Psytech South Africa

Clients who have had dealings with Psytech Cape, and then for some reason need to use certain services of Psytech South Africa, sometimes seem baffled by the fact that Psytech SA does not seem to know about them, and require them to apply for account facilities or be treated as a cash client. We are sorry if this makes you feel unwelcome, we assure you your business is truly valued. The fact is, Psytech SA and Psytech Cape are separate entities. The two companies have an agreement that Psytech Cape will support clients in a given area. But in terms of the size and scope of the operations, there is a huge difference. Babette is a director of Psytech Cape, and we realise she gives her clients outstanding service. She also reaps the benefits directly. Psytech SA's consultants are employees, and we have to respect their rights under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act. Thus, if you send in a request for a quote at 22h30 to Psytech SA, and you haven't received a response when business opens the next day (and you are used to that speed of response from Psytech Cape), we are sorry. Babette is hyper-efficient, we know. But we serve over 1000 clients at Psytech SA and hence there has to be some red tape, simply because we can't know everybody personally. We don't like it either, but it is a symptom of the different scales at which the two companies operate.

Following our recent advertisement for a front-office administrator, we received over 500 applications of very high calibre. We have now completed the selection process and decided to appoint two new persons: a new receptionist and an additional accounts administrator. The successful candidates have already been notified.

We look forward to introducing you to our new staff members when they start work in December. Watch this space!

Our previous website was designed for us several years ago, using a traditional html-based platform. Recently we changed our Internet Service Provider, and since the site was needing a serious overhaul in any case, we decided to rebuild it from the ground up. After some research, we decided to use the Joomla content management platform instead of going for a redesigned traditional site.

What does this mean for our users?

New information about our products becomes available on a regular basis. Using a content-management platform makes updating the site as easy as writing an email. The site has a front-end, which is what the users see, and a back-end, which we use to add and update articles and document and make them available to the persons who visit the site. Although Nanette is putting up the framework of the site, we shall be able to give staff members access to the back-end so that they can add and update information as it becomes necessary.

Joomla is Swahili for "All together" - the site can become a team effort.

For those practitioners who need to set up a website for their practices, this platform is highly suitable, because it makes enables you to maintain the information on your site independently. The platform is open-source (that means it is free). Very soon we'll be offering online training via the site, using the Moodle platform. We also hope to have some of our online training accredited for CPD purposes.

On 24 August 2011, Nanette Tredoux and Babette Barnard ran an ethics workshop, which was accredited for CPD points. The workshop was hosted by the department of Industrial Psychology at the University of Stellenbosch. Babette introduced the workshop with a presentation of the steps in ethical decision-making. Then the participants worked through two scenarios. The first scenario focused on the situation where the consulting psychologist or psychometrist deals with a large company, and the power relationship is effectively reversed. The code of ethical behaviour and the regulations are written from the standpoint that the psychologist is the one with the power, and the client is vulnerable. If the psychologist is dealing with a large corporate, this is not the case. The second scenario dealt with the situation where the professional conduct regulations are out of step with legislation, and the professional person is genuinely confused about what to do. Issues that were considered included: where to get information, guidance and mentorship, and the difficulties in getting credible advice.

Feedback about the workshop was excellent. The participants appreciated the applied approach, and some expressed a need for more scenarios that were specifically focused on the role of the psychologist who consults to industry.

Psytech South Africa and Psytech Cape appreciate the willingness of the Department of Industrial Psychology of the University of Stellenbosch to host this workshop, and we look forward to offer more workshops like this in the future.