Top HR Leaders | 2nd Edition

Be a part of the transformation.

CONTENTS

HR BEST PRACTICE

16 | The evolution of HR and its impact on the future of work

18 | Hiring trends to keep an eye on

20 | How the COVID-19 pandemic changed HR

22 | Retaining talent during a skills shortage

24 | Giving employees the best experience

74 | What does the future hold for HR?

WORKFORCE

30 | How to maintain a highperformance culture in a changing world of work

34 | Looking internally to fill the skills gap

36 | Can digital skills make people more employable

38 | Technology offers innovative and integrated HR solutions

42 | Mental health: New approaches to corporate wellness

44 | 5 ways to banish the burnout

46 | e-Learning is changing how employees develop

HR in the world: Interview with Johannesburg Stock Exchange HR Director, Palesa Ntoagae

60

LEADERSHIP

48 | HR is driving innovation and helping businesses make decisions

52 | 5 principles for post-pandemic leadership

54 | What is authentically resilient leadership?

56 | Changing during a crisis

58 | Winning in a new game of business

60 | Linking staff happiness to increase in turnover INTERVIEWS

62 | Technology has completely changed HR: Meet Accurate Payroll’s Mona Murahwa

64 | “We can morph into whoever we want to be”: Meet KFC Africa’s Chief People Officer, Akhona Qengqe

68 | Taking better care of your employees

- Meet Kim-Lee Wentzel Ricketts

72 | “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing wrong”

- Meet Arnie Malham

At the back

78 | Future of HR Conference and Awards 2021

64

CREDITS AND CONTRIBUTORS

CREDITS

CEO

Ralf Fletcher

Associate Publisher

Lee-Ann Bruce

Project Manager

Justin Daniels

TOPCO STUDIO

Production Director

Van Fletcher

Group Editor

Fiona Wakelin

Assistant Editors

Koketso Mamabolo

Sinazo Mkoko

Graphic Designer

Tashwell Brown

Cover Design

Nasreen Emeran

Traffic Manager

Daniël Bouwer

Images

iStock

Freepik

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Unsplash

Digital Publishing Platforms

Issuu

Magzter

Media Carrier

Printers

LAW Print

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CONTRIBUTORS

Boitumelo Moselane

Human Resource Manager for Eaton South Africa.

Cathy Jackson

Managing Director of Cathy Findley

PR & Promotions

Fifi Sali

Human Resources Executive for Vumatel

Gabi Lowe

Certified Integral Life and Business

Executive Coach, Founder and Owner of The Coaching Nest

Gary Epstein

Managing Director of EasyBiz Technologies

Gordon Hooper

Managing Director of Bateleur Brand

Lettie-Basani Phume

Group Human Capital Executive for Momentum Metropolitan Holdings

Liquid Thought

Collective of Engineers, Creatives, Makers and Marketers

DISCLAIMER

Lyndy van den Barselaar

Managing Director of ManpowerGroup SA

Pippa Shear

Professional Certified Coach & a

Director of The Resilience Factory

Rob Godlonton

CEO of +OneX

Tom Mariscano

Founder and Director of and Change in South Africa

Toni de la Harpe

General Manager of Employee

Experience and Enablement for Nando’s South Africa

Tumi Nkosi

Director of Executive Education & Programmes at Johannesburg Business School

Vanessa Rogers

Owner of TextBOX Conceptual

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While every care has been taken when compiling this publication, the publishers, editor and contributors accept no responsibility for any consequences arising from any errors or emissions.

This second edition of Top HR Leaders continues the Topco tradition of powerful publications celebrating success and spreading inspiration.

The importance of the role and responsibilities of HR practitioners really came to the fore during the pandemic, when organisations were having to perform agile flick flacks on the brink of destruction in order to stay alive –and not just to stay alive, but to continue functioning in a manner which provided order and a sense of security to employees and shareholders. How this was handled fell largely within the purview of Human Resources:

• Managing health and safety

• Leading and communicating change

• Operating under new demands

• Encouraging empathy in policies and culture

• Changing facilities and technology

The theme of the publication this year is HR Leaders: Champions of the Workplace which acknowledges and celebrates the key role that HR practitioners play not only in the survival of businesses – but also in the trajectory to abundance. We are delighted to have as our front cover icon Palesa Ntoagae, Human Resources Director at the JSE; inside you will get to meet Palesa in the one-on-one interview we had the pleasure of conducting with her.

In this edition you will find a range of articles, interviews and thought leadership pieces arranged according to three pillars: Best Practice; Leadership and Workforce; for your ease of reference they have been colour coded. To give you a taste of what to expect in the following pages here is a selection of some of the topics:

BEST PRACTICE

• The evolution of HR and its impact on the future world of work

• Hiring trends to keep an eye on

• Retaining talent during a skills shortage

LEADERSHIP

• Linking staff happiness to increase in turnover

• 5 principles for post-pandemic leadership

• Winning in a new game of business

WORKPLACE

• Mental health – new approaches to corporate wellness

• 5 ways to banish the burnout

• How to maintain a high-performance culture

Top HR Leaders would not have been possible without the tireless and inspired input from Production Director, Van Fletcher, Assistant Editor, Koketso Mamabolo; Assistant Editor, Sinazo Mkoko; Designer Tashwell Brown and Traffic Manager Daniel Bouwer.

We hope you enjoy the read!

ALLURING

HR in the new world

Interview with Johannesburg Stock Exchange HR Director, Palesa NtoagaeChief Dealer of Hope

By Fiona Wakelin & Koketso Mamabolo

the person that can take over from me?’ So leadership and succession is probably one of the most critical areas of focus as well for me at this point in time.”

How do your employees experience working in your organisation? Asking and answering that question at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) is Human Resources Director Palesa Ntoagae, whose approach exemplifies the close link between what’s going on in society, and how employees experience an organisation.

Palesa recognises the influence and impact the JSE has on its employees and society and she strives to impart a sense of hope on those around her. Here the JSE’s “Chief Dealer of Hope” walks us through her role, what the JSE has been doing to create a diverse and inclusive workplace and how it ties into the new world we’re living in.

A changing role

Palesa is responsible for ensuring that the JSE has a strong talent strategyone that retains the right talent and ensures that employees have the skills that are needed in our changing world. The world is not the same as it used to be, and the JSE recognises that. Palesa mentions how people often go to the JSE’s offices expecting to see the trading floor, which no longer exists. A new world means new people and leaders need to know who will be next in line.

“People grow,” says Palesa, speaking to Top HR Leaders. “I’m older, and I’ve had to look at my team and say, ‘who’s

Compared to other major financial institutions which employ thousands of people, the JSE is quite small, says Palesa. “The responsibility across the different functions of departments starts and ends with me.”

"It’s been quite interesting to lead a team of people who are so competent across different areas of specialisation in HR. Before the JSE, I led HR Country Leaders; now I’m leading centre of expertise specialists."

Palesa sees her role as extending outside of the organisation - playing her part in developing the country and addressing its challenges. “I think we forget how our jobs and our roles give us that respect, naturally. I don’t have to ask for it. People listen to what you say and a big part of our responsibility, as the JSE, is contributing towards the national agenda.”

This goes beyond run-of-the-mill corporate social investment - it speaks to the JSE’s awareness of itself as an institution with the power and influence to make a difference. Whether it be allowing masters students to conduct research, or empowering women, every effort can affect change.

“Leila doesn’t expect us to sit in our offices for the full year. She expects us to contribute and do good towards society. And we’ve certainly opened up our doors and availed ourselves, and that’s been really meaningful for me.”

Palesa knows that, outside the offices of executives, life is happening. “Sometimes we sit in our head offices and forget about the world around us,” she says, showing how in touch she is with the lived experiences of people who aren’t at the c-suite level.

Starting from the top

In any organisation, the leaders drive the culture and drive the policies. Within any organisation, the human resources component is no different: diversity and inclusion starts from the top.

“We’ve been blessed to have a CEO who has strong views around prioritising the development of women,” says Palesa.

One of the JSE’s initiatives are leaderled conversations around diversity and inclusion, which is an effort to deal with the bias that can tend to creep into decision-making and how employees are treated and engaged with. They also directly ask employees for their feedback on their experience.

“We run an annual employee engagement survey to gauge employee sentiment about how they feel in the organisation. And for the first time we actually had targeted questions so that we could have a gender audit because we want to hear from staff what they’re experience in the organisation is in terms of how they are treated. Because it was never about creating an environment that accommodates just women. It was about ‘how do we recognise the contributions and the roles of everybody at the JSE?’”

“ With the changing work enviroments have also come with new, more caring approaches to how employees are treated and engaged with ”

One of the policies they have in place is for new parents, regardless of their gender. “We’ve got a gender neutral parental leave policy that allows new parents to take four months paid leave and they can take it all at once or in installments,” explains Palesa.

The JSE has an unique policy “no gender-based violence policy” which seeks to help victims of gender-based violence.

“We’ve also partnered with organisations that give victims help and the help looks like paid leave in addition to your standard leave benefits. Should you be in that unfortunate position, and you need to get help, we give you added time off as well if you need to sort out kids who may be affected. We partner you with an organisation that takes you to a place of safety and connects you with legal support.”

By putting in place such policies, employers can show their employees that they recognise them as people first. And by partnering with other

organisations, the JSE is ensuring that they can extend their reach and deepen the impact of their initiatives.

“We look at NPOs and say, ‘these are people that we want to support and add our voice behind because we believe that they’re doing the right thing in creating that equal society.”

Chief Dealer of Hope

It’s a new world we’re living in. The world the JSE finds itself in is in stark contrast to the days when trading floors were the image everyone had in mind when they thought of stock exchanges. And with the changing work environments have also come with new, more caring approaches to how employees are treated and engaged with.

“I know everybody talks about COVID but I think more than anything it reminded us to be human first, to appreciate that we all had different things to deal with; to appreciate that some people had to make big life

decisions. Some people lost everything,” notes Palesa.

She recalls a time when people dealing with mental health issues were “completely disregarded”. Which is why it’s important for her to instil a sense of hope for employees.

“When I first heard ‘chief dealer of hope’ it was really about being honest about the influence and impact that you have in just being a little bit more empathetic.”

“Our responsibility (job) is to reflect on how we can be dealers of hope and contribute to creating environments that make people feel seen and heard”.

Human resources professionals now have a duty to assist leaders in being able to better respond to the personal challenges that their employees are facing.

“It’s the so-called ‘soft’ stuff that I think we really need to get better at so that we ensure that we create an environment that allows people to thrive and to show up fully as they are,” says Palesa.

By showing empathy and support, employees are given room to flourish, and employers will get more buy-in and have employees who are willing to go further than expected. Palesa’s role is to be the one that asks leaders to not disregard the feelings and experiences of the people in their organisation.

The new world of work

It’s not only empathy and support that employees need. They also need a workplace model which allows for more flexibility and that enhances their experience and workplace culture. This

features specifically geared towards making the experience of working there better.

With the COVID-19 pandemic accelerating the push for work-fromhome policies, the JSE has adapted their own to allow employees to choose which days of the week they want to come to the office. They’ve done away with private offices, even for executives, choosing instead to have pods, couches and other alternative workspaces.

But a hybrid work model doesn’t mean the different teams within the organisation are working in silos. “We have enough events to get people to collaborate, to connect, to socialisebecause that’s an important part of the fabric and DNA of the organisation.”

Technology allows for this hybrid model and Palesa is acutely aware of how

technology is going to have an impact on the next generation of employees. She uses the example of her 15-year old son, who plays video games online with three of his friends who are on three different continents. By the time he joins the workforce, he will have had extensive experience communicating, and even collaborating with people in far flung locations.

“And that’s where I think diversity and inclusion - and this future role that we’re moving into - exists because we used to play physically. Our kids don’t play like that,” says Palesa.

“So they are going to come into the workplace. If we are not ready to deal with those groups of people, we are going to struggle to get them to stay there.”

What is her message to other leaders?

“When you look at your job, your work, dig deep and see what’s in it for you. What legacy do you want to leave behind - one that transcends beyond the corporate world?”

This is HR in the new world.

“It’s not only empathy and support that employees need. They also need a workplace model which allows for more flexibility and that enhances their experience and workplace culture. This is why the JSE’s office building includes features specifically geared towards making the experience of working there better.”

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Givewaways from partners including Uber, MSC, Veldskoen & more

Scan the code to watch the official highlights video

The evolution of HR and its impact on the future of work

By Boitumelo Moselane, Human Resources Director for Eaton South Africa

The roles and responsibilities of human resource professionals are evolving at a rapid pace compared to just a few years ago, making HR an increasingly challenging environment to navigate for all stakeholders. Where the challenge of recruitment, performance management and training were once our main concerns, we now contend with a multitude of modern-day demands and considerations, all of which impact the future world of work.

The onset of COVID-19, and its impact on employees and the day-to-day running of businesses as well as meeting business objectives, has contributed greatly to the changing HR environment. Most importantly, we have had

to shift our perspectives from overseeing workplace protocols to being at the forefront of unprecedented work-from-home and hybrid work models.

As a result of the lockdown, we needed to act and adapt quickly in the interest of employee wellness – that is, advocating for the wellbeing of employees in a holistic way, which includes looking after their physical, emotional and mental health needs.

Added to this, the face of recruitment has changed dramatically as companies compete for the best and brightest among the current generation of employees, with a strategic nod towards the hiring of

4IR-skilled workers. There is a high demand for people with technical skills in the industrial and energy sectors, which means that organisations are re-evaluating their approaches to recruitment to ensure they are able to better accommodate the needs of these new recruits – and more specifically, millennials.

The answer is not always in monetary rewards, although it does play a crucial role. Meaningful, challenging work that is engaging and provides opportunities for continuous learning and growth is key. Moreover, people want to be able to identify and align with a company’s values, to know that the place they work for values them as individuals, emphasises

work-life balance and recognises and rewards accomplishments. Importantly, they want to know that the company they work for is committed to uplifting and empowering surrounding communities, has an authentic approach to environmental sustainability and reducing its carbon footprint.

Companies that don’t meet these criteria, especially the new generation of employees’ requirements on providing opportunities to engage in meaningful work and creating a positive work atmosphere, will typically experience high staff turnover rates – something we have seen during the pandemic during what was termed the ‘The Great Resignation’.

