THE 2022 CHRO AWARDS TOP HONOURS FOR SA’S LEADING CHROs

The 2022 CHRO Awards was a memorable event, with South Africa’s leading HR professionals gathering for a glitzy gala dinner to recognise peers at the pinnacle of the HR profession – with Vodacom SA’s Njabulo Mashigo securing a hattrick by walking away with the coveted CHRO of the Year, Transformation & Empowerment, and HR & Technology Awards.

BY REABETSWE RABAJI AND NOMAHLUBI SONJICA

The biggest winners at the 2022 CHRO Awards described HR as a calling, especially in an era of unprecedented disruption, when the country’s top HR leaders gathered at the Polo Room at the Inanda Club in Sandton on 17 November 2022.

Renowned comedian Loyiso Madinga opened the night with a witty and engaging comedy set themed around culture, which was appropriate given that the HR profession is centred on people and culture. He delighted the audience with his interpretation of which of the 11 official languages sounds the most romantic, aggressive, and dramatic.

The Johannesburg Queer Chorus, a choir for the greater Johannesburg LGBTQIA+ community, provided a mem- orable rendition of Siyahamba, a folk song that, when translated from isiZulu, means “We are marching”, and it certainly got the audience moving. Some of the guests couldn’t resist joining in the fun and began ululating.

The first award of the evening, the HR & Technology Award, went to Njabulo Mashigo, executive director HR at Vodacom SA, the evening’s biggest winner. She emphasised the importance of technology in improving the employee experience.

Njabulo also took home the Transformation & Empowerment Award. She expressed her pride in Vodacom’s significant achievements in terms of employee advancement. “I am very proud to say that during my time with the Vodacom group, we have had significant promotions in exco. We are continuing to ensure that this transformation pervades the entire organisation,” she said.

Innovation

Tendayi Viki, an award-winning author and corporate innovation expert, then took the stage to deliver the evening’s keynote address, titled The Entrepreneurial CHRO.

Leadership, according to Tendayi, is all about stewardship. “Half the job is what you’re doing now, and the other half is what you’ll be doing later,” he explained.

He told the audience that CHROs must attract and develop entrepreneurial talent. Tendayi believes that there must be a balance between the innovation team and the core business when it comes to innovation.

“CHROs are also responsible for developing policies that make it easier for innovation teams to experiment with new ideas by making legal and compliance within the organisation more favourable to them,” he added.

He emphasised that innovation is a “ghetto” function in most organisations, as it is missing. This, he said, poses a challenge for the future. He challenged HR leaders to give innovation legitimacy and power, as innovators do not often sit in executive positions.

Passion for the profession

Phil Tshikotshi, Startek’s vice president and country HR head, was named Young CHRO of the Year.

During his acceptance speech, Phil said, “We accomplished a great deal during the Covid-19 pandemic, like going on a nationwide talent acquisition drive to townships to recruit many young people from underserved communities. We also started an initiative at Startek to clear historical debt in order for these young people to finish their studies.” However, the biggest win for the night went to Njabulo Mashigo who was named CHRO of the Year 2022. She received a standing ovation as she made her way onto the stage to accept the award.

During her emotional acceptance speech, Njabulo said, “I would like to dedicate this award to my mother. She passed away in July this year. Mama, thank you for who I am and all the things I’m not.”

Njabulo also took the opportunity to reflect on her 20-year career, which began as a bright-eyed, 19-year-old aspiring CHRO, who never let her passion for the profession fade away.

“My passion for the profession continues to grow,” she noted. “I am quite grateful that I get to have an impact on people’s lives on a daily basis through my career. My dream for employees is for people to continue to show up.”

Strategy & Leadership Award Pumeza Bam, Liberty Group

When Pumeza arrived at Liberty as the group executive for people and transformation, her experience of the manual recruitment and onboarding process led her to prioritise how new employees could be introduced into Liberty.

