Board Impulse Thoughts (BIT) – A little BIT for everybody

56th Board Impulse Thoughts with Anastasia Machobane?and her views and assessments of the upcoming and last 12 months

1. Which were your biggest learnings over the past 12 months???????

My learnings over the past 12 months are mostly that reviewing my entire business post- covid was very important and critical to its survival. We were at a stage where we had to adjust to business post covid. Most of the adjustment was mainly related to financial recovery, client retention and sourcing new clients. We were also faced with barriers to entry and competition with already established B2B consultancies. This proved to be our biggest challenge, creating trust with potential clients, and ensuring we up our game and operate at a level of excellence.

We are in a fortunate position to be appointed as Company Secretaries for various companies in the public and private sector. Where we identify gaps during our onboarding audit processes, we are able to implement improvements to processes. In the majority of the cases, our clients have been very receptive. This for me is another key learning, to always assess the situations for our clients and not make the assumption that because a director sits on various boards, they know everything about corporate governance. There is always room for improvement.

2. What are the challenges that directors of the 21st century are faced with especially in a post covid pandemic world?

Directors have had to adjust to having most, if not all of their meetings online during the pandemic. Directors had to become more tech savvy and increase their awareness in terms of cyber security and safety. Directors had to be reskilled in the use of existing technology and introduced to new technology platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams. And that is only the meeting administration part of it. Then there was the uncertainty of how to implement risk management in a manner that will not lead to the inability of the company to continue trading, thereby risking the sustainability of the company and eroding profits. From a legal perspective, Directors had to deal with cost savings that included possible downsizing, retrenchments, and other consequences.

These are just a few of the pressing matters that Directors had to and still have to deal with. As a serving director, I have first-hand experience of how as a Board we had to meet more frequently at the beginning in order to support management in identifying a workable strategy to see us ride the storms and come out stronger.

3. What are your observations on executives over the last 12 months, did they change their habits and attitudes?

Executives have had to adjust their sails an upskill themselves in a very short space of time. I do think a lot of pressure was placed on some executives without consideration of how this pressure would play out in a “eg” sense. Mental health issues are on the rise, and this is the aftermath of the pandemic that needs real attention.

4. What do you expect from 2023?

As a business owner, I am very optimistic for upward growth. We have put in the groundwork and have already created a positive impression with our clients. I see us scaling as a business and continuing to enter markets outside of South Africa.

As a growing business one element – load shedding- may have a negative impact and will require us to invest in systems to ensure we can continue rendering our services.

I expect to see more transparency in how companies conduct their businesses, especially in the ESG space. I also expect to see a serious rotation of directors with infusion of “new blood” can because currently it’s the same people being rotated over and over no new ideas are flowing and allowing fresh debates. I do believe that’s how companies will grow.

I do believe that young people can actually enter into the directorship space because it is a closed off area, whether it’s in the public or private sector, they would rather circulate the same people and you would never get any fresh ideas if you do not let other people in, especially people who think differently. For me I hope companies can see that there is a lot of skills and knowledge out there, a lot of knowledge out there.

Anastasia Machobane is the CEO and Founder of Mashobane Advisory Services which is a business to business legal and company secretary service provider. The company specializes in corporate governance, commercial law, contract law, cyber law, and competition law. Anastasia is an attorney and editor and she has been in the legal space over 22 years. She is a wife and mother of two boys. She is an avid reader, sci-fi fan, and writes in her spare time.?Anastasia is a community builder, and she believes that her purpose in life is to create employment, be a mentor and guide young people to success.??