A critical analysis of the social effects of change management at Telkom

Abstract

Telkom was established in 1991 when the then Department of Post and Telecommunications was transformed into two companies: Telkom SA and the SA Post Office. Telkom inherited 67,667 employees. When the affirmative action policy was implemented on October 1, 1993, 46% of employees were did you mean that the 46% were white - check this again (African 30%, Coloured 13% and Indians 3%). (this gives you a total of 92% The majority of African personnel were employed in unskilled or semi-skilled work functions, with less than 0.25% of first level management positions whilst none were employed within the ranks of top management. Women comprised 19% of the total staff complement. In 1997 the Government sold 30% of Telkom's equity to Thintana, a consortium made up of SBC Communications and Telkom Malaysia. An important element of the agreement was a skills transfer and employee development programme. By this time management had realised the need for large-scale organisational changes to create a competitive, customer-focused and performance-driven employee culture. This went hand in hand with the streamlining of service benefits and conditions to achieve greater efficiency and reduce employee expenses. It has driven the people management focus over the last few years and, going forward, will continue to be a focus point. Due to ongoing organisational renewal over the past few years, voluntary early retirement packages offered to employees aged 50 years and older forced change in management structures at Telkom, the organisation's length of service profile is declining.