Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Prepared for Monday?


Our beautiful country is going through a unique electioneering period. It is as new as the institutions manning the process to the roles and responsibilities of the various positions of leadership. It also comes at a time when Kenyans are more awakened and alive to political machinations applied by politicians to win votes. On a positive note, the elections have not affected the performance of the economy and a successful end will ensure that we are on the pathway to greater growth.

The other new reality is the possibility of the elections going into a runoff incase no candidate gathers a simple majority during the first round of elections. This is a phenomenon that may drag the electoral process to April/May depending on whether the first outcome is challenged in the Supreme Court. Of course we are all praying that the elections will be peaceful and we have an individual and corporate responsibility to ensure this happens. However these are without doubt the most uncertain times for businesses in Kenya. One is tempted to predict that once we successfully go though the elections, we shall remain unstoppable.

Although managers cannot accurately predict what will happen, they have to make a risk analysis. Here are a few tips that managers can apply in the short-term. Sort of do a best case and worst case scenario with the business in mind. This assessment should be done with both elections scenarios in mind that is, with or without a run off. Managers should then focus on the risk posed to the company’s operations in high risk areas. The risk posed to employees who work from high risk areas should also be considered. The possibility of employees seeking time off to deal with personal emergencies is also highly possible.

If a bulk of a company’s supplies are from high risk areas, adequate emergency measures should be put in place to ensure that there is no interruption in delivery of goods. Think of more insights we can give corporate managers?

Let’s work a peaceful election.

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