The old curtains of 2017 have fallen and given ways to the beaming rays of expectancy for the new year. This is the year for recapitalisation! The clock is ticking fast and counting down to 31 December 2018. We must work harder to realise the recapitalisation plans which we have submitted to the Bank of Ghana. This is also the year the digitisation drive will be heightened in the banking sector to deepen competition and give customers the warmth of personalised experience.

Indeed, cheques will continue being relevant to the payment system. We envisage their use reducing, but it will not go extinct anytime soon, though strong, radiating waves from the channels of digital banking stare at it. Therefore, we should not gloss over the rudiments of this instrument as bankers and customers alike in our contractual relationship. The focus of this opening article in the year is on one of the conventional practices we have lived with as bankers to dishonour properly drawn cheques. I witnessed one of these incidents a few days ago, and would like to engage in a conversation with you on the observation.

A customer at one of the banks issued a crossed cheque to a vehicle dealer for the payment of a new vehicle she had bought from the dealer. As at the time she issued the cheque, there was more than sufficient funds in the account to meet the amount on the face of the cheque. Also, there was no issue concerning operations on the account to prevent the cheque from being honoured. After three days the car dealer – steaming with rage – brought the cheque back with ‘drawer confirmation not received’ noted on it.

My interaction with the drawer revealed that she has a ‘call-back’ arrangement with her bankers but did not receive any phone call from them to confirm or not payment of the cheque. Again, her unanswered call log did not show any attempt by her bankers to reach her. To note, she enquired from the bank why she was not called but had her cheque returned. In fact, the same cheque was honoured later through the clearing system. To help me lay the foundation of my opinion on why sometimes cheques are returned with ‘drawer confirmation not received’ written on them, I decided to relook at the bank account opening forms of some banks.

Account Opening Forms -Terms & Conditions

It is important to state that the forms provide a column that seeks from prospective account holders their willingness to pre-inform the bank when they issue cheques, and to indicate the threshold of amounts as such with an authorised signature. The bank makes a telephone call back to the customer whenever a cheque is presented on the account to make doubly sure that it is acting on the account-holder’s authority. It is an undeniable fact that many individuals and corporate entities have signed onto this ‘call-back’ arrangement with their banks.

Regarding the terms and conditions, it is revealing to note the replica of this statement: “The bank shall have the right whenever it deems appropriate to confirm the issuance of a cheque drawn on a current account failing which the cheque may be returned with “drawer confirmation required” endorsed thereon”.

In the same way, to protect the accounts of customers, the banks go further to state that “customers must ensure that their cheques books are kept under lock and key and at a secured place to prevent unauthorised persons from gaining access to same and neglect of this precaution may be a ground for any consequential loss being charged to your account.” This word-for-word cheque protection policy template, which is being used by almost all the banks, is understandable because they are exposed to the same risks.

Contractual Relationship

It is of interest to state that any person(s) who upon satisfying all the necessary requirements as applicable, and therefore has an account opened for him/her, enters into a contractual relationship with a bank. The crux of the binding relationship is that after the person has read through the account-opening terms and conditions, and agreed with the bank on how their relationship should be managed, they have their minds set to a mutual contract.

In this respect, one would expect both the bank and customer to adhere strictly to their contractual vows. As a lawyer would say, contracts that were mutually entered into between two parties with the capacity to contract are binding obligations, and may not be set aside due to a sudden change of mind by one party or the other unless a statute provides to the contrary.

To help me establish whether the contractual terms and conditions regarding cheques as indicated on the account-opening forms are flawless and cannot be set aside, I found a companion in the Bill of Exchange Act 1961 (Act 55) to support me in giving an informed opinion.

As a principle “a bank must pay its customers’ cheques provided they are properly drawn, signed in accordance with the mandate it holds, backed by adequate funds and free of legal and constructive bars revoking the mandate”. What then constitutes the mandate which the bank holds in respect of the account of the drawer (customer) I am referring to? Can we conclude that the authorised signature on the cheque is inconclusive and should not be honoured when it is not supported by the ‘call-back’ confirmation?

A school of thought may aver that since the customer provided a specimen signature(s) and agreed on a ‘call-back’ with the bank, these therefore constitute the mandate the bank holds on this account which should fully complied with. This is the reasoning that went into the decision to dishonour the cheque in this incident.

Early on, I pointed out a protection clause in the account-opening terms and conditions that makes it permissible for a bank to return cheques when it does not receive confirmation from the drawer (customer). It will suffice to say that the above-mentioned clause with indemnity attached to it, in addition to the cheque safe-keeping precaution for customers, is adequate to secure the banks in running the accounts.

Indeed, among all the varied operative reasons for returning cheques, it is only the “drawer confirmation required” that has been expressly stated in the account-opening terms and conditions. The main purpose of inserting such a clause is obvious, and can be accentuated as a risk management ‘weapon’ to attack impostors. Nonetheless, it is inferior and alien to the protections a bank is clothed with – either as a paying banker or collecting banker under Sections 79 and 81 of the Bill of Exchange Act 1961(Act 55). Therefore, it is set aside in a court of law. In short, it is the weakest line of defence in the face of the statute.

Decided Case

This was a case between Akwasi Boakye Osei and Standard Chartered Bank in which judgement was delivered in 2014.The customer issued a number of cheques drawn on his account at the bank for the benefit of third-party payees. Two of the cheques were in favour of some religious institutions. The bank dishonoured two (2) of the cheques with “drawer’s confirmation not received” written on them. The customer subsequently instituted a civil action against the bank for wrongfully dishonouring his cheques and exposing him to sanctions from the Bank of Ghana and a possible criminal prosecution. In its defence, the bank pleaded that dishonouring the cheques in the absence of the call-back from the customer was in accordance with industry practice and custom, and was also meant to protect customers of the bank from fraudsters.

