SOCIAL RE-ENGINEERING FOR A HUNGRY WORLD

The world, our world, is very sick and hungry- Hunger for love,  peace, employment,  attention, care, recognition, respect, happiness, gender equality, etc. Amongst all these lurks a dire need for self-survival  which is the driver of the ongoing chaos and clamour for sectional, religious and political uprisings with the resultant effect of societal stratification….the upper, middle and lower classes. The world has become a place for the survival of the fittest where the smartest, strongest and  cleverest meander their way through different means to move up the classes. The driver of all the agitation in the world today is because people are too busy trying to satisfy self and move through or become “lords” in their classes that they are not aware of the damage they’re doing to the world. We are talking about ozone depletion today, youth unrest and upheavals, religious crises, war, kidnapping, armed robbery, and several other social vices that all have their roots to the fact that somebody or group of people or a Government was too busy with self (or group) aggrandizement, that they forgot that their actions could affect other lives and boomerang on them and many innocent people suffer in the process.

The problem is there already. We created it. We worry and complain bitterly about everything yet we created those problems. We worry about our children not been as respectful as kids used to be “back-in-the-days”, we worry about loss of norms and values, we complain about the negative effects of globalization with its encroachment into our quiet and peaceful cultures,  we even worry that people don’t drive as well as they used to, we worry about the weather-that the ozone layer is getting depleted, we worry that our, students don’t really study anymore-that they come out from schools “half-baked”, We worry that the jobs are not there anymore and unemployment is on the rise, we complain about the streets not being safe anymore, we worry about the rising cost of the grocery, we worry and complain about this and about that…we created all these problems. We have to solve  them now. There is need for action on your part. Being in any of the classes as mentioned above does not remove you from at least one of the problems. When was the last time you ‘donated’ your time from your busy quest for self-survival (which includes all human and material interests) to ponder on solutions to a hungry world?  When was the last time you gave out a helping hand to someone? When was the last time you put a smile on the face of one who is not related to you? When was the last time you attended a meeting organized by your community for the progress of the community? Even in your local place of worship, what assistance have you rendered to the very poor and enterprising people who need assistance? You can start something today. Do something good. Choose any area of human endeavor. Give it a try. Call out for help. Look for like minds to partner with you.  

Maybe I need to spur you to action by giving you examples of a few ordinary people from the book “Entrepreneurs by Bill Bolton and John Thompson” who did extraordinary things and changed the world we live in for the better.

Elliot Tepper: is an American missionary who lives in Spain. He has an MBA but has chosen to channel his not inconsiderate energies into helping alcoholics and drug addicts. He started Betel, a not-for-profit Christian rehabilitation centre, in the early 1990s. At anytime Betel now houses over 500 young addicts, both men and women, in homes in ten Spanish cities, in Birmingham in the UK and in Brooklyn, New York. Half of the People on Betel’s programme are HIV-Positive.  5000 people passed through in the first seven years.

Margareth Handforth:  A miner’s wife, ex-secretary and mother of three sons, had demonstrated her talent by founding a local playgroup but had never thought of herself as an entrepreneur before the 1984 Miners’ strike. Forming a small group, she set  up a soup kitchen to help people survive the traumas of the time. Invited to speak to students at local universities in exchange for collection, the women set foot on university campuses for the first time in their lives. They began to realize that education can broaden horizons and Margaret Handforth had a vision of a better life through self-improvement. She had no idea how to do it, just a determination to start something off. Today, her project, the Castleford Community Learning Centre in West Yorkshire known locally as the University of Life, is a women centre that offers a wide raft of courses up to degree level, and validated by local colleges and Universities, usually at low or no cost to women in this economically deprived area. It has succeeded in changing lives and empowering many more women of our world.

David Bissau: A business entrepreneur who invests on the poor. David, who became a millionaire before the age of 35 from a series of business interests then focused his talents on helping poor people around the world. Many Millionaires do give generously and set up foundations to help create social, and sometimes aesthetic capital –but Bissau set out to help people help themselves. In this respect he has similar ethos to Charlotte Da Vita. Some 50, 000 small entrepreneurs had been provided with the limited financial support they needed to either get started or grow their businesses.

The stories abound of people who have changed our society from efforts at building a better world by social innovation, entrepreneurship and community  development efforts. When Mark Zuckerberg co-founded Facebook with his friends a few years ago, he didn’t know that it will change the way people connect and share information. It is amazing what you can achieve and how many lives you can touch if you could just take that single step towards the vision for a better a better world that you have.  Make a commitment to reducing unemployment in your area, for instance. Start a workgroup on entrepreneurship training and sharing of ideas. Start the Jobocracy concept if you can, for involved participation and extended ownership. Organize to feed some very hungry people and you’d be surprised at the amazing ideas people have. Start something positive today….it might just outlive you and become a part of our lives forever.

Creating jobs where there are no jobs...

"What is a danger is that we stay stuck in a new normal where unemployment rates stay high, people who have jobs see their incomes go up, businesses make big profits. But they're learned to do more with less, and so they don’t hire.

                                                                                                -Barack Obama

This is the exact situation today. companies have learnt to do more with less people in their employ and they don't hire. And yet, we stay in the normal constantly applying to them with Internet job sites building cv banks every second with not the same matching result of producing the jobs. EMPLOYER is changing the paradigm and long accepted status quo...we are looking inwards to create our own jobs.

For some time now, the clarion call has been made severally for us all to look inwards to solve this problem of unemployment. We, as the unemployed should as a matter of urgency look inwards for a solution to our problems-EMPLOYER has resolved to take on Africa's unemployment palaver and bring all unemployed together to solve their problems. Government on the other hand should adopt a multi-pronged approach towards solving the unemployment issues. While one is not saying that setting up committees upon committees is not a good thing, Government should resolve to actually listen to the unemployed and know their various thoughts on this matter as well as their strategies. 

