Employees ditch LEA for greener pastures

Local Enterprise Authority (LEA) management is currently under investigation following allegations of serious leadership incompetence at the quasi government authority.

Previously, LEA Human Resource Director Masego Mookodi told journalists that the Authority is currently conducting a survey in which staff members are secretly interviewed and assessed in order to find reasons for the high staff turnover.

“Upon completion of the survey, the Authority would present the results to the Board of Directors and the staff itself,” said Mookodi who added that the survey is part of a strategy towards rectifying the high staff turnover problem.

Mookodi also said that the company’s management would soon be engaged in a leadership training that would help improve leadership-employee relations aimed at solving the unusual staff turnover. LEA communications manager Nyaladzi Kutjwe told Botswana Guardian previously that at March 2010 their turnover rate was in 13.7 percent for financial year 2009/2010 exceeding the set target of 7 percent by 100 percent.

“In March 2011 we were at 7.8 percent for financial year 2010/2011 versus or target of 7 percent respectively. Based on the resignations received during the current financial year of 2012/2013 we project a turnover rate of 7.6 percent at the end of the financial period, a figure which still remains above our desired target,” she said.

LEA employs around 300 people nationwide. Towards the end of last year, this publication also carried a story reporting on the high rate of employees who ditched the company.

At that time, a few of them who managed to shed light to Botswana Guardian regarding their resignations, said the Authority’s top leadership was the major problem.By then, employees said the LEA top man; Dr Tebogo Matome runs a one-man show, creating an environment totally unconducive for employees to work.

However, Dr Matome last week dismissed such allegations as rubbish. “What we know here is that employees are leaving because they are frustrated by low pay, so they went for greener pastures,” he said. Dr Matome said the problem is that although they are a parastatal, LEA employees are not paid using parastatals’ payment scale, which frustrates them.

“ Right now, all other parastatals have got what we call, scarce skill allowance, which allows professionals like economists, accountants and other scarce skill employees to be paid an extra 30 percent of their salary, as a scarce skill allowance. This does not only help retain employees, but it also boosts their morale at work,” he said, adding that LEA employees are running to organisations with such benefits.