According to local research the rate of voluntary labour turnover in Zimbabwe has been hovering around 1% for most industries during the past two decades or so. This is mainly due to the economic hardships in the country which limit staff mobility simply because alternative employment options are non-existent for most staff. Under such circumstances the necessity for organizations to develop robust staff retention strategies has ceased to be a key strategic issue.

However, as Zimbabwe re-engages with the international community as part of the unfolding economic dispensation and more investment opportunities materialize it is important to remind HR practitioners that one of the key roles that they should play is to help their organizations to attract and retain talented people. This function becomes even more critical and challenging to the extent that in future employees will have more career options in a “normal” business environment.

In order to help organizations to plan for the future business challenges associated with operating in a “normal” and competitive environment we need to highlight the most common reasons why employees leave organizations which should guide the business HR Agenda for the future:

1. Career development – when individuals join organizations, they somehow anticipate to grow professionally in their fields and develop certain skills which can enable them to rise through the ranks. In other words, they expect that someday they can be at the top of the Departments of business units that they will be stationed at. Therefore, this raises expectations in individual employees about their advancement in the respective job spheres. If no chances show, they opt to leave the organization to find a better one where they can advance their career.
2. Lack of interest due to lack of appreciation or recognition – An employee feels greatly demotivated and discouraged when the Manager shows a lack of interest in the work that he/she is doing. This means that if employees put in a great deal of effort in their work to come up with new ideas or plans at work; they expect some form of recognition. This recognition can have a great positive impact on an employee’s attitude towards the company. For example, an employee stays late at work to work on something needed by the Manager the following morning. A simple thank you can greatly uphold the employee’s spirits and to be motivated to work harder in future.
3. Job content change – due to globalization and advancement in technology, some job contents are increasingly changing or becoming more complicated whilst other jobs are being rendered obsolete. This implies that with globalization, some job roles are changing radically and, in some instances, they are being reconfigured in terms of task variety and complexity. For example, Billing Clerks in organizations who used to do manual billing which can now be done by a system such as Pastel. This leaves the Clerks with less to do. Technological changes can also increase the complexity of job tasks. If employees are not well versed or trained in that field they may fail to cope, and this can lead them to quit their jobs.
4. Inexperience – inexperience coupled with pressure of work can make an employee leave an organization as a result of failure to deliver quality. When employees are inexperienced and at the same time quality results are being expected they may fail to deliver or they do deliver poor quality work. Pressure can mount on them to leave the organization unless if there are structured training and development programmes to help employees to acquire the relevant job skills and knowledge.
5. Sexual harassment/Quid pro quo based environments – some employees leave certain organizations for the fact that the work environment will be characterized by sexual favours or offers, which is known as quid quo pro meaning a favour for a favour. This situation reduces victims to nothing but sexual objects and has a dehumanizing effect on the individual. This takes away the professional value of the employee in an organization and sends the message that the employee has nothing else to offer other than sex and any sexual favours. The prevalence of sexual harassment in an organization requires some robust strategies to deal with the phenomenon.
6. Horrible bosses –This is associated with bosses who treat their employees in a harsh and inconsiderate manner. Such bosses can also be very rude. For example, imagine a boss who tells their employees that no one will go home until they finish loads of work where there is no justified deadline for the work to be completed. Rather than giving employees some form of responsible autonomy for them to work, some bosses end up exhibiting or portraying horrible and abusive behaviours to their employees and this can force employees to leave organizations.
7. Consideration of daily hustles and stress – daily hustles that individual employees go through can also cause employees to leave an organization on their part. This means that if individuals are stressed more often by daily hustles that they go through which include transportation to work or pressure of work; they may decide to quit their jobs so as to save themselves from these ever-occurring events. This is usually common amongst older employees who mostly have difficulties in adjusting or coping with such stressful events.
8. Better job offers – an employee can leave an organization for the reason of having found a better job offers. This entails better working conditions which include better work schedules, better salary and benefits among other aspects. The favourability or unfavourable nature of working conditions is mainly attributed to HR structures that exist in an organization. For example, some organizations still maintain traditional HR practices are becoming incompatible with modern management thinking and hence employees will look for those organizations that have flexible HR concepts which tend to bring out the best in individual employees.

