Special Edition - HR Indaba Conversations by CHRO Magazine

CHRO MAGAZINE SPECIAL EDITION 2021 | CHRO.CO.ZA

KEY THEMES Talking Tech HR’s Got Talent Mentor Mania Learning & Unlearning Healthy Outlook Courage Under Fire

BUSA President Bonang Mohale

KEYNOTE ADDRESS

TIME TO REBUILD

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Contents Note from the editor.........................................................................................................................................................5 Keynote: Bonang Mohale ................................................................................................................................................6 Leadership support is non-negotiable..........................................................................................................................10 The HR mindset shift: From competing to sharing.....................................................................................................13 The remote work starter pack.......................................................................................................................................16 Effective leadership: With empathy..............................................................................................................................20 The intersection: Office politics vs. culture..................................................................................................................23 Trust, curiosity and belief: Mentors work.....................................................................................................................26 Pre-empt a mental health epidemic.............................................................................................................................30 Step up to support employees.......................................................................................................................................33 To vax or not to vax........................................................................................................................................................36 Mind the pay gap............................................................................................................................................................40 Successful succession planning....................................................................................................................................43 Make a move on internal talent....................................................................................................................................46 Meaningful inclusion fosters belonging.......................................................................................................................50 It’s time to rebuild HR....................................................................................................................................................54 Brand authenticity counts in a crisis............................................................................................................................57 The business must go on...............................................................................................................................................60 The power of difference.................................................................................................................................................63 Hire curious people........................................................................................................................................................66 Create an unlearning culture........................................................................................................................................69 Nano-learning across platforms...................................................................................................................................72

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Associate editor Ronda Naidu rnaidu@chro.co.za +27 82 695 9704 Photography Patrick Furter Other contributors Ang Lloyd, Atlehang Ramathesele, Chuma Mxo, Puseletso Mompei, Reabetswe Rabaji, Thando Pato Advertising Nick Smith nsmith@chro.co.za +27 72 202 1071

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THE HR INDABA CONVERSATIONS WERE MADE POSSIBLE WITH THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF THESE PARTNERS.

Diamond Partners

Gold Partners

Silver Partners

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keynote address

“I find that human resource officers are giving us business solutions.” 6

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IT’S TIME TO REBUILD, SAYS BUSA PRESIDENT BONANG MOHALE Author, Bidvest chair and recently appointed president of Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) Bonang Mohale opened the 2021 HR Indaba Conversations with a thought-provoking keynote address that inspired the gathering of top HR executives in Africa.

s to happen. The industry does a lot of sharing when it comes to dealing with the pandemic and we were all on a steep learning curve.”

The scrumptious breakfast, made possible by Diamond Partners Mercer and Workday, was a great way to kick-start the first hybrid event for CHRO South Africa – and indulge in stimulating peer conversations.

of chief human resource officers. He explained that human resource officers gave people human resource solutions, but said in the wake of what we are currently facing with Covid-19 “I find that human resource officers are giving us business solutions”. He noted that the pandemic had not created inequalities but rather, had exposed them so much more.

Bonang started off his keynote by sharing that he had his first Pfizer jab on 11 July and exactly 42 days later, his second. “So, if you love life as much as I do,” he said, “I am hoping that you are fully vaccinated by now.”

Bonang said that after 556 days of the lockdown that we initially thought would be mere weeks, we could choose, when we see our people after a long time, to ask them to deliver operational excellence, financial stability or final accountability.

Bonang said that just as he was the product of a woman, in the world of work he was a product

“But I think the most important thing we can do is choose to be kind,” he said. “Ask your col-

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leagues what they need and if you can, help them with anything.”

Conversations to be had Bonang said conversations leaders should be having now are: how do we ensure that we build sustainability in the short term while focusing on long-term resilience? Because resilience in Africa is much more than food, energy and water.

Considering wellbeing Bonang continued that none of us would be able to claim that we were well after this pandemic because we were designed to be social animals in bone and marrow. People are not called on to be perfect – just to be real. And we are imperfect by design, he said.

How do we become leaders who are both courageous and empathetic? How do we contribute to turning the current economic crisis into an opportunity to thrive? We need to talk about how to strengthen our “implementation muscle” and develop new capabilities as a nation of people with great natural endowments.

“The wellbeing of our people becomes the most important thing, and nothing is more important than that,” he said. “Because health is not just the absence of disease and infirmity; it is the state of physical, emotional, social, and spiritual wellbeing, especially mental wellness.”

Bonang concluded with a quote from his grandmother: "A child who is not engulfed with love and support by their community, will burn it down in order to feed himself.”

Bonang said people yearn for human interaction – to engage, interact and interface with other human beings – and the pandemic meant that was not always possible.

After Bonang’s address concluded, he responded to questions from the live-streaming audience. Then, the group of leading HR executives took the time to interact and enjoy a delicious breakfast.

“We need to ask ourselves, ‘How can I belong to myself so that I am present for others?’” he said, emphasising the importance of self-care – particularly for those who had found the strength to help others in the midst of their own challenges.

The intention in the room was palpable as the business leaders present considered ways that they could respond to Bonang’s call to courageously support their people in taking the next steps to rebuild South Africa. 

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Leadership support is a non-negotiable It is imperative to find new ways of working while in the midst of a crisis, and to ensure that solutions endure in the long term and attract future talent, said leading CHROs who participated in an HR Indaba Conversation, sponsored by Workday.

BY PUSELETSO MOMPEI

OH Group HR director Malisha Awunor believes follow-through is essential when responding to crises, and pointed to the July 2021 riots as a time when her organisation chose to step up. When the violence broke out, the company had to try to maintain a sustainable business while supporting their people through the intense fear and panic. Malisha explained that EOH created a chatbot on WhatsApp, which was deployed in 24 hours. Through that platform, people could

request accommodation, food, medicine and counselling. Within a few days, in response to requests, EOH procured 24 tonnes of food for its people and ensured it was delivered. They partnered with restaurants and made 6,000 warm meals for people to pick up, and more than 500 people and their families took up trauma counselling. “To me that is leadership in action,” said Malisha. “That is walking the talk when people need it the most. Our leadership reached out and showed care. Leadership support is always

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talking tech

Malisha Awunor

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“Given what lockdown did to the hospitality and tourism industry, agility has been about how to communicate in a Covid-19 world and give people a sense of certainty in a time of great uncertainty. Safety has been huge for our employees as well as visitors.” - Joyce Osborne, HR administration manager at Tsogo Sun “We were lucky that in the sectors we operate in, demand came in quickly and in some cases, exceeded our capacity. The agility we needed was being able to work within regulations [and we] managed to keep people safe in a new environment.” - Penwell Lunga, human capital executive at KAP Industrial Holdings “For a long time it wasn’t believed that people could be productive remotely, and we had battled to allow people to have flexibility. We found that in less than a week, everyone was set up remotely. These changes forced us to build a new level of trust between colleagues, and technology was accepted by those who had been resistant.” Vanessa Hlatshwayo, HRBP at Norton Rose Fulbright

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critical, but in such tough times it is non-negotiable.” A powerful illustration of walking the talk was shared by Avanthi Maharaj, Google’s Market HR Cluster head for Sub-Saharan Africa. She recalled having to undergo serious surgery during the lockdown, and when she tried to return to work, her manager forced her to take care of herself, giving her the permission, time and space to recuperate. She shared that, “In the six weeks that they gifted me I didn’t receive a single email from my leadership team and I had to recalibrate my mind around what it means to ‘show up’ and take responsibility for my behaviour. It humbled me. “Rather than holding me to the policy, the leadership team looked at the policy and asked, ‘How can we use the moment to enhance or improve our standard policy?’ This was active agility in action. I think this approach helps to humanise policy and creates a lived experience of the EVP we promise.”

Malisha said a culture that is open to or embraces change can adapt easily. “Purpose is what has helped drive agility in our organisation, pulling people together from across a huge ecosystem for common causes. We have used tech to shift our EVP and demonstrate trust, care and growth.” Neridha explained that, “We introduced specific leadership training for the new ways of work and tried to find a way to practically support people – with the realisation [even with the correct tools] that you cannot achieve and prioritise everything.” She said some key lessons she learnt included that leadership needs to ask people what they need.

Willingness to experiment Avanthi shared that even though Google had decent flexible work and tech policies in place, employees across the globe have very different home environments. She said, “One example of our active agility was the introduction of ‘carer’s leave’, which was six weeks over and above standard leave. Nearly 90 percent of Googlers took this leave [or some of it] and this forced leaders to look at how to solve for the productivity ‘gaps’ by looking for talent and interest beyond job titles and qualifications [called 20 percent projects]. The key was better communication between leaders and the resources they serve.”

People before profits Neridha Moodley, leader of people and culture at SNG Grant Thornton, said the biggest impact made was the company’s stance of people before profits, which was evident, and not just a slogan. “We did what we committed to, kept in touch and engaged our people. For example, we had a daily publication on ‘lockdown living’, with jokes, diet ideas, exercise plans, competitions and all sorts of initiatives to keep people engaged and not left out, especially young graduates who are sitting alone in flats and missing out on the interaction they would have traditionally had.”

She shared that these projects were life-changing and have even allowed people to change to new jobs: “You didn’t have to fly to another country to gain that experience and could still contribute to something on the other side of the world from your couch.”

Avanthi said helping leaders support and drive employees, navigate work, productivity and death was key, adding that “our leaders adopted and lived the mantra, ‘it’s okay to not be okay’”.

In closing, the panellists emphasised the need to look for diversity of interventions and recognise that people deal with situations differently. 

“It’s okay to not be okay.” - Avanthi Maharaj, Google’s Market HR Cluster head for Sub-Saharan Africa 12

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THE HR MINDSET SHIFT: FROM COMPETING TO SHARING Under the broader theme of talking tech, a panel of HR experts discussed the challenges and opportunities being faced by organisations as bots and other automation platforms take over day-to-day functions. BY PUSELETSO MOMPEI

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he HR Indaba Conversation Taming the Robots, which was sponsored by LexisNexis, looked at how HR could be a catalyst for helping people on the automation journey.

Lexis Nexis’ HR director Gcobisa Ntshona pointed out that Covid-19 highlighted that the environment we work in can shift and change, and that you can’t always mandate productivity, but you can provide people with tools to be their best. Vinolia Singh, Adcorp’s group executive human capital, is a software engineer by training who has worked at Multichoice and Discovery, and knows all too well the struggles of coming into HR with a technical background. She said people often fear or are suspicious of technology, more so when they don’t understand data and analytics or how to use these tools to make decisions. She added that HR professionals need to be ready to experiment and learn. “There are so many tools and content to help you become more aware and astute around tech. Don’t become intimidated,” she said. Tony Smith, Unilever’s HR director supply chain southern Africa, said, “When introducing automation, immediately people think job losses and

Seen in the chat

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unions get concerned. In some instances, at first people don’t think the changes apply to them. But we are already living in the future where tech is part of our lives,” he noted. “People need to understand why we are adopting new tools, the role of technology and how the changes can increase our capacity to produce more. It’s not designed to make them redundant,” he added. Tony said that in non-digital environments such as factories, it was important to tailor communications for the end audience. “We do town halls, set up spaces where people can log into virtual meetings, and set up small training centres where people can access computers.”

Working alongside the bots However, challenging the issues, Jasmin Pillay, Microsoft’s director of HR consulting, Middle East and Africa, Global, said that only those with a learner’s mindset are going to survive the current and future world of work. She said, “You can’t stay in the same place and work the same way. There is no choice, because the world is changing so rapidly. If we stop learning we cut ourselves off from opportunities. The future is already here, and Covid-19 has accelerated five- to 10-year journeys into one year. Jobs will go away and change, they will morph and change. HR needs to figure out which technology is coming at us, how it is going to help us, and what the skills required around that are.” Vinolia said it was important to help people think about technology as an augmenter, as bots still need humans to run the agenda.

“The people factor is important. As organisations we are often keen to get the migration but sometimes lag in people management. You can have the best systems, but if people in the organisation aren’t taken on the journey, it becomes a white elephant.” - Neliswa Mncube, head of content marketing at Lexis Nexis.

