision

making and you will soon witness “winning

decisions the first time round”.

Be “teams2think”, “teams2decide”;

“teams2win”.

Have a blessed week

GOD bless.

5 WATSONLINE / TRUTHONLINE

Words GAVIN WATSON

“FRAMES ARE THE PERSPECTIVE THROUGH WHICH WE VIEW THE WORLD. THE WAY ANY PROBLEM IS FRAMED EXERTS ENORMOUS INFLUENCE OVER THE OPTIONS FOR SOLUTIONS THAT ARE CONSIDERED, AND THE SOLUTIONS WHICH ARE ULTIMATELY CHOSEN. THUS, THE FIRST STEP IN MAKING A GOOD DECISION IS TO STOP AND CONSIDER HOW YOUR MENTAL FRAMES MAY DISTORT THE DECISIONS YOU MAKE.”

6WATSONLINE / TRUTHONLINE

WAT008_0413

GAVIN WATSON

“teams2win”:PLAY TO WIN! Last week we visited our Cape Town team

and presented our future strategy. The

session was extremely rewarding. I came

back to Gauteng with the assurance that

our teams live our Bosasa brand of having a

“winning spirit”.

Bosasa is a team that “plays to win”. I

often use the analogy of a soccer team.

In this sport, each member knows his/her

responsibility according to the position they

have. And in this game, strategy is worked

out according to the opponent’s strengths,

weaknesses and their own possible game

strategy.

It works the same in business. To be a

high-growth group, to remain ahead of

competitors and to be the best at what we

do, requires a winning spirit. It also requires

the ability of our Bosasa team to know how

strategy really works and how our unique

“game strategy” needs to be executed.

What does it mean to have a “winning

spirit”?

The answer: You do not give up and you

know how “strategy” works.

What is “strategy”? And how, as a leader,

do you develop your team’s own unique

game strategy?

Strategy is “an integrated set of choices

which uniquely position a company in

its sector so as to create a sustainable

advantage by being able to offer superior

value relative to its competition.”

It is important that you do not over-

complicate strategy, you need to “keep it

simple”.

If you want to develop a winning strategy,

you need to plan and then execute the best

answers to a few questions.

7 WATSONLINE / TRUTHONLINE

- What are you aspiring towards?

- Where is your playing ground?

- How can you win there?

- What capabilities are required to win?

- What management systems do you

need to put into place to support the

above?

It is important that when you answer these

questions, you answer them in an integrated

way if you are to create a strategy that

is viable, can be brought to action and is

sustainable.

1. What are you aspiring towards.

To develop great strategy, you firstly

need to clarify the purpose of your

team, your mission and your winning

aspirations.The word “winning” means

different things to different people. It is

important that you know what “winning”

will look like to you.

Winning to your team could be:

To reach your operational or financial

targets.

To complete a specific task in a specific

time.

To develop a new application

successfully.

Define “winning” and you will be able to

work towards it.

2. Where is your playing ground

Once you know what “winning” means

to your team, you need to identify

a playing field where you can make

this a reality. No team can be all things

to all people. What is your team’s main

task, who do you serve, etc. You need

to narrow your focus. You need to do

this to win.

3. How will you win?

This question clarifies the activities

your team which is going to give you

thecompetitive advantage. How- to-win

is closely linked to where-to-win. Create

the space for your team, create the

environment, and know what you are

to do in that environment. An example

is our On-It team. They know that

their playing field is the development

of integrated systems that will lead to

better productivity for the entire Bosasa

group. They focus their efforts on their

expertise and “play in the field” of the

On-It lab. So to you need to be very

sure of where your team in positioned

and how you will apply your unique

skills to win.

4. What capabilities are required?

To bring your team’s where-to-play and

how-to-win choices to life, you need

the capabilities which will enable you

to deliver on that combination. When

you think of capabilities, you might

ask what you are really good at and

attempt to build a strategy from there.

This is dangerous, as the things you

are currently good at may actually be

irrelevant and in no way give you a

competitive advantage. Rather than

starting with capabilities and looking for

ways to win these areas, start with your

aspirations, consider your capabilities in

light thereof either develop or recruit.

5. What management systems do you

need to put into place to support the

above?

Then finally, strategy also includes the

systems, structures and measures

which will be required to support the

other choices you have already made.

You have to purposefully design

systems which will foster, support

and measure the strategy. You need

systems to attain your goals. Building

management systems takes time,

money and focus.

This is a primary reason our Bosasa

Business Intelligence team develops

unique systems for our various Bosasa

teams. These systems will help you to

implement your strategy and help you

to win.

8WATSONLINE / TRUTHONLINE

WAT009_0413

In conclusion:

As Bosasa we understand how important

integration and support is. We can only be

a winning group as we work together in

answering the above. These questions relate

to you as an individual team, however they

are at the core of the systems approach we

have in our support service teams.

It is important that as a Bosasa leader, you

view your team as a part of the “bigger

picture”. As you develop your own unique

game plan, you are playing an active role

in further developing our Bosasa “winning

team”.

Remember, simply ask:

• Aspirations?

• Where-to-play?

• How-to-win?

• Capabilities?

• Systems?

In this week, focus on your unique game

plan. Revisit your strategy and develop a

strategy that will be executed with precision.

Each one of our Bosasa teams are making

Bosasa proud. Well done and may you

remain “teams2win”.

Have a blessed week.

GOD bless.

“teams2serve”:HIGH-PERFORMING WORKTEAMS Last week an attorney from Ghana told me

about the service excellence she received

from our Bosasa team at the OR Tambo

Airport. Undoubtedly she is returning to

Ghana as a Bosasa brand ambassador.

She experienced our vision and our brand

firsthand: Service Excellence. In this week’s

blog I would like to expand on what makes

our Bosasa teams reach heights of service

excellence and produce high-growth

performance results.

Success is contagious.

In Bosasa we are committed to develop our

teams to be high-performing workteams. A

high-performing workteam makes money

for the business and develops new products,

services, markets and opportunities. They

are also focused on creating environments

in which results are achieved and their team

members flourish.

A characteristic of our Bosasa workteams

is that our teams adapt quickly to changes

in the marketplace, we understand our

clients and know how to get the internal

resources we need to accomplish our goals,

thus improving the overall performance of

Bosasa.

As Bosasa leadership, to continue improving

overall performance, it is essential for us to

understand what differentiates our various

high-performing teams - what factors are

critical for them to be able to make money

and do new things for the business. By

understanding what differentiates our

workteams, we can improve the results

of those groups that already are high-

performing, assist in preventing them

from becoming ‘used-to-be’s’ and multiply

high-performance throughout the group. The

success of our teams will become contagious

and will spread to the rest of the teams in

Bosasa.

9 WATSONLINE / TRUTHONLINE

What drives high-performing workteams?

High-performing workteams are driven by

their commitment to:

1. value people

2. optimize critical thinking and

3. seize opportunities.

Furthermore, high-growth in workteams

is sustainable when driven by creativity,

calculated risk-taking, innovation and yes,

technology.

Let’s take a closer look at what our high-

performing workteams look like:

Bosasa high-performing workteams are

the “engine rooms” for organizational

growth.

Businesses have to work harder to meet their

customer/client needs. workteams must

use their brainpower and creativity to come

up with enhanced products and offerings.

Leaders don’t have all the answers, and

can’t be everywhere at once, so they have

to rely on the combined brainpower of all

teams to come up with new services ideas,

new product concepts and new marketing

ideas. In just the same way as the power in

many organizations has also moved from the

leaders to the workteams to get things done.

It is at the workteam level that the best new

ideas of the future will come.

Bosasa high-performing workteams

increase performance by enhancing the

environment.

Every workteam is a product of its

environment. To sustain profitable growth,

create a business environment where:

• Your teams feel valued.

• Teams feel like they can do quality

thinking.

• Everyone feels they can create and

seize opportunities.

• Encourage collaborative thinking.

• Allow team members to vent their

feelings.

• List all the assumptions which have

been made.

• Highlight the smart ideas.

• Pinpoint any potential dangers.

• Develop an action plan to move

forward.

• Play to the individual strengths of the

workteam.

Bosasa high-performing workteams

create processes by which workteams

can share their secrets.

• Make sure there is support from

leadership.

• Hire smart people, set goals for them

but leave the “how” up to them.

• Encourage people to make decisions

quickly.

• Value collaboration highly.

• Put your front-line people first.

• Treat people with respect.

• To achieve the best return on financial

and human capital, leaders need to

create workteam environments that can

sustain high performance.

Remember the three drivers of our

Bosasa high-performing workteams:

We Value people by:

• Showing respect by treating people

like they are smart rather than

micromanaging.

• Allocating resources for the

development of workteam members.

• Promoting ownership of good ideas

broadly throughout the entire group

rather than solely at leadership level.

We Optimize critical thinking by:

• Letting everyone get their emotions out

of the way.

• Providing enough information so the

people in the workteam can make good

decisions.

• Having a leader who acts as a buffer

between the larger organization and the

workteam.

We Seize opportunities by:

• Generating a learning environment

through ongoing experimentation and

analysis.

• Giving everyone freedom to fail as they

search for new ideas.

10WATSONLINE / TRUTHONLINE

“IN BOSASA WE ARE COMMITTED TO DEVELOP OUR TEAMS TO BE HIGH-PERFORMING WORKTEAMS. A HIGH-PERFORMING WORKTEAM MAKES MONEY FOR THE BUSINESS AND DEVELOPS NEW PRODUCTS, SERVICES, MARKETS AND OPPORTUNITIES.”

WAT010_0413

GAVIN WATSON

• Looking at every problem as an

opportunity to move forward in a

direction.

How to create Bosasa high-performing

workteams:

In our endeavor to grow and remain a high-

growth group, we need to move mid-level

workteams to high-level workteams. As a

Bosasa leader you need to:

• Go through and identify all of our

Bosasa high-performance and average-

performance workteams.

• Match an average-performing workteam

with a high-performing workteam based

on common functions, goals, clients or

other types of similarities.

• Create a SWOT team, which will be

made up of representatives from both

the high-performing and the average-

performing workteams. They should

identify problems, set goals and

develop joint solutions to the problems

encountered in upgrading the mid-level

workteam.

• Let the SWOT team go to work

on enhancing the average-

performingworkteam by running various

projects where members of both

workteams collaborate.

• Tell the story of what’s happening

– through both formal and informal

channels. Encourage the SWOT team

members to share their experiences

throughout the organization.

If we want to continue growing Bosasa,

we must learn what our high-performing

workteams do right and spread that

knowledge. As a Bosasa leader you need

to take up the challenge to deliberately

encourage the sharing of ideas.

There is no question that individual

performance does matter. Our team

members need to be trained, developed

and given appropriate rewards and

incentives. It is also good business to

monitor and measure performance, but

individual performance is influenced by the

environment. If the best and brightest people

are not in the right environment, they will not

do their best work. Stars in underperforming

workteams won’t shine as brightly. Business

is a team sport. As mentioned in last week’s

blog, we need to play to win. Focus on

developing your team into a high-performing

team.

Have a week of collaborating, inspiring and

empowering those around you.

God bless.

“MY PLEA IS THAT MANAGERS SHOULD DISCUSS AND EXPLAIN THE RELEVANCE OF THIS IMPORTANT BLOG TO ALL STAFF MEMBERS.”

11 FEATURES

SHARING YOUR WATSONLINE INSIGHTS

Words VELILE PHATO

You will be pleased to learn that the CEO

invests no less than 3 hours in each of the

WATSonline blogs he publishes. What this

means – and indeed tells us - is that Gavin

Watson’s writing of the blogs is not a hobby.

He takes this task seriously and really looks

forward to the readers’ feedback and teams’

discussions at meetings.

It therefore makes sense to let those

who make an effort to read, discuss and

implement the insights conveyed through

the blogs to also share with the rest of the

Bosasa family how they do it. In so doing,

they would be holding the torch for those

teams that are treading with uncertainty but

are eager to follow the best practice which

they, as leading teams, already demonstrate.

Bosele will be visiting team meetings and

hearing about each team success stories in

how they manage WATSonline discussions

at the beginning of their meetings. This is

purely with a view to exhibit skillfulness that

can be mastered, admired and emulated.

Take the eKayaMedia weekly Content

Meetings, for instance. What they are

sharing is something of a masterpiece –

practical, sincere and worth pursuing.

Jason Stoltz, Group Marketing and Branding

Coordinator at eKayaMedia, reveals on

Yammer his team’s approach to a blog titled,

Teams2Serve: High-Performing Work-

Teams. “We had a content meeting this

morning, and really unpacked this blog. One

of the few things that came out - application

wise - was to perhaps design a questionnaire

or checklist using some of the points from

the sections on work-teams and their

environments and sharing their secrets.”

Jason says the survey will be conducted

internally to determine if employees in

work-teams feel valued; can conduct quality

thinking; can create and seize opportunities;

encourage collaborative thinking; feel there

is support from leadership; are encouraged

to make decisions quickly; and, if they

think people are treated with respect. (Ed’s

note: The survey was conducted with great

success. The outcome will be published

soon.)

To further expand on the objectives he

outlined, he goes on to say, “By finding

this out, we can see if we really have the

drivers for being high-performing work-teams

and start cross analysis with other high-

performing work-teams to bring our game

up.”

HE CAUTIONS, THOUGH: “WATCH THIS

SPACE.”

Dr. Louis Scholtz, Director of Education

at the Watson Corporate University,

also commenting on Yammer, takes this

discussion further. Says he: “We had an

interesting (WATSonline) blog discussion

yesterday at the Youth Centre meeting.

