Out 2013, in 2014

Shelter Chieza Change Management
I don’t look back to the year 2013 with the slightest sense of regret. I made a couple of wrong turns and I got seriously burnt. Some of the scars have completely healed and some have left ugly scars on me.
I can literally count the days that business was good and when business was low.
I can still recall the challenging times when I had to make life-changing decisions and the times I had to sacrifice some things for some others.

I am proud to say I put it extra effort in everything I did — and that is what is satisfying about this journey.
Who could forget 2013; it was truly a year of mixed fortunes. For those like me that are willing to close the 2013 chapter, try to do it this year in style, don’t just fold the year hastily.

Take time to close your books and be strategic in your decision-making.
If you are a business that manages a lot of inventory, consider choosing a year-end that corresponds with the end of the busy season and presumably, a time when inventory is at its lowest.

This effectively means you will have a minimal job in counting inventory.
You are in turn decreasing costs and increasing accuracy. It becomes more easier when it’s at a quieter time of the year when books are easier to close and naturally there are fewer transactions that need to be made and much fewer support staff are needed. For retailers, its a much different tune, December may record the highest number of sales and therefore the year end could be in January.

Economic analysts have predicted that 2014 may be a lot worse than 2013 but I view it differently. Realistically the liquidity crisis we are in could drag us to the half of the year but will certainly not drag us into the end of 2014.

Who would ever think that banks would go through what they are going though in this country?
The brick and mortar businesses are facing tremendous challenges.

Rigidity and inflexibility is slowly being whittled away and in comes mobile transactions.
The 8 to 5 jobs may soon be over and in comes virtual businesses and offices. It has become even more difficult to trace people’s positions more.

Now more people are concerned about juggling multiple roles and positions in different companies and organisations.
In more developed countries, workplace flexibility is becoming more and more real. What these employees fear is putting all eggs in one basket.

They ask themselves questions like “What if company A fails to pay on time, how will I be able to manage my bills and credit repayments.”?

I foresee us going this direction where as managers we are forced to take this flexibility stance. After all, training an employee is very expensive and having half of your workforce leave you in a year or two of employment does not make business sense.

Perhaps in the next year we will start recognising and embracing changes in the workplace where we need to give in more to freelancing, part-time flexibility. This way it allows companies to create a work environment where employees take on different roles and jobs.

We are getting into an era where priorities for our generations are different from earlier on. We never used to have the needs we have in this generation and employers must be able to meet different needs.

Who would have ever thought that the traditional banking channels would find such intense threat?
I foresee a 2014 which has a strong urge towards technological readiness. For our industries to increase in competitiveness and productivity, we need to anchor ourselves more on information communication technologies.

In 2013, a lot of jobs were sacrificed by the emergence of new technologies. I do hope you were not a victim.
Welcome 2014, a year when anything is possible! Till next week, May God Richly bless you!!

Shelter Chieza is an advisor in management issues. She can be contacted at [email protected]