CHRO Magazine 2018 - 1st Issue

FOR HR EXECUTIVES | 1 | 2018 | CHRO.CO.ZA

CHRO Unilever Leena Nair Ignite the human spark HR Director Mondelēz Cebile Xulu The truth about transformation VP HR Lonmin Khaya Ngcwembe Speak with one voice

CHRO Vodacom

Matimba Mbungela

HR INDABA AFRICA PAGE 32

THE PROOF IS IN THE NUMBERS

CHRO

advisory board

Welcome Impact that matters

It is with great excitement and anticipation that I welcome you to the very first issue of CHRO Magazine.

CHRO Magazine will provide helpful tools and tips from seasoned experts and deep-dives on topics that matter to the HR community in these challenging and ambiguous times. This will enable us to keep our organisations on point, ahead of the curve, resilient and agile.

As 21st century CHROs operating during the Fourth Industrial Revolution, we are part of a profound shift in the way we shape and influence business success. Digitisation, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning tools have disrupted recruitment practices, effectively lowering costs and obtaining candidates with the better fit. The long list of today’s trends that are changing our reality includes a move away from employee engagement to employee experience, bots, wellness apps, predictive software, different models of remuneration and benefits, fighting harassment, ensuring inclusion and a plethora of new-age compliance and regulatory requirements.

Old tricks are quickly becoming obsolete. The CHRO role has been shifting for years, and 2018 may be the year we see this shift go full-throttle. We live in a fast-paced age of disruption and operate in an increasingly complex business landscape. CHROs are required to lead with impact that matters. This publication will enable you to give direction and influence the strategic growth of your businesses, and contribute to the future of work.

CHRO Magazine will ignite new ideas and stimulate diverse approaches and solutions that will lead to extraordinary organisational performance. It will inspire you to take your organisation to new levels of agility, growth and results. The content will be generated by well-seasoned, highly rated, trusted and respected HR professionals. This publication will always aim to engage, inform and inspire.

Happy reading,

PROF SHIRLEY ZINN CHRO SOUTH AFRICA BOARD ADVISOR | AUTHOR | SEASONED HR EXEC

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All about the HR Indaba Africa 2018 on page 32

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12 The proof is in the numbers HR has a seat at the table but, to earn respect at the table, HR professionals must learn to speak the language of the numbers and the business, says Vodacom CHRO Matimba Mbungela.

18 Ignite the human spark “We need to talk about the opportunities technology creates, not just about the threats,” says global Unilever CHRO Leena Nair. She also talks about purpose, empathy and the best way to get your message across to fellow executives.

54 The truth about transformation Mondelēz International’s HR Director Cebile Xulu talks frankly about transformation, or the lack thereof, in corporate South Africa.

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And further

04 Shirley Zinn 09 Sungula Nkabinde 50 Raymond de Villiers 64 Sanne van den Eijnde 70 Phiona Martin

66 Speak with one voice Executives have to find a way to sing from the same hymn book, even if their roles seem to have competing demands, says Lonmin’s Khaya Ngcwembe.

22 #HRCurriculaMustFall: Loshni Govender 36 Stickler for the basics: Njabulo Mashigo 42 Human touch: tips from HR execs 60 A heart for talent: Anneke Andrews

CHRO Community 26 All systems go for CHRO SA 32 HR Indaba Africa 2018 74 Meeting Maud Meijvis

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HR INDABA AFRICA Managing editor Sungula Nkabinde snkabinde@chro.co.za +27 (0)72 7416171

The HR Indaba Africa is the largest conference and expo for HR professionals on the continent. Themed ‘It’s time to unlock your true potential’, the inaugural event is expected to draw many thousands of HR leaders to the Sandton Convention Centre on 3 and 4 October 2018. Registration is entirely free for HR professionals who register with code HR2018 on www.hr-indaba.co.za.

As HR executive, the HR Indaba gives you and your team a unique opportunity to learn everything you need to know about the latest HR technology, HR strategy, company culture, labour laws, recruitment, employee engagement and HR leadership. The HR Indaba brings together thousands of colleagues, suppliers, platforms, universities, specialists, recruitment agencies, CHROs and thought leaders.

Join your peers from Workday, Barclays Africa, AngloGold Ashanti, BHBW SA, British American Tobacco, Exxaro, Ford, Hilton, Mondelez South Africa, PwC SA, SMEC, Thomson Reuters and Estee Lauder in an event that will hand you the keys to improve and grow your career, your leadership, your team and your organisation. ​ ontact CHRO South Africa C community manager Maud Meijvis (mmeijvis@chro.co.za) for team registrations, to speak at the event or to exhibit at the expo. www.hr-indaba.co.za

Editor in chief Joël Roerig jroerig@chro.co.za +27 (0)76 371 2856 CHRO community manager Maud Meijvis mmeijvis@chro.co.za +27 (0)60 691 8849 Photography Patrick Furter, Angie Lázaro, Nikolaas du Plooy Other contributors Cebile Xulu, Corné Engelbrecht, Kate Ferreira, Judith Kamffer, Loshni Govender, Phiona Martin, Raymond de Villiers, Sanne van den Eijnde Advertising Ashik Ramkelawan ashik@chro.co.za +27 (0)82 570 9482 Publisher CFO Enterprises (Pty) Ltd 1 Wedgewood Link | Bryanston | Johannesburg | 2191 | South Africa +27 (0)11 083 7515 CHRO community CHRO South Africa is the organisation for HR executives in South Africa. Our goal is to connect HR professionals online, through events and this magazine in to share knowledge, exchange interests and open up business opportunities. For more information and membership options please visit CHRO.co.za.

Printing Novus Holdings Design Cor Lesterhuis © 2018 CFO Enterprises (Pty) Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

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Hard-hitting It seems like only yesterday that the CHRO community for learning, networking and building your career started to take shape. It is such a pleasure to meet so many HR executives from all walks of life and to listen to you opening up about your personal and professional lives. It certainly gives me great insight into what it takes to rise to the top in any organisation.

One of the community’s earliest supporters, the impressive Vodacom CHRO Matimba Mbungela, graces the cover of this first-ever issue of CHRO Magazine. He speaks about why HR professionals have to get comfortable with the quantitative side of business performance to be taken seriously at board level (page 12). Further on, Lonmin’s Khaya Ngcwembe shares his thoughts on what it takes to foster a team spirit among the top executives of your organisation, as tension can creep in very easily when every function is vying for the same limited budget (page 66).

In a hard-hitting opinion piece (page 54), Mondelēz International’s Cebile Xulu explains why she believes corporate South Africa has failed to transform. She tells some tough truths about a topic that is often sugar-coated if not entirely avoided in corporate society. An indisputable highlight is the exclusive interview with Unilever’s global CHRO Leena Nair (page 18).

Reflecting on the past year, this issue also sums up the highlights of the CHRO South Africa community in 2017. We hope you enjoy reading this first-ever as much as we enjoyed producing it.

SUNGULA NKABINDE SNKABINDE@CHRO.CO.ZA +27 (0)72 741 6171

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Zuko Mdwaba joins Workday Zuko Mdwaba has joined barnstorming cloud software firm Workday as regional sales director for South Africa. Zuko is a highly regarded senior professional with nearly 20 years of technical and sales experience in the IT sector at leading companies like Oracle and, most recently, as country leader at SAS. “I joined Workday for two key reasons,” says Zuko.

“I am incredibly enthusiastic about the technology, and even more importantly, about the positive disruption that Workday brings to market through innovation. Workday is unique because it puts people at the centre of enterprise software. I am excited to be part of Workday’s phenomenal growth potential and to make a difference to our customers here in South Africa.”

Discovery hires Kodisang

BAT top employer

Tax break

Tswelo Kodisang has joined the dynamic financial services firm Discovery as Chief People Officer from February 2018. Tswelo has moved on from a CHRO role at Tiger Brands, where he worked nearly four years. Tswelo’s HR leadership skills were honed during a long career at Unilever inside and outside of South Africa.

British American Tobacco (BAT) has been awarded the Top Employer Africa seal of recognition by the Top Employers Institute. This is in addition to the company already being certified as a Top Employer South Africa, Angola, Mozambique, Kenya and Nigeria. The company received its certification during a ceremony in Johannesburg.

The first R500,000 of a severance benefit received in the lifetime of an individual is exempt from normal tax, with the remainder taxed at increasing marginal rates, with 36 percent being the maximum rate. After submissions from the South African Institute of Tax Professionals, SARS has now accepted this treatment of retrenched employees.

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Diploma mill exposed A recent investigation in the UK found that thousands of nationals bought fake degrees from a multi-million-pound “diploma mill” in Pakistan. An investigation by the BBC Radio programme ‘File on Four’ alleged that Axact, which claims to be the “world’s largest IT company”, operates a network of hundreds of fake online universities run by agents from a Karachi call centre. More than 215,000 fake qualifications have already been sold globally, through 350 fictitious high schools and universities, annually raking in at least R600 million.

Bottom of the list

Sithole joins Amplats

A survey from Forbes Insights and Deloitte among more than 1,600 executives worldwide, reveals that talent/HR is at the very bottom of the list of issues executives focus on. At the same time, however, only a quarter of executives express high confidence that they have the right workforce composition and skill sets needed for the future.

Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) has appointed Mabore Sithole as Head of Human Resource Development and Transformation. Mabore has over 15 years of experience at senior and executive level at big corporates like Fraser Alexander, Sasol, Otis and Arivia.kom. In 2014, she published a book called Chase Your Dreams.

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CHRO.co.za is the online hub for South African HR professionals, a daily virtual pitstop for high achievers who want to stay ahead. The content portal of CHRO South Africa is experiencing a spectacular growth in readership on a monthly basis and is expected to be the number one HR website in South Africa by mid-2018.

The unique offering includes: • Interviews with prominent HR executives • Exclusive guest articles from leading experts • Profiles of the CHRO Top 100 • All new appointments of HR leaders • Fresh and sometimes provocative trend articles • Information about CHRO South Africa events • Online access to CHRO Magazine • The latest and greatest HR training • A free online membership with weekly newsletter Contribute Do you know an HR director who has great insights to share? Do you want to contribute your expertise? Do you have ideas that can help CHRO.co.za get bigger and better faster? Then contact managing editor Sungula Nkabinde today.

Sungula Nkabinde | snkabinde@ chro.co.za | +27 (0)72 741 6171

The proof is in the numbers HR has a seat at the table but, to earn respect at the table, HR professionals must learn to speak the language of numbers and business, says Matimba Mbungela.

BY SUNGULA NKABINDE

CHRO

interview

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I chose to be in HR. It’s my life’s work and, even if such a time came that I retired, or moved on to start a new business, I wouldn’t switch to a different field,” says Vodacom CHRO Matimba Mbungela who, unlike most human resource practitioners that stumbled into their careers unexpectedly, had his heart set on HR since the beginning of his working life.