At the turn of the economic meltdown, employers all over the world became smarter, laid off in most cases and started using only a few personnel to achieve so much. Some of the strongest economies in the world are not spared by the menace of unemployment which has become the Cerberus and Chimera of our time. It was the current Chancellor of Germany, Angela Dorothea Merkel, that said in a statement "I have just explained my idea of how a constructive period of reflection, one that would send a clear message to the citizens of Europe: You should know what our priorities are. For Germany this means: Unemployment is one of one of our biggest problems". Several strong economies, like Germany, ae facing the huge problem of unemployment and it is therefore a wonder that Africa should be spared this menace. This is why the Governments of the world especially in Africa need to adopt the principles of Jobocracy (see http://jobocracy.blogspot.com for more information on this subject) to allow the integration and participation of the unemployed in multi-faceted approaches at job creation. Governments that are interested in letting EMPLOYER consult for them can connect with EMPLOYER in the partnership section of our website.

For the employer of labour, it’s okay if you no longer have vacancies. This is understandable. Nobody can force you to create jobs that you don't have or pay salaries you can't afford. It is also your view that fresh graduates lack the skills needed to quickly give you the edge over the competition and ultimately more profits. Much more saddening is your low rating of fresh graduates as you interact with them and discover that most graduates of our universities can hardly make good sentences. You've realized further that they come out "half-baked" and are unable to defend what they read. Some of these your observations and feelings are true. Yes they are. But they cannot remain unemployed. Something needs to be done. EMPLOYER has discovered a way of taking some of the problems off you...you can employ virtually everyone but not directly and the beauty of it all is that you don't even have to pay them salaries. EMPLOYER would. We'd further certify them for employment for you by developing skill sets in them that would match your long standing personnel in your employ. All you need to do is contact EMPLOYER for details on how you can partner to make jobs available without employing directly and you still reap the benefits of the workforce. 

The result of four years of tireless research is showing now. While EMPLOYER does not lay claim to all the problems of unemployment, we are well able to give it the best shot we can while soliciting for your partnership and support. Having networked with individuals and groups in over 30 African countries, it is now time to initiate what we have learnt and practiced in pilot programs so that all can benefit from it. As the program evolves, you are encouraged to get involved as everyone is a partner in all the ways you can. See how to register and get involved on www.employerafrica.com/register.php. Or follow on Facebook: www.facebook.com/jobocracy

Partnering to build a working continent...

"When a great many people are unable to find work, unemployment results."

                                 -Calvin Coolidge. 

This is the situation in the land today. Even the proliferation of so many Internet job sites and head hunters has not produced the much desired result. Truth is that the jobs are not as much as the number of graduates that are churned out in their thousands on a yearly basis into the already saturated labour market. Something had to be done and EMPLOYER was birthed as a membership styled organization to build our members who are job seekers and intending entrepreneurs into world-class employers of labour and accomplished individuals. It has become necessary for us to have a discourse on how our we can actually partner to build a working African continent while we await the arrival of the treatise on Jobocracy Part II.

EMPLOYER is not primarily a job hunting service but we shall constantly endeavour to connect our members with employers of labour while still offering them all year round skill acquisition and development trainings and seed funds to start their own businesses. EMPLOYER's well equipped job villages will be equally available for any skilled member to simply walk-in and commence work and earn 40% of his/her output. EMPLOYER is a cause to reduce unemployement and by joining, you have done so voluntarily and you have not been coerced or cajoled into this laudable cause. The ideas looked too simple to be true but today with small packets of achievements using pilot projects and individuals who showed a willingness to be established as entrpreneurs,we achieved success and today EMPLOYER  is now set to revolutionize the way we perceive unemployment based on the principles of Jobocracy (see JOBOCRACY PART I - Theories And Applications) in this blog.

 The Luncheon, which will be quarterly is a further indication that the unemployed can actually come together to look at their own problems together, share their experiences, meet with mentors and industry leaders with a view to constantly looking for solutions to our problems. Cynical Critics have derided the gesture and rather than assist with solutions, contributions or suggestions or even their time towards helping, they would rather laugh at any attempt by certain individuals no matter how subtle, to create a better society especially as it regards the problem of unemployment. A problem that has turned individuals who hitherto were interested only in getting jobs and even hustling legally, into criminal entrepreneurs with kidnapping, armed robbery, 419, arson, political thuggery to mention but a few vices as their current main stay. The critic who today is well endowed to do something about this problem and refuses to might just be the next victim of these individuals who are scourging our streets, if we do not get them to direct their minds towards enterprising and commercially viable ventures.

By now and from the growing content on the EMPLOYER url,  you must have understood that there are three categories of membership for-the members (jobseekers, intending entrepreneurs and even those that desire to change jobs), Employers and Advertisers and  no matter which category you belong  to, we are in partnership for one purpose only –to build our members who are job seekers and intending entrepreneurs into world-class employers of labour and accomplished individuals, providing them with seed funds for viable ventures and to get people from our rich database of the unemployed to fill positions in those ventures while continually offering them mentorship and business assistance as they grow their enterprises. Therefore if you are an advertiser or an employer, whatever token, contributions or fees you pay on the platform are directed at providing seed funds for members whose business ideas meet the criteria for sponsorship. 

We implore you to look at areas you excel as an individual or organization and lend your partnership to this cause to help that neighbour, relative or friend who is not doing as well as yourself. The ideas are simple and practicable and it is our utmost belief that if we all put aside our differences and worked together, we shall indeed build a working African continent...starting with our our own immediate communities. See how to join the cause on www.employerafrica.com/register.php