HR trends to keep an eye on

The employee experience is now a major part of business strategy.

Understanding how employees feel about the workplace is assisting HR to be proactive in identifying problems, resolving issues before getting out of control and creating more ‘moments that matter’.

Furthermore, HR professionals are now required to be business partners and understand the business instead of playing the behind-the-scenes role they once assumed. As HR professionals use technology to make crucial decisions and free up their time from having to execute mundane administrative tasks, among other old practices, they will play a more vital consultancy role in businesses. HR professionals must also be adaptable to change, drive the change in the organisation and

make sure no one is left behind. They must be willing to unlearn old practices that are now irrelevant and learn new skills required for the future, such as digital skills and using analytics to make informed decisions. As such, the willingness among HR professionals to upskill themselves and learn a few new tricks is just as important.

Navigating this new ‘era’ of HR has been and continues to be a steep learning curve for many HR professionals and organisations. However, I believe these challenges and changes have created a more conducive and productive environment for HR to play a more central role in not only supporting the achievement of business objectives, but contributing meaningfully towards preparing organisations for the future world of work. n

Hiring trends to keep an eye on

By Vanessa Rogers, Textbox ConceptualT

A competitive market may present the perfect motivation any firm needs to get clued up on what’s going on in the recruitment industry, especially when it comes to contingent hiring.

A skilled and reputable contingent agency’s role is to stockpile as many CVs as possible for those mid-level positions, knowing that money will only change hands when a preferred candidate you’ve put forward is chosen for the role.

Internal hiring

To stay ahead, you’ll need to know that trend number one, this year, sees internal hiring getting first dibs. With this in mind, it’s worth getting to know a company’s HR manager and making an assessment of the inhouse talent within a firm – before you invest time and energy in providing a barrage of CVs for a particular role that they need filled.

If the HR manager is new, fairly inexperienced and/or

inadequately networked, and you’re sure no in-house person properly fits the bill, it’s worth going ahead and conquering that particular role from your contingent agency. “Just bare in mind at all times that internal mobility means lower costs to the company and a faster hiring process. So if you’re skilled at the contingent hiring game, you’ll know exactly when to pounce and when to stand well back,” advises Jeremy Bossenger, founder at RecuitIn.

Pandemic skills

Then, how about alerting the firms who call on you as to the skills your contingent team sought to master over the pandemic, a decided trend number two in 2022 hiring.

Virtual interviewing webinars (and in-person experience); remote talent-advisory training, together with knowledge gained in the field; and how about virtual onboarding skills.

No valued recruitment firm would have steered clear of

A contingent agency –

• Doesn’t get paid unless a candidate they’ve put forward makes the cut; Employs speed and accuracy to compete against multiple other agencies, and even your own HR department;

• Has a greater chance of success if they make a name for themselves in a particular field, such as IT or management;

• Is at your mercy, to a large extent i.e. if they send on unsuitable candidates, there’s no need to interview them or pay any sort of fee; and May require that candidates complete a range of psychometric tests, to ensure they are ideally suited for the job at hand.

opportunities to gain talent metrics and to accurately assess mental/emotional/spiritual health in candidates. Plus: the fact that a contingent agency has gone the distance in this way, means they’re all the more worth taking on to find that all-important midlevel candidate, than any other less clued up firm in the niche.

B-BBEE Expertise

And how about trend number three, a contingent agency’s investment in Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE)

know-how? These days, it’s a nobrainer – candidates want to join a firm that is as diverse, equal and inclusive (not to mention ecofriendly) as humanly possible, and your ability as a contingent agency to make this happen, i.e. the placing of a B-BBEE candidate at a company where their skill and status is considered essential, will put you ahead when you’re making the hiring thing happen.

“You can’t deny the value provided by this hard-working and multitalented portion of the recruitment market,” enthuses Bossenger.

“Our skill is most times way above internal HR. But firms need to know about the inherent value that we add – extensive experience, a wide network, and more suitable/ talented mid-level candidates to offer if firms are prepared to make the investment, over and above what their own HR departments are likely to be able to source.” n

Sources: Agency Central

For the organisations out there for whom contingent agencies are their go-to hiring option, remember that:

How the COVID-19 pandemic changed HR

By Fifi Sali, HR Executive at Vuma

Most human resource professionals will attest: HR in a post-pandemic world looks quite different to just a few years ago. For one thing, companies have become far more in tune with their employees’ needs from a physical, mental, emotional and professional perspective than ever before. The ‘Great Resignation’ that took place over the last two years had a lot to do with this, as stress, anxiety, burnout, and depression became commonplace among employees under lockdown and the lines between life and work were unhealthily blurred. Employees increasingly jumped ship from companies, feeling the need to find work that fulfilled them, instead of spending time in jobs they disliked.

Prioritising health and wellness

For workers in the ICT and telecommunications industry

in particular, who were deemed essential during those first gloomy and extremely challenging days of lockdown, hours were long and demanding – people across the country needed connectivity and they needed it now, and our teams worked tirelessly to help

light up more homes in more neighbourhoods with fibre connectivity. The fear was that this unprecedented increase in workload would soon take its toll on our people. We as HR professionals, working strategically alongside leadership teams, had to adapt and

act quickly to the changing environment and new world of work into which we were all plunged to safeguard the overall wellbeing of the employees. As a result, across industries, employee wellness has evolved into a 360-degree approach that takes into consideration the whole person – their professional, social, physical, emotional and mental health needs.

Providing employees with the tools they need to work from home effectively, such as laptops, connectivity and UPS devices that can be used during loadshedding, was a simple but crucial first step in this process as workers can’t be expected to perform without this. Increased one-on-one check-ins with managers (what we at Vuma call ‘huddles’), wellness webinars, and encouraging people to switch off and take time off are other important aspects that many companies have employed too. Allowing the inevitable shift away from the ‘traditional’ office to take its course and being more flexible to the needs of employees is a reality companies cannot shy away from. After many months of remote working, people have become accustomed to being able to use the time in their days as they see fit while still being able to get their work done. Rather than run away from it, it has become crucial that companies create an

enabling environment around the hybrid work model, as this is clearly the basis of the future world of work.

Embracing a new era of recruitment and company culture

Talent acquisition and retention was already a challenging area long before the pandemic, as companies scrambled to figure out how to attract and retain millennials equipped with the 4IR skills that are, and will increasingly be, in high demand in the workplace. Just like companies are expected to let go of traditional work structures and be more flexible, so too are managers expected to adjust their approaches to leading their teams and meeting targets, moving away from normative views and being more trusting of individual’s ability to perform efficiently no matter where they work from, without micromanaging. All of this has also changed dynamics from a performance management perspective. HR and management teams alike are increasingly making use of data and analytics to identify problem and praise areas, and analyse performance more effectively to allow for more productive performance management conversations with employees, as well as better, more data-driven decision

making for the business. All these shifts in internal structures will of course have an impact on company cultures in the future, with the goal being to create more inclusive, cohesive, goal-oriented and enabling cultures in which people and businesses thrive.

The direction in which HR is headed is rooted in how companies, HR and leadership teams, and workforces view and adapt to the inevitable shifts that are taking place as a result of the pandemic. Embracing these changes is key to realising the future world of work that the world envisions.

“Employees increasingly jumped ship from companies, feeling the need to find work that fulfilled them, instead of spending time in jobs they disliked.”

Retaining talent during a skills shortage

By Lyndy van den Barselaar, MD at ManpowerGroup SA

Companies across the globe are grappling with a skills shortage that was driven by various factors from the rapid adoption of new technologies, such as AI and automation, during the COVID-19 pandemic to changing employee needs.

Based on the changing business landscape, the traditional workforce is shifting with McKinsey stating that by 2030 there could be a 20% increase in demand for managers, technology specialists and health professionals while

manual roles are likely to decline as steeply. Further, two-thirds of the workforce could be under skilled in basic digital skills, leadership, communication and decision-making.

While businesses face a shortage of skilled workers, on the other end of the spectrum, countries are facing record numbers of unemployment which is supported by the ManpowerGroup’s Talent Shortage survey which found that 69% of companies across

the globe have reported a talent shortage.

To overcome this challenge, companies need to take a different approach and create opportunities to fill employment gaps and prepare for the changes that lie ahead.

Creating the talent you need from the inside

With more than half of all workers (58%) needing new skills to get their jobs done, the skills

“Two-thirds of the workforce could be under skilled in basic digital skills, leadership, communication and decision-making.“

revolution is in full force. Reskilling and upskilling will become nonnegotiable for individuals and organisations as roles continue to require more skills than before, with both technology and human capabilities most in demand. As the need for soft skills, including adaptability, communication, teamwork, and more take on increased importance, employers will need to ensure their people are constantly being provided opportunities to improve their skill sets.

This is supported by McKinsey, which found that over 50% of executives believe that developing the skills of their existing workforce is the most useful way to address the skills gap. At the same time, 89% of workers want more learning opportunities such as remote skills development and career coaching. By helping employees to upskill and grow within an organisation, companies create the workforce agility needed to thrive in an increasingly digital world.

Creating a brand that employees want to work for

The post-pandemic workforce also has clearly defined demands for current and prospective employers. To stand out in a competitive market that is seeking skills in a shrinking talent pool, companies need to

position themselves differently to be viewed as an employer of choice amongst those looking for a career path, both within an organisation and outside of the organisation.

The heightened focus on reshaping company culture to build trust, retain remote teams and energise the employee experience will call for an Employee Value Proposition that brings a sense of purpose and wellbeing plus empathetic leadership for a digital world. In this era of talent scarcity, the best employers will realise firsthand that without investing in an evolving company culture, they will struggle to execute their strategy and need to prepare to lose talent to companies that will.

Creating a culture focused on the employee experience

Companies that manage their brand reputation and regard employees’ needs will find it easier to attract and retain talent. As workers go back to a new normal, there is an opportunity for organisations to shape up their employer brands to focus on what today’s workers want: a better employee experience.

The employee experience is valuable in solidifying a company’s reputation as an employer and is directly dependent on the employee

value proposition. When employees know what the employer’s expectations are and are rewarded accordingly, they are more likely to view the organisation favourably and want to remain with or join the company.

Today’s companies need to prepare for the workplace of the future by upskilling employees and adapting to meet the needs of the employees of the future. This is not the first time that the workplace has had to shift to adapt to the needs of its environment, and it won’t be the last time, but those companies that make the shift now, will reap the benefits of the changing business landscape today while preparing for the workplace of tomorrow.

“By helping employees to upskill and grow within an organisation, companies create the workforce agility needed to thrive in an increasingly digital world.”

Giving employees the best experience

By Toni De la Harpe, General Manager of Employee Experience and Enablement, Nando’s

Change was always a constant, but the current rate of change faced today is unprecedented. Already in the years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic, the greatest challenges for leaders were the pace of change and the complexity of the challenges faced in the VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) world. Now, the world of work is undergoing a metamorphosis becoming even more unchartered with marketplace competition emerging more quickly and unexpected consequences arising with faster impact. The desire and need for evolution have always been innate and when it is guided by knowledge and the desire to improve, it can inspire us to reconstruct our world or businesses as they ought to be. We need to rethink how we lead our people, organisations and communities, writes Toni

De la Harpe,

General

the COVID-19 pandemic, the way in which we look at the world has changed. In what has been termed the Great Reset, employee wants and needs have changed, and leadership must keep pace with this. No longer is the traditional concept of top-down leadership viable and fit for purpose. As a collective, we are moving from a digital and virtual age to a personalised age where employees are seeking work

to empower them and satisfy their individual preferences. Companies have come to appreciate that the thoughts, feelings and perceptions of employees about their employer matter and can have a causal effect on the prosperity and organisational health of a business.

Dubbed the ‘Great Resignation’, by distinguished professor of Organisational behaviour, Dr Anthony

Manager:

Employee Experience and Enablement at Nando’s South Africa.

If in the past there was an unspoken traditional belief that humancentricity comes at the sacrifice of productivity or profit, this has since been disregarded. Due to

Klotz, many employees left their roles. Inspired to take more control of their personal and professional lives or driven by the effects of the pandemic, employees have flooded the labour market in search of new roles to fill new purposes, a stronger desire for better work-life balance and greater flexibility. This is predicted to continue to be impactful as people search for jobs that provide them with the right pay, benefits and work arrangements. Klotz’s prediction has since been validated by subsequent reports on the global workforce by consultancy firm PwC’s Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey and Microsoft’s 2021 Work Trend Index. Findings not only confirm the trend but further suggest that it shows no sign of abating with a projected one to two in five workers planning to quit their jobs this calendar year.

Against this backdrop, adaptive employers must strengthen their talent retention strategies, policies and employee value proposition (EVP), which includes the benefits, compensation, and perks offered to employees. Nowadays, particularly amongst top talent with highly specialised skills, a company’s culture, and its alignment with one’s values can be the defining factor in accepting or rejecting a job offer. Additionally, when comparing job culture to that of 10 years ago, there is less loyalty amongst employees to their employers. More than before, employers need to do everything they can to keep talent in the company for as long as possible.

As new employees take up new roles and as the nature of work continues to change, employers need to support individuals in building additional hard & soft skills. As leaders step up to manage diverse and interspersed teams, there is a greater need for the development of soft skills such as emotional intelligence, creativity, adaptability and time management. Additionally, with the retirement of the baby boomer generation, millennials will move from being managed to becoming managers. Millennials have a strong desire for a different approach to development and learning. They actively seek to be engaged which demands more from organisations, while also providing great opportunity to ensure smooth transitions of leadership. Investing in various methods of soft skills training for all, results in an increase in leadership potential, satisfaction in the workplace, and work performance.

in mental health. People are facing increases in stress and anxiety and are emotionally exhausted. While employees may have risen to the occasion to deal with the pandemic, we may still see and feel the long-term implication for years to come. Standard employee assistance programmes (EAPs) will not be enough to support employees. This is a leadership challenge and organisations will need to create cultures and environments that support the mental and physical health of their people. For organisations, tackling the well-being of their employees not only lower levels of employee burnout, anxiety and depression, all while boosting trust, innovation and resiliency, but it also translates into higher performance and retention.