As soon as he graduated with a Bachelor of Administration degree in 1990, Matimba began his HR career at the Department of Agriculture & Forestry. From then he moved to Mondi, Unilever, BMW SA and, in 2003 joined Vodacom where, within a short space of time, he was promoted to the role of Group Executive for Talent, Learning and Development, where he made an immediate impact, integrating the company's talent strategy into the Vodafone global strategy.

of Organisational Effectiveness & Change, and Regional Head of Talent within the Africa, Middle East & Asia Pacific region. It was during this time that Matimba gained his most valuable experience towards becoming a seasoned HR executive.

“When you’re the head of talent for an entire region you have quite a lot of influence. It was then that I learnt what it took to make big decisions that would have a significant impact on a multinational company,” says Matimba. “When I was the Head of Organisational Effectiveness, it was quite a big change because the way Vodafone does it is different to how it had been done in South Africa. It is very quantitative and results-driven.”

Hardcore numbers It was an experience that Matimba took into his role as CHRO of Vodacom, which he was offered upon his return to South Africa. And it has held him in good stead as it encouraged him to take a more business-minded approach to HR, which is more about “the hardcore numbers.”

Matimba was later seconded to Vodafone’s London office where he fulfilled his long-standing goal of working abroad and became the Regional Head

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Matimba Mbungela CHRO Vodacom Group

Work: In his current role since April 2014. Started his HR career with jobs at the Department of Agriculture & Forestry, Mondi, Unilever and BMW SA, before joining Vodacom in 2003 and fulfilling various roles of increasing seniority.

Education: Completed a B.Admin at the University of Venda and a post-graduate HR diploma at the University of Cape Town in 1993. Has a Strategy & Human Resources MBA, which he did at the University of KwaZulu-Natal between 2003 and 2006.

Matimba believes that when one sits with the CEO and CFO of an organisation, the CHRO must be able to demonstrate some form of proof of the impact they are making. He says that more often than not, such proof is in the figures. Many more HR professionals should be doing the same, as this is the best way to command respect from their C-suite colleagues, Matimba says.

Says Matimba: “Sometimes we tend to shy away from numbers as HR people and forget that the business language is numbers. And that’s why HR professionals often feel like their contributions are perceived to be irrelevant. They don’t speak the business language. For example, one of the key things that we do quite well is thinking about how we drive efficiencies in the business and develop hardcore metrics of what an efficiency roadmap looks like. When you do this, it is possible to go into the detail of what efficiency statistics should look like when the business looks at its long-term plans.”

Whether one is talking about the number of deep

experts in a particular field or the cost of HR per employee, it is important to have measurable metrics as HR leaders. While other HR priorities like recruitment and training are important, Matimba says HR executives need to realise that they will get a much better reception at ‘the table’ when they come with a set of quantitative deliverables, which can be measured against the performance of the business.

“If you can do that, you change the narrative totally and you then have an opportunity to make a real impact because the other HR priorities can become added discussion points when sitting with an executive team that knows you speak their language,” he says.

Mindset change Matimba has already begun changing the mindset of his own HR leadership team, making sure that their point of departure should always be to think about the impact that their ideas and strategies will have on the company’s bottom line. Every time Vodacom releases quarterly results, for exam-

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“If you can [come with a set of quantitative deliverables], you change the narrative totally and you then have an opportunity to make a real impact.”

ple, he meets with them and everyone is quizzed on the financial performance of the business. They all then discuss the impact on the HR division itself and the impact that HR is having or should be having on the business.

“I then summarise those discussions and do a business performance analysis from an HR point of view, which helps in communicating issues around return on human capital employed and such things,” says Matimba.

“I’m a strong believer that you learn by doing things. I would sit with HR Vice Presidents who are sitting in their various functions, whether it be the technology exco or the talent management team, and say to them, ‘Okay, let’s discuss what needs to be raised at board level, and what are the operational and financial aspects around those issues’.”

believes will help any HR executives make themselves heard at C-suite level. “And, once it is established that one really understands the business as an HR person, it becomes much easier to make a case for what otherwise might be considered somewhat softer HR issues.”

During the Finance Indaba Africa 2017, Matimba spoke about what HR professionals wished finance professionals would keep in mind, saying they had to remember that people are not machines. He said that finance people can sometimes be so immersed in trying to deliver month-end results or having to deliver a perfect audit, that they forget that the people who are doing that work need to be inspired and need to feel like the organisation cares about them.

“Sometimes I think we overemphasise the success of a business in relation to the numbers and the commercial propositions instead of the person behind those. I think that is one of the things that CFOs have to think about. Don't underestimate the fact that these people are looking up to you for inspiration.”

When the time comes to set the boardroom agenda, one is then armed with the tools and the necessary jargon to make the case for their strategic objectives. It is an approach that Matimba

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CHRO

interview

Ignite the human spark “We need to talk about the opportunities technology creates, not just about the challenges,” says global Unilever CHRO Leena Nair.

She also talks about purpose, well-being, empathy and the best way to get your message across to fellow executives.

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BY JOËL ROERIG

eena Nair eats glass ceilings for breakfast.

Since 1992, when she joined Hindustan Unilever as a summer trainee, she was the first female manager to opt to work for a time in a factory, the first woman on the management committee and the youngest-ever executive director.

In March 2016, three years after relocating to London, Leena was appointed as the first female, the first Asian, and the youngestever Chief Human Resource Officer of Unilever, leading a “global people agenda” – as she calls it − that oversees 169,000 employees in over 100 countries.

As one of the most popular speakers at last year’s Workday Rising in Barcelona and at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January this year, Leena is fast becoming a global icon of HR leadership.

With great power comes great

responsibility − something Leena is experiencing on a daily basis, she says. “I have been fortunate to have been the first woman in a number of things. Being able to break so many glass ceilings is a privilege, but it is also a responsibility. People look to me to do the right thing and I am well aware that should I do the wrong thing, it may have a huge impact. I have met this responsibility through a deep sense of personal purpose, and have set myself a goal to inspire a million women. I had a very humble upbringing and could not have dreamt of the opportunities I have today. I want to inspire people and tell them: you can follow your dream.”

that many employees are feeling overwhelmed and often their work-life balance is out of whack.”

Out of whack

Tech vs humans

One of the CHRO’s most important tasks is to manage the well-being of employees that are trying to cope with a rapidly changing world, says Leena. “When I speak to other HR leaders, they all tell me

Leena sees technology as an enabler, rather than a threat.

When asked what her favourite new tech on the block is, Leena says: “I like everything mobile. I do try to introduce a lot of technology in the way I work,

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Asked how she deals with those challenges personally, she mentioned one of her key values: purpose. “I want to ignite the human spark and I am very passionate about that as my purpose. I also have my little rituals for my own sanity and I jog at least once a week. You need to invest in yourself and look after your own well-being. Being involved in the World Economic Forum was about building my own capability and reminding myself of my purpose. That gives me an anchor.”

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particularly ensuring we optimise our communication. I am also a big believer in sentiment analysis of external feedback, which I can now follow in realtime on a screen in my office, instead of doing this only once a year. I try to immerse myself in technology, but I am a constant embarrassment to my teenage boys who tell me I should do so much more with my iPhone.”

Part of employees feeling overwhelmed is their fear about technology and what it means for their personal future. CHROs have a big role to play in combatting negativity, says Leena.

“Everyone is a bit scared, and many people are anxious about the impact of technology. A lot of the narrative has been negative. Headlines like ‘Robots are coming for your job’ sell newspapers.” Leena says she wants to build a positive narrative around technology. “The first thing we need to do is talk about the opportunities technology creates, not just about the challenges.

The second thing we need to do is what I spoke about earlier: make sure people have a purpose and an anchor. What gives you meaning in your life? We need to instill confidence.”

“What we need is a reskilling revolution,” she says, before citing some sobering statistics.

Korn Ferry recently revealed that 67 percent of CEOs believe that technology – not humanity – holds the key to the future of their companies. At Davos, Accenture said that worldwide

interview

spending on cognitive and AI systems increased by 60 percent between 2016 and 2017, but that only 3 percent of CEOs plan to significantly increase investment in training programmes over the next three years. Leena doesn’t like it one bit, as she is nurturing a culture of ‘snackable’ (often and in small portions) learning at Unilever. “This research frustrates me.”

Measurements Leena names energy, creativity, empathy and collaboration as her most important values, but those are not always the trademarks of big multinationals. She says that CHROs need to “create a reason” for (fellow) board members to listen to what they have to say. “I have been very blessed to work for Unilever. I have a very supportive board.

As HR leaders we need to talk the language of business and be able to show just how critical our people are to our success by quantifying the value they create and using metrics to tell our story in an effective way.”

Leena then acts out an imaginary discussion with a CEO and CFO advocating empathy, but not getting through to the exec-

“What we need is a reskilling revolution.”

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utive colleagues. “It is up to me to stand up and say: the productivity has gone up by so much because of the increased well-being of employees. Thankfully, the availability of data and analytics allows us to do that. For example, my team is able to show how investing in increasing our spend on LinkedIn is saving us recruitment costs. We are accountable for everything we do in HR.” Looking at real business impact might also mean that traditional measures should be thrown out of the window, says Leena.

“All companies measure attrition, but what is the point of it?” she asks, indicating that there is not a lot of value in producing numbers that describe what happened in the past. “Instead, we have invested in predictive analytics at Unilever and we are now 75 percent accurate in forecasting who is going to leave. That allows us to take proactive measures, save money and directly improve the P&L. My message is always: talk to the business about the impact and effectiveness of what you do.”

Factory workers Leena’s history as someone who started working in a factory has stood her in good stead, she says, calling it “very, very important” that CHROs gain experience in the trenches. “I spent the first six years of my career selling, working from three different factories.

I learned so many lessons. I don’t just talk about empathy with workers for the sake of it. I have worn a factory uniform. I have

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Leena Nair CHRO Unilever Work: Chief HR Officer at Unilever since March 2016. Started as summer trainee at Hindustan Unilever in India and scaled the ladder to become VP HR for South Asia in 2007. Moved to London in 2013 as Global Diversity Leader and led the Employer Brand Strategy.

Education: Diploma (gold medal) in personnel management, human resources at XLRI Jamshedpur in India.

worn safety helmets and boots. I have done night shifts.”

Now responsible for employees in over 300 factories with nearly 1,000 related labour unions, Leena says negotiations with staff representatives should always aim to create a win-win outcome. “One of the most difficult things for an HR leader is restructuring. As responsible businesses we have to do that responsibly. We need to support people through it. Our factories also need to have the

highest standards. We genuinely care about everyone who works for us. Personally, I treat all people the same, from the CEO to the receptionist. There is no difference in tone. I give them the same respect, the same empathy.”

Leena emphasises that finding purpose in work is not reserved for executives. “At the factory floor, we also try to help people understand why they do what they do. For example, we have people packaging soap day

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in and day out. We took them to villages in India where children were dying because of lack of hygiene,” she says, referring to the the 117-year-old soap brand Lifebouy that runs a rural hygiene programme promoting hand washing with soap to reduce diarrheal deaths. “We showed the factory workers that with this soap that they package, we can ensure that people are not dying. That changed the way people saw what they do every day. We need to bring meaning to everybody’s job.” 

