HOW TO KEEP YOUR FUEL COSTS DOWN

Innovative Staffing Solutions

HOW TO KEEP YOUR FUEL COSTS DOWN

The recent fuel hike, which reached an all-time high in June, will have a significant impact on transport companies and their customers. With the fuel price expected to increase yet again this month, the pressure is on to find ways to save fuel and reduce costs.

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Innovative Staffing Solutions managing director, Arnoux Maré, says the fuel hike is particularly challenging for small and medium-sized transport companies. “They have to make administrative or operational changes every time there is a significant hike in the fuel price. For businesses operating on tight budgets – as so many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) do – this can be particularly challenging.”

Maré says the impact of driving habits on fuel consumption is often underestimated, but a few adjustments to driving behaviour can go a long way towards saving costs at the fuel pump. “By ensuring their drivers adopt smart driving habits, transport companies can decrease their fuel usage significantly.”

Innovative Staffing Solutions employs more than 5,500 drivers and outsources them to clients in the transport and other industries. After years of managing, training and supporting its drivers, the company has identified various habits that can help save fuel.

Regular vehicle check-ups

Vehicles need to be checked on a regular basis as many factors can lead to increased fuel consumption.

Maré says at Innovative Staffing Solutions, drivers are required to conduct pre-route checks of tyres, brakes, leaks and lights, amongst others. “This is in addition to the truck having been through the truck depot for fuel top-ups, tyre checks, mechanical checks and washing. I cannot stress this enough. Checking and re-checking is vital. Not only does it lead to fuel savings, it ensures greater safety on the country’s roads.”

Steady does it

Adhering to steady speeds and consistent driving behaviour on South African roads is crucial. “Constant accelerating and braking results in high fuel consumption, as does consistently driving at high speeds. While there are obviously times when these actions are necessary, evenly maintained speeds are the hallmark of an excellent driver and lower fuel consumption,” notes Maré.

Tyre savvy

Keeping tyres inflated at the correct pressure results in less resistance on the roads and less fuel usage. “Keeping wheels aligned and tyres at the right pressure not only reduces fuel consumption, it also reduces wear and tear on tyres. A good rule of thumb for transport companies is to check tyres and wheel alignment frequently or after incidents such as hitting a pothole or curb,” adds Maré.

Gearing up to save fuel

Driving in higher gears, where applicable, also reduces fuel consumption. This should not be done at the cost of placing lives in danger, straining the engine or allowing the revs to drop too much.

Aircon circumspection

To use – or not to use – the fuel-guzzling aircon? This is a tricky one. Truck drivers on South African roads often have to travel in the heat of the day, which can lead to drowsiness.

Maré says drivers need to be cognisant of changes in temperature and make sure they switch their aircons off when they don’t need them. “Also, when they’re travelling at slower speeds, they can also open a window instead of using the aircon.”

The road less travelled

Most transport companies pre-plan their routes. Sometimes, however, avoiding main highways during highly congested periods – or when an accident has caused a major bottleneck – can lead to significant fuel savings, even if the trip is slightly longer. These days, technology in the form of convenient traffic apps, allow drivers to check for alternative routes when roads are chocked up.

SOUTH AFRICA SHOULD AMEND RESTRICTIVE LABOUR LAWS IF IT IS SERIOUS ABOUT CURBING UNEMPLOYMENT

SOUTH AFRICA SHOULD AMEND R

Innovative Staffing Solutions

ESTRICTIVE LABOUR LAWS IF IT IS SERIOUS ABOUT CURBING UNEMPLOYMENT

South Africa must create jobs for the many unskilled workers in the country and not the skilled workforce it wishes it had, says Arnoux Maré, Managing Director of Innovative Staffing Solutions.

“It is shocking that only 43% of adult South Africans can be considered as the ‘official working force’. In the majority of other countries this figure is about 60%. Amongst the many factors contributing to our high unemployment rate are policy makers who are driven by a set of ideas about employment and the labour market that are unsuited to the current challenges we face as South Africans,” adds Maré.

Maré argues the insistent push for a “relatively high minimum wage, and considerable legal protection from dismissal” is at the core of creating South Africa’s employment woes.