According to the latest blog on High-

Performing Work-Teams, we have to put our

frontline people first and move our mid-level

work-teams to high-level work-teams.”

Then he urges all, “My plea is that managers

should discuss and explain the relevance of

this important blog to all staff members.”

Bosele and its sister platforms of

communication will bring you a series of

WATSonline success stories from our

operational business units as well as

from support service divisions. We wish

to encourage those with internet access

to open the PDF version of the blogs and

print copies for team members ahead of the

meeting. It is further advised that the unit

leader should make it a requirement to read

the blogs with depth and understanding.

It will not suffice to read the blogs once and

dispose of them. Be sure to read them again

and continue to share your insights when

they are resent through Bosele Pulse and

the print copy of Bosele. The value which

is derived from these blogs is of such high

quality that they could pave the path to a

future executive appointment when correctly

used.

The Bosele team wishes to advise those

who neglect to read these blogs that they are

losing an opportunity of a lifetime and one

like no other in the face of fierce competition

for upward mobility.

12FEATURES

BOS048_0413

WHAT SIGNAGE DOES FOR BOSASA

You probably don’t think about it, but if you

look around you, in any direction, you will see

signage. Signage is there to communicate

a message or information. This information

helps you to make decisions about your day,

your life and your safety. So let’s see what

signage surrounds you on a daily basis and

what it does for you.

FIRST THERE ARE INFORMATION SIGNS.

These tell you about services and facilities

such as maps, directories, instructions for

use.

1. Direction: signs leading to services,

facilities, functional spaces and key

areas, e.g., sign posts, directional

arrows, etc.

2. Identification: signs indicating services

and facilities, e.g., room names &

numbers, toilet signs, number of floors,

etc.

Words GILLIS KOEN

3. Safety and Regulatory: signs giving

warning or safety instructions, e.g.,

warning signs, traffic signs, exit signs,

rules & regulations, etc.

HAVE YOU EVER IMAGINED A WORLD

WITHOUT SIGNS?

Try counting all the signs you see next time

you commute to or from work. Chances are

there are more than you ever imagined.

People have a natural tendency to mark/

brand objects and sites. William Phelps

Eno invented the stop sign, which was first

installed in Detroit, Michigan, in the year

1915. In spite of never driving an automobile,

Eno became the “Father of Traffic Safety”.

The stop sign was devised in an effort

to reduce horse-and-buggy accidents in

populated areas.

At Bosasa the sign team realizes the

importance of a well-executed sign

installation. With teamwork and development

in their sights for 2013, they will be part of a

larger team that leads the way for growth. We

find ourselves in a high growth environment

which motivates us to develop our leadership

potential. Who knows where signage will take

us in the future with technology that enables

us to brand tender files that “come alive”.

MAR002_0213

13 EKAYAMEDIA

TIPS FOR MAKING A CELL PHONE VIDEO

Words DESMOND DE VRIES

I recently upgraded my cell phone contract

and received an iPhone. I chose an iPhone

not only for smart phone capabilities, but also

for its photo and Full HD video and it is easily

accessible.

Ten years ago it would have probably cost

me over R100 000 to buy a professional

Full HD camera to shoot a corporate video

but now I have the same technology in my

pocket at an affordable rate. Perhaps in all

of us there is a creative person wanting to

get out. Perhaps you want to make a video.

But to get the perfect video quality from your

digital device, there are still some rules that

you need follow. I want to share with you

what I learned about making videos.

HERE ARE SOME TIPS WE USE IN

THE VIDEO INDUSTRY TO GET A

PROFESSIONAL VIDEO OUT OF A CELL

PHONE.

TIP 1

• Videos look the best when there is

plenty of light. Think carefully about

lighting. Every video camera needs

a lot of light to make your subject

presentable. Shoot outside in the

sunlight. It’s free and it is the biggest

light source you will find.

• When shooting outside, make sure

the sun is behind you. The camera will

close its iris if the light source shines

directly into it.

• Ensure that the sun does not shine

directly in the eyes of the person you

are shooting as it will hurt their eyes and

make them close them making it very

uncomfortable for the person. Try to

make the shot more personal by asking

them to take off their sunglasses.

• If you are shooting inside, be sure

to use as many lights to brighten the

person or subject up. Be creative. Use

desk lamps. Even ask the person to

stand under the ceiling’s down light. You

can even use a torch to brighten up the

face.

TIP 2

• Try to keep the camera as steady as

possible. This will reduce blur on the

video and a steady shot makes your

video look more professional. If you

need to pan or move around somehow,

do it slowly. If you can, always use a

tripod or your hand on a flat surface to

stabilize your digital device.

TIP 3

• Get up close and personal with your

subjects. Don’t use the digital zoom.

• A close up makes a video more

personal. When you play it back on your

digital device, you will get more details

of your subject, even if you are playing

it back on a small cell phone monitor.

• Never use the digital zoom when

recording, your video will become

more pixelated and lose detail on your

subject. Always move closer to your

subject.

TIP 4

• Play around with different angles to

make the video more interesting. Stand

on a table, shoot from a high angle or

put the recording device on the floor to

shoot a low angle. You might get some

interesting shots.

The most important thing is to have fun.

Experiment with angles and light up your

subjects. You will have professional looking

videos even if they are of your family events.

MAR004_0213

14EKAYAMEDIA

15 EKAYAMEDIA

SO WHAT THE HECK IS ‘SHAREPOINT’?

OH… AND WHAT IS THIS ‘YAMMER’??

Some of you may have received an invitation

to join Yammer, but don’t know what it is

and why you have been invited? Some of

you may also have heard that ‘SharePoint is

coming’ but have no idea what that means.

Ok, so the eKayaMedia team is constantly

striving to look at innovative ways to connect

and communicate with the Bosasa People –

you may know we have a few channels that

we are currently using to engage with our

people.

THESE ARE

• Bosele (printed version)

• Bosele Pulse

• SMS

• General email

• Facebook (Brigadier Boshielo)

• Websites

• Banners and stickers etc

Some of you may also have heard that word

‘SharePoint’ spoken around the company

and at various events, but you don’t really

know what’s going on. Ok, so this is a

quick summary of what is happening and

what these words Yammer and SharePoint

mean…

WHAT IS “SHAREPOINT”?

SharePoint – This is going to be the

Microsoft platform used for the development

of the new Bosasa Intranet Portal. Some

of you know the old Mogale Business Park

Portal as a place to get HR, Compliance

and Marketing record templates and control

documents… Some of you just use it to get

the MBP diner menu off! But essentially, we

Words JASON STOLTZ

are upgrading our Intranet to do so much

more for our people and for our company.

This is still at its beginning phase, and we

will most certainly keep you up to date with

what is happening here. So ‘SharePoint’

is the Microsoft platform that our new

INTRANET is going to be built on. The initial

name for our INTRANET is called “BRAIN

– Bosasa’s Research And Intelligence

Network”.

Please feel free to send us some name

ideas if you don’t like that one, or you can

contact me at 011 662 6433 or jason.stoltz@

bosasa.com for more information if you want

it!

WHAT IS “YAMMER”?

Yammer – The easiest way to describe

Yammer, is ‘Facebook for companies’. It

looks like Facebook, works like Facebook

16EKAYAMEDIA

and feels like Facebook, but what makes

it different is that it is to connect and share

ideas, posts, photos and videos that are

specifically related to work. In other words

we don’t want to know about what you had

for supper last night, but we do want to know

what is a great meal at the Mogale Business

Park Diner today! Basically it is a social

network for people in the company, and you

don’t have to worry about your personal

Facebook privacy being breached from

work’s perspective.

SO HOW DID WE START YAMMER?

Well, truth is we didn’t! We thought to look to

test it in our environment (at eKayaMedia),

and when I signed up a few days ago with

the intention of having a look at what it is and

if it could work for us, I had no idea as to the

response that it would have. It has appeared

to go viral very quick with quite a few people

from Bosasa already joining – so it has

moved far quicker than we initially intended.

Having said that, we do encourage you to

join, and start conversations about Bosasa,

for Bosasa, and with the people of Bosasa!.

A good place to start is to maybe talk about

what you think of the latest WATSonline blog

and get a conversation going.

Anyway, let’s keep it tidy, and start interacting

in the Bosasa social space… REMEMBER

even though this looks feels and works like

“DON’T SPEND ALL DAY ON YAMMER AND NEGLECT YOUR WORK! JUST CONNECT TO YAMMER AND TELL YOUR FOLLOWERS ABOUT YOUR WORK! ”

BOS045_0413

Facebook, it is NOT Facebook. So when

you upload a profile photo, please let be a

photo of you (it doesn’t have to be one of

you in uniform or anything) and NOT a photo

of your favorite pop idol for example. Keep

the conversation clean, and the photos and

videos you upload cleaner.

The beauty about Yammer and SharePoint

is that they are a perfect fit. Microsoft bought

Yammer out in 2012 for $1.2bn and is driving

‘Enterprise Social’ hard! This means it will be

easy for you to use SharePoint if you know

how Yammer works. And if you know how

Facebook works then you are all set!

So it is not hard, just connect and get

the conversation going. PLEASE DO

REMEMBER TO BE RESPONSIBLE AND

MOST OF ALL HAVE FUN. In other words,

make sure you get your work done as a first

priority! Don’t spend all day on Yammer and

neglect your work! Just connect to Yammer

and tell your followers about your work! It is

that simple.

Please do not hesitate to call me personally if

you have any questions or queries.

JASON STOLTZ

17

BOS037_0313

BOSASA’S KARATE KID PREPARES FOR JAPAN

Words VELILE PHATO

Soccer, rugby and other ball sports lead

preference rankings among many rising

stars. Those who opt to pursue Martial Arts

soon outgrow it in favour of ball sports.

This was the case with Bulelani Fuma, a 30

year old chef at Gold Fields’ Kloof Mine in

Westonaria.

The soft spoken Bulelani does not strike you

as someone who can deliver a lethal strike

in spite of coming up tops in the National

Karate Tournament that was held at the

Orlando Community Hall in Soweto recently.

Competing in the Blue Belt rank, Bulelani

says he has great respect for this “art form.”

He started it when he was a child but like

many others before him, he quit it for the thrill

and speed of soccer. He was soon drawn

back to it. Then he entered one competition

after another with promising success.

Asked what drew him to this sport he says:

“Discipline in this sport is something I’ve

always admired.” However, he has always

been mindful of the power the sport gives

you. “The abuse of it could lead to serious

bodily harm,” he says matter-of-factly.

Bulelani is training for what he says will be a

rite of passage to compete in Japan. “When I

BOS057_0413

win the next qualifying competition, I’m going

straight to Japan at the end of the year,”

says Bulelani with confidence. Patrick Littler,

Head of Bosasa Operations in Gold Fields

Mines says he has immense admiration

for Bulelani’s discipline, both in his kitchen

duties and training for sport.His collection of

medals tells of a man who turns everything

he touches into gold. He has a vast collection

of soccer medals as well as karate medals.

Those who have observed him in action in

the kitchen tell of a chef who cooks a storm

that keeps the mine workers coming back for

more.

18INTERGRATED FACILITIES MANAGEMENT

19 INTEGRATED FACILITIES MANAGEMENT

IKA / CULINARY OLYMPICSGLOBAL COOKING COMPETITION

The International Culinary Exhibition,

well-known to all chefs as IKA or “Culinary

Olympics”, was carried out in Erfurt

Germany. Every four years the biggest and

most traditional culinary exhibition takes

place in Germany. It has become the Mecca

for cooks and patissiers worldwide. This

professional competition was entered by 45

nations from all over the world, which were

competing for the Olympic victory in Erfurt

2012. The German Chefs Association (VKD)

and the Messe Erfurt GmbH welcomed all

participants. Culinary Team S.A has done

the country proud in Germany, bringing back

one Gold, one Silver and seven Bronze

medals.

It was an honour and a privilege to

accompany the Team to Germany to witness

IKA. Meeting chefs from all over the world

who have a similar passion I share for the

art of cooking was amazing. To witness

such talent, skill and techniques from our

own team and the teams of the world made

me proud of my Profession and the chefs I

represent being the Vice President of South

African Chefs association.

Words ALLISTER ESAU

Both team S.A and the Military culinary team

were battling it out in Erfurt during October

2012.

The scoring in senior hot kitchen category

was extremely tough. Out of 32 countries

participating, only four teams achieved

Gold, which were Canada, Germany,

Sweden and Norway. South Africa, Australia,

Czech, Denmark, England, Finland, Hong

Kong, Hungary, Slovenia, U.S, Nerthlands,

Switzerland and Wales achieved Silver.

The Culinary Team was originally chosen

in 2008 and after a successful experience

competing the Luxembourg World Cup in

2010, a junior team was created with addition

of a few members the Team that competed

in Germany was finalized. For two years, the

team has been practising together for four

days a month perfecting hot dishes and cold

table.

At the sending off of the Team we were

honoured to have Dr Bill Gallagher to provide

us with positive words and experiences of his

time on the culinary team S.A.

On behalf of the 7000+ chefs in South Africa,

I would like to take this opportunity to thank

Bosasa for this amazing opportunity and all

the support and sponsorship it has given to

Me and SACA.

Thanking You.

MBP003_0413

20MOGALE BUSINESS PARK / DINER

MBP FEATURES ON SOWETO TV

A candle never loses itslight by lighting

another candle. The culture and spirit of

sharing and uplifting each other that is

instilled in Bosasa employees. When Allister

Esau was approached by Soweto TV to be

featured on their cooking show, Kasi Kitchen,

he saw this as an opportunity to promote

some of his chefs at Mogale Business Park

and also promote Bosasa as a whole “I was

so happy when Soweto TV approached

me because I knew that I was going to use

this as an opportunity for one of my staff to

appear on a TV cooking show.”