Employees want to feel appreciated and recognised. More than ever before, mental health and wellness are core to employee engagement. Affected by the pandemic, globally people have experienced a decline

While employees are seeking personalised experiences of work, fairness and equity will remain a core focus. Debates on which fairness is at the core are prominent in society, emerging on a variety of topics such as race, gender & climate change/ sustainability Generation Z and millennials value diversity and as such, will push for these strides in business. Achieving gender equality will become more important, not just linked to fairness but also because it is directly linked to growth. Workplace gender equality is associated with increased organisational performance, enhancing organisational reputation and ability to attract and retain talent. Rethinking performance management

and recalibrating KPIs in the wake of hybrid and flexible working is important to success. With the increased use of technology in the workplace, organisations can utilise this to drive data-driven dashboards and tools that automatically capture and analyse data while building capacity for leaders to engage rather than monitor their teams. If the need for adaptation, learning and growth has become more prominent in organisations, then employees should be rewarded for these behaviours. Performance will be linked to the creation of environments of psychological safety, trust, and transparency – aspects that are being identified as an employer’s most valuable currency.

These are but a few notable human capital trends and maintaining a motivated, engaged and content workforce is a mammoth endeavour. Practising consistent communication, investing in future development and constantly re-evaluating traditional metrics and policies allow us to stay abreast of undercurrents, align with global best practices and be better in tune with our organisation’s pulse. Finally, to succeed we must appreciate that learning is a lifelong process and the unknown brings great opportunity.

Brainfood for business.

Kellogg South Africa LEADING WOMEN AT

Kellogg focuses on ensuring that their people bring their whole, unique selves and best ideas every day. They are driving performance through women. The company has a vision of a “good and just world where people are not just fed but fulfilled.” Through their values which include; integrity, accountability, passion, humility, simplicity and a focus on success, they have created a vibrant company culture where ideas can blossom, people can thrive and success can flourish. Top HR Leaders magazine has the pleasure to profile some of Kellogg’s leading women.

NINA: I am a seasoned sales and marketing professional with several years’ experience in the FMCG industry in senior commercial, brand account management and trade marketing roles.

I am passionate about delivering proven results. In my current role, I lead customer and shopper marketing as well as category development.

gender parity and women must invest time and effort in driving their careers. Personally, I have found that by being clear about what I want and having a mentor and sponsor has advanced my career ambitions.

Q. As a woman, what makes Kellogg appealing?

NINA NORTIER HEAD OF TRADE MARKETING

My team and I provide innovative, gamechanging solutions to drive sustainable growth.

Q. The sales industry is dominated by men. What can be done to address gender biases in the sales industry in SA?

A. Companies must drive transformation and

A. I align with the company’s purpose which is: “Creating better days and a place at the table for everyone.” Also, my voice is heard by the leaders and my colleagues. The Locate For Your Day policy allows me the flexibility to work at home when I need to - a benefit I appreciate as a new mom.

THORISO: I have more than 14 years of procurement experience working in both the public and private sectors, both direct and Indirect procurement. My entry into procurement was accidental as I wanted to pursue forensic auditing. I am grateful for the family support I received as I was transitioning into procurement. At Kellogg, I lead the procurement processes that enable purchasing of both goods and services at optimal value. I am a mother of two children

THORISO APHANE GROUP PROCUREMENT OPS MANAGER

Q. What gender biases have you had to navigate?

A. The procurement space is largely male dominated. Early on in my career,

my male colleagues would not consider my inputs. To navigate this, I used my knowledge and expertise to showcase my capabilities. Also, having a mentor helped me with navigating these dynamics.

Q. How would you advise a younger you about career planning in the procurement space?

A. Slow and steady wins the race. Have a clear career path and find a mentor to help you. Lastly, celebrate success. Learn as much as you can about procurement and understand the key deliverables in your role.

ANKE: I started in a commercial practice before moving to a corporate legal role as legal counsel.

I’m currently the Legal Manager, providing legal oversight and guiding the organisation in navigating legal, ethics and compliance matters. I am a mother of two children.

Q. What challenges have you been facing and how have you navigated these?

A. I faced biases and had to be confident in my knowledge and capabilities to face them and that has enabled me to build trust and respect from my colleagues.

Q. What do you enjoy the most about your role?

A. I love the diversity of my role and I enjoy working cross-functionally. I use every engagement as a learning opportunity from my colleagues – a recipe for success in the corporate world.

Q. What role did mentors play in supporting your career ambitions?

A. I’ve been mentored by some of the most inspirational business people in practice and incorporation. They have shaped me into the professional I am today and I’m grateful. I love the effort Kellogg puts into supporting female employees in their career growth journey.

LEBOGANG: I am a Human Resources professional with over 10 years’ experience with extensive understanding of the hospitality and retail sectors. I am a mother of two children.

Q. What attracted you to the company?

A. The brand resonated with me. Kellogg’s commitment to equity diversity and inclusion appealed to me. Through Women of Kellogg our Business Employee Resources Group, the company provides an environment where women learn, grow and build successful careers. Being part ofthe team have facilitates this, delivers to my purpose.

Q. What advice would you offer young professionals on managing their personal brand to better position themselves in the world of work?

A. One needs to be determined, focused, work hard and not be afraid to challenge the status quo. Maintaining good networks is critical in building a career. Identify someone willing and best positioned to be a mentor to help navigate the corporate space in a way that advances their career. Lastly, one must realise that everything you do can either build or destroy your brand.

RENEE: I am a supply chain engineering professional with a strong focus on excellence, passionate about driving efficient lean manufacturing systems and continuous improvement. I have experience in continuous improvement projects, process optimisation, natural resource conservation and strategic growth planning that is aimed at driving business results and sustainability. I am a mother of one child.

Q. Your industry is dominated by mostly males, how have you navigated your career successfully?

A. Being a female in this industry is not a limitation and I am just as worthy and deserving as my male counterparts. My confidence in my ability and expertise helps me navigate this dynamic. I do not rely on yesterday’s success but aim to get better every single day.

To learn more about Kellogg’s, visit www.kelloggs.co.za and find us on Facebook @KelloggsZA

ANKE COETZEE LEGAL MANAGER

RENEE SEERANE KELLOGG WORK SYSTEM MANAGER

LEBOGANG KHALA HR MANAGER

How to maintain a high-performance culture in a changing world of work

By Lettie-Basani Phume, Group Human Capital Executive at Momentum Metropolitan Holdings

If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that the world of work will never be static. For the last two years, ‘you’re on mute’, ‘mullet’ dressing – formal on top, PJs below – or meetings from the car or in the middle of home-schooling have been the norm. Now, however, the call is for employees to start moving towards a hybrid model, where people split their time between being at an office and working remotely.

Many have embraced this as it offers the best of both worlds: the ability for individuals to manage their time according to their lifestyles and needs, and deliver on output rather than a tally of daily working hours. We have found that allowing people to work whenever and wherever suits them best drives efficiencies and productivity, and our employees have generally spoken about better work/life integration.

However, it has led to the rise of another interesting trend that we have seen: people have grown to prefer and want to keep the flexibility of remote work, but crave the connection that comes from being together

in an office.This is backed up by research. A 2021 Work Trend Index found that 67% of people missed in-person collaboration and engagement, while 73% wanted to retain the flexibility of remote work in their workplaces. They called this the hybrid work paradox, and it is a defining feature of workplaces today.

It presents a unique conundrum for modern organisations –because it is clear that hybrid is here to stay, and that businesses need to make room for different working styles and explore ways to bring the best out of their people by building and maintaining a culture of trust, while maximising convenience, performance, productivity and well-being.

Embracing flexibility

Businesses need to think carefully about how they respond to the ongoing shifts in the way people work, and what they can do to enable hybrid work going forward. The crux of the ability to do this is an understanding that each person, team and working environment is

different and that employers need to embrace flexibility to equip people with the tools, resources and environment that they need to focus and do their best work – according to the working style that suits them best.

Already we are seeing pockets of excellence within our own and other businesses. These pockets include teams that have a clear culture of trust, communication, connection and collaboration, where individuals are able to manage each other’s expectations and deliver what

no matter where they are working.

understanding the realities of their day-to-day lives. Other initiatives involve regular, dedicated face-to-face meetings to drive connection and human interaction, and quarterly Connect sessions to bring colleagues from different teams together, among others. One team has even developed a habit of working from their manager’s house one day a week, where they have meetings with their feet in the pool – while another manager cooks dinner for her team once a week.

#ThinkHumanFirst

An example of how many teams connection over task – getting teammates colleagues as people,

The key is to “think human first” –and be flexible enough to cater to individual needs in a workplace that continues to morph. This means taking the whole human being into consideration and exploring opportunities to harness new and better ways to bring the best out of people and enhance their productivity and performance while prioritising their wellbeing.

For us, this means a companywide focus on providing the tools and flexibility, plus digital support to help employees deal with everyday life and juggle both their work and personal lives through a remote working policy designed to help cope with the rapidly changing needs of the workplace.

It also means providing an environment where people can come to connect, collaborate and work. The Work Trends Index revealed that 66% of business

How to maintain a high-performance culture in a changing world of work

smartphone into a panic button with assistance one click away, to help keep our colleagues safe and protected. Leaders were additionally enabled with dashboards which provided insights into their teams to help them lead the hybrid workplace.

Other digital capabilities include providing online learning communities, mobile support for the organisation’s online learning portal and micro-learning content that is integrated into employees’ everyday activities. There is also our Digital Passport, an online access system that screens all employees and visitors quickly and easily, to ensure a workplace that is as safe and healthy as possible for everyone.

decision makers are considering redesigning physical spaces to better accommodate hybrid work environments, and make them more conducive to strengthening relationships and allowing people to come together to brainstorm, collaborate, and problem solve. We are part of that 66%: the company’s newly refurbished offices in Centurion and Bellville, Cape Town – which have shifted from private spaces to collaborative spaces, complete with hot desks and nooks for meetings – will open formally in April 2022.

This is matched by investments in digital capabilities. The shift over the pandemic from a

technological perspective has been to focus on self service, enabling our employees and leaders to digitally interact with HR, anywhere and anytime and creating efficiencies at the fingertips of every employee. The self-service system has vastly improved, and even now, for example, includes a loadshedding feature to help employees see if themselves or their colleagues will experience any downtime and plan accordingly.

We have also enabled employees with Momentum Insure’s Safety Alert, an emergency panic button linked to urgent armed response or emergency services. This is a service that turns any

The questionnaire asks pertinent COVID-related questions that are adjusted regularly to accommodate the regulation changes as we navigate the various waves of the pandemic. It also serves as a reminder to everyone of ongoing protocols, like social distancing and mask-wearing.

We are by no means the only organisation implementing measures to facilitate a hybrid working environment – but in an ever-changing world of work, where nothing is static, businesses are going to have to think human first and incorporate flexibility into their approach to how, when and where people work in order to succeed. n

Looking internally to fill the skills gap

By Lyndy van den Barselaar, Managing Director at ManpowerGroup South Africa

The COVID-19 pandemic fastforwarded the world of work to a technologically advanced future where employees can work remotely for organisations across the globe. While this has changed the view of work, giving employees a taste of flexibility they have never experienced before and opening up opportunities that never existed before, it has also led employees in search of more than just a job as they now seek out purpose and fulfilment from their work.

This is driving the great reawakening or great resignation globally which, according to McKinsey, has already seen more

than 19 million workers in the United States alone resign since April 2021.

While South Africa’s employment landscape differs from that of the US and many other regions around the world, the country is not shielded from the great resignation or the global skills shortage that companies are facing today. This is supported by Allianz Risk Barometer 2022 which ranks a shortage of skilled workforce eighth in its list of top 10 concerns for business in South Africa, up from the ninth position in the previous year. According to the report, attracting and retaining workers has rarely been

more challenging, particularly in the engineering, construction, real estate, public service and healthcare sectors.

While finding new staff to fill the skills gap is a key concern for many organisations, companies should look to retaining their existing skilled staff as a first step. One way that companies can overcome employee attrition is by providing a line of sight to a career that allows employees to learn, grow, and have a positive impact. Companies that provide the necessary upskilling, training and career pathing will not only drive productivity and retention of their current talent but also

help to attract the best talent in the market. To achieve this, there are a few things companies can do to build a career development strategy that will attract and retain talent.

Broaden the definition of career growth

Ensure that your organisation has a broad definition of career growth beyond just promotions. Think of ways workers can grow within a role, grow within a function, redeploy across functions and even grow outside of the organisation. Today, careers are much more of a lattice than a ladder and it is important to consider development outside of the organisation, like the benefits that come from volunteering in the community, on boards or committees.

Empower employees to own their careers

When employees take ownership of their careers, they feel a sense of purpose and belonging. Encourage them to explore their strengths and values and how they align with those of the organisation. Ensuring employees have mechanisms for getting feedback, such as 360 tools and career assessments, can be helpful. It is also important to teach employees how to network across the organisation.

Train leaders as career coaches

All managers should be expected to act as career coaches, using powerful questions to help employees explore their connection to their work. Questions such as, “What gets you excited at work?”, “What is your dream job?”,

“How can I support you in making progress toward it?”

Through coaching, managers can help employees uncover deeper meaning and purpose as well as opportunities for growth for the future. These coaching conversations will also make employees feel heard and valued. If managers are reluctant to adopt this role or are still learning how to coach, enlist certified career coaches to assist and guide them.

Accelerate careers of underrepresented groups

Business Resource Groups (BRGs) are one way to foster inclusiveness and enhance professional growth but they may not be enough on their own. Consider establishing a mentorship programme within the BRG or through another formal programme or informal network. It is also important to provide mentors with the support they need to understand their role and the specific ways they can support their mentees.

If current and potential employees see a clear career path to learn, grow, and be connected to impactful and meaningful work, they will feel motivated and far more likely to stay at an organisation, avoid employee attrition and reduce the skills gap. This necessitates alignment between individuals’ career goals and an employer’s approach to creating career growth opportunities. n

Digital skills for a future fit workforce

By Tumi Nkosi, Director of Executive Education and Programmes at Johannesburg Business School

South Africa’s unemployment rate gets media attention every quarter when Statistics South Africa releases its report on the country’s state of joblessness. Right now, it stands at 34.9 percent, which translates to 7.8-million people. But there is a much bigger scourge looming – that of unemployability. It is characterised by an inadequately educated workforce and is quickly becoming the root cause of unemployment.

