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Perhaps the surreal posters of Brand Malta do make a difference and truant workers will feel conscious when they read that they are appointed ‘Brand Managers’ of this tiny rock
This month heralds the peak of the traditional holiday season. Throwing caution to the wind politicians make sure that their propaganda machine is switched off and the party faithful are kept well amused at beach side fish extravaganza parties.
It is a circus all along. The prime minister and the rest of the cabinet lead by example and announce their well-deserved foreign holiday away from the hustle and bustle of the media meetings and other tribulations.
Business executives saw the mid-August break as manna from heaven, allowing them to catch up with pending legislation and other technical material that accumulates unread during the year. So is August a holiday period for the whole family or is it an excuse to take your notes, mobile and PDA to the beach while pretending the office is shut for business?
Executives can really behave as die-hard workaholics, not only do most of them make themselves available for work-related calls when on holiday they also check their email and phone the office once a week. This is particularly true for most accountants and auditors in Malta and when you think you have read the last update of International Accounting Standards you realise that the implications of the latest accounting scandal have fired the auditing profession to tighten up and issue new pronouncements.
However, health professionals warn that executives who were permanently tethered to their desks risk far higher rates of burnout and depression than those who “truly chill out”. Workaholics lament that the St Maria week is too long a break away from work. True the silly season calls for relaxation on deadlines and strict timeframes but in fact business goes on as usual and the scary notion that the nation goes on half day ‘work’ mode is a nightmare for the dedicated workaholic.
For such a type, it is scandalous how 500 workers previously hived off during the Drydocks downsizing scheme and assigned to work with Local Councils are not on the job. The media reported that hordes of workers report for work at the respective councils and then walk off without reporting to the assigned duty. This smacks of sleaze and corruption on the lack of control leading to unbridled truancy. Fiscal morality dictates that when over 11,000 claimants are reporting as unemployed then we cannot afford to cocoon dockyard workers (previously branded as the aristocracy of the workers during the early eighties) as privileged and untouchables. Gone are the balmy days when the flawed philosophy of tax and spend fuelled a burgeoning bureaucracy with its attendant costs neatly camouflaged in balance sheets of Quangos and parastatal agencies.
With all the fuss generated by various commentators on the shabbiness of the island and the consequent drop in tourist arrivals surely such an army of council workers (this would cost up to Lm4 million annually) can be redeployed to mend broken pavements, paint street signs, build up non-existent country walls, remove rusty drums in the countryside and other general cleaning services. What about the trained force totalling 4,000 workers in the infrastructure division? Can these be tempted to emulate them and also disappear during the mornings in time to visit home or carry out their part time jobs? Is it a co-incidence that we witness MTA branding its citizens as self anointed managers of the neo-classical era clamouring the renaissance of its past glories.
Perhaps the surreal posters of Brand Malta do make a difference and truant workers will feel conscious when they read that they are appointed ‘Brand Managers’ of this tiny rock which nobody owes a living. I doubt it.
Once their supervisors and head of departments are toothless to curb this haemorrhage of tax payers’ monies why should the workforce feel guilty of their unabashed truancy. Reports prepared by various committees run by party apologists to study ways to carry out performance appraisals instil motivation and self pride. These have mushroomed but more needs to be done at the workplace. A fair pay for a full eight hour week should be our mantra.
Can we safely conclude that the island is split in two great divides – on one part the hard working private sector and the bureaucracy laden civil service?
The answer is definitely yes. This is particularly prevalent when one analyses the challenges for continued existence faced by small businesses. Small business owners are working their fingers to the bone. It is undisputed that SMEs work long hours, are plagued by cash flow shortages and are hampered by red tape in a highly competitive market. This feeling of being downtrodden by bureaucracy lingers on and might even be exacerbated in the light of more regulatory overload following EU accession. Our inability to effectively penetrate into the single market because of being uncompetitive is damaging the economy. Because of relative low competitiveness levels, taxpayers are losing the benefits of a wider range of better and cheaper services as inflation creeps up beyond the 3% mark. Party apologists disagree. In their opinion this view appears to contradict the government’s philosophy of “think small first” as part of its goal to modernise Malta’s SMEs. So what is the root cause of this added level of stress and tension?
The answer is that post accession, small business owners have been watching sales dwindle partly due to reduced purchasing power following the 20% VAT increase and now the advent of the 65% energy surtax apart from eco-taxes. Talk to the traders who regularly exhibit their wares at the July Trade Fair. Sales were on average lower than previous years even though prices were slashed. Regrettably many feel SMEs are the Cinderella of the business community and have suffered disproportionately in times like this of economic slowdown. They compensate by having to work longer hours for less return hence the high stress levels.
A sense of deju vu sets in that the winter will be hard. To achieve a turnaround, SMEs need more than tax credits that have been touted in the pre-budget document. They deserve the right fiscal regeneration as this is crucial, not least at a time of economic uncertainty. Can we reclassify essential items at the lower 5% VAT rate so as to regenerate the domestic trade and release more spending power to consumers. For every percentage drop in VAT rate there will be a double increase in competitiveness levels and a boost in consumer spending. Unfortunately, in the past, much of the government’s restructuring assistance focused on larger listed and export-oriented companies such as SmartCity.
This attitude has slowly changed to belittle the fragile situation of SMEs. All eyes are focused on the public discussion of the pre-budget document heralded by Dr Gonzi. The incumbent has been bequeathed the task of putting the spending genie back in the bottle. Evil tongues lament that the wining and dining in Brussels is over and the age of profligacy is nigh. The haemorrhage of millions of the past decade must be reversed in under eighteen months left to elections, although persistent rumours point to a September /October 2007 election.
Pundits may well question if Dr Gonzi will grasp the nettle and reshuffle the cabinet during the easy queasy time of the August /September recess. He does not have much elbow room or time left to try new solutions. With the drums of electioneering in the air, politicians who have made vote catching promises in the past suddenly need to reckon the cost of their actions. With so many promises of Nirvana allegedly blessing our shores many chicks came home to roost.
Yet cynics state that it is impractical for us to expect a sudden transformation in the political mindset that in the past decades used smoke, spin and mirrors in a strategy to win popular support. Paradoxically solving our dysfunctional economic sectors makes us more relaxed if only so that we can truly enjoy the summer recess. Certainly this month famed for its shut-downs, busy executives should try to forget the cares of business development and the challenges of globalisation. The trouble is he/she has to return to the office eventually at the end of the holiday to be greeted by a sizeable backlog of challenging tasks.
This is surreal… but that is one reason why it is called the silly season!
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