Asili Natural Oils is a supplier of natural ingredients to customers in the personal care and specialty oil industries around the world. Asili, a Swahili word meaning “from the source”, conveys our commitment to quality natural products from the ground up. Located in the country of Rwanda, Asili Natural Oils is a social-impact business occupying a critical link in the supply chain – connecting hundreds of small-holder farmers to high value international markets. We are committed to serving our customers with professionalism and integrity, thereby ensuring benefit for farmer and customer.

Asili Natural Oils was launched in 2012 by socially-motivated investors in order to bring a business solution to address the debilitating effects of development-sector programs that encouraged Moringa Oleifera cultivation by smallholder farmers in Rwanda. Nearly ten years after thousands of poor farming families were promised large increases in incomes from planting moringa and selling its production, Asili Natural Oils made the first private sector purchase of Moringa Oleifera seed – and the poor communities in Rwanda’s Eastern Province celebrated. Said one moringa farmer, “As long as Asili continues keeping its promises, moringa is going to change our lives.”

Asili Natural Oils processes the Moringa Oleifera seed directly in its own processing facility by mechanically cold-pressing the kernel to extract the natural oil. Care is taken to ensure all processing methods maintain the oil’s natural characteristics, which are uniquely suited for personal care formulations.

Due to its incredible oxidative stability, moringa oil enables personal care formulations to avoid rancidity for a long period of time. The rich emolliency created by the behenic acid provides a distinctive, nongreasy after-feel. Noticeable qualities of the oil in personal care applications include its silky texture, long-lasting moisturizing effect and ability to soften and soothe skin. Proven applications include bath & massage oils, creams & lotions, hair preparations, liquid makeup, lipstick and suntan lotions.

The personal care industry has taken notice of moringa, but the potential for this oil in cosmetic applications has only been scratched: its physical properties, the beauty of the tree’s flowers – even the name, “moringa” – combine to ensure that moringa oil will flourish as a cosmetic ingredient.

We believe that developing strong relationships with a short-list of ingredient suppliers is a key “ingredient” in our success and the success of the farming families we support. We seek not only to sell a quality product, but to share a powerful story of impact being made in another part of the world and have that story shared all the way up the value chain and to the end consumer. And we endeavor that all of our relationships – with buyers, suppliers and our employees – be defined by professionalism, integrity and genuine care.

Hunter brings 10 years of business management experience to Karisimbi Partners, experience that has centered on developing and delivering strategic plans and driving operational efficiencies. Hunter began in this new role March, 2013, leaving Capital One Bank (the 6^th largest American banking institution) after more than three years of service. While at Capital One, Hunter led a team charged with improving the customer service experience, and he also served on the Operations Strategy Team, conducting due diligence for possible acquisition targets and supporting strategic transformation of Capital One post company acquisition(s). As Lead of the Bank Portfolio Office Process team, Hunter defined process requirements, guided change initiatives, prioritized technology and other investments, and managed the process and impact associated with implementation schedules. Previously, Hunter worked as a Senior Consultant for Dominion Digital, a boutique management consulting firm working with clients in the Banking, Insurance, Credit Card, Pharmaceutical and Non-Profit sectors. In this capacity, he managed teams, mitigated risks and led process improvement initiatives related to over 60 business functions for multiple clients. Prior to this, Hunter has also worked to maintain accurate monitoring, reporting and communication as a Litigation Paralegal. He additionally held responsibility as a Financial Aid Counselor in higher education and as a School Support intern for the U.S. Department of Education. In and through these various responsibilities, Hunter has earned a reputation for rapidly learning and assimilating data, identifying core issues to be addressed, making sense of chaos, and maximizing business value.

Hunter graduated from Wake Forest University with distinction, earning B.A. degrees in two majors: Economics and Political Science. He has earned additional certifications as a Six Sigma Green Belt, a Certified Agile Project Team Lead, Lean Process Improvement, and as a Certified Change Management Professional. Furthermore, Hunter has sought out opportunities to serve in his church, his community and is drawn to global issues such as those he experienced in Calcutta, India while working with Mother Teresa’s Sisters of Charity.

Onward and upward,

-Carter

The Rwanda Development Board (RDB) partnered with KPMG and Nation Media Group (NMG), to recognize and award mid- sized companies. The partnership combined both the Rwanda Top 100 and Business Excellence Awards 2012 and the event was held on November 30^th, 2012.