There currently exists a mismatch between the skills South Africans have and the jobs that are available.

With Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies – such as cloud computing, big data, data security, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning – fast becoming integrated in

the workplace, South Africa might find itself with an idle population incapable of filling thousands of jobs.

According to the World Economic Forum, South Africa has strong ties to advanced economies, particularly Europe, making it vulnerable to changes in those countries. With these developed markets becoming digitised, we risk falling off the global economic wagon.

A digitally literate population is seemingly our only hope of remaining a global player and the springboard for companies looking to enter the African market.

We need a digitally astute workforce. Whatever the scope or focus of a company, all members of staff need to be digitally fluent,

and those in leadership positions need a thorough understanding of what it means to lead successfully in the digital era.

Reskilling people to work alongside technology

American sociologist, Richard Sennet, said the greatest dilemma faced by the modern artisancraftsman is the machine. He meant that mankind is still dealing with the idea of whether the machine is a friendly tool or an enemy replacing the work of the human hand.

Since the First Industrial Revolution, machines have been edging humans out of workplaces, making menial jobs redundant while simultaneously creating new roles that required more skill. The Fourth Industrial Revolution, with its cyber-physical tools and

systems, promises to do the same, but this time to both menial and highly skilled jobs. Soon, we might see the roles of accountants and news reporters changing drastically.

Today, technology can already can do some jobs better than humans. Drones are delivering packages faster than traditional modes of delivery (The South African National Blood Service is already rolling out its drone delivery service), selfdriving vehicles are already on the road, and we have seen selfservice terminals at supermarkets already replacing cashiers.

Reskilling for a digital future would mean that people will need to work collaboratively with machines. Simply put, more people will need to be skilled backend users for digital interfaces, inputting commands and algorithms.

Software engineers, coders and content producers are some of the key roles that come to mind when thinking of the present-day workers collaborating with technology.

Educational institutes hold the key to transformation

Perhaps South Africa’s only hope of a seamless digital transformation will come from our educational institutes. Before we can create a

digital workforce, people will have to first understand the benefits and pitfalls of working alongside emerging technologies.

Business schools have been trying to fulfil the role of digital transformers for a number of years now. However, far too many of them are accessible only to executives and larger companies because of their steep price and limited intake.

The Johannesburg Business

approach just doesn’t cut it. Businesses operating in such a constantly changing environment need a new kind of leader. They need leaders who are multidisciplinary in approach, solutionsfocused and digitally perceptive.

Organisations of all sizes recognise the need for a paradigm shift in how they are organised and managed. And from a skills point of view, their focus is on getting ready for digital transformation which requires digital literacy.

Like all other educational institutions, business schools need to adapt to this reality and cater for the changing needs of their clients, their employees and society as a whole.

School, based at the University of Johannesburg, is trying to buck this trend, making education accessible to individual entrepreneurs and small, micro and medium enterprises. Born in the digital era, it places Industry 4.0 technologies at the centre of its curricula.

A more flexible, future-fit approach is essential to ensure that executive education, in particular, is more specific to organisational strategy and individual roles. When it comes to ongoing education for executives, the one-size-fits-all

Perhaps creating a digital workforce tertiary level is not the answer. It might be a more logical approach to train people for a digital working world much earlier in life.

The Department of Basic Education has recently undergone a rewrite of its Life Skills curricula, adding digital literacy and the importance of working alongside Industry 4.0 technologies within the workspace.

It is an encouraging sign of the country’s future: we will have a generation of young adults who will form the core of a South African digital workforce. Hopefully, by then, all this talk of ‘unemployability’ will be bunkum. n

Technology offers innovative and integrated HR solutions

By Gary Epstein, EasyBiz Technologies Managing Director

Since I first started my business

20 years ago, technology has grown in leaps and bounds. This technological advancement was accelerated by the pandemic, and with the consequent introduction of the new hybrid working model, it has become clear that businesses are in the unique position of having to adapt and innovate their day-to-day operations.

The digital transformation of an organisation needs to take into consideration the human element of conducting business, whilst

ensuring that business targets are met. The department at the centre of this balancing act is human resources (HR).

In a digital world with continuous advancements and hybrid working models proving they are here to stay, HR teams need to ensure they remain effective. HR must now be able to manage employees in multiple locations and sometimes even time zones. They must ensure that employee wellbeing is prioritised and that staff are able to access HR

products and services easily even though they may not be in the same building as the HR manager anymore.

Employee Wellbeing Remains Key

Employee wellbeing is as important now - if not more important - since the pandemic. Despite an increase in the use of technology to perform organisational tasks, a company’s driving force remains its employees, and it is crucial to ensure they are taken care of

no matter their location. This is one of the areas of HR where advancements in technology have proved fruitful.

For example, organisations are making use of virtual and telephonic mental health services for employees who need assistance dealing with difficult circumstances.

Improving Productivity

Technology needn’t be feared, but should rather be embraced as a means to aid employees. However, the question remains: how can technology assist HR in its tasks? One of HR’s biggest tasks is to help employees towards achieving efficiency and productivity. This becomes particularly challenging in the hybrid working scenario; however, technology once again provides many opportunities to improve systems.

Research from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) proved that HR departments that use tech solutions perform better than those that don’t. With the advancement of technology and HR departments rising to the challenge for the best utilisation of technology for employee engagement, there are many tech solutions that HR departments can make use of. These include software and cloud-based solutions to securely store data and automate day-to-day processes, and analytical tools to make more strategic decisions.

Companies can look further than the next quarter to see the value in investing in technology to ensure the long-term growth of their enterprise. Technology helps improve productivity and ensures that the training of employees and upskilling of new staff can be accomplished more effectively. Used well, technology makes HR practices more efficient. When used poorly, it can get in the way of managing the company’s human resources.

Continued Connection

Intranet services allow for improved communication between departments. No company can run effectively without the collaboration of all its departments, and by making

use of the intranet and other networking services, departments are able to run as efficiently as they did when employees were all in one building.

Human interaction is a fundamental aspect that everyone needs, regardless of their different backgrounds; it is an important factor for human beings to feel connected. Options for using technology to increase employee interaction include technology-based workgroups as well as employee training and education. It is the nature of technology to continuously morph and improve, and it is the responsibility of HR to adjust and ensure the best for employees.

“Technology needn’t be feared, but should rather be embraced as a means to aid employees.”

The Rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Notably, there have been many changes in the way that HR departments carry out their work and certain trends have arisen. One such trend is the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) notes that the use of AI and ML will be among the critical technological changes in 2022.

AI and ML will help to lessen workloads and offer training to employees in various destinations. It is no surprise that blockchain integration has also made its way onto the list. Blockchain offers solid security opportunities like encryption of networks where employees and companies can securely share information. In a digital world, companies must ensure that all information shared digitally is secure.

HR can go further in ensuring that employee files are encrypted by working with information technology personnel. As HR deals with confidential information such as payslips and personal information of employees, such information must be protected.

HR also holds the responsibility that important company information is not shared with irrelevant parties. With the hybrid working model, employees can work from anywhere. Employees must be educated on not only how to

Trends to watch out for Other

trends that we can expect to see arise include:

Digital learning, training and development: Digital learning platforms allow employees to reach both their professional and personal goals.

• Technology that elevates hybrid working: Many employees are unwilling to return to on-site work. This has encouraged companies to seek technologies that will allow work-from-home and hybrid models, and in so doing, enable the retention of employees.

• Tech development for the wellbeing of employees: More companies are making it their mission to ensure access to quality help for mental health issues. This is a trend that we can expect to continue to rise because companies realise that happier employees are more productive.

access work systems and data but also the rules of where they can access this information and from whom.

The transfer of control and decision-making in HR that is facilitated by technology will go a long way in creating new management skills. Previously, HR was very siloed in its decisionmaking and thus excluded valuable insights from other divisions. This also meant that employees were often overlooked for promotions, which can be avoided when companies have a

clearer view of the leadership and mentorship skills of employees. HR departments that task themselves with remaining abreast of current trends ensure that they stay current in competitive markets. When HR and technology form a harmonious relationship, the possibilities for improved growth are endless. Technology assists with tasks and gives HR the edge in optimising workflows.

A company that runs better, performs better, which has a positive impact on investment and the profit margin. HR can rely on technology to ease their work and cut down the time on tasks that previously would have been time-consuming. Automation also contributes to sustainability by eliminating paperwork.

Companies and HR need to approach the current landscape of technology with excitement. We are being given the chance to participate in history by being the first companies to engage with technology in the way that we are. The future of technology and HR will be shaped by the lessons that we learn today. When companies approach technology with an optimistic view, they realise the power of technology to transform the workplace. The advancements that are being made are creating a future that aspires to be more engaging whilst offering ease with business tasks. n

“Whether you are in the public sector, the private sector, supply chain or an interested individual, PSL has something for you.”

Mental health New approaches to corporate

By Cathy Jackson

More and more employers are realising that unless they adopt a new approach to corporate wellness, they are literally sitting on the precipice of a mental health crisis.

Founder and owner of Healthy Living Consulting, Ronald Abvajee, says COVID has literally been the firelighter that has lit the flame on mental health issues and highlighted the inadequacies of patchwork wellbeing solutions in the workplace. “We’ve seen the need for a more integrated

holistic, proactive and texturallyrelevant programme which resonates with the needs of employees.”

Lindiwe Miyambu, group executive for human capital at African Bank, who has partnered with HLC as a provider to ASI, agrees stressing the importance of linking the wellbeing drivers of your business with that of your people.

“It can no longer be viewed as a beneficial add on. Employee wellness has to be placed front and centre of everything one does and literally integrated into the

very fabric of the organisation.”

Abvajee calls it embracing one’s imperfections which actually begins to perfect one. It is this paradox that transforms mental health to mental wealth. He says the reality is you cannot achieve your business driver success if your people drivers and wellbeing drivers are not married together. The concept is not necessarily new but COVID-19 has taken many of these underlying issues and made them bubble to the surface.

Mental health is a state of mind. We all have it - the question

“

Employee wellness has to be placed front and centre of everything one does”

becomes what do you do with it? “When we flip the script and take mental health and empower employees to change it to mental wealth, that is when we really start to see a difference,” he says. It’s about investing in something that is better for you. Abvajee uses Kintsugi as his life’s anthem. The practice of Kintsugi - repairing broken vessels by sealing the cracks with lacquer and carefully dusting them with gold powder is a remarkableart. The Japanese believe the golden cracks make the pieces even more precious and valuable.

“Using Kintsugi principles in the workplace means you do not neglect the journey you have walked with your wellbeing – it utilises this as a point of reference. It’s about taking the journey of the past, healing it, and piecing it together so you can acknowledge where you come from and the journey you have gone on.” Miyambu says that struggling is a normal part of life but, using this principle, you make the individual the phenomenal base. “The fuel becomes the tools you get to be inspired and to act. And when you act, the fuel becomes your wellbeing - your ‘well’ being wealth to invest in.” We have to try and rid ourselves of the stigma of depression and create more safe spaces in business. Kintsugi actually shows you that

there cannot be light without the darkness. It is what you do to reframe that within yourself that matters. “When the workplace begins to embrace this as leaders, you make it authentically real and it resonates with staff so each and every day there are choices people can make. They can then be given the tools and techniques, the golden underlying thread, to help them take what is relevant to them and rise up as they deal with the dips,” she says. Moving forward a one-sizefits-all solution to wellness will never work as it just leaves too many people on the wayside. She says many companies are happy to invest in wellness but when it comes to the crunch they are just not doing enough. It goes back to incorporating wellbeing as a golden thread into every facet of the organisation. By now so many people are conditioned to living with stress they often don’t even see the danger signs and these days we are seeing so many people struggling who have also lost their work-life balance. And that includes the leaders and managers in the organisation – the caregivers. Abvajee says compassion fatigue has become a very real syndrome with managers and leaders constantly having to fill up other people’s cups and not filling their own. “They can become literally numb which moves them from being empathetic to

sympathetic. This is why we now also have introduced a number of programmes for the caregivers as well,” he says. Abvajee says if you can bring care and marry it to high performance, you are literally investing in the well being wealth of your organisation and avoiding the impending wellness crisis companies globally are about to experience.

5 ways to banish the burnout

By Vanessa Rogers, Textbox Conceptual

Lost the usual spring in your step when it comes to the profession you’ve always loved? It may be time to investigate whether you’re suffering from burnout and to take a few astute steps to remedy the situation.

Defined by the World Health Organisation as a type of “chronic workplace stress that’s been unsuccessfully managed”, the occupational phenomenon called burnout has three main features: feelings of energy depletion; increased mental distance from one’s job; and reduced professional efficacy. If you’re based in the recruitment industry – and particularly running

a small executive search firm servicing the needs of demanding big corporations – there are at least three reasons why you may be feeling burnt out yourself, or could be seeing signs of this phenomenon among your colleagues. They include:

• The long-felt pressure you were under during the pandemic to service, and keep, your valued retainer clients;

• Changing candidate priorities i.e. many senior individuals electing to remain where they are for financial security, rather than to make the move to a company with a more suitable culture (even if they

would have jumped at the opportunity in the past); and

• Intense post-pandemic hiring objectives.

The advice from Jeremy Bossenger, director at BossJansen Executive Search is to give yourself, or allow your team, an admin day each week. “Get up to date on paperwork, streamline the workings of that customer relationship management (CRM) portal – and have a team chat, either in person or virtually, to check in with how staff members are feeling and so that good work can receive the necessary praise and any frustrations can be ironed out.”

As pressures mount, so dedicated individuals are likely to work longer hours and take fewer leave days. “This is no good in the long term,” says Bossenger, having just returned from a week’s break

himself, “because these are very much the key executives who will then suffer the exhaustion, pessimism/cynicism or decrease in productivity that does no business any favours.”

