13 minute read
Still in shock
till in Shock
Ntiyiso Consulting Group’s newly appointed HC director Disebo Ramonyalioa took an eight-month sabbatical and is “still in shock” at how the world of work has changed.
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BY SUNGULA NKABINDE
Ntiyiso Consulting Group HC director Disebo Ramonyalioa was on a sabbatical for eight months last year before taking up her new role in December. A week after leaving Unilever, where she was the HC director for Functions Africa and the transformational lead for South Africa, the country went into national lockdown.
The sabbatical was initially meant to last for three months but she extended it because organisations were putting out fires left, right and centre. The national lockdown and constant uncertainty around Covid-19 meant it wasn’t the right time to take on a new HC leadership role. Disebo joined the firm with the expectation that the country had stabilised somewhat and she would be able to steer the organisation’s people agenda without the turbulence of 2020 to worry about. “I think it was the right choice to wait. I am still in shock at how much the world of work has changed in such a relatively short time frame,” she says. “I was busy with our annual HC budget the other day and being new to the role, after a year like no other in terms of the business environment, I didn’t have much with which to compare 2021. I, however, picked up that wellness was not only at the top of the strategic agenda but also that it needed extra focus and planning because of the shift to mental health and wellness caused by the year that was.” Whereas in the past, most organisations would have taken a holistic approach, leaning more towards physical than mental and financial wellness, Disebo has noticed that mental wellness is now a very big factor when it comes to employee engagement and performance. “Having to homeschool young children, particularly those who are still learning to read, has been an immense source of frustration for our employees trying to juggle this with work,” she says. “The challenge is to keep people motivated and performing amid these exigent conditions.” Her priority since joining Ntiyiso Consulting, a management consulting firm with a focus on empowering organisations that enable Africa’s development, has been safety. Most of their employees are based at clients’ sites, therefore, beyond ensuring the safety of employees at head office, she has also had to introduce protocols that must be observed whenever their employees are not well.
Monday reflections
Eight months may seem like a very long time to not be working but Disebo says the extended sabbatical could not have come at a better time. She started journaling every week, writing down her ‘Monday Reflections’ based on lessons from her grandmother, which she posts on LinkedIn. Says Disebo: “If I didn’t take that sabbatical, I would be a very different person from the one I am today. It was the most re-energising eight months of my career because I had an opportunity to really reflect on the kind of a leader that I had been and the kind of a leader I want to become given the challenging times in which we operate. I think that because we often get caught up in the midst of getting things done and delivering value to the organisations we serve, we sometimes forget to ‘stand on the balcony’ and take time to reflect on what has worked and what hasn’t and what’s next.”
In addition to that, she also took the time to do
the things she enjoys, like reading. Whereas before she would only get around to reading two or three books a year, Disebo read eight books, reconnecting with her love for fiction, inspirational autobiographies and business reads. She also did courses on LinkedIn Learning, preparing herself for the new world of work, and helped those who reached out to her looking for jobs by reworking their CVs, helping them to prepare for interviews, and so on. She spent a lot of time with her family, having deep conversations with her 83-year-old mother and bonding with her 14-yearold son, Oratile.
“I have a passion for cooking and I used the time to try out new dishes and sharing recipes on social media with family and friends. I know it’s very clichéd, because everybody and their mother seems to have taken up baking as a new hobby during lockdown but that’s not my forte, so I stayed away from the ‘magwinya’ [vetkoek] crew, unashamedly so,” she laughs.
Family values
On why she chose Ntiyiso Consulting, Disebo says she was drawn by the culture, which is rooted firmly in family values. During her interview, which was so long they had to take a recess, Disebo was asked if she could stay for lunch afterwards. She could not take the leadership team up on their offer as she had a prior engagement, but it was when they gave her a s’khaftini (lunchbox) – and warned her to make sure she didn’t return it empty – that she knew it was the right company! The firm’s purpose of empowering institutions that enable Africa’s development resonates with her love and passion for our beautiful continent. “You know how companies always say they are a family and they live by African values? This is the first time I’ve actually felt that kind of energy throughout the business, from the leaders to the lowest-level employee. One really feels the spirit of ubuntu as a member of the Ntiyiso family,” says Disebo.