It was a beautiful day on Tuesday, 9 April

when Soweto TV paid Mogale Business Park

a visit, shooting for their cooking show, Kasi

Kitchen. A day that formed fond memories

and a completely new experience that some

of the Diner staff never thought they could

come across in their lives, witnessing a

TV shoot at their very own kitchen. Allister

explains that a team consisting of Catherine,

Joe, Christopher and Thabo got their heads

together and agreed on the mouthwatering

three course meal that Catherine showcased

Words BELINDA PHETO

on Soweto TV, they also decided among

themselves that Catherine would be the one

who would cook and present the meal.

The shoot took place at MBP’s Lekgotla

Diner. Catherine, the immaculately dressed

chef represented her colleagues and Bosasa

as a whole very well. She was a natural in

front of the cameras. You wouldn’t even

notice that she was doing a TV shoot for

the first time. The amount of hard work put

by the Diner Team was noticed throughout

the show. They were well prepared and on

top of their game. Though they were behind

the scene, they were professional and that

led to no delays as their hands were always

ready to assist Catherine with everything she

needed while on set.

Every dish was made with perfection and

with creativity added. Catherine not only

prepared delicious food, she also presented

it with consummate style. For the starter, she

prepared a delicious Salmon and Guacamole

shot. For the main course she prepared

succulent Lamb rack with mint sauce, served

with Basmati rice with herbs and vegetables.

The meals ended on a sweet note, a terrific

dessert was prepared; peach and lime cream

dashed with grapes.

Catherine says she’s more than happy and

appreciates the opportunity that Allister

afforded her “I really enjoyed the shoot; no

amount of words can explain how grateful I

am for the opportunity Allister gave me. It’s

good to have a leader like him, always ready

to empower his staff” said Catherine. She

also commended her team, saying all that

happened was team work. She thanked them

for their support and confidence they had in

her to represent them. You can catch Kasi

Kitchen on Soweto TV, Dstv channel 251

Fridays at 18:15. The MBP’s show will only

air by the end of April, definite date will be

communicated.BOS056_0413

It never comes as a surprise that the

recurrent best employee of the month

is rewarded with a promotion into a

management position. Often this finds the

celebrated employee unprepared for a

new role and responsibilities of leadership.

Fear of failure, of not going from strength to

strength when earmarked for a promotion

can be paralysing. It is also quite likely

what prompted Mmama Sebati, a Hardware

21 FEATURES

ADVICE FOR NEW MANAGERS

Words VELILE PHATO

Technician at Bosasa ICT to send this

question via email to Nkokheli’s Imbizo –

in conversation with Gavin Watson. The

question was: “What advice would you give

someone going into a leadership position for

the first time?”

Regular studying of WATSonline blogs and

making notes is a good start to learn about

becoming a great leader. Though it might

appear daunting at first glance, there are

long term benefits. Getting to grips with

all the information and knowledge Bosasa

Group CEO Gavin Watson shares with

employees is character building. So in

this article we show you that you need not

disintegrate where no one remembers why

you were promoted in the first place.New

Managers’ Programmes at most graduate

schools of business seek to equip new

22FEATURES

BOS052_0413

managers with a set of skills necessary

to start leading people and managing

processes. It is a fact that first-line managers

play a critical role in the organization. There

are also very well-known instances where

they are left to their own devices to fend for

themselves without the skills and training to

support them.

Rated no.1 among the skills a new manager

needs to master is to be able to stand in

front of the team and present tasks, related

information and ideas in a clear, well-

structured and credible manner. Writing

clearly has also been found to be a challenge

for many new managers.

So it all boils down to having business

communication skills. Second to this is the

ability to manage teams and relationships in

the workplace. The ability to maintain open

and honest communication between team

members and their leaders underpins solid,

strong and high performance work teams

while acting as a lubricant that allows work

to keep flowing smoothly. Listening – as

encouraged by the Bosasa Group Business

Communication Course - is probably the best

skill and practice that enables new managers

to achieve this.

“THE ABILITY TO MAINTAIN OPEN AND HONEST COMMUNICATION BETWEEN TEAM MEMBERS AND THEIR LEADERS UNDERPINS SOLID, STRONG AND HIGH PERFORMANCE WORK TEAMS WHILE ACTING AS A LUBRICANT THAT ALLOWS WORK TO KEEP FLOWING SMOOTHLY. LISTENING – AS ENCOURAGED BY THE BOSASA GROUP BUSINESS COMMUNICATION COURSE - IS PROBABLY THE BEST SKILL AND PRACTICE THAT ENABLES NEW MANAGERS TO ACHIEVE THIS.”

The third skill is underrated yet critical: The

new manager’s ability to think strategically.

A progressive manner of thinking about

strategy is the ability to channel the thinking

of a large part of the team members rather

than any single individual. The new manager

must create an environment in which many

viewpoints are engaged with for the good of

the organisation.

To be in a sound position to deal with the

complex and uncertain emerging market

forces, the new manager needs to keep

informed. There are latest regulations,

political developments and social needs

with which to contend. They also need to

understand the role of business in these

sectors. This is where TRUTHonline and

WATSonline play an invaluable role. New

managers – and indeed experienced

mangers – have plenty of executive insights

to learn from these blogs.

Finally, having said that communication is the

no.1 rated skill for new managers, the most

important of all, according to experts – both

for new and experienced managers – is to be

able to manage oneself. Important attributes

in this regard include everything from

personal behavior and thinking to decision-

making and relational skills. All of these

should be driven by a fervent regard for

personal values that do not shift and change

in any given situation. True and great leaders

do not sell out on their personal values.

23 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

IT001_0413

BOSASA IT FIGHTS SPAM

WHAT IS SPAM?

Spam is the use of electronic mail systems

to send unsolicited bulk messages, generally

advertising for some product or service,

to a mailing list or newsgroup. While the

most commonly recognized form of spam is

email spam, the term is also used for similar

abuses in other media.

SPAM PROBLEM?

Spamming remains economically viable

because advertisers have no operating costs

other than maintaining their mailing lists and

it is difficult to hold them accountable for their

Words JOHANN FOURIE

“SPAMMING REMAINS ECONOMICALLY VIABLE BECAUSE ADVERTISERS HAVE NO OPERATING COSTS OTHER THAN MAINTAINING THEIR MAILING LISTS AND IT IS DIFFICULT TO HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS. ”

actions. 2012 statistics show that 68.8% of

all emails sent are spam and with a total of

144 billion emails sent worldwide every day

day, that is a lot of unwanted emails. The

related costs such as storage, bandwidth,

lost productivity, software and fraud are

borne by the public and the Internet service

providers.

CAN SPAM BE PREVENTED?

Because the Internet is public, there is really

little that can be done to prevent spam,

just as it is impossible to prevent junk mail.

Consequently, there are many organizations,

as well as individuals, who have taken

it upon themselves to fight spam with a

variety of techniques. However, some online

services have instituted policies to prevent

spammers from spamming their subscribers.

You too can fight spam.

JOHANN FOURIE

24INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Having lost our IronMail device which does

email hygiene in terms of SPAM. Content

and Antivirus, as a result of recent power

supply problems, we had to act fast to get a

suitable replacement as SPAM was flooding

our mail system. Three options were

considered namely a replacement IronMail

device, MimeCast and Microsoft Online

Protection for Exchange (FOPE). Selection

was easy as the Microsoft offering met with

all BOSASA IT’s specification criteria which

were Functionality, Architecture, Cost, and

High Availability.

FOPE

As one of the Microsoft Online Services,

FOPE provides a layer of protection features

deployed across a global network of secure

data centers. It creates a security-enhanced

message stream to and from your on-

premises, hosted, or Microsoft Exchange

Online messaging environment.

HOW IT WORKS

FOPE uses a global network of state-of-

the-art, fully redundant, load balanced data

centers to ensure high availability. Intelligent

algorithms analyse and route message traffic

between data centers to ensure secure and

timely delivery.

SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT

FOPE comes with financially backed

SLAs covering the following:

• Network Uptime: 99.999%

• Email Delivery: less than one minute

• Virus Blocking: 100% protection

against all known email viruses

• Spam Capture: at least 98% of all

inbound spam emails

• False Positive Ratio: false positive

commitment of less than 1 in 250 000

emails

BENEFITS

Some Of The Benefits Include The

Following:

• Enterprise Class Reliability:

completely scalable, reliable and

available.

• Comprehensive Customer Support:

24x7 customer support via phone and

email.

• Reduced Costs: Saves costly

bandwidth by delivering only clean mail

to corporate network as well as upfront

capital investment in hardware and

subscription payments.

• Comprehensive Protection: Real time

anti-spam plus multi-engine antivirus

protection helping to eliminate threats

and unwanted emails before they reach

the corporate environment.

• Enhanced Email Routing Scenarios:

Maintain trusted communication

channels with partners via advanced

mail flow routing by means of bypassing

spam filters for trusted partners.

• SimplifiedManagement: Simplifies

IT environment by reducing the need

for in-house email hygiene servers and

applications, thus saving time on anti-

spam management.

• Hybrid Messaging Protection: Unified

interface for managing messaging

security for both FOPE and Microsoft

Forefront Protection for Exchange

Server.

WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN FOR

BOSASA?

BOSASA receives on average some 1.8

million emails per 30 day cycle with Spam

amounting to over 95%. Assuming all

things being equal, this means a total of 180

unwanted emails per user per day. Imaging

the cost due to lost productivity if each of us

had to filter through these mails on a daily

basis or the bandwidth cost if all mails were

delivered on site rather than being blocked

offsite.

IT002_0413

25 FEATURES

A CORNERSTONE OF BRICS AND THE FUTURE

CNN media channel commented that South

Africa was entering the world of cathedral

building by becoming a brick in Brics. The

metaphor is not missed by us and if South

Africa is part of such a magnificent edifice,

then Bosasa is the cornerstone. You may

ask why.

Bosasa Security provided the essential

safety guarantees that set the two day, Fifth

Annual Summit in Durban (March 26—27)

on the road for every statesman, dignitary

and leader that attended this prestigious

event. Without the Bosasa cornerstone,

this grand expression of the Partnership for

Development Integration and Industrialisation

may have been scuppered. Many a terrorist

may have been lurking in the wings for this

once in a lifetime opportunity and crime

syndicates may have had their heyday. But

first let us tell you why Bosasa’s role cannot

be trivialised. A glimpse into the present and

the future will give you renewed pride in

this Group to which you belong as a valued

employee.

WHAT IS BRICS?

As a knowledge management company

it is critical that we stay abreast of global

events - especially this one. So, firstly

you should know that Brics on the surface

stands for South Africa’s special trade and

diplomatic alliance between Brazil, Russia,

India, China and South Africa formalised in

2011. Brics is the acronym for this club. Brics

countries produce 25 percent of the global

GDP. Brazil, India, China and Russia are the

largest emerging markets in the world and

the fact that they have chosen South Africa

to join this powerhouse sends a significant

message to the world – watch this space.

“THE ENORMITY OF BOSASA’S TASK AND CURRENT ACHIEVEMENTS CAN BE PLACED IN PERSPECTIVE WHEN WE LOOK AT THE NUMBERS. ”

Words DENISE BJORKMAN

BRICS AS A CHANGE AGENT

Brics is likely to change the world as we

know it. This is one where the US dollar is a

leading currency, the G7 group comprise the

world’s richest economies and geopolitical

power resides with them so they have been

calling the shots. Many expert analysts

believe that this power relationship with

developing countries may have contributed

to existing poverty patterns. All Brics

countries have been casualties in this

process which is why they are so motivated

for change.

SOUTH AFRICA - NO HELPLESS

PARTNER

President Zuma’s National development Plan

is given new impetus with this partnership.

South Africa has never been the step

child of the scientific world and it can now

position itself as a centre for innovation.

South Africans have won the last four

Silicon Valley Executive of the Year awards.

We invented the CAT scan that has saved

millions of lives worldwide. We pioneered

the world’s first heart transplant. We have

26FEATURES

the world’s most innovative bank and our

financial systems are rated second best on

the planet. We aimed for the stars, entrusted

with a collaborative partnership in the world’s

largest telescope venture – SKA (the Square

Kilometre Array) .

CHANGING HISTORY

South Africa can expect a multi-billion Rand

boost to the economy with Brics partner

collaboration mobilising dramatic change to

our infrastructure, education and sustainable

development projects. We can now tap into

our wealth of innovation, groom potential

scientists, attract significant global funding

and compete on an international scale. We

may be hosting a new development bank

which is expected to one day rival the World

Bank and International Monetary Fund. We

will also be key drivers to Africa’s growth.

A 34 000km long submarine fibre-optic

Brics cable system uniting Brics partners

is also planned to accelerate partnership

development, making it easy for this tightly

bonded ‘unit’ to communicate seamlessly on

major projects.

BOSASA ENTERS THE LIMELIGHT

With an event of such magnitude, only

the best security would be tolerated. 5000

delegates flew into King Shaka International

Airport in Durban. The city centre and

Convention Centre (ICC) was locked down

by 3000 law enforcement officers. Ask

communications strategists which contact

point provides the greatest and most

lasting impression and the response is the

same – the front line. That is where Bosasa

positioned itself to sell both the Company

and the country’s reputation. Russian

President Vladimir Putin, Brazilian head of

state Dilma Rousseff, Indian Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh and newly elected Chinese

President Xi Jinping with his first lady Peng

Liyuan, enjoyed the excellence of Bosasa

service.