His top piece of advice for the driven? “There’s a reason we are given 21 annual leave days each year within the South African employment setting. This amounts to 1.75 days per month. Be clever: add them onto a public holiday, tag them onto a weekend, and get out of the city for some muchneeded R&R with your family or close friends. Do this on a regular basis and you’ll cull the stress you may be under – preventing it overflowing into burnout, or something even worse.”

BECOME A WEEKEND WARRIOR

Thought being a “weekend warrior” meant taking home all the work to complete after hours? No sirree. To work effectively during the week, your team needs to break away in their downtime – including weekday evenings

at home, and throughout the weekend. “If there’s one thing the pandemic has taught us, it’s been to establish firm boundaries and enforce a healthy work-life balance,” enthuses Bossenger.

“This management approach rubs off well on our team members and corporate clients, as well as the candidates we are seeking to place. Just a five-minute chat before we get down to business – about the ultra-marathon you attempted and survived, or the camping trip they thoroughly enjoyed – sets the tone for a life well lived outside of the office. Recruitment is a people-oriented sector and their well-being always comes first.”

PUT SELF-CARE ON THE AGENDA

Try these five easy ways to prioritise your health on a regular basis:

• Take control of your calendar by blocking out an hour here or there, during which you’re able to complete important tasks undisturbed;

• Exercise daily, even if it’s just a short walk during your lunch break or an evening yoga ritual while the sun sets;

• See a dietician if you find yourself regularly skipping meals, or getting by on just coffee for long periods of time;

• Spend at least one day of the weekend out in nature – at the beach, trail running, hiking or mountain biking, playing in the park with your kids/furkids, or prettying up your garden;

• See a therapist to get some much-needed perspective if you’re battling to see beyond the stresses of your own immediate work demands. n

e-Learning is changing how employees develop

By Michael Gullan, Founder and CEO of G&G Advocacy

Active e-learning

An approach to online instruction that actively engages learners through conversations, problem solving, case studies, role plays and other methods. Active e-learning places greater responsibility on the learner to engage, integrate and apply.

Active e-learning,

• Promotes higher order thinking such as application, analysis, and synthesis

• Engages learners on a much deeper level

• Enables learners to apply and transfer their knowledge better.

The one key ingredient to growing a culture of active e-learning in organisations is a leadership team that recognises and promotes the purpose and value of active learning. These are learning champions who understand that continuous learning has a greater role to play as it can effectively overcome some of their organisation’s biggest challenges, and even assist in achieving their stretch goals.

Of course, no leader can do it alone. Without Human Resources (HR) and administrative champions as support, a culture of active learning may not be possible. But with a vision, guidance and empowerment across functional teams, leaders are irreplaceably important for making change happen.

Here are 11 key factors that are fundamental for successfully growing a culture of active e-learning in any type of organisation.

E-learning advocacy

Make the benefits and outcomes of active learning widely known and understood, across all levels of employees. This will ignite a workforce that wants to develop themselves — and their organisation and not think of learning as a task, but a passion.

Multiple training methods

Transitioning to e-learning can be challenging, let alone to active e-learning. Develop an organisational strategy that includes incentives,

and healthy competition via gamification, to ensure widespread cultural change.

Innovative culture

Motivate your staff to embrace this new way of learning that is active and engaging. Organisations that embrace active e-learning are excited to cross thresholds.

Embrace technology

Avoid taking the joy out of learning with complex or overlapping technologies. Rather make use of one tailored, learnercentric platform, designed specifically for your organisation and for your learner’s easy adoption. This dispels the stigma that e-learning is clunky, boring, complex, or costly.

General adoption

Don’t limit your e-learning programmes to just one department. Smart e-learning solutions can be used across all departments and all levels of employees, laying a foundation for growth.

Align deployment with business objectives

Roll out e-learning programmes to teams and departments that can make the greatest impact first, and then follow through with other departments. That way you will get early results and reduce

wasting learning opportunities and resources. Every day is an opportunity for your teams to learn and grow.

Flow into individual assessments

Integrate your e-learning programmes with employee assessments. Focus on the individual’s growth needs and correlate learning with their performance appraisals.

Showcase successes

Showcase e-learning success to generate internal (and external) enthusiasm and enhance recruitment efforts, recognising that today’s employees expect learning opportunities within their organisation.

Leadership champions

Leaders who maintain a rigorous focus on active learning and inspire others to become torchbearers play a monumental role in the success of robust e-learning programmes. In contrast, without leaders’ enlightenment and involvement, HR and L&D teams are often blocked in their efforts to proliferate ongoing learning and development.

Multifunctional planning

Involve a variety of teams, such as admin, HR, IT, and department heads. Organisations that have diverse buy-in and involvement

with identifying objectives and content opportunities enjoy success in ways beyond what any traditional learning can do. A topdown approach that’s limited to finance and procurement will never fly.

Budget strategy

Create a planned financial approach, from strategy to implementation to optimisation and growth, tying all phases directly to employee and department success metrics and the organisation’s strategic plan.

Take care not to focus on a few growth factors while ignoring the others. A combination of factors will drive true impact. That said, the buy-in and involvement of an organisation’s leaders is the one factor that cannot be ignored, and they can’t — and shouldn’t — do it alone.” Organisations are dynamic structures, forever responding to internal and external factors that need to evolve at breakneck speed. There’s no denying that learning and development across all levels of a business are critical to its survival, let alone success, and the support of its leaders is the only way to ensure success.

“Motivate your staff to embrace this new way of learning that is active and engaging”

HR is driving innovation and helping businesses make decisions

By Liquid Thought

Despite seeing it in company values and website pages, how many businesses can clearly define what it means to be people-focused?

Sustainable innovation can be defined as optimising a business at a people level and to achieve it requires a spark of ambition from leaders. This article unlocks smart insights that spotlight HR as a vehicle for sustainable innovation and how creative agencies are leading the way for corporations to follow in this regard.

As you navigate, you’ll discover;

• How to pioneer leadership under the title of HR

• 3 smart insights into being more

transparent and inclusive

• Supervising purpose to accelerate growth

• A people-generated mission statement

• How to improve the IQ of your business

Knowledge, Action, and Direction Leaders who pioneer

Human-centred leadership is defined as “leadership that values people.” But how does this manifest itself on a daily basis? We’re seeing how the concept shapes communication, and perspective, and unlocks a sense of trust. It modifies how we approach problems and find progress. “A leader is one who knows the way,

goes the way, and shows the way”. We’ve seen how a setup encourages collaboration and an environment has the potential to stimulate employees to be the best version of themselves, but a convenient and comfortable workplace requires one to champion the basics first, then infuse them into your results. Resourceful spaces and personalised experiences are built by transparent and inclusive leaders who constantly steer a balanced ratio between their people, the work they produce and how that evolves their company’s reputation. To be more inclusive and authentic with the employees you serve, let’s take a look at 3 insights you might want to jump onboard with.

• Accept the willingness to listen, the disruptive world we operate in

demands it to bring about change. Employees are “minds under construction” whose success determines the success of the company, and whose growth will be the capital the business brings in.

• Overrule ordinance.

• Optimising your people and doing things differently puts a competitive advantage in your tank. Start empowering your team and giving them the confidence to make their own decisions for their improvement and the company’s well-being.

• “ Fail Forward” advises Zulfiq Isaacs, CEO of Liquid Thought. Demonstrate the value of identifying risk patterns in people and teach them how to control and remove them. To treat professions as a valued part of a human being’s life, means you need to nurture them.

We can easily camouflage ourselves in the digital world, but on the other side,

there will always be people. Although the notion of Humans as a resource – hence “HR”has prevailed for too long, the realisation that people are more than a resource to be exploited, and rather an asset to be nurtured, is fast gaining traction amongst the savvier companies.

Supervising Purpose To Accelerate Growth

A mission statement generated by people

HR has emerged as the compass for modelling attitudes and establishing a rich workplace filled with various personalities. To achieve this, HR leaders are diving deeper into data to further understand an employee’s experience.

Being authentic in today’s world is more crucial than ever, and one way to do this is by having a purpose based on an ethos, unique to the brand, vital to all stakeholders, and aligned with

values. Knowing someone’s triggers as well as their strengths improves communication and helps to build a motivated team; it is at this point that the ‘why’ begins to take shape and a purpose starts to spark. Employee pride, value-based decision-making, behaviour, goal-setting, and a sense of purpose all provide meaning to the work being done, which helps workers get through late nights, tight deadlines, and personality conflicts, or simply go that extra mile when they have the potential.

To get a headstart, it’s essential to determine each coworker’s unique style in order to influence and connect with them on a deeper level. After that, tweak your behaviour and adapt the corporate behaviour in response to get the best out of each person.

Enhancing Your Business IQ

Great teams don’t hide from mistakes, they embrace them.

An HR specialist can open doors and create synergies with the workflows

“Understanding how employees feel about the workplace is assisting HR to be proactive in identifying problems, resolving issues before getting out of control and creating more ‘moments that matter”

HR is driving innovation and helping businesses make decisions

they design. They have what it takes to champion people to deliver with skill and commitment. Removing outdated methods and replacing them with an iterative-learning path that broadens their skill-set while boosting their selfassurance and helping you achieve mastery. Instead of continually nurturing from the top down, high-performing organisations and well-oiled teams do so in reverse, from the bottom up, as a means of creating transferable skills. Workplaces such as this are driven by innovation and in order to do so, depend on their employees, and their success is contingent on how they treat the people who deliver the results.

A cultural lens must constantly be used in HR practice when deciding how to alter one’s tone and internal mechanics. It involves being flexible and agile in how people work, as well as experimenting and testing to the point where lessons from mistakes are used in future efforts to improve performance. It’s the concept of a fertile environment that is constantly under construction, and in a highly competitive market, this can only distinguish your product from the rest.

To conclude

How you make holistic wellness a key component in your workplace is what creates an environment that thrives with happy people. Happy people are more productive, create stronger, and more cohesive teams, and the minute you begin checking the pulses of employees is the minute you start accelerating the desire to work for your company. HR’s integral role in all of this comes from optimising a business at the level of people and in doing so achieving so much value for an organisation. HR’s involvement in strategic decision-making means wearing the leadership hat and in doing so, can accomplish;

• Leaders that know the way, go the way and show the way

• A workflow that manages risk and maximises opportunity

• A purpose that accelerates growth

• A personalised mission statement

• A smarter business

• Synergies and opportunities

• Environments where people can be human and thrive

principles for post-pandemic leadership

By Rob Godlonton, Co-Founder and CEO of +OneX

Over the past two years, the pandemic has upended many of our expectations about how businesses should operate, leaders should behave, and workplaces should treat their people. The rapid shift towards remote work has blown to pieces many of our ideas about how people should be managed, showing that workers can be self-directed, accountable and productive when equipped with the right tools.

The Great Resignation trend, meanwhile, has highlighted how mobile top talent has become. The need to embrace rapid digital transformation has benefitted flatter organisations with a faster metabolism for digesting change. Those that have been able to move fast have had a definite edge in the pandemic. These pressures all demand a more collaborative, transparent and nimble approach to leadership.

Here are some of the principles we have embedded into our culture to keep up with the accelerated pace of change.

1. Lead without titles

One of the key principles we have embraced is to lead without titles. While we have people with titles such as CEO, we are striving to create a culture where anyone can take a leadership role when the right moment arises. Each person in the company can inspire others and influence the direction of the business. For us, that is what a leader does—brings people along with them on a journey of growth and discovery. A leader isn’t simply a boss who tells other people what to do.

2. Favour attitude over talent

Aptitude and qualifications are important when we recruit. But we’ll take someone slightly less qualified with a great attitude over someone with exceptional talent and qualifications who, for example, shows inflexibility about learning

new things or cannot collaborate effectively with others. Talent on its own will not go far. A positive attitude combined with talent is the winning formula in any facet of life. Positive attitude times great aptitude in a team unleashes an exponential improvement in results.

3. Trust people

Creating an environment of trust is the key to unlocking human potential in any organisation. Give people your trust and be as open with them as you can — and they’ll dependably offer you transparency and their trust in return. To receive trust is empowering. Trust creates psychological safety, enabling people to take calculated risks, speak openly and be creative and innovative. Transparent leadership builds trust because people can understand why certain decisions were made and what the business’s goals and purpose are.

4. Learn as much as you teach

The real role of a leader—whether in sport, politics, the community or business— is to create an environment that allows people to develop, thrive and succeed in their jobs and careers. One of the leaders I most admire—and not just because I support the team—is Jurgen Klopp. As a Liverpool Football manager, he puts the players and the team environment first. He wears his passion for the team, the fans and the club on his sleeve.

I have had some great mentors and role models in my career, but one of the richest rewards of my career is becoming a mentor to others. I learn as

much from mentees as they do from me. For me, a leader is someone always listening to, learning from, and thinking about other people. This helps to fuel a positive culture in an organisation that sets it up for success.

5. Find your why

Business leaders today face rising expectations to do the right things for society and the environment—not just for their shareholders. To win people’s trust in this world, leaders and the organisations they serve need to need to have a ‘why’ beyond making money. The most successful entrepreneurs have a purpose, which they live and breathe with passion every day.

Our purpose is to create opportunities to improve people’s lives. We see a world where the advancement of technology brings a range of risks and opportunities—from the dangers of social media harnessed for propaganda or automation’s impact on jobs, to the potential of technology to help create a more sustainable and prosperous world. We want to help society and people use digital technology to make life better.

Leadership is not command and control

The mantle of leadership is not a job for a life earned by moving up the ranks in a business – it is a responsibility and privilege bestowed on one by others. Genuine leaders cannot be complacent or arrogant since leadership is earned and can be taken away. To be a leader means being willing to listen, learn and grow – and to be accountable for difficult decisions.

What is authentically resilient leadership?

By Gabi Lowe & Pippa Shaper, The Resilience Factory

As a woman entrepreneur or corporate leader, you’ve no doubt proved your mettle over and over again. You probably think you’ve got a more than fair handle on resilience - after all, you haven’t got to where you are today without powering through uphill climbs and persevering on a super-hero level. However, if you’re holding it altogether on the outside, while falling apart on the inside, it’s time to rethink your perception of resilience.