“Effectively, government policy argues that no wage is better than a low wage. South Africa’s labour market policy has prevented the creation of the kinds of jobs that are the first point of entry for unskilled workers into modernising economies, whether in Europe, the United States or the industrialising countries of Asia,” explains Maré.

Experts have projected that unemployment will continue to worsen until 2020 due to the failure of economic growth to keep up with population growth.

“There are 37.8-million working-age adults in South Africa today. Of these, 11.9-million people (mostly students and school pupils) are not economically active. Of the remaining 25.9-million, 9.6-million (37%) cannot find work. That’s almost two adults in every five. It has become very obvious that unless government relaxes labour relations laws to better support businesses, we will continue to face high levels of unemployment,” adds Maré.

“The most recent Global Competitiveness Report shows that the country’s labour market is hobbled by inefficient hiring and firing practices, little cooperation between employers and employees, as well as a poor relationship between pay and productivity. This often tempts employers to replace labour (particularly those less skilled and experienced) with capital and discourages them from hiring new workers, especially the youth, who are always the most vulnerable,” notes Maré.

“We all need to recognise that commercially viable companies are by far the most effective, sustainable and economically efficient job creators, and we should do everything in our power to help remove constraints on companies. The most critical of these are the rules that raise the costs of employment and those that make employers reluctant to employ more unskilled and inexperienced young people,” Maré notes.

He doubts that entrepreneurship will work either, unless supported by solid initiatives.  “Creating an environment in which companies are able and encouraged to create large numbers of low-skill jobs is the single most important step South Africa could take to make its growth path more inclusive. Unless core policies are revisited soon, yet another generation will grow up in a world of mass unemployment and hopelessness,” concludes Maré.

Innovative Staffing Solutions to continue distributing essentials during lockdown

Innovative Staffing Solutions

Innovative Staffing Solutions to continue distributing essentials during lockdown

Innovative Staffing Solutions has been exempted from the national lockdown declared by South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday.

“We take our exemption very seriously as we know that millions depend on the products which we will be transporting across the country,” explains Arnoux Maré, CEO of Innovative Staffing Solutions.

The 21-days lockdown which is scheduled to commence on March 26, at midnight, is the latest move by the country’s government to fight the spread of COVID-19 in South Africa. This comes after the government held consultations with the private sector to determine which industries were required to remain open to sustain the country’s economy.

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Innovative Staffing Solutions falls under “companies that are essential to the production and transportation of food, basic goods and medical supplies,” as stipulated by the government.

The company employs over 6,800 truck drivers, who are responsible for freighting essentials such as food, fuel and coal across South Africa’s vast highways and cities.

Other categories/industries that are exempt include:

• Health workers
• Emergency personnel
• Security services
• Essential banking services
• Power
• Laboratory services
• Hygiene services
• People will not be allowed to move unless buying food and medical supplies.
• The JSE and private security cluster.

Maré says that while securing the steady supply of the country’s food and fuel are paramount, ensuring the safety and well-being of their drivers, is equally important.https://innovativestaff.net/innovative-staffing-solutions-continue-distributing-essentials-lockdown/

He says Innovative Staffing Solutions will be providing all their drivers and depot staff with protective equipment, including masks and gloves.

“We will also provide sanitisers to disinfect the trucks, workstations, drivers’ hands and anything they may come into contact with. Furthermore, Innovative Staffing Solutions will also keep to the highest standard of quality control, to ensure none of the items that our drivers deliver across the country come into contact with any contamination,” concludes Maré.https://innovativestaff.net/innovative-staffing-solutions-continue-distributing-essentials-lockdown/

HOW TO SHELTER BUSINESS DURING ECONOMIC DOWNTURN

Innovative Staffing Solutions

HOW TO SHELTER BUSINESS DURING ECONOMIC DOWNTURN

By Arnoux Maré, MD of Innovative Staffing Solutions

It has been more than a week since a large majority of businesses have been allowed to operate again as the country reached level three of the national lockdown. While it may still be too early to expect businesses to get back to their pre-COVID-19 lives, a large number of companies will continue to recoil from the impact of the national lockdown.

