15 Feb 2018

 Poor work ethics has been identified as a leading factor in the lack of productivity.

This came to light during a Botswana National Productivity Centre (BNPC) seminar in Francistown on Wednesday. 

One of the panelists, Mr Letsogile Batsetswe, a research consultant at BNPC, said poor work ethics in both the public and private sector was considered the most problematic factor for doing business in Botswana.

He added that inadequate infrastructure, limited access to financing, corruption, inadequately educated workforce as well as restrictive labour regulations were rated as the most problematic across the country. 

The regional manager of BNPC, Mr Tshenolo Mapitse added that year after year poor work ethics were always on the lead. He said government has invested a lot of money into fighting poor work ethics, but that efforts continue to prove futile. 

Mr Batsetswe said a collaborative effort among the public sector, private sector and labour unions was key in achieving productivity. He further stated that communication and competency were crucial to achieve the desired goals.

Touching on issues arising from business sophistication, Mr Batsetswe said high dependency on government support, lack of standardised processes, poor quality of goods and services, an education system that was not aligned to industry needs and lack of programmes that effectively trained and supported youth entrepreneurs were a challenge. 

Francistown youth coordinator, Ms Minkie Bokole said the mindset of Batswana needed to be changed in order to improve productivity.

She added that there was too much dependency on the government to the extent that Batswana treated some privileges as rights which was wrong.  

For her part, the branch manager for Bona Life Insurance Francistown, Ms Angela Contractor suggested that productivity should be incorporated  into the curriculum in order to teach students what productivity was and its importance in the development of the country.

She added that it would ensure that they were more productive when they joined the working class.  She further advised that BNPC should be more aggressive and infiltrate both the public and private sector to teach productivity and good work ethics. 

Ms Amogelang Mokopane, an administration officer at Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund, said the community groomed children to get an education in order to secure a job instead of teaching them to be business savvy at a tender age.

She added that most local business people turned to business after they failed to find a job.

Presenting on the role of BNPC in improving productivity, Mr Mapitse stated that the organisation intended to stimulate and generate productivity consciousness in Botswana.

He said it would increase productivity in all sectors of the economy and improve and develop standards of business management in all aspects.

He further mentioned that BNPC was focused on developing solutions unique to productivity challenges, and ensure access to BNPC products and services and to intensify education on the BNPC’s mandate and services. ENDs