Soft issues
According to insiders, there is animosity between South African Indian employees of Neotel and those who have been seconded to the group by its majority shareholder, India-based Tata.
Many expatriates from India are in senior positions at Neotel, much to the chagrin of their local counterparts, Business Report has learnt.
An industry source who has had business interaction with Neotel says some local managers are being undermined, as there is always someone to “babysit” them.
Predictably, Neotel has chosen to remain mum, giving the standard response: “We don’t respond to rumours ‘in the market’. Instead we prefer to deal with facts as and when they are presented to us.”
It seems the tension stems from the different working cultures of South Africa and India. According to a former employee, the Indian expats have left their families in India, meaning that they are available to work extraordinarily long hours.
In the absence of diversity workshops and integration processes, this is fertile ground for workplace resentment.
Few company executives realise the importance of dealing with what are perceived to be “softer” issues. Amazingly, it’s these “soft issues” that tend to cause more trouble for companies and derail attempts at addressing the nuts and bolts of the business.
Neotel is undergoing internal operational and management changes, and maybe it is trying to calm the situation by giving more voice to the local senior employees. The company says that from time to time, organisations go through self-evaluation in terms of both human and material resources, and Neotel is no different.
Neotel is a growing business and its growth requires the strengthening of certain operational areas.
It refused to divulge its number of customers, saying it had a significant number of consumer and enterprise customers and these numbers continue to grow daily.
Telkom may be facing challenges, but Neotel cannot risk being sidetracked from the bigger task of competing in the marketplace by tensions in the workplace.
Neotel cultural clashes – give your views
Business Report
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