On the surface this assertion seems counter-intuitive at best and downright ridiculous at worst.  How could the decision not to hire for a key role, to leave an important position open rather than hire a prospective candidate, be a good decision for your company?  Here’s why:

When companies find themselves in a difficult labor market such as exists in East Africa, where qualified, experienced resources are in high demand and short supply, there is a strong tendency to “lower the bar” related to hiring decisions.  Hiring managers find themselves considering candidates that would normally be quickly eliminated from the recruitment process. As job roles, particularly leadership positions, remain open and unfilled, the greater the incentive for hiring managers to transition from seeking the best candidates to just finding a candidate that meets the minimum job requirements. What is often not understood is that mistakes in hiring cost more when there are few good candidates. Why is this so?

1. When you hire a substandard candidate, you are cutting short the recruitment process and effectively forgoing qualified candidates. It also means that your competitors will be the ones to secure the better candidates. While top candidates are difficult to find and take more time and energy, they are out there, and it is well worth the effort for the long term contribution they will bring.
2. When you hire poor candidates, the costs of hiring increase. Typically, a poor hire results in a termination or an early resignation, requiring your company to re-recruit for the same position again, incurring duplicative recruitment and potentially severance costs, not to mention lost training investment and other intangibles.
3. It is a well-known truism that poor performing employees tend to take 80% of a manager’s focus, which would be better spent with the best employees.  This loss of productivity therefore includes not just the poor employee but the hiring manager as well.
4. Top performers like to work with other top performers.  If you lower your hiring standards and accept to bring in mediocre employees, the pressure on and experience of your top employees will also suffer and they may begin to consider other employment options.  If they are truly skilled they will be highly sought after by recruiters and competitors.

In reality, lower hiring standards are somewhat inevitable in a labor market where skilled, well-educated, experienced candidates are in short supply. However, short supply does not equate to non-existent.  It is worth the extra effort to apply the right resources to recruitment, to ensuring you offer competitive compensation, and carefully aligning a candidate’s fit for the position. Never take information provided in a C.V. at face value. Be sure you verify the education and employment data that has been provided and complete reference checks that extend over the candidate’s last two or three jobs. If you have reservations, don’t move forward.  Continue the recruiting process and hold out for the right candidate.

The best companies always point to their people as their greatest asset, so secure your own organization’s future success by maintaining hiring standards and processes that will ensure true talent.

- Greg

Training can be defined as “the process of bringing a person… to an agreed standard of proficiency… by practice and instruction”. The disparate approaches to training we have seen in Rwanda may be grouped along the following dimensions: number of participants, number of trainers, frequency, location, and accountability.  It is far too easy for a foreigner to fly to Rwanda, speak in front of hundreds of grateful attendees, and fly back home claiming a tremendous training accomplishment.  When training success is measured in terms of lasting impact, however, it is clear that there are better methods available.

In a context like Rwanda’s, what a world-class expert needs to convey often represents a dramatic new paradigm or way of looking at things.  Two of our favorite examples of organizations that have developed a training method for introducing dramatic change are: Wellspring Foundation and International Education Exchange.  Both are addressing the needs of public primary and secondary schools; both have been ‘on-the-ground’ refining their methods for many years in Rwanda.  These International NGOs are tasked with teaching educators a new language (English) as well as a new pedagogy (student-centered learning), so in a way they are introducing two dramatic new paradigms at once.  Furthermore, the stated development goals of the Government of Rwanda suggest they have a critical and urgent role to play in the development of the country.  According to one of these organizations, “A teacher training session, by itself, is a complete waste of time and money”.  As such, both organizations are more concerned with what happens after centralized training sessions, where both engage in training that looks more like one-on-one mentorship or apprenticeship and takes place on-site in each participants’ school.  These organizations have achieved significant and lasting impact with a new model: embed instruction in the schools they serve by embedding people in each school that can model it for others.  This also allows for keen evaluation and refinement, since mentors observe training impact where it matters most: in the classroom.

In our experience, the way these organizations are training educators suggests an effective training principle that applies to medical centers, churches, businesses and other types of organizations as well. The ideal training method for lasting impact in any type of organization attempting to embed big concepts and new ways of thinking may be stated as follows: embed experts in an organization long enough to allow their contribution to take root and spread.  Put another way, if you can, expose at least one person to “best practice” in the new way of thinking/doing things for long enough to allow them to internalize the new standard as an individual; then, place at least one such person in the organization to model “best practice” for others until the new standard is internalized as an institution. I say this as a former university business professor who now understands the limits of the one-to-many format a classroom represents.  Too much can be lost in the translation between classroom concepts and workplace practice.

