ASA March 2025 Eds Note
Editorial
This month is bumper-packed with our members who have literally gone out into the vast world and are using their expertise and talents to achieve the most mind-blowing things. With the spotlight on Mandy Muchnick, Chief Revenue Officer at October Health, whose mission is to transform the mental fitness of individuals at leading companies. With mental wellness recently coming to the fore, and recent data revealing that mental wellness will be the leading cause of disability by 2030 – it is something that organisations need to start putting more emphasis on and see how they can alleviate anxiety and stress on employees.
What particularly struck my attention in Mandy Muchnick’s interview was her insight as to how toxic work cultures and mental health are intricately linked and have been cited to be one of the main reasons for resignations with a whopping 60% of all exit interviews.
Her exact words: “Regrettable resignations are one of the costliest outcomes for any organisation. The cost of losing a high performer can equate to twice their annual salary, when factors such as lost organisational knowledge and the cost of recruiting and training a new employee are taken into account.”
October Health addresses this by making it possible to take a live pulse of the business, helping leaders identify pockets of toxic culture, flight risk and burnout risk while they are still brewing and before they start to take their toll on the organisation in the form of churn. Read more on page 8
Don’t miss the special feature on veteran chartered accountant, Charles Stride, who at 84 has been a fearless advocate of justice, uncovered fraud, frequently challenged big corporations inconsistencies and pioneered forensic auditing way before it became a recognised discipline. After you’ve read his story on page 16 you’ll most likely want to meet him in person. So do I!
And then there’s beautiful Binita Morar CA(SA) who is based in Dubai and can do pretty much everything she sets her mind to from defying a deathly health issue, being a professional make-up artist, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro after breaking her leg, participating in Iron Man right to heading a super serious career in Leverage and Acquisition Finance. And we speaking multi-billions. Read more about her on page 26.
Life can be pretty unpredictable at times such as the Budget Speech suddenly cancelled last minute, not mentioning the multiple impacts. I was particularly amazed at how SAICA’s tax team rose to the occasion, forging ahead with the scheduled webinar and turned it into an opportunity for a lively debate and discussion of what does need to be addressed. Read on page 44.
Wishing you a happy month of March!
LYNN GRALA
Acting Editor: Accountancy SA