In his judgement, with respect to the cheques which were dishonoured for “drawer’s confirmation not received”, the presiding judge, Justice K. A. Ofori-Atta, stated: “the call back system upon which the defendant relies to have refused may not be practicable, reasonable or convenient in all cases”. He added that “it is not the telephone confirmation that authenticates the cheques. It is the regularity and completeness of the mandate on the cheque that vests the authority to pay cheque”. The court finally entered judgement in favour of the customer (the businessman) and ordered the bank to pay him US$14million as damages. Whoops! This money means a lot to recapitalisation.

To the layperson, ‘regularity and completeness’ means that the beneficiaries’ names (the religious institutions) were correctly written on the cheques, the amount in words and in figures were the same on the cheques, and the cheques were properly dated and signed in accordance with the authorising signature the customer used to open the account.

As bank officers we may have been aware of this case, but it seems we have not learnt our lessons from it. We still witness the same breaches. Our current disposition can be likened to a beautiful lady in her best outfit standing at the roadside. A valuable object she was holding fell on the ground. In her efforts to pick it up, something else happened. An onlooker drew closer and whispered a word to her. Alas! She flared up and screamed, “I am aware, is that your concern?”

Indeed, the judgement in the Akwasi Boakye Osei Case reinforces my assertion that the good intentions behind the “drawer confirmation not received” clause have been torn apart. To a litigant customer who is aware of this situation, all that he would need to do to milk the system is open an account with a bank and sign onto the call-back system. He then deposits sufficient funds into the account and issues a properly drawn cheque to a third party. He hatches a plan with the third parties and later goes incommunicado for few days and waits for the cheque to be returned. He moves to institute legal action, pleads damages (nominal or substantial) and then cites the Akwasi Boakye Osei Case among other relevant ones. Bingooo! Judgement goes in his favour. As bankers, do we want to be rendered naked through “drawer confirmation not received”?  Happy New Year to you. I am grateful for your time; God Bless!      

The writer is a Chartered Banker

Email: [email protected]

Who can say excel is not a very handy tool for almost everything we do in the office space. In fact, I would be the first to advocate that every entry level corporate executive should have at least a good working knowledge of the excel programme.

For the seniors, we know that excel can do more than we ever can use it for in our basic office works. Nonetheless, an individual or an organisation seeking to be efficient in handling business processes cannot continue to over-rely on excel sheets for that.

Yes, you’ve used excel for a while now; your company has done some great business, you are growing in staff strength and customer base too. You want to up performance to better serve your growing clientele and partners. Relying on excel cannot effectively bring about that output you are looking for in this year 2018.

Sometimes it’s just simple software built by a fresh graduate that can turn things around for your business; but no, you’d rather push for over-reliance on excel sheets and making your staff go through daily ordeals.

Yes, sometimes having used excel – which is almost free – making a budget to procure a system will initially look like a waste of money. But, trust me, this isn’t the case if you look at the big picture.  In this article I will attempt to draw some similarities and show the difference between a simple excel data processing and a database system.

My experience as an IT project manager over the years has taught me a lot from the client’s perspective. In fact, a good PM has to fully understand and document the business needs of a client before a project begins.

There have been complaints of never-ending IT projects which equally seem to put off most heads of departments when they receive proposals.

But this is what usually happens in the corporate environment here in Ghana: an employee seeking to become more efficient at his/her work typically approaches an IT guy, who will suggest s/he gets software to create efficiency.  S/he then requests a proposal on the side, to see if it is helpful.  If she is lucky, the software guy is engaged and they just start the process.

Sometimes all the software guy gets as requirement is the word of mouth from the staff who is assigned to see if what the guy will develop can be helpful.  Then you have a lot of back and forth between these two, most of the time.

Then they set the big day and call the big men and women to come sit for a formal presentation, then – Bam! They shoot everything down, and then add their own requirements. Then they become unavailable for further discussions on it, but keep coming with suggestions as and when convenient for them

You know when scope-creeping takes this turn, especially for a young developer, frustration sets in and the whole IT project is misdirected – and so they go back to their comfortable excel zone.

Why are most executives stuck to excel?

Yes, when you are introduced to excel – where you can quickly create your own tables, create some basic formula for your work, why not be comfortable where you are at the moment.

Your data is small, you can easily enter them and browse through them. You are also able to make copies of your files and share with comments and charts.

Do I really need software now?

Entering 2018, your data is to beginning grow.  It is now becoming complex to move in between cells to retrieve data. Columns and Rows locating is getting worse. And you are now having to get additional staff to access the excel data to do their specific tasks.

Or maybe in 2018 your data should be able to help you make some quick inferences every now and then for prompt business decisions. If any of the above is true, then what you need is a database system to start off this year, 2018.

You see, your growing data now needs to go beyond just queries and lookups – though you need them for critical business decisions. This data need to be validated at all times and protected against loss or corruption. It is easier to mistakenly delete data or sections of it, if an employee who is poor at excel, for instance, handles it.

Limits of excel

As your data grows, excel cannot fully guarantee its integrity.  You are not sure of the numbers you are seeing anymore: ascertaining whether changes were made during sharing and who did what to the data is a big challenge, especially when other arms of the work process are dependent on the stored data.

You cannot get all the business-decision answers you need from staring into an excel sheet. In this day of inundating information, you will want to be sure from analysis what your next critical move should be.

Are you having to scroll through various excel sheets in order to locate cells for data? It’s because your data is growing and excel is not scaling to meet the demand.

When Database Application comes

You are sure that the stored data can speak to each other, thus it’s easy to have relations between them. So you can match them against each other and easily make your inferences.

There are no more redundancies in accessing data from the same file. Multiple accesses are allowed at any given time. This ensures efficiency, as performance is much better for each staff for greater output.

You can easily set controls on who should see what from the same database. Unlike excel, wherein access control is difficult when you have to share the same sheets with others.

Processes such as HR, Payroll, Customer Relations, Inventory Management, Receipting, etc. are serious businesses: automate them with customised software that fits your operations today.

Call and discuss your requirements and get your solution to succeed in 2018.

