Passionate about Empowerment & Development

Meet Raksha Naidoo the Managing Director of AMIS

Passionate about people and the teams she works with, Raksha Naidoo puts a lot of her focus on the empowerment and development of people. She believes in helping others grow in their careers and developing their confidence to shine bright and reach professional and personal milestones. Naidoo has almost 20 years of experience in the industry and has built valuable relationships with her colleagues in the industry thus achieving common goals in the company.

She shared that even though she never really knew what she wanted to do at school, she ended up studying Science at University, with majors in Pure and Applied Chemistry because science always made sense to her which is why after graduation, she started her career as one of three women in a mineral processing refinery.

Please describe your role and responsibilities at AMIS.

My main priority at the AMIS Group are my people. My focus is