Workplace Challenge promotes best practice
● Productivity SA has hailed the Workplace Challenge Programme as a key initiative for sustaining 50,000 jobs.
Since 1995 the programme has helped more than 250 companies, which employ more than 50,000 people.
The WPC, a joint initiative of the department of trade and industry and the National Economic Development & Labour Council (Nedlac), is a 24-month programme that aims to add value to SA’s economy.
Its objectives include helping stable manufacturing, mining, agriculture, forestry, and service businesses to improve their competitiveness.
Mothunye Mothiba, CEO of Productivity SA, said the WPC encourages and supports change in the workplace to improve performance, productivity and job creation.
He said WPC promotes four characteristics of world-class South African companies: ● Leadership practices that foster teamwork, participation, continuous learning and flexibility, by involving those on the shop floor in the improvement of company performance. ● The simultaneous improvement of quality, speed, cost and morale.
● Facilitating sharing of the lessons that companies learn.
● Exposing small companies to world-class competitiveness principles in a way they could not otherwise afford by involving them in a cluster with large companies.
According to Mothiba, the WPC is organised by grouping businesses from the same geographical areas together in clusters, each consisting of six to eight companies.
“The WPC facilitates the transfer of learning about the application of best operating practices/world-class competitiveness principles from one WPC company to participants in other companies.”
Productivity SA change facilitators help to formulate mini-businesses for each participating company and provide training in the form of workplace transformation toolkits, covering practices such as goal alignment.
The WPC change facilitators work with and coach individual companies in a cluster to apply the toolkits and do regular audits to measure their progress.
To share experiences and lessons about its implementation, the WPC facilitates monthly steering committee meetings, site visits and quarterly milestone workshops.
“The WPC composes case studies of participating companies’ approaches to the implementation of best operating practices for disseminating lessons learnt to all participating companies.”
The WPC, said Mothiba, has impact and benefits for participating companies.
“Most of the participating companies report real, measurable improvements in quality, cost, on-time delivery and employees’ experience of greater job security, employment growth and stability, which translates to employee morale.”
He said quality problems are usually sorted out, leading to better-quality products delivered to customers. “Delivery problems are attended to, leading to more reliable delivery according to promises and waste is reduced, leading to improved cost, productivity and competitiveness.
“Shop-floor employees acquire skills and competence, leading to better morale, loyalty and products,” said Mothiba.
Chief director of space affairs at the department of trade & industry Nomfuneko Majaja said the enterprises that had participated in the WPC had been collectively funded to the tune of R151m and generated more than R1.88bn in total turnover.
“These figures are a sure sign of progress and we must sustain it and forge partnerships with the WPC to support our flagship programmes. We also see the WPC building a competitive manufacturing sector within the Industrial Policy Action Plan,” she said.
Majaja further outlined that a web-based monitoring and evaluation system has since been launched to measure the impact of the WPC on participating companies.
Mothiba appealed to prospective entrepreneurs to generate ideas, to test the feasibility of success of these ideas and to pursue those that demonstrate potential.
“We must accept that productivity is the most effective tool to maximise production.”