The experts agreed that success occurs when HR tackles real problems and technology offers the enablers, tools, data and analytics to drive effective decision-making. Vinolia said that in order for HR to reach its full potential, it was time to have a mindset shift from compete to share. “As an HR community we have a

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tendency to withhold knowledge. Now is the time to be open about best practices and share lessons.” Gcobisa agreed and said that partnerships, whether they are internal or external, are key, saying that we can benefit from alliances where there is an alignment of capabilities and requirements. The conversation revealed that a mindset of exploration is more important. Tony shared that at Unilever, lifelong learning is a company value and they have committed that every employee has to be future fit by 2025. He said, “In doing so, HR needs to understand what the company’s future plans are, where automation is going to be adopted, and aligning people to those changes.” Takeaways in the discussion included the observation that HR functions may go extinct, but HR people don’t need to be left behind. HR leaders should not be afraid to keep trying to find the right fit for their organisation if what they try doesn’t work at first. Lastly, when done successfully, automating mundane tasks allows HR practitioners to spend time on the things that matter. Jasmine added, “I would rather not talk about leave balances: I would rather talk about people’s plans, growth and development.” 

Jasmin Pillay

“You can’t stay in the same place and work the same way.” - Jasmin Pillay, Microsoft’s director of HR consulting, Middle East and Africa, Global

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The remote work starter pack Remote and hybrid work has ushered in a new era for HR, to get new employees onboarded and productive from anywhere and even at any time, while keeping a close eye on the risks of working in a virtual world.

BY PUSELETSO MOMPEI imon Ellis, CEO of SmartWage, which sponsored the HR Indaba Conversation Remote work starter pack, enabling productivity anywhere, anytime, highlighted the lesser reported risk of financial stress that many employees

are facing.

He said, “The bigger picture is that 80 percent of employed South Africans are struggling to make it through the month, especially low income earners who are targeted by loan sharks.” In a remote environment these issues threaten productivity and engagement. Phil Tshikotshi, Startek country head HR, noted that trust is critical in a remote working environment. He recently completed a massive exercise to onboard 1,000 remote employees in Gqeberha, Johannesburg and Durban. “It has not been easy, but the deployment has been successful. We learnt that technology plays a significant role in connecting to customers, and that when it comes to people, trust in relationships is a significant factor. In

our case, trust with equipment and confidential information,” Phil said. Matimba Mbungela, Vodacom group CHRO, said the telecoms giant developed a remote working best practice guideline prior to lockdown in which they had explored ‘what if’ scenarios. Despite this contingency plan, it was still an effort to deploy it earlier than planned and across different territories. The company set people up to work remotely and launched a “bring a chair home” campaign, which allowed staff to take furniture and office supplies home to be productive. Bess Skosana, MTN general manager: regional talent leader, said the working from home journey propelled the company to look at strategic opportunities, one of which is the ability to attract critical skills globally. “To be an attractive remote employer, you also need to understand the nuances of each environment, align remuneration and benefits, and understand how benefits and policies will apply. You also need to look at some of the business risks, in terms of employment contracts, cyber risks, issues around POPI and software licensing,” she said.

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Matimba Mbungela

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“We have a lot of blue collar workers who don’t own computers, we still have paper based and balancing that and servicing people who don’t have smartphones, so we still need to deliver in channels they have.” - Liane du Plessis, senior human resources officer at Aurex Constructors

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Re-imagining the virtual workplace Matimba said the world had changed forever, and we shouldn’t expect to go back. Even virtual tools have evolved and become more robust, habits have changed, lifestyles have changed. He emphasised the need for HR professionals to think creatively and not just relegate virtual communication as tools for meetings. “You can have fun online. We have hackathons, concerts and other experiences which expand our horizons about what is possible, and people sharpen their thinking in terms of what we can do virtually. We have also developed a super app for employees, which integrates the things they need such as ERP systems, workplace readiness, questionnaires and essential worker certificates, which we used during lockdown. This platform has accelerated our digital-first employee experience and has been white labelled and is sold to other companies,” he said. Bess added that MTN believes the hybrid model is the way of the future as it provides flexibility – people have found that they are able to achieve better work-life balance with the newfound control over their daytime hours. “We encourage face-to-face engagement, especially on mission-critical activities that require closer collaboration, but are aware that different jobs have different requirements, and that’s why it’s important to have tools that enable the full spectrum of what we need.” She explained that flexibility will be there for people to have different working hours and ensure that they deliver on KPIs and contractual obligations.

Impact on culture Phil said, “Most of our [call centre] agents are young, and when they used to get together, they would energise each other. We had expected a drop in pro-

ductivity, but found that despite being apart, they prefer working from home because they are able to fit in more in their day than when they came into the office.” Matimba pointed out that many people had moved between companies and there were teams with people who had never met physically. For that employee, their norm is joining the team virtually, and it is HR’s role to give the person a good onboarding experience. Bess added, “Teams do miss each other and many set up catch-ups either at the office or will meet at a coffee shop. We welcome the new culture and will continue to engage with it as it evolves.” Phil said that the reduced stress of time in traffic and massive monthly savings on paying for transport were huge pluses. He added, “We don’t take mental health for granted, we have a counselling service that employees can use. We also run financial education interventions because despite the savings, employees have become more indebted because the cost of living has gone up and earning per household is stretched.” Matimba said a solid remote working framework was a critical part of attracting key talent. “Any employee in the group has an opportunity to work in any location for 21 working days as long as it doesn’t contradict the country’s laws. These are things that are evolving, but it’s about keeping open to opportunities, and driving, embracing and encouraging hybrid working,” he said. Phil anticipates long-term impacts to be felt from the rise of automation and thinking machines. He said, “We have to be digitally astute as HR people. The type of skills we are looking for are changing as we are now able to optimise people with machines. As face-to-face interaction changes, the human touch that has always been our most powerful value, will have to evolve.“

“As face-to-face interaction changes, the human touch that has always been our most powerful value, will have to evolve.“ - Phil Tshikotshi, Startek country head HR 18

CMY

Sanlam Benchmark Research 2021 Key take-outs from the 40th retirement industry survey 2

1 Cost of retirement fund administration

0.55%

R52

Cost for stand-alone funds (slight reduction since 2019)

average cost for stand-alone funds in rands

0.59%

R41

Cost for participating employers in umbrella funds (the same as 2020)

average cost for participating employers

Contribution trends

Stand-alone funds and participating employers’ employer contribution levels are steadily increasing again since a drop in 2018. However, 2021 recorded a slight drop in employee contribution levels in umbrella funds of 0.7% although still up from 2018 levels.

Employer contribution

10.8% 9.4%

average employer's total contributions in stand-alone funds average employer's total contributions in umbrella funds

Member contribution

3 Contribution suspension

41.0%

27.0%

of participating employers in umbrella funds suspended retirement contributions due to Covid-19

in stand-alone funds

4 Retirement funds and rewards/loyalty programmes have not yet gained traction in a retirement funds context.

88.9%

funds and employers are offering default investment portfolio plus member choice. Proposed changes to Regulation 28

8 Retirement benefits counselling outcomes In-fund Phased Retiree Outof-fund Cash Retirement counselled

49.0%

of stand-alone funds and,

36.0%

7 Default regulation and member behaviour 25.0%

46.0%

57.0%

Retirement Benefit counselling Base: All those who have not seen an improvement in member behaviour Stand-alone funds Annuitisation

Preservation

9 Impact of Covid-19 Impact of Covid-19 on cyber security

Impact of Retirement Benefit Counselling at retirement

2.0% 1.0% 3.0% 2.0%

5 Health integration

Stand-alone funds have not seen a significant improvement in member behaviour since the implementation of default regulations.

Only 6.6% of stand-alone funds and, participating employers will be investing 4.7% ofin infrastructure investments.

contributed by members in participating employers in umbrella funds

of participating employers believe a holistic, integrated health and financial wellness programme delivers higher productivity and staff happiness.

Less (10.0% to 13.0%)

of total package contributed by members in stand-alone funds

of participating employers in umbrella funds do not offer rewards/ loyalty programmes

More funds and employers are selecting a combination of default investments with and without member choice

Ave 6.3%

79.0%

of stand-alone funds said they do not offer rewards/ loyalty programmes

6 Investments 20

Ave 6.6%

Impact of Covid-19 on Members’ Finances

Increase in the risk of cyber security as a result of staff working remotely.

55.0% 27.0% 35.0% 70.0% Retirement not counselled

46.0% 41.0%

31.0% of participating employers reported retrenchments at the workplace.

Stand-alone funds

Participating employers

The Sanlam Umbrella Fund data indicates that members that are counselled at withdrawal are twice as likely to preserve For 40 years, the Sanlam Benchmark Survey has been South Africa's most comprehensive retirement industry research. In 2021, 90 stand-alone funds, 10 stand-alone union funds and 100 participating employers in umbrella funds were surveyed. Sanlam is a Licensed Financial Services Provider.

Financial Planning

Investments

Insurance

Retirement

Wealth

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Effective leadership with empathy The age-old question around nature or nurture was the starting point for an interactive discussion on the first day of the HR Indaba Conversation, with a star line-up of HR leaders from diverse industries focusing on the indispensable role that HR professionals play in spotting and harnessing talent within the organisation.

BY ANG LLOYD

n interactive HR Indaba Conversation on leadership featured panellists Pamela Xaba, human capital head at Netstar, Steven Teasdale, Discovery group head of organisational development, change and transformation, and Tshidi Anya, regional HR director, Africa and the Middle East, at Weir Minerals, who all contributed valuable insights on the role HR professionals play in leadership. CHRO South Africa editor-in-chief Georgina Guedes started the discussion by introducing the age-old question of “Are leaders born or made?” Most participants believed that it was a bit of both – with overwhelming agreement that anyone can be a leader with the right support – and if the person is willing to take ownership of their development journey.

Pamela shared that leadership went beyond management, to a selfless calling not focused on power and control as “one doesn’t need a title to lead; it’s about how you show up”. Effective leadership requires specific skills, experience, and, most importantly, self-development. Pamela added that career coaches teach that leaders must be comfortable giving up the limelight to let others shine – something she fully agrees with. According to Tshidi, leadership is a skill that can be developed and learnt. She shared four key points that HR leaders should consider when nurturing leadership potential in others: • Be intentional when creating leadership training, •

Help employees create career paths,

• Give emerging leaders opportunities to grow, and •

Create an environment of mentorship.

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Steven Teasdale

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“The pandemic brought out the best in people. I saw it across our business: people achieved greatness through this stressful time, and leaders started to emerge – a call centre agent became a leader, for example. People learnt new skills; millennials who are tech-savvy showed Gen X employees how to use Zoom. It was wonderful.” Janine Conrad, human resources business partner at Old Mutual Finance. “Self-awareness and the awareness of others is so important. I lead from a place of empathy, but empathy is lacking in business; the bottom line is of course a factor, but you can still make a profit while driving your workforce using empathy.” - Tshidi Dabula, consultant at DPS

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“After all,” said Tshidi, “We all stand on the shoulders of giants.” She added that a natural ability to lead couldn’t be ignored, however it’s more important how HR leaders build on talent – and how they nurture potential talent. Steven dug deeper into what leadership really means, and how leaders can now be found across multiple levels of an organisation. In a hybrid world, the notion of leadership is broader and more encompassing, and there are now more diverse teams solving highly complex problems. “We’re also seeing people taking leadership roles who aren’t formal leaders – they are leaders of disciplines,” he said. “The modern leader has a far greater role in mentoring people, but that doesn’t necessarily come naturally, and it needs to be developed.”

Leadership isn’t linear, it’s a privilege The participants discussed how becoming a leader doesn’t always express itself in a clear career trajectory. Tshidi shared a personal story illustrating this: “If you talked to my teachers, they’d tell you I am a born leader; I was a prefect. But I needed training and hard work to become the leader I am today.” Leaders should always be learning, and undergoing formal leadership training was pivotal for her development. “In HR, we think we can’t lead change, but we can – if we develop the skills,” she added. Pamela discussed leadership as a privilege and a journey, with no one being entitled to the position they have. She emphasised that people place their trust in a leader and it is a huge responsibility, and that leaders must remain humble.

gave you a chance. It may have been through hard work, but in business someone usually sees the potential in you,” she said. “Once you’re there, you need to consistently look at those who are behind you; you need to constantly carry them forward.” Steven explained that his leadership journey had been tough. He discovered that self-awareness is fundamental and once he realised that he didn’t know everything, there was a shift. “Maybe someone who is younger than you, who has less experience than you, has something very important to offer,” he said. As a leader, one must ask tough questions that are uncomfortable, and the best leaders are willing to accept they’re wrong and leave their ego at the door. “In meetings, I often find that when someone says something I’m automatically composing an answer; I’m not listening,” admitted Steven. “I’m trying to demonstrate my own intellect and competence and that’s my ego at play. We do this unconsciously, but we need to have far more control over ourselves to embrace the wisdom of others.” After a fruitful breakaway discussion that focused on courage, having difficult conversations and holding people accountable, attendees returned to the main session. Steven summed up the session by noting that leaders must step into difficult moments and not ignore them. He added that the pandemic had resulted in leaders having to create moments for people to step forward, like asking team members how they are coping during Zoom meetings. “We’re getting it right more often,” he said. “We’ve always known that leaders need to be empathetic, but we’ve finally realised that conversations that don’t matter, matter the most.”