“Look, the leadership did not lie to me about the amount of work that needed to be done. But I love that it’s a black-owned firm that has been around for 16 years, and has a zeal to bring people along on their growth story.”
Disebo says she was also encouraged that the leadership understands the importance of having HC playing a strategic role in all facets of the business. “They already understand the ‘why’ when it comes to the people agenda, and that’s going to make my job much easier, enjoyable and impactful,” she concludes.
Disebo Ramonyalioa
Human Capital Director, Ntiyiso Consulting
Work: Disebo Ramonyalioa has 15 years’ experience as an HR leader across different industries ranging from fast-moving consumer goods to insurance. Prior to her current role, she held executive human capital roles at Unilever and Tsebo Solutions Group. Education: BA Social Sciences (Durban Westville), Post Grad Diploma in Industrial Relations (University of KwaZulu-Natal)
ATHOL & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
Fresh into his role as the HR director for East and Southern Africa at Nestlé, Athol Swanepoel reflects on a career that humbly began at the South African Post Office.
BY VICTORIA WILLIAMS
After completing his degree in social work with psychology as a major, Athol Swanepoel, HR director for Nestlé East and Southern Africa, struggled to find full-time employment. He finally found casual work at the South African Post Office where he spent a year and a few months sorting letters. This job often included night shifts when Athol would question why, with a completed degree, he was doing menial work. “The inside of a mail centre is a dusty place. You dress down for work because you come out looking pretty dusty and probably unkempt. I’m sure there are a few people who saw me after varsity and wondered ‘what went wrong?’” He needed a mind shift change to embrace the work. “I got the best piece of career advice at this time: It doesn’t matter what you do as long as you try and be the best at it. I took this lesson into my job of sorting letters. I wanted to be the best letter sorter. It wasn’t long before experienced postal workers came to me to ask where letters needed to go,” says Athol. Once he became a permanent employee at the Post Office he shifted into a role as a training officer. Within a year he was appointed as an HR practitioner at the organisation. This was when his HR career started – despite having no qualifications in HR. “Some HR material is deeply theoretical, including organisational design and change management. While I never had the theoretical background, I made sure that I read continuously to stay up to date with the latest trends. As a trained social worker, I added a new dimension to my work by also considering how our HR decisions impact society and communities,” he says.
A parastatal champion
In 1998, Athol left the Post Office to join Transtel, the then telecommunications arm of Transnet. Transtel provided the telecommunications services for the railway, the oil pipelines and the rest of the Transnet stable. During his nine years at Transtel, he held several HR positions in both Cape Town and Johannesburg. In 1999, his position was made redundant but he had the opportunity to move to Johannesburg to take over from a colleague who had taken a retrenchment package. “As a typical Capetonian, I dreaded the move up to ‘big, bad Johannesburg’ but the alternative was to be unemployed,” he says. In 2002 he resigned to move back to Cape Town to be closer to his family in the wake of his father’s passing.
Then, after four months working as a freelance consultant, he re-joined Transtel, living in Pretoria and commuting into Braamfontein each day. He enjoyed his time at Transtel, believing in serving his country. “I very much respect the work that people do in parastatals. It is honourable work. But after so many years at Transtel, I needed to explore something different that was going to stretch me professionally,” says Athol.
The business of doing good
Athol applied for a position at Nestlé, attracted by the company’s values and its record of excellent community work and commitment to improving the environment. Nestlé is striving to meet the company’s 2030 goal of having zero environmental impact in its operations. The company has many initiatives to meet this commitment, ranging from carbon reduction projects, water stewardship efforts, environmental efficiency projects in its operations, and working closely with its agricultural supply chain to minimise the impact on the environment. “It is critical that your personal beliefs align with the values of the company. Business is in business to do business and ultimately satisfy the stakeholders. This school of thought is becoming outdated. Today business is also in business to do good and to contribute to society. You can’t be successful today without understanding how you positively impact the ecosystem around you.” For Athol, Nestlé exemplified a business that is also a good corporate citizen.
