adminShelter Chieza Change Mnagement
Change of ownership, change in management, change in ethos, change in beliefs, change in leadership, change in structures, change in mentality. Am I the only one who is noticing this level of transition and movement these days.
It is common to notice a lot of movement in the corporate ladder. Movements involving mergers, consolidations, process improvements or other different strategic moves.
Businesses in Zimbabwe need to find ways of remaining afloat. We cannot continue conducting business as usual. Way back before dollarisation, people could afford to do business as usual.
But now companies have to be more innovative in reducing their cost structures and manage debt levels. I believe transition is an internal process that enables people adapt to new processes. People are the main actors in any transition process.
That shift from the old way to new ways of doing things is not easy but someone has to do it.
Some companies tend to paint a glossy picture of their financial accounts while in reality may be in huge trouble.
Some of these firms are in huge debt which is severely crippling and impairing their operations and it has become for survival for the fittest.
By its nature, transitioning to the use of a more developed IT system is easy.
A seemly easy process such as upgrading our software to make things smoother could take a lot of resistance.
I once heard of resistance by office employees to move to a new building. Instead of people appreciating issues to do with company image or convenience to customers, management often meets a lot of resistance.
It could be even worse with the new CEOs who are being taken on board these days.
Instead of people appreciating that the CEO can help bring new ideas for growth, they are more than prepared to let out daggers and spears.
What the human mind perceives immediately is awareness of an existing threat.
However, when people don’t have a safe and productive way to express and process their feelings, they tend to bottle up and internalise them.
Their emotions take a toll and it re-appears in the form of denial. It sometimes develops into anger and fear.
When such emotions take place, frustration and cynicism take control.
It may not even take much time to reach the first level of resistance, but it could be a split second and in some cases it may need the crowd to confirm the negative feelings.
When such behaviour and emotion is spilled onto the public, it becomes more and more difficult to deal with.
It could degenerate into deep levels that are counter-productive. The resistance slows down or stops the needed change.
And so it is no secret that the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority has been tough on providing for bad debts.
They say exceptions can be given only and when there is blatant and concrete evidence that the bad debtors you have are not recoverable.
Now we tried it once with a couple of our customers that we supposedly believed had reached levels of bad debts and alas we failed to convince.
So, unlike in other years, debtor management has to be provided for than any other moment in our business history.
Way back some of us never used to have a problem with the value added tax legislation and that VAT payments must be made by the 25th day of the month.
But you see, this has become a nightmare for most businesses given the liquidity challenges in the country.
This legislation discourages us to offer credit terms in this current environment. It is the sign of the changing times.
Which current business can afford to ignore penalties by the seemingly ignorant tax offenders? And these are given and awarded to those who are might have been first time offenders or are trying to dodge the law.
We cannot conduct business as we used to. In as much as we might agree that times have changed, but how critical has it changed?
We have entered an era where suddenly we experience numerous way of keeping in touch with customers which are not only cost effective but are only a click away. My small interior and home shop may not be afford putting up the flashy billboards that appear a mile away in Avondale but at least I can try other cheaper option of putting up an online banner on internet.
The coming in of computers and electronic communications has witnessed a large number of alternative electronic payments systems emerging.
As payments are increasingly being made through the electronic platform, we are also not to be left behind a paperless society. Zimbabwe should not lag behind.
To some of the old guards who are slowly embracing technology, come on, walk the talk and lets embrace transition.
Till next week, may God richly bless you.
Shelter Chieza is an Advisor in management issues. She can be contacted at [email protected]
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