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education

#HRcurriculaMustFall Rhodes University’s Loshni Govender explains why it is time for a multi-disciplinary approach to the teaching and development of future HR practitioners.

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BY LOSHNI GOVENDER

R is no longer just about administering processes. Problem-solving abilities are required to provide appropriate support and advice at all levels of the business where HR solutions impact on individuals and collectives, such as communities of practice and society at large.

Because South Africa is legislatively heavy, a lot of what we do is given effect to by the Constitution, which is then devolved into the statuary prescripts. The ability to bridge

the gap between HR capability in terms of the interpretation and implementation of the laws and drawing up practical people solutions based on those prescriptions is of the utmost importance.

Foreign practices There is still a lot of room for growth in the HR field locally because the profession has been and is still significantly reliant on practices located abroad.

Europe and North America have very different contexts and local HR practitioners have been adopting practices that are not really tailor-made for the South African context.

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Let’s consider employee engagement as an example. As an HR concept, it’s extremely important in the United States context and rightly so because you always want to engage your employees. We also place a high value on it here at home. But, if you just had to look at the dichotomy between HR practices in the US and in South Africa, the latter is highly unionised whereas the former has a high-profit orientation. Adherence to the Labor Relations Act, the Employment Equity Act, the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and the Immigration Act are typical examples that require compliance in South Africa.

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How can the implementation of HR from an adherence perspective be upheld if HR practices are simply borrowed from other countries?

If HR professionals are not aligning their practices to the local context in terms of the legal framework or being cognisant and responsive to socio-economic circumstances, there will be a disjuncture from the onset.

The profession needs to think critically about the future of HR in South Africa and the need to develop its own context-based practices.

Current and responsive While conducting my research I’ve found that HR, as a field, is grossly undervalued in South Africa. There are many contributory factors, including a lack of understanding of the function, role and scope of HR, and of the related competencies required to manage and deliver a relevant and efficient HR service.

HR curricula should be preparing students for the changing world of work by enabling them with knowledge, tools

education

and research capabilities to thrive in a career that will place increasing demands on them.

To truly add value, they need to be agile problem solvers, with an understanding of financial and operational matters within the businesses were they work.

Another aspect that requires attention is the development of curricula that are more current and responsive.

HR is still considered peripheral to other professions within business, when in fact it is the people within an organisation that are central to driving business success. Along with finance, these are the most important functions in business. Therefore, the positioning of HR is understated and is not fully addressed.

That said, improving HR is not only the responsibility of academia, but of all HR practitioners’ and CEOs. Senior HR practitioners must find ways of giving back to the profession to ensure that it grows both intellectually and in stature. Whether this occurs through the mentorship of others or doing research within the field, or becoming a

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Loshni Govender

HR Director Rhodes University Work: Joined Rhodes University in February 2015. Previously held positions as HR Director Organisational Development, Learning and Development and Talent Management at Walter Sisulu University, and HR Director Organisational Development at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.

Education: Qualifications include a Masters degree in Education, a postgraduate certificate in Education, a postgraduate certificate in Management, a postgraduate Certificate in Labour Law, and a BA Honours degree focusing on Industrial Psychology. Currently a PHD Candidate at Stellenbosch University.

thought leader, every HR leader must acknowledge that they have a responsibility to elevate the profession so that younger colleagues coming into the field can be proud of having a career in HR. ď‚Ł

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CHRO

community

Workday goes SA Barnstorming solutions company Workday officially launched in South Africa on 15 February 2018 during the first-ever combined executive summit for CFOs and CHROs in the beautifully decorated Summer Place in Hyde Park, Johannesburg.

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ith a historical political turnaround less than 24 hours earlier, the venue was brimming with optimism and positivity. The event was opened by Phil Wilmington, global vice chairman of Workday, the finance and HR software solutions company that is blowing traditional ERP and solutions providers out of the water on a global scale.

He admitted to being “impressed by the energy and enthusiasm” of South African business leaders and professed to be amazed at the “fantastic turnout” for the event, which doubled as the official South African launch of Workday. With about 200 attendees, the event was the biggest country launch that Workday has ever had globally.

“We are living in an era where the challenge to operate and help change your organisation every day is no longer the same.

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Business-as-usual is no longer an acceptable approach,” said Phil, adding that he was proud to announce the company’s launch on a day that was so monumental for South Africa: the first working day of the new president Cyril Ramaphosa.

“This is the most global, mobile and multigenerational workforce in history and, in 2016 alone, $3.5 trillion was announced in mergers and acquisitions. Fiftytwo percent of companies on the fortune 500 in 2000 no lon-

The Workday team: Duncan Hardcastle (Regional Sales Manager South Africa), Phil Wilmington (Vice Chairman), Carolyn Horne (RVP UK and RSA), Gonzalo Benedit (SVP EMEA) and Zuko Mdwaba (Country Director South Africa).

ger exist today. And the rate of change of the business climate has only accelerated since then.

What hasn’t kept pace with the rate of change is the type of tool that is delivered to executives, associates and business leaders that allows them to keep up with the pace of the evolution of the world of work," he said.

Happy employees Speaking in a breakaway session, Phil’s overarching message was that Workday was a simple company in its approach to business.

It’s an organisation that was founded on and which remains focused on employees and creating a work environment that gets them excited and makes them happy because happy employees take better care of customers.

Therefore, instead of thinking about how to adapt to the world of digitisation, business leaders can focus on growing their business and let Workday stay on top of issues like people analytics. With 250 local companies already interacting with

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Workday applications, Phil said it is very rare that an organisation would enter a market like South Africa with such an established foundation.

He did not spend much time talking about the calibre of companies that use Workday today − a list which includes the likes of Netflix, Amazon, Unilever and Aon − but rather said that most of them only had positive things to say about the platform.

“Today, about an hour ago actu-

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community

Attendees making a pledge on the wisdom tree for Afrika Tikkun.

ally, it was announced that Workday is now placed seventh in the Fortune 100 Best Companies To Work For in the US, so we’re very excited about that…,” said Phil. “When asked if they would do business with us again or recommend Workday to other customers, 98 percent said ‘we are very satisfied with our relationship with Workday and we would recommend it to colleagues and associates’.”

User-friendly Chelsea Theologo, HR Specialist

at Brambles, echoed the sentiment, after having switched to Workday from a competing local platform. In terms of time-saving alone, she said the benefit has been huge, especially from the reporting side of things, as the time it took to complete the sustainability section of the company’s annual report reduced from a month to just three days.

“It was very easy to use from both an end-user perspective as an employee and then also when

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I crossed over to the HR admin side,” said Chelsea. “I found it very user-friendly. One of the major differences from the previous system we had been using was that the local platform had manager approvals, which meant things like compensation changes had to start with a manager. Now that happens outside the system and HR puts it into the Workday platform. It has forced us to really change our processes. But that is just a business choice that has nothing to do with Workday’s functionality.

CHRO

We are now doing salary reviews, annual performance appraisals, all calibrated on Workday.”

Jason Davies, Group Head of Leadership, Learning and Talent at Barclays Africa Group, who is also overseeing the company’s separation from the UK-based Barclays PLC, said the process of implementing Workday allowed the bank to engage with its existing processes and reflect on what was working and what wasn’t.

“People will know how tough it is to get accurate headcount data

community

and how much more challenging it is to get analytics relating to that data,” he said. “Workday does away with those kinds of problems completely.”

David Sohigian, Workday’s Chief Technology Officer, explained the ethos of the company in so far as it translates through the technology, elaborating on the ‘Power of One’, which speaks to Workday’s single-source methodology and allows all its customers to access to the same data source and use the same infrastructure to which

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all Workday’s clients have access.

Workday Solution Consultant Sean Masterson then did a practical demonstration of the platform, showing attendees how the platform could be used to do everything from logging leave and approving compensation changes to providing learning and career advice. 

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community

All systems go for CHRO SA Having successfully launched in February 2017, CHRO South Africa held its first year-end function at the Saxon Boutique Hotel on 30 November 2017, hosting a cast of top-notch HR executives who shared their thoughts and plans for the coming year.

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n 2018, plans are ambitious, with the launch of this magazine, an energetic new community manager (see page 74), a full calendar of exclusive events and the first-ever HR Indaba on 3 and 4 October 2018 at the Sandton Convention Centre. Workday, the fast-growing global provider of cloud-based finance and HR software, has already been confirmed as mainline sponsor.

In 2017, CHRO SA hosted five successful events, culminating in the November get-together, where the focus was very much on talent. Marge Mantjie, Head of HR at Adams & Adams, sat on a panel alongside Moula Mokhobo-

Amegashie, Managing Partner at Drayton Glendower & Mokhobo, and James Ramakau, Senior Human Resources Manager, AngloGold Ashanti, and said there was a war for talent, particularly in the legal space where international players are coming into the market.

Freedom People are increasingly looking for freedom, less bureaucracy and real mentorship, agreed Moula, who has tried to build a model where she treats everyone like a shareholder in the business. That means creating a culture where everybody understands the business objectives and is given freedom to pur-

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sue those goals in their own way.

“From a flexible working environment perspective, we come to the office to meet clients but, at the end of the day, everybody can work from wherever they want.”

James brought the conversation back to a topic that was the subject of an earlier CHRO SA roundtable last year, which was to bring back the ‘human’ in human resources, which he said was something that the profession was losing. “As we become stronger business people, we become very hard and cold when it comes to the human element.

For our executive team, we try to remind that we are dealing with individuals who still deserve to be

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Establishing the CFO community: Bahle Goba-Matsho (consultant), Matimba Mbungela (Vodacom), Blair Mackenzie (Ericsson), Busi Mtsweni (Barclays Africa), Candice Watson (BAT), Anneke Andrews (Deloitte), Donald Khumalo (JSE Limited), Khaya Ngubane (Minor Hotels), Loshni Govender (Rhodes University), Mabore Sithole (Fraser Alexander), Sheila Motsepe (T-Systems South Africa), Thami Mvumbi (Murray & Roberts Construction), Kgomotso Molobye (Openserve), Yvette Mujinga Malengela (Millicom).

HR leaders: Donald Khumalo (JSE), Tumelo Seaketso (Deloitte), Ditiro Chesalokile (Royal Bafokeng) and Tshidi Khunou (FNB Wealth and Investments).

treated with respect and dignity.”

The point was echoed by Tshidi Khunou, experienced Hire Recruitment Manager at PwC South Africa. “It’s important, therefore, to remember the value of teams who are often experiencing the same levels of stress and pressure that we do as executives. I think that is the one thing that we are missing in the HR community,” said Tshidi.

Magic cures CHRO South Africa was born in the beginning of 2017, when founding community manager Didi Sehume and the Dutch professional community building guru Melle Eijckelhoff started

introducing the concept to HR executives. Vodacom CHRO Matimba Mbungela hosted the very first roundtable at the Vodacom head office in March, featuring two separate discussions that were centred around how HR execs created value for their respective organisations.