We coined the term ‘authentic resilience’ to make the distinction that resilience is not putting your head down and ‘getting on with it’ as you struggle to survive challenging times, but rather thriving through them. It’s highly relevant for leaders, who

not only have to get themselves through a crisis in one piece, but motivate and inspire their teams in ways that don’t lead them to burnout, or worse. Over the past years, we have been teaching thousands of people around the world about Authentic Resilience including business leaders who realise that when the chips are down, it’s not how much grit their team can muster up that makes the difference - it’s how much connection.

We define Authentic Resilience as a critical life skill, the powerful ability to survive, thrive and grow in the face of stress, change and adversity. Everyone has the capacity to develop greater levels of authentic resilience. What we teach is that Authentically

Resilient Leadership is a crucial characteristic of today’s highperforming leaders. Leaders must cultivate it in themselves first in order to advance and thrive. Authentically Resilient Leaders carry the responsibility of helping to grow, nurture and protect the energy, talents and potential of the people in their teams. A key point is that it starts with you.

Leadership in the times of global vulnerability

If there’s one takeaway from these past pandemic years, it’s that high-level uncertainty and unpredictability are here to stay on a global scale. The ‘new-normal’ that we are now forging is playing out in the midst of a shattering war in Europe, widespread economic hardship and extreme weather events on every continent.

Tumultuous times demand a different quality of leadership. The paradigm of the leader as the always-in-control perfectionist, never making a mistake and wielding the absolute power to protect and to punish is no longer cutting the mustard. In the current context of global vulnerability, that leader is no more than a straw man. The pretences, pomp and puffed up prestige associated with leadership in the past, today look petty at best and potentially dangerous at worst.

Instead, we are looking towards leaders who care about us. We’re willing to follow those who acknowledge mistakes and share

what they have learnt from them. We trust those who manage themselves well, and take care of themselves. We respect selfcuriosity and self-reflection. We value compassion and empathy. Getting your team, your business through a crisis has nothing to do with cracking a whip, and everything to do with making sure your people don’t crack at all.

When we talk about Authentically Resilient Leadership, we aren’t referring to the theory of what makes a good leader – we’re speaking specifically about leaders who are able to lead during times of change, challenge, adversity and crisis –not just for the short term, but for a lifetime. These are the leaders who can build resilient and adaptive teams.

10 characteristics of authentically resilient leaders:

1. They take care of themselves and their teams – putting wellbeing first

2. Are willing to change and adapt, remaining open to newness and diversity

3. Are able to engage emotionally, both with themselves and their team

4. Simultaneously have presence and are present

5. Are fully self-aware, recognising their own strengths, weaknesses and patterns of behaviour – they are coachable and can adapt, learn and grow

6. Recognise each team

member as an individual and will invest in, develop and empower this uniqueness with empathy

7. Collaborate and encourage innovative and creative thinking

8. Maintain perspective providing a vision, a plan and purpose

9. Enjoy constructive relationships built on trust, reliability and integrity

10. Communicate clearly and transparently because first, they listened

Challenges present pain; but they also bring about incredible opportunities. At the Resilience Factory, we are women entrepreneurs and women leaders ourselves. We believe that as tough as things are in the world, there are immense opportunities for women leaders to step up. Many of the qualities that the world wants from leaders right now, women are pretty good at. That’s why we urge you not to focus on surviving – with Authentic Resilience, you, your team and your business can thrive.

“We define Authentic Resilience as a critical life skill, the powerful ability to survive, thrive and grow in the face of stress, change and adversity”

Changing during a crisis

There’s always going to be a storm. It’s just the size and severity of it that will fluctuate. We’ve experienced multiple global crises over the past few years, as businesses, organisations, and individuals are trying to determine the best ways to navigate them.

As we start to see the other side of the global pandemic, a new political crisis – the Russia-Ukraine conflict – will have worldwide economic implications for us all, especially in Africa. The financial impact on the countries involved is apparent. In April, Ukraine’s economy had shrunk by 16%; and as trade issues arose across Europe, Asia and the United States, we could see a recession at the same scale of the COVID-19 crisis.

Of course, the conflict is already directly impacting African economies, as experts warn that the knock-on effects could increase food security issues and

By Tom Marsicano, CEO of ‘and Change’

poverty across the continent. In Southern Africa, we’re likely to experience a sudden increase in commodity prices and a shortage of investment capital, which is putting many organisations and businesses on edge. Instinctively, business leaders will think that the easiest way to handle this is to consider shrinking talent pools or clamping down on developing their capabilities to cut costs. But as we’ve seen over the past two years, organisations doubled down, developing capabilities that thrived during the pandemic.

A recent study showed that it was not simply smaller resource pools for small and medium enterprises but rather diminished “capabilities, faulty routines and processes” that led to an organisational shutdown. Many corporate leaders freeze when faced with a crisis, often pausing development and change to wait out the storm. We saw it at the beginning of the

pandemic: when the world is less predictable, the last thing we want to do is implement change. But fast-forward two years. Businesses around the globe realise that implementing new processes (digital and otherwise) is going to be vital to remaining competitive. From hybrid working environments to building new customer experience, the capability to implement change is becoming even more valuable.

Organisations with this change capability are also the most well-equipped to handle a crisis – or at the very least, the effects of a crisis. They also typically can quickly implement strong, sustainable new systems. But let’s also understand that people are responsible for these capabilities, so they need to be at the centre of your crisis plans. For leaders facing an unavoidable challenge or have to implement a sudden change:

1. It’s important to pause and consider – without freezing up entirely. Remember your organisation’s purpose and strategy, and stick to growth plans. Communication to reinforce this for the rest of your team is vital. Long periods of silence will increase uncertainty and stress, so it’s all right to be honest about the unknown even if you’re uncertain.

2. Reconsider your capabilities Where can we improve? How can we be more agile? Encourage teams to be more autonomous, provide greater flexibility – and remember that being agile requires a mindset shift that

promotes adaptability and allows for occasional failure.

3. Use the tools you already have. Change management tactics can be applied to long-term, planned changes and also sudden crises. The change managers in your organisation have already developed broad skill sets that can assist with communication, help prepare their peers in the face of urgent change, and set the strategies that will help mitigate the impacts of a crisis.

4. Take care of employee needs to ensure business continuity. Yes, there will likely

be technical needs in the face of change. People will need to learn new systems to work. But even more importantly, acknowledge emotional needs as well. Maintain communication and realise that people are more resistant to change if their emotional needs are not met.

Regardless of the current global political and economic climate, change is inevitable. But we’ve seen that the world, and all of us, are more adaptable than we think. We proved this during the pandemic, with many discovering we had capabilities we didn’t know we had. If there’s one thing I’ve learnt about crises, they have the potential to bring out the best in us all.

Until someone creates a way to accurately predict the future, there is no way to prepare your business for every change that will come its way. Whether it is a pandemic that changes the economic outlook, societal trends that change consumption patterns, or machinery or infrastructure that breaks down, change is truly inevitable

By Juanita Vorster

The key to thriving within and beyond disruption is not only resilience, it is robustness.

To move beyond a fixation on how disrupting disruption is, everyone running – or involved in running – a business of any size in any sector must be skilled in building robustness into the business so that it can adapt quickly and smoothly to the prevailing conditions of the day. A truly robust business doesn’t just survive the punches dealt by exponential change; it is set up to keep on winning in a new game of business.

Win by being exceptional

It is simply not good enough to be good enough anymore. What was successful fifty years ago might not be enough to even stay afloat now. These days, a business has to be better than market average in everything it does and everywhere its clients connect with it.

Products and services that exceed client expectations, and a buying process that is frictionless, combined with a unique and memorable customer experience is not aspirational anymore; it is now a necessity. And so is using technology to consistently achieve that standard.

The need to constantly assimilate, adapt, and adopt innovative technology and processes across all departments in a business is greater than ever before. Irrespective of the size or available resources of a business, as many people as possible should constantly be on the hunt for different ways to do things towards achieving better results.

Yes, as many as possible people across the entire operation. If this thought scares you, maybe you should

consider whether you have nines and tens – the best of the best – in your teams. Employees who score nine and ten out of ten aren’t always the most experienced or the most expensive; they are simply those best suited to the unique requirements of your business. Employing the best of the best is crucial if you want everything your business does to be exceptional.

Win by being a great place to work and play

For business owners or leaders who do not employ only nines and tens, the thought of giving employees what they want can be frightening. But even average employees could be more willing to give their best all the time if they:

• Know what the impact of their work on the business is

• Know exactly what it is that they’re supposed to be doing, and how it fits into the bigger picture of the business

• Don’t have to comply with rules that are left over from a previous era

• Can trust that discipline will be applied fairly

• Receive praise on a regular basis

• Are provided with bad news about the business not as a scare tactic but because they are trusted to help turn things around

• Are given an appropriate amount of autonomy

• Receive both financial and non-financial reward

• Are impressed by you

• Feel the business is set up to win

Get the right people into your business, and then do everything you can to make them want to stay there.

Win by always prospecting for new clients

Irrespective of how long your business has been around or how much market share it currently enjoys, it’s dangerous to rely solely on existing customers! The rule for whoever is responsible for selling – yes, even if it is the business owner – is that they should spend at least 20% of their time prospecting for NEW clients. And that should never ever stop.

A robust business has a robust pipeline of opportunities and orders to fill. Never let your salespeople – or yourself – tell you that there aren’t any more clients available to sell to. If you’ve knocked on the door of every single potential client in one market, then start selling to the next market! The golden rule of sales is to sell to people who have money, and to remember that money has a tendency to move.

Be bold and explore new locations to target or new clients needs to fulfil.

Win by having everyone focused on the bottom line

Too many business owners or leaders see the growth of the business as their sole responsibility. However, while they will be held accountable for it, they have every right to share the responsibility throughout the business.

Everyone in the business – yes, everyone – can set a growth target to achieve. From reduction in expenses to increase in number of prospects to better customer service; it’s all possible! Set targets, enable your people to achieve those targets, and you might be pleasantly surprised by what they – and the business –achieve! These are the most exciting times in which to run a business. There are endless opportunities to overcome challenges, but only if you decide to lead your business with belief, passion and courage.

EDITORIAL

Linking staff happiness to increase in turnover - 5 industry experts share their top tips

Having employees who are happy working for you isn’t just a personal matter, it’s an economic one. Happy employees are more focused, creative, motivated, productive, and positive - all factors which help shape a company’s performance. It also helps you to retain star employees, which is vital for business success. Five industry experts shared their top tips for creating a happy, strong and successful work environment where employees can thrive, feel valued, and be inspired to bring their A-game to work every day.

Here’s what they had to say:

Create an environment where employees can flourish

Aisha Pandor, CEO, SweepSouth

Looking after your team is about looking after your business. People who enjoy their jobs are more likely to stay, helping you to retain star employees and decrease turnover. On the flip side, losing employees costs the company money, results in loss of organisational knowledge, and uses more resources, as hiring, training, and on boarding new employees is a time-consuming, expensive process. To create the right atmosphere, you should build a team that suits the business in terms of skill-set, culture, and personality, but also prioritise diversity in terms of age, gender, background, professional experience, and nationality. Focus

on shaping a work environment that promotes trust and a feeling of safety, encourages cooperation and teamwork, that gives team members support to flourish, and allows responsible freedom. And get people to buy into the fundamental reason that you do what you do. Having buy-in from skilled people on your team who want to be a part of the mission you’re on, is invaluable. Fostering the right company culture is another powerful tool in retaining talent. It helps to create focus among and engenders a feeling of identity. A strong culture promotes a feeling of enhanced trust and cooperation (we’re in this together, we believe in the cause!) between employees and bosses, with employees more likely to enjoy work when their needs and values are consistent with the company’s. One of the ways we

achieve this is through our team members being able to nominate a colleague as SweepSouth’s weekly Values Hero - a staff member who embodies the company’s values of delivering quality work and being respectful, innovative, flexible and trustworthy.

Don’t force square pegs into round

holes

Anine de Wet, Managing Director, 2AM Agency

Generally speaking, the workplace is governed by systems and processes. For years there was a widely held belief that the quality of output was as a result of the effectiveness of those systems and processes. Today we know this is not true, and especially not in the creative industries where innovation and

out-the-box thinning is our currency. Creativity doesn’t keep office hours, which is why we strive to create an open culture of trust and transparency that values output and performance as the key measure of productivity. Desk time, or even time in the office, does not necessarily correlate with the quality of work and it’s important to be aware of the distinction. Employees are so much happier when they know that it’s not about clocking in and clocking, or time sheets, but rather about the success they have. Having said that, there is value in regular in-person interaction between creatives and in the creative environment, whether it’s in a traditional office or elsewhere. Engagement between staff and management, as well as bouncing ideas off each other is crucial for progress and overall job satisfaction. In our experience the best way of retaining the top creative talent is to trust them to do what needs to be done, without looking over their shoulder all the time. Yes, any business needs processes and systems, but talent is far more likely to deliver within the set framework if there is a sufficient level of trust and freedom in place that allows them to do the creative things they do. Our company culture is built on the tenets of freedom, trust and transparency.

The physical space must encourage creativity, collaboration and comfort

David Seinker, Founder and CEO, The Business Exchange

With more companies transitioning to a hybrid model whereby employees have the flexibility to work from home some of the time and from an office the rest of the time, it becomes essential to ensure that the space offers what work from home doesn’t. That is, a pleasant environment that is

designed with the needs of a specific organisation in mind -- be that extrawidth desks, sufficient quiet spaces for meetings or simply an ergonomic chair to sit on. Don’t underestimate the value in an office space that is stylish, fit-to-purpose and with facilities and amenities like coffee shops, gyms and secure parking close by. The impact of our physical surroundings on our wellbeing and our output is well documented, and retaining the best people includes providing the best office space in which to work, on the days when they are in office. At TBE the appeal of the physical space is key to our serviced office offering. We’ve put thought, expertise and effort into the design and layout of the space to reflect a modern, pleasant and ergonomically sound environment that promotes productivity and retains talent.

