Thursday, September 16, 2021How companies around the worldare shifting the way they work• Continued from Page 9working.“Our employees know what’sbest for themselves,” says van dertang. “If they need to collaboratewith colleagues, it’s probably bestto meet up in the office, but ifthey need some quiet time tobuckle down on an urgent taskwith a deadline, perhaps workingfrom home is best. the choice istheirs to make. the expectationsare quite simply to get the jobdone.”although the company hadalways had offices around theglobe, employees can now liveabroad for up to three months ayear. “We’ve learned that our worklocation is less important than wethought it was,” says van der tang.“so, we’re preparing for a post-Covid world where we cancombine the best of both worlds –a world where choice andflexibility are key.”Paddle: ‘Digitalfirst’strategyafter a more than a year ofremote work, Paddle, a Britishsoftware start-up, has decided togo hybrid with its work structure.It recently rethought thetraditional office setup with itsnew office in London: the newdigs cater specifically for hybridworking. amenities includemoveable furniture, breakoutspaces, a recording studio andZoom integration with camerasand microphones for connectingwith employees abroad.For Chief People Officer davidBarker, this embrace of flexibleworking is something he neversaw coming. “at the start of theyear, we thought about recallingeveryone to the office on apermanent basis. However, sinceMarch, we’ve been askingourselves, ‘Why is it so importantto have everyone in the office?’”When the company askedstaff for input, it found that there“was a great desire for flexibility”.“Looking back on the remoteworking of the past year and ahalf, we could see that the flexiblemodel enhanced and evenaccelerated our business, so wemoved away from an office-basedor hybrid approach, and replacedit with our ‘digital first’ strategy,”he says.some companies are focusingmore on adopting the new toolsworkers need, enabling them todo their best work both at homeand in the office (Credit: GettyImages)that means that whetherthey’re in the office or not, teammembers should have the toolsthey need to collaborateseamlessly in-person, via video orasynchronously, he says. “theycan choose to work in the waythat is best for them; whetherthat’s coming into the office,working from home or somecombination of the two.”‘digital first’ has meantinvesting in tools designed tofoster innovation, even if thetraditional view is that creativebehaviours suffer with remotework. “We’ve used Miro, forexample – a virtual whiteboardsolution – to brainstorm ideas andcapture thoughts and feedback,”says Bianca dragan, a brand andevent manager at the company.there’s still room for playfulness,too: “to maintain our companyculture, we've also had to becomevery creative over slack – we'vehad Paddlers create custom musicvideos and we've paid to haveCameos [personalized videosmade by celebrities] done for us tocelebrate big milestones.”Barker viewed the increase inproductivity during the pandemicas a potential sign that home andwork boundaries were getting alittle too blurry, so the companyhas both in-house and outsourcedmental-health services availablefor employees. It also hasmeeting-free days and a quirkypolicy in which 30-minutemeetings now end after 25, givingemployees five minutes to take abreath between tasks.“embracing the way ofworking we’ve all been forced intoover the past 18 months hasforced us to re-evaluate what itmeans to work,” says Barker. “It’sbeen a journey and mindsetchange, even with our leadershipteam, but hugely positive for ourbusiness. We’ve honed a greatmedium where we feel that wecan support our people whereverthey are, fit around their lives andstill achieve our results.”Constantly evolvingWhile not every business willbe making sweeping changes tothe ways employees work,companies will be looking to eachother for inspiration as well astrialling new models andpractices to see what’s working.However, it’s clear that thosewho are making changes can seeproductivity and employeewellbeingbenefits that willendure far beyond this initialpost-pandemic back-to-workphase. “the repercussions of thepandemic have shocked the worldinto a more equitable andbalanced workplace that is a farbetter fit for the future of theworkplace,” says Codility CeONatalia Panowicz. “simply put, forwork to be at its best, it needs tofit into life.”South African retailers retreatfrom East and West Africa• Continued from Page 4analysts believe the company hastried to replicate its success in southafrica rather