BOSASA IN PERSPECTIVE

The enormity of Bosasa’s task and current

achievements can be placed in perspective

when we look at the numbers. It needs to

be known that we are not on equal level

with the other countries but our presence

cannot be ignored neither can our offerings.

Brics represents 43 percent of the global

population and 40 percent of the global

economy. With increased trade and foreign

direct investment in South Africa, the security

of key points fulfils a critical function in

decisions that are made by global investors.

Bosasa can provide that guarantee. The

international business community of which

the EU is one of our largest trading partners

will be looking to South African business

to partner for meaningful competitive and

comparative advantage. The African

continent, South Africa and in particular

Bosasa can offer a range of high tech

products and services essential for delivery.

CHOOSING SOUTH AFRICA

Why was South Africa chosen? The media

tells us ‘we have a tradition of inventors and

an engine of innovation. We are committed

to gender equality, we instil a belief in the

individual while working in teams, and we

build strong partnerships between public and

private sectors’. Well, that describes Bosasa

doesn’t it? We too can expect to be centre

stage with our own innovative products that

have served the country’s economy so well

up till now. We have signalled our importance

to the world. Be proud of your country. We

are entering a brand new era of growth and

global confidence. Be proud of Bosasa. It laid

a cornerstone.

BOS050_0413DURBANSOUTH AFRICA

27 FEATURES

RMS002_0413

B.R.I.C.S.

his 5th summit was a challenge but it was

nothing that we at Bosasa could not handle.

It has proven to be extremely successful,

showing more interest than the previous

years. There was vast early commitment

to attendance from several countries. I

realised that this would need much advanced

planning to ensure the success of a safe

and secure summit to enrich and promote

the future economy interests of our beloved

country.

The planning meetings started with the

government agencies who engaged with

ACSA about April 2012. ACSA subsequently

Words KEITH BUTLER

engage with the security forum and

stakeholders of the airport at the end of 2012

to consolidate the action plan of the BRICS

summit. Due to the exclusive high profile

attendees including ministers and state

presidents, details were not freely released.

This guaranteed the safety, sensitivity and

security to the individuals concerned.

We were all briefed to expect forwarding

crews of security, staff, logistics, vehicle and

equipment. The largest forwarding group

was Russia. These forwarding crews arrived

several days prior to the summit. Their time

schedule was never adhered too, making the

facilitation process of all the necessary SA

legalities quite challenging at times.

I can however categorically state that

the synergy of teams working together &

understanding each entities responsibility,

not to mention the support given to each

other during times concerned.

These entities comprised of SAPS, DIRCO,

STATE PROTOCOL, IMMIGRATION,

BLOCC, PORT HEALTH, ACSA Security/

Compliance/ Permit Office/ Public Relations/

BOSASA, METRO POLICE, SANDF &

CRASH FIRE & RESCUE.

“THIS GUARANTEED THE SAFETY, SENSITIVITY AND SECURITY TO THE INDIVIDUALS CONCERNED. ”

28FEATURES

NKOKHELI’S EASTERN CAPE LEG OF

THE IMBIZO CAME HOT ON THE HEELS

OF THE EASTER WEEKEND.

Set against the backdrop of magnificent

sea views, this Imbizo had the makings of

a pinnacle point. Even the organiser of the

Imbizo and Director of Communication, Papa

Leshabane looked forward to a heightened

level of conversation with the E.C teams.

He commented as such on Yammer on the

eve of the Port Elizabeth Imbizo. “So far the

Western Cape and perhaps Gauteng has

turned up the volume with their conversation

with Nkokheli. Let’s hope the Eastern Cape

will bring excitement to the Imbizo,” he

posted.

The Youth Centres’ teams made a strong

representation with the Sikhuselekile and

John X delegations led by Zethu Magazi

and Mpumelelo Fini respectively. They were

united behind their Regional Coordinator,

Luxolo Malindi who was highly commended

for his relationship building strides he has

been making with the provincial government

of the Eastern Cape.

The John X YDC women leadership

demonstrated that their empowerment was

not wasted on them. Their competence

sparkled when Mpumelelo reported how

they diffused an explosive situation of rioting

boys driven by craving. In spite of the boys’

gross misconduct, the women’s hearts would

not let them have the boys kept in prison or

police holding cells. They negotiated their

release to the youth centre’s custody.

Nkokheli Gavin Watson was clearly at

home with the people of the Eastern Cape.

Not only did he share in the indigenous

language, isiXhosa, but he also shared a

dialect and colloquialism only recognized by

the people of that region.

The EC Imbizo was undoubtedly a

resounding success when Gavin Watson

commented in the WATSonline blog. He

wrote: “This week we had our Eastern

Cape Imbizo with our leadership team. Our

Imbizo meetings are very dynamic and the

alignment between our leaders and the

cohesiveness in our entire Bosasa Group is

commendable. We are witnessing greater

commitment towards our Bosasa culture as

we share in our experiences, challenges

and aspirations. I can truly commend all our

regional leaders for a job well done!”

He couldn’t be more apt in his description of

Imbizos achievement as he continued: “At

our Imbizos we share our desired results with

all our team members present. We also take

a look at how we can become more results

orientated in order to achieve these results.”

Through Nkokheli’s Imbizos, Bosasa’s Group

CEO and leadership has built a legacy:

uniting the Group through candid dialogue.

BOS051_0413

29

Hard work, good preparation and

commitment always pay off. The Youth

Centres recently had their annual external

audits and they got to keep their certification.

The audit was conducted by DQS, the

accredited Certification Body of the Bosasa

Group.

DQS Auditors ensure assurance to the

recognised international standard ISO

9001:2008 which verify that processes are

in place and conformed to including that

the Organization identifying improvement

opportunities to effectively manage

speculative risks. The audited Youth Centre’s

this year were the De Aar on 25 March 2013,

Polokwane on 27 March 2013 and the Head

YOUTH CENTRES KEEP THEIR CERTIFICATION

Words YDC HEAD OFFICE TEAM

Office on 28 March 2013. The audit team

consisted of the Internal System Auditors,

Bongani Moyo and Annamarie Judd. They

were assisted by Danie van Tonder who

travelled with the external auditor, Mr. Jaco

Small to the selected sites and assisted with

Youth Centre processes.

YDC003_0413

YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTRES

The audit scope was based on the

management of full facilities, security,

education and training services, for

the provision of secure care, diversion,

sentenced and places of safety within Child

and Youth Care Centres. The objective

of the audit is to bring changes, follow up

on recommendations and maintenance of

system compliance. The Audit Standard

Criteria were based on site documentation,

records and specifications.

Youth Centre Head Office Management

Team visited the sites to give support and

guidance and will continue to do so in the

future. All departments worked together to

ensure that the centre’s were up to standard.

Youth Centres were commended by the

external auditor on the commitment of staff

and participation of staff. It shows that all

wanted to be part of the process. The audit

was completed and Youth centers have

been recommended for Re-certification!

Teams2deliver!

“THE OBJECTIVE OF THE AUDIT IS TO BRING CHANGES, FOLLOW UP ON RECOMMENDATIONS AND MAINTENANCE OF SYSTEM COMPLIANCE. ”

BOSASA YDC LEADERSHIP

30YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTRES

ELVIS IS TRANSFORMING WASTE MATERIAL INTO ART

Words DINEO MOERANE

Wirework is becoming increasingly popular.

A glance around almost any interior décor

shop will often reveal items made from wire.

Craft shops now stock wires of all types and

descriptions.

Elvis is an aspiring artist who was discovered

by Bosasa in 2005. He has been creating

and designing items using wires, beads and

most recyclable material for many years

but he did not see it as talent. Wire work

has always been his first love. Growing up,

Elvis used to create many things from cars,

to bicycles including boats. He comes from

a background of creative artists. His father

had the talent of designing wire jewellery

including ear-rings, necklaces and bracelets

among other things.

Elvis acknowledges that his life has gradually

changed over the years. His work is getting

exposure through Bosasa. He has crafted

many things including aircrafts, the famous

Mandela Bridge and his personal favourite

Soccer City also known as FNB stadium. He

has is made it out of wires and beads, and

other recyclable material. He incorporated

a lot of items in his version of the stadium

including Nelson Mandela’s hands holding

the ball over the stadium. “Mandela’s hands

are powerful, they have healed and brought

our country (the ball) together. This was my

idea of how Soccer City should look like.

Before I came to Bosasa, I had nothing.

Bosasa is my family now. They showed

me a different side of life and supported my

dream,” he notes.

In 1999, Elvis left his home in search of a

new beginning, in Johannesburg, the city

of lights. He believed that it was the place

where dreamers were given an opportunity

to make their dreams a reality. But to his

surprise, it wasn’t as easy as he thought. He

ended up living on streets corners with just

his sag of clothes that he brought from home.

Bosasa found him living on the harsh

streets of Johannesburg. They gave him

a new home. He was sent to Khayalethu

Youth Development Centre, a sanctuary for

homeless young people. He says Bosasa

found him in a bad state. “They gave me a

home and hope for a better life. Khayalethu

was a breakthrough for me. They equipped

me with the skills and knowledge that would

help me grow. They mentored me. I found my

feet and my dreams were restored. In 2011, I

went back home and nothing had changed. I

returned to Bosasa in need of a job.”

Elvis describes his work as “spontaneity,”

meaning that he starts working with no

particular final project in mind. His work

reflects his intimate relationship with nature,

particularly the subtle atmosphere of his

surroundings and the landscape trails of

Mogale Business Park.

Dr Louis Scholtz, Head of Education and

Danie Van Tonder, Financial Manager at

Bosasa Youth Development Centres saw his

enthusiasm and gave him an opportunity to

explore his dreams.

His advice to young people is that they must

stay focused on their talents. They must do

what they are good at and they should not

pretend to be people they are not.

Today wirework is still a craft that relies on

simple hand tools rather than expensive

equipment, and many of the skills and

techniques of modern wireworkers are

identical to those used by travelling tinkers

for centuries.BOS049_0413

31 PROCUREMENT

PROCUREMENT’S STRATEGIC PLAN OF ACTION

PLAN OF ACTION

Strategy is always a hot topic in

organisations. When one talks of strategy

a whole lot of action words such as plan,

scheme, approach, and tactic come to

mind because strategy is about mobilising

resources to achieve a predetermined plan

or objective, strategy is action oriented.

THE FOCAL AREA OF OUR STRATEGY

THIS YEAR INCLUDES BUT IS NOT

LIMITED TO THE FOLLOWING:

• Improving the administrative and

operational efficiency of the department

– this will entail overhauling our

operational systems, i.e. improvement

of internal controls, Review Standard

Operating Procedures, turnaround

times, internal customer satisfaction and

contributing positively to the company’s

bottom line by introducing stricter cost

cutting measures

• Total overhaul of the supply

base, stringent supplier vetting &

assessments improve supplier/service

provider relations clinch good deals

from our suppliers

Words DUDU DUBE

• Volume consolidation &supplier

collaboration

• Setting up strict SLAs and supplier

Agreements

• Documentation of all Purchase

specifications

• Streamlining the roles of the team to

ensure they work smarter, increase

productivity and ensure accountability

• Development of smarter working

processes to ensure output driven

performance.

• Improve on both internal & external

communication- encourage team work

and motivate

• the team to work towards a common

goal- synergy

• Developing and upgrading relevant

skills for the team

• Making use of the procurement tool kit

• Complete centralization of the

procurement function

HOW?

Picture with procurement surrounded by

all coy/division it supports or anything that

talks to the article. The translation of this

strategy into organisational actions will

require collective effort, and we invite you

in your various companies/ divisions to

share in the implementation of our strategy.

Amongst other things here are some areas

in which your invaluable contribution to the

implementation of our strategy will assist

ALWAYS THINK

• Does my request add value to our

business

• Is it necessary, or is it just a nice to

have

• Have I stipulated unambiguously my

request

• Have I planned the timing of my request

• Can the request be delivered on time

• Is there value for money

• Have I considered all purchasing

options

• Have I considered the total cost of

ownership

• Has the negotiation been done in a fair

and ethical manner

• Can I take accountability for my

purchasing action

• Was I cost conscious in the transaction

If we hold hands together as a Bosasa

Team, we can all indirectly contribute to the

profitability of our Group. Do not leave it up

to Procurement alone, make a difference in

your own space, these are sentiments that

our Group COO Angelo Agrizzi also echoed

in our strategy meeting at the beginning of

the year.PRO002_0213

PROCUREMENT INVITES YOU TO PARTICIPATE IN THEIR

STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION

32PROCUREMENT

THE PROCUREMENT TEAM WELCOMES

A NEW KID ON THE BLOCK

For most of you within the group, that travel

regularly both nationally and internationally

on corporate trips, you can attest to how

frustrating it can be, to have a poorly planned

business trip. It always feels like you are

totally out of control, more so outside your

day to day environment.

These poorly arranged trips can prove very

costly to the organisation, for instance a

missed flight or delay at the Car hire rental

counter due to miscommunication of the

traveller’s itinerary could mean losing a R35

million rand tender because the documents

could not be delivered on time. Can

Bosasa Afford this? NO…… Thankfully the

Procurement department is there to handle

this process to ensure your corporate travel

is hassle free.

