X&Y
Berdien Petrov
Berdien is the Founder and Managing Director of 360° Wellness @ Work which focuses on the in-depth and holistic health and wellbeing of the individual in the workplace. Her 20 years of experience helps to unite teams and establish a happy, healthy workforce with high morale in companies. As a judge, she finds Africa’s Most Influential Women in Business and Government and Titans: Building Nations initiative important as it recognises men and woman who are doing an incredible job in terms of changing people and communities around them by sharing and using their skills sets. “I am honoured to be an adjudicator. There have been some phenomenal candidates this year and selecting winners has been tough. One thing that every winner has in common is their responsibility to the people around them,” communicates Berdien.
Dion Knoeson
Dion has been the CEO of CPIS since 1994. He has managed and completed 46 projects successfully in numerous industries in 15 countries. Dion specialises in strategy implementation, corporate operational and financial improvement and corporate strategic development related disciplines. In the last ten years, he has focused on medium enterprises where demand for growth & development remains high.
Elaine Palmer
Elaine is the Manager of Human Resources Professional Services for Exxaro group of mines. Her responsibilities include remuneration, leadership, change management, employee relations, HR development and more. She has formal and informal conversations around performance, individual development, career plans and personal wellbeing. “I always try to steer my team towards working as one,” she says. Being a woman in a male dominated industry is not insurmountable. “You have to work extra hard to prove yourself before getting accepted as an equal counterpart, mostly by the older generation. Important lesson: take control. Do not play the victim. Don’t give others power over you. Execute, execute, execute is key.”
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AFRICA’S MOST INFLUENTIAL WOMEN 2016/2017