“You started somewhere. At some point, someone

“Conversations that don’t matter, matter the most.” - Steven Teasdale, Discovery group head of organisational development, change and transformation 22

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INTERSECTION OF OFFICE POLITICS AND CULTURE Whether it is vibrant chatter by the water cooler or an exchange with colleagues on a WhatsApp group during a meeting, how we interact in an office environment and with whom can directly impact career growth and job satisfaction. In an HR Indaba Conversation session delving into navigating office politics, one thing was clear – it’s unavoidable but manageable with the right tools. BY ATLEHANG RAMATHESELE

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t’s important to differentiate between office politics and culture and respond appropriately to each.

In a nutshell, panellist Niven Postma, managing director of Niven Postma Inc, considers office politics to be a neutral and inevitable phenomenon steeped in relationships, perception, influence and power. “Those things are inter-dependent and exist together,” she said. “Taking those four elements into the informal and official space gives you a better understanding of something most of us only see as negative.” Lebitso Mokgatle, HR executive at ENSafrica, said that while office politics will always be rife, it is best to remember that the only thing you can control is your reaction to it. “Your relationships are actually much stronger than hard work and high performance,” she said. Lebitso cautioned that it’s only bad office politics that thrives in the dark, and suggested people learn to quietly correct or air grievances in a meeting with those present, instead of gossiping. Niven shed light on many misconceptions about office politics, including the idea that you can either be a good person or play politics, when they are actually not mutually exclusive, “You can be perfectly ethical and value-driven and political. It is about how you play politics, to what end you play them and the kind of politics,” she explained. She also highlighted that some people who avoid politics and believe that it doesn't have any influence on one’s career are being shortsighted: “Some people don’t see relationships, coalitions and getting allies on your side as part of your job. You believe your job is to do the technical stuff and your work will speak for itself. Work does not speak, people speak,” she said, adding that it is important to be mindful of what people are saying – which is all in the political space. Niven said informal conversations and building relationships are still key. And political intelligence is not a trait, it is a skill. “As with any skill, if you understand the importance and see the dimensions of it that are affecting you in ways you don’t want, you can make it better,” she says. Politics is a dimension of culture and it is important to determine how to be most effective. Create something that is about you and about others –

then go forth and conquer.

Create your space Niven said that all choices are made by individuals: they should just make them consciously and know the risks, “Choosing not to engage in politics [the informal, the unrelational and the power-related] is like playing tennis on half a court. You can choose to, but you are going to have a very incomplete experience,” she says. She recommended being more discerning about “cultural fit” and learning to be a culture contributor, rather than a culture critic. There was discussion about how culture fit enforces the need for everyone to conform, which inevitably creates a situation where people are replaceable commodities, whereas diversity of thought can actually be healthy. Lebitso said people don’t always have to “get you” and you don’t have to “fit in” – it is okay in recruitment and HR to question “group think” hiring. Both Queen Ramotsehoa, director of Tsheto Leadership and Coaching Academy and Lebitso believe that it is important to be authentic and comfortable in your own skin as you navigate dynamic environments. “Diversity is a big part of politics,” said Queen. She acknowledged that there can be discord when people are competing, but one shouldn’t label it as politics. Queen highlighted the importance of knowing the difference between actual conflict or someone just happening to have a different competitive strategy. There is a difference between the person who feels their work should speak for themselves versus the person who endeavours to specifically sidle up to bosses. She recommended being discerning about whether you understand the culture, how to align yourself with it and not selling yourself short. Use politics to your benefit, she advised, but keep it in line with your values. She discovered how to negotiate getting out of spaces like golf days and pub nights that are traditionally synonymous with relationship-building, yet made a non-social person like herself uncomfortable. She found other ways of getting one-on-one time with relevant players by initiating private meetings and solidifying an impactful role for herself in meetings to ensure her presence was felt.

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Lebitso Mokgatle

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Niven Postma

Remote working The presence of office politics in a remote working environment, albeit more subtle and seemingly undetectable, was determined to be robust. There was much mention of separate WhatsApp groups where conversation takes place during meetings, highlighting grievances that aren’t explored in the actual meetings. Lebitso highlighted how the obvious things like seeing who is having lunch with who or who generally sits with the same people might not be possible in a “work-from-home” setting, but the behind-the-

scenes discussion can actually be more intense and one must be more conscious and sensitive to them. Queen recommended understanding that office politics is real and affects people in different ways. She believes that it is important to recognise the impact it has on you and finding someone in the organisation you can trust to speak to and help support you meaningfully. Lebitso cautioned that while working from home might have changed the fabric that holds people together in organisations and made it less tangible, it is still critical to keep relationships alive. 

“Work does not speak, people speak.” - Niven Postma, managing director of Niven Postma Inc

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Trust, curiosity and belief make mentoring work Increasingly, organisations are identifying mentorship and coaching as key factors in an employee’s career growth plan, and there is now a need to create cultures that promote both.

BY THANDO PATO o, what is the power of mentoring and coaching? And is there a difference between the two? The HR Indaba Conversation Coaching Resilience examined this topic in detail.

According to Yvonne Mosadi, HR director at Heineken South Africa, both mentoring and coaching are tools to develop people and accelerate their growth. “Coaching, however, is a short-term intervention and is useful when developing someone who is struggling with certain aspects of the job. A coaching process is not a talent situation, but rather helping someone tap into themselves to find solutions to their current challenges. Coaching is often used by leaders to overcome and involves an external party providing a service,” she said. Yvonne added, “Mentorship on the other hand is all about talent. It’s about identifying people in your organisation who you want to grow, and pairing them with a mentor. The mentor is

someone experienced and knowledgeable who will impart technical and soft skills and help them build relationships that will take them to the next level of their career. Unlike coaching, mentoring can be done internally.” Terms like EQ, emotional intelligence and self-awareness have become part of KPAs, as organisations look for well-rounded individuals who have technical and soft skills. Bongani Phakathi, executive of human resources and public affairs at Assore, said soft skills are hard to master but equally important in understanding and harnessing, because the workplace is complex and ever changing. “When you start your career, your technical skills are dominant but as your career progresses, you start focusing on developing career skills like becoming a better team player or improving the function of a team. And that’s about emotional intelligence and that’s where mentorship and coaching can play a role and help you evolve,” he explained.

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Bongani Phakathi

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Yvonne Mosadi

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Q: Should there be mentoring and coaching programmes and who is responsible for them in a smalle company? - Esti Lindeque, HR manager, ProjectLink A: “Mentoring and coaching should be a business imperative and viewed from a business continuity point of view. Because it’s how a business survives. Leaders play an important role in ensuring culture gets entrenched.” - Bongani Phakathi Q: How does one deal with resistance to mentoring and coaching? - Dheran Pillay, HR manager, Payments Association A: “You also need to dig deeper to find out why there is resistance. Are the mentors the right people? What are the other dynamics around the resistance? People who are good at their jobs don’t necessarily make good mentors or coaches. That may be where the problem lies.” - Yvonne “Organisations need to invest in preparing mentors. Too much focus is placed on the mentee. Because sometimes I feel like there are blurred lines.” - Mandisa Mbatani, HR Consultant at the University of KwaZulu-Natal

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Is HR responsible? Antoinette Roberts, group executive of HR and transformation at Blue Label Telecoms, said the responsibility of creating a culture that enables mentoring and coaching is also that of the leadership, who must see the business imperative for such programmes. But before coaching and mentorship programmes are introduced, Antoinette said, a foundation of trust, curiosity and belief needs to be in place for coaching and mentorship programmes to work. “It’s important to unpack these because sometimes employees see mentoring and coaching negatively. Trust is about making mentor, mentee, coach, and leader understand that their relationship is a partnership. Also, we mustn’t always make managers coaches. Employees should be allowed to choose who they want as a coach. Organisations should have a body of external coaches to choose from,” she said. Antoinette added, “When it comes to curiosity, we are talking to the fact that employees need to bring new ideas to the table and have a growth mindset when entering these relationships. On the other hand, the organisation needs to be open to being questioned. The organisation needs to believe in developing people, it needs to be part of the value system.” But, said Bongani, individuals should also be responsible for their own coaching and mentoring journeys and should not just rely on those put together by their companies. He advises everyone to build a

broad network of people that spans their careers and to tap into that network for mentorship or coaching opportunities. “Coaching doesn’t always have to be structured and formal,” he said, “neither does mentorship.” Mentorship has a personal dynamic, so it’s important to pick someone you trust. You must have someone who provides a psychologically safe environment because you are sharing experience and perspectives. So, how many coaches and mentors do you need? Several, said the panel, who agreed that throughout your career, you should have different mentors and coaches, to serve your different career stages. “No one is all knowing,” said Bongani. Worried about how mentorship and coaching will shape your career? Don’t be. All three members of the panel said they have benefitted from mentoring and coaching at various points in their career. Yvonne shared that last year she enlisted the services of a coach. “Behind the scenes there are people coaching and mentoring me to be a better version of myself. People always tell me that I am resilient, but it is something I have learnt, especially in the past year,” she said. “Last year I explored the services of a professional coach to help me navigate solutions and reposition myself. As a result, I came out stronger. My mental health has improved, and I have learnt that I mustn’t navigate difficult situations alone.” 

“A foundation of trust, curiosity and belief needs to be in place for coaching and mentorship programmes to work.” - Antoinette Roberts, group executive of HR and transformation at Blue Label Telecoms 28

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healthy outlook

Pre-empt a mental health epidemic Depression is now the leading cause of ill health and disability worldwide, affecting people of all ages, from all walks of life, in all countries. In the HR Indaba Conversation, made possible by Sanlam Corporate, HR executives discussed how raising awareness for depression can help pre-empt a potential mental health epidemic. BY CHUMA MXO

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Athol Swanepoel

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“We have a wellness offering for staff members and their family, and I think there are staff who reach out. I have noticed an increase in cases of depression; misconstrued at times as people being lazy, due to lack of understanding on the employer side of mental wellness. Also, great loss due to Covid and loss of family members, colleagues, friends – taking a huge toll on staff. As HR we need to be that safe space.” Keitha January, HR practitioner at the University of Witwatersrand

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cting head of corporate distribution at Sanlam, Nzwa Shoniwa, presented statistics from the 2018 annual benchmark symposium, which revealed that apart from longevity at a country level, a healthier population has the obvious benefits of reduced healthcare costs, increased GDP through a more productive workforce and less absenteeism. “Employee health and wellbeing is now widely acknowledged as a key driver of business success,” he said, and so some employers are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of looking after both the mental and physical health of their staff. CEO at Healthy Living Consulting, Ronald Abvajee, believes that if companies don’t address mental health issues head on, we might face an epidemic. “From last year, the National Institute of Communicable Diseases [NICD] and different professors have said that the next pandemic we will be dealing with will be mental health,” he commented. Athol Swanepoel, HR director, East and Southern Africa at Nestlé, said mental health was very high on the agenda at a global and local level. “We have webinars where mental health is the theme of the conversation and we try by all means to create engaging platforms where people can discuss and interact with one another,” he said. Mental health is high on the list of matters discussed at fortnightly executive level meetings. Athol added that people knew mental health and wellness were important, but Covid-19 really drove it home and now employers have realised that it’s an indispensable part of ensuring that employees

are well taken care of. “Covid-19 has really helped to bring mental health to the fore,” he remarked.

Time to destigmatise He made reference to tennis player Naomi Osaka and gymnast Simone Biles who recently announced they were not coping mentally, and took some time off. “That is helping us to destigmatise something that we have tried to hide previously, and now we are more prepared to talk about it openly and put some measures in place, because our leaders and people we look up to are showing vulnerability,” he said. Portia Thokoane, CHRO at Dark Fibre Africa, said, “To echo what the other panellists said, holistic wellness – including mental wellness – is a foundational common currency not only for business success but for human morality as well.” She added, “Globally, the pandemic has revealed that the education system has had a very strong emphasis on physical health and not mental health, and in organisations we can’t even assess if someone has a mental illness or not.” Portia said businesses really needed to step up and have tangible strategies to be advocates of mental wellness and run anti-stigma campaigns, “because if we do not figure it out, we will certainly have a big problem on our hands”. She concluded, “Another area that is a huge concern for us is that there aren’t clear insurance and employee benefits that cover mental health illnesses. It’s a problem that requires companies to come together and come up with solutions and rectify this problem.” 