(E)-business & commerce Tips:

• :ecommerceGH :@ecommerceGH

 …A major yardstick for customer attraction & a measure of level of service delivery  (1)

First impressions are important as you may in most cases never get a second chance to make one. Not only are first impressions registered with lightning speed but they last a surprisingly long time. Due to what is called the “Primacy Effect”, people tend to lend more weight to the things they learn initially about someone, rather than the information they take in later.

The initial impression one makes forms a kind of filter or lens through which a new acquaintance will henceforth see him/her moving forward; they will look for behaviours that confirm their conclusion, while largely ignoring that contradict it.

Once one made initial impressions on the clay of his/her mind about you, the rest of the relationship tends to follow its colours, affecting all future thoughts about you.

Making judgments about someone’s personality based on the way they look is something humans do automatically, without thinking. Once you get to know the person, those judgments gradually dissipate and get replaced by new assessments of what they are really like.

The general take away here is that first impressions are a lot stickier than people were inclined to believe, and often they work like self-fulfilling prophecies. In today’s competitive market place, the major factor that differentiates banks is the level and quality of their customer service.

THE FRONT OFFICE

Front Office is an area where clients, potential customers and visitors arrive and first encounter a staff at a place of business. In other words, Front Office is related to a service delivery system, where staff, among any employees at a financial service firm or bank, have the most direct contact with clients.

Each interaction carries with it an opportunity and a possibility – every person you meet is a potential need friend, lover or client. However, whether these possibilities turn into something, more often, hinges on the first impression you make on whether you are able to make a connection and inspire the new contact to want to get to know you better.

Traditionally, Front Office staff are the folks in contact with customers or clients, while the Back Office staff are the people behind the scenes working in administrative or supporting roles. On the other hand the Front Office largely consists of client-facing roles. The role of the Front Office staff is so crucial to the survival of a bank that it ought to have been a place for competent and experienced staff to provide efficient customer service which will culminate in customer retention and attraction of new ones to enhance the image of the bank.

INAPROPRIATELY PLACED FRONT OFFICE STAFF

However, in some banks, this all-important place is manned by inexperienced staff, Contract staff or National Service Personnel with inadequate training. In addition, the Front Office is perceived to be dumping grounds for non-performing and disliked staff. This perception makes staff feel not being accorded the needed recognition. Staff feel de-motivated when they are posted to the front office. The Front Office should be seen as the engine of survival for a bank since it is the beehive of branch banking activity. All the encounters or interactions with existing and potential customers initially occur at the Front Office.

Consequently, the perceptions or misconceptions conceived by existing/potential customers emanate from this point. The discourteous manner, rude or arrogant attitude normally portrayed at this stage cause irreparable damage to a bank sometimes leading to account closures, products/services not well- patronized since it leaves a negative indelible mark in the minds of the customers involved.

CHALLENGES FACED BY FRONT OFFICE STAFF

It will be unfair to quickly accuse or put the blame on the Front Liners without considering the challenges they face since their attitude may be a reflection of administrative gaps that need to be fixed.

In a situation where knowledge and skills in the bank’s products, services, procedures and policies are lacking as a result of inadequate training, absence of coaching, inadequate resources, low motivation, ineffective monitoring and supervision, it will be difficult for the Front Liners to live up to expectation. There are occasions where the Front Liners report challenges they go through but never receive a hearing or at best receive a hearing only after a considerable period of time had elapsed. Meanwhile, irrespective of the situation, customers have to be served. Staff are therefore handicapped and this, at times, affects their performance.

SUGGESTED SOLUTION

It is difficult to make a sweeping generalization about what “all customers” want, where customer service is concerned. However, research tells us that there are some commonalities we can look at when setting the bar.

Below are some salient factors or steps that need to be considered to address the situation:-

1. THE ROLE OF STAFF

1. MEET CUSTOMER EXPECTATION

Customer frustration stems from a discontinuity between the expectation of a service interaction and what is actually delivered. The key is to measure and understand customer expectations; only then can you begin to manage them. It is often advantageous to “Under promise and over deliver” in order to increase the likelihood of exceeding customer expectation. Regardless the approach, it is imperative for banks to manage customer dissatisfaction.

2. PROVIDING CONTACT OPTIONS

Customers want options in how they can contact the bank. In a nutshell, customers expect banks to communicate with them on their preferred channel, be it in person, online or on the phone. The channel preferred depends on the type of interaction. For example, for simple inquiries (like “what’s my balance?”), online self-service and e-mail are preferred channels. This calls for the need to recommend Internet Banking and ATM services where they can have access to their accounts without entering the banking hall. However, as the inquiry gets more complex, speaking with a live agent becomes the dominant channel choice.

3. SOLVING CUSTOMER PROBLEMS

At the root of every customer inquiry is a desire for a quick resolution. It does not take a rocket scientist to understand that customers don’t want to jump through hoops to get their problems fixed and their questions answered. Excessive or frequent delays in solving or responding to customers` requests, make them lose patience with the bank resulting in a loss of goodwill which can significantly affect the bank`s ability to retain and grow the bank’s customer base.

Solving customer problems right away is a sure fine way to avoid issues from the bank’s customers down the line.

4. GARANIMALS FOR BUSINESS

It is necessary to ensure that everything matches – your website, your domain name, your email address, and phone number can be set to match your business name. This creates a good impression because it’s easy to recognize you and build trust. Trust makes it easy to refer you (Angel Tuccy of Expenditure Pros).

5. PAY ATTENTION

Pay genuine attention to how you get along and interact with others. Let the other party do the talking because active listening is a skill for really engaging with what others are saying, allowing them to feel like their thoughts are heard, understood and respected.

6. MAKE GOOD IMPRESSION PERSONALLY

Eliciting laughter and showcasing quick wit is a great way to establish rapport with someone. Channel your inner comic but be sure to relinquish the spotlight when it is appropriate. Be positive and show it with smile since people are attracted to positive people. Naturally, everybody needs attention and recognition so you may have products or services which rates are quite lower than that of your competitors or have what it takes to satisfy customer needs; however, because of the attitude of your Front Line staff, customers prefer to seek services from where they will be accorded the needed recognition and reception at a higher rate.

7. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

Having in-depth knowledge in the bank’s products, services, procedures and policies builds ones confidence and competence. Therefore, adequate training and coaching coupled with effective supervision are the key ingredients to enable Front line staff to serve customers in a professional and efficient manner. Exposing your ignorance before a customer makes you lose respect as an ambassador of the bank which in the long run affects the image of your bank.

A typical example is where a customer asks a basic question at the front office and it has to go through several staff before an answer or feedback is given.

I will pause here. I hope this message has been useful. Next week, I will look at the role of management in addressing this problem. Stay tune.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ROBERT OWUSU is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (Ghana). A seasoned banker with wide experience in Retail Banking, Internal Auditing, Project Management, Electronic Banking with high specialty in Internet Banking. He is also a Consultant and a Supervisor /Invigilator of CIB examinations.

CONTACT

E-mail address:  [email protected]

Telephones: 0240 821597, 0546 907904

A successful start to the business year would include a microscopic look at the events of the past year. This is important because some happenings in the business should not be repeated due to the consequences that may arise if they did. In this wise, it would not be out of place to share most portions of an article I wrote the same time last year for emphasis, and the fact is that it is timeless. It is true that confronting the past can be draining, especially if things went wrong; but the pros of reviewing the past far outweigh the cons.

Manufacturing businesses may go through a great deal of challenges ranging from product recalls, product defects, equipment breakdown, supplier deficiencies and many others. A careful review of the overall quality, food safety, environmental and safety management systems in a particular year will give a business cause to improve on successes and also put resources behind activities that did not go too well. The following is the core of that article for your information and action.

Management Responsibility

The ISO 9001 Standard does not state exactly when a management review has to be done, but it specifies that management reviews should be done at planned intervals. This means management can schedule the reviews monthly, quarterly or annually. The nature of the business should generally give guidance as to how to schedule these management reviews. If implementation of review outcomes is very critical to be implemented in order to resolve quality issues, or affect the quality management system significantly at shorter intervals, then it makes business-sense to hold review meetings monthly – or at most quarterly.

Hence, management reviews shall be planned and carried out taking into account the changing business environment and in alignment with the strategic direction of the organization according to ISO 9001:2015. Some businesses depend on annual management reviews but the disadvantage is that there could be issues which should have been resolved far earlier regarding sustenance of the business when it came to quality.

If the same attention given to the tracking of sales, cash flow, operating margins and the other financial indicators were to be given to quality, businesses would be much healthier in totality. To this end, therefore, businesses are encouraged to begin quality management reviews at the start of the year, and maintain a consistent interval in such reviews to ensure their businesses thrive.

The other challenge has got to do with the calibre of people that participate in management reviews. Again, there are several instances where quality reviews are relegated to line managers while senior management excuse/restrict themselves to ‘strategic planning’. It is not for nothing that the ISO Standard recommends management reviews to comprise of top management, a quality management representative who chairs the meeting, line managers and compliance managers. It is also important to invite any other person who may give quality input into the review.

The importance top management gives to quality and related issues in a business determines how far the company will thrive. Short-term goals of seeing profits go up may give a company a lifeline for a few years, but a long-term plan that embraces the right management of quality gives a business oxygen for life.

Management Review Inputs

There are four major inputs to management review prescribed by ISO 9001:2015 – and each is very critical to the advancement of quality management in the organization. Remember that according to the Standard, quality management includes all the activities that organizations use to direct, control, and coordinate quality. These activities include formulating a quality policy and setting quality objectives. They also include quality planning, quality control, quality assurance, and quality improvement. The inputs to the management review will therefore encompass all elements of the definition above.

The first input will consider the status of actions from previous management reviews. This follows a typical review of actions in meetings. It is not prudent to keep adding actions at meetings without first considering previous actions and the status of those actions. Accountability is key to improvement. We laud achievements, but sound reason should form the basis of identifying why we miss targets.

Another input to management review is changes in external and internal issues that are relevant to the quality management system. In the course of the year, certain changes such as reviews in formulation, processes, external supply chain, regulatory issues and a lot more may emerge. These internal and external issues may have a direct impact on the quality management system; such that things should be done differently to accommodate them. The overall impact on quality of products and services should be positive, and ultimately satisfy customer requirements.

The third input to management review is information on performance of the quality management system, including trends and indicators for: Non-conformities and corrective actions; Monitoring and measurement of results; Audit results, Customer feedback; Supplier and external provider issues; and Process performance and product conformity. All these pieces of information come as the result of active participation by individuals within the organization, because these are mainly driven by records, trends and trend analysis, and a cycle of activities geared toward closing the loop on non-conformities.

Activities such as process audits, hygiene audits, supplier audits, consumer/customer complaints monitoring – just to mention a few, are so crucial to bringing to the fore how well or otherwise an organization is performing with respect to quality management.

The last input to management review is opportunities for continual improvement. This is usually ascertained from the overall performance of the system; what went well and could be improved, and what didn’t go well and must be worked on.

Management Review Outputs

At the end of the meeting, management should have a set of activities that can be executed to improve on the quality management system of the organization. These are a set of actions and decisions that will seize the opportunity to bring about change toward the upward lift of quality in the organization. These include decisions related to continual improvement opportunities. The successes chalked up from resolving non-conformities must be sustained.

There are instances when the process of resolving consumer complaints brings in its wake brilliant ideas for improving a product. In the end, the initial defect resulting in the complaint is resolved – in addition to an improvement that gives the product or service a better functional outlook. Another output of such review is the opportunity to make changes in the quality management system. Such changes are due to the overall effect of the inputs to the management review.

Conclusion

A quality management review is as essential as a financial review. The first step is to ensure you have a quality management system set up for your business. This will come with training of both top management and staff on how to run the system. Once done, it becomes easier to set up planned reviews of the system – and, of course, the benefits will follow. In an article titled ‘How Jack Welch Runs GE’, I could understand how it was possible for Jack to make GE so powerful with the Six Sigma programme. He understood how a quality programme could help him turn his business around. Every organization has the capacity to see a turnaround when focus on quality programmes become paramount.

