Eleanor Roosevelt wisely said; "Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself"; and in business learning from ones' own mistakes could amount to considerable outlay.  Expert BEE consultants, EconoBEE have used their vast experience to compile a list of the top five mistakes that businesses make when interpreting the management element on the BEE scorecard in order to save you the time, and money, of making them yourself.

1. In a case where companies have both Senior Management and Senior Top Management, they may erroneously consider Senior Management as part of their Senior Top Management team. The Broad-Based BEE scorecard makes a clear distinction between Senior Top Management (Management element) and Senior Management (considered under Employment Equity).
2. Another common mistake made by companies involves the omission of Executive Directors as Senior Top Managers in calculating the score for Senior Top Management.  The target for Senior Top Management collectively includes Executive Directors and Top Managers.
3. Non-Executive Directors may be mistaken for Independent Non-Executive Directors.  Black Non-Executive Directors would only score points on targets for Black Board members.  Black Independent Non-Executive Directors would score points on both Black Board Member targets and bonus points on the Management element.
4. Calculations in this element should be adjusted for gender. In error, companies may calculate scores on their Management scorecard by using an unadjusted black-people percentage.
5. If a company's management structure does not distinguish between Senior Top Management and Other Top Management, targets should be adjusted to the following:

• Senior Top Management - 5 points

In error, companies might forget to make the adjustment and continue to use the original     targets.