than reshape itsbusiness model to suit localconditions.One observer, on a Kenyan socialmedia thread on Game’s sale in thecountry, wrote, “In the lakeside city ofKisumu, Game is next to localsupermarket brand Naivas. at anygiven time, Naivas is crowded whileGame sits forlornly. there’ssomething about product mix,strategy and marketing that Gamesimply didn’t get right.”there is no doubt that retailing inregions far from home is complexand expensive. Ports are ofteninefficient, infrastructure deficitsmake logistics challenging, supplychains are long and vulnerable todisruption, and over-zealousbureaucracy and regulationcompound the problems. a keychallenge has been currency issues:both devaluation and volatility. thishas at times turned profits in hostcountries into rand losses back home.Undoubtedly the extent ofdisruption caused by the Covid-19pandemic has forced a rethink ofcross-border expansion and where tofocus efforts. there are also shifts athome where Massmart’s foodbusiness has been struggling, alsocontributing to losses at Game stores.to stem losses, Massmart hasannounced the sale of its food brands,including Cambridge Food and 12Cash and Carry stores, to the shopriteGroup, which is investing in thesouth african market as it paresdown its african operations.Game has not only battled on thecontinent; the chain has also, alongwith Cambridge Foods, been a drag ongroup performance in recent years athome. In the first half of 2021, its salesdropped 7.6% compared to alreadypoor performance in 2020. Massmartis focusing on the stores that areworking well, including Makro andBuilders. Its Builders store in Kenyadoes not form part of the disposal.strategy has become more risk averseas new corporate leaders across manysectors navigate uncertain waters. Forthe retailers, this means markets farfrom home just don’t seem to beworth the effort right now without aclear contribution to the bottom line.Source: howwemadeitinafricaGIADEC, Rocksure partner onNyinahin-Mpasaaso bauxite mine• Continued from Page 3the second phase will see the developmentof a mine and a refinery solution atNyinahin-Mpasaaso in the atwimaaMponua district in the ashanti region.the third phase will also see the developmentof a mine in Kyebi in the eastakim Municipal district of the eastern regionand a second mine at Nyinahin-Mpasaaso.a refinery will also be built in theatwimaa Mponua district in the ashantiregion and Kyebi, respectively.In the fourth phase of the projects, theVaLCO smelter will be modernised and expandedto improve efficiency and increasecapacity.Mr. ansah stressed that rocksure Internationalwill, first, undertake a Mineralresource estimate (Mre) to validate anddefine the bauxite reserves leading to theconstruction of a mine and a refinery solution.according to him, the lifetime of themine is estimated to span over six decadesand create over 1,000 direct and indirectjobs.He reiterated that the four projects willbe private sector-led and will be executedin partnership with key strategic investors.the real impact of an Integrated aluminiumIndustry, will be felt at the downstreamsector where demand foraluminium and aluminium related productsare expected to rise especially withthe establishment of various car manufacturingplants in the country.this value-addition drive will not onlyresult in a thriving local economy but willsignificantly cut down on the importationof aluminium and aluminium products, headded.GIadeC is a state-owned company responsiblefor the development of an integratedaluminium industry in Ghana. thecompany’s portfolio of assets includesmining rights to all of Ghana’s 900 milliontonnes of bauxite reserves, 100% shares inValco - Ghana’s smelting company and interestin Ghana Bauxite Company Limited,a producing mine that has been operatingfor over 70 years.through strategic partnerships, GIadeC,will hold equity stakes in newmines and refineries to be established, anddrive integration of the bauxite – aluminiumvalue chain to create value.rocksure International is a whollyownedGhanaian mining services companythat operates across Ghana and theWest african sub-region with expertise inmining services, drilling services, load andhaulage. the company has considerable capacityand flexibility in planning, equipping,staffing and managing mines;having supported several mines includinganglogold ashanti, african UndergroundMining services, Gold Fields, Ghana Manganese,asanko Gold, Bumi Mine and manymore.
Thursday, September 16, 2021 PAGE 11Ghana Stock Exchange Wed, Sep 15, 2021
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