The Group’s travel administration will

never be the same again; we are taking

this responsibility to another level. We are

putting on a” strategic cap” to manage this

function. I am proud to announce that for

Words DUDU DUBE

first time in the group we have been joined

by someone that has worked in the travel

industry, to coordinate this function that

undoubtedly has become very important

within the group. This addition to our team

consequently means the organisation’s

delivery expectation bar will be raised.

The important role of coordinating the

Group’s travel has been entrusted to

Khawulani Nkuna; a responsibility she says

will assume with ease. She has 8 year

experience within the travel industry, where

she has worked amongst many companies

which include AA Travel and Sure Travkor

coordinating all the corporate travel and

accommodation arrangements for various

companies.

When I asked her what excites her about

the Bosasa Group this is what she had to

say. “I am excited to be part of this high

growth company, with friendly people, I am

also proud to be associated with a company

founded on Christian principles. I hope I will

be able to add value to the Travel function”

The Group’s Travel cost has become such

a huge cost that has grown in line with the

growth of the organisation. It has become

very important that we put this controllable

spend under microscope before it spirals

out of control there is a lot of cost cutting

measures that Khawulani and I have

discussed that we will be sharing with you

in the next edition of Bosele. We will focus

on the travel management (CTM) which

will include the total overhaul of the Travel

policy to incorporate some of our cost cutting

measures.

THIS WILL INCLUDE BUT NOT LIMITED

TO STREAMLINING:

• Class of service that employees are

allowed to fly

• Negotiation of corporate rate with

airlines and hotels

• Setting a certain spend parameters

• Helping travellers to plan their trips

better.

WATCH THIS SPACE………………………..

PR004_0413

DID YOU KNOW? WE HAVE SPENT IN 2012/2013 FINANCIAL YEAR

Accommodation: R6 265 424. 34

R 3 437 983.77

R 844 172.85

R2 418 991.38

R3 424 378. 40

Flights Local

Flights International

Travel Expenses Internationally

Car Rentals

Total YTD R16 390 950.72

Khawulani Nkuna

TRUSTMASTER PROCUREMENT

TrustMaster Procurement is a Logistics

Business Information System that integrates

information and processes from multiple

business functions. It can be customizable

to cater for any requirement from a customer

perspective or related business process in

addition to the robust capability of integration

into existing software applications. The

system has stringent built-in controls that can

manage all procurement activities in order

to mitigate overall risk pertaining to system

usage, access control and stock control

and provide detailed audit trails thereby

contributing to the integrity of the system and

related operational elements.

KEY FEATURES:

• A notifications dashboard displays real-

time alerts and notifications triggered

by either data changes events or by a

schedule aimed at communication and

workflow efficiency pertaining to the

currently logged in user. System users

can navigate to individual items to take

action.

• There is a process workflow for every

item in the system. This is a series

of tasks or events, the order in which

they must be performed and code that

runs when they are performed. Each

process is created, managed and

monitored from the My Procurement

module page.For example, when a user

creates a goods request, a new process

workflow for the request is started.

The my procurement module allows

the user to monitor the status of their

goods request, and display the status

on whether the request been approved

Words ON-IT1 TEAM

or not, and the delivery status on the

goods request. Items included in the

process workflow are facility requests,

purchase orders, store orders, return

orders, exception reports and goods

receipts.

• The buying manual module leverages

and integrates with the suppliers and

items available in Great Plains.

BENEFITS INCLUDE:

STOCK IS REGULATED AND

CONTROLLED

Due to the regulations imposed by Bosasa,

on-site users can only request items which

are available on the Buying Manual, thus

ensuring that stock procurement is regulated

and controlled at all sites.

COST-EFFECTIVE – “LONG TERM”

Using the buying manual ensures that items

are always procured from the most suitable

supplier, ensuring that items are not bought

from an expensive supplier. Because of this

restriction (items can only be requested from

selected suppliers) stock is procured from

the most cost-effective suppliers, leading to

less overhead and expense, and more cost-

saving.

PRICE NEGOTIATIONS

Price negotiations made between Bosasa

and suppliers are incorporated into the

buying manual, further ensuring cost-

savings and improved relationships between

suppliers and customers.

UP-TO-DATE PRICES

The Buying Manual always contains the most

recent prices available from suppliers.

• The system integrates with Microsoft

Dynamics Great Plains to update

stock counts. Only if a transaction is

100% error free is it integrated into

Great Plains. A detailed report on any

errors is checked in order to correct the

transaction.

The system was developed by ONIT1 in

conjunction with Tatvasoft India. It is currently

in a final testing phase after which it will go

live into the implementation phase.

It is expected that the system will alleviate

challenges faced by the Bosasa Procurement

Division with its current systems, by

integrating all the required functionality into a

single, full-featured web-based system.

OT002_0413

33 ON-IT1

34

HUMAN RESOURCES35

RECRUITMENT

In the February 2013 edition we briefly

touched on the information that must be

included in a CV. Judging from the CV’s we

are receiving there seems to be numerous

CV writers out there whom are using the

same template for each new customer. They

sometimes even leave details unchanged

from the previous CV and this obviously

leads to such a CV being rejected outright.

Words JOHAN ABRIE

There are really no hard and fast rules and

the internet abounds with templates.

The following format is the most basic but

it contains the relevant information to make

a recruiter pay attention to the details.

Remember to read the February issue

again and then compile your CV using this

template.HR007_0413

HR007_0413

36HUMAN RESOURCES

GIVING BLOOD – A GIFT OF LIFE

On Wednesday, 27 March 2013, Mogale

Business Park hosted a second blood

drive. Many employees registered to be

part of the initiative, excited to be given the

opportunity to donate blood. There was

much team encouragement and motivation

for participation in this event, despite busy

schedules.

Just as an individual has the responsibility

towards the nation, business organisations

have to fulfill their responsibility towards

Words DINEO MOERANE

society. Bosasa adopted the blood drive as

part of its culture of giving.

There are many reasons for donating blood.

Knowing that your contribution could save

your own life or that of your family in future

is a good enough reason. Another reason

is the need for blood is constant and your

contribution will save lives.

“Giving blood is a matter of volunteering.

There are people who are desperate for

blood and being able to help them is a

blessing on its own. This is my first time

donating blood and I know I would do it

again,” says Thabo Ngoako, Sondolo IT

Support Coordinator.

This year the turnout was not as good as

last year. SANBS only collected 28 litres

compared to last year’s 46 litres. Although

they didn’t reach their target of 30 litres, they

were satisfied with the results. Some people

were not eligible to donate this time and this

reduced the quantity.

Donor recruiter, Isaac Mojaki advises more

people to become donors. “We need blood

in our hospitals. The demand is high but

the supply is low. We have extended our

campaign to business organisations so that

we can maintain our stock. People don’t

realise the importance of donating blood

because they are misinformed but ultimately

the responsibility lies with them. They

should look beyond their fear of needles, it

is painless. Their cultural beliefs can also be

aligned with giving blood and saving lives,

because at the end of the day our country is

running short of blood supply.”

For those who missed it, watch out for next

campaign that will take place later this year.

Remember, blood means life. BOS046_0413

37 FEATURES

KNOWLEDGE RESOURCE CONFERENCE

I recently attended one of the best Call

Centre Conference hosted by Knowledge

Resources with Ronny Mthimkulu and Dr

Louis Scholtz. The conference was held

over 3 days. Over those conference days

I realised yet again the vital role Contact

Centre agents perform in our business and

how crucial it is to continuously invest in

human capital and retaining skilled agents.

Taking an innovative more encapsulating

view of the Contact Centre and its people will

enable decision makers to increase efficiency

while reducing costs.

Kgwerano Operations Contact Centre has

been in operation since 2006, and has grown

from five agents to sixteen agents and four

supervisory roles, managing a government

fleet of 12 500 vehicles. Kgwerano Financial

Services (Pty) Ltd is not a typical “In Bound

or Out Bound” Contact Centre but rather an

Operational Contact Centre with back up

office functions. It is however crucial for us

to understand the dynamics of the role of

an agent and their work environment in our

business as they are the first point of contact

Words IRIS DE JAGER

not only our client but our suppliers as well.

Several topics were covered during the

conference which I believe will benefit our

call centre.

Sensory Intelligence is all about optimising

people and their work environment to which

in turn creates engagement, collaboration

and increase performance. Training and

development of team leaders to ensure they

lead successfully rather than manage agents

poorly. Ronny and I have taken it upon us to

investigate important criteria in the contact

centre. We will also propose some changes

that could result into a significant change in

optimisation of service delivery within both

Kgwerano and Sondolo agents performance

and efficiency.

The changing face of the Call Centre – New

technologies listening to this presentation it

was clear that at the end of the day it‘s the

agent behind the technology that’s going

to make the difference. While technology

will enable agents to be better, faster and

more efficient, it will not replace the Contact

Centre, Jim Iyoob, Senior exec in contact

centre outsourcing.

We have acquired and implemented some

of the latest technologies in the Kgwerano

contact centre: Routing strategy (group/skills/

tier/cascade/longest idle/most available/

priority), In queue management, and dynamic

messaging/MOH/virtual queue/voicemail/

escalation.

One of the applications that we implemented

in January this year is called Espera real time

management. With this application we now

KGWERANO

38KGWERANO

KW001_0413

achieve our SLA with National department

of Transport “NDOT”. A total of 98 percent of

all calls are answered within one minute and

we handle an average of 9 500 inbound calls

monthly.

The following question came up a few times

during the 3 days, “How can we do it quicker,

better and smarter?” So many brands today

disappeared and are no longer the market

leaders, they become too comfortable and

lost out to the new Generation Y, who does

things quicker, better and smarter.

Continuous Improvement Programmes

(CI) for Contact Centres would enable a

positive customer experience. In defining

set performance targets aligned to service

strategy, using recognized CI methods,

involving staff in all CI activities, measuring

the service quality, identify areas to be

addressed, and develop action plans with set

performance targets. All these elements will

ensure a healthy and controlled environment

in the Contact Centre.

Customer Satisfaction Survey Index “CSSI”

is another CI program that was stressed

throughout the conference, and Kgwerano

implemented this program in 2012. We

wanted to accurately measure our customer

and supplier experience with our Contact

Centre and Client relation team on a National

base as we have a national footprint.

Remember that one of the keys to success

is becoming a person of value when dealing

with people.

As leadership, we have to evaluate solutions

and use them to create ways of developing

greater brand identity and ownership. Client

feedback enables us to answer this question

and effectively evaluate our team approach

towards our brand. Positive feedback is proof

of our teams living our brand.

It is vital that our brand [the message our

team members exemplify] is the culmination

of our mission and vision, operating

principles and objectives.

Kgwerano Contact Centre would like to adopt

in conclusion the sensory intelligence route

is what.

The approach is people orientated and in line

with the Bosasa vision - service excellence.

this is done by harnessing synergies the

Bosasa people are empowered to express

their personalities and strengths in a team

environment, thereby contributing to the

economic and social development of our

nation.

I would also like to thank Angelo Agrizzi for

showing confidence in me by nominating

me to attend the conference. It confirms that

we are striving to do our best and there are

always new innovative ideas and tools to

assist us on the path to further and greater

success.

23 EKAYAMEDIA

KGWERANO TRAINING WEEK @ MOGALE BUSINESS PARK

No year is the same as the one before

individuals and companies experience

challenges and have different solutions for

those challenges. We at Kgwerano, like

learning from one another. We meet once

at the beginning of each year and we look

back at the previous year’s challenges and

how we resolved them as a team and we

then look at the future and its anticipated

challenges. We then come up with strategies

for being pro-active instead of being reactive.

This helps us to be always ahead and always

have a happy client.

This year 25 February to 02 March 2013,

we invited all our internal support leaders:

Finance (Colleen), eKaya Media (Mr Veli

Phato), On-it-1 (Riaan), Human Resources

(Lynn Loots),Compliance (Corrie Botes),

Petty Cash/Fuel Travel Claims (David

Janks), Call Centre/ Help Desk (Iris). Steven

and Johan Nortmann from our Technical

division at Kgwerano. Johan gave a lecture

to our Regional representatives on engines

and their components. How they fail and the

cause of failure. Most importantly we learned

how to tell the cause of failure by looking for

evidence.

The attendees were all provincial CRM’s.

They were taken through all the updates for

2012 and beyond by support divisions. They

clarified what support is expected out of

them. How to run their offices effectively and

how to handle sensitive information relating

to the Group.

The second leg of the training week, we got

our external stakeholders to train the regional

representatives on technical aspects of the

vehicle as it is one of their daily operation

requirements on the ground. Rex Diff and

Gearbox took them through the Vehicle

Gearbox, its components such as clutch,

pressure plates and releasing bearing. They

also showed them the drive shafts and diff.

This was done so they would be aware

when they are told to inspect a vehicle with a

clutch problem, what to inspect and where its

situated in the vehicle.

Tyger Wheel and Tyre also came. They

gave training on different tyre brands, sizes,

difference between them and also how to

measure a worn out tyre tread. This was

all done for Kgwerano staff especially our

provincial representatives to be in a better

position and investigate cases of abuse and

fraud so as to save the company resources

and give value to the service we provide to

our valued client, Government under the

Subsidized Motor Scheme contract RT62.

It was then the weekend, Wooza Friday!

Fun time, bringing all our different divisions

together namely: Accounts, Maintenance,

Tyre division and Customer Relations. We

all talk over phones and are scattered in all

Words ASANDA PANTSHWA

KW002_0413

provinces not knowing one another. It was

time to meet the rest of the team and have

fun out of work, in a different environment.

