Bridget Mokwena-Halala, Assupol Group Chief Executive Officer
One of the greatest challenges for a country, or any organisation, is to regain impetus lost after a major disruption. Covid-19 changed the world as we knew it, and many businesses were fortunate just to survive never mind thrive, during this period.
As companies take stock of what they have overcome, they must acknowledge their strengths and qualities, because they will rely on those same attributes to move the company forward.
Reliance on business
Businesses need to stress-test their strategies periodically to ensure that they remain relevant for the environment they operate within. While business leaders are expecting more from their digital transformation initiatives to improve their competitiveness, a workforce that is resilient in an everchanging marketplace is the benefit they need most.
Digital transformation in businesses is a constant work in progress and is key to simplifying processes and offering easier ways to interact with clients. But there needs to be a balance to prevent digital transformation at the expense of client relationships and partnership opportunities for growth. As a company that is in the business of proactively planning for life’s eventualities, our reputation weighs heavily on our ability to honour the promises we make to our clients. The use of digital platforms that we employ can never be at the expense of human interaction with our clients.
Partnerships for growth
Businesses must identify and nurture partnerships that could improve their capacity to reach their strategic objectives.
For Assupol, an example of which is the successful pilot of Assupol’s partnership with Ackermans in 25 stores. Assupol’s presence was expanded into 47 Ackermans stores, allowing us to provide even better service to the market, creating opportunities for economic growth and expanding our accessibility to our clients.
Businesses should prioritise serving their communities
It is important for business leaders to introspect on whether the transformation initiatives they implement have a tangible and positive impact on our society. The pandemic threw into sharp focus the need to support underprivileged communities and the need to assess the long-term effectiveness of community investment initiatives. The initiatives we support to combat unemployment must be credible and where possible, create a pipeline of prospective talent for the industry we operate in.
Besides skills development, Assupol continues to invest in government’s Sanitation Appropriate for Education (Safe) initiative where our role as a financial partner has enabled 68 schools in rural areas across Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape to receive safe ablution facilities. We invest in early childhood development (ECD) through the Assupol Community Trust. This past year, we helped 2,655 children gain access to crucial ECD services. Through one of the partners of the Assupol Community Trust, we also trained 154 ECD practitioners to earn ECD level 4 NQF qualifications which equipped them with the knowledge and skills required to carry out effective ECD in the centres they work in or own.
In conclusion, to rebuild South Africa, businesses must have a deliberate approach in contributing towards resolving some of the challenges our country is faced with. We need to be fair in how we treat our clients who are already under immense financial constraints, and we need to ensure that the investments we make in technology and our communities create tangible opportunities to increase economic activity in the country for the benefit of us all.