The suggested ideal is certainly not the most cost-effective or easy form of training (each organization may only train a small number of others in so ‘deep’ a fashion). Human capacity building is difficult but noble work, and if you care more about impact than about trainee intake, it is an ideal worth striving for.

Onward and upward,

-Carter

A growing IT consulting firm with a solid reputation for technical excellence and established customer relationships found itself facing increased regional competition in its home market and a need for a new strategic plan to address current and future markets. Already operating in two countries in the region, Karisimbi Partners was engaged to:

1. Conduct a financial analysis of the enterprise;
2. Recommend optimized organization structure for regional expansion;
3. Establish Quota Setting & Performance-based Commission for sales personnel;
4. Consult on methods to increase consultant and project utilization rates

Karisimbi Partners’ Approach

Evaluate historical performance

The Karisimbi Partners team engaged with company management in an effort to analyze and understand every aspect of the business, from past financial performance, to current operations, to future opportunity. By deeply analyzing profitability associated with the client’s various service offerings and lines of business, Karisimbi Partners provided insight and data-supported recommendations for where to increase focus and resources and how to eliminate or reduce less efficient project work.

Validate the Market and Competitive Environment

Looking beyond the traditional domestic market and competitive forces at play, Karisimbi Partners evaluated the effect of organizational structure, compensation plans for sales and consultant staff and required development training -aligning these factors with the company’s growth and regional expansion aspirations. Tailored quota setting processes and role-based incentive compensation plans were outlined for the company for implementation among its revenue generating staff. Karisimbi Partners’ assistance in these focus areas represent a key value in ensuring the company is competitively positioned externally for the market, and internally for retaining and recruiting top employees.

Prioritize Recommendations for Greatest Impact

Balancing cash flow needs with long term company objectives meant that actionable recommendations must center on highest priority adjustments and investments necessary to achieve stated strategic goals.  To that end, a detailed set of objectives with identified owners was documented and established to ensure accountability and time bound progress against the following goals:

• Simplified & Effective Organization Structure
• Quota Setting & Performance-Based Commission for Sales Personnel
• Increased Utilization Rates (of key personnel)
• Identification of new service lines and target markets

Results

The company has successfully extended operations into a third country within the region and has expanded their offerings to client industries in accordance with the outlined strategic plan and implementation guide.  The organization is poised for partnership with a larger vendor partner, positioning the company for greater scale and impact in the markets it serves.  Employee retention and contribution has been positively affected by the implementation of a performance-based compensation model, and the company remains a recognized and respected leader in the IT service sector.

A respected Rwandan holding group with three established companies in its portfolio was seeking to improve its human resource strategy and implementation model to ensure quality objective assessment of employees ranging from individual contributors to senior management. Based on our People Development services and experience managing high performance teams, Karisimbi Partners was engaged to:

1. Draft and review the general staff performance review model and associated measurement tool
2. Create the Senior Manager annual performance review model and associated measurement tool
3. Create the Senior Manager performance review guide
4. Participate in bi-annual senior management performance review panel

Karisimbi Partners’ Approach

Validate and Document Key Objectives & Values

To ensure a bi-annual performance management process tailored to the values, vision and documented objectives of the holding group and its operating companies, Karisimbi Partners carefully interviewed senior leaders to validate specific role accountabilities as well as leadership traits and management attributes most critical to the company. Based on the resulting data, a review tool and detailed implementation guide was developed, including a rating system allowing for self-assessment by the employee under review as well as assessment by the manager and / or a panel of senior leaders as appropriate.

Focus on Employee Motivation and Development

A focus on Career Development and Planning was incorporated into the review process to encourage an open dialog between employee and manager which evaluates performance against stated annual objectives, capability in required job disciplines (i.e. financial management, interpersonal skills), assessment of strengths and areas for improvement. Additionally, a clear target setting and performance based bonus guideline was established to tie financial benefits and motivation to the performance review model.

Karisimbi Partners Participation in Model Implementation

To help secure full acceptance and understanding of the new performance review model, Karisimbi Partners conducted an initial Performance Model review for Senior Managers and the Holding Group HR Director and participated as members of the bi-annual review panel to ensure internalization of the new process within the organization(s).

Results

The holding company implemented the new assessment model across each of its operating companies, with all participants, both reviewers and those reviewed reporting great benefit to the new model.  Stakeholders praised the objective methodology for assessing all key performance areas, the clear rating system for calibrating employees against expected performance goals, and the facilitation of both peer and manager to employee dialog which has been instituted, ensuring clear expectations for reward, career progression and areas for improvement.