Who says transformation is easy. To be honest no-one I have ever met has ever suggested that it's easy. There are always schlenters and get-arounds. Someone postulated that many companies are looking for coconuts (black on the outside but white on the inside). Coconuts are the least strenuous form of transformation - you don't have to change anything, just the colour of the person.
The sad thing is that there are very few coconuts around, and that the ultimate "coconutisation" is likely to be harder than the transformation that the country really requires.
And yes it is hard. Why is it that the weightloss industry is a multi-billion dollar industry? It's because losing weight is a drag and people will try many different permutations of diets before they ultimately give up. But there are success stories and those who have lost weight have had to make certain sacrifices like quitting beer (my downfall), eating properly and eating less, changing their lifestyle, excercising etc. In many cases it takes a while before any real change is noticed so you operate on willpower alone. And this is half the journey. Once the goal weight is achieved a new plan has to be hatched to maintain this goal weight.
Company transformation is exactly the same. It's a marathon that requires serious preparation and training. Strength needs to be built up over time. The changes won't be noticed in the short term.
Unfortunately the patience of both companies and government does not stretch that far. The PIC is now actively campaigning for acceptable board transformation in the companies that they invest in (which they are entitled to do). I'm not convinced that this is the best method but if someone doesn't make a noise then maybe nothing will ever happen. I'm sure that many blue chip companies are dreading their next AGM, anticipating an irate Brian Molefe asking probing questions about the number of black people in executive positions.
Rienzo and I had lunch with Louise Paulsen from the IDC last week. Louise is one of the very few black women who is an acknowledged expert in all matters BEE. She also has her ear to the ground when it comes to transformation. She told us that many black executives are increasingly frustrated at the levels of transformation. Some of these people earn very serious salaries and as such are not in a position to move, unless they go elsewhere for more money.
I think these people are as much to blame for the lack of transformation as the companies that don't want to transform. They have agreed to the terms offered to them by those companies and now cannot leave because their personal circumstances can't tolerate it. It's like the drug addict that needs to get rid of their pusher but they can't because they are addicted.
It all comes back to how hard transformation is and who is willing to make the sacrifices to get there. These black executives should organise themselves in such a way that they start making their presence and their disatisfaction felt. We have already seen a bank was galvanised into action after a junior black employee's disatisfaction reached the media (and ultimately the president).
I will leave the last word to Trevor Rabin. I've blogged about Trevor and Rabbitt before. This track is a live bootleg of the song Changes, that was first found on that brilliant 90125 album (it never dates on me, I am still flawed by that man's genius and this genius is made even more apparent when you hear Steve Howe - the guitarist Trevor replaced in Yes).
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