Johnson Opoku-Boateng is the Chief Executive & Lead Consultant, QA CONSULT (Consultants and Trainers in Quality Assurance, Health & Safety, Environmental Management systems, Manufacturing Excellence and Food Safety). He is also a consumer safety advocate and helps businesses with regulatory affairs. He can be reached on +233209996002, email: [email protected].

Last two months, (November 2017), the current government submitted itself to the United Nations’ Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review for peer review of Ghana’s human rights records over the past four years.

The purpose of the peer reviews was to track progress on Ghana’s human rights obligations and commitments. Information from the UN office in Ghana indicated that the latest review was the third round of review for Ghana, following 2008 and 2012. Ghana’s delegation was led by the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Ms. Gloria Afua Akuffo.

The documents on which the reviews were include; (1) national report – information provided by the State under review; (2) information contained in the reports of independent human rights experts and groups, known as the Special Procedures, human rights treaty bodies, and other UN entities; (3) information provided by other stakeholders including national human rights institutions, regional organizations and civil society groups.

Among the issues raised in the above-mentioned documents are: the abolition of the death penalty; improving detention conditions; investigating and prosecuting police abuse; establishing a national preventive mechanism against torture; combatting child labour; guaranteeing free and accessible education; warranting freedom of information; protecting human rights and access to justice for all Ghanaians, eradicating the gender pay gap, among others. Curiously, the rights of gays and lesbians has not featured on the list of issues for review. Perhaps, when the momentum on the rights of gays and lesbian gathers steam anytime soon, Ghanaians will deal with it appropriately, as President Akufo Addo recently said in response to a question on the rights of gays and lesbians in London.

This UPR cycle is well timed to ensure that a human rights approach is taken in the national achievement of the Sustainable Development Agenda 2030, meeting the principle that “no one is left behind” in access to justice and ability to live in dignity.

In this article I will highlight on the concepts of human rights, linking human rights to human development and drawing a positive correlation between corruption and human rights abuses in Ghana. I will point out areas the people of Ghana, the government and its departments and agencies, as well as our development partners need improving to make Ghana a true reflection of human rights. To begin with, the government needs to be commended for offering Ghana to be reviewed, for its human rights record, even though it has barely been in power for one year.

Concepts of human rights

According to political philosophers, the concept of human rights developed from a wide variety of philosophical reason, legal, political and cultural and religious influences and debates. No matter our idiosyncrasies, one thing that is common to many cultural and religious traditions is the recognition of the need to protect human freedom and dignity.  The argument holds that human beings have been traditionally regarded as being endowed with certain specific rights by reason of their humanity. They are derived from ‘natural law’, and have the following;

• Natural-existing by virtue of man’s humanity
• Universal-In that all humanity should enjoy them.
• Equal- applying them to all, regardless of status. Gender, ethnicity
• Inalienability- they cannot be taken away or modified.

In the ‘Rights of Man’, (1791) Thomas Paine argued that ‘natural rights transcend any legal system to which an individual is subject. This view attracted popularity in the revolutionary fervor of the 18^th Century, providing moral justification for overturning despotic regimes.

Categorisation of human rights

In 1970, Karel Vasak, the first Secretary General of the International Institute for Human Rights categorized the development of human rights as ‘generational.’ This approach, according Vasak can be seen in three types. First generation rights are civil and political rights; such as personal rights to liberty and freedom of thought, conscience and expression, the right to association with others, and to fair judicial  hearings. According to Vasak, these rights provide individuals with protection against governmental encroachment. If infringed, an individual should have recourse to a court of law.

Second generation rights are economic, social and cultural. These rights, according to Vasak tend towards the collective need for well-being of society; for everyone to have access to housing, education, healthcare, jobs and participation. Vasak argues that traditionally, these rights affirm government action as a lead development agent and the provision of an enabling environment  for the realization of the rights.

Third generation rights are recently recognised as the rights to self-determination, peace, security, access to health and sustainable environment (especially the enjoyment of environmental justice). Environmental justice in the context of Ghana specifically refers to human rights abuses in the mining communities, where farmlands have been destroyed, along with livelihoods  in search of gold.  In the 1970s and 80s, there were attempts by the Bretton Woods Institutions to roll back the powers of the state. However, after several attempts, the western powers conceded that the state will remain a relevant player in development, especially in the area of providing security and maintaining law and order. So, the onus remains on the state to promote and protect the human rights of its citizens and provide the necessary grounds for people to claim their entitlements and utilize their endowments.

Rights empower

Donnelly (2003), argues that for rights to work, they can been classified into ‘rectitude’ and entitlement.’ In the case of ‘rectitude’, we speak of the ‘right thing to do’, or ‘something being right’ or (wrong).’ In the narrower sense of ‘entitlement’, it typically refers to ‘someone having a right.’ It is worth noting that rights, empower those who hold them. In this regard, I will look at issues around our collective failure to combat child labour, child abuse and neglect, forced marriages, female genital mutilation and child prostitution. Of all abuses of children, child labour continues to be the dominant and worse form.  Children of all ages are into forced into labour of all types on cocoa farms, selling on the streets, prostitution brothels; while some are recently being recruited into ‘land guards.’  Land guards is a private militia which is financed by some influential people to harass and confiscate land belonging to poor and powerless people.  Recently, land grabbing has caused several forced evictions and dislocation of poor families from their legal homes, especially in the Accra-Tema area.

The UN Declaration on Human Rights (1948) has been at the heart of the development of international human rights. UNDHR incorporates the principle that human rights apply to all organs of society which include public bodies and business organisations. It supported by two other UN conventions, which provide detailed framework. The first is the is the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which covers the right to life, liberty, thought, conscience, peaceful assembly and privacy. It prohibits, slavery, torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, arbitrary arrests and discrimination.

