Author: Editor
By Angela Ho Talking with friends recovering after contracting COVID-19, it is clear that that one does not only survive the virus. There is a recovery period that is substantially longer than just hospitalisation. Post-COVID-19 syndrome or long-COVID has shown to drag on while your whole body experiences heightened symptoms or new reactions to this disease. As only one aspect of the global pandemic, in reflection, while scanning the news of outbreaks of new variants of COVID, the other is the ‘long’ and persistent mental impact of how businesses and homes have had to endure radical daily shifts in life.…
A new concept, cargo loyalty, has emerged within retail and related marketing, and all evidence suggests it is already helping to lift the ailing aviation industry off its knees. Leading independent customer relationship management company, LoyaltyPlus, says aviation has taken a serious hammering from the global COVID-19 pandemic and is looking at various ways to encourage business. Cargo loyalty is being discussed as a credible means of doing just that. Online research shows that aviation is leaning on air freight and cargo to make up for the impact of lockdowns on conventional passenger air travel. A report published by Simpleflying.com…
International Women’s Day (8 March) highlighted the importance of gender equality while celebrating the efforts by women and girls in shaping a more equal future. But more than that, Nicol Myburgh, Head: HCM Business Unit at CRS Technologies, believes it has also put the focus on companies, their treatment of all genders, and the workplace practices required to affect meaningful change. “How people of different genders are treated is still a significant obstacle to overcome for organisations across industry sectors,” he says. “And even though laws are in place to prevent this from happening, the reality is that these concerns…
SARU is operating a class system in the game, claims former Springbok captain Tom Bedford in an open letter to SA Rugby president Mark Alexander. He says rugby in South Africa has again morphed into a game that is not equal for all. It has become a game for the four “haves” (the Bulls, Stormers, Sharks and Lions) which form a first-class cartel.Share with us your five, ten-year or greater plan and your intention to fund and develop the game across the country, asks Bedford, who now resides in London. The PresidentSouth African Rugby Dear Mark Alexander, Since the malaise of 2019…
By Angela Ho If you have not yet heard, the ex-President of the United States of America has started his own social media platform. Yes, it is called “From the Desk Donald J. Trump”. This is my rant from the desk of Angela Ho. As a practising marketer, I did not have much choice in dabbling in the dark arts! Let us not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Social media has provided us with the ability to have access to global news to anyone with an internet connection and a device to read it. It has also provided…
By Angela Ho “The sky is falling! The sky is falling!” yelled Zach Braff or otherwise known as Chicken Little. This noughties animation film is about a piece of the sky falling on the head of Chicken Little. Initially, no one believes him. However, his friends trust him, and together they save the world from ending. Last year during the lockdown, South Africans held their heads high and chests proud as Elon Musk, SpaceX successful voyage to the International Space Station was broadcast. Honestly, that last link to the Space Station was a little like watching paint dry. This weekend…
By Howard Feldman, Head of Marketing & People at Synthesis News that Bill and Melinda Gates are to get divorced after 27 years of marriage, hit me hard. Not because I know them or their children, but because if any couple stood a chance of growing old and miserable together, it was them. These are good people. They have focused on philanthropy, try valiantly to get rid of their money to good causes and will no doubt be leaving the world a better place than they have found it. That said, they are also a bit dull. As a couple…
If there is one benefit to be gleaned from the Covid-19 pandemic, it is that it has brought the construction industry to the brink of a digital renaissance. “The emphasis on quality, safety and timely delivery of projects is greater now than ever before, and companies are being forced to accelerate their adoption of technology,” says Databuild CEO Morag Evans. “It’s no longer a question of if companies will digitalise, but when and how they are going to bring their businesses into the 21st century and adapt their day-to-day operations to streamline the building process.” Evans points to six emerging…
For most individuals and organisations, it can easily be said that 2020 was one of the toughest years they’ve ever experienced. From the complexities of working from home to the legalities of regulations, and the fundamental changes to human interaction, it was a year that reshaped communication, collaboration and disruption. But there were valuable lessons to be learned from the challenges that the pandemic presented and perhaps the most valuable was the general resilience of people. It was surprising to see how well people adapted when the pandemic first kicked off in South Africa. When everything moved into high gear…
The increasing digitalisation of business processes combined with the normalisation of a distributed work environment have contributed to the tripling of Microsoft Teams adoption. As companies across the globe, including insurers, embrace this platform to improve collaboration between staff regardless of their geographic location, Silverbridge identified an opportunity to provide a more convenient way for users of their enterprise policy administration suite, Exergy, to action assigned tasks via Teams. “This integration delivers incredible value to the ‘occasional Exergy users’, typically part of an approval or review workflow, by enabling them to simply click on a work item in Teams and…