We then took a 1hour drive to Hartebeesport

Dam, hopped on a boat and took a cruise

for 3hours while the spit was dancing on the

fire waiting for us to return. What happened

on board the 50 seater Boat? Ask the Titanic

Captain … The photo tells the story, We are

now ready for any challenge!

“NO YEAR IS THE SAME AS THE OTHER; INDIVIDUALS AND COMPANIES EXPERIENCE CHALLENGES AND HAVE DIFFERENT SOLUTIONS FOR THOSE CHALLENGES.’’

39 KGWERANO

40EKAYAMEDIAWATSON CORPORATE UNIVERSITY

THE WATSON CORPORATE UNIVERSITY: NO MORE YOUR AVERAGE TRAINING DEPARTMENT

DOES THE FOLLOWING SOUND

FAMILIAR TO YOU?

“2013 is the year of Blessings”

“At Bosasa, we value our people”

“Striving to become high performing teams”

“The fundamental of the Watson Corporate

University’s educational experience is based

on providing every enrolled student with a

real-world, problem based engagement

experience or leadership opportunities within

his/her environment that supports personal

development and responsible citizenship.

Therefore, the Watson Corporate University

is committed to nurturing creative and critical

thinking, innovation, communication, and

ethical judgement founded in the values and

culture of the Organisation”.

If YES! Congratulations! You have been one

of the lucky ones who had a chance to enjoy

breakfast/lunch with the CEO, Mr Gavin

Watson and the Board of Directors during the

past IMBIZO. If you had listened attentively,

words like “empowering, intellectual capital,

human capital, competencies, own abilities,

trust, teams, performance, upliftment, future,

Words DR LOUIS SCHOLTZ

innovation, change, costs, values, Bosasa

Culture, fit, leave, extra mile”, would have

sparked a light. Not to set you alight of

course, but to spark a light for Education,

Training and Development opportunities in

this Company.

Over the past forty years, the learning and

development functions within organisations

based in the United States, Japan and

Europe become increasingly mission-critical,

sophisticated and centralised. This trend

is now accelerating within corporations

based in the rest of Asia and the Middle

East. Indeed, according to Annick Renaud

–Coulon, the founder and chairman of the

Global Council of Corporate Universities

(GlobalCCU), Paris.” A tidal wave of

corporate universities has touched the

shores of the developing world. There are

about 4000 of such institutes in the worl.,

Perhaps the best known corporate university

is the Hamburger University operated by

McDonald’s Corporation in Chicago, Walt

Disney, Boeing, and Motorola.

So, why do we need to out-learn our

competition in order to attract, retain and

excite the best talent in our Company?

In a world of on going change, requiring

persistent innovation, continuous

organisational learning and development

becomes a core ingredient of an

organisation’s competitive edge. If a

company and its employees do not learn

(L) faster than the rate of change (C), then

the company would not be sustainable in

the future given the stormy conditions of the

emerging new world.

In other words: L (learning) must be ≥ (equal

and/bigger) than the C (change).

The exciting challenge and opportunity is to

transform into a learning and development

organisation able to transform experiences

into information, information into knowledge,

and knowledge into wisdom to remain a

thriving, sustainable entity as Bosasa Future

Technologies moves into the future. It is

against this background that the Corporate

University has emerged in modern times as

an important change agent and enabler of

leveraging learning and developing in world

class companies.

41 WATSON CORPORATE UNIVERSITY

It is claimed that Corporate Universities

are potentially one of the most powerful

business and organisational development

interventions to have evolved in the past

two decades. A Corporate University is a

concrete demonstration that an organisation

is striving to be an Employer of Choice of

Employees of Choice. It forms a critical

element of its Employee Value.

Therefore the Bosasa board of directors has

agreed to the establishment of the Watson

Corporate University to address the learning

and development needs of the Group and

to ensure the Group is future-fit to meet the

strategic vision.

WHAT IS A CORPORATE UNIVERSITY?

Corporate Universities were first created

in the late 1980s as an enhancement to

traditional training departments. This new

approach was designed to align the training

arm of companies with the organisations’

vision and strategy. In most cases, corporate

universities are not universities in the strict

sense of the word. The traditional university

is an educational institution which grants

both undergraduate and postgraduate

degrees in a variety of subjects, as well as

conducting original scientific research.

CORPORATE UNIVERSITIES CAN BE

DEFINED IN VARIOUS WAYS:

• A Corporate University (also referred

to as a Corporate College, Corporate

Academy or Corporate Learning

Centre) is a centralized training or

education function within a corporation

focused on the integrated development

of employees on a basis aligned with

the corporation’s values and business

requirements.

• According to Jeanne Meister, the phrase

“corporate university” can be defined

as a”...centralized strategic umbrella

for the education and development of

employees ... [which] is the chief vehicle

for disseminating an organization’s

culture and fostering the development

of not only job skills, but also such

core workplace skills as learning-to-

learn, leadership, creative thinking,

and problem solving,”. She claims that

corporate universities are developed

by those corporations who have shifted

their focus from employee training to

employee education as a result of “the

emergence of the knowledge economy.

The phrase “knowledge economy”

expresses that these corporations

have recognized their responsibility to

provide employees education that can

evolve with changing business needs in

order to foster the business’ sustained

success. Many corporations believe that

through continued employee education,

they can “achieve strategic goals and

performance improvement”.

• A corporate university is any

educational entity that is a strategic

tool designed to assist its parent

organization in achieving its goals

by conducting activities that foster

individual and organizational learning

and knowledge.

• The Corporate University is a portal

within a company through which all

education takes place. Corporate

Universities link an organization’s

strategies to the learning goals of its

audience. It functions as the umbrella

for a company’s total education

requirements – for employees and

the entire business chain, including

customers and suppliers

• From the preceding it is clear that the

Corporate University places strong

emphasis on continued training and

learning together with the attainment of

organisational goals and objectives.

42WATSON CORPORATE UNIVERSITY

WIBL001_0413

A corporate university typically limits scope

to providing job-specific, indeed company-

specific, training for the employees of that

company.

Corporate Universities offer a powerful model

for learning that compels learners to grow

and develop. Most important they can have

long-term positive effects on a company’s

financial health and stability.

HOW IS A CORPORATE UNIVERSITY

DIFFERENT FROM A TRADITIONAL

COMPANY TRAINING DEPARTMENT?

There are some important differentiators

between a corporate university model and a

traditional training department. The primary

difference is that corporate universities are

designed to align with the strategic initiatives

of the corporation, while training departments

tend to be more centred on offering open-

enrolment classes that are high in demand.

Training departments tend to deliver training

in a fragmented, decentralised way – and it

is usually reactionary. Training departments

usually offer a wide array of open enrolment

courses, but with different departments

participating sporadically based on their own

‘perceived’ needs.

Examining the differences between

corporate universities and traditional training

departments can illuminate many of the

weaknesses that have often existed in a

company’s learning model. Becoming a

Corporate university can strengthen the

focus on learning and challenge corporate

executives to think about learning can affect

their organisations.

THE WATSON CORPORATE UNIVERSITY

PHILOSOPHY

The Watson Corporate University philosophy

is very different from this, pulling together all

learning in the Group by managing education

as a business initiative. It has clear goals and

long-term strategic plans. It is proactive.

Most important: the Watson Corporate

University’s activities must be linked to

Business goals.

THEREFORE IT HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED

TO:

• Organise and conduct training

throughout the Group

• Start and support change in the

organisation

• Get the most out of the investment in

education

• Bring a common culture, loyalty, and

belonging to a Company

• Remain competitive in today’s economy

• Retain employees

It is of paramount importance that the

Watson Corporate University offer valuable

training and education to the Bosasa

employees and contributing to retain and

promote key employees in the Group.

The “best practice” of creating a Corporate

University within Bosasa can shape the

culture of a company by fostering leadership,

creative thinking, innovation and problem

solving. Corporate universities are

designed to provide employees with

practical business knowledge, managerial

competence, and task-oriented education

– all aimed at making an organisation

more competitive.

The Watson Corporate University will offer a

blended (mixed) curriculum of online (virtual:

anywhere, anyhow, any time) and face to

face instruction and delivery methods.

Unlike traditional universities, the Watson

Corporate University will demand a return

on investment. No more training just for the

sake of training! There must be concrete

evidence that the virtual or face to face

classroom interaction is delivering results.

You see, it has to do with COMPETENCY

at the end of the day. Each employee has

to meet achieve competency levels before

continuing to the next phase. Bottom-line:

that what has been learned in the classroom

must be successfully executed in the working

environment.

43

LICENSED TO SKILL

Education is an essential human virtue,

especially In this increasingly complex world

in which we find ourselves. Education

is more than being able to read or write.

Education is the wealth and knowledge

that an individual acquires after studying a

particular subject.

BOSASA ENCOURAGES EDUCATION

As Bosasa employees we are very fortunate

to have a Group CEO like Gavin Watson who

has a greater vision. We need to act on it by

making every effort to promote knowledge

gain through education. Have you ever

wondered why? As mentioned above,

education plays a very increasingly important

role in our lives. Education develops a

meaningful outlook on life because it enables

people to think, question and see beyond the

obvious. It helps us to work how to think and

also how to make some important decisions.

It is as important as a basic need such as

food. As one writer once mentioned ‘ the

training of the human mind is not complete

without education.’

EDUCATION OPENS DOORS

Education creates opportunities for

sustainable and viable growth as it teaches

people how to act in challenging situations.

Words DINEO MOERANE / BELINDA PHETO

Another benefit is that it encourages

transparency, good governance, stability and

helps fight against graft. If applied correctly,

it can help eradicate poverty by reducing

inequalities found in society and can also be

an engine for social change. It is a ladder

that can be used to climb out of exclusion,

ignorance and oppression.

Education empowers the mind and soul to

achieve its God given potential. With this

in place, we can be assured that progress

will be equally shared with teams. In this

time of rapid change and competition in

the economy, a quality education is more

important than ever. Bosasa envisions a

world in which all women, regardless of

background can afford to access education

to better their lives, that of their families, and

their communities.

Bosasa employees are encouraged to further

their studies either internally or externally.

Gavin Watson motivates the staff to empower

themselves. He encourages them to study

so that they can use their qualification for

the greater good. ‘Our employees should

apply their skills to change the environment

and lives of people around them’ he shares.

Watsonline is CEO Gavin Watson’s branded

way of sharing knowledge and his vision with

the employees for their personal and career

Watsonline can be seen as a driving force

that instills the culture of reading among

the Bosasa employees. It also takes them

out of their comfort zones. It encourages

engagement among colleagues with the

discussions that they are expected to have

after each blog posted. Our CEO’s passion

for education can also be seen with his three

year strategy and vision.

The Watson Corporate University, will

raise the bar now that it has grown from a

training division to being a university - fully

equipped and positioned to compete with the

best in the world. The ball is in your court.

Make education your escape route out of

stagnation.

WATSON CORPORATE UNIVERSITY

BOS036_0313

44

45 ACCOUNTS

HOW TO DELEGATE EFFECTIVELY

THE SECRET TO SUCCESS

The secret to success is not doing everything

yourself. Most leaders believe that if you

want the job done right, you have to do it

yourself, which in some instances is true.

The limiting factor is time – there are only

eight hours in a working day. If you are going

to cope you have to learn to delegate to

competent staff members who can carry it

through. No man is an island.

WHAT EXACTLY IS DELEGATION?

Delegation is a very important management

skill. Good delegation saves time, develops

teamwork and is a great motivational tool.

Words CARLOS BONIFACIO

Delegation is more than managing people;

it’s about guiding and inspiring them.

Delegation is an ongoing process by which a

leader assigns additional tasks, responsibility

and authority to a subordinate in such a way

that there is acceptance of responsibility for

the assigned tasks. Delegation allows you

as a leader to move from what you can do

personally to what you can manage.

MOST IMPORTANT

The first step in learning how to delegate is

to think through the job. Decide exactly what

needs to be done, how do you want it done

and what results you want and when you

want the job to be done. Once you have

established the essentials, you have to find

the right person to delegate the job to.

FIND THE RIGHT PERSON TO DELEGATE

TO

Assess the skills and the experience of your

employees as objectively as possible. Don’t

be too quick to load your most dependable

employee; give someone else a chance. A

bold beginner will make mistakes by sprinting

before he can crawl; an insecure expert will

need constant encouragement. Experience,

confidence and technical ability is a must.

Delegate to a self-assured expert or do it

yourself.

46ACCOUNTS

CHOOSE CAREFULLY

Prioritise handing over projects where the

best possible outcome is that nothing or very

little can go wrong (such as implementing a

new travelling reimbursive scheme). People

will complain about perceived lack of delivery

or mistakes - if all runs smoothly no one will

notice.

HAVE STRONG FOUNDATIONS

Fully engage and inform those to whom you

are delegating. Explain the task, set targets,

then ask questions to help them plan (what

problems might you face and who else will

you involve?). Check their understanding

by asking them to summarise the brief in

writing. This will help them to put the task

into perspective. Have a fully documented

approach in place to delegation.

STAY INVOLVED

Do not fully delegate a pet project. When the

travel reimbursive scheme was introduced

last year, I did it all myself to evaluate the

potential downfalls, and there were many.

Identifying and rectifying the procedures

resulted in a better workflow. Only when

the bugs were ironed out of the scheme,

did delegation take place. Divide tasks into

‘personal’ (you) and ‘practical’ (them): they

present the findings, you explain the vision.

SHARE THE LOAD

Delegation won’t work without support in

place but it needn’t all come from you. Offer

guidance and feedback but save time by

making resources (handbooks, blogs and

training) available. Mentor your employees to

keep them on track. Most importantly, If you

can’t do it, you can’t delegate it.

