Managers should plan ahead for power cuts

Citizen 14 April 2008

JOHANNESBURG - Managers’ failure to plan ahead for power cuts will eat into profits and cause job losses, skills training organisation BizTech said on Monday.

“If you go into any shopping centre or business where the power is off, you see staff sitting around chatting. Managers have failed to find productive work for them to do when the lights are off and this will cut into profits, see job losses, add to inflationary pressures and see South Africa’s economic ratings fall further,” chief executive officer Liza van Wyk said.
“South Africa can’t afford to have managers fail to plan for load shedding, especially when Eskom is more reliable about sticking to schedules,” she said.

Van Wyk suggested slotting tasks that don’t need electricity into work schedules, like paper work, deliveries, cleaning and calling clients.
“If you leave it to staff to innovate, most won’t, they don’t realise their jobs are at stake, it is up to managers to lead,” she said.
Faced with electricity shortages, Eskom recently introduced a rostered system of power cuts, cutting electricity in areas for up to four hours.
- Sapa