A survey from the National Employers Association of South Africa (NEASA) stated that 78% of responding enterprises indicated that they do not have sufficient cash flow to see them through the lockdown period, this despite the multitude of funds made available to assist businesses during the pandemic.

And the World Bank in its Global Economic Prospects report is forecasting the global economy will decline by 5.2%, while South Africa’s GDP will plunge 7.1%.

Rather than focus on recreating the same company that went into lockdown, those entrepreneurs who were able to reopen their doors must put their energies towards creating an organisation adept at using the economic downturn to its advantage, this is where outsourcing can prove useful.

Disruptive outsourcing solutions are challenging traditional methods and driving competitive advantage. Outsourcing allows businesses to focus on their core functions and not be bogged down by employee management.  Outsourcing can drive innovation, enhance customer satisfaction, improve a company’s performance and ensure they are always on the right side of the law.

According to a Deloitte study, outsourcing is enabling competitive advantage amongst companies because of its ability to transform the way organisations operate making them more agile, efficient, and effective.  Of the companies surveyed for the study, approximately 84% of them have either initiated discussions, conducted pilots, or have implemented at least some disruptive outsourcing solutions.

Innovative Staffing Solutions employs over 19,000 permanent employees through outsourcing. While most companies were offering their employees severance packages during the lockdown, Innovative Staffing Solutions grew its permanent staff complement by 500 employees. This is where the future of outsourcing is heading.

One of the keys to surviving any business hurdles involves becoming mobile.  Businesses that were mobile before the outbreak of COVID-19, were able to continue operating even though some of them were not deemed as essential services. Outsourcing offers businesses the flexibility of being able to react quickly as their only focus is on the company’s core functions and not the management of human capital which can often become cumbersome.

Companies and their leaders need to financially plan better if they are to survive the next economic disruptive wave. They need to have contingency plans in place that will see them through for about six to 12 months downtime. They need to embrace digitisation and outsourcing. Companies can grow much faster and recover a lot quicker from setbacks when they are fluid in their operations and open to leveraging the current downturn to push beyond the effects of COVID-19.

DRUG TESTING AT ISS IS NON-NEGOTIABLE

Innovative Staffing Solutions

DRUG TESTING AT ISS IS NON-NEGOTIABLE

COVID-19 cannot be an excuse for relaxing drug testing requirements. To keep their drivers and other motorists safe, Innovative Staffing Solutions (ISS) says it will continue to uphold its rigorous drug testing methods.

 

“Despite COVID-19, Innovative Staffing Solutions, one of the largest full-time employers of truck drivers in South Africa, will continue drug-testing our drivers to make sure none of them gets behind the wheel if they have consumed any illegal or banned substances. We have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to the consumption of alcohol or illicit substances which influence any drivers’ performance. We even extended our policy to include prescription drugs that may lead to drowsiness or hindered performance. Due to the nature of their work, our drivers must maintain sobriety at all times,” says Arnoux Maré, Managing Director of Innovative Staffing Solutions.

 

Maré’s statement comes on the back of a decision made by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) which issued a waiver to relax drug testing requirements for some truck drivers for the next couple of months during the COVID-19 crisis.

 

“Using the same safety protocols when screening for COVID-19, we ensure the drug and alcohol testing is conducted confidentially and safely and does not place any member of Innovative Staffing Solutions (ISS) in danger of contracting or passing on the virus,” Maré explains.

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A recently published report from the South Africa Medical Council said trauma cases at the Gauteng’s Baragwanath Hospital doubled within 24 hours after the lifting of the ban on the sale of alcohol.

 

“There has also been an increase in motor vehicle accidents due to alcohol consumption. We cannot have our drivers contributing to an already volatile situation by letting them drive under the influence or while intoxicated,” Maré continues.

 

In 2018, Innovative Staffing Solutions dismissed 300 drivers after they tested positive for marijuana use. This followed the legalisation of cannabis consumption in South Africa for private use.