“The next pandemic we will be dealing with will be mental health.” - Ronald Abvajee, CEO at Healthy Living Consulting 32

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STEP UP TO SUPPORT EMPLOYEES

The last 18 months, since the start of the pandemic, have been difficult, with many of us losing loved ones to Covid-19. And people have coped in different ways – some positive, some negative. BY REABETSWE RABAJI

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hile the government clamped down on smoking and drinking, the pandemic exacerbated the rate of addiction, and many turned to substance abuse to cope with stress, said Dr Ashish Mandavia, EMEA commercial director at Quit Genius. Ashish was speaking at an HR Indaba Conversation on how HR leaders can manage grief, which was sponsored by Quit Genius. “People are now returning to the office with addiction issues that were either present before, or exacerbated by the pandemic,” he explained. “Quit Genius offers solutions to help employees, including unlimited one-on-one therapy, mindfulness-based cognitive-behavioural therapy, and medication to help control cravings,” he added. Ruth Wotela, people wellness executive at Silverbridge, noted, “One thing we need to all acknowledge is that as we go through our lives, we will all experience grief in one form or another. Our role as HR is to look at how we can support people, making wellness a key focus.” “As an organisation, we are fortunate to have implemented unlimited leave, and our CEO encourages our employees to take time off to deal with grief and care for themselves. HR has a role to play in assisting leadership by following up on employees who have lost loved ones, which is difficult for

management because they don’t know what to say, but it is important to reach out, because remaining silent is the worst thing you can do,” she added. She also pointed out that the role of the management is evolving to more of a coaching role and that managers needed to become more empathetic towards their direct reports, and become equipped with the skills to identify warning signs of when employees are battling. “The importance of team wellness is what we are driving, but it is also important to remember that it is okay not to be okay, and to reach out if you need help,” she said. While we might all want to pretend that all is well, we need to be cognisant of behaviour such as toxic positivity, an obsession with being positive when someone is going through a difficult time, thus minimising their problem instead of acknowledging it. “We live in a culture where we have to show up like we have it all together and this should not be the case,” said Ruth.

Adaptive and discerning Dean Naidoo, chief people officer at Aurecon Group, said that as we experience challenges from all angles, it is necessary to ensure that leaders are not disconnected, and reach out to those who are dealing with grief. In addition, leaders have to be adaptive and discerning. “If one of us is struggling, we need to step up as leaders,” he said.

Seen in the chat

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He added that there is no silver bullet to dealing with grief, especially when some employees ask to return to work in order to deal with grief in their own way – which can affect their productivity. Therefore, HR leaders need to strike that balance and take a cautionary approach when doing so.

“How much of an impact can the culture of an organisation influence the kind of support that’s given to employees who are facing difficult times? What if you as an HR person don’t feel supported by the employer as discussed?” – Siphesihle Khoza, HR officer at Auto Industrial

According to Lucritia Govender, head of HR for sub-Saharan Africa at JP Morgan Chase, grief can manifest in a variety of ways. As a result, it must be understood through the lens of diversity.

“I believe that we need to reiterate that it is okay not to be okay and promote conversation. I have been telling employees that as individuals, you are the most important person in your life, and if you’re not okay, you can’t look after everyone else. Me first, as selfish as it may sound.” – Gen Carson, First National Bank

“Because we all experience grief differently, we need to understand it through a diversity lens. We also need to understand it from an organisational standpoint, such as how we provide support and empathy to employees who are grieving,” she explained. Joyce Osborne, HR admin manager at Tsogo Sun,

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explained in the session’s breakout room how organisations could use virtual platforms to create a safe space for like-minded individuals to share their experiences.

All of the panellists agreed that a personalised approach is essential when dealing with grief, and that there is power in storytelling and sharing experiences, which encourages people to be more vocal, while also relying on long-term initiatives to help employees deal with grief. Furthermore, HR professionals must look after themselves and, if necessary, seek assistance.

“At Tsogo Sun, we run webinars to try and create a sense of community for our staff and to allow them to talk about some of the challenges that they are experiencing,” she said.

Dean Naidoo

Ruth Wotela

“It is important to reach out, because remaining silent is the worst thing you can do.” - Ruth Wotela, people wellness executive at Silverbridge

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To vax or not to vax? Vaccination in the workplace continues to be a topic of debate, with experts advising that the matter be approached with patience, understanding and gentle prodding.

• Prioritising health education by having reliable and up-to-date information about Covid-19,

The interactive session was enabled in partnership with Mercer. Senior associate Kyle Black introduced the session with a short presentation on the vaccination debate, and how employers can engage employees without polarising the workforce.

• Privacy (whether an employee is vaccinated or not should be personal information).

BY ANG LLOYD

highly engaging and informative HR Indaba Conversation was hosted by chairperson of the audit and risk committee at Libstar Holdings, Anneke Andrews, and featured panellists Dieter Veldsman, HR thought leader at Academy to Innovate HR, Dr Penny Mkalipe, chief medical officer at Eskom, and Zenobia Mothilal, corporate HR manager at JD Group.

Kyle highlighted that organisations in developing countries like South Africa have an opportunity to partner with the government to play an active role in accelerating vaccination efforts. The key is to maintain ethical approaches that don’t infringe on human rights. To address this issue, organisations need to show they truly care through a human-led approach. To put employee wellbeing first in the context of Covid-19, employers must consider factors such as: • The support employees will receive (do they use existing sick days for vaccine side

effects, for example),

• Defining the critical workforce (companies can organise the workforce in groups of priority when it comes to receiving vaccinations), • Ensuring that everyone has equal access to vaccinations, like transport to a vaccination site, and

The value of vaccines Vaccination has become a highly divisive topic, but the panellists provided spot-on insights, practical suggestions and experience-led advice. For Penny, to talk about anti-vaxxers versus those who are pro-vaccination is too simplistic. Rather, people are on a spectrum instead of in two opposing groups. “There are those who are unvaccinated, but some of them are truly unsure and they need more information,” she said. “Within this group, there are those who are continuing to research, mostly through Google, but they’re not yet convinced. Then you have people

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“The key is to maintain ethical approaches that don’t infringe on human rights.” - Kyle Black, senior associate, Mercer DIeter Veldsman

Seen in the chat

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“In keeping with a timely article written by Holly Ellyatt for CNBC, office politics raises its questioning head once again. Tensions appear to be emerging along new lines: those who are vaccinated against Covid-19, and those who are not. Again – those who wear masks and use hand sanitiser and those who just refuse. This article refers to an engineering company where a group of unvaccinated staff have formed an ad-hoc group called ‘Vexcluded’.” - Val Littlewood, independent business development consultant “It’s such a grey area; we need to get back to work properly, especially in the hospitality sector, and I hope more people get vaccinated. I’m holding on for that!” - Joyce Osborne, Tsogo Sun “We built the vaccination-encouragement process into a subtle competition with a Covid champs of the week photoshoot and a badge (provided after proof of vaccination). We are now nationally at a 75 percent vaccination level! We have a lot of millennials who were hesitant, but everyone wants a badge now. There are some people who will never do it and we respect that, but it’s worked exceptionally well. We also started with the directors and exco, so the top structure helped with this, too.” - Gizelle McIntyre, Nemtek Group “I currently have Covid-19. I was booked to get vaxxed, but I got Covid-19 the day before. It’s not pleasant, and I only have mild symptoms. One should vaccinate and take care of oneself, and the people around you.” - Zarina Moorad, independent executive leadership coach

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who do want to vaccinate, but they’re really fearful of side effects, or needles,” she noted. Penny added that social media has played a big part in causing divisions, particularly by driving distrust and conspiracy theories. And, the virus is still relatively new, as viruses go. “In South Africa, we also had stop-start issues with the AstraZeneca vaccine that lowered confidence, breakthrough infections among the vaccinated do happen, and there have been poor communication strategies,” said Penny. She added, “We have to acknowledge that there’s still a lot we don’t know. But it’s crucial that our messages make people see the value of vaccines; we need to remind everyone that we enjoy our longevity because many childhood illnesses were prevented by vaccines.” “Ultimately, we all want the same things: we want to achieve population immunity and protect vulnerable people. We want to prevent hospitalisation and death; we want to protect livelihoods,” she said. Dieter highlighted important considerations for HR leaders to take into account, such as the governance and regulatory environment, and the practical implications of having a vaccination policy. “It’s been a roller coaster, and we didn’t enter on the same footing. We have come to this with different worldviews, and we need to understand where the fear comes from, because the fear is real. As HR leaders we must engage in that conversation; it’s difficult and uncomfortable, but if we don’t, we’ll cause more harm,” he said. Dieter added that with the rise of employee wellbeing and human-centricity in organisations, in the next two to three years, everything will come down to trust – and whether organisations are building or breaking down trust. How organisations handle vaccinations will play a big part in this. According to Zenobia, we are all united as we want the deaths to stop, and we all want to move forward. “There are opposing views and as HR leaders we’ll give input, but not everyone will agree,” she said. “But education and respect are essential. We need to create awareness, not pressure, and we must celebrate those who have been vaccinated, but not vilify those who haven’t.”

Empathy is costly, and context is key While patience and understanding has its place, Penny

made a crucial point: When organisations are considering mandatory vaccinations, they must ensure that everyone understands the risk that Covid-19 has had on business operations. “At Eskom, we are essential services, and if all of us are not at work, there would be a big problem,” she said. “We needed buy-in to vaccinate employees, so that we could move together to protect lives and livelihoods. Patience is needed, as we’re not all at the same point with how we view vaccinations. But organisations must find ways to move people towards public good,” she said. Penny added, “We can continue to be empathetic, but the choice is costly. Eskom has lost 169 people to Covid-19: half of those were critical staff with skills and it’s had a major impact. At some point, employees will have to understand that an employer must take a stance.” Dieter shared that, because he’s based in The Netherlands, the conversation about Covid-19 is quite different, which makes context important. “We make blanket statements about how well some countries have coped – some of these countries only have four million people, and more resources. How do we find a solution and narrative that works for South Africa? That’s a key question to ask,” he said. “In The Netherlands, you must show your digital vaccination card on an app to enter a restaurant, or you must show rapid test results on the spot. In my company, I wear a white band: this means I’m comfortable for you to approach me; an orange band means I’m not that comfortable and you should keep your distance, or wear a mask if you engage with me. We can’t use a uniform template; we have to consider our context and realities,” he added. Penny pointed out that mandatory doesn’t mean forced, and if someone can’t vaccinate, then they will have to provide evidence for their reasons. There are processes in place, and reasonable accommodation is one of them, but it must be understood that choices have an impact on employee contracts. “It’s very important to remember that, as much as we all have rights, we also have a responsibility to others, and the value of vaccination towards public good is the main thing to focus on,” added Penny. “We yearn for normality, but it depends on how we encourage others to vaccinate. We know that vaccinations save lives.” 

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Mind the pay gap Mercer’s Carla Daniels says closing the pay gap is much more than complying with legislation.

BY JANE STEINACKER

ay equity is about driving diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), but at the current rate it will take over 135 years to achieve pay parity across the globe. And South Africa does not have much to boast about.

“South Africa is one of the most inequitable countries in the world,” says Carla Daniels, consulting lead at Mercer South Africa. She says that not only do South Africans have a large income parity gap, but that it mostly affects women.

households are headed by women. She says that the cycle of poverty can be broken if pay equality is heeded by employers. “We believe that organisations should be proactive and be doing more, and that legislation need not be the driver,” says Carla. She says that Mercer, a prominent global consulting firm, is encouraging companies to take ownership of their pay transparency journey.

“On average, women in South Africa are paid about 30 percent less than men, and the needle hasn’t moved in the past two decades,” says Carla.

Many companies are showing resistance, however. They say they believe that being transparent about pay policies in their business comes with a risk of employee dissatisfaction, decreased productivity, and a potentially negative effect on employee engagement.

She adds that South Africa has one of the highest representations of women in politics in the world, but that the agenda of ensuring that inequality in pay is not being driven as it should be, especially in a country where many

Carla believes that the opposite will be true: that companies that embrace pay transparency to close pay gaps will start seeing an organisational shift towards a more positive and productive environment.