Focus on company values and brand reputation

Matt Poladian, Vice President of People, Liferay

The new generation of workers wants to be proud of the company for which they work and to feel as if they are part of the solution to societal problems rather than part of the problem. Being identified as a company that is involved in and supports charities and the local community can assist to retain employees who are passionate about helping others and making a difference. This might be expanded to address specific issues like education, quality, or the environment.Employees worry not only about who they work for, but also about who they work with. Encouragement of a friendly environment and team-building events will positively reflect on employees, emphasizing

the company’s dedication to the employee experience.

Build diversity and inclusion into everything you do

Basel Talal, Radisson Hotel Group’s Regional Director for Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Levant

The hospitality industry is no stranger to diversity — both in those who are employed by it as well as the many guests who make use of its services. Radisson Hotel Group, for example, has a corporate culture that relies on the fact that the company comprises many different mind-sets. As such, diversity and inclusion is embedded into both the Group’s HR policies and the promise they make to their guests, that is, the need to respect individual differences, life experiences, and the diverse world views of wherever colleagues or guests come from. This outlook has allowed us to remain dedicated to building a truly global team of employees. In turn, our employees are able to understand the diversity of the guests we serve in terms of their needs, and how we should adapt our operations to meet their requirements and expectations. Having a diverse team also enables us to create places where every staff member can express their own authentic self, seize opportunities, voice their opinions and make decisions with confidence. I think this is crucial. We have also learnt that different perspectives result in different skill sets being brought into the workplace, which helps us to create the memorable moments that have become one of our group’s key objectives. Diversity in the workplace makes employees feel accepted, it makes them feel they belong and are valued, and it also makes very good business sense in reducing staff turnover.

Technology has completely changed HR - meet Accurate

Payroll’s Mona Murahwa

By Koketso Mamabolo

Mona Murahwa’s inquisitive nature has been evident since her school days, and is part of what has driven her success. “I’ve always wanted to improve an existing process,” says Accurate Agent Group’s Chief Development Officer. At school, Mona was an average achiever, “However, this experience taught me different disciplines that are critical in entrepreneurship and mastering creativity.”It was while working as a receptionist at a cast manufacturing company that she developed an interest in entrepreneurship. After completing her legal degree at UNISA, Mona studied Business Management at the Gordon Institute of Business. “Studying law was a good foundation for me because it gave me the opportunity to learn negotiation skills and legislation, especially those that govern business.”Here Mona tells us about the keys to a successful startup, building a commercially-viable business, how entrepreneurs can adapt to the coming future, and more.

Q: What are the keys to starting a successful startup?

One of the keys to starting a successful start-up is persistence and the hunger to constantly learn during the journey. Surrounding yourself with the right people is also one of the keys to starting a

successful start-up. I must say there is no such thing as solitary success, I always attest it to people along the way who were willing to give me advice and show me the ropes.

Q: How does one build a commercially-viable business? One builds a commercially-viable business by:

1. Understanding and defining your value proposition. Anyone can do what you are doing. The question is: what differentiates you from them?

2. Who are you selling to and does your product address their needs?

3. It’s important to know how you will reach your customers that defines the vehicle to the destination. The sales channels need to be specific and include marketing initiatives.

4. Lastly, your business will not survive if you do not have the right revenue model. This includes the pricing and the revenue stream. It needs to address overheads, support and still be profitable.

Q: What challenges are South African startups facing and how can they be overcome?

Challenges that South African startups are facing are the lack of

support and lack of adaptability. Investor platforms for startups are limited therefore, businesses barely make it to the first stage on the investor cycle. We have seen business operations forced to change due to the technological and economic environment, startups are finding it hard to introduce new products to businesses in a B2B setting as they are used to the old ways of doing things. How South African startups can overcome these challenges is through learning how to adapt. The pandemic taught us an important lesson about how anything could change overnight, and the only thing we have control over is how we react to these changes. So it’s important that startups are able to react quickly to refine or completely change their business model in order to adapt.

Q: What does the future look like for entrepreneurs? - How can they adapt to what’s coming?

The future is bright

for entrepreneurs, because of the pandemic, there have been quite a few new jobs and opportunities on the table. This has encouraged entrepreneurs to find new opportunities of diversifying their revenue and finding ways to increase their revenue streams. Entrepreneurs can begin by assessing their business structures and ensuring that they retain what processes and resources have been working for them and cutting whatever will anchor their

Q: How did you go about identifying a gap in the market and how

I went on to start my own business because I wanted to offer business management services to other businesses. Whilst servicing clients within this space, I realised that there was a gap in the market. When we went in to assist with financing and financial management, issues linked to HR and payroll management were almost always a factor. This allowed me to have long discussions with my team and research on the HR market and understand how payroll issues were affecting the businesses’

ability to be well organised and compliant. We were able to plug it by approaching our current clients to give us feedback on their ideal payroll system. It’s all about solving a problem.

Q: How have you applied the negotiation skills you learnt while studying law to your business?

I have applied negotiation skills when it comes to different aspects of the business such as sealing business deals with clients to ensure a win-win takeaway for the parties involved. The negotiation skills have also come in handy when it comes to sales where I’ve had to engage with customers to reach a point where they can understand why they need our product and pay that price for it. Law is interesting in that; it opens up your mind to the regulations and how you can manoeuvre in your chosen field or industry. Customers tend to be creatures of habit even if it is to their detriment, my negotiation skills have allowed me to convince customers on having a different perspective on the way they do things and how we can better their current processes.

Q: When it comes to laws and regulations governing the tech industry, what do businesses and entrepreneurs need to know before starting a business?

Formulating regulations is not a quick event. It takes time for legislation and regulations to be passed. There are thorough procedures, testing, and channels they need to go through. We have seen that the past 5 years

have seen tremendous changes in technology and how they are affecting our societies. So, as a business and entrepreneur, it is very important to have a legal advisor during the process of starting your tech business. This would assist you in terms of legal matters and compliance. Data protection is very important – if you’re a business or an entrepreneur who wants to start a business, particularly in the tech industry, it is important to familiarise yourself with data privacy laws to ensure that your customer’s privacy is protected. For us, data protection was very important and ensuring the policy document had most of the important adherences that the customer had to be aware of.

Q: How do you see technology affecting HR practices in the future?

Technology will affect HR practices in a huge way. We have already seen the HR platforms that have taken the industry by storm. Staying compliant is one of the biggest challenges for HR professionals, so we can expect HR technology solutions that will help effectively navigate the constantly changing HR regulations. We can also expect to see more advanced technological tools that will help simplify administrative tasks and improve efficiency for HR professionals. Before mobile apps, HR was defined by loads of paperwork and trying to keep up with the ever-changing laws. Technology has completely changed this and will continue to do so by moving the HR function to more than just an administrative function but to a more strategic department of an organisation. I think technology is becoming advanced in such a way that it is becoming industry specific.

“We can morph into whoever we want to be”

By Koketso Mamabolo

Akhona Qengqe is the woman behind KFC Africa’s people-first agenda. In 2017 she was asked to drive the organisation’s diversity and inclusion initiatives, and eventually became its Chief People Officer. “My move to HR was purely out of interest, as I felt I had done everything within the retail space and believed where I could make a difference was around people,” says Akhona, who also leads the Franchise Association of South Africa’s transformation agenda.

At KFC Africa, she’s tasked with finding new talent, retaining the talent the organisation already has, and creating a diverse workforce in a workplace where everyone is included. Here she highlights the trends she’s noticed in HR, what excites her about working in the field, and offers advice on how young women can get involved in the HR sector.

Q: Please tell us a bit about your background - how did you get to this point?

Strangely enough, my background is not in HR at all. I started out my career as a strategy analyst graduate in petroleum, at Shell and moved up into operations. I went on to work in various sectors such as real estate and convenience retailing. My move to HR was purely out of interest, as I felt I had done everything within the retail space and believed where I could make a difference was around people. In 2017, I accepted an opportunity to lead KFC’s diversity and inclusion agenda, which is a function that fell within HR, and this was my introduction into this larger role.

Q: What does your role as KFC Africa’s Chief People Officer entail?

My role is twofold. Firstly, I search for new talent and work on retaining great talent within our organisation. This involves identifying what the

“To be a successful HR practitioner, you need to understand how business works”

- meet KFC Africa’s Chief People Officer, Akhona Qengqe

organisation’s needs are and where the gaps lie. I also work with the leadership team of our organisation to ensure they have the right skills, in the right places, at the right time. This includes partnering with our GM, as a thought partner, to support the running of the organisation in a way that stays true to one of our goals - developing unrivalled talent and culture. As a result, I am also the culture lead for our organisation – making sure that our employee value proposition is felt and understood by everyone.

The second part of my role focuses on transformation. I lead the transformation agenda for our Africa business, ensuring we are a representative of our customer base and that the way we do business speaks to the heart of this continent, the heart of our people. We ensure that we are not just responsible corporate citizens but that, in everything we do, we acknowledge the role that our people play, and we become an enabler for them to thrive. My goal is to ensure people who work in our restaurants feel that they are part of a bigger brand and that there is a bigger purpose; that they’re not just selling chicken.

And given the communities that we operate in, we need to remain relevant in all aspects of our business, while reassuring our stakeholders, suppliers or anyone who we interact with, that

we’re doing so in a manner that makes sense to them.

Q: What excites you most about working in your field?

Our business is about people – I get to impact the lives of people who work for us. I also get to affect the lives of people who don’t necessarily work for us but are touched by our brand, in one way or another, and that excites me. I believe that the opportunity to really support our team, through one of the most challenging times, has been a testament to the focus and care required in this role. Just being able to support our teams, through the various programs and processes put into place to help them, has been incredibly rewarding for me. For example, we set up a KFC Trust Fund or KFC Care Trust, which is a mechanism to support our team members and the employees in our restaurants to gain access to COVID tests, which were unaffordable.

We also supported team members who found themselves out of work, given the impact of the pandemic, with food parcels etc. Being able to impact people at a time they really need it the most is what is exciting about working in this role. As long as we are continuing to speak to the needs of the people – we can morph into whoever we want to be.

Q: How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your work and how have you adapted?

In addition to the above points, I think we’ve had an amazing opportunity, as an organisation, to truly show our heart throughout the pandemic. I am happy with the way that we have supported our teams, implementing work-fromhome protocols and ensuring we are cognisant of the challenges they are going through. We’ve constantly had to think of ways to connect with our teams and make sure they are well placed to continue to deliver, whilst working away from the office.

Q: What do you think can be done to accelerate transformation in South Africa?

Transformation is a national imperative, and I believe all corporations have a role to play in how we accelerate transformation, in what we do, and how quickly we can achieve the goals. The best way to accelerate this is by exploring an ‘inside out’ approach. This means studying core targets set by the government, and exploring what we need to do to reach them and then get it done. However, I don’t feel that this is the most impactful approach. If we are going to ensure that not only do we accelerate how we transform, but examine how to change people’s hearts and minds. Getting people to understand why transformation is so important for the growth of our economy, and

why inclusion needs to happen for the acceleration of our economic growth in this county – is critical.

As an example, we implemented a ‘I am more than what you see’ programme to help facilitate conversations around our differences and examine how we should be leveraging these differences to achieve results together. This programme allowed people to share their values, who they are and what they believe in – as well as why they are who they are. We noticed that the more we talk about our differences the more we realise we are similar. Furthermore, our people connected at a deeper level, and tended to work better, together. If transformation is driven by people, the sooner it can be achieved. If we build a stronger economy, if we get more people employed, the better off we all are, and the larger the customer base we will have, because it’s about fostering sustainability for our businesses as well.

Q: How are you empowering women within your organisation?

Something that I am committed to, and passionate about, is just having women adequately represented across all different levels within organisations. This means that women must have access to defined mechanisms for them to continue to grow. Internally, we developed the KFC Africa Women on the Move programme because representation at the leadership level did not reflect the number of women in our organisation. We identify talented women that we really believe have what it takes to grow within the organisation. We then partner with them through a twelve month programme where these high performing women are trained through blended learning. This includes typical peer learning cycles, mentorship, networking sessions, and opportunities to hear from various speakers. Of the 21 women within the programme last year, two-thirds were promoted within the year and some of them took on larger roles.

Q: What trends in HR have you noticed in the world and on the continent - where is HR heading?

HR is becoming less of a ‘let’s write down policies and drive them down through the businesses while getting people to comply’ approach. Which is a good thing. We’ve become less focused on

compliance and are now stronger and more agile. As a result, HR practitioners have been able to understand the direction that business is moving, and are able to get ahead of it. For example, in the past an HR practitioner would have waited for someone to resign,then go back into the market to look for a backfill. What we are now finding is that today we examine the business and identify the areas we believe we will be looking for talent going forward. This also means understanding how we start developing our internal talent, as well as where to source talent. For example, digital is becoming a big growth area generally, so, if we know there is a lack of digital talent internally, not only do we need to examine where to start looking, but how to future-proof the business through this talent search.

With the current rate of change, co-powered by technology, only skills can ‘future-proof’ our growth. As a result, it is about being credible business partners, understanding where business is moving and not being reactive to the requirements of future opportunities. HR has a seat at the table, a prime example is with COVID. This is not just a global crisis, but a people crisis. HR has been called on to advise businesses on how to best treat people throughout the pandemic, and to ensure we continue to retain critical programmes and interventions within our organisations to keep our people engaged. It’s about advising the business, not just managing its people requests.

Q: What advice would you give to young women looking to get into HR?

HR is key to how a business operates. Therefore, to be a successful HR practitioner, you need to understand how business works, the type of business it does and understand how it makes money. I truly believe that you should ‘work backwards’. Examine how the business survives, how it truly operates, to ensure you deliver value. This might mean working in operations, to get a true feel for an organisation. Ensure that, by the time you move into an HR role, you are not just an HR practitioner who’s got policies up their sleeves, but that you know how the business makes money to ensure you become a strong commercial partner who helps the business.In a nutshell, don’t just look at yourself as an HR practitioner, look at yourself as a business

partner who wades in on matters where people are concerned

Q: What books would you recommend to our readers?

Lean in by Sheryl Sandberg

Untamed by Glennon Doyle

Q: What are your plans for the future?

I would love to get back into the “business”. I see myself as a business leader and when there are opportunities that speak to my skills set I will explore them. continues to impact our organisation regardless of the function I am performing.