 

“A trucker driving under the influence of cannabis can be likened to a non-coherent person barreling a 60-tonne missile down the road at 100km per hour. If the driver loses control of the vehicle, innocent people could lose their lives and infrastructure could be seriously damaged,” explains Maré.

 https://innovativestaff.net/drug-testing-iss-non-negotiable-even-covid-19/

Maré says all drivers at Innovative Staffing Solutions sign a contract that specifies the terms of their employment. The contract states that the employee undertakes and understands that they are not allowed to work or be on either the employer’s, a client’s or any premises where work duties are performed, while under the influence of alcohol and/or intoxicating drugs.

 

Innovative Staffing Solutions is an essential-services provider which employs over 19,500 permanent employees, with 11,000 truck drivers contributing to that total.

 

To equip CODE 14 truck drivers with the best driving skills, Innovative Staffing Solutions’ sister company Innovative Learning Solutions provides a basic to advance training programme, where drivers are taught on safety and the appropriate maintenance of a truck.

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“Innovative Staffing Solutions cannot take the risk of incurring damage to people or personal and public property. Our drivers are expected to act responsibly, safely and professional at all times. After all, they are responsible for ensuring valuable vehicles and their cargo get from one destination to the next safely. We need to be more responsible in the transport industry and one of the methods we can use to minimise accidents on the roads, is through effective drug and alcohol testing of every truck driver,” concludes Maré.

Insights on business continuity plans to secure the future of SMMEs

Managing and growing a business is no easy feat, this task becomes even more difficult when you factor in recessions, economic downgrades, and pandemics. But the hurdles entrepreneurs and their businesses are currently facing can also be an opportunity to pivot their companies and brands. Arnoux Maré, business mentor to SMMEs and Managing Director of Innovative Solutions Group, a billion Rand+ organisation that employs over 19,500 full-time employees, shares how businesses can create better continuity plans to not only mitigate the current economic crisis but also ensure the survival of the next disruption.

 

 Planning

Any business that wishes to make it to the next financial year needs to have a strategic COVID plan that includes a new operating model that will determine the organisation’s future. The way business has always been done, has become redundant. Consumers act differently, they think differently, they respond differently to marketing or product offers, they make purchasing decisions differently, and they behave differently.

A well-thought-out plan should, therefore, take this into consideration when setting new goals and objectives, desired outcomes, metrics for measuring your progress, timelines, and budgets. This process can be divided into basic planning; information gathering; decision making; writing; review; and approval.

But planning for the future cannot happen in a vacuum. This blueprint must be accompanied by a situational analysis or audit to determine how your business is currently affected by the challenges, specifically Covid-19 related difficulties. This in-depth process needs to looks at the organisation’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and (competitive) Threats (SWOT) and the Political, Economic, Social, Technical, Legal and Environmental (PESTLE) factors currently affecting the business.

While strategic planning can assist a business with its vision and defining its overall goals, the planning tool will not resolve systemic issues such as poor leadership and poor financial management.

 

Finances

One of the quickest financial wins that businesses can capitalise on during an economic crisis, is to cut out unnecessary expenditures. This would have been recognised during the situational analysis.

Rather than solely focusing on plugging the seeping holes, businesses must try to create other avenues that generate revenue using the resources currently available to the business. One way of doing this is to test new revenue and pricing models with their “super-consumers”, those customers who spend significantly higher than the rest and are emotional about their purchases. This may require alternative revenue/pricing strategies, like gift cards and subscriptions, as opposed to traditional transaction-based models.

 

Digital

The digitisation of a company’s offering cannot be overstated. As seen with the current landscape, businesses that already made the digital migration before the outbreak or had digital contingency plans in their Business Continuity Plans (BCP) fared slightly better than those operating from an analogue system.

While not every component of a business can be digitised, entrepreneurs must not wait for the next disruption before going digital. Their current and future BCP’s must include a digital component if they wish to continue functioning beyond the crisis.  This also includes looking beyond the current offerings of business and interrogating what new digital supplementary avenues the organisation can add to its services/products.

 

Innovation

Another way to increase gains is to accelerate innovation. Rather than waiting, companies that have near-ready products should move to launch them as soon as possible, whatever bugs there are, can be ironed out using field data gathered from customers.

