ARLAC News 2 of 2005 (Jun – Dec 2005)

ARLAC News is an official publication of ARLAC. It is issued biennially. Each issues has its own theme based on priorities in labour administrations and the world of work. The Newsletter is a dissemination tool used:

• to facilitate tripartite cooperation;
• as a tool for social development
• as a means for promoting gender equality;
• to promote employment and wealth creation;
• as a means of eliminating child labour;
• for informal economy development;
• for social protection and for;
• health and safety at work

Manuscripts submitted for publication are accepted on the understanding that they are contributed freely to the Newsletter. Statements and opinions do not necessarily reflect the position of ARLAC, editors or organizations to which the authors are affiliated. Materials may be quoted or reproduced without prior permission as long as acknowledgment is given to ARLAC.
Single copies are free to labour ministries, organizations, institutions, researchers and any other individual. For copies of the newsletter write to: arlac@arlac.org.zw
Contents (2 of 2005)

1. Managing Change Through Performance Improvement
2. The Role Of A Labour Market Information Systems
3. Two Million Work Deaths A Year
4. Fatigue In The Workplace
5. ILO Urges Ban on Child Labour
6. Marketing and Micro Enterprises (SMEs)
7. ARLAC Activities
8. ARLAC Training Programme –2006

Editorial

Change has been an inevitable feature of the last decade or so featuring an incessant flow of new technologies, new policies, organisational restructurings, downsizings and redundancies.
Many employees have already buckled under the weight of it all.

Change might offer a promise of improvement but it does not guarantee it, with the result that many people now can approach it with scepticism, fear or frustration. How then can we as managers, introduce change, in such an environment considering that times of change are, to a large extent, periods of opportunities ?

The advantage we have as managers is that we are in positions to influence others and the way we personally relate to change and cope with it will have a lasting impact on others as well. The manager should therefore devise a coping strategy and a few tips to achieve this are:

You do not need to rush the change cycle. Be aware of the four phases through which you and your colleagues will pass, to varying degrees, in coping with change.

Denial- the announcement of change may be greeted with shock and a refusal to accept that it is happening.

Resistance-acceptance may be accompanied by personal distress, blame and complaining, even illness.

Exploration – after a period of struggle, you emerge from your negativity and move into a more positive future –focused phase, attempting to find the “best way” of coping.

Commitment –having weathered the storm and accepted the situation, you now focus on the new and pour your energies into it.

We need to accept that nothing is permanent and as such, stay-put behaviour serves no purpose. Giving up a lifetime of judgemental behaviour, negative thinking, aggressive-self protection or ego-driven striving is not easy but, in one sense, it is inevitable if we are going to grow and mature.

Agreed, your transition will be slow, incremental even. But that will give others a chance to observe how you live with change and allow them to learn from you.
ARLAC News wishes you interesting reading.

Sammy T. Nyambari, Executive Director