The second is the International Covenant on Economic, Cultural and Social Rights  (ICESCR), which  covers human rights, in areas such as education, food, food, healthcare, right to work and right to conducive working environment. Though some of the human rights are supposed to be ‘aspirational’ (being included in statements of intent by government); they should not be mere slogans. In fact it takes a committed and good government to turn statements of intents into action. While it is evident that a particular government cannot provide all rights in their ideal forms, it is an obligation on the state (government) to provide the framework to realizing some, if not all of them. For this reason, I  will encourage our government, its agencies and departments, as well as other duty bearers to discharge these obligations creditably as part of their social contract with the electorate. After that is all good governance is all about.

Universal basic education

Particularly relevant in the context of Ghana’s development is the provision of universal and compulsory basic education. For the Akufo Addo Administration to turn its statement of intent on free-SHS to a public policy after year one into office, indicates the higher level of its political commitment.  In fact the free SHS policy is a timely intervention that will cause the realization of the human right to education by all children, irrespective of their backgrounds. It has the power to bridge the development gap between the rich and the poor over time. It is worth noting that every country that has made rapid, and significant progress has placed education at the heart of its development.

No doubt, inclusive, affordable and quality education is central to child protection. We can have the best strategies on child protection, hold all the conferences on child protection and ratify all international conventions on the rights of the child, but if we fail to ensure every child attains an appreciable level of education and skills training for job market or self-employment, we have failed indeed.

Corruption and human rights

Transparency International, the United Nations and the World Bank are unanimous in linking corruption to human rights abuse. Specifically the UN Global Compact draws the link between corruption and human rights on the grounds that wherever corruption occurs, there’s always the inclination or opportunity to breach someone’s human rights. Over the last four years, Ghana witnessed some of the worse forms of corruption, which amounted to nothing, but a denial of some of essential services; such  as water, health, basic education and jobs.

Evidently, corruption has the potential of undermining the enjoyment of human rights in all areas, be they economic, social, cultural, civil, or political. In fact, the fight against corruption is central to the struggle for human rights (Terracino, 2008). Of interest is how corruption reinforces and perpetuate existing gender inequalities. Though the situation has improved in recent times, women’s lack of access to political and economic power continues to exclude them from networks and access to decision makers.

Besides, corruption has been proved to have a disproportionate impact on people that belong to groups that expose them to risks (eg minorities, indigenous people, migrant workers). The International Convention on Human and People’s Rights (ICHPR) points out that it is the vulnerable and marginalized –women and children who often suffer the harshest effects of corruption.    The role of state institutions in corruption makes it even more difficult to combat. State institutions and public officials that divert public resources from essential services eventually deny all of us the ‘public goods.’

In general, states possess three types of human rights obligations. States must respect, protect and fulfil all human rights. The obligation to respect requires states to refrain from interfering directly or indirectly with the enjoyment of human rights, and also prevent third parties from interfering in any way with the enjoyment of human rights (Terracino, 2008). There is a violation of a human right when an act or omission of a state (government) is not in conformity with the obligation to respect, fulfill and protect the rights of persons under its jurisdiction. States have duty not only to protect us from human rights violations by the public sector, but the private sector. The issues of unfair trial, illegal arrests and detentions, forced evictions, forced marriages, FGM, child labour etc are remains issues Ghana needs to improve.

Right to information

One other obligation the state owes us, is the right to information. Though Ghana is relatively open, regarding the right to freedom of expression and association, a lot remains to be achieved in the area of right to information. In its ideal formulation, access to information should guarantee the right of all citizens to request and obtain public information without being required to justify the request. This is the surest way of promoting participation and combating corruption. Unfortunately, government after government since 1992 have shied away from passing the Right to Information Law.’ The Akufo Addo Administration has also joined in promising that it would pass the RTI law in 2018. We can only wait and see.

Any government seeking to promote human rights and good governance should be encouraged to take a human rights approach. As stated earlier, human rights standards established in the international conventions and domestic legislation impose obligations on states to strengthen policy dimensions. No doubt, without the promotion of human rights, Ghana cannot inch towards the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda 2030, which are basically human rights provisions, encapsulating the right to development.

References

T.1. (2009) Corruption and Human Rights: Making the Connection.  International Council on Human Rights Policy.

Terracino, J.B. (2008) “Corruption as a Violation of Human Rights” International Council on Human Rights policy.

UN Declaration on Human Rights (1948). UN

(***The writer is a Development and Communications Management Specialist, and a Social Justice Advocate.  All views expressed in this article are my personal views and do not represent those of any organization(s). (Email: [email protected]. Mobiles: 0202642504/ 0243327586/0264327586) 

Price negotiation is one of the greatest skills every management executive should possess. In negotiation, one brings the other party into a formal communication in order to reach an agreement on an issue; particularly in price negotiation. The parties in the price negotiation seek a price review either upwards or downwards depending on who initiates the negotiation. As much as pricing is a necessary concomitant in business transactions, the art of price negotiation becomes a necessary skill that every management executive should possess if their businesses are to be at the forefront of the competition.

Price negotiations happen in different forms depending on the situation and business environment. In everyday retail business to final consumers in developed countries, prices are fixed and therefore no need for buyers to negotiate price. This is not the same in developing countries where most retail is largely unstructured and therefore prices of local products are negotiated on a daily basis. The situation becomes precarious if the products are perishable and therefore sellers are at the mercies of buyers.

In this instance, the tomatoes seller in a bumper harvest is susceptible to all manner of negotiations. On a typical Saturday night where the market will not operate the following day, the tomatoes seller at 5pm is torn between selling her tomatoes at any price negotiated or keeping the tomatoes to rot before the market opens on Monday. The second option means she will lose everything but selling it at the least price will at least give her something little to cushion the next consignment of tomatoes. In either ways, both seller and buyer adopted a negotiation strategy; this manifested in the agreement reached during the tomatoes transaction in the market.

There are many types of negotiations but they can all be broadly classified into positional bargaining and principled negation. In positional bargaining also referred to as distributive negotiation the strategy adopted by each party in the negotiation is to take an extreme end position based on their wants, needs and limitations. This type of negotiation is “winner” centred where one party in the negotiation is expected to win and the other party lose. The tomatoes seller is a case in point. A buyer who adopts the distributive negotiation style will be at the extreme end ensuring that they negotiate to “win” at the detriment of the tomatoes seller.

