The economic and structural contexts are still fragile, but the post-Covid economic recovery is underway. What if we were to turn our attention today to the new ways in which companies operate and the aspirations of employees?
To set the scene, the latest statistics show that the unemployment rate in Mauritius will fall below 8% in September 2022, compared with almost 10% at the start of 2021, given the situation at the time. The good news is that recruitment of women is on the rise. Let’s take this opportunity to salute all employers who have taken up the cause of parity! Obviously, given the number of official vacancies – 7 000 in the civil service and just over 1 500 in the private sector, including more than 400 in tourism – the problem remains unresolved for the 45 300 registered unemployed by January 2023. However, the recovery is underway, and all the protagonists agree that it should be intelligently stimulated.
Lanagers, entrepreneurs and creators are inclined to (re)install their businesses in the post-Covid era, even more sensitive to socio-environmental concerns and the concept of “working differently”. To those I already hear claiming – and rightly so – that these new I say that the pandemic will at least have had the merit of consolidating the precepts of workplace wellness.
So how doyou rebuild… for the better?
Reorganize
As well as being one of the mainstays of the economic recovery, telecommuting is also a win-win situation! Many companies – in the service sector – have adopted this modus operandi, either as a hybrid or a permanent solution, promoting both better performance for the company and the obvious fulfillment of its employees.At Business Mauritius, the association that represents the voice of over 1 200 local companies, Dhiruj Ramluggun(Head of Social Capital) confirms: “If the Covid-19 health crisis saw a surge in telecommuting, the reopening of offices and public transport is far from wiping it out. On the contrary, we’re seeing more and more companies formalizing telecommuting standards in their ways of workingon the contrary, we are seeing more and more companies formalizing telecommuting norms in their ways of working, offering increasingly structured ways of incorporating home or remote working. Considering, however, its abrupt introduction and disorganized exploitation during the pandemic, the practice now needs to be installed in the rules of the art. “During the various confinements, we worked in crisis situations, the mental load was enormous, and the tension increased with the return to work,” says Daniella Bastien, renowned anthropologist and founder of Mind, on. While there’s no denying that telecommuting boosts productivity and solves a number of problems, such as the time lost in transport – which is a huge burden in Mauritius – and the excessive cost of travel, it also aims to give more room to the individual and his or her comfort, provided that it is orderly. In a similar vein, part-time contracts, which are becoming more and more common, reduce employees’ frustration by giving them more latitude; a better quality of personal life that naturally increases professional assiduity!
Being a committed employer
The principle of give-and-take is fundamental to the organization of a company, but these days, managers are no longer just the paymasters, and bipartite commitment goes beyond the task-remuneration relationship! Because each person’s professional motivations are at the heart of the debate, and well-being is as important (or even more important, some would say) than remuneration, tomorrow’s work is redrawing employee-employer relationships. Employers’ offers need to match employee expectations and market demands.
Here again, many have understood that a positive collective climate is a guarantee of optimum results. Transinvest Construction Ltd, one of the leading construction companies in Mauritius and Rodrigues, has 98% of its Mauritian employees happy to get together outside working hours for social, sporting or environmental projects, or to make friends. Work becomes a tool for socialization.
According to Esther Amsallem, digital marketing manager, and Juliette Deloustal, sustainable development policy manager, both of the Attitude hotel group: “The health crisis has upset our relationship with work and the hierarchy of professions. We need to rethink some of them in a company’s value chain and ask ourselves about inclusiveness. At Attitude, we don’t believe that Mauritians no longer want to work. We know that the men and women of our island are our greatest strength, and that without them, the glittering reputation of the Mauritian hotel industry would no longer shine.” Kannen Packiry Poullé, HR Director of the hotel group, noted the quality and relevance of the interventions at Talk Series #3 by Attitude last September, on the urgent need to rethink the world of work. He speaks of “high stakes, discussions on the best direction to take today, as an employer”. Marine Biarnes, recruitment specialist at Meet Your Job, goes further, citing “the crucial role of human resources, the first point of entry into the company; the lack of active listening from top to bottom the problem of candidates who feel misunderstood or who don’t share the company’s values”. Through an effective CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) policy, managers ask themselves the right questions to find the best answers, avenues of reflection and tools to act and change the company’s image. Marine Biarnes (Meet Your Job) adds that “to attract talent, you need to present an attractive employer brand”. Vincent de Marasse Enouf, HR Director at Constance Hotels & Resorts, adds: ” The first post-Covid challenge is to raise the profile of the tourism sector among employees and applicants, reminding them that it also opens doors abroad”.