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Carla Daniels, Consulting Lead, Career Consulting, Mercer

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A practical approach

A business imperative

While Carla advocates for pay equity through transparency as an “obligation to society”, she has a practical approach to how companies can start addressing pay inequalities in their organisations.

Carla says that consumers are more aware of companies that they support. This ranges from environmental considerations to governance. Consumers will see the contradiction in a company promoting its environmental, sustainable and governance (ESG) policies without being transparent about their remuneration policies. “Consumers are aware of what is happening,” she says.

She says one needs to be realistic about the journey and about how organisations will proactively move in that direction. “We’re not saying it’s an easy solution. It will cause discomfort.” And while she encourages companies to take charge of pay transparency and lead it as an organisational imperative, that is a complex process. She advises that companies will need to bring in a variety of expertise to assist them in navigating the process. She says it is also not a once-off process, but one that requires “continuous monitoring”.

While the business benefits are clear, Carla says ultimately it’s an ethical issue. Companies that are prepared to embrace the discomfort of a pay transparency transformation process, can be proud to be strong, sustainable businesses that consumers can relate to. The Companies Amendment Bill of 2021, which requires a company to disclose the total remuneration of the highest paid employee, the lowest paid employee, the average and median remuneration of all employees and the remuneration gap between highest and lowest paid employees, is currently out for public comment.

For Mercer, achieving pay equity will require a combination of analysts, psychologists, sociologists, economists, DEI specialists and rewards experts who understand all the facets, to assist businesses in executing a short-, medium- and long-term strategy that is of benefit to both the company and its employees.

Whether the proposed amendments are implemented or not, organisations should really see this as an opportunity to start or accelerate their journey towards increased transparency. It is not an easy journey and it might take time, but being a fair and equitable employer ultimately contributes to building a sustainable economy that benefits businesses, employees and societies. 

While this is a potentially arduous process, the benefits to companies extend beyond being legally compliant. Reducing staff turnover is the first advantage. “Attracting and retaining top talent is definitely a plus, with employees having the opportunity to feel as though they are being treated fairly and being more connected to the organisation,” says Carla. And for the talent that stays, companies may also see increased productivity and loyalty.

For more information: Visit www.mercer-africa.com Or email: mercerafrica@mercer.com follow Mercer Africa on LinkedIn

It can be great for the bottom line as well. Carla says that a study completed in Switzerland showed a decrease in sales for companies that reported a skewed ratio in employee remuneration. The converse can also be true. Companies that are transparent with pay policies can reap economic benefits from attracting and retaining new customers.

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hr’s got talent

SUCCESSFUL SUCCESSION PLANNING During times of massive change, meaningful connection can make all the difference to successful succession planning – and decisions should be supported by data. BY ANG LLOYD

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hr’s got talent

hairperson of the audit and risk committee at Libstar Holdings, Anneke Andrews, hosted a lively and thought-provoking session at the HR Indaba Conversations that featured panellists Eswhin Booysen, CHRO at In2Food, Sarah Rice, chief people officer at Skynamo, and Lebogang Chaka, Accenture’s principal director of strategy, talent and organisation. The experts did a deep dive into cracking the successful succession planning code, which has become increasingly challenging for many HR leaders, especially in a world that lacks any semblance of certainty. Yet successful succession planning mainly comes down to two things: talking and facts. Sarah pointed out that running long-term succession plans has become impossible. “There’s no fixed roadmap, just milestones and a constant awareness of the business environment,” she said. “But if HR leaders create a culture of openness, so that employees can talk about what makes them happy and where they see themselves down the line, we can support them much better in their journey.”

it doubling in size. “One of our key managers just resigned, as his succession path was no longer there,” explained Sarah. “That’s a communication error; we didn’t talk about competencies or next steps. Humans make plans, and if they don’t work out, there can be devastation.” She added that, because we live in such uncertain times, HR leaders need to be “a lot looser” when talking about career paths, because nothing is set in stone. But again, it comes down to communication. Eswhin added that, with communication, some succession candidates might be open to lateral instead of hierarchical opportunities within the organisation. “It’s about defining what the competencies are and matching those to functional roles, with a sense of flexibility in what opportunities are available,” he said. “It’s about bringing together the needs of the individual and the organisation, but there must be clarity from the start.” Lebogang echoed these sentiments, and added that HR leaders need to also look at how they entrench the idea of change as normal.

From breakout rooms to the plenary session, the importance of open communication came up repeatedly. Sarah illustrated this by sharing an experience involving her tech company, which has undergone a massive restructure over the past 18 months due to

“In these ambiguous times, it’s important that we upskill everyone to be more agile to deal with change – not just the leaders,” said Lebogang. “Change management should be implemented across the organisation to prepare employees at all levels, whether that’s for different roles or changing business models.”

AI plays a pivotal role

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Lebogang shared how AI can play a pivotal role in succession planning, helping HR leaders take themselves out of the equation to eliminate bias and internal company politics. “With analytics and data, you can hide behind facts and be objective,” she said.

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“Succession planning as an isolated exercise has its place. The maturity of L&D in parallel with succession planning, and the accessibility of learning and training of skills to all employees will add value to the success of the planning exercise.” - Kyle Black, senior associate, Mercer

“Using tools like AI, we can look at factors like behaviour, skills and talent profiles, then combine these factors with business objectives like diversity points, we then use analytics to pull the insights to reveal any gaps. This process can highlight biases too.”

“Transparency is key to any succession planning process. As life and organisations change, plans change and that is why it is crucial to have those constant discussions with the individuals, because otherwise it is just a paper exercise.” - Qaanitah Atkins, group HR executive, Falke

“Succession planning is expensive,” added Lebogang. “As HR leaders we can just highlight the issues; it’s up to the business to decide. But it helps to make decisions based on facts.” Eswhin agreed that using data backs up HR processes like succession planning. He pointed out that while

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hr’s got talent

“Succession planning is about alignment and communication. We just have to keep talking.” - Sarah Rice, chief people officer, Skynamo

everyone thought that machines would take over but this is not the case. “Communication is still happening, from virtual town halls to one-on-one video meetings,” explained Lebogang. And this can be taken to a whole new level thanks to technology. “My company created a virtual world, called 1 Accenture Park. Employees have avatars, based on their personality. It’s about finding moments to connect; before any meeting we also have a meet your host slide, where employees are encouraged to share personal information about their family, or what they’ve been up to. It’s so important that we bring in the human element to communication, and use tech as the enabler,” she said.

smaller businesses don’t have access to resources like AI, there are other ways to find facts.

Sarah added that HR leaders need to connect as people, not just roles. “At my company, employees connect through online games, as there is a strong playing culture. It makes us feel like we’re not just an email address or Slack handle.”

“We might just have a spreadsheet. But we can also look at practical nuggets of data like absentee and retention rates; the more we understand the needs of the business and its people at all levels, the more we can align those needs to succession planning objectives,” he said.

After a fascinating session, participants and the panel agreed that clear expectation management, as well as decisions supported by data, are both critical to cracking the successful succession planning code. And communication underpins it all.

In a remote work environment, communication is a challenge, yet it’s pivotal for succession planning. We’re more isolated than ever, so, how do HR leaders create meaningful connections in their succession planning processes?

“Succession planning is about alignment and communication,” concluded Sarah. “We just have to keep talking.” 

Lebogang pointed out that when AI first emerged,

Sarah Rice

Eswhin Booysen

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hr’s got talent

Make a move on internal talent Revised ways of working, technology and proactive employee engagement will be key to enhancing internal mobility and optimising employee engagement processes. This will allow employees to take control of their personal career growth and create an organisational environment that supports this.

BY ATLEHANG RAMATHESELE

n a conversation powered by Oracle, top HR practitioners came together at this year’s HR Indaba Conversation to discuss how to dynamise and energise the process of hiring from within an organisation.

The session started with a powerful opening from strategic business solutions engineer at Oracle, Rob Bothma. Other than highlighting how the recruitment freeze in the midst of the pandemic forced organisations to look internally for further assistance, Rob emphasised the importance of using technology to optimise employee engagement processes. Following much research about how the workforce was going to change over time and the rise of the gig economy, Rob explained that

Oracle ascertained that organisations were going to have to manage the dynamics of needing certain skills with less stringent parameters than full-time employment, and making these opportunities available to staff. This was to address when an employee has an additional skill that is only required for a limited period or a specific project. Oracle heeded the call by creating a function called Opportunity Marketplace that allows managers to share the duration of a project, the team and the skills required. This has helped organisations improve their networking skills internally, assist staff to gain skills and enable employees to sell themselves in a more social environment. “You start building up capability within the

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Elsie Pule

organisation that resides outside of your job, which is a benefit to employees. From a management perspective, they were able to get the job done and had a resource to tap into,” he explained. Michele Seroke, CHRO at Motus Corporation, sees mobility as proactively and strategically moving and deploying people across divisions, geographies and projects to give them maximum exposure to various roles, as well as removing barriers, such as alleviating the strain on families when one needs to move to work overseas. Michele highlighted that in any successful talent programme, identification is the first step so that organisations can find a way of leveraging and mobilising existing talent. She mentioned that supportive identification

Michele Seroke

helps to understand how talent will increase revenue, improve organisational efficiency, reduce costs and create profitability: “My particular passion is identifying talent for critical business objectives rather than simply identifying talent for the sake of it,” she said. She added, “We must have the ability to find the critical skills and roles that drive business, add value and learn what type of talent we require to drive business strategy forward.” Elsie Pule, group executive human resources at Eskom, encouraged leaders to empower and uplift others. “You require people to bet on you and give you opportunities. I have had many people take a chance on me. Sponsorship at all levels is key to enable people to have enhanced mobility,” she said.

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hr’s got talent

Akhona Qengqe, chief people officer at YUM brands, said technology had really streamlined processes because it helped HR make decisions faster. “You know there is a vacancy and can see who in the organisation has highlighted that as an ideal role. You can look at the data and determine their readiness,” she said.

Giving employees agency Elsie said that employees need to be clear about what they need, and seek help when they don’t, which coaching programmes can assist with. Employees also need to understand the environment in which they operate to have an impact: “I would urge professionals to be drivers of their own careers and get as much help as you can to define what progression looks like. Find alignment between your personal needs and what is impactful in your organisation.” Rob added that employees needed to understand that the onus of fulfilling their career aspirations was on them. Organisations need to provide opportunities, but the ownership thereof was actually on the employees themselves. Akhona said it was important to identify talent to future-proof businesses and create business success, it was also necessary to create structures and processes to develop talent and drive retention and engagement, as well as replacing talent in the areas of the business where they would add the most value.

pathways for them to grow, even if it is lateral and gives them exposure to other parts of the business – so we can build better leaders,” she said. She added, “What you end up with is a complete talent strategy – people take on new roles, get promoted, are exported to global businesses to learn or get short-term assignments.”

Looking to the future Akhona is a huge advocate of collaboration and constant feedback to drive employee growth and aspiration. “As HR, we need to look at ourselves as facilitators in the whole talent and strategy development process. Our role is not to tell people what they can do and who they are, but rather to show them who they can be and partner with them to help them get to the other side of the bridge,” she said. Michele said the role of HR was about fostering talent and ensuring that businesses have the right people to execute its objectives, and encouraged practitioners to delve into that and familiarise themselves with more solutions for optimising that role. Elsie reminded HR practitioners that employees are capable of deciding what they want to be – provided they have the right framework, tools and skills.

“We want to keep our talent engaged and create

“Make sure you don’t find yourself complaining about a skills exodus. Ensure you have a pool of people you can draw from,” she cautioned. 

“Sponsorship at all levels is key to enable people to have enhanced mobility.” - Elsie Pule, group executive human resources at Eskom 48

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Meaningful inclusion fosters belonging HR heavy hitters established that diversity and inclusion actually need to foster belonging above all else

BY ATLEHANG RAMATHESELE uring an invigorating HR Indaba Conversation, powered by TalentSmith Technology, HR professionals and business executives came together to examine what real inclusion looks like.

While diversity, equity and inclusion remain popular buzzwords in HR practices and general organisational culture, they are often steeped in lip service, instead of truly enhancing and uplifting the differences between employees and effectively eradicating unconscious bias. It was concluded that in order for inclusion to be meaningful, it is ultimately about creating an environment that enables people to feel valued, engaged, heard and satisfied.

S’ne Magagula, CHRO at Tiger Brands, shared a fun approach to identifying the differences between diversity, inclusion and belonging, but first noted how important it is to engender a sense of belonging for everyone in an organisation. She shared the widely documented Verna Meyers’ perspective that diversity is being invited to the party, inclusion is being asked to dance, but belonging is feeling free to dance the way you want to. “When you belong, you feel free to express yourself the way you want to and you feel accepted in the organisation for expressing your individuality,” she added. S’ne expanded further by explaining that diversity is having a seat at the table, inclusion is having a voice but belonging is having that voice be heard.