In positional bargaining, parties have no concern for the other, they position their mind on winning and strongly commit themselves and focus only on their single goal i.e. to win at the detriment of the other party. Simply put, it’s a one way negotiation with each part taking single position at extreme ends. Only the strong survive.

Positional bargaining is shrouded in lack of trust on the parties negotiating. It is tensed, hostile and usually abusive. It also lacks transparency. The losing party’s relationship with the winning party is strained hence precarious to a future negotiation. In the lean season when same buyer shows up at the same tomatoes seller, she will resist selling to the same buyer and in instances where they are compelled to sell to the same buyers they assume the positional bargaining type because of the previous experience.

The positions adopted in positional bargaining makes that type of negotiation not good enough. But that notwithstanding, there is a time and place where positional bargaining is the best option. In instances where there are tough pricing decisions because of the activities of competitors and also where there are conflicting interest in the transaction and/or the need to get out of an immediate crisis which cannot be postponed, positional bargaining becomes the best and only decision to make by taking an extreme position and maintaining your stance in the negotiation. Yours is to “win”.

On the other hand, principled negotiation also referred to as integrative negotiation is another type of negotiation where the parties in the negotiation work together for a mutual benefit “win-win” approach. Parties in principled negotiation appreciate continuous as well as good relationship therefore they promote value-creation agreement to leverage their continuous stay in business. They create an enabling environment that is transparent, collaborative and mutually beneficial for business growth. They seek lasting solution instead of an immediate gain at the detriment of the other party.

Principled negotiation is analogous to the tomatoes seller situation where both parties will work at mutual interest during bumper harvest and lean seasons always making sure they always think in terms of mutual interest and problem solving. Through this means both buyer and seller are able to create a better business relationship for mutual benefit.

Comparing positional bargaining to principled negotiation, the advantages in practicing principled negotiation far outweighs that of positional bargaining. While positional bargaining looks at the immediate term, principled negotiation looks at continuous long term by creating mutually beneficial opportunity with better gains. In the long term, a “win-win” approach to business negotiation is always preferred to a “win-lose” approach.

5 styles of negotiation

There are 5 styles of business negotiations that parties in negotiation may adopt. These are: competing, collaboration, compromising, avoiding, and accommodating. I have termed the 5 styles of negotiation as “3C2A”. I will explain these styles in the foregoing paragraphs as:

1. Competing style of negotiation

The competing style of negotiation is usually characterised by an adversarial approach. Any business transaction approached in an adversarial style is antagonistic which seeks “winners” and “losers”. Competition in business is usually among businesses in the same industry clamoring for a higher market share but in price negotiation between buyers and sellers should not be adversarial as one needs the other to remain in business.

The competing style of negotiation may work in a one off business where a price decision ought to be made for a one time purchase and there is no much variables to play with. This usually happens in price negotiation for a product. When parties in the negotiation are both using the competing style, the negotiation will breakdown causing strain on their business relation because each party will feel cheated and often such approach does not close a business deal.

2. Accommodating style of negotiation

As the name suggests, accommodating style is a form of submitting style usually referred to as submissive style. The accommodating style is the one that willingly and freely gives information to the other party in the negotiation to win. They value good working relationship but their style can be disadvantageous when negotiating with a competing style whose interest is always to win.

The accommodating style of negotiation will as much as possible avoid litigation with the other party merely because they want to win the negotiation. Litigation in business can affect the business fortunes. The disadvantage in using the accommodating style is that your business may lose too much revenue when you give away too much information in a negotiation that should benefit your business. The other party may take an undue advantage over your accommodating style.

3. Avoiding style of negotiation

This style approaches negotiation in a passively aggressive manner rather than take issues up heads-on. Usually parties who avoid the full negotiation process are seen as having something to hide i.e. less transparent and cannot be trusted. Avoiders do not compete neither do they accommodate. They simply avoid the negotiation.

They are not emotional and passionate about the intricacies of the business negotiations but rather they push the figures to reach an agreement. For them, negotiation is about the figures so they avoid all other issues as not necessary to the achievement of their goal in the negotiation process.

Most of the negotiators who adopt the avoiding style are those who lack effective communication skills. They don’t engage in talks other than the figures. The communication lapses affects their closure of deals and strains business relationships. At the top level of management, communication skills becomes vital for business success.

In using avoiding style, when you realise that the negotiation is not going well due to communication lapses, it is better to rethink your style of communication. Open communication is preferred in business negotiation.

4. Compromising style of negotiation

This style enables the parties in the negotiation to meet each other halfway. Both parties must be willing and actually meet each other halfway in other for a compromising style of negotiation to be effectuated. This results in what is simply referred to as a “fair deal”. No particular party wins. The compromise ensures equal satisfaction for both parties.

In the compromising style of negotiation, parties start at extreme ends but are open and willingly work towards meeting each other halfway unlike the competing style where the party that want to win starts at an extreme end and maintain their position till the end of the negotiation.

The compromising style of negotiation help maintain strong business relationship but its results are often not the best agreement for the parties. They simply compromise for the sake of convenience.

5. Collaborating style of negotiating

The end result to this style of negotiating is that parties in the negotiation must have their needs met. It is a joint effort by the parties to find solutions to meeting their mutual needs. They go beyond conventional methods to adopt styles which works for both parties. In collaboration, there is value creation for mutual benefit. This style is often favoured by negotiators who supports the principled type of negotiation.

The collaborating style seem to be the most time consuming and engaging since parties are all expected to be actively involved. As good as this style may be, it will not be the best style to adopt when negotiating with the competing style negotiator; they may take advantage of your collaboration to “win” so that you “lose”. Also in collaboration, information is shared freely which can be a potential disadvantage for one party if the other party has an adversarial motives. They may break away from the collaboration and use your information elsewhere.

The 3C2A as I have termed it does not work in isolation, depending on the nature of the negotiation, parties may adopt which style will best fit the purpose. Sometimes a couple of negotiation styles will have to be merged to close the business deal successfully.

