Malawi   Problems? Stay cool and focus…..

Malawi Problems? Stay cool and focus…..

Jannes van der Velde Country manager View profile

What to do as an employer’s organisation when times are really hard and money short? That was the key question to be discussed during a two day governance workshop in Senga Bay on Lake Malawi.

Employers’ Consultative Association of Malawi (ECAM) went through a serious governance crisis when in short succession president and CEO became unavailable for the employers’ organisation. Governance and procedures not clear enough, this left the organisation without the leadership needed, causing serious delays in all work processes including making money…

During the workshop DECP advisors Andrew Moore and Jannes van der Velde challenged a newly elected board and a newly appointed executive director to provide the solutions themselves. The method applied by the DECP representatives is a simple one: start asking elementary questions and challenge the replies by asking more questions. Thus simple questions like ‘what is your task as a board member?’, ‘what are your organisations objectives?’ and ‘how many members paid their fee last year?’ led to a clear insight in the current situation and the challenges faced. Above all it created focus on the key aspects of any employers’ organisation: serving the members and creating financial sustainability. Such focus makes it easy to do the necessary things, use the available resources wisely and forget about activities that may be nice, but do not add to the progress of the organisation.

In two days ECAM’s board drafted an action oriented work plan that has the potential to get the organisation on top within a year.

DECP’s bottom line: do not panic, stay cool and ask the right questions.