This resulted in a seamless interface between recruitment and onboarding, which was implemented in partnership with the CIO and technology team. Liberty’s people strategy is ensuring alignment between an excellent employee experience and excellent client experience. Pumeza is most proud of the implementation of the ‘Evolution of Work’ strategy to adapt to the new ways of work.

At the end of the evening, Joël Roerig, managing director of CHRO SA, asked the HR professionals in attendance to applaud themselves for actually weathering the storm and sticking together.

He also added that, while traditionally, CHROs would receive a goodie bag for attending the awards, the CHRO community wanted to do things a little differently this time and use the money to help an aspiring CHRO complete their studies in HR by clearing any historical debt that may have existed. 

Learning & Development Award Lee-Ann Samuel, Implats

Lee-Ann, who joined Implats as the group executive of people in October 2017, has been responsible for taking the company back to its ‘why’ by revising its strategy. Under her leadership, Implats has career paths and talent pipelines, as well as a detailed employment equity plan that gives preference to women. She has partnered with the Department of Mineral Resources and the Royal Bafokeng nation to create secondary industries in Rustenburg, to mitigate mining job losses. Lee-Ann was unfortunately unable to attend the awards in person

Talent Management Award Enid Lizamore, Santam

Enid took over as the Santam group executive head of HR at a time when the function needed to become a strategic business partner. Under her leadership, the function has evolved into a purpose-driven, delivery-oriented and peopleled human capital function that continuously delivers an exceptional employee experience.

The HR team was awarded the Group CEO Award for their commitment and value-adding work. Enid spearheaded the automation of admin through an employee bot and launched a mobile-first employee app that includes learning on the go.

Employee Value Proposition Award Portia Thokoane, Dark Fibre Africa

Having gained global experience, Portia joined Dark Fibre Africa as a group CHRO in November 2017. She developed the HR function from the ground and transformed the business to achieve a Level 1 broad-based black economic empowerment score in 2021.

She introduced programmes which saw the company participating and winning Top Employer awards annually. During Covid-19, Portia facilitated digital maturity which enabled the company to quickly work remotely, leverage e-learning platforms and use robotic process automation to provide transactional services. She is passionate about D&I, leadership development and holistic employee wellbeing.

The judging panel

The Awards are judged by the following esteemed panel of industry leaders and HR experts:

• Caryn Baird: Group organisational development and human capital executive

• Tswelo Kodisang: Chief human resources officer at First Rand

• Moula Mokhobo-Amegashie: Managing partner at Drayton, Glendower & Mokhobo

• Raisibe Morathi: Chief financial officer at Vodacom

• Vukani Mngxati: Chief executive officer at Accenture

• Paul Norman: Chief human resources officer at MTN

• Roze Philips: Executive director of value creation at GIBS

• James Ramakau: Manager of talent and sourcing at Anglo American

• Tumelo Seaketso: Organisation transformation at Deloitte

• Xolile Sizani: Chief executive officer at Nzuri Consulting

• Richard Sutton: Founder and chief executive officer at Sutton Health

• Jane Waters: Chief operating officer at Allen & Overy

• Shirley Zinn: Independent non-executive director

WINNERS: 2022 CHRO AWARDS

CHRO of the Year – Njabulo Mashigo (Vodacom SA)

Young CHRO of the Year – Phil Tshikotshi (Startek)

Strategy & Leadership Award – Pumeza Bam (Liberty)

Transformation & Empowerment Award – Njabulo Mashigo (Vodacom SA)

HR & Technology Award – Njabulo Mashigo (Vodacom SA)

Employee Value Proposition Award – Portia Thokoane (Dark Fibre Africa)

Talent Management Award – Enid Lizamore (Santam)

Learning & Development Award – Lee-Ann Samuel (Implats)

The 2022 CHRO Awards were proudly sponsored by Workday, Deloitte Africa, Mercer Marsh Benefits, GIBS and Momentum Corporate.