At the factory level
He joined Nestlé in August 2006 as an HR business partner. Much to his surprise, he was placed near Hammanskraal in Northern Gauteng at Nestlé’s Babelegi factory, which manufactures the coffee creamer Cremora. “I signed up without knowing where in South Africa I would be placed. I had never heard of Babelegi before in my life. I drove out on a Sunday before I started to see the factory. I remember seeing loads of dilapidated factories and as I was driving those streets, I asked myself ‘what have I done?’ Then I turned a corner and saw Nestlé’s immaculate factory and felt immediately reassured. Nestlé prides itself on the cleanliness and safety of its factories,” he says. The time spent at Babelegi proved to be a pivotal moment in Athol’s career. The factory had been without a dedicated HR business partner for almost 18 months. He worked hard to set up HR as a credible department again and built strong relationships with trade unions. This achievement was especially noteworthy considering he came from a telecoms background into an FMCG environment at a factory level. In 2008, he moved back to an HR business partner position at Nestlé’s Belville plant in Cape Town. Then, in January 2009, he moved back up to Johannesburg to take an HR role at Nestlé’s head office.
A local retail icon
In 2013 Athol’s itch to try something else returned. In August, he joined Edcon – an experience that gave him insights into working at an iconic, home-grown business that employed about 35,000 permanent and part-time employees. At that stage, the business was already experiencing financial difficulties and carrying a debt burden of R19.5 billion. It was also a time of increased competition as international brands like Zara and Cotton On entered the local retail scene.
For HR, the main objective was to steady the ship and keep the people costs down. In the years to come, the company was set to experience several rounds of retrenchments. “I did a bit of homework before I joined but probably not as much as a should have.
Athol Swanepoel
Work: Athol Swanepoel is the incoming human resources director at Nestlé for the East and Southern African region. During his 26-year career, Athol has spent time in the postal service, telecommunications, retail and more than 11 years at FMCG giant Nestlé. Education: BA Social Work (University of the Western Cape)
Edcon’s primary focus was on securing business continuity and that came with a very different people agenda than what I had anticipated,” comments Athol.
He spent three years with Edcon before being approached by Nestlé to return to the organisation in a different capacity. “Being asked to return to a company is a sign that that value you added was recognised,” says Athol.
Back to Nestlé
In October 2016 Athol returned to Nestlé as a regional HR business partner at Nestlé Nutrition. For him, the continuous learning curve that Nestlé offers keeps him engaged. As a result, he has worked as an HR generalist across at least eight portfolios while at Nestlé.
This new position gave him new perspectives into working on the African continent. Athol was responsible for HR in the nutrition business in Central West Africa, Equatorial Africa and South Africa including Lesotho, Botswana, Namibia and Swaziland. “The position was a good opportunity as it gave me exposure to sub-Saharan Africa with a reporting line outside of South Africa. It came with global experience and touchpoints,” he adds. During his four years in the role he was also the HR lead on a large transformation project at Nestlé – a project that went live successfully and something of which he is very proud. In November 2019, Athol was appointed as the talent manager at Nestlé, looking after East and Southern Africa. He was preparing to take up a new role in Ghana when he was approached to take over from Tania Hector in the position of human resources director for East and Southern Africa. Athol jumped at the opportunity. He shadowed Tania for three months before taking over the role officially on 1 February 2021. The challenges ahead of him include preparing the organisation for the second year of the Covid19 pandemic. “Last year made it clear that HR is indispensable. It has also accelerated the digital transformation of many organisations. I am under no illusion that 2021 is going to be an easy year, but we are more prepared now despite the challenges ahead. Covid-19 made flexible work come to life. It gave us a glimpse of what future skills are required. The ageold conversation of HR having a seat at the table has been put to bed. It is clear that HR is at the forefront and leading organisations.”
Embracing Johannesburg
Athol spends his spare time with his wife and three boys as well as his mother who is based in Johannesburg. “My two younger kids were born in Johannesburg and I’ve grown to appreciate this city. With my life and career, I count myself as being incredibly blessed,” concludes Athol.