“As experienced execs, you will know there are no magic cures out there. There are no silver bullets and there are no recipes that you can get in a book that will ensure the success of any given person, initiative or organisation. The purpose of the roundtables is to give HR execs a little bit of perspective,” said Melle at that event, which saw

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CHROs putting their signatures to the official founding document of the network.

Four more roundtables followed in 2017, with many discussions touching on the use of technology to plan and track performance, both from the people side and the actual operations of the business. It was often in the conversations away from the main event that executives seemed to find the most value.

“I walked out of there with such a degree of comfort because I realised that I was not the only one going through what I was going through,” said one CHRO. “It made me feel like I had to be doing something right.” 

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hr indaba

Mind-blowing HR extravaganza The inaugural HR Indaba Africa promises to be an astonishing gathering of thousands of HR professional yearning to learn, network and unlock their true potential.

W

hat if there was a twoday-long conference where human resources professionals could get up to speed with the latest trends, technologies and HR hacks?

What if there was one HR event a year where all the speakers that matter for South Africa’s ‘people agenda’ shared their sharpest and freshest insights?

What if there was an exhibiting

floor full of HR service companies explaining the virtues of the latest and greatest solutions?

Such an event now exists.

On 3 and 4 October 2018, the first-ever HR Indaba Africa will bring together thousands of colleagues, suppliers, platforms, universities, specialists, recruitment agencies, CHROs and thought leaders. Registrations are pouring in and thousands of HR professionals are expected at The Sandton Convention Centre

Incredible speakers As the programme for the HR Indaba Africa is being fine-tuned, more and more names of speakers and topics are being revealed on www. hr-indaba.co.za. HR professionals are advised to regularly check the website for updates. In the meantime, here are five speakers CHRO Magazine is particularly excited about.

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for two days of learning and networking.

The event will provide CHROs with the unique opportunity to send their entire team to an event that takes just two days, is completely free and is bound to energise and update like no course or on-the-job training can achieve do. What better way to plot HR’s way forward than with thousands of equally ambitious and excited HR colleagues? What better way to shape your organisation of the future − and your

Hellen Lebone Hilton | Regional HR Director Africa & Indian Ocean Hellen has over 15 years of experience across a variety of sectors, including hospitality, information technology, petrochemicals, and financial services sectors, working with both local and multinational companies. At Hilton, she has been directly involved with the group’s professional development programmes, which aim to train the next generation of leaders and ensure that women are well represented throughout the organisation.

CHRO

hr indaba

It’s

TIME to unlock your

TRUE POTENTIAL Register with invitation code HR2018

country of the future?

“Generations and the way they approach the world are rapidly changing and more and more business leaders realise − or find out the hard way − that the organisation’s strategy needs to be aligned with its HR strategy,” says Maud Meijvis, community manager for CHRO South Africa.

“This is the age of HR! The success of your organisation now depends on the way you as HR directors build the skills, talent and capacity for the future.

That’s why I feel the theme of this first of many annual HR Indabas is particularly apt: it’s time to unlock your true potential.”

Experts expect 2018 to be a turbulent year for the HR profession, says Maud. “With AI high on the agenda, should you be scared to lose your job or embrace it to let it enhance your future? That is what many employees worry about and it is a question organisations − led by their CHROs and CEOs − should have a clear

Tirelo Sibisi AngloGold Ashanti | Executive Vice President of Group HR Tirelo, whose background has primarily been in talent management, CSI and transformation, is someone who cares deeply about the importance of leading a purposeful life. She has come to be referred to as the conscience of the organisation wherever she worked because it is important to her that she makes a meaningful impact in every role she has had, whether it is through mentorship programmes or building communities.

4 things you need to know 1. 3 & 4 October 2018 at the Sandton Convention Centre 2. Free of charge for HR professionals 3. Register with code HR2018 on www. hr-indaba.co.za 4. Email Maud Meijvis at mmeijvis@ chro.co.za to get involved now

answer to.”

South Africa in particular suffers

Tumelo Molope SMEC | HR Division Leader for Africa Tumelo is responsible for HR strategy across all regional offices within the engineering company’s Africa Division. Having begun her career in the financial services and Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) consulting fields, she later became an HR professional, working for companies such as Sasol and Bowman Gilfillan Attorneys in the areas of diversity and inclusion, organisational development, transformation and talent management.

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from a massive skills shortage and HR leaders feel there is an increasing need for training programmes to get shorter. “Globally we also see a bigger focus on employee experience and improvements in the workplace to grow productivity,” adds Maud. ”The HR Indaba programme will be packed full of relevant topics like this and will give HR teams the chance to learn and network with other teams and swap notes.”

Highlights CHRO perspectives − your mind is the key to your success Always wanted to know, think, feel, become like one of the top CHROs in South Africa? Then join these exclusive sessions with SA’s top CHROs on stage.

The key to unlock a more productive work environment A passion for productiveness, innovation and a focus on

hr indaba

performance.

We hand you the keys to build a more productive team.

The key to unlock your true potential Dream big, set goals, take action.

We hand you the keys to take action. Learn how to upskill and enhance your career.

The key to unlock a cohesive company culture Culture is the guide where the handbook ends. Culture gives you the key to know how to behave when the boss isn’t in the room. We invite you to unlock the guide to a cohesive company culture.

Africa.With an amazing lineup of speakers, partners and exhibitors taking shape, HR Indaba is promising to rival − if not exceed − the value its sister event is bringing to the profession. “The HR Indaba gives you a unique opportunity to learn everything you need to know about the latest HR technology, HR strategy, company culture, labour laws, recruitment, employee engagement and HR leadership,” says Maud, who has made it her mission to help South African HR executives and HR professionals get ahead (see page 74). 

The HR Indaba Africa is put together by CHRO South Africa, which is part of CFO Enterprises, the innovative and cosmopolitan South African startup behind the success of the Finance Indaba

Elanie Kruger Tsebo Group | Group Organisational Effectiveness Director Elanie has a strong and diverse career spanning more than 20 years’ HR experience across four different industries, 10 of which were at board level. Her specialities, among other things, include the strategic positioning of HR as a business partner that can impact the bottom line. She also has a Masters degree in Commerce and is a registered industrial psychologist.

Sthembiso Phakathi Barclays Africa | Head of Organizational Effectiveness Sthe, as he is affectionately known, is an experienced and talented business advisor with a unique approach to organisational effectiveness. He works with his clients to harness culture and build competitive advantage through strategic focus, business connection and execution excellence. He’s known for his passion for organisation design and behavioural change management.

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categorie

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categorie

STICKLER FOR THE BASICS Njabulo Mashigo sees the modern HR function as strategic, and herself as an enabling partner to business. She shares how she’s applying this insight within HEINEKEN South Africa.

BY KATE FERREIRA

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interview

U

ntil she took up the reins as director for human resources at HEINEKEN South Africa, Njabulo Mashigo’s career was neatly split: seven years in FMCG human resources and seven in financial services. After graduation, she got her start at Unilever and SAB, before an opportunity to relocate – both geographically and in terms of industry – to the National Treasury came her way in 2009. It was her first foray into public service. From there, she joined the JSE. But FMCG was not done with Njabulo yet, and when HEINEKEN and Diageo dissolved the Brandhouse joint venture in 2015, she made the shift once again.

“I wasn’t looking to move back,” she says. “I was in a really good place at the JSE, and enjoyed a great relationship with CEO Nicky Newton-King. But at the back of my mind, I did miss the pace of FMCG,

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and I knew this was an incredible opportunity.

Ultimately, it was a decision led by curiosity. I was intrigued by the story of this brand, moving out of a joint venture, and taking its own future into its hands.”

Heineken heritage Two years on, HEINEKEN South Africa is entering into the next phase of maturity. Njabulo and the function she represents were part of navigating that path between being part of a global brand, and being a small South African enterprise building itself up from the ground. It was a complicated – and highly legislated – start, with the company having commitments to keep in terms of the retention of jobs (from the Brandhouse split), as well as creating more. Additionally, they had to embrace the heritage that is so integral to HEINEKEN, and simultaneously develop their own culture, plans and strategies.

“We need staff to understand that they are part of a bigger organisation, as well as the local entity. We focus on the family business history of Heineken beer in our onboarding process, but we also give recruits the global context, and how South Africa and the region fits into that context. We want people to understand that they are part of a global entity, and elements of that – such as behaviours, values and leadership expectations – are set at global level.”

She continues: “At the next level, we have also created our own local strategy, called Reach for the Stars. We co-created the strategy as part of our journey and, as a result, our leadership team and line managers take ownership of it.”

70-20-10 Developing staff is a key goal of the company, and Njabulo is determined that HR provides the

right kinds of opportunity to do so. She sees South Africa as a talent hub for the region and is proud that they have already had a handful of local staff handpicked for international teams.

Her approach to this imperative is equally strategic. “We believe in the 70-20-10 principle of training and developing staff. That means 70 percent learning on the job, 20 percent through coaching or mentoring, and only 10 percent through formal training. That’s quite a big mind shift for many people. Some still think of training or development as a shopping list of courses, but every day is a learning opportunity. And that’s especially true when you are introduced to a new organisation.”

HEINEKEN HR supports on-the-job learning through a programme of documenting learnings, development plans and building the capabilities of line managers to better support their “reports”. “We

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CHRO

interview

“Some still think of training or development as a shopping list of courses, but every day is a learning opportunity.”

also translate this into the ‘how’ element of assessments. Most people focus on the ‘what’ of KPIs, but we use the development plans to moderate scores, and create a discussion about how a person executes what they have to do.”

Sexy stuff Njabulo is no slouch when it comes to the strategic input of the contemporary HR function. But she’s also a stickler for the basics. “I often tell people ‘You get your credibility with the basics, and then the sexy stuff comes’. Talent management is the sexy side of HR. Equally important is the strategic side, which includes development and succession.”

Outside of the boardroom and its strategic value, the day-to-day functioning of HR is just as important: recruitment, training, talent management, remuneration, development, job creation, and leadership training are all key concerns of this

40

department when done right.

All of this, for Njabulo, boils down to recognising the role that HR can play within an organisation; critical and enabling role, but – she admits – a support role in many ways because it is not directly revenue-creating. That’s okay, she argues, because the revenue-generating teams only function as well as they can when the right talent is found and nurtured.

Credibility Given this, she cautions that HR personnel shouldn’t fall into the trap of low self-confidence.

“HR is not at the core of a business,” she says, “but for me, how you see yourself matters a lot. I tell HR people to take your role and yourself seriously. It is not a competition with who is at the core of the business. Instead, start from the corner that you are in and realise that value.”

Njabulo Mashigo HR Director HEINEKEN South Africa Work: In charge of HR at HEINEKEN South Africa since December 2015. Began her HR career at Unilever, SAB and the National Treasury, before being appointed Chief Director: Human Resources at the department, followed by nearly three years as HR Director at the JSE. Education: Schooled at Athlone High School for Girls and completed a BA in Industrial Phychology & Philolophy at Rhodes University. MBA at GIBS Business School in 2011-2012.

“My experience at National Treasury, however, taught me that if you aren’t paying your people right for example, or if your leave calculations aren’t right you will struggle to attract and keep the right people. That’s the basics, and that’s governance. That’s where HR earns its credibility.”