LEARN FROM IT

If something goes wrong, help your team

members to fix it quickly and limit the fallout,

then do a post-mortem and discuss what

you will both do differently next time to limit

damage. You have just as much to learn as

they do.

COMPLIMENT

Involved in a high-profile project with

employees that you rate? Be honest – give

praise where due, be critical when justified.

Your subordinates need opportunities

to shine and so do you. Remember that

ultimately you are responsible.

BUT BE CAREFUL

Delegation is justifiable but be careful not

to be caught up in a situation where it

seems that you are dumping your work and

responsibilities on your subordinates and

taking credit for their efforts. Freeing yourself

up for projects that benefit the business,

letting others shine or matching work to

people’s strengths is one thing; delegating

out of laziness is another. Delegation

that damages your relationships or your

reputation is never worth your while.

“IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG, HELP YOUR TEAM MEMBERS TO FIX IT QUICKLY AND LIMIT THE FALLOUT, THEN DO A POST-MORTEM AND DISCUSS WHAT YOU WILL BOTH DO DIFFERENTLY NEXT TIME TO LIMIT DAMAGE. ”

CARLOS BONIFACIO

ACC001_0413

47 ACCOUNTS

CHRISTINA HERBST – BOSASA’S MOTHER HEN

Being a Fixed Asset Accountant in Bosasa

can be compared to a role of a mother

hen. A mother hen is nurturing, caring and

conscious about everything happening

around her chicks. However she can be

tenacious if necesiary. She hatches and

incubates until her chicks are brought to life.

Her job does not end there. She looks after

her chicks until they are independent and ble

to look after themselves. For as long as the

chicks are still under her wings, she’ll protect

them to the best of her ability.

The same characteristic can be said about

Christina Herbst. She is sweet, quiet, and

approachable but is firm and unwavering

when it comes to Bosasa assets. A mother

hen she is. Her approach is in keeping track

of all the assets. She uses an accounting

system, which gives every asset a serial

number. She works out the asset’s useful life

and runs its depreciation. An asset according

to Christina can be evaluated through three

simple steps. It must generate income for the

Company, its value must be more than R500

and its useful life must be at least from a

year to three years. The same independence

Words PABALLO SEIPEI

the mother hen gives to her children,

Christina writes them off as the assets reach

the end of their life span.

Keeping track requires Christina to always

stay in touch with the people responsible

for those assets. She even goes to various

Bosasa sites around the country to evaluate

the conditions of assets and reinforce the

importance of looking after assets. If she

doesn’t portray an over protective role

towards those assets, she might lose them

sooner than their life span permits. She

says about her fussy character, “I have a

very demanding personality. I work mostly

with men and I always have to remind

them because they sometimes forget,” in a

humorous manner. She continues to say,

“I am like an irritating fly to them. I repeat

myself to a point they don’t forget me.”

Christina’s life at Bosasa started in 2004 just

when the DCS contract began. She started

as a Data Capturer and was promoted to a

Creditor’s Clerk position within six months.

She was then promoted as a Supervisor and

worked closely with Marietjie Abrie.

After two years of hard work and dedication,

Christina worked as an Assistant Accountant

and later became a Fixed Asset Accountant.

Her development in this position was fast

tracked by her enrollment at Damelin College

where she obtained her Diploma in Financial

Management.

Her responsibility has given her the

opportunity to meet people and learn more

about the different cultures in Bosasa that

makes them one. Working with assets

helped her understand the importance of

communication in the Company. She says

about her job, “My job doesn’t keep me in

the office all the time. I travel the country

and meet people who make a big impact in

our Company. Each region is unique and the

people have different personalities.”

For someone with personality as bold as

Christina remember, there are people

who contributed to her role as Bosasa’s

mother hen. She has worked closely with

Carlos Bonifacio and says about him, “He

developed me to do what I know now. He

assisted me a lot when I struggled and I am

grateful for his teachings.” As for her biggest

inspiration, she regards having an assistant

as an inspiration. She has worked alone

for some time and when work piled up she

assigned someone to help her, which raised

her to take a leadership role. As much as a

good mother hen keeps her chicks closer to

her, Christina also keeps a very close track

of Bosasa’s assets. Remember she is warm

but can be fussy!BOS058_0413

DCS SOCCER TOURNAMENT

A game of soccer is as much unifying in

the world as it is in Bosasa. Soccer has

the power to bring people together in a

remarkable way. It creates a lot of emotions

from spectators and the players themselves.

These emotions we get to witness during

the half time break and the final whistle.

Some will rejoice while others feel like crying.

However, in Bosasa it is acknowledged that

another team’s loss is another team’s win.

We therefore celebrate together because we

are one, we are “teams2win”.

Bosasa DCS hosted a soccer tournament

on 23 March at Johannesburg Prison. The

tournament consisted of four DCS teams,

Krugersdorp, Johannesburg, Modderbee

and Pretoria. The first game was between

Krugersdorp and Johannesburg. Both teams

scored two goals each and ended up going

to penalties where Krugersdorp came out

victorious. The second game was played

between Modderbee and Pretoria.

Modderbee was beaten by Pretoria with a

whipping 2 – 1. The games were indeed

emotional. All the teams wanted to see

themselves in the finals but there could only

be two finalists. Krugersdorp DCS Captain

Thabiso Mhlaba was confident that they

would be winners of the final match. He says,

“Our team has worked extra hard to be the

finalists of this tournament. We are confident

that we will be victors of this tournament.”

After a little rest between the winners of

the previous games, the finals began.

Both teams went to the field rejuvenated

and ready to win. The teams displayed a

wonderful game of soccer on the first few

Words PABALLO SEIPEI

minutes of the action. Cheers, vuvuzela

sounds and songs from the spectators

created a soundtrack from the background.

This was indeed a game of mixed emotions.

A win was very much anticipated but both

teams were too strong for each other. They

ended up with a score of 2-2. Thabang

Setlhabi was the man of the moment. A

goalkeeper from the Krugersdorp side saved

hot shorts from their opponents and also

played on the field to help his team mates.

He says about his performance, “I am very

focused when it comes to what I do. If I don’t

focus then our team stands a chance of

losing,” he continues to say with a grin, “I am

like a gatekeeper, only that I do not allow any

goal to enter my gate.”

Just when the final whistle was about to be

blown leading to penalties, the game was

then stopped due to sudden heavy rain.

The teams will have a rematch on the 27

April at Pretoria Prison.

BOS053_0413

48FEATURES

SERVICE EXCELLENCE AT OR TAMBO

Our emails have been flooded with

messages of appreciation of the exceptional

service that our security officers render at

OR Tambo International Airport. Among

other things, these emails highlighted the

commitment to a superior level of customer

service delivered by our security officers

which deserves special mention.

On Monday the 25th of March 2013, a

suspect stole an iPhone from a passenger

whilst assisting her with luggage. The

incident was reported immediately to Bosasa

Security who immediately took the passenger

to view the camera footage at ACSA Control

Centre. Based on the client’s description of

the suspect we became aware that it was

a person known to us and an identikit was

circulated to the security officers on duty

who quickly apprehended the suspect in the

basement rummaging through other items of

luggage. The suspect was taken immediately

to the passenger who positively indentified

the suspect as the person who had stolen

her cellphone. The security officer involved

was Alfred Kolobe.

On Wednesday, 4 April, Alfred Kolobe again

went above and beyond his duties to assist

a lady, Anja Lubbe who forgot where she

had parked her vehicle at airport. Anja was

impressed by what Alred did for her. After

tirelessly looking for her car, she luckily

bumped into our security officer, Alfred who

made sure that he helped her find the car.

“I then was lucky enough to find Alfred. He

checked my ticket and escorted me up to the

correct parking bay (quite a walk away).

He then even wanted to help me find the car

but I insisted that he had done enough.

Words CHARLES McBETH

On Tuesday, 3 April 2013 operator

EM, Harmse caught 3 employees from

another airport service provider opening

and searching luggage which was being

offloaded from an incoming flight. The

suspect was found in possession of a bottle

of Este Lauder perfume. He was arrested

“THE INCIDENT WAS REPORTED IMMEDIATELY TO BOSASA SECURITY WHO IMMEDIATELY TOOK THE PASSENGER TO VIEW THE CAMERA FOOTAGE AT ACSA CONTROL CENTRE. ”

immediately and was detained at OR Tambo

police station. Bosasa’s success in this arena

has led to the incidence of baggage pilferage

to be at its lowest level in many years.

RMS002_0413

CHARLES MCBETH

49 RISK MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS

FUGITIVE ILLEGAL PORTERS & TOUTERS

RUN FROM BOSASA SECURITY

Nothing succeeds like success, Dumas once

concluded. And that is particularly true of

Bosasa Security at O.R Tambo Int’l Airport.

The security officers at this airport have

been raking in merit awards for extraordinary

performance. As intelligence officers, they’ve

been keeping notes and photographs of

offenders who were issued with warnings.

That has been giving them an edge over

criminals. Bosasa Security management

has not failed them in recognizing this

exceptional performance.

Even the infamous Vuyo, allerged fugitive

and illegal porter, could not evade their

successful run for long. After piling his rap

sheet with charges in a crime spree at the

airport while evading police detection for

months, he made the mistake of attempting

to rob an American traveller that sought the

assistance of a Bosasa Security officer. This

sealed his fate. His luck ran out and with

reinforcements, Bosasa Security officer in

Terminal B, T.N Kolobe backed by his Unit

Coordinator and multiple merit award winner,

Rachel Baloyi and S.O Manganye effected

the arrest of the violently resisting Vuyo.Vuyo

is alleged to have been targeting foreign

travellers as an illegal porter. He would turn

his back on the client at the escalators while

handling the client’s trolley. That was the

time when he would strike, removing wallets,

iPads and anything of value he found in the

clients’ luggage. For his choice of victim to be

a foreign national, he was counting on their

reluctance to travel back to South Africa for

his court hearings. So without the victim, the

cases would go cold. Our boys and girls in

blue have earned themselves a fan base only

rivaled by pop stars. Unbeknown to one S.O

Kingston, a Bosasa Security officer at O.R

Words VELILE PHATO

Tambo Int’l, did Lindsay Watson, a Bosasa

employee at MBP, receive and rave about

Kingston’s service. Lindsay commented thus

on Yammer: “I must commend the (Bosasa)

security at ORTIA, especial a gentleman

by the name of Kingston. He could see I

was struggling with loading all my luggage

into my vehicle and came to assist me. He

had no idea I was also a Bosasa employee.

That’s what it’s about service excellence.

Great work guys.”

Emails of praise have been pouring in

proving yet again that Bosasa Security teams

remain high performance work teams. Take

for instance this comment sent via email to

our online form by Ryan McLeod, an ACSA

client: “I arrived at the airport (OR Tambo)

and have a lot of luggage, unknown where

anything was. A gentleman called Trevor

Netshabuma (Bosasa Security officer) was

ever so helpful. I am quick to complain but

also believe a courtesy e-mail goes a long

way. This man’s actions are commendable

and he was an excellent ambassador to your

company.” These are the two main drivers of

the Bosasa Security success story. The fact

that they decisively clamp down on crime is

one. But it is the customer care service that

has earned them ACSA clients’ acclaim. So

when I attended 2 early morning parades at

the airport with Bosasa Security Chairman,

Joe Gumede, I was thrilled to bear witness to

the awarding of S.Os Mkhashane Maluleka

and Takalane Gladys Masikwa with merit

awards for excellent service. About 8:30 one

evening, while on night shift in the basement

where reverse screening takes place, these

brave officers foiled a human trafficking

crime in progress. Two Ethiopian women

had been stowed into the baggage section

of the plane and were being smuggled into

the country by corrupt airport contractor’s

employees. Bosasa Security officers arrested

them along with the contractor’s employees.

Bosasa Security management has also

given the officers involved in these

arrests cash incentives and certificates of

acknowledgement. Joe Gumede has been

arriving at the airport at the crack of dawn

and doing the leg work alongside his foot

soldiers, pointing out high risk areas on

which he wanted them to focus. He recently

confronted illegal taxi operators, colloquially

known as touters and illegal porters without

operating permits. They have been identified

as the most menacing pests who bug the

clients. Joe has vowed to rid the airport of

criminals even if it means having to spend

his early mornings there

BOS054_0413

50RISK MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS

51 RISK MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS

THANK YOU LETTERS

Good Morning

I do hope this email finds its way to the person I am looking for. I couldn’t find my car at OR Tambo last night, all I knew was that it was in one of the shaded parking lots. I was tired, it looked like it was about to start raining and I was stressed out. I then was lucky enough to find Alfred. He checked my ticket, and escorted me right up to the correct parking bay

(quite a walk away). He then even

wanted to help me find my car, but I insisted that he had done enough.

I just wanted to let you know of the

exemplary service that I received from Alfred, and thank him again.

Just to make sure you get the right Alfred, he was working in the shaded parking area in OR Tambo at about 8.30pm last night.

Kind Regards

Anja Lubbe

Associate Consultant, Advisory Services

BOS047_0413

52SONDOLO IT

SONDOLO IT‘s ACHIEVEMENTS

Words TREVOR MATHENJWA

As Sondolo IT, service delivery to our

clients is our priority. We aim to do what

is expected of us by our clients and never

let any obstacle make it impossible to do

our work properly. We recently handed

over Department of Justice (DOJ) sites.

Sondolo IT was required to supply, deliver,

Install, commission, Support and maintain

a comprehensive CCTV alarm and access

control systems at various nominated court

buildings.