Clearly, the responsibility of management is engaged.
Being a happy employee
Not that the notion of employee quality of life has been put aside until now, but the recent economic upheaval will have deeply integrated it into the minds of managers – of large structures at least. Today, every recruiter can expect to draw up a practical sheet in response to a candidate’s question during an interview: “What are you doing for my well-being?
The first answer is undeniably the working environment, currently conceived as a living space. The Live-Work-Play concept defines the Smart City, offering users maximum quality of life, from housing to the office, including leisure, shops, restaurants, health, education…
These programs include sustainable development and technology, Work in Beau Plan – fifteen minutes from Grand Baie and Port Louis – focuses on employee well-being. While they enjoy the stimulating surroundings of the Smart City and all its facilities, another component of the premises is fundamental: the environment and the omnipresent nature. The Strand office offer – 10 000 m2 of contemporary lakeside spaces – will be delivered shortly, as will the Business District, a business district offering investors flexible premises and building plots to set up in.
Smart Cities (Cap Tamarin, Mont Choisy, Tribeca, etc.) in all four corners of the island, under the aegis of developers vying with each other to innovate, perfectly combine the obligations with personal life, in a circular and ecological philosophy. Today, the he terms “open space” and “coworking” symbolize dynamism, and combine business with well-being. The architecture is bioclimatic. Professional spacesare bright, friendly and planted with greenery. Shared, redesigned, ergonomic offices. Arts and culture everywhere.
In the heart of Moka’s Smart City, Vivéa Business Park unfurls 35,000 m2 of fully-equipped business premises, nestled in a natural setting on the outskirts of the capital. Workshop17 Les Fascines, for example, (soon to open in Grand Baie), offers flexible, fully-equipped workspaces accessible 24/7. And because we’re talking about employee fulfillment in the workplace, the city’s leisure, sports, arts and cultural activities are complemented by initiatives that promote conviviality and social enrichment among Moka’s residents, shopkeepers and entrepreneurs.
As for the Quartier des Serres adjacent to the Domaine de Labourdonnais, or Nouvelle Usine in Mangalkhan, they are perfect examples of the rehabilitation of Mauritius’ rich industrial and historical heritage. Thousands of square meters have been developed with the sole aim of providing companies and their teams with a healthy environment that meets new employee expectations.
In addition to recognition, which is the basis of employee fulfillment, another factor stimulates employee skills and potential: the willingness of management to help employees progress. What better catalyst for development than training? “Jean Rostand once said, “One tires of everything, except knowing. In the hotel industry, for example, every group has its own academy to train young people for the job. But for many of them, staff also benefit from opportunities for further training. The Comet program, launched in 2022 by Constance Hotels & Resorts, is a comprehensive management apprenticeship. Each Seychellois, Maldivian, Malagasy or Mauritian employee – holding a diploma, but aiming “higher” – is trained online and in the field for nine months, in the main departments of at least two of the group’s hotels; a management position is at stake. Vincent de Marasse Enouf (HR Director), explains that this project completes an ongoing training plan , both online and face-to-face, delivered by trainers from the Constance Hotels & Resorts group. In correlation with customer satisfaction surveys, sessions are tailored to employees’ needs, with the sole aim of driving them to the top. Each employee benefits from a minimum of forty hours of training per month, with ten modules available, including quality, leadership, finance…
At the 20°Sud address in Grand Baie, in addition to a 20% salary increase planned for this year, staff development is based on the concept of interchangeability between the Group’s employees around the world, for a constructive and beneficial experience for all stakeholders. For its part, Transinvest Construction Ltd devotes 3% of its payroll to training, and has created a highly successful in-house digital school.