Our prognosis is that if organizations believe that “people are the most important resources in business”, it is vitally critical that they invest a lot of energy into understanding why employees leave organizations and develop appropriate retention strategies.

Emmanuel Jinda is the Managing Consultant of PROSERVE Consulting Group, a leading supplier of Professional Human Resources and Management services locally, regionally and internationally. He can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. tel: 263 773004143 or 263 4 772778

My experience in the Corporate Sector suggests that often employees wonder what the leadership would have considered to promote an employee to managerial level. What is true is that there are varied reasons which may impel an employee to be considered for appointment to a more responsible role than their current one. However, not always is the leadership decision seen as fair and objective. Under   such circumstances you hear other employees making insinuations about the basis of the promotion. In many cases employees argue that the reason for such promotion is not based on work performance but something else outside the work environment. True or false these sentiments may be, as leadership, it is critical to have a few tips or hints at hand to look for in an employee before announcing a promotion decision.

Also, for the aspiring employees, it is also important to know that there are certain work behaviours one needs to exude to demonstrate that they are ready for a promotion.

Best practice dictates that the organisational leadership need to be amply convinced that the employee has what it takes to move up. This may include looking at an individual’s problem-solving skills, their ability to handle conflict at the workplace and team building. Additionally, such an employee’s level of thinking should cease to be about them only but should always have the big picture as an approach. Also, as leaders, you should be able to distinguish between talking too much and critical thinking in an employee and carefully consider these. Critical thinking   involves analysing the level at which one works. Does the employee  work smart by always considering the strategic impact of their work? The employee’s level of operation should go beyond working hard to accomplish given tasks but to always think of the big picture. In most cases, leadership fails to discern between working hard and being able to think big. Mastery of your current roles does not automatically mean ability in the next role. I have in many cases seen in the corporate world leaders who have promoted hard workers   who have not acquired strategic thinking tactics, and this has been very disastrous to both the promoted employees, the peers and the organisation as a whole.

As an employee aspiring to be promoted, it is good to demonstrate through your work ethic that you are now ready for higher challenges. Even your own appearance should reflect your level of professional readiness. It is also important that you start to develop work plans for yourself showing your ability to handle increasing levels of responsibility. Where one would have performed well even in the social world, it will be good to also start sharing those out of office successes especially where as an employee you may not have had an opportunity to demonstrate these leadership skills at the work place. Telling your boss about your social achievements   prevents him/her getting the news from a third person. Putting all your ducks in a row gives the leadership that assurance of readiness on your part. This may  include having to sit back a bit from the social world without necessarily abandoning your friends but slightly altering one’s behaviour.

It is common practice in many organizations that promotion in the work place can take the form of competing through an interview or just being identified as the suitable one. My advice to the leadership is to avoid the latter as it is a very fertile ground for problems and accusations. It will be good to use ability tests and interview tools so that all employees who feel they qualify are given an opportunity to compete for the promotion.

However, for the aspiring employee, attending   such an assessment process is not a cup of tea. There   is a real need to prepare for such interviews as you need to demonstrate to the panel what a great employee you are. You need not hide   your weakness as you highlight your strengths, your current successes and familiarity with the position and company. Remember, you do not know everything, it is important to also talk about the unfamiliar aspects of the position lest you are caught off guard. Over confidence also ruins your performance and never go for a promotional interview assuming you have gotten the job. Asking questions about the new position is important and at the end of it, remember to say thank you.

For the leadership, it is important to know that bigger challenges can surface after an employee has been promoted. How are we preparing the employee for this change in roles? In most cases promoted employees go through torture and suffering because the leadership has not inducted them on the likely eventualities. If anything, probing questions should be crafted around these likely experiences so that the leadership knows where help is needed.

Linda Hill, a Professor at the Harvard Business School writing on what   promoted employees should do says, “If you are promoted over a colleague, address the elephant in the room and alleviate worries about your ability to work well together.” She further says burning your bridges is disastrous. It is advisable that you do not leave your co-workers behind but continue treating them with   the same respect you had when you worked together. If necessary, meet them one on one and discuss the change in leadership and that you are in a learning mode. Lines of communication should be kept open to create a collaborative work environment.