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hr’s got talent

Tamara Parker, CEO at Mercer Africa, mentioned that while South Africa has legislation in place to address diversity, inclusion and equity must not be left behind. “Inclusion is about the experience you have when you’re in an organisation. We all have scorecards, tick boxes and tools to show you where your diversity sits, but they won’t give you anything about inclusion,” she said.

Being different She believes that inclusion needs to be driven from a leadership perspective. Tamara mentioned that a survey in sub-Saharan Africa indicated that 88 percent of organisations have diversity and inclusion as something on their scorecards, but only 56 percent knew how they were going to achieve it. Thato Mmaditla, HR director at Youth Employment Service (YES), is a big proponent of strength-based coaching that helps a leader, middle manager or individual contributor to become more inclusive. YES builds awareness around the lens one comes to the workplace with and uses it to implement a coaching process. S'ne Magagula

“When you belong, you feel free to express yourself the way you want.” - S’ne Magagula, CHRO at Tiger Brands

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“People come into the workplace with an understanding of being different, but it’s more about embracing those differences to understand each other and meet each other halfway,” she said.

S’ne said, “We want to ensure that you have enough young people in the workforce who understand the younger demographic in the market and give us those insights without us having to do market research.”

Thato asserted that people are more inclusive when they are aware of what their values and beliefs are. “You can become more intentional about ensuring that the next person has a sense of belonging and a social identity,” she explained.

She added that skill set diversity is also crucial for optimising an organisation:

Through coaching, they build self-awareness and mastery that ensures people are all collectively working towards inclusivity and belonging.

“Often the temptation is to work and innovate in silos. Innovation and development are the lifeblood of business, especially to outpace competition. We need to form collaborative teams that surpass the organisation's structures and boundaries,” she said.

Working with a youth-centric entity also enables Thato to understand the nuances of power dynamics when implementing real inclusion and the cultural implications, such as a junior professional learning that it’s okay to look a senior in the eye.

Tiger Brands has started a process in partnership with Deloitte to drive creation through cross-functional teams and get them to naturally spark ideas – straight through to innovation. This is to ensure that different mindsets and skill sets are there to challenge and drive each other.

She said that because at least 45 percent of the workforce in South Africa is made up of youth, and many of them come from previously disadvantaged backgrounds, it’s not possible to purely look at skills sets, but also make room for culture disparities.

It was highlighted that it is vital to unlearn unconscious biases, like how sometimes people look to women to make coffee before a meeting, and difficult conversations were needed in order to address that.

YES has an external coaching programme for executives and an internal programme that coaches each individual based on their strengths and talents. The methodology they adopt is about understanding what people are naturally talented in, placing them for purpose irrespective of qualifications, and looking at how to use that talent to have the necessary conversations.

Diversity spheres Tamara said she believes it is necessary to break down control and command culture and democratise the workplace, even when phenomena like the “old boys’ club” exist. “In organisations that have truly democratised the workplace, they are able to push accountability downward to create teams for innovation and sparking ideas, while having a leadership that’s prepared to listen to that,” she said. This filters conversations and gives opportunities to diverse groups of people, while allowing them to run with some things and be accountable for them.

Thato explained that it is important to consider distributed leadership and drive cultural changes by ensuring that everyone in a business feels like they have a voice. She suggested real change would be driven by the acknowledgement that everyone comes into an environment with different experiences and filters – and being aware of it at all levels. Tamara acknowledged that such conversations can create discomfort, defensiveness and victimhood, but regards them to be important anyway. S’ne suggested getting a specialist to help deal with biases at a deep level. “It is around looking at perceptions and filters that go beyond a typical conversation,” she said. All of these interactions will require maturity and an open mind. It is best to promote diversity of thought and practices and not to insist on everyone in the organisation having the same mindset and beliefs, the panellists agreed.

It was also noted that while some of the main spheres through which diversity is measured such as gender, race, disability and sexual orientation are highly important, there are others that are overlooked, such as generational diversity.

Thato implored people to become more aware of their own values and beliefs in order to take accountability for themselves and each other. S’ne concluded that HR’s role goes beyond finding and retaining talent, but is also about creating inspiring environments that cater to everyone, and cultures that allow everyone to thrive. 

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HR’S GOT TALENT The rise of the superteam, and how it will create HR rockstars

alentSmith Technology took part in the 2021 HR Indaba Conversations.

In this session our Chief Business Officer, Roland Glass shared his knowledge on transforming the HR sector into human capital rockstars. How? Through the esteemed technology partners that TalentSmith Technology works so closely with: Enboarder, Starred, Cammio, and SmartRecruiters. It’s these global best-of-breed technologies, Glass explained, that give teams the opportunities to find the best talent out there, and become HR rockstars. Our technology partners offer useful features that allow humans and software to work together as a team. This new kind of team, referred to as ‘the superteam’ by the Deloitte Human Capital Trends 2021, gives us the opportunity to pair people with technology and re-architect work in more human ways. But don’t just take our word for it. Glass used the HR Indaba platform to showcase the best-in-class features offered by our partners. Here’s a glimpse into how these can be used to form your own superteam.

1. Hiring like a rockstar: Video recruitment Video is rapidly developing towards the default online language. Why limit video to selected parts of talent acquisition, when the entire talent journey can benefit from the power of video? One such example is the video messaging feature from our technology partner Cammio. This function allows recruiters to create video clips and share personalised video messages on social media with candidates. Candidates use a unique link to access your video message, which not only sits in a branded environment but displays your contact details right beside the video too.

partner

Roland Glass

2. Engagement like a rockstar: Experiencedriven onboarding The world of work has changed, and so has the way you onboard. Rockstar onboarding is not about the paperwork but rather about the employee experience. We selected Enboarder as a technology partner as it ensures that all new hires’ journeys are personalised, and really allows them the opportunity to show and share their authentic self. Features within Enboarder allow you to create moments of elevation and make people feel appreciated, both important tactics to ensure maximum engagement and a positive onboarding experience.

3. Thinking like a rockstar: Candidate and employee experience Surveys are a useful method to gain key insights into both candidate and employee experience. But the key to encouraging engagement and high response rates is to personalise short pulse surveys. Short surveys conducted more frequently are likely to give you a better picture of how your candidates and employees feel at that specific moment. Starred software is a bespoke tool for creating such surveys that are targeted to measure through the lifecycle of the employee (not just cyclically). Remember, you want to be able to measure their experience and level of engagement at specific moments like their onboarding, off-boarding, review cycles, role changes or promotions, and Starred gives you that ability. It’s our vision at TalentSmith Technology to help you build your own superteam and in the process become the HR rockstars you were born to be. 

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It’s time to rebuild HR National lockdowns, introduced due to the Covid-19 pandemic, forced new ways of working and communicating – and required HR teams to move away from their traditional role of a support service, to that of leadership and reassessing the function’s value proposition to business.

BY THANDO PATO

he HR Indaba Conversation, which focused on rebuilding and reevaluating HR policies and procedures, was a unique opportunity for attendees to gain insight into Vodacom’s repositioning and rebranding, from a technology company to a major player in the fintech sector. Vodacom Business sponsored the conversation. Vodacom South Africa executive director Njabulo Mashigo took delegates through the thought process at the start of the session, before handing the stage to a stellar group of panellists who discussed the rebuild that HR leaders are currently working with. There was unanimous agreement that 2020 was a year that changed the face of HR, with the pandemic forcing new ways of working and

communicating, and HR teams moving away from their traditional role of a support service, to that of leadership. In some instances, HR departments took over the traditional role of line managers as they introduced and implemented Covid-19 policies. Panellist Vicky Tlhabanelo, human resources executive at Royal Bafokeng Platinum, said, “We need to hand our [temporary] custodianship back to our customers, especially line managers. We cannot just be implementers.” She was one of three HR executives who spoke on how companies could rebuild and move away from operating in survival mode – 18 months after lockdown entered the average person’s vocabulary. Panellists agreed that it was time for businesses to overhaul their

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Verna Robson

Vicky Tlhabanelo

“Dictating policy no longer works. Employee needs have come to the forefront. The one-size-fits-all approach no longer works.” - Verna Robson, HR group executive, Sun International

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human capital policies, ways of working and the role of HR. Employee engagement is at an all-time high, and the key is to maintain the momentum to ensure that employee needs inform future policies. Gone are the days where HR policies are dictated to employees by management. According to Verna Robson, HR group executive at Sun International, the model going forward must be more inclusive and directed by employee needs. She said, “We need to pull line managers into policy-making processes and have policies that speak to people’s preferences. We need to understand people’s needs and what drives their productivity, and give line managers accountability. Dictating policy no longer works. Employee needs have come to the forefront. The one-size-fits-all approach no longer works.”

A new playing field Verna is reviewing Sun International’s Employee Value Proposition (EVP) to make it more employee-centric. “People need to feel seen as full human beings, not just a number. Businesses also need to consider the collective trauma experienced by their employees – through death of colleagues, loved ones, retrenchment, and unemployment.” Elanie Kruger, group CHRO at Tsebo Solutions,

Seen in the chat

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“We [HR] need to be real and create safe spaces for employees. Social and psychological safety is an important part of organisational culture, especially when addressing things like racism. As HR practitioners we need to ask, what are the safety levels in the organisation? Because that determines the level of conversations that we will have.” - Siemonne Terblanche, HR advisor at Vopak SA

added: “We have a new playing field and while our role has always been to have the interests of the organisation first and foremost, the last 18 months have introduced some new challenges. We must promote unity and a high-performance culture, but also drive a people-focused agenda. We need to consider how we keep people safe in terms of the working environment, as well as protect them from burnout, which is very real.” She noted that more courageous conversations, with employees, employers and HR were needed. “We were all in the same storm, but in different boats,” said Elanie. “We have 30,000 employees and only five percent could work from home. We had to look at solutions that worked for our business.” Verna said events like the HR Indaba were important platforms for HR practitioners to exchange information and learn from one another. “Organisations are creating great case studies of how to go forward. They are answering the question: ‘What does HR need to change?’” Vicky highlighted that HR teams were tired and burnt out and needed TLC and understanding. “We need to be able to take leave without explaining ourselves. We also need to take a break.” During the breakaway session, delegates discussed the courageous conversations that needed to take place in order to drive change. 

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BRAND AUTHENTICITY COUNTS IN A CRISIS

With so many business functions disrupted by the Covid-19 crisis, companies everywhere face an unprecedented number of challenges and uncertainties at the same time. How employers respond in times of a crisis is what employees will remember. BY CHUMA MXO

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hile employer branding may not seem like a high priority to some, now is exactly the moment when organisations must take care to respect, protect and even elevate their reputation to internal and external people and clients. This was the consensus during the HR Indaba Conversation, Championing the employer brand in times of crisis, which was sponsored by Mercer.

– their health, wealth and careers – are the organisations that tend to maintain their employer brand,” she said.

Key stakeholders Employees are key stakeholders in organisations, and it is very important to maintain engagement when there is a crisis to ensure that organisations are truly hearing employees’ voices and taking their views into account, Keletjo said.

Senior associate Keletjo Chiloane presented a 2019 Mercer study in which 73 percent of executives had predicted a disruption within three years. She explained that in the past 18 months organisations have responded differently to the pandemic. Some have succeeded in ensuring that their employer brand has not been damaged but on the other hand, “some companies have really struggled with the way they engage with their employees, and how they put out communication into the markets and industries in which they operate”.

“The second important thing is to redesign the employee value proposition (EVP). A lot of elements help to form EVPs; one is building a purpose driven organisation where we make sure that employees also buy into the values of the organisation,” she said.

Keletjo reiterated that the issue around employer brand is not just tagged to the pandemic, no matter how topical that is. There aremany other influences and actions that create an employer brand, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

Celiwe Ross, human capital director at Old Mutual Limited, believes brand has a lot to do with marketing, but that’s because they are the custodians of customer value proposition.

She noted that how employers respond in times of crisis is what will be remembered by employees both from a talent retention and attraction perspective. “At Mercer we speak about winning with empathy and we have noticed that organisations that take into consideration the wellbeing of their employees

Seen in the chat

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“The last is preventing unwanted employee turnover. We all know the costs of high turnover and that is something HR professionals would want to avoid and reduce so that we do not have a situation where we are bleeding talent,” Keletjo added.

