Empowerment is a journey, not a race

"The differentiating element of AJ Chennels & Associates is that they look at the long term business strategy of each company, and design a system whereby transformation works within the overall strategy of the business," says Bruce Macgregor of Deneys Reitz.

"Their model emphasises the fact that empowerment should be a journey and not a race and that true empowerment should not be seen as the giving away of assets. Instead empowerment, as the name implies, involves the participation and empowerment of the staff who themselves add value to the success of the business. The model is one of broad-based BEE, as opposed to a sale of a portion of a business to an external BEE investor. Clearly there is no fixed rule on transformation, and depending on the circumstances, one could look at a combination of a broad based model with one of external BEE investment, the involvement of community groups and the like."

The system proposed by Andrew Chennels drives the economy to the people. Their philosophy is that where possible, staff should be empowered. The advantage of bringing in staff is that they work with you to achieve mutual goals. In all cases ownership leads to commitment, so while the company is giving, they are getting value for the equity they give. The reward is a motivated team who strive harder to achieve the strategies of the company.

"All companies embarking on this journey have fears; firstly because they don't know the procedure and secondly that their hard earned assets have to be given away. However, it isn't as daunting and Andrew Chennels guides the company through the planned process exchanging value in line with the business strategy until a win win situation is achieved.

"In each case there is a mind shift process, both management and the newly empowered staff need to adapt to the new culture."

In conclusion Bruce Macgregor of Deneys Reitz noted, "Transformation should not be seen negatively, but a positive part of life in South Africa. All businesses need to recognize the strong economic infrastructure our government has created, and to work within this to ensure that our economy positively transforms in creating a powerful engine to drive a better life for all South Africans."