“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” (John F. Kennedy) The world of work is changing, rapidly. With more teams made up of diverse people from a wide variety of locations, leadership these days has become less about personal relationships and more about managing across distance and effective organisation. Leaders in this world need skills they had never considered previously, and companies need to train them. Despite companies spending hundreds of billions of rands in leadership training globally, 63% of millennials feel their leadership were letting them down and only 27% of leaders believe they are equipped to lead hybrid teams. Here’s what you should be thinking about when implementing leadership development in your organisation. 1. Analysis and Assessment In order to build leadership capacity for the future, the first thing you should do is look at your organisation’s unique values, challenges, and priorities. Are you looking to increase profits, cut costs, improve employee retention or mitigate risks? Remember, your analysis needs to focus not only on what’s happening now, but on the coming changes in your industry and your goals for where you want to be in the future. Doing this will then allow you to take a closer look at the skills of your leaders as they currently stand and determine which leadership skills are most lacking. 2. Research The next step is choosing which leadership training organisations to partner with. There is currently no shortage of leadership development resources, speakers and organisations that offer training. The resources you work with should be vetted, relevant, and applicable to learning goals you established in the analysis phase. In order to ensure you are getting the best possible course you should evaluate the course material and format and research the course instructors. Who is offering this course? Do they have the requisite experience? When it comes to making a difference, instructors with a strong educational foundation and relevant qualifications will always trump the charismatic author with multiple tattoos and a matric. As your accountants, we are able to help you build a training budget, which can help prioritise training and ensure you get the most impact from your spend. 3. Involve your seniors You and your senior leaders understand leadership in the context of the company better than most and as such should play a mentorship role in the development of future leaders. Training engagement has been shown to increase dramatically for attendees when it is their leader who is among the teachers, so don’t be afraid to engage your team as an active part of the process. This will also help you too. By taking part you will also be aware of the course content and can more easily spot teachable moments during the day-to-day running of the company, reinforce the lessons in their mentorship sessions and better spot those who are implementing the lessons in their own personal development. 4. Inform your employees Building future leaders is about spotting talent, then using the training to position that…

“Fraud and deceit are anxious for your money. Be informed and prudent” (John Andreas Widtsoe, scientist, author and religious leader) While accountants have become adept at spotting and preventing financial fraud simply by analysing a company’s books, there is another kind of fraud that needs alert leadership, record keeping and careful analysis to completely snuff out. Time fraud sounds like a concept from a sci-fi movie, but in reality, it’s actually quite a simple concept. Like with those who commit regular fraud, a time fraudster is purposefully stealing from the company, but what they are stealing is a much less tangible asset – time. Time fraud is any kind of employee behaviour that knowingly steals time from a company. It could be as minor as taking an extra smoke break, or purposefully arriving late, but can also involve using extended company time for side projects, and even illegally clocking in for shifts that weren’t worked. The 10-10-80 rule of business fraud says that 10% of employees will never cheat a company, 80% will cheat a company under the right circumstances and 10% are always actively looking for ways to cheat the company. This means that if it is unchecked time fraud can become a companywide problem that chokes profitability, irritates customers and destroys team morale. Here are our tips for making sure it doesn’t destroy your company. Spotting time fraud Recognising the red flags Detecting time fraud is about watching patterns. An employee who comes in late occasionally is not a fraudster, one who comes in late every day just might be. Catching a time fraudster therefore requires you to pay close attention to the employee’s behaviour. Sometimes honest employees can be guilty of one or more of these things, dependent on their skill level or job requirements, but if they are adding up, you are likely looking at a thief. Is the employee regularly claiming they worked long hours, but getting very little done? Do they frequently miss deadlines? Are there inconsistencies in their time tracking or billable hours records? What are the employee’s colleagues saying about their efforts? The fraud triangle Fraud criminologist Donald R. Cressey has developed what he calls the Fraud triangle, a tool businesses can use to determine which employees are most likely to commit any kind of fraud, including time theft. As the name suggests, the fraud triangle asks managers to pay particular attention to employees who exhibit any of these three components: Motivation: People with motivation to commit time fraud are more likely to do it. Motivation covers a wide range of incentives from the receptionist with a new boyfriend she loves chatting to on the phone, to the ambitious go-getter who is trying to start their own side-hustle. Opportunity: Opportunity is much more common now when so many people work from home. Employees who would be able to indulge in time fraud without comment are much more likely to infringe. Rationalisation: Again, employees who are able to rationalise their time theft are much…

“The Compensation Fund is mandated to provide social security to the injured-on-duty employees and those who contracted diseases at the workplace.” (Compensation Fund Annual Report 2021/2022) By law, all employers are compelled to register for COIDA (Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act No. 130 of 1993) within 7 days of employing their first employee. COIDA provides for compensation for disablement caused by occupational injuries or diseases sustained or contracted by employees during the course of their employment, or for death resulting from such injuries or diseases, in which case the dependents can claim compensation. Without this ‘insurance’, employers are held liable for the costs of an injured employee’s medical treatment and are also open to civil claims in respect of medical costs and compensation for loss of earnings, permanent disablement, death and even pension payments. In addition, failure to comply with the provisions of COIDA constitutes a criminal offense. On the other hand, employers that meet the requirements and have paid the assessment fees can request a Letter of Good Standing (LOGS), a document often required when tendering for substantial projects or new business. To access this ‘insurance’ for their employees, employers are required to register and contribute a fee to the Compensation Fund (CF) each year. In doing so, employers must also submit a Return of Earnings (ROE) every year. The ROE is a declaration of employees’ earnings for the past year, made by the employer to the Compensation Fund, and the ROE for the 2023 assessment period is now due at the end of June for all employers. What must be done Register with the Compensation Fund, if not yet registered. The 12-digit CF registration number starting with 99 is required for submissions and payments. Prepare the required information to be submitted for the 2023 assessment period, which extended from 1 March 2023 to 29 February 2024. Earnings to be included in the declaration are regular overtime, regular bonusses (e.g. annual bonusses), cash value of fringe benefits and earnings or drawings paid to working company directors or members of close corporations. For each month, actual earnings for the period, and head count including directors and members. Projected earnings and head count for the year ahead. Submit the Return of Earnings (ROE), also known as the 2A Form (W.As.8), as well as the list of required supporting documents, within the deadline. Make sure the correct nature of business or assessment tariff subclass is used. There are more than a hundred subclasses, each with its own assessment tariff based on the risks associated with the type of work. The annual assessment fee is calculated with the relevant assessment tariff and on workers’ earnings. (Formula Assessment Fee = total workers’ pay ÷ 100 x assessment tariff) In addition, if an employer’s accident costs are higher than others in the same subclass, the assessment tariff may be increased. If costs are lower, the rate may be reduced. Ensure a Notice of Assessment/Invoice (W.As.6) is received, showing the amount owing to the…