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ByThe4Oxen
What is wrong
with South Africa
For further information on “The Four Oxen”: www.the4oxen.co.za

How often have you asked yourself “what is
wrong with South Africa” just in 2020? How
manydifferentanswershaveyoulistenedto?
How many of these answers were convincing
to you? Have you come up with a theory?
I am sure that many of you can give me a list
of reasons as to what is wrong with South
Africa at the moment and I am sure that
many of these reasons will hold a lot of truth
and reason. I, however, specialise in the labour
environment in South Africa, which is why
I am going to spend the next 2 – 3 minutes
explaining to you what I believe has gone
wrong, and as a result, happening in South
Africa’s labour market at the moment.
Inarecentshocking,butexpected,revelation,
that the South African economy declined
by 51% and that 60% of SMMEs (Small-Micro-
Medium-Enterprise) are expected to close
down, the main message that should
have landed on everyone’s dinner table is:
Change is imminent! I do not believe in the
idiosyncrasyofa“newnormal”,asadvocatedby
mainstream media, because I think that
instead of feeling comfortable with a “new
normal”weshouldbegoing“backtobasics”1.
The most important step we need to
implement, urgently, is a step towards
proactive People Relations Management
Strategies. Although legally advocated
for, we no longer operate in a labour system
that is “all for one and one for all”. Our best
bet to survive the immense downturn in
our economy is to focus on the People
Relations in our Organisations. Going back
to basic entails Organisation’s reworking
their People Relations Strategies from the
core. Start recruiting with a purpose again.
No Organisation, big or small, can
survive without a purpose. An Organisation
needs the “right” people to carry a purpose
forward. Be honest, when last did you ask
yourself the question “WHY”2-3 and when
did you last act or think outside of your box?
If you have not reflected on your “WHY”
in a while, then let me shortly explain
what consequences a lack of regular
reflection and complaisant “in the box”
thinking might have on your Organisation.
We all followed the recent development
between Clicks and Unilever. Again, the
opinions on the expose are plentiful, and,
each thought has an element of truth in
them. The argument I want to focus on
is my personal opinion, namely that the
Leadership of Clicks and Unilever failed
south Africa, and employees in both
organisations, horribly. I tried to establish
the “WHY” behind the highly controversial
ad campaign. A visit to Unilever’s website4
was sufficient for my head to drop down
in disbelief. Unilever takes up a lot of their
website space with a long promise of “pur-
pose”, “change” and, of course “Ubuntu
Clicks do not fare any better when it
comes to making empty promises on their
website5. Beautifully hidden under the
diamond of “corporate sustainability”, you
can download a 16-pager PDF that tells
you nothing of interest, unless you are a
shareholder or potential investor. I had
a good chuckle when I read their first
value point, which states that “we (Clicks) are
truly passionate about our customers”. I do
not know when last I walked into a Clicks
store and enjoyed the experience. Given the
acceptance of the recent Unilever ad, I would
expect that I am not the only one who does
not feel the “passion” for us, their customers.
I was once told that “unless you live and
breathe the values of your organisa-
tions, they make the most horrible wall
decorations” and I proudly repeat this
line of wisdom today! Unilever and Clicks
1. https://bit.ly/2GeLqni
2. https://bit.ly/2RZHKZ3
3. https://bit.ly/3kP05Er
failed miserably in their People Relations
Strategies. Their value and purpose, or lack
thereof, has not been communicated or
lived in the Organisations. It might have
been mentioned in the orientation and
again at beautiful, expensive and all-ex-
pense-paid for executive meetings. Still, the
actual message has never been received or
upheld by the rest of the team. An Organ-
isation that prides itself in “being the best
employer in the retail industry” indeed have
done very little to ensure that management
takes responsibility and accountability for

their lack of leadership. Equally so in Unilever,
who recites “Ubuntu”, as if it is a fashion
piece, but could not develop a Marketing
Team that could answer the self-reflecting
“WHY” question and think “outside the
box” with their unacceptable shampoo ad.
Clicks and Unilever lost their purpose,
assuming they ever had one. Their employees,
based on their general gloomy and unfriendly
demeanour, do not live, believe or are aware
of these supposed values and purpose.
Clicks and Unilever seem to have fallen into
the same “abuse of a system”1 trap all too
many South African Organisations have
fallen victim to, and, therefore, stands no
chance in creating a genuinely passionate,
change-driven and Ubuntu organisational
culture. The only point, Clicks and Unilever
might have achieved, is keeping the investors
satisfied by disciplining “the guilty parties”,
which, to my knowledge, have not been
members of the management team – the
actual guilty party. The Utopian sentiment
comes to mind “for if you suffer your people
to be ill-educated, and their manners to
be corrupted from their infancy, and then
punish them for those crimes to which their
first education disposed of them, what else
is to be concluded from this, but that you
first make thieves and then punish them”.
Some have already argued that the message
in the Shampoo ad has been misunderstood
and that it might be a simple issue of “lost
in translation”. Either way, a Leadership
Team that is genuinely in tune with their
own “WHY” and that of the Organisation’s,
as well as operate “outside of the box” will
not fall victims to the “inward mindset” trap.
Fortunately, Clicks and Unilever have the
funds to invest in a rebranding of Tresemme
Shampoo and Conditioner and eventually add
them back onto the shelves of all the “hero”
retailers that have banished Tresemme
from their grounds. As employers of the
majority ofSouthAfricans,SMMEsareoftennotso
fortunateandI,therefore,stronglyadvisethatour
SMMEs have to do a regular self-reflection to
remind themselves of their “WHY” and invest
in effective leadership development. I want
to repeat that the only way to survive the
imminent change is by going back to
basics. Every Organisation requires healthy
People Relations Management Strategies
to be able to ensure genuine adherence to a
purpose-drivenexistenceandthecreationof
an outward mindset Organisational culture.
In short, our Organisations, who are already
mostly on their knees due to the struggles
of a continuously declining economy, need
to start looking inward to be able to start
looking outward. Growth is possible. Sur-
vival is possible. Passion, rather than stress,
is possible. It is, however, only possible if
we are genuinely at peace in our hearts and
want to accept and understand the chang-
es facing us today and in the future. Clicks
and Unilever are no example to follow!
4.https://bit.ly/3kLNzpp
5. https://bit.ly/334humz

Contact Us today on
T: +27 (0) 72 285 1964
E: why@the4oxen.co.za
Let’s help change your stress into passion again

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The Four Oxen what is wrong with South Africa

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