…Starting the New Year in the Spirit of Service

Even at that early age, I always knew there was something not right with the way the older boys in my neighbourhood said those words. In our ears, it sounded like “Anio Mass, Se Se, Go! We were not too bothered though, because all we waited for was the word GO, and we were off like Road Runners being chased by a pack of coyotes. Who cared if the chap was speaking Latin or Mandarin? There was no time to analyse what words had just been uttered to initiate the neighbourhood race. Run we had to and run we did!

Thankfully, we eventually grew up to discover what all of us had been trying to say all along. The actual words we had been struggling with since our infancy were “On your marks, get set, go!”—that universally-accepted phrase and its various translations that is used to begin athletic competitions all over the world.

As this year begins, it is important for every business entity to realise that what this and every New Year brings is a race and with the race an opportunity to do one’s very best so as to win the prize. Like the runners on the track about to begin a new race, every business is about to take on the race dubbed 2018. As a matter of fact, the race is already on. Businesses that mean business started planning for this year’s race some time last year.

There are various elements that must come together if an athlete is to do well in a race. Aside the vigorous training that good athletes endure as well as the strict dietary requirements they have to comply with, there are other things that all great athletes do, all in an effort to increase their chances. Some of these are:

VISUALISE BEFORE RACE: Top athletic coaches advise their runners on the importance of being able to visualise a race even before it starts. Elite athletes use visualisation to set into motion the Law of Attraction. They picture the entire race from start to finish. They visualise how they want to run the race, the pace they want to go and see themselves crossing the finishing line first. They know that the image they develop and keep in mind before and during the race goes a long way to determine how the race turns out.

Former British Olympic and 3-time World Heptathlon champion, Jessica Ennis-Hill had this to say about the power of visualisation before a race.

“I use visualisation to think about the perfect technique. If I can get that perfect image in my head, then hopefully it’ll affect my physical performance. You are creating the sights and sounds and smells, the atmosphere, the sensation, and the nerves, right down to the early morning wake-up call and that feeling in your stomach. It helps your body to get used to performing under pressure.”

By going through the race several times in their mind before the word Go, these athletes are able to condition themselves well ahead before the D-day. This makes them a little more relaxed before the actual race.

Every business owner, manager, supervisor, etc., must also have an image of success in mind before the New Year starts. What does the one want to see this year? What will profit look like? What are some of the things that would be needed for 2018 to be considered a success? The answers to these questions will help set the tone for how the rest of the year pans out. Some smart businesses already did their visualisation even before last year ended. Strategic meetings have been held during the last quarter to ensure that this year they hit the ground running. For such organisations, the race started even before the clock struck midnight on 31^st December.

FOCUS: Every athlete will tell you that at the start of every race, concentration is key. One of the finest sprinters of our days, Linford Cicero Christie of Great Britain was a symbol of concentration before every race. Referring to one particular race, a July 1996 article in UK’s Independent newspaper described his face as “an Easter Island statue of concentration before the start.” This was a man who was in it to win it.

In much the same way, the earliest days of the year are times for every organisation to be much focused on what it wants to achieve that year. It is not uncommon to see companies with images of something they want to achieve in the coming year on noticeboards. The targets for the year are also boldly displayed for all to see. This serves to motivate staff as well. Every business must learn to focus on what brings in the customers and then to ensure that service becomes the key that holds everything in place. Serious businesses are serious about service.

CONSCIOUS OF THE COMPETITION: Every runner knows that he or she is not running alone. There is always competition on at least one side of you. Sometimes, as in a marathon, you are actually hemmed in by the competition. The competition would be all around you, jostling for space. They are all doing the same thing you are also doing—the only difference is that they want to beat you to the finish line.

It pays to know at least the people you are running against. Knowing the competition can change the way you run that particular race. We have seen races in which the presence of a global superstar like Usain Bolt, Mo Farah, etc. changed the entire dynamic of the race. I must add that no one wins the race by looking at the competition from start to finish. You must concentrate on your own goal, i.e. the finishing line.

Too many businesses would change strategies mid-year not because the strategies they started the year with are not working but just because they saw the competition do something that seems to be working. It pays to use the general direction of the industry to modify one’s strategy for the year but it hurts when all you do is based on what the competition is doing. Standing out in the positive sense of the word is important for business growth and profitability.

BEST FOOT FORWARD: To “put one’s best foot forward” means “to act or appear at one’s best; to try to make a good impression.” According to www.phrases.org.uk, it also means to “embark on a journey or task with purpose and gusto.” However, this phrase is more than just an idiom when it comes to running. To ensure that he or she starts right, a good athlete must ensure that his or her stance is right when the announcer begins the “Anio mass, se’ se’, go.”

If you have the wrong foot forward you will be left behind or you might even embarrassingly get your feet tangled and great will be your fall—and all this would be at the very start of the race. If the race is a sprint, then your position at the blocks could mean the difference between a gold medal or a wooden spoon at the end of the race.

I daresay that in the world of business, this last one is one advice that is of utmost importance. If you ask me, I will say the best bet is always to lead with great service. Every business must know its capabilities and capacity to offer quality service to its clients. A lack of this kind of knowledge is what causes some businesses to bite off more than they can chew and end up causing all kinds of embarrassing customer encounters.

I must however add, that it does not matter how strategic the plan for this year is; if it does not have service at its very core, the business would run the race, with all its might, but would still end up losing by the time the race wraps up at the tail end of this year. Business is nothing but an act of service and if the spirit of service is taken out, what is left leaves much to be desired.

It is my prayer that if there is one resolution every business in this country will have, it must be that they will go all out this 2018 to provide the best of service to their numerous clients. This year we need to see better customer service all around. Those charged with managing the front desk of the various organisations should all put their best feet forward. They must add it to their individual New Year resolutions—that is, if they have any.

I am sure we would have been at least two weeks into the New Year by the time readers get to read this piece. So the race would have been well underway for 2018. If it has however not begun for you, then “Anio mass, se’ se’……SERVE!

#AskJNHalm

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