“HR professionals are the custodians of employee value proposition and the two have to work together for them to make sense. Having spent time reflecting on the topic and thinking about our own employer brand and the things that are top of mind at Old Mutual, it’s clear employer brand is directly linked with reputation, with people’s perception of what the company does. It's the way current and future employees perceive you as a place of work,” she added. Celiwe says to do this successfully they believe that they need to target employees across the value chain.

“Mindset is one of the most important aspects during a crisis. Most individuals are living in a bubble and they are not realistic. Changing our mindset helps us to embrace what is happening/going through and also makes us be mindful.” - Jerodine Makwakwa, psychometrist at Sibanye Stillwater

“Those are new hires, from junior to mid and senior employees and those that are about to retire, because they continue to have a voice even when their careers with us are over,” she said. Covid-19 has brought the world of life and work together into one dimension. And it has shown us that the onus is on us as organisations to provide a place where these two worlds can thrive.

“The pandemic showed us that it is human to show vulnerabilities, which was not the norm prior to Covid-19.” - Carla Daniels, consulting lead, Mercer

“How do I as an employee make an impact not only on my organisation and colleagues but also to my community and society?” Celiwe asked. “Lastly

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remote work and flexible work are no longer a thing of the past, as people are demanding it and that is a big part of the EVP and we are considering how we can embed this new way of working and also drive engagement.”

way you communicate and help your people in these extraordinary times. Be like the friend you can count on in good and bad times and say to your employees ‘we have got you’,” she concluded. 

Beverley Bennett, human resources executive at Curro Holdings, says that it takes a strong leader to navigate through the unknown, which we are all facing. The leader needs to be both the anchor of the ship and responsible for steering the company into its values. “What we found was that our leaders needed to be visible at all times and we achieved this through clear communication throughout the crisis,” she said. “We used Q&A approaches to create assurance among staff and they had to distinguish between what was important and urgent. Ultimately, communication was the glue that held our company together, and we needed to make our people understand what the changes were, what it meant to them and what was expected of them next,” she added. Petro-Ann Beukes, head of group HR at Pam Golding Properties, agreed and emphasised the importance of communication. “In times of crisis you don’t want your staff to be reading your news in the media or hearing it about other people, you want them to hear it from you. So communication is critical.” Petro said that the positive that had emerged from the pandemic was embracing the remote work concept while also communicating in a very different way that is also equally effective and engaging. “Managing your employer brand during a crisis can be difficult, but adopting an authentic, consistent approach will help you better manage the expectations of your people. We needed to be consistent about our identity and enhance our tone of voice,” she noted. Celiwe Ross

“What also helps is to make your values visible in the

“It’s clear the employer brand is directly linked with reputation, with people’s perception of what the company does.” - Celiwe Ross, human capital director at Old Mutual

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courage under fire

The business must go on HR leaders unpacked the riots and looting in South Africa in July, and the reality of dealing with another crisis in the midst of the pandemic.

BY CHUMA MXO

n July this year, more than 300 people died in just a few days, thousands of people lost their jobs and are feeling the full brunt of a lack of income, and many families are struggling to find the supplies they previously got from local shops – all as a result of unrest and looting that took place mainly in KwaZulu-Natal, but also in parts of Gauteng. At an HR Indaba Conversation titled Brick by brick: Fixing what the looters broke, sponsored by Workday, Palesa Phili, CEO of the Durban Chamber of Commerce, recalled contacting the provincial police commissioner when the rioting broke out and saying: “I don’t know what is happening, but the videos we saw of looting going around were scary, so what are you going

to do about it?” “He was very honest with me and said they didn’t have the capability to deal with it, and the advice he was giving me, the politicians, and everyone else was to declare the province [KwaZulu-Natal] as a state of emergency,” she said. Palesa says it was very unfortunate that the advice of the commissioner was not adhered to, because the situation escalated quickly. She noted they had never felt so neglected as a province. “It was the most devastating, horrible experience, and it taught us as a business community that if we don’t work together and if we don’t all have one voice and be part of one particular group, we are absolutely going to fail.”

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“It is what it is and you have got to understand that nobody is going to deal with the truth in the same way that you do.” - Chris Lazarus, HR executive, KwaZulu-Natal, Vodacom

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“And we were dealing with a lot of loss of our colleagues and loved ones. But one thing we do best in my company is engagement. We call each other, so there are regular check-ups and update sessions.

Kgomotso Molobye, vice president: people partner at Massmart, shared with the audience how this affected them as an African retailer. “Everybody knows we operate in and outside South Africa, having a US-based parent, which is Walmart. We had quite substantial damage to a number of our stores and key distribution centres, theft of stock and damage to our infrastructure. Some of our stores and distribution centres were completely destroyed, and rebuilding efforts will take more than 12 months. It’s been quite a costly exercise,” she said.

One thing you don’t do in times like these is to try and reinvent things, it is what it is and you have got to understand that nobody is going to deal with the truth in the same way that you do. We are a diverse team and we deal with things differently,” he said. He added, “Another thing that helped was that some of our team members were in the communities that were affected and they guarded their communities on the ground, and we got a lot of support from our leadership in Johannesburg. Money needed to be spent, and rules needed to be broken in order to make sure the job continued.”

However, Kgomotso added that, if you turn it over to a people perspective, it’s not just that people don’t have anywhere to go to in terms of going to work. There’s also emotional and psychological impact, and organisations had to respond while in a state of crisis. “As organisations we put into place business continuity plans, and we talk around the next time when there’s a crisis, this is what we’ll do. But nobody ever anticipates this,” she noted. Chris Lazarus, HR executive, KwaZulu-Natal, Vodacom, says the country was already in a crisis with Covid-19 and KwaZulu-Natal was in a space where numbers were picking up.

Seen in the chat

Palesa said that it was clear that business would have to stand together and find its own solutions. “What we need to do as the private sector is to ensure that we’re able to work together in a consolidated manner, and find ways to work around the government,” she said. “We know that we can’t completely ignore them but we need to have our own plans to make sure that our businesses and livelihoods are safe.” 

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“Thank you for these sessions. Thank you for stepping in as leaders and ensuring that your employees and stakeholders can see you are looking at the best of their interest.” - Mzikazi Kona, HR consultant, Khomi HR Solutions “Thank you so much for all of this, and very well done on your leadership. I am grateful to be sitting here as a young leader and grasping all of this wisdom.” - Buhle Marcia Moholi, SACAP “Leadership support is essential and is critical in helping employees know that you understand their plight.” - Pabi Mogosetsi, employer branding advisor and country manager, Universum SA

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THE POWER OF DIFFERENCE “Historically, tech has not embraced people who look like me: Black people; women; LGBTQ people,” says Carin Taylor, Workday’s chief diversity officer. She talks about the importance of visibility for people who are not the norm in leadership. BY ANG LLOYD

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rowing up in California, Carin Taylor thought she was the darkest person in the world. She always knew she was different: in her immediate family, she had the darkest skin and she was the only girl. Her family called her “chocolate” and “beautiful”, which reinforced her sense of difference.

like me: black people, women, LGBTQ people. When I think about the challenges as well as the successes I've had, the challenges stem from being in a corporate environment that was designed decades ago for people who don't look like me,” she said.

“I didn’t see myself as beautiful, but these names positively acknowledged my difference; ‘chocolate’ and ‘beautiful’ taught me to appreciate and understand the power of difference. These childhood nicknames taught me that beauty could be seen in any shade during a time in which the word ‘beautiful’ was only associated with white or lighter skin,” she said.

As she is a senior leader, visibility is particularly important for Carin because it gives other people – people who are not straight, white men – a chance to see someone who looks like them in a leadership position. For Carin, it's important to be seen at a senior level because she brings a different perspective from anyone else sitting in the room, especially when she is the only black woman at the table. And she believes that visibility doesn’t only apply to black, gay women like her, either; it applies to anyone who is not part of the ‘norm’.

Carin’s difference was reinforced when she travelled through Asia. In China, people stared; in Korea, someone gasped; in Japan, she was treated with respect, but she could tell people were really curious about the way she looked.

“It's our differences that enable us to grow,” she said. “But an organisation needs to make sure that different types of talent, at all levels, are visible. I want to be seen, but I also want to help others understand that they can achieve whatever they want to.”

“The staring and gasping were more about curiosity and shock,” adds Carin. “Travel taught me to look at people beyond the surface; along with my childhood, it sparked my curiosity about diversity and inclusion.”

The ongoing work against bias An eye-opening experience at a sales conference led Carin to realise that, along with being different, she has unconscious biases.

The diversity and inclusion role As chief diversity officer, Carin is responsible for Workday’s global diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) strategy. It is an even more critical role in 2021, as gender equality progress has been set back due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with women being disproportionately affected by the fallout. According to PwC, Covid-19 has reversed gains made over the last 10 years for women in the workforce, causing what the global business advisory firm dubs a ‘shecession’. Even by 2030, gender equality efforts need to now be at double the historical rate. That’s an exceedingly tough task, but one that Carin is all too familiar with. Before joining Workday, Carin spent just over two decades at a number of other major US technology companies, where she held various roles in DE&I, HR, finance, and customer service. The technology space has long had a boys’ club problem, and, as a black, gay woman, Carin was acutely aware of the challenges – simply because she was different. “Historically, tech has not embraced people who look

“Out of about 200 people, I was the only black woman in the room. The topic of conversation that day was about diversity, and a white man was the speaker. I sat with steam coming out of my ears; I thought to myself, ‘How can he be talking to me about diversity?’ I went up to him during a break and I said that I couldn’t receive his message because of what he looked like – and he responded by telling me that he’s gay. It was the first time that unconscious bias hit me upside the head.” Over the years, Carin has been involved with organisations that focus on gender equality and diversity. Lesbians Who Tech, an organisation for LGBTQ women in the workplace, is particularly close to her heart. The organisation holds a yearly, five-day summit attended by tens of thousands of women in the tech space, and past speakers include US professional soccer player Megan Rapinoe and US vice president Kamala Harris. According to Carin, Lesbians Who Tech put diversity and inclusion at the forefront of what they do; they ensure that a significant percentage of speakers are women of colour and from the transgender community.

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“They are bold about what they stand for, and I haven’t seen an organisation that has embraced diversity the way that they have,” added Carin.

Open conversations Ticking the boxes is often a problem when it comes to representation, and some companies end up being performative to reach diversity targets. Carin believes that only when inclusion, belonging and equity become part of the conversation can meaningful change happen. A culture that welcomes difference – of thought, opinion, and perspective – is also critical. And as an organisation, Workday strongly believes in an open culture. “A colleague told me that he didn't believe in equal pay for women,” says Carin. “I asked him to tell me why he felt this way, and we were able to unpack what pay equity meant. Turns out he thought it was something completely different. But it just shows that Workday’s culture is open to dialogue. If I had shut down the conversation we would never have reached a place of understanding,” she said. Covid-19 has undoubtedly set back gender equality progress in the workplace, but Carin stresses that not everyone has experienced the pandemic in the same way, and organisations must look at the individual, not just the demographic, in the return-to-work process. “If we assume that all women are experiencing things in the same way we're going to approach this in the wrong way,” she explained. “We need to also understand that the space that we're in is temporary – but we’ll need to be agile in responding to, and addressing, the issues. If you look at how long we've focused on diversity, we have not made the progress that we should have,” she continues. “But what’s different now is the attention that this issue is getting, and it’s widening who this work actually impacts.” 

Carin Taylor

“The challenges stem from being in a corporate environment that was designed decades ago for people who don't look like me.” - Carin Taylor, Workday’s chief diversity officer

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Hire curious people The pandemic truly demonstrated the resilience of humans, says Abey Kgotle, HR executive director at Mercedes-Benz SA, who kicked off the HR Indaba Conversation on leaders and creating a learning culture discussion, which was sponsored by Mercer.