No mission is impossible for Sondolo IT

as we always manage to accomplish the

mammoth tasks before us amidst all time

constraints. The milestone we achieve tend

to exceed the client expectations, proving

that we are indeed teams2excel.

It is Sondolo standards and part of our

service excellence offering to adhere to start

and end date of the project time frames.

Amidst all the hurdles that we sometimes

come across, Sondolo would like to thank

God Almighty for guiding us throughout the

trying times. We are so much grateful to our

CEO Gavin Watson, COO Angelo Agrizzi,

Ishmael Mncwaba and the entire executive

leadership of Bosasa Group for their undying

support.

I wish to congratulate and thank Projects

team under the guidance of Carel Coetzee

(the Project Manager) for a job well done

despite the challenges. May I extend the

gratitude and appreciation to ON IT, Sondolo

IT Support , Service and Maintenance

management ,Sondolo Administrators,

Procurement ,Sondolo Workshop staff ,

Bosasa Accounts division, Sondolo Training

unit, Technicians ,Subcontractors and mainly

Sondolo EXCO.

As we have handed over sites to the client,

the Service & Maintenance division has now

taken over sites to provide and service and

maintenance for the period of the contract.

We have an obligation to provide excellent

service delivery and we cannot afford

complacency. Team work will remain vital if

we want to be relevant and competitive in

this industry. SON001_0413

53 SONDOLO IT

54

55 SALARIES AND WAGES

VIP PEOPLE PAYROLL SYSTEM

During the course of 2012 the Bosasa

Group, Board of Directors took a decision

to upgrade its VIP Payroll programme. The

software in use for the past ten years was

under pressure to deal with the growing

number of employees and the complexity

and distribution of the Bosasa Group labour

force. It served more than 6000 people,

spread across the country at 426 pay points.

Bosasa leadership appointed a Project

Team consisting of Gavin Hundermark,

Johan Fourie, Nicholas Kgotse and Carolyn

Grammer to consider various options and

make recommendations. After extensive

research and consultation, the Project Team

recommended the payroll system to be

upgraded to the latest available VIP Payroll

software system on the market, namely VIP

People Payroll.

This new feature can be described as rich

and highly customisable technologically

advanced. It has many advantages over

the existing payroll software. This includes

extended capacity, improved efficiency,

integrated interface applications and

configurations, unlimited processing,

enhanced recording, storing and retrieving

capabilities, to name but a few.

Many hours of interaction with a team of VIP

People Consultants followed. This included

extensive training sessions, customised

configuration and the uploading of all existing

salaried employees’ data. Then the Project

Team was ready to produce its first live

payroll run. All employees on the salaried

staff were processed during the month of

March 2013 on the new VIP People Payroll.

Words DR JURGEN SMITH / GAVIN HUNDERMARK

Implementation went as planned and thanks

to the dedication of everyone involved, very

few problems were encountered.

Employees on the wages payroll will be

loaded on to the new VIP People Payroll

from April 2013 on a division by division

basis. It is envisaged to have every

employee within the Bosasa Group on the

new VIP Payroll System within three months.

As far as the payroll administration is

concerned, administrators will have a much

more powerful and user friendly system to

operate which will save valuable time and

effort.

Bosasa Group leadership will have a system

and a secure database from which powerful

and extensive management information can

be extracted. The employee will experience

all the mentioned advantages of VIP People

Payroll as well as a newly designed payslip

that displays additional information and

records and will be able to source personal

and remuneration information from Salary

Administration with ease and speed.

THE PAYSLIP

The new VIP People Payslip will be

distributed to employees in a new format:

a securely folded and pasted A4 size

payslip printed on Bosasa Group paper,

with instructions on how to open it. The

open white section indicates the employee’s

name and sufficient details to identify the

only authorized recipient of that this highly

confidential document.

Once opened, the payslip information is to

be found printed on the light blue portion

of the payslip. Please note that a payslip

is regarded as an extremely confidential

document and must at all times be treated as

such. Kindly inform the Payroll Department if

any of the data or information on the payslip

is not correct and needs to be updated.

Also contact the Payroll Department if any

further explanations on the new payslips are

required.

56SALARIES AND WAGES

The top section displays

all the personal data of

the employee such as the

Residential address, ID

number, Contact number and

Income tax number. Also the

applicable Job Title, Rate,

Hours and Banking details.

The bottom section of the payslip

shows the details of leave

entitlement, accrued and taken.

This shows the earnings of the

employee and all the components

that determine the gross earnings

and deductions. The final Net

Salary is clearly indicated at the

bottom of this section.

The third section indicates the

company contributions: these are

the amounts that the company

pays towards Skills Development

Levy, UIF, Pension fund, Funeral

benefit, etc. On the right hand

side of this section, all Year to

Date Totals appear.

Please note that a payslip is regarded as an extremely confidentialdocumentandmustatalltimesbetreatedassuch.

Kindly inform the Payroll Department if any of the data or information on the payslip is not correct and needs to be updated. Also contact the Payroll Department if any further explanations on the new payslips are required.

PLEASE REMEMBER TO KEEP YOUR PAY DETAILS PRIVATE!!!

WS001_0413

57 COMPLIANCE

BOSASA IS GOING GREENWords SIBUSISIWE MAJOLA

WHY GO GREEN?

Real food is fuel for the body and the planet.

Eat seasonal, local, organic foods, you can

enjoy fresher, tastier foods and improve your

personal health. According to one study,

organic milk has 68 percent more beneficial

Omega-3 fatty acids than conventional milk.

Buying local means supporting the local

economy and reducing the greenhouse

gas emissions required to get food from its

origin to your plate. Buying fresh food means

reducing packaging and energy used for

processing.

Women consume volumes of cosmetics

in their lifetimes. Guys, you are not off the

hook. Your skin - the body’s largest organ,

absorbs up to 60% of the products you put

on it every day, from soaps to shampoos

to sunscreens. Considering that most of us

use about ten different products daily? That

can really add up. Choosing green personal

care products often means using plant-based

ingredients, preventing these chemicals from

being absorbed into your skin.

Better transportation means less global

warming. Anytime you choose to walk, ride

a bike, or take public transportation, you

reduce (or totally eliminate) the carbon

dioxide and particulate emissions created by

driving a petrol or diesel-powered car. Have

you ever considered carpooling with your

colleagues?

Your clothing choices impact more than

just your appearance. By choosing eco-

friendly clothing, say, purchasing organic

over conventional cotton, one of the world’s

You’ve probably noticed that green is

everywhere these days: in the news, politics,

fashion, food, and even technology. That’s

all great as far as we’re concerned, but with

a million messages and ideas coming at us

from all sides, it can be easy to get caught

up: switching to organic foods, turning down

the thermostat, recycling, without thinking

about the big picture of how your actions

add up. As globalization makes the world,

it becomes increasingly easy to see how

the lives of people (plants, animals and

ecosystems) everywhere are closely linked

up with one another. Toys made in China can

affect the quality of life in Europe and Africa,

pesticides used in Argentina can affect the

health of people in the USA, and greenhouse

gas emissions from Australia can affect a

diminishing rainforest in Brazil. The truth is

that everything single thing we do every day

has an impact on the planet, weather good

or bad.

58COMPLIANCE

most chemically dependent crops, you also

choose a better product that is easier on

the soil and groundwater. How do you care

for your clothes? We suggest using cold

water in the washing machine, eco-friendly

detergents, and line-drying can all reduce

the impact of your wardrobe. Wear clothes

that don’t need to be dry-cleaned. This saves

money and cuts down on toxic chemical use.

Water is not a renewable resource. Clean

water is perhaps the planet’s most precious

resource, being water conscious helps

reduce strain on municipal treatment

systems and ensures there’s enough to

go around. By shifting away from bottled

water, we can reduce global greenhouse

gas emissions (from shipping), the energy

required to produce plastic, and the volume

of waste trucked to our landfills (from empty

bottles). Use a water filter to purify tap water

instead of buying bottled water. Not only is

bottled water expensive, but it generates

large amounts of container waste. Bring a

reusable water bottle, preferably aluminum

rather than plastic, with you when traveling

or at work.

AT HOME AND IN THE GARDEN: TIPS.

• Take shorter showers to reduce water

use. This will lower your water and

heating bills too.

• Install a low-flow showerhead. They

don’t cost much, and the water and

energy savings can quickly pay back

your investment. Reduce your geyser

temp to 55 degrees

• Return used car tyres to retailers or

wholesalers that recycle or retread

them. Tyres are banned from most

landfills, and illegally dumped tires

become breeding grounds for

mosquitoes and other pests.

HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE

Leftover household products that contain

corrosive, toxic, ignitable, or reactive

ingredients are considered to be household

hazardous waste (HHW). Products such

as paints, cleaners, oils, batteries, and

pesticides that contain potentially hazardous

ingredients require special care when you

dispose of them. HHW may be dangerous to

people or bad for the environment if poured

down the drain, dumped on the ground, or

thrown out with regular trash.

What you can do: Try to reduce your

purchases of these products and look for

alternative, non-hazardous products. When

you do need to dispose of these products,

speak to your local municipality for collection

of these items.

Lawn and Garden: Water deeply, but

infrequently. Most plants do best if the soil is

allowed to partially dry out between watering.

AT WORK?

Bosasa has initiated the “Going-green”

initiative: the Biometric Technology system

which eliminates the need for timesheets

thereby reducing the use of paper. Refer

to Bosele Pulse article on Biometrics and

with the full implementation of SharePoint,

information will be available to all. This will

reduce the need to print, print and print.

Bosasa is currently sourcing out “green”

cleaning chemicals. Watch this space for

more initiatives that will be implemented

in the future including the waste recycling

program below.

WASTE REDUCTION AND RECYCLING,

CONSIDER DOING THE FOLLOWING:

• Recycle office paper, newspapers,

beverage containers, electronic

equipment and batteries.

• Consider using eco-friendly chemicals

as opposed to potentially hazardous

chemicals used in products and

processes. Collect Fluorescent lamps

in a specific bin and taken by a certified

waste disposal service provider.

• To help reduce waste, use two-sided

printing and copying, buy supplies made

with recycled content, and recycle used

printer cartridges.

BUYING GREEN

• Buy office supplies in bulk or multi-

packs to reduce packaging waste. You

can also buy items with packaging that

can be reused or recycled.

• Buy energy-efficient items in the office.

• Consider the durability of a product

before you buy it. The cheaper it is, the

less durable it will be.

• Buy energy saving light bulbs.

• Buy re-usable ink cartridges

GOING GREEN WITH TECHNOLOGY

• Make your printer environmentally

friendly. Change your printer settings to

make double-sided pages.

• Always think before you print, do you

really need the hardcopy?

• Donate or recycle your old electronics.

REDUCE OUR CARBON FOOTPRINT!!!

59 COMPLIANCE

ECO-FRIENDLY OFFICE SUPPLIES

• Use paper-clips instead of staples when

possible.

• Keep plenty of scrap paper handy. Use

the back side of old documents for low

priority prints like driving directions

• Reuse file folders by sticking a new

label over the old one, or folding the file

in the reverse direction.

• Purchase refillable tape dispensers.

• Use a customized rubber stamp for

envelopes instead of disposable labels.

ENERGY SAVING HABITS AT WORK:

• When making coffee or tea, boil just

enough water that you will use however,

if you know everyone wants something

hot to drink, it makes more sense to boil

enough water for all.

• Switch off lights, plugs and heaters / air

conditioners not in use.

• At the end of the day, switch off all

lights, your computer and your heater /

air conditioner. In the kitchen switch off

everything besides the fridge.

KEEP ELECTRONICS OUT OF THE BIN.

• Keep your cell phones, computers, and

other electronics as long as possible.

• Donate or recycle them responsibly

when the time comes. Electronic waste

contains mercury and other toxics and

is a growing environmental problem.

• Make your own cleaning supplies.

• The big secret: you can make very

effective, non-toxic cleaning products

whenever you need them. All you need

are a few simple ingredients like baking

soda, vinegar, lemon, and soap.

• Making your own cleaning products

saves money, time, and packaging, not

to mention your indoor air quality.

WASTE AT YOUR OFFICE / OPERATION?

Paper can be placed in a specific paper

bin. Some batteries contain heavy metals

such as mercury, lead, cadmium, and nickel.

Therefore, many communities do not allow

them to be thrown away with your regular

trash. Recycling is always the best option for

disposing of used batteries. Batteries can be

placed in a specific battery bin. Plastics can

be placed in a specific plastics bin. Broken

glass can also be a potential hazard to the

next person will empty your waste bin. Glass

can be placed in a glass bin.

Never dump your used motor oil down the

drain — the used oil from one oil change can

contaminate one million litres of fresh water.

By recycling your used oil you not only help

keep our water supply clean, but help reduce

South Africa dependence on foreign oil. Take

your used oil to your technical department.

Food waste can go in a specific food waste

bin.

Globally these recycle bins have been

implemented in most offices, industrial areas,

communities (see attached picture). This is

the direction Bosasa is taking.

REFERENCES:

1. World watch institute

2. Environmental Protection Agency

3. How to: Going green

“THE TRUTH IS THAT EVERYTHING SINGLE THING WE DO EVERY DAY HAS AN IMPACT ON THE PLANET GOOD OR BAD. ”

COM003_0413

60COMPETITION

61

62COMPETITION

contact boselePRIVATE BAG 2002

KRUGERSDORP1740

+27(0)11 662 6435

info@bosasa.com

websitewww.bosasagroup.com