Surprisingly these aren’t always at the same places

10 June 2010 – The second JobCrystal Happiness Indicator takes a look at which South African companies have the happiest staff and are the best places to work. The Auditor General has the happiest employees, with Shell Oil, CSIR, Softline Pastel and Anglo Platinum also performing well. KPMG is rated as the best place to work in South Africa with Sanlam, Momentum, Pick n Pay and PricewaterhouseCoopers also getting the thumbs up from employees (see charts below).

The low correlation between companies where employees are the happiest and those rated the best place to work demonstrates an important take away for companies. Even if employees buy into the company culture, vision and environment and so rate the company as a good place to work, they also need to have their individual goals and requirements met in order to be happy. (See data tables below). It’s worth remembering that all these companies mentioned have a significant number of active and passive jobseekers, which have signed up on JobCrystal, www.jobcrystal.co.za, amongst their employees.

The JobCrystal Happiness Indicator data is compiled from the 100,000-strong JobCrystal database of jobseekers. Employees are asked how happy they are in their current position (miserable, frustrated, comfortable, happy) and also how they rate their employer (the best, excellent, fair, poor, awful) when they register on JobCrystal.

The first JobCrystal Happiness Indicator, released in April 2010, (http://www.jobcrystal.co.za/blog/post/JobCrystal/2010/04/Press_02/) showed that fewer than half of South African employees are currently happy in their role. This latest data shows that employees experience a huge difference in the impact of the general company environment as opposed to the achievement of individual career ambitions on their happiness levels.

“It is clear that the companies that focus on gaining staff buy-in for company-wide goals and objectives, at the expense of meeting employees’ individual career goals, are going to find it difficult to hold on to top talent,” said Kevin Laithwaite, JobCrystal Managing Director. “The two go hand-in-hand in terms of attracting and keeping star performers.”

JobCrystal compiles the Happiness Indicator from the data it collects when candidates enter their details on the talent management portal. One of the ways in which JobCrystal improves the recruitment process and the hiring success rate for companies is by using this and other data to make the best matches between candidates and vacancies.

JobCrystal focusses on candidates looking to earn R150,000 per year and more. It charges a flat fee per successful placement, with no upfront charges. Companies including Allan Gray, Santam, Standard Bank and Foschini are using JobCrystal to source candidates.

- ENDS –

Notes to editors:

• Company details are only displayed if there is a statistically significant data sample size.

About JobCrystal

JobCrystal turns traditional hiring on its head by placing employers directly in touch with a pool of 100,000 passive jobseekers. The online service is highly automated and cleverly matches candidates with employers, making the interactive talent management portal faster, cheaper and more effective than any other way of recruiting. Founded by Kevin Laithwaite and Karl Westvig and launched in August 2009, JobCrystal is being used by companies including Allan Gray, Santam, Foschini, Mr Price, Ovations Group and Standard Bank to source candidates.

For more information please visit: www.jobcrystal.co.za (for jobseekers) or www.jobcrystal.co.za/talent (for employers)

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South Africa’s most exciting marketing opportunity to showcase itself to the rest of the globe is here, in the shape of the 2010 World Cup. Visitors are going to experience the country’s natural beauty, football stadiums and world-class cities. And central to the urban experience is going to be tourists’ and locals’ enjoyment of commercial public spaces.

Steve Rennie, managing director at Rennie Property, which manages a R6 billion-portfolio of properties including Melrose Arch, looks at the primary property-related logistics that go into making multi-use public spaces a success during events such as the World Cup. With an estimated 373,000 foreign visitors arriving for the tournament, according to estimates released by Grant Thornton in April 2010, it is paramount that both locals and tourists have a pleasurable experience so that they return, and tell their friends to visit.

The focus for any owner or manager of a public space such as a shopping mall or tourist attraction is on security, ease of access, and showcasing the venue to its full potential and for the maximum enjoyment of visitors.

The biggest challenge for property managers is to maintain the same, or indeed better, standards of service during an event such as the World Cup. It is vital that both tenants and suppliers are kept informed, trained, and motivated to achieve this goal.

Property managers should have been working very hard on setting up the following:

1. Security:

Revised emergency procedures need to take into account additional visitors. Will there be enough hands on deck, and are the staff trained for circumstances they might not encounter in their everyday schedule, such as crowd control, social problems and the arrival of high profile visitors. Cashing up procedures specifically should be revisited, and supplies such as first aid kits should be checked and additional stock brought in.

2. Transport:

Drop-off and parking zones need to be planned, especially if a fan ride service is going to be picking up and dropping off fans attending the games. Road closures need to be taken into account, and ample access and parking for taxis and coaches needs to be provided. Signage and directions should be easily visible and very clear.

3. Supplier management and communication:

Making sure all third party suppliers, eg cleaners, are prepared for additional visitors, and know what additional events are being planned.

4. Tenant co-ordination and security:

Tenants need to be up to speed on emergency plans, security requirements and other planning. Any extraordinary marketing activities should be clearly communicated as well so that tenants can maximize these opportunities. Also, in multi-use facilities there are a range of tenants with conflicting requirements, eg the shops and restaurants love the additional foot traffic while offices and residents want to know that it will be business as usual.

5. Managing one-off property alterations:

Many public spaces are seeing the very quick construction of facilities that will only be used for the World Cup, and then dismantled immediately. Timing is tight in order to minimize disruption to every day business, but the structures need to be safe, well-constructed and stylish … and then quickly dismantled and removed.

Any property manager worth their salt would have done their preparation and have these plans in place to ensure a safe, enjoyable and profitable World Cup for their tenants and landlords, as well as laying the groundwork to benefit from this opportunity for years to come.

About Rennie Property

Rennie Property, South Africa’s top-performing specialist commercial property management company, offers property management, broking and consulting services. It was established in 1997, and for the past 13 years has looked after some of South Africa’s most prestigious buildings including Melrose Arch in Johannesburg, and the ABSA Centre in Cape Town. Its present portfolio of properties under management is valued at more than R6 billion.

For more information please visit: www.rennieproperty.co.za

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