Entrepreneurs often shy away from change and rely on the already established methods to achieve their goals, but during a crisis what is required is the ability to recognise what your customers need an immediate move to provide them with it.

This immediacy also includes moving launch dates closer than the anticipated date to benefit from a captive audience eager for distractions.

 

Outsourcing

The lighter or more agile you are as an organisation, the easier it is to pivot or circumnavigate hurdles. The presence and management of human capital, while vital for business, requires a dedicated team of experts such as the Human Resource department, but for a lot of SMMEs, this role often falls on the Managing Director or CEO, the same 

Innovative Staffing Solutions

individual responsible for strategising the future of the company.

Outsourcing the elements of the business that are not involved in the core functions of an organisation to a third-party service provider can free up much-needed resources and afford organisations access to support teams it otherwise may not have.

“No one can predict the future with 100% accuracy and any Business Continuity Plans may only cover partial elements of any eventuality, but not having any plan in place or failing to learn from the current and past crisis is an infallible path to failure.  Companies looking to grow from the economic crisis they find themselves in need to go on the offensive and find new ways of pushing forward.

 https://innovativestaff.net/insights-business-continuity-plans-secure-future-smmes/

Because it is during dark times that legendary companies and leaders are forged.

Maré is available to mentor SMMEs during these difficult periods to not only help them to save and sustain their businesses, but also to positively contribute towards the economy of South Afric

https://innovativestaff.net/insights-business-continuity-plans-secure-future-smmes/

Outsourcing can unleash marketplace presence for struggling SMMEs

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As more companies battle to stay afloat during the lingering pandemic and global economic meltdown, Arnoux Maré, Managing Director of Innovative Staffing Solutions says organisations that wish to survive this grilling period have to examine their core mandates, identify tasks that fall outside of it, and look to outsource to third parties.

 

“Companies are already dealing with limited resources in a competitive environment, with hiring, managing and training non-core employees detracting from maximising the core competencies of these businesses. Businesses should not be weighed down by the management of functions that have nothing do with their business, but rather consider outsourcing those elements to a third party allowing an organisation to use its resources more effectively to grow,” says Maré.

 

According to a Deloitte study, outsourcing can unleash marketplace speed by leveraging strategic relationships. Organisations are more effectively able to collaborate quickly to develop new capabilities, integrate them to create value, and drive that value into the business.

 Innovative Staffing Solutions

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“Outsourcing allows companies to become more flexible and to cut operational costs, improving a company’s bottom line. Innovative Staffing Solutions achieves this by assuming responsibility and accountability for other businesses’ staff, ensuring they are trained, proficient and suited to the specific business’ needs.  This assists the client to modify their operational and management structures and adapt for the subsequent future business growth,” explains Maré.

 

With the National Income Dynamics Study-Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (Nids-Cram) reporting that 3 million South Africans have lost their jobs due to the lockdown and our Finance Minister, Tito Mbobweni forecasting the decrease of the country’s economy by 7.2%, Maré says outsourcing should be considered for its ability to create jobs and offer stability to employees who may be faced with uncertainty.

 

“When Innovative Staffing Solutions takes over your staff, for example, we offer those employees the benefits that they may not have enjoyed under their former employment contracts such as medical aid and provident fund.  With over 19,500 permanent employees under our wing, we understand the power outsourcing has for both businesses and employment creation,” says Maré.

 Innovative Staffing Solutions

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Outsourcing as a concept is aimed at saving parties involved time and money but choosing the wrong outsourcing entity can be disastrous for an organisation. While Maré encourages outsourcing, he also warns against simply thrusting staff over to any company without performing due diligence.

 

“Like any business deal, as the business leader, the onus lies with you to ensure that whoever you choose to deal with can do what they are promising to do. Companies do not want to find themselves in a worse off situation than the one they started with”.

 

“Businesses owe it to themselves and their staff to investigate all possible avenues to ensure they not only survive the current economic downturn, but also grow their organisations. Outsourcing has proven to be one such an avenue worth exploring,” concludes Maré.

Innovative Staffing Solutions

Innovative Staffing Solutions

Innovative Staffing Solutions

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