Another key lesson from her financial services days is the power of analysis and the confidence that brings with it. She encourages her HR peers to become experts in their field and not to shrink away from that challenge. “Draw up your dashboard. Crunch the stats. If you can show what you are contributing, if you can tell that story, you are on solid footing.”

Business acumen Finally, she encourages HR practitioners to build strong relationships with their executives: “I am fortunate to have an MD who wants us to be

involved in the business. We don’t get excluded from commercial discussions. A strong and supportive MD or CEO will model the processes and behaviours that you want to embed in an organisation. When they support the HR or people agenda, they become a role model, and this also helps hold other people accountable. If you don’t yet have this, you can build it through education and advocacy for the HR function. Show them the value you offer the business.”

Njabulo believes that HR can and should earn its place at the boardroom table. “Another one of my little sayings is that ‘it matters how we show up’.

For me, showing up is about how we understand the business. We need to develop real business acumen and participate in business discussions. We need to care about what our internal customers care about. You can have a seat at the table but it’s what you do with it that matters.” 

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Some refer to it as the 70-20-10 rule, others prefer the term snackable learning. CHRO South Africa calls it the creation of an executive community to boost your knowledge, network and career. Managing editor Sungula Nkabinde chatted to a variety of HR pioneers about what the future holds and what matters most to modern CHROs.

BY SUNGULA NKABINDE

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HUMAN TOUCH

MALISHA AWUNOR BHBW | HR Director

HELLEN LEBONE

COACH. “One of the hottest topics people talk about now is generational differences. We need to understand the differences between generations and, more importantly, capitalise on those differences. One of the ways we do this at BHBW is to offer strength-based coaching. This is a coaching process which assesses millennials’ five chief strengths and teaches them to overcome their developmental challenges through using their strengths. The core building blocks of coaching are understanding the basic business environment and business basics, and helping individuals develop a sense of self-belief that will allow them to flourish. An important aspect of this is to ensure alignment between the career goals of millennials and the company’s goals, to ensure optimal return on investment.”

Hilton Worldwide | Regional HR Director Africa & Indian Ocean FIGHT. “The point of departure should be that HR already has a seat at the table. I find, however, that sometimes you have to fight for that seat, depending on the environment and the business leader that you partner with. I do strongly believe that, as HR, if you cannot tell business people anything that is different from what they want to hear or they don’t know, then you are not of any value to them. Some of the best business leaders that I have worked with, who see HR as business partners, understand this. In the end, like in any partnership, there are lessons to be learnt on both sides.”

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KHOSI MATSHITSE AECI | Group Executive Human Capital

TREVOR PAGE

INCLUDE. “In terms of racial diversity, no one can argue that South Africa has not got there. Simply by virtue of the numbers, there has been a lot of progress. But I think we are still quite far behind in making those people feel included. That’s the discussion; that’s the conversation we need to have. It’s not a rational thing, it’s an emotional thing. We need to understand that, if a child grows up being conditioned to include certain kinds of people but exclude others, it becomes difficult when they are adults to start getting to that place where they include the people whose profiles they had been conditioned to exclude.

And, while many organisations do give their employees diversity training, it’s very difficult to change people’s hearts, which is essentially what needs to happen. The question is, how do executive teams talk about changing the hearts of managers when their own hearts are not in the right place? That is why there is often an elephant in the boardrooms that never gets spoken about and years go by.”

Deloitte Southern Africa | Human Capital Leader ALLOW. “Once you have the right people, your role as a leader is to keep the vision in front of them and to keep the momentum going. Obviously, from a professional perspective, you must always add your perspectives but I believe that if you allow the team to flourish on their own, they’ll come up with all sorts of things and they will manage themselves. You find that every four years, you can virtually do away with project deliverables that you did four years ago because a lot of content or models are no longer applicable. That means you have to be up to speed with regards to business as a whole as an HR professional. One has to be up to date with where any given business is going and what the particular industry issues are. That is why it helps to have cycles where, for up to three or four years, our people can dedicate their focus to one field and thereafter they can refresh. It’s a great way to keep people engaged and it helps a lot with retention.”

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HUMAN TOUCH

STHEMBISO PHAKATHI Barclays Africa | Head of Organisational Effectiveness CREATE. “Creating people solutions is never predictable. It changes all the time and it’s almost more like an art as opposed to science. You go to business schools and study about human sciences but, when you’re in the field, it’s nothing about science. It’s about intuition and sometimes about passion. I always say, if a machine breaks down, you already know what to do. There are two or three things that you could look for to check what the problem is, whereas, with people, you never know what the solution is going to be. If the morale of the workforce goes down, for example, or relationships start deteriorating, it could be symptoms of many possible root causes. So, I have found that I like working in the unknown. I like the unpredictability of working with people tackling different challenges or problems. It sparks creativity because you never know what’s going to work.”

SUNGEETHA SEWPERSAD Barclays Africa | HR Executive EMANCIPATE. “Sadly, as a country, we have not made great strides in terms of promoting women, giving them equal places in the boardroom, paying them equitable to their male counterparts or developing them at equal pace because notions that a woman’s place is in the kitchen still exist, largely because we are led by generations of men that are Baby Boomers. I have had closed-door conversations with male executives who looked me straight in the eye and said, ‘Sungeetha, a female’s place is at home raising their family and not the boardroom – that is a man’s job!.’ This was actually two years ago!”

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HUMAN TOUCH

MARGE MANTJIE Adams & Adams | Head of HR RETAIN. “Retaining talent is not only about the monetary value that you give your employees. It’s also about expanding the value proposition that you offer an individual so we have to be creative about the offerings that we present to candidates, which will also help the firm in terms of differentiating itself from other players in the market.

For example, we are establishing relationships with banks to find out what products they can tailor-make for the calibre of talent that we want to attract.

For things like home loans, for example, we have asked if they can give preferential rates to our lawyers and we make sure that we start at the graduate level when candidates are young because that’s how to get them to switch banks accounts before they settle and mature in the relationships that they currently have. That’s one of the creative examples. It’s not costing the firm money. It’s simply about establishing and maintaining relationships with the relevant institutions.”

RHONA MOODLY Orica Africa | Head of HR LEVERAGE. “The difference between working here and abroad is the level of being recognised for the work you delivered. There weren’t all these other shenanigans. There was no politics. There was no drama. It was just about delivering to a mandate. South Africa will have to resolve its culture issues if it is to move forward. Because, even with all our weaknesses, as South African people we are stronger together.

We all come from the same tapestry, but at the same time, we are intrinsically different. We can either leverage off that or we can struggle among ourselves.”

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HUMAN TOUCH

ROY CLARK ClarkHouse Human Capital | Managing Director

SHEILA MOTSEPE

DIVERSIFY. “Diversity is not only about black or white and male or female.

Rather, it’s about having a variety of ideas that can lead to a new way of thinking, from all angles. It is complicated and ever evolving. Every company struggles with diversity because they are often overwhelmed in trying to prioritise so many other aspects of business while also managing inclusion and transformation, and still trying to be innovative, all the while making sure the leadership team is driving diversity principles in an organisation. I can bombard you with countless facts and statistics around the benefit of diversity: it fosters a more innovative and creative workforce; a diverse workforce means you have insights and opportunities into broader markets that you might not have had before; you create a more competitive company in this global world by being diverse; diversity leads to improved and more accurate group thinking, and diverse teams are more innovative.”

T-Systems SA | Vice President: Human Resources GROW. “Young professionals must continue to sharpen their competencies in terms of their knowledge, skills, attributes and attitudes. They must continue to grow their qualifications or, alternatively, ‘refresh’ them by attending many workgroups and other forums within and across their immediate functional roles. They must also pursue work-related growth opportunities within and without their departments, divisions and businesses. They must seek out coaches and mentors, and be very deliberate about the desired return on their investment from the aforementioned relationships. Work-life balance is what a professional chooses to have as a lifestyle choice that accommodates their non-work interests so that overall, they may enjoy the quality of life they desire. It is informed by the values that one holds and what is important in terms of resources and time allocation.”

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JAMES RAMAKAU AngloGold Ashanti | Senior Human Resources Manager RESPECT. “We are becoming more strategic because that is what the role increasingly requires in order to have a seat at the boardroom table but, as we become stronger business people, we become very hard and cold when it comes to the human element. For our executive team, we try to conscientise them and remind that we are dealing with individuals who still deserve to be treated with respect and dignity.

That means being honest with people. If times are tough, don’t sugarcoat issues. Even if you as a leader are under pressure, you have to raise your voice and ask for assistance. One shouldn’t pretend to be tough and unbreakable simply because they are an executive.

Because we have to be authentic as leaders.”

TSHIDI KHUNOU FNB Wealth and Investments | Head: Talent Acquisition BRAAI. “You can’t expect somebody who is already converted to convert the non-converted. The way we change or transform the country is actually at the braai. It’s the people we spend time with. If you have a friend that is a male chauvinist and you never say to them that how they treat women is wrong, that person is never going to change. So, if you are going to preach about gender equality in your organisation, you have to have men driving that agenda because we are the ones that are perpetuating the status quo.”

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HUMAN TOUCH

TIRELO SIBISI

ZORAYDAH SHEDRICK KHAN FNB Premium Segment | HR Executive

AngloGoldAshanti | Executive Vice President: Group Human Resources

SET THE TONE. “The leader sets the tone for the organisation. And, in many ways, if you don’t get buy-in from the leader − whether it’s regarding a recognition programme or trying to get people within the organisation to connect more − any initiative to drive a certain culture within the organisation is bound to fail.”

REMIND. “Companies often want people who are ready to jump into a new role and hit the ground running but sometimes it’s about reminding leaders that they are successful because someone also gave them an opportunity – they were not born CEOs; were also given a chance by people who believed in them.”

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insight

HR execs, wake up! Five ways to stay relevant For too long, HR has been typified by complacency and lethargy − the new world of work requires a wake-up call. What do modern HR executives need to have on their radar to prepare their businesses for the new world of work?

BY RAYMOND DE VILLIERS

The five areas outlined below are the nascent clangs of an alarm intruding into, and disrupting, your comfort.

1. Exit interviews Traditionally, organisations have spent a disproportionate amount of energy on the interview and onboarding process in comparison to the exit process.

It is almost as if we react like wounded and discarded lovers, with a sense of betrayal and hurt when a person lets us know that they are leaving. Considering how much time, money, and energy is expended getting the person on board, it is understandable that hearing that they are leaving elicits a corporate “emotional response”.

In the new world of work we need to get over it!

Firstly, acknowledge that we need to balance the budget allocated to employing individuals by also making resources available to facilitate their eventual exit. This is important for the individual, but equally so for the team they are leaving behind − a team who you spent so much time and energy and money making them fit into seamlessly.

The team left behind may experience productivity issues as they adjust to losing a member (and a few weeks later to assimilating a new one). A properly designed exit process considers all of these aspects, and manages the team as much as the individual.