The majority of managers willing to invest in training call on a variety of certified professionals, releasing their HRDC funds. Nathalie Sanchez, founder of Alinae Consulting, which focuses on new business models (sustainable and circular), has been coaching and consulting for six years in the Mauritian market, which she knows well. She deplores a post-Covid reality that is doing the sector a disservice: “Companies are in a hurry to get their business up and running, and make little or no use of their HRDC funds (only 3%). Among the reasons for this are the cumbersome administrative process and turnover in the companies.
Shouldn’t this be seen as a cause-and-effect relationship? Doesn’t training lead to consideration, which regulates dissatisfaction and reduces turnover? CQFD!
Nowadays, many practitioners also provide solutions to many workplace ills: malaise, stress, conflicts, problems of trust, time management, the cult of performance, etc. Sophia Sew’s OMR® workshops (see our Health section), occupational psychologist César Tierz’s therapies (LGM of January 2023), psychomotricity (LGM of August 2022) and many other alternative medicine practices are all at the service of well-being.
Retraining, entrepreneurship…
In less than two years, Covid-19 tore apart the world’s economic fabric, spilling a great deal of business and tears. As a result, part of the population has had to reinvent itself in order to live – or survive – if it cannot continue. While financially solid groups have managed to maintain jobs and salaries, many self-employed workers have had to show their resilience. However, we are also seeing an increase in beneficial reconversions, like a resurrection! In the catering sector, many have surfed (and stayed on) the takeaway wave, responding to the modern needs of consumers in a hurry. In addition to food retailing, the most profitable sectors include tech, digital and ICT (information and communication technologies). In tandem with telecommuting, the jobs inherent in these fields have attracted developers and designers, who are still in demand to design distance learning software, for example. Ashvin Pudaruth of SD Worx Mauritius – the first company in the ICT sector to be awarded Great Place To Work® certification locally – explains that this environment, which offers security and comfort, is struggling to find candidates: “The ICT sector was more prepared for Covid than others. In our company, for the past ten years or so, everyone has been equipped with a laptop, connectivity, to work anywhere with flexibility. However, we are experiencing a real and cruel lack of resources and skills in this area.” Let’s hear it!
“Reconversions happen at any time in a career, often for the same reason: to give meaning, a reason to get up every morning, to create value and to be the guarantor of this value”, explains Nathalie Sanchez (Alinae Consulting), herself a former reconverted sales director.
As a vocation revelation and career booster, retraining often involves the development of an entrepreneurial project, because it’s an incentive to dare! Incubators offer advice and logistical and financial support to future start-up creators. Among others, La Turbine in Moka, founded by the ENL Group in 2015, is staffed by coaches, experts and investors who encourage innovation and support the launch of a connected business.
A major local company specializing in business management and administrative assistance for setting up new businesses is counting three times as many openings as closures in 2022, with 60% foreign projects and 40% locals. Let’s keep this last rather promising figure in mind, in keeping with Mauritius’ entrepreneurial dynamism!
Promoting young people’s employability
Government initiatives since the 1stst July and until June 30, 2023, the MRA (Mauritius Revenue Authority) is encouraging the recruitment of young people and women in companies, via an employment bonus. Employers will receive up to Rs15 over a one-year period. 000 per month, to facilitate the hiring – on full-time contracts of at least 3 years – of 10,000 people aged between 18 and 35 (up to 50 for women), who have been unemployed for more than six months. It should be noted that the minimum monthly wage has just been legally increased to Rs13. 075.
In the private sector, major brands and institutions with expertise in digital, audiovisual and entertainment joined forces with the Trace Group in 2022 to launch Trace Academia. By 2026, the free training platform dedicated to the professions of tomorrow aims to guide 26 million Y and Z (generations born after 1980) towards employment and entrepreneurship, and thus reduce unemployment among African youth!
There’s no denying that the managerial concerns of our era are converging towards a single objective: the well-being of our teams, who can be much more productive if they can find fulfillment in their jobs. Working differently gives meaning to one’s duties, while increasing the company’s performance!
Is it still worth debating the subject?