After an employee celebrates their well-earned promotion and are now the boss of the people who used to be their peers, such an appointment would have automatically changed relationship structures. Colleagues start judging you on your ability to lead people whom you used to consult and complain together. Be mindful that you are now being the one complained about, hence the need to carefully induct an employee for the new role is important. Remember not to leave those other candidates not promoted to harbour hard feelings. I have seen organisations losing very potentially good employees to other organisations because of frustration. Due to the fact that the organization has failed to manage their expectations, we recommend that those employees who feel overlooked for promotion should be engaged and helped to deal with the loss of the promotion opportunity.

As for the promoted employee, we recommend that he/she should continue attending the happy hours with the colleagues as before but reduce your stay to allow them space to vent and blow off the steam.

Emmanuel Jinda is the Managing Consultant of PROSERVE Consulting Group, a leading supplier of Professional Human Resources and Management services locally, regionally and internationally. He can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.tel: 263 773004143 or 263 4 772778

The business operating environment is ever-changing. It is the Volatility, the Uncertainty, the Complexity and Ambiguity (VUCA) of the business environment that is challenging and even threatening the existence of business organizations. The business planning horizons have become shorter – the time lapse between planning and implementation has become blurred and even non-existent as business conditions are rapidly changing. Businesses are now planning “on the go”. Technological advancements andinnovations are challenging the old ways of doing business – giving rise to new businesses and organizations that had never been envisaged before. Customer preferences are changing and a new generation of consumers is emerging who prefer products and services that are customized to their tastes. Change has always been a part of our lives but the rate of change in themodernworld is unprecedented.

What does this all mean for our organizations? How doorganizations remain relevant and sustainable?How do they compete in such a volatile operating environment?

Organizational review is a process of enhancing organizational success through strengthening its capabilities to deliver. It is an organizational improvement initiative that ensures alignment and sustainability through attunement of organizational infrastructure to changes in the operating environment. Organizational review seeks to continuously identify ways of improving business performance and results. Forces of change informed by Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, Legal and Governance (PESTEL-G) dynamics define the operating environment of business organizations and these exert continual pressure on organizations to align. Organizational review entails the strengthening of re-examination and adjustment of our strategy as well as our strategy-delivery mechanisms. Specifically this entails examination and adjustment of the following:

This process of organizational review should be done continuously so that at any given moment in time the organization is alive to its environment and this should be reflected in its configuration. Many of our organizations in Zimbabwe are faced with a problem of stagnation in such a VUCA environment. Organizations are slow to react to change and most of these organizations are still stuck with the traditional approaches to organizational review. Traditionally the process of organizational review is conducted once a year, and usually half-heartedly as leaders are not so keen to “rock the boat”. This is also done along with the traditionally strategic planning process around November of each year. However the dictates of the VUCA environment demand that organizational review becomes a continuous process – a process which does not wait for a particular time of the year for a review to happen, but a process that ensures that changes areaccounted for in real time. In as much as organizations can do their major organizational review processes once every year, leaders should not be oblivious of the fact that throughout the year changesthat are directly or indirectly impacting on the organization, changes with an immediate and/or long term impact on the organization, are obtaining in the operating environment.

Quite a number of companies in Zimbabwe suffer from this organizational stagnation where organizations become too comfortable in their way of doing things and resist change. This is even more apparent in mature organizations that have reached a certain level of stability. We have even witnessed organizations going for their annual strategy review sessions of irrelevant strategies that have been overtaken by events during the year. This stagnation (slowness to respond to change) has led to the demise of many companies in Zimbabwe and beyond.

Organizational review can be done targeting the whole organization or any of its parts as it is a need-driven process. However, in any organizational review effort, it is important to observe one of the key principles underlying organizational effectiveness – the principle of mutual reinforcement. According to this principle, a significant change in any one part of an organization has got an impact on the other parts, either immediately or in long term. As part of the organizational review process, this impact has to be understood and the necessary alignment done so as to achieve total organizational effectiveness. This is because the different parts of an organization are mutually reinforcing.

In a globalized environment withsucha high rate of change, dynamism and innovation, it is imperative that business leaders review their organizations on the pulse – not to wait for traditional business cycles that may be overtaken by events. It is only through continuous and real-time review and alignment that organizations remain relevant and attuned to the dictates of the operating environment. A culture of continuous improvement has to be inculcated so that stakeholders are always seeking ways of improving their organizations. Organizations have to be as dynamic as the environments within which they are operating – any stagnation or resistance to change leads to extinction of that organization.