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Secondly, for some key individuals the exit interview conversation should be structured as “see you again soon”, not “goodbye, don’t let the door hit you on the way out”. In the British Foreign Service, diplomats beyond a certain level are able to take Special Unpaid Leave for an extended agreed period.

They are also able to leave for a period of up to five years as a career break. During that period they may come back at any time and be treated as a hiring priority returning to a level that is the same as when they left.

Give your key talent the perspective that you will welcome them back, and even put a formal structure in place to manage the “reinduction process” and your

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business will be future-fit for the new world of work, where talent is more mobile than ever and we need to redefine retention.

Essentially, your exit interview needs to be treated as the final onboarding exercise.

2. Alumni networks Talent runs in herds…. Talented people have talented friends.

Talented individuals don’t only bring themselves to an organisation, but their whole extended social network. This resource need not be lost to the organisation once an individual exits.

Assuming you have redesigned and managed your exit process, an alumni network is the foundational element in keeping your talent engaged − even while they work for your competitors.

This is where modern HR leaders need to stop being so sensitive.

People leaving your business are not betraying you or selling out the vision, or proving themselves to be uncommitted turncoats.

Rather, they are merely moving on to other opportunities.

Just because they are moving on doesn’t mean you should lose access to the vital resource that exists in their social and personal networks. Remain tapped into this by creating and managing active alumni networks of key individuals who have left your organisation.

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3. Gig economy The new generation of employees consists of men and women who may not actually work for you full time. On the flip side, you may need to adjust your business’ people strategy to actively dissuade recruitment of individuals into positions or contracts − especially if the tasks associated, or deliverables needed, can be sourced more effectively from those who choose to remain outside of the formal job market as part of the gig economy.

Sites like Fiverr, Upwork and others are increasingly making it possible for individuals to offer their services for specific tasks where they are paid for a specific output. No boss managing office hours, or getting stuck in peak hour traffic to make it to

“It is lazy and disingenuous HR leadership to look at the horizon and see cutbacks and layoffs as a result of AI.” 52

a meeting that nobody thinks is necessary...

Organisational recruiting processes need to be updated to incorporate the gig economy.

This is essentially an alignment of your people processes with the reality of the digital economy.

First step: realise that CVs and resumes need to be dropped as the litmus test for recruitment.

Likes, reviews, and the subjective experiences of others who have engaged with an individual are the only relevant yardstick for engaging individuals in the new world of work.

4. Artificial Intelligence The evolution into the digital economy also means that any HR executive or manager worth their salt will already be spending time looking at how AI will be playing out in their business or industry.

At the moment, everyone is stressing about the redundancy that the technology will bring about. That is the wrong focus.

The appropriate response to AI is not to cut jobs but to retrain and redirect resources. The window for this redirecting is open now − you need to intelligently examine what is on the other side.

There will be a number of peripheral, complimentary or auxiliary job areas that open up as a result of AI. The responsi-

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At the same time, younger individuals are entering the workforce.

The complexity this diversity introduces is that everyone in the workplace wants an environment that fits the way they feel comfortable in the world, and that is consistent with their worldview and value system.

As you adjust your workplaces to the dynamics of the digital market and digital natives, you cannot ignore the wisdom and experience and value of those who are staying past the traditional corporate “sell by” date.

The new world of work is more generationally complex than any environment we have ever had to navigate in human history.

bility of an HR executive right now is to ensure that they are directing sufficient human capital development and investment resources to equip their people with the skills and abilities needed to succeed when AI changes everything.

To be clear, it is lazy and disingenuous HR leadership to look at the horizon and see cutbacks and layoffs as a result of AI.

5. Generational complexity

tion activity there is one final complexity that the modern HR executive needs to manage in order to lead their business into the new world of work.

Older people in the workforce are more vital and energetic than they have ever been. Many are choosing not to exit the workforce as their parents did before them, either because they believe they still have value to add or because they cannot afford to.

In all of this frenetic digitisa-

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If this new world of work isn’t keeping HR executives awake at night, then those executives need to lose their jobs − because if they don’t, the business they are responsible for will implode or explode one night while they are enjoying a peaceful night of ignorant sleep. The new world of work is coming and requires a whole new way of thinking from the leadership responsible for the people in it. 

Raymond de Villiers is a speaker and consultant who assists organisations in understanding trends that are influencing the future world of work.

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The truth about transformation Mondelēz International’s HR Director Cebile Xulu talks frankly about transformation, or the lack thereof, in corporate South Africa.

BY CEBILE XULU

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outh Africa still has a very long way to go towards achieving true transformation. The fact that we still see the “first black” to be this or that, or the “only black woman” on this or that board, almost 24 years into democracy, should be hugely concerning.

I understand that we are not the only country where black people, and black women in particular, have been previously marginalised and that, in advanced democracies such as the US, issues of black and women empowerment are still hot topics. However, I do not believe that we are doing enough at macro level to create and enforce sound policies addressing issues of transformation in our country.

In my observation, some of the white men in top leadership positions in corporate South Africa have grown up seeing a black woman typically as a maid in their homes. I can only imagine that it is quite challenging for these men to now relate to a black woman as an equal or, even worse, as a boss. I was raised in Greytown, KwaZulu-Natal, by my grandmother, who was a strong black woman that worked for a white family her entire life. Hearing her refer to children younger than I as “klein baas” or “young master” was extremely painful, because I knew what a powerhouse she was in the community. Today, some of those “klein base” and “young masters” sit in corporate boardrooms and refuse to accept that Mirriet’s grandchildren are now their equals.

I coach many young professionals, most of whom are black females, and almost all of them have a horror story to share about being undermined by the white males that they manage. In fact, this seems to be a general issue that they come across when working with men of all races, across all levels.

The lack of drastic transformation policies has far-reaching consequences for the economy in many respects. One of my fundamental concerns is the continued shortage of skilled black women in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) professions. Although there are women excelling in these fields, the reality is that the country is not producing enough of them.

Taking instruction

Hostile A further concern is that women are checking out of formal employment in some critical areas due to some very hostile corporate cultures. The environment is still largely unwilling to accept black women. Without making sweeping generalisations – because there are certainly examples of great leadership in this country – many corporate boardrooms are still beacons of white supremacy presided over by resistant white men. I have to mention that my own career growth has been supported to a large extent by some great white men, who have looked beyond the colour of my skin and gender, but the reality is that there are simply not enough of them and this is the issue we have to address.

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I have personal experiences of men feeling uncomfortable with my position of authority over them.

I once had a weird experience with a very senior manager in one of the companies I previously worked for. He had been demoted from his role in another function, while I needed someone with his skills in my department and I thought this gentleman would be an asset to my team. We had had a fantastic relationship when he was a senior production manager – despite the fact that I was his superior. However, when he had to report directly to me, things changed dramatically. I still thought he was great, but he resigned four months later. In his exit interview, he told me he had struggled very much with reporting to a young, black woman.

He said: “You were very nice and kind to me, but

lems with each other, but being undermined by female direct reports or team members is seldom an issue, at least in the stories I hear and in my own experience.

Armchair activism Black people themselves are also at fault, because we seem to not be able to take on the responsibility of helping others reach their potential once we have become successful. We need to learn to pull others up and not suddenly forget about our communities. Personally, I think that as HR leaders we have a bigger responsibility to the people of South Africa when it comes to issues of transformation.

We also have to remove as many obstacles as possible for those coming after us, just as those who came before us laid down their lives for our freedom. We have to create solid ladders that our young people can climb. I feel like this is a huge gap, particularly among black professionals. We are the Twitter generation that practises armchair activism, but seldom gets up and takes action.

I just could not handle taking instructions from you. You see in my years of working, I have never had to answer to a black woman and I now don’t know how to deal with it without damaging our friendship and getting fired.”

Of course, there couldn’t be a friendship after that, but I do not hold anything against him. This interaction made me realise that some people don’t necessarily have bad intentions. Some of them simply don’t know how to handle such situations. We sometimes have to bring them along on the journey and not adopt a get-with-the-programme approach in all instances.

I must mention that women have their own prob-

I believe that, if at the end of my career I look back and I cannot say, ‘so-and-so has reached their potential and I absolutely played a role in helping him/her overcome some of the challenges that they went through,’ I would have failed myself terribly.

This is why I do the unpaid coaching work that I do. I do not believe that there is a single successful person in this country that has made it solely on his or her own. There will always have been someone somewhere that held their hand and showed them how things work. Someone has opened doors, created connections to their networks, provided funding or has simply been a sounding board.

Stupidly courageous I have certainly been fortunate to have men and women that showed me the ropes, coached, mentored and sponsored me throughout my

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career. When I reflect on the state of the current crop of youth, in particular the essence of the #FeesMustFall and other protests, I remember that I too was once young and stupidly courageous. It was my mentors who guided me through life. The raw talent of those students needs to be nurtured and allowed to flourish by those who have walked the path. This is where our future leaders will come from.

I was raised in what I now understand to be black consciousness, and I followed that path at university – which made me quietly radical (if there is such a thing). It still makes my blood boil when I see that black and other disadvantaged/marginalised people are being treated unfairly or there are injustices towards them, but coaching and mentorship have been key in channelling my anger towards constructive engagement and positive solutions. I feel this is a role many of us need to play in the lives of young black people in this country.

Window dressing I have heard many people speak passionately about transformation, but I have seen very little in terms of results, particularly when it comes to the top structures of corporate South Africa. I don’t need to quote statics – just look at the report published by the Commission for Employment Equity. Transformation is simply a box-ticking exercise in many organisations. I often hear people say that “transformation should not be about compliance, but should make business sense”. I then ask myself: why we are not seeing change because transformation (specifically with regards to diversity and B-BBEE) does make business sense. Why is it that we still have organisations that refuse to transform? Why are so many corporates window dressing? Surely, all organisations want what’s best for business?

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Corporate South Africa presents a very interesting quagmire for HR professionals. On one hand, you have phenomenal leaders who go beyond the legislative prescripts to effect real transformation while, on the other, you find leaders who would rather budget for Employment Equity Act penalties than transform. There are leaders who are deliberate and unapologetic in their advancement of black females, but there are also those who perpetuate apartheid principles of viewing Whites and Indians as being better than Blacks and Coloureds (I have a huge issue with these labels, by the way).

I also think we are not having the right conversations regarding the inclusion of the LGBTIQ community and people with disabilities in the workplace and within the economy in general. We need to be deliberate about inclusion in our talent pipeline programmes. We are not going to miraculously find the kind of diversity we need in the economically active population unless we invest in diversifying the junior talent pool through bursaries, internships, graduate development programmes, apprenticeships and learnerships. We have to partner with government institutions such as schools and SETAs to encourage the entry of all types of people into the workplace. And then we have to develop strategies to retain them in our organisations.

The conversation should not only be about racial equality. All marginalised groups of society should be part of the conversation. There are very basic things that we are simply not paying attention to.

I mean, how many corporate offices in this country have unisex toilets? Are we even talking about the lack of diversity in parliament? I am very wary of labels, but how many of us know a gay or lesbian Minister, for example?

