When the first scheduled blackouts were rolled out in 2007, it was believed to be a solution to a temporary problem especially when the country avoided loadshedding from 2009. More than a decade later and experts predict that loadshedding is going to be part of the South African socio-economic reality for far longer than anyone could have anticipated.
While the government is planning to migrate the previously disadvantaged South Africans away from relying on the national power utility Eskom for power needs, stage 6 loadshedding costs South Africa R4bn every day. (Alex Forbes,2022)
Faced with this mounting challenge, South African enterprises have been called upon to be more solutions-driven and resilient than ever.
Surgo’s loadshedding plan of action committee is essential to the business’s risk management strategy. Power outage or loadshedding is one of the potential risks that needs to be addressed by all South African businesses.
With Surgo’s employees working from home, one might ask how the multi-award-winning Business Process Outsourcer (BPO) functions with load shedding: by allowing employees to work remotely, with secure access to the internet rather than relying on office infrastructure that is subjective to the scheduling of Eskom’s unpredictable power cuts. This way, productivity remains unaffected, and business operations can continue smoothly.
Making sure your employees are equipped with the necessary tools and resources to perform their roles in your business is a top priority. Upon offer of employment, Surgo ensures employees have access to the necessary tools, such as a laptop and a secure internet connection (fibre or dongle – depending on their area’s connectivity infrastructure). In addition to this, the multi-award winning BPO takes pride in its ’people first’ approach and offers employees a fibre or dongle allowance that helps to lighten the internet costs during these tough economic times, which ensures employees can perform their daily tasks without the added financial burden.
Surgo’s loadshedding plan of action committee includes measures such as backup power sources: UPS’s with a battery life of up to 4-8 hours, ensuring that even though there is a power cuts, employees’ fibre lines remain active, and productivity is unaffected.
Surgo, an international service provider has alternative work arrangements: ‘The Buddy-Up System,’ which is a helpful way to manage the effects of loadshedding while enhancing employee engagement and promoting a healthy team dynamic.
The Buddy Up System involves pairing up with a colleague who is on a different load shedding schedule. This way, if one person is without power, the other can aid – allowing employees to charge their devices (phones, laptops, or dongles). It is important to establish clear communication channels between each party to ensure they stay in touch and coordinate their work schedule during a power outage.
