Black people must stop doubting other black people

By Vuyo Jack quoting Sindi Zilwa Nkonki CEO

Recent debates have been raging about how people feel about workplace transformation. You have employees blowing steam by writing frustrated letters to their bosses that end up circulated in cyberspace. You have two population groups within the black definition of black economic empowerment taking legal action for calling each other racist.

I would like to explore some of the issues around identifying black intellectual capital and how that is developed in the workplace.

One is tempted to conclude that the problem in identifying black intellectual capacity is that there is little confidence in black people by black and white people. The previous education system did not provide black people with an equivalent education to white people. When a black person gets to the market an assumption is made that he or she does not have the same "mental prowess" as a white person. The result is an inherent lack of confidence in black people.

Who has the least confidence in black people? Strangely enough, it is the black people. One seldom hears of black people consulting black lawyers on mergers and acquisitions transactions. They go to white lawyers because they do not have confidence in their black counterparts. Sindi Zilwa raised this issue about two years ago and things do not seem to be getting any better.

The starting point for transformation is changing the perception of black and white people towards black intellectual capacity. The availability of people to train is not a problem. Neither is the ability of black people the problem.

Business requires more accurate techniques for identifying intellectual capacity. Where I am from does not define where I am going. The old-school question of "what does your father do?" is of little value to a culture whose fathers were actively suppressed. Having a model C school education is not an adequate measure of one's intellectual capacity. It does mean the person is probably more articulate in English, or has had greater exposure to knowledge, but it has nothing to do with that person's intellectual capacity.

Without prejudice to black people with a private school background, the market does make a natural assumption that they must be "clever" because they speak well. They may then be hired for a complex mathematical roles, which they never will be capable of fulfilling because they are not mathematically inclined - they just happen to speak well.

Companies need to identify intellectual capacity in the sphere in which it will be needed. They should take candidates in and develop their confidence, articulation and skills through opportunity and relevant experience. Interviews should be open, non-confrontational and friendly, allowing the true character of the candidate to come out.

Black people are often allocated less appealing tasks in traineeship. The reason for this varies but the outcome is the same. Using the auditing profession as an example, there were instances where black trainees were assigned to public sector audits or to mining operations. These audits are not as interesting and challenging as those in the financial services, media or entertainment sectors. In the legal profession, black trainees were often allocated to debt collection or criminal matters.

If they left the profession as soon as they were qualified, they would have restricted value to add to the market other than being debt collectors or criminal lawyers. The black attorney would have no experience in matters that drive industry, such as corporate finance. Fortunately both professions are changing.

The first jobs allocated to trainees determine their career in that profession. If black people get unchallenging menial jobs, they will leave that profession. The mind-set that important jobs should go to white people exists and undermines the growth of black employees. If professional services want to retain top quality black people, they must expose them to interesting assignments.

The responsibility for change rests on the professional services and black people. During training, intellectual capacity is stimulated and market knowledge gained.

Exposure, during traineeship, to critical skills offers black people the opportunity to grow in confidence when handling matters that drive the market. Self-confidence begets confidence from others and slowly perceptions are changed.