Emmanuel Jinda is the Managing Consultant of PROSERVE Consulting Group, a leading supplier of Professional Human Resources and Management services locally, regionally and internationally. He can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.tel: 263 773004143 or 263 4 772778

CFO: What if we train them and they leave?

CEO: What if we don't train them and they stay?

Whose role is it to develop skills? Should organizations invest in employee development or is that best left to the individual employees to enhance their own capabilities?

For a long time the issue of employee development has been topical in many organizations. Most organizations, at one point or the other, have had a Training and Development function whose sole purpose was to develop employee skills. The performance and longevity of the Training and Development function has had mixed fortunes in Zimbabwe and continues to face serious operational challenges. Whereas Human Resources professionals push for organizational investment into employee capability development, some Executives have not been so keen. Our experience shows that with many organizations in Zimbabwe Training and Development is one of the very first casualties of poor financial performance or difficult economic conditions.

The case for skills development has been made and accepted by most stakeholders. The issue is more about who has the primary responsibility for the development of such skills. Scholars and management experts have defined employee development as a continual process where the employee, with the active support of his/her employer, undergoes various training programs in order to enhance his/her knowledge and skills. From a human capital perspective, the intangible assets of an organization as represented by the collective knowledge, skills, attributes and talents of employees have to be progressively developed and strategically employed in order for the organization to realize economic value. Employee development is a continual process – the rate of innovation and changes in technology within the business operating environment make it mandatory that capabilities have to be adapted and enhanced in order to achieve organizational efficiency and effectiveness. Business sustainability can only be achieved through the continual growth and development of the human capital because without knowledge, skills and talent even the best technology in the world would not function.

According to the Gallup Q12 Report, employee development is a key determinant of three dimensions that drive organizational effectiveness, viz:

• Employee retention
• Employee productivity
• Overall employee engagement

Many of our own local Employee Engagement surveys in Zimbabwe have also shown time and again that employees tend to express higher levels of commitment to those organizations where they feel growth and development.

The goal of employee development programmes and initiatives is primarily to improve employee proficiency levels thereby improving organizational efficiency and effectiveness. This means that both the employer and the employee have an intrinsic interest in employee capability development. For the individual, employee development initiatives increase the individual’s impact in the organization – the value of the employee to the organization increases. For the organization this is about improving employee productivity – when talent and competencies are nurtured, developed and appropriately employed in the organization, it leads to superior business performance.

Employees are not just recipients of development initiatives – they have an important proactive role of keeping themselves abreast with the latest developments, knowledge and skills sets that enhance their own competitiveness. Upgrading one’s competencies is essential for continued relevance in the ever-changing business environment. When an employee enhances their competencies, they become more valuable to the business and more indispensable. Employees also have an obligation to take any development initiatives seriously – ensuring that they get the most value out of it.

For organizations, the lack of employee development programmes and initiatives is too risky. The risks could range from poor customer service, loss of customers, poor workmanship as well safety issues – these risks impact on the mission of the organization itself thereby threatening business viability. It is therefore mandatory that organizations put in place policies, frameworks and platforms for employee development. Organizations need to create a total learning system supported by the appropriate culture to ensure that the capabilities are continuously enhanced. When done properly employee development makes employees better at their jobs, creates a consistent learning culture, attracts new talent and retains critical skills.

Employee development can be both formal and/or informal – it includes a whole spectrum of initiatives from attending courses, taking classes, learning groups, coaching and mentoring. It is also about giving employees the platforms to be creative, to apply learned concepts and methods and to make “new mistakes”. These employee development programmes and initiatives enhance the organization’s ability to learn and adapt.

When employee capability is enhanced, the quality of input or contribution of that employee to the organization also improves. It is therefore in the interest of the organization to develop the capabilities of their employees. Whatever form it takes, evidence has shown that both organizations and individuals that actively participate in employee development are more successful. Sustainable organizations are learning organizations – through continuous learning they have adapted and transformed themselves to the dynamism of the business operating environment.

Emmanuel Jinda is the Managing Consultant of PROSERVE Consulting Group, a leading supplier of Professional Human Resources and Management services locally, regionally and internationally. He can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.tel: 263 773004143 or 263 4 772778