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Telecom Bends Job RequirementsMay 17, 2011 (The Namibian/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) -- Fear of a lawsuit forced Telecom Namibia to bend the job requirements for a management position, the parastatal has claimed. Telecom appointed a chief financial officer (CFO) who is not a chartered accountant (CA) - despite this being an explicit requirement for the job. In advertisements in the media in November last year, it was stated that the "ideal candidate [for the CFO position] should be a chartered accountant". Oiva Angula, Telecom spokesperson, admitted late last week the person who was appointed did not comply with all the requirements. Angula claimed the only CA who applied for the position "was an internal expatriate candidate who was shortlisted but withdrew from the interview process and was therefore not interviewed". As a result of this applicant's withdrawal, the only other candidate left - Robert Offner, who is not a CA, was awarded the position. Angula said Offner "met all other requirements but is not a CA". The spokesperson said although Offner did not comply with all the requirements, Telecom was "legally speaking, obliged to shortlist and interview him for the job due to the fact that he was the incumbent general manager: finance and administration". Angula said Telecom "would have faced a potential legal challenge of constructive dismissal" has Offner not been appointed. The position of CFO - together with four others - was announced by Telecom MD Frans Ndoroma in November last year when he revealed a "new organisational structure". In terms of the envisaged revised structure, the company's executive management will comprise five people - down from the previous figure of twelve people. Employees at the parastatal, especially those in non-management positions, fear their jobs might be on the line as a result of the restructuring. According to Angula, "the company must go through the phase for placement and redeployment before assuming employees are redundant". He said the purpose of the restructuring "is not to cut jobs [but] to reorganise our human capital in view of the changing technological and business landscape in which we are operating". Angula said "the ultimate objective is to provide a better service to our customers through a streamlined organisational set-up". Last year, however, Ndoroma said that employees who do not fit the new profile "will be separated from the company". Angula also admitted that there was unhappiness amongst Telecom staff about the restructuring process. He said: "Complaints in any reorganisation exercise is a given. Not all employees will secure the positions they want; so some are bound to cry foul." He urged employees "to be team players in this whole reorganisation exercise. When a company goes through a transformation period, there are going to be some people who refuse to change and support the team. However, we want all our employees to embrace change in the interest of a better Telecom Namibia that would, in turn, benefit all our stakeholders, including our employees." According to him, the company "has avenues for any aggrieved employee to seek redress. We will encourage such employees to follow the correct procedures for their complaints to be properly dealt with and resolved in good time". |