Also to continue having an impact on the organisation, regardless of the function I am performing, and continuing on my journey of creating an organisation that is inclusive for all, where people feel that they can come to work and be their best selves every day.

“I see myself as a business leader and when there are opportunities that speak to my skills set I will explore them.”

Taking better care of your employees

The word ‘impressive’ does little to describe Kim-Lee Wentzel Ricketts. Her diverse skill set exemplifies someone who combines dynamism with determination and an incredible amount of passion. She is a registered psychologist, specialising in industrial psychology but also shares her extensive knowledge as a public speaker. Creativity feeds into everything she does, which helps in her role as an artist manager. “I work within Organisational Effectiveness and my focus areas include working in Culture, Diversity & Inclusion across Africa, especially within the LGBTQIA+ spaces, Employee Value Proposition, and Employee Wellbeing,” says the UWC and UCT graduate. “My current projects involve hybrid working and setting up organisations for the future world of work .”She’s currently working on completing her PhD in Health Sciences. Kim-Lee shared her insights on employee wellbeing, toxic positivity, the role of industrial psychologists and the unappreciated business of entertainment.

“Businesses need to meet employees where they are.”

– meet Kim-Lee Wentzel Ricketts

Q: How can businesses take better care of their employees’ well-being?

Employees are experiencing heightened levels of depression and burnout. Businesses need to meet employees where they are. The services that are provided need to extend to both virtual and in-person services. Businesses can also investigate making the services required being more affordable and accessible to all. Care packages, virtual or hybrid wellness days, webinars around wellbeing and creating a hype for employees back in office are some of the ways in which businesses can support their employees by taking services to them and giving them a sense of belonging.

Q: What has changed about workplace culture and how can employees and employers adapt?

The workplace has now shifted to being hybrid which is a combination of virtual and face-to-face engagement, interaction, and connection. This has meant that routines, where work happens, and how employees experience the culture has shifted. Organisations have now had to redefine their purpose and what drives employees and what their purpose is and are having to relook engagement methods. There has also been an increase in flexibility and culture has now shifted to that of being agile, where employees feel that they are dealt with as a whole person and that the work that they do is meaningful and has impact. Employers and employees can adjust by identifying and acknowledging that the workplace that we know has evolved and with that comes new skill sets and capabilities. Teamwork now involves connecting with teams who are not physically together and possibly not even on the same time-zones. New routines need to be set and it is important for teams to agree on new ways of working for how, where and when work gets done to accommodate the changing needs of employees.

Q: What’s the best approach for engaging with employees? Working in this hybrid world has required businesses to adjust and adapt to where employees are and ensure that the environment that is being created accommodates and is set up for engagement and that employees feel like they belong. Engagement has also shifted to a space where employees want to be acknowledged as “people first” then belonging to an organisation. In this hybrid working world, there has also been a shift to having to engage employees both physically and virtually.

Key ways to engage with employees is by getting to know who they are as people – who are their families, what are their interests etc. Understand what drives and motivates them as people and provide them with tools to be the best versions of themselves. Provide them with updates to create a sense of belonging and ask them to contribute and for feedback on what is being shared. Allow them the flexibility to grow and develop and support them with where they are at in their journey. Reward them with small gestures for showing up as a member of the team and recognize their hard work for example through a bonus for work well done. Prioritise selfcare and wellbeing as part of engaging people to ensure that they are mindful of setting boundaries and that they do not burn out. This will in turn not only ensure that they are engaged but also create a more productive work environment where people feel that they are trusted (comfortable), can connect, and contribute.

Q: Please tell us a bit about your background - how did you get to this point?

My experience extends to working as a consultant and business partner at senior management level, delivering high-level strategic input and best practice. I have broad expertise across a range of industries, including strategic

HR planning, talent management, HR transformation, performance development, change management and organisational development. My track record extends to delivering and implementing HR plans and initiatives that transform HR organisations and measurably support business objectives. In 2021, I added author to my multifeathered hat when I contributed to a book called Industrial-Organisational Psychologists Engaging with the New World of Work.

I spend a lot of my time giving back to communities through various motivational talks, connecting with corporates and scholars, especially youth, to exchange knowledge and experiences from my journey …but to also be a voice of encouragement and an example of perseverance.

As a businesswoman, I have reached personal milestones, having launched my own clothing label that is currently stocked online at various boutiques across the Western Cape, and my NPO called Khanyisa Worx, where my focus is on the development and empowerment of women of all ages.

Q: What is toxic positivity and what impact can it have on a business? Toxic positivity is an obsession with positive thinking. It is the belief that people should put a positive spin on all experiences, even those that are profoundly tragic. It furthermore refers to the denial of negative emotions. There is also a pressure and expectation to “stay positive” when you’re experiencing a crisis which not only invalidates your emotions but actually forces you to censor them. Instead of asking for support and help, you end up pretending everything is fine. Toxic positivity can lead to guilt and shame, bottling what you experience.

The way that toxic positivity shows up in the workplace is through minimising

other people’s experiences with “feel good” quotes or statements; trying to give someone perspective (e.g., “it could be worse”) instead of validating their emotional experience; brushing off things that are bothering you with an “it is what it is”. It can be a comment to “look on the bright side” or “be grateful for what you have.” Toxic positivity can also show up as a meme that tells you to “just change your outlook to be happy.” It can be a friend who repeatedly posts how productive they’re being during lockdown. It can be your own feelings that you shouldn’t dwell on your feelings of sadness, anxiety, loneliness, or fear.

It can lead to an environment where employees are disengaged and not motivated. The pressure to be productive may also leave many people feeling inadequate and ashamed that they are simply trying to make it through the day without a panic attack, anxiety or crying spell.

Q: What role can industrial psychology play in these times? How can businesses use that to their advantage?

The role of industrial psychologists has been heightened during these uncertain times. We have now needed to adjust how and where we previously completed work and also adapt to what is asked of us. Previously our work was focused on productivity and getting the best out of people to deliver. We have seen the focus shift in that people are now driven by taking care of themselves and this has resulted in business now being focused on wellbeing, inclusion, and belonging, creating spaces that allow for employees to re-establish their sense of purpose and do meaningful work that has impact.

Industrial psychologists have become the bridge establishing a two-way communication between businesses and employees. We are entering a new era in corporate environments where businesses do not just dictate their

expectations, but now work alongside employees to support them in taking ownership of what they contribute, giving them the platform to influence how work gets done.

Q: What can business learn from how artists and entertainers approach their branding and marketing?

Artists understand that their brand goes further than the service they provide. Everything from how they show up and interact forms part of the holistic offering that both audiences and followers buy into. The “performance” does not only start and end on stage, from the moment the first set of eyes catch a glimpse of them, they have to embody the principles and ethos of their particular brand and persona.

The music industry is ever-changing, with new trends and habits being adopted by their followers/consumers. Although they may have a core brand personality and message, artists change their strategies and messaging daily to adapt to the continuous change in consumer habits.

The industry has shifted in that the service artists provide is now considered a by-product, and the artist has now become the actual product of interest. Through social media, consumers have a front row seat into their favourite artist’s lives, experiences, struggles and achievements.

Businesses can adopt the same approach, by learning that being customer-centric, and service driven is still vital, but what is even more important is integrating their business or offering further into the daily lives of consumers, focusing on how you make people feel and how your messaging and brand relates to where people are at TODAY, versus a strict blanket approach that may become redundant as consumer habits change much faster.

Q: Is the business side of entertainment given enough attention? How can entertainers and business? This is where I have seen first-hand the many gaps prevalent in the entertainment industry. We have such a lot of great talent, but not every artist has the savvy and know-how to turn their product/offering into a sustainable business.

We can certainly create more avenues and spaces for artists to become better equipped to understand their brand, and how it translates across the broader industry to ensure that they have longevity and can build their offering into a career.

Though more attention is being given to the business aspect of entertainment, artists can sharpen their understanding of legalities, finance, branding and business health.

Artists need to know and understand that although they may have management teams, they are still in the driver seat of their careers. It is therefore imperative that they are knowledgeable and insightful as to maintain and further develop their space within the industry so that they are in control of their future.

“Allow them the flexibility to grow and develop and support them with where they are at in their journey”

“If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing wrong”

“If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing wrong,” says Arnie Malham, the award-winning Founder and CEO of the BetterBookClub. The 8-figure (in dollars) entrepreneur is a best-selling author who has bought and sold multiple businesses, including the recent sale of an advertising agency which recorded over $60-million in annual revenue.

Arnie has more than 20 years of experience which have seen him develop “simple, yet effective” solutions for creating sustainable business cultures which contribute to success. He’s taken his knowledge all over the world with his book Worth Doing Wrong: The Quest to Build a Culture That Rocks, speaking to over 10 000 business leaders around the world about how to build a culture that can attract and retain the best talent.

In this latest Business Unusual Podcast, Ralf Fletcher, CEO of Topco Media engages in conversation with Arnie about how to create the right culture for your business, how to ensure that you hold yourself accountable as an entrepreneur and how personal growth within an organisation can lead to continued success.

Award-winning CEO/founder, 8-figure entrepreneur and best-selling author Arnie Malham

“If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing wrong”

7 KEY TAKEAWAYS TO LISTEN OUT FOR IN THIS PODCAST:

“They will not care about you until they believe you care about them”

You need to create a culture so good that having your company on their resume can get people any job they want

“Treat people so well that when another business approaches them they don’t want to leave”

You need to put together a team that can do more than you can

If you want your business to take the next step, you’ll have to stop being a solopreneur and start being an entrepreneur

“Every entrepreneur puts their own limits on themselves”

Your employees need permission to get things wrong before they can start getting things right

To listen to the full podcast, please click here

“Treat people so well that when another business approaches them they don’t want to leave”

By Gordon Hooper, Managing Director of Bateleur Brand Planning

It used to be called Personnel Administration. It involved recruitment, training, performance management, teamwork coaching, conflict and grievance management, health and safety, policies and legislation, and the basic admin associated with employing and paying people.

In recent times, the Human Resource function has taken on a more strategic and empowering role in most businesses as the value of people in business has become increasingly recognised as critical to the long-term success of any venture.

The delicate question of what is the future of HR, like all future predictions, is fraught with imagination, controversy and at least partial failure.

However, opinions on this matter are rich and common, originating from sources carrying brand names of global fame.

A recent KPMG global survey of 1 362 HR executives reports that 6 out of 10 believe that the HR function will rapidly become irrelevant if the industry doesn’t modernise its approach to planning for the future needs of the workforce.

Common Forecasts for HR

So what are these needs? Well, there are many predictions out there: The Great Resignation and the Gig Economy (contract and freelance workers) will dramatically change how businesses use and manage human capital. Diversity, equity and inclusion will grow in importance in managing people in businesses. The use of technology for automated HR processes will increase dramatically; specifically, analytics and Artificial Intelligence in HR insight generation and decision-making will become all-important.

COVID-19 gave us a taste of working from home or anywhere, and this trend is on an irreversible course.

There’s a growing need to counter the absence of face time and its associated body language, thereby keeping the human touch alive in businesses.

The millennials and centennials, of course! Adjusting HR practices to the needs of the so-called hard to fathom new workers is a hot topic and naturally embraces;

• More focus on employee wellbeing with more rounded and modern employee benefits packages

• An overall increase in the importance of activities to ensure employee satisfaction

• More compassion for paid sick leave, more rigorous health protocols, including those to do with mental health

• More accent is placed on employees’ personal growth, including rotation, reskilling and upscaling

• Increased awareness of anticipation for the new jobs of the future

• More infrastructure and expertise to deal with corporate policy and legislation compliance

• Growing sensitivity and awareness to personal privacy and cybersecurity

• An increase in the need for attracting properly certified HR professionals

Virtual management of company culture and employee engagement is on the rise. This is a hint that employee motivation and how the company operates can be driven similarly to a retail loyalty program.

Closer alignment of the Human Resources function with the company’s vision, mission and financial success.

The Missing Link

Most company operations can be broken down into matters

of money, materials, machines, methods and people. Money, materials, machines, and methods can all be broken down into rational components with clear cause and effect; however, people can’t.

Human beings are driven largely by emotions. We are all driven by the fears and fantasies associated with the fundamental economic analogy of ‘guns and butter’; we want our companies to protect and sustain us.

The recent tragic events unfolding in Eastern Europe remind us of the old adage that it is not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog. Winning cultures are not built with rational resource management but with the power unleashed by extraordinary leadership and its associated motivation. The most recent example of many in

“Money, materials, machines, and methods can all be broken down into rational components with clear cause and effect; however, people can’t.”

history currently in the making is Volodymyr Zelenskyy. So, success and its cousins, culture and purpose, all boil down to nothing but leadership.

Why then don’t we see predictions that HR will see a magnificent trend toward human capital activities geared to finding ways to guarantee long-term succession of robust, engaging and trusted leadership.

There are scores of bad for every good leader in business and politics. One would think that onthe-ball organisations place a strong accent on ensuring great leadership at all times.

And clearly, leadership is the fulcrum of human capital effectiveness and, therefore, HR purpose.

We know that good leaders have both commonsense and compassion, along with a host of well-documented associated attributes. But it seems that the development of such leadership potential is left largely to luck or chance rather than concrete HR practice.

Trends for Effective Leadership

Clearly, differentiating between management and leadership is a crucial starting point. They are very different. Filtering recruitment processes to include medium and long-term leadership potential should be vital. Processes to identify leadership skills with appropriate youth leadership programs will yield a pool of potential for proper succession and batten-passing in years to come. We train people to do their job or

they

to manage. Leadership training, rotation and mentorship are too often regarded as luxuries. Acquiring empathy and related EQ skills does not come naturally in management circles; they need to be taught and practised.

Listening skills, motivational psychology, negotiation skills, and conflict management are as important to excellent leadership as experience and skills in strategy and business administration.

In summary, the future of successful HR will ensure that an organisation has a keen orientation for outstanding leadership and expertise in sourcing and developing a vibrant pool of leadership potential for the business as a whole and each of its parts.

Sources: KPMG

“Acquiring empathy and related EQ skills does not come naturally in management circles;

need to be taught and practised. Listening skills, motivational psychology, negotiation skills, and conflict management are as important to excellent leadership as experience and skills in strategy and business administration.

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