We will see very little change until the boardroom narrative changes from that of ticking boxes to one

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that says: how do we deliberately change the status quo and decisively deal with people who refuse to do “what’s best for business” in the true sense.

Cebile Xulu HR Director South & Central East Africa Mondelēz International

Find our voice We, as HR directors, need to become much more vocal about transformation and the development of the labour force. Our jobs do not start and end within corporate boardrooms.

It is HR that is at the coalface of organisations. We are probably the first people that will interact with employees before they become part of an organisation. We are the first people to see and come to terms with the impact of a deteriorating education system. We see first-hand the impact of skills shortages on our organisations. HR is at the centre of conflict resolution when there are diversity issues, be it racial tensions, sexual harassment, homophobia and other such conflicts. No one understands the fallacy of the “Rainbow Nation” within corporate South Africa better than HR professionals.

But what can we possibly do? I think we have to find our collective voice to influence government policy. As a collective, we should be saying to the Department of Education, for example, that it cannot keep dropping pass marks and allowing students to opt out of mathematics because we know that the future lies within STEM jobs. We should collectively be telling the Department of Labour that whatever SETA reforms have taken place are simply not yielding the desired results. Perhaps this is happening at some level but my own opinion is that we are allowing business associations/bodies, led by business people to make pronouncements on issues of which we as HR leaders have intimate knowledge. I am in no way suggesting that business people should not be pronouncing on these matters, I am simply saying that the voice of HR is conspicuously missing.

Work: Appointed by Mondelēz International in March 2017. Started her HR career in KwaZulu-Natal, culminating in a manager’s role at Tongaat Hulett’s Darnall Sugar Mill. Moved to Johannesburg to join Heineken in 2009, where she fulfilled the role of HR executive between 2011 and 2015. Spent 2016 in Amsterdam as Leadership and Capability Development Manager for Heineken in Africa, Middle East and Eastern Europe.

Education: Honours in Industrial Psychology and Political Science at the University of Zululand. Followed a post-graduate Leadership Development Programme at Wits Business School.

That is why I believe the CHRO South Africa community can grow into something very significant.

It is a platform that connects the top HR leaders and allows them to engage each other on strategic and macro policy matters. HR directors should be thinking beyond their organisations about how human capital can become a catalyst for economic growth and a thriving economy.

Until we reach that level, as a collective, mentoring the next generation is something we can do individually. Perhaps the next generation will create the future that we can only dream of. Our role is to help them unleash their potential for the betterment of our country.  Cebile Xulu is a member of the CHRO South Africa community and is currently HR Director, South & Central East Africa for Mondelēz International. The opinions expressed in this article are her own and do not necessarily represent those of Mondelēz International.

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A heart for talent Anneke Andrews, Human Capital Director at Deloitte, has been leading the company’s talent solutions division for over ten years.

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BY SUNGULA NKABINDE

nneke Andrews began her career as a chartered accountant and has been with the firm for more than 25 years.

She has certainly been around the block a few times but still looks forward to ushering in a new era of digitisation within the talent management space.

What has been the most rewarding aspect of being at Deloitte for so long?

“Helping to fast-track the careers of young talented people is, without a doubt, the most rewarding aspect of my role in Deloitte. This covers the entire spectrum of injecting people into challenging projects and engagements where they experience enormous personal growth, to finding the next springboard opportunities for their career growth.”

How has HR evolved in the years that you have been a part of the profession?

“When I started my career at Deloitte, people tended to seek long-term employment opportunities where they might only change employers a few times

in their entire careers, if at all.

As a result, the HR role was very much designed to support people for a long-term permanent career.”

“These days, especially among professionals, we see a growing trend towards people seeking shorter-term employment opportunities for their personal growth and it is rare to be able to meet these needs within one employer organisation. Today, the challenge for HR is very much to attract and work with this mobile talent.

There is an increased strategic need to design and support flexible staffing solutions to access this growing portion of the talent pool.”

“More and more we are starting to see organisations becoming more comfortable with the idea of a contingent workforce, where talent is sourced as and when it is necessary.”

“We have also moved from a paradigm where we were probably guilty of thinking about our workforce simply as resources, to one where it is a necessity to consider the complexities of

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the employee value proposition to ensure the right people are attracted and retained in our organisations. Defining an organisation’s employee value proposition is a complex matter; one that requires insight into a plethora of factors from personal identification with organisational culture and values, to feeling part of the overall business mission and strategy. It has certainly become more complex a task to ensure people feel engaged and feel that they are making a positive difference within their organisations and society.”

In 1985, you were the first female matriculant to get a bursary from the Deloitte Pretoria office. Since then, Deloitte and many other corporates have tried to improve the diversity of their workforces. Why do you think organisational diversity is important within the organisation and do you think companies nowadays are diverse enough?

“There is no doubt in my mind that diversity is key to organisational success and sustainability.

I really believe the best solutions are always found in organisations that have a diverse set of

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individuals who can contribute and come up with ideas in the context of their own backgrounds, experiences, strengths and perspectives.”

“We are blessed to live in a country of such rich diversity.

I believe very few people are aware of the massive role large organisations have played over the last couple of decades to embrace this diversity and transform South Africa for the better.”

“We have certainly come a long way but it is a constant challenge to embrace diversity and to engender a culture where diversity is celebrated and appreciated.”

What are the challenges that you are facing now and how have you overcome these?

“Connecting the new flexible and mobile talent pool with the opportunities that excite them presents a whole set of new challenges in a world where our structures and laws just don’t encourage and facilitate this new paradigm.”

“For example, protectionist employment policies mean it is very difficult or just takes too long to take advantage of many career opportunities, especially if it means travelling across borders.”

“Increasingly we are seeing the use of technology to overcome these challenges by enabling people to work remotely and connect with their team members and employers seamlessly around the world without needing to be in the same physical

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location. The younger generation is also very comfortable with delivering services using this engagement model.”

Revered as a mentor

What are some examples of the technologies that are changing the world of HR? “To quote from our Global Human Capital Trends and latest Tech Trends reports:

“At Deloitte, Anneke Andrews was my mentor and she still is,” says Ramasela Ganda, who completed her articles in 2001 and was elected Public Sector CFO of the Year 2017 for her transformative work at Ekurhuleni Municipality.

She now works at Barloworld. “Anneke is a pillar... one of those BFFs... At Deloitte she would look at my programme and say no, you won’t learn enough.

From Pretoria, she would phone the Johannesburg office and organise more interesting work. People used to really envy me.”

“HR is undergoing rapid and profound change. Once viewed as a support function that delivered employee services, HR is now being asked to help lead the digital transformation sweeping organisations worldwide. Digital HR requires digital technology expertise. A new breed of HR products and solutions is coming to market, many built around mobile apps, AI, and consumer-like experiences. These tools are enabling HR to become near real-time.”

“AI capabilities such as machine learning, deep learning, cognitive analytics, robotics process automation (RPA), and bots, among other things, constitute algorithmic capabilities that can augment employee performance, automate increasingly complex workloads, and develop 'cognitive agents' that simulate both human thinking and engagement.”

What do these technological advancements mean for the people that are currently in those roles and who will soon be replaced by robots? If one robot is going to be able to replace ten people, what do you do with the ten people?

“Machines have been taking over

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jobs that used to be performed by people for more than a century, and robots are nothing more than an extension of this trend, albeit that the pace of this change is getting faster and faster. However, the reality is that, in the process, new and different jobs are created. The real challenge is for people to remain relevant by learning the new skills that are demanded by these new jobs.”

“Increasingly, the mundane, repetitive administrative functions will be taken care of by a machine. Automation is an opportunity to maximise the collective intelligence of the organisation by encouraging people to use their skills in a more meaningful way. It is our creative capacity that will increasingly be valued and that is the world I look forward to living in, collaborating to achieve optimal outcomes and making an impact that matters.” 

The Future of Work is here categorie CHRO

Are you ready? Driven by accelerating connectivity, new talent models, and cognitive tools, work is changing.

As robotics, AI, the gig economy and crowds grow; jobs are being reinvented, creating the “augmented workforce. ”We must reconsider how jobs are designed, and work to adapt and learn for future growth.

To learn more on how you can prepare your workforce to address the impact brought by the changing nature of work, visit www.deloitte.com/za/futureofwork or alternatively, please contact Janine Nel on jnel@deloitte.co.za.

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Global view Employee experience revolution

It seems as if the employee experience revolution is upon us.

Businesses are transforming with employee experience in mind, employee experience strategies are taking centre stage and new leadership roles around employee experience are being formalised.

Companies like Adidas, Airbnb, Adobe, Cargill, Cisco, Facebook, GE, L’orÊal and Orange now all have a Global Head of Employee Experience.

In a world that is changing through digital technology, greater transparency and a growing need for talent that is capable of adapting quickly, employee experience is pivotal for companies that want to remain competitive. It has become crystal clear that employee experience kicks in from the moment a new staff member interacts with the organisation until the moment he or she leaves again, hopefully as ambassador of the company.

During the many conversations I have with CHROs in The Netherlands, the topic is always prominently on the agenda, even though it is sometimes called employer excellence, the employee journey or something else. It all comes down to the same basic question: how can we create a positive appreciation of the working environment, fueling increased levels of involvement, enthusiasm and commitment?

I get great answers to this question from CHROs, often relating to onboarding, purpose, mobility, development, technological tools, culture and generational differences. However, what has become clear to me is that, in the end, it is all about our humanity and genuinely caring about colleagues.

The journey that the CHRO Community in The Netherlands has travelled is also an experience of which to be proud. Three years ago, ten HR directors started with an intimate roundtable discussion. In 2018, there are seven landmark CHRO events, where hundreds of Dutch CHROs gather to share knowledge, get inspired and have a great time together. Our magazine and website have played an integral role in this phenomenal growth as trusted platforms for peer-to-peer storytelling.

It is wonderful to see from a distance how our sister community, CHRO South Africa, is blooming and growing at the same rapid pace.

Just like in The Netherlands, the community events, this brand new magazine and the website CHRO.co.za are ideal platforms to boost your knowledge, network and career. Who knows, we could one day bring the Dutch and South African communities together to share notes and learn from each other!

Nederlandse groet,

SANNE VAN DEN EIJNDE CHRO COMMUNITY MANAGER THE NETHERLANDS

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Speak with one voice Executives have to find a way to sing from the same hymn book, even if their roles seem to have competing demands, says Lonmin’s Khaya Ngcwembe.

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BY SUNGULA NKABINDE

I’ve come to realise that, in an ideal environment, you want an executive team that is tight and that speaks with one voice in all areas of the business,” says Khaya Ngcwembe, Executive Vice President of Human Resources at mining company Lonmin.

Often, the CFO tends to have the ear of the CEO as this role is critical in driving the numbers that reflect business performance over any given reporting period, says Khaya. The role of finance is instrumental in informing decisions regarding spending and investment, which means other executives may feel that they don’t have the same level of influence when it comes to investment or spending decisions.

That said, Khaya says senior teams have to make it work.

“Despite their different functional leadership responsibilities, executives need to be aligned with each member of the team and have confidence in what each member does so that there is no negative competition,” says Khaya. This, he says, drives unity and common purpose in the rest of the organisation.

