We shine the spotlight on the most important aspect of business and that is the talent because a well-run hr department improves productivity and aids in maintaining the organizations brand image. It also plays a huge role in developing the organizations' strategy as well as how the employee-centered activities are handled.
This week on Productivity vs profitability, we spoke to Jaintheran Naidoo on Why is "learning Agility” key to leadership and employee success?
On HR Chat, we chat to Ken Coster, who is a Partner in the Health and Safety Practice at Webber Wentzel on the Epidemic facing the mining industry.
On policy and compliance, Tebogo Moalusi joins Gavin to chat about How companies adopt a strategy to mitigate losses related to strike action.

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Could racism in the workplace lose you more than just your job?
This Week on HR Wired, we shine the spotlight on racism/ethnic discrimination in the workplace; on our productivity segment, we examine if employees are still seen as production line machines; We look at HIV/AIDS Workplace Rules and ended off with Where you draw the line when it comes to recruitment.
Racial or ethnic discrimination in the workplace can rear its ugly head in a variety of forms, some of which can be overt or obvious. But racial discrimination can often be subtle and more difficult to detect, such as an employer's failure to hire or promote an individual on account of their race. Whichever form it takes, however, racial discrimination in the workplace is strictly prohibited by a number of federal and state laws.
One of the more difficult aspects of racial discrimination at work is that it can often take place entirely undetected. After all, unless an employer specifically admits otherwise, who can say for sure why they made a particular decision to hire a certain individual or gave another a promotion? That said, there are some instances where an employer may display some discriminatory intent.

For example, when it comes to interviewing, employers typically should not ask questions about a prospective employee's race. If an employer does so and decides not to hire this employee, it may serve as evidence that race played a role in the decision. Such circumstances are rare, however, and it should also be noted that employers may permissibly ask about race in the context of forms and affirmative action programs, so long as they play no part in the decision-making process.

More often, discrimination is far more subtle, and an individual will have no certainty as to why they weren't hired, unlike the example above. Asking the employer is an option, but employers could offer any viable reason that is not based on race.

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The importance of education in the modern world is increasing as the most serious factor in the formation of a new quality of economy and society in common. Its role is constantly growing along with the growing influence of human capital.

Some people argue that education is the answer to some of the big current problems the SA. Want to fix the unemployment problem? That's easy: just provide additional educational opportunities for those having difficulty finding jobs. Want to lessen income inequality? That's easy too: if more people have college degrees, they'll qualify for higher wage work. While these arguments appear to make sense, looking at the data over the past several decades provides the opposite answer: more education would solve neither problem.

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When an employer contemplates retrenching employees it is required by the Labour Relations Act (LRA) to first consult about this prospect before making any decision to retrench. Where the relevant employees belong to a trade union the employer is required to consult with that union on a number of issues, the most important of which is any means of avoiding job losses.

Should the employer choose not to engage in proper pre-retrenchment consultations and the employees are forcibly retrenched this will normally result in an unfair dismissal finding against the employer. However, where the employer has, in vain, made every effort to consult it may possibly not be blamed for any failure to consult.

Ivan Israelstam is the CEO of Labour Law Management Consulting offers expert labor relations advice to organizations and individuals in the private and public sectors. Ivan Israelstam has over 30 years of experience, been CCMA Commissioner and is Chairperson of the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Labour Affairs.

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Gavin and Brian discuss misconception about robots stealing our jobs.
Brian Timperley is the managing director and co-founder of Turrito Networks, a business he started in 2010 alongside his business partner, Louis Jardim. In his role at Turrito Networks, Brian is responsible for identifying, developing and directing business strategy as well as cultivating the company's reputation in the market.

We’ve seen it in the Industrial Revolution, where machines replaced countless jobs almost overnight. The socio-economic effects of that transformation have been well documented.Today, many believe we are facing the same tidal wave of change. The major difference now is that Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the capability to replace the roles of knowledge workers and highly qualified professionals – in addition to labor-intensive jobs.

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Gavin speaks to Deon on the importance of employees training and how can your business maximize the advantages that it offers.
Local companies are caught between a rock and hard place as many are not in a position to create new jobs, and haven’t closed the skills gap with the staff they already have.
Some of the talking points:
•The challenge of creating new jobs while there is still a skills gap in your workforce
•Benefits of aiding in creating employment such as tax rebates on learner-ship
•How do unskilled employees impact on profitability and productivity

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Background checks and screening, what can potential employers do and what is against the law
Summary: According to the CareerBuilder survey, most hiring managers are not specifically or actively looking for negative information on candidates, but rather a confirmation of qualifications, a positive professional image, with 21% looking for reasons TO HIRE THE CANDIDATE.
Reasons why candidates have not been hired:
•Provocative or inappropriate photographs, videos or information – 46 percent
•Information about candidate drinking or using drugs – 43 percent
•Discriminatory comments related to race, religion, gender, etc. – 33 percent
•Candidate bad-mouthed previous company or a fellow employee – 31 percent
•Poor communication skills – 29 percent
Guest Farhad Bhyat (farosian)
Farhad Bhyat is the CEO and co-founder of FAROSIAN, South Africa's pioneering social media assurance, and Risk Mitigation

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Its the first episode of HR Wired brought to you by Africa Business Radio in collaboration with HR Pulse.
We shine the spotlight on the most important aspect of business and that is the talent because a well-run hr department improves productivity and aids in maintaining the organizations brand image. It also plays a huge role in developing the organizations' strategy as well as how the employee-centered activities are handled.
On this episode, we started with HR Updates presented by Sibo Guru.
This week on Productivity vs profitability, we look The productivity puzzle; talking about what your business can do with an extra 31 hours of productive time each week? Less sweat, better outcomes, especially for small businesses.
On HR Chat, we spoke to Farhad about Background checks and screening, what can potential employers do and what is against the law
Summary: According to the CareerBuilder survey, most hiring managers are not specifically or actively looking for negative information on candidates, but rather a confirmation of qualifications, a positive professional image, with 21% looking for reasons TO HIRE THE CANDIDATE.
On policy and compliance, we spoke to Ivan Israelstam from Labour Law Management Consulting, they offer expert labor relations advice to organizations and individuals in the private. We spoke about Double Jeopardy, which occurs where an employee is punished twice for the same incident of misconduct or poor performance. Normally, such discipline would be found to be unfair. However, one view is that a second disciplinary process might be justified if the employer is able to present evidence.

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Human resources can no longer be regarded as a paper-pushing job, it is vital that the HR function is at the heart of your organizational structure, playing a part in all strategic, tactical and operational decisions. It is about making employers realize that the most valuable assets in their arsenal are employees. HR is about achieving organizational goals through people and creating incentives that align employee objectives with the organization’s mission statement.

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The key to success lies in nurturing today’s talent for tomorrow’s success and shaping the future together. Tune into HR W!red every Tuesday 10 am CAT on www.africabusinessradio.com for your weekly dose of HR insight, innovation, and debate. Africa Business Radio, Towards A Profitable Africa

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