BY REABETSWE RABAJI

ercedes-Benz, as an established brand, had to transform into a liberating organisation in its journey of learning, and to accomplish this, the team underwent a reverse learning experience, which received positive feedback. “We had to quickly learn how to adapt and reinvent ourselves to demonstrate that we are capable of surviving beyond the pandemic,” Abey Kgotle, HR executive director at MercedesBenzSA, said. “We never imagined we’d get to this point with a hybrid working mode. Covid19, on the other hand, has given us a beautiful

gift, the gift of how we as leaders can learn and improve our leadership styles in the future.” He added that managers have had to move from managing people from the office to managing them remotely. The silver lining is how leaders have unlearned how they managed businesses in the past, and to never waste a good crisis. “Participants expressed how rewarding, refreshing, and enriching it was to learn from other people. Learning from both experienced and inexperienced people is critical, and this is a fantastic opportunity to take advantage of. Digitalisation also improves the learning and

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Abey Kgotle

Tamara Parker

“The goal of learning is to become more enlightened after each meeting and gathering.” - Zogan Opperman, HR director at Tsebo Solutions

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employee experience, making it more appealing to millennials to learn,” he said. Abey pointed out that life as we know it will never be the same again, and that we must simply adapt to a new reality. “There will never be a return to the status quo as we know it; hybrid work is a part of business today. It works, and people can still deliver in a hybrid model and even outperform. We need to keep the hybrid working mode going,” he explained. Linda Roos, group head of human capital training at Ooba, told participants that the first step toward learning was to make it a core value of your organisation, which sets the tone for the type of business you want to build. “If you have the luxury of changing values, do so and make sure they speak to learning,” she said.

“Learning can be as simple as reading a book; people must be given a variety of learning options. The goal of learning is to encourage people to learn for the benefit of their personal and professional lives.” Kim Usher, HR director at Illovo Sugar, said HR leaders are too entrenched in their ways, and the most difficult challenge was changing the way they learn. “Changing the way we learn is the most difficult challenge in HR, and leaders are at ease with this. Businesses create learning cultures when they understand their learning capabilities. Collaboration, individuals needing to understand what they need now, self-motivated/self-directed learning, and personal mastery skills are examples of learning culture characteristics,” she said.

Learning agility

She added, “Co-creation also accelerates learning by obtaining executive leadership buy-in and making the learning process exciting.”.

According to Linda, one way for leaders to drive a learning culture is to encourage people to think for themselves and asking people to think critically is a smart and inexpensive way to do so. “Hire curious people with learning agility. In order to prepare for the future, we need to look for people who can learn and adapt,” she explained.

Zogan Opperman, HR director at Tsebo Solutions, said that he decided to incorporate learning into the overall business strategy. “Through my work in the hospitality industry, I have made the client the focal point of my learning strategy. “Putting the client first enables you to learn, understand, and improve on what you deliver,” he explained.

She says that even while we are learning, it is important to normalise and reward learning and that the learning experience doesn’t have to be an expensive exercise.

“The goal of learning is to become more enlightened after each meeting and gathering you attend, and platforms like the HR Indaba Conversation are excellent places to learn,” he added. 

Seen in the chat

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“A good way to assist the learning culture is to understand your organisation’s learning agility. It makes you aware of the different areas that you can harness learning.” – Keshnee Reddy-Chetty, ICE TECH “We have managed to get a clear view of at least 50 percent of our people’s learning agility. Now I know where I need to focus on growing agility.” – Linda Roos, Ooba.

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CREATE AN UNLEARNING CULTURE Company culture and leadership approaches need to rapidly evolve to create an unlearning culture. BY THANDO PATO

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of work that will work for them, so it’s no longer a one-size-fits-all scenario.”

t the HR Indaba Conversation creating an unlearning culture sponsored by Workday, Lameez Subaya, the company’s financial services and insurance lead, introduced the session with the observation that organisations need to cultivate a culture of continuous learning, because learning never stops.

Trust

Traditionally when we think of learning we tend to think of formal education and institutions. But in business as well as in life, learning happens all the time in many different contexts. The pandemic forced remote working on many organisations, and with it, new ways of communicating, doing business and attending meetings were introduced.

Part of the journey of unlearning has also been that organisations and HR departments could no longer play the role of schoolmaster to employees but had to trust them to get their work done remotely. Trust has become an important element of company culture, as have experimentation, pushing boundaries and giving and receiving feedback.

It is in this light that the conversation of creating an unlearning culture takes place. What have organisations had to learn to survive? What have they had to unlearn? How has this affected the company culture? And most importantly, how are leaders embracing the changes and providing comfortable environments for employees?

“Self-organisation within an organisation requires trust. Working from home has set a new level of trust because people are experimenting and learning new ways of working. With this comes the ability to experiment and push boundaries. For leaders, this has also meant that they must adapt and be open to being challenged and receiving feedback about what is working and what isn’t. We have to unlearn and relearn habits developed over the last 18 months, so it’s an ongoing cycle,” Kim added.

“I think one of the biggest lessons we have learnt is that organisations need to be an open living system, instead of a closed living system, and that all people have an impact on how an organisation adapts over time,” said panellist Kim Skjoldhammer, learning and wellbeing lead at Investec.

Brigitte Chetty, HR executive, Blue Label Telecoms, said she had been unlearning when it came to those old paradigms about competence and experience. “I’ve needed to ask whether previous knowledge and experience are a barrier to change. We have also been identifying future skills and determining where there are skills gaps.”

Kim said the events of the last 18 months have challenged the notion that if it’s not broken, don’t fix it, and that one size fits all. “What we have learnt is that there is an opportunity to find many different ways to do things: there is no one right way. Organisations are looking at different models

Brigitte said as part of their unlearning, organisations needed to look at how they measure success. “Goal-setting done once a year and reviewed twice a year needs to be relooked. Where we are now, goals need to be constantly evaluated,” she said.

Seen in the chat

Before introducing these drastic changes, they needed to introduce change management systems and ensure that their environments were safe and conducive to employees failing fast.

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“We need environments where trust is to allow people time to master new ways of thinking and working. Fostering psychological safety is now an important soft skill for leaders going forward,” she explained.

“The ability to experiment and adapt, as well as take into account individual circumstances has been key.” - Kim Skjoldhammer, Investec “Have the rules of communicating changed in the hybrid and digital world?” - Sebaki Masilo Auditor-General of South Africa

Jon Foster-Pedley, dean and director, Henley Business School, concluded the discussion by saying that leaders needed to “let people feel uncomfortable with change”.

“Sebaki – I think for sure there are new practices to learn – especially authenticity.” - Jon Foster-Pedley, Henley Business School

“It is subtle and complex work getting people to

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unlearn. Leaders also need to leave themselves in an uncomfortable space of never being completely right or not always knowing. Let go of always being right,” he said.

ing about the limitations of technology. “What has been difficult is deepening relationships because we are in a digital world. Small interactions like having lunch together or having a coffee are lost, so we need to look at how we are going to address that in our new hybrid working models. We don’t have all the answers and it’s okay: I am learning that you don’t have to.” 

The breakaway sessions provided attendees with the opportunity to engage in a more intimate setting with a member of the panel. The breakaway group facilitated by Joël Roerig, managing director of CHRO, was lively, with lots of different issues around learning being brought to the fore. Everyone who participated agreed that a learning culture is important and that organisations that will survive the upheavals of the Covid-19 pandemic are those that understand this.

The bottom line “Learning impacts the bottom line. Leaders need to ask themselves are we doing enough for existing employees? Are we agile? Leaders also need to provide a safe environment where people can express what is working and what is not working,” said Lameez. A learning culture, the group agreed, involves embracing innovation and technology and not holding onto old ways of working. Thabiso Mabusela, human resources generalist at Universal Healthcare, said her organisation was forced to take a leap into the digital age during the pandemic. “There was a big shift in culture in our organisation,” she said “We spent some time wondering how the new ways of work will affect our learning and development programmes. We never thought we would be using online platforms in our development programmes.” Jon Foster-Pedley

Kim added that part of learning has also been learn-

“Leaders also need to leave themselves in an uncomfortable space of never being completely right or not always knowing.” - Jon Foster-Pedley, dean and director, Henley Business School

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Nano-learning across platforms Ongoing professional development requires learning, unlearning and relearning, with nano-learning or bite-sized learning a new way of acquiring knowledge without investing long hours.

BY REABETSWE RABAJI

ngoing professional development requires learning, unlearning and relearning, with nano-learning or bite-sized learning a new way of acquiring knowledge without investing long hours.

The future of education will require tech skills, experts, business acumen, educational skills and a focus on value. Psychological support and care will also be crucial, said Jon Foster-Pedley, dean and director at Henley Business School. Jon was speaking at an HR Indaba Conversation on learning and unlearning, sponsored by Henley Business School. Trevor Kunda, group head of learning and leadership development at Discovery, said that the issue with delivering education in a traditional manner in the classroom is that is very expensive and difficult to scale, which was the case at Discovery, where 95 percent of their learning was taking place in classrooms, and the pandemic was a great opportunity to close these gaps.

“The Covid-19 pandemic was a blessing in disguise in a way and an opportunity for us to close the gaps at Discovery. Our main goal was to deliver good quality learning, so we started off at a basic level and got a learning management system [LMS] in place and started using the LinkedIn learning platform. We also relied on data to show that what people were learning had relevance for the business, which helped us get the buy-in and investment into the platforms we are currently using,” he explained. Discovery took things a step further and looked at how they could support learners in completing their tasks. “We are currently experimenting with virtual classrooms and virtual reality, advance analytics and data science. However, you have to get the timing right and be clear on the things that are going to help move you forward, while making it fun and exciting for users,” he said.

Meaningful investment According to Gcobisa Ntshona, human resource director at LexisNexis, the Covid-19 pandemic has really exposed things we previously took for

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Trevor Kunda

Gcobisa Ntshona

“You have to get the timing right and be clear on the things that are going to help move you forward, while making it fun and exciting for users.” - Trevor Kunda, group head of learning and leadership development at Discovery

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granted, such as time management while working remotely, and trying to manage that while learning has been quite difficult for most.

Mindset shift

“Learning for us was centred on institutionalised learning, and we had to really consider the type of learning we wanted as an organisation, as well as invest in a meaningful way,” she said. This is when the LMS system came into play. “For us, an LMS made the most sense and has proven to be extremely effective,” she explained. Investing in new learning platforms can be an expensive exercise for many organisations with an expected return on investment (ROI); however, this should not be the primary focus. “While there is a ROI component to investing in new learning platforms, it is also important to consider the value of the learning experience that has nothing to do with money,” she explained. Gcobisa added, “For us, ROI has been about establishing a culture and getting our people to see the connection between how we learn and develop, rather than how much money we put in and what we’ll get back from that investment.” She also mentioned that care was an often-overlooked aspect of learning, especially given that during the pandemic, many people were trying to learn, work and get information online, which caused a lot of fatigue. To address this fatigue, LexisNexis focused on flexibility. According to Saffron Baggallay, director at Saffron Baggallay & Associates, online learning can be quite intimidating for many, especially for people who are not technologically savvy. In order to get more people to shift into the new way of learning, they need to be eased in rather than thrown into the deep end.

Seen in the chat

“Most of my work is done face-to-face, so having to shift to online training was quite difficult for me,” she said. “I began with a fear of technology and struggled to embrace it; I struggled with virtual platforms such as Zoom, so I had to step back and learn how it worked.” Saffron added that the constant travel she had to do became exhausting, and the shift toward online learning could not have come at a better time. “This transition to online has been very exciting for me because it has allowed me to break everything down into bite-sized pieces, and for the first time ever, I am able to tell my clients that when they sign up to my platform, they will have 50 hours of resources available to them for life. When I was developing my learning platform, it occurred to me that it needed to reflect how information was available to us in real life, while also being exciting enough for learners,” she noted. Gloria Makhafola, senior manager HR at Konecranes, provided an industrial perspective on learning in the session’s breakout room, explaining that the challenge in her industry is mindset. “There is a need for a mindset shift; people are too used to learning in classrooms and are not as open to online learning,” she explained. “We HR leaders need to walk them through it and get them to engage with these online learning platforms.” All of the panellists agreed that in the future, learning in the country must evolve, and that this will necessitate collaboration. Collaborating across business will be critical, as will simple conversations with people who have the knowledge. 

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“Embrace the notion of just-in-time learning, which allows you to obtain the skills today and do the job tomorrow.” – Desikan Naidoo, Henley Business School “Self-managed learning is the future; it will need HR to play a critical role.” – Graham Fehrsen, CHRO of NOVO

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Special Edition - HR Indaba Conversations

Articles inside

Create an unlearning culture

Hire curious people

Nano-learning across platforms

The power of difference

The business must go on

Successful succession planning

It’s time to rebuild HR

Brand authenticity counts in a crisis

Make a move on internal talent

Mind the pay gap

Meaningful inclusion fosters belonging

To vax or not to vax

Keynote: Bonang Mohale

Step up to support employees

Leadership support is non-negotiable

The intersection: Office politics vs. culture

Trust, curiosity and belief: Mentors work

The HR mindset shift: From competing to sharing

Effective leadership: With empathy

Pre-empt a mental health epidemic