“In the past, I’ve sat in those painful sessions where representatives of different functions compete for limited funds through proposed initiatives that, in their opinions, can drive efficiencies within their respective areas. Everybody had to work very hard to sell their ideas.

It all comes down to being able to articulate the value and contributions that your proposed initiatives will add to the organ-

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isation. Therefore, the need to think broader than just your function is critical.”

Healthy tension Khaya says there is nothing wrong with having what he calls ‘healthy tension’ in the boardroom. But there is something wrong when one person is seen to be steamrolling ideas or unfairly ignoring the views of others.

Then the tension becomes problematic. If the tension is driven by the need to hold each other accountable in a constructive way and results in improved quality of decisions and performance of the organisation, it is a healthy and positive tension. He says it is often the CFO who is closest to that tension, because it is ultimately his responsibility, together with the CEO, to make sure that the decisions that the business makes are good, that

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the numbers add up at the end of the day, and that the business gets a return on any investment it makes.

That said, the boardroom discussions are not only about the numbers, but also about the broader health of the organisation, which must align and unite the executive team.

“And the funny thing is that the HR executive has some responsibility to keep a watchful eye on the team spirit in the boardroom and advise the CEO accordingly when things do not look good.

They must get the CEO aligned with that thinking. So they also have to compete for the CEO’s ear and use every tactic in the book to get into that highly contested space.”

Very honest On the issue of transformation, for example, Khaya says there has to be buy-in from the board and across all levels of the organisation for this to work well.

There has to be a deep commitment from people across different levels, despite the reality that transformation can be threatening to some of the people. People have to understand why this has to be done, why it is important, why we can’t do without it, and how it affects them. Ideally, they have to buy into it rationally and emotionally and, finally, act on it to make a difference.

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“In my past roles we made some progress with that over time and I think that it came with being very honest with individuals about the fact that it may mean some people needed to wind down or think differently about their careers or simply get involved in assisting others,” says Khaya. “It has also meant addressing some of the generalised perceptions that often develop in the workplace when a company is driving transformation.”

“As an example, one of the things that we were able to disprove or negate was the view that driving diversity or equity always has negative conse-

“The funny thing is that the HR executive has some responsibility to keep a watchful eye on the team spirit in the boardroom.”

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quences for the careers of other people. By simply comparing our recruitment requirements with our annual targets, we found there was always a bigger recruitment need than our targets due to the rate of change in our organisation at that time. So we were able to show that there was room for everybody, even if we were driving a specific focus.

We were just more deliberate about how we shared or distributed the opportunities that were coming up.”

Headcount reduction In business in general, and particularly in the mining sector where things are tough, finding ways of saving costs are always top of mind, says Khaya. “That includes discussions around headcount reduction. This is always a tough one and you can see that in the number of companies that have had some form of restructuring in recent years.”

Khaya says that while this is a difficult task that everyone would rather avoid at all costs, there are times when it becomes unavoidable and there can be instances where you have to lose a few jobs to save many more. In those situations, how this is done becomes very important. Khaya believes that it has to be done with compassion and that it is important that everybody in the organisation is on the same page with regards to how the com-

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Khaya Ngcwembe Executive Vice President HR Lonmin

Work: Appointed in May 2017. Previously he spent 13 years at SAB, first as Organisational Design Consultant, then as HR Services Manager and from 2014, as HR Director.

Education: Holds a number of qualifications, including a Bachelor’s degree from UNISA, an MBA from UCT Graduate School of Business and postgraduate qualifications in Industrial Relations from the University of Stellenbosch and the Executive Development Programme from the University of Michigan.

pany should run and why certain things need to be done.

success,” he says.

“These are very challenging situations that have to be well managed from a change management point of view. Ultimately, unions have a critical role to play in driving stability and sustainability of the organisation. As such, the relationship between management and unions is very important. Unions have a very important role in supporting productivity initiatives that ultimately impact on organisational

At the end of the day, there will always be conflicting objectives within an organisation, because there is a variety of stakeholders who want different things. As an HR executive, one has to be malleable and learn to deal with all the leaders within the organisation. That means engaging one another about difficult issues.

Open-minded

“You have to be very openminded, listen to the other

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person’s argument and point of view,” says Khaya. “I believe strongly that you learn more from people that disagree with you because those that agree with you tend to confirm what you already know. So, being openminded and willing to listen to different perspectives in order to get to the truth is critical. A onesided view of reality is never the full truth. It is only when you engage and understand the other person deeply that you tend to get a better grasp of the issue and move forward more effectively.” 

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Five better internship strategies How do companies ensure that interns develop in a meaningful way without being considered an additional burden by busy employees who have to babysit them for the duration of this experience?

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BY PHIONA MARTIN

n order to ensure that your internship programme is engaging and impressive to staff members, management and interns, it must include the following elements: an individual that is overall accountable for the delivery of the internship programme; alignment to all stakeholders through well-designed orientation activities; work experience that provides meaningful tasks for the interns; connecting interns to high value networks within the company; and formal debriefing and evaluation sessions with the interns at the end.

1. Have a dedicated intern manager A common complaint about

internships that have gone wrong is the lack of attention given to the internship programme. This can often result in miscommunication, confusion and lack of buy-in across the company. Allocating a resource devoted to ensuring the internship experience is given the attention it requires may be additional work for employees who are already busy with their core organisational duties, but it is a necessary precursor to the success of any internship.

developing young professionals.

The dedicated intern manager will ideally be the primary “go-to” person for all internship-related matters and ensure buy-in and awareness of the programme across the organisation.

Additionally, the intern manager will monitor interns’ progress and track benefits for the employer to warrant a continuing business case for investment in the programme.

A dedicated intern manager is critical and does not necessarily have to be a human resources staff member. It can be anyone within the organisation who has a passion for mentoring and

The orientation of interns should be more than a walk around the company and a “meet and greet” with other staff members.

Organisations need to take the opportunity to make the first day

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2. Have a well-crafted orientation programme

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meaningful by outlining expectations and creating excitement about the internship programme.

The orientation should cover key aspects of office culture, dress code, professionalism, and company mission, vision and policies, while it should also outline key activities of the internship.

Ensuring that all key stakeholders, interns and supervisors start with the same expectations and role definitions will give the internship a good start and the effort of time invested in this will pay dividends throughout the programme. The orientation needs to be formal and standardised, not merely done at the discretion of the supervisor.

The key individuals who should participate should include all managers/supervisors involved in the internship programme, as well as mentors.

3. Provide meaningful work Interns may provide a great pair of extra hands around the office, but this does not mean they should be solely confined to all the mundane tasks or low priority work. The internship has to have a considerable amount of meaningful work for the intern, and during the inevita-

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ble menial tasks (printing, filing etc.), it should be explained how the task supports the employer’s objectives. Offer interns challenging work assignments that are recognised by the organisation as valuable and also related to the interns’ professional development goals. Along with allocating tasks, find out what the interns’ personal learning goals are and try to accommodate for them if they are not part of the internship activities.

A great way to develop a great internship experience is through having a standardised training programme that is curated and developed by the interns themselves. This means that your inaugural interns should have, as one of their key tasks, creating a training programme for future interns. Each year, subsequent interns can contribute by refining, adding or removing elements of the programme based on their experiences. If you find that an intern excels at a particular activity, get them to draw up a training manual on it. At the end of the internship, give students a platform to show off their experience through presentations or a showcase to the wider organisation. This will serve to provide the interns with a sense of

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achievement and pride in their work. It also provides visibility of the impact of internships on the organisation.

4. Help interns build professional networks Networking is a critical part of career success and, therefore, as part of the internship experience, it is important to allow your interns to start creating a professional network by accessing accomplished professionals within their field in the organisation. This can be done through setting up coffee chats with other employees and equipping the interns to take initiative in getting to know staff members they are unlikely to engage with within the formal structure of the internship. It may even be a good idea to give them a target of how many networking engagements they should undertake throughout the internship. A networking soiree where employees and interns have a special event to interact in a casual yet professional manner is also a great activity.

Occasionally having speakers from senior ranks of the organisation is often very exciting for interns and communicates that there is vested interest, support and recognition of the

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know them well enough to provide an evaluation.

internship programme from the highest echelons of the company.

5. Feedback and evaluation At the end of the internship experience, there should be a mandatory feedback and performance evaluation process.

It is key, as part of the interns’ development process, to get some structured feedback on their performance and areas of improvement. To make this process easier, get the intern to provide weekly reports or a

journal that tracks their activities, goal achievements and key learnings. If the intern has done a rotational programme, there should be an evaluation form completed by the respective supervisor in the department, even if their tenure there was only a week or two. Encourage the interns to be a proactive part of this process by seeking feedback from colleagues they engaged with outside of the internship structures, for example, informal mentors and other employees who may have got to

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Internships are a great way to introduce students to the world of work and demonstrate commitment, on the part of the organisation, towards developing young professionals. Often being short in duration, it is key to ensure that the internship is well structured to maximise on the few weeks or months available. As such, it is critical to have one person accountable for the programme and a solid orientation to facilitate alignment and manage expectations for both employees and interns. Allocated work must be meaningful to give the intern “real-world” professional experience and the company should enable them to create valuable networks that will play a key role in their professional growth in years to come. Finally, evaluation and feedback are important to have the intern walk away with information that will contribute to their growth.  Phiona Martin is a registered organisational psychologist with a special interest in career and professional development. She writes regular expert insights for CHRO.co.za.

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Meeting Maud Meijvis CHRO South Africa’s new community manager Maud Meijvis is brimming with energy and great ideas. We caught up with the Dutch adventurer to talk to her about her love for South Africa and HR. WHO is Maud? “I truly think you are the person you are because of the people you surround yourself with. I have been lucky to benefit from experiences abroad, like studying in Madrid, an internship in Cape Town, and solo travel around Latin America. There is so much you only learn about yourself and others by stepping into a completely new world.”

WHY the passion for HR? “My professional passion for the HR profession started when I did my Master's degree in Organisational sciences: consultancy & change management. I found it extremely interesting and think that my curiosity for the HR profession is what makes my new role so fulfilling and exciting.”

WHEN did you become so fond of SA? “My love for South Africa started in Cape Town in 2013 and since then I have been back four times to live in Johannesburg. South Africa is a country of many faces − it is the people that make me come back here. South Africans have an energy that I also feel when I am in Amsterdam, so it feels like − a better − home.”

WHAT is the power of the CHRO community? “I think peer-to-peer learning provides extremely important lessons. By building the CHRO community I hope we can enhance the quality of the HR profession, but also build a better future for South Africa.”

WHERE do you think HR is heading? “I think the future of HR will evolve a lot with technological advancement and the role of the HR executive will only become more important. AI will only enhance people’s careers and not substitute it. It is important to look at the structures and processes that are in place so that the future HR executive can keep the human in human resources.”

MAUD MEIJVIS MMEIJVIS@CHRO.CO.ZA +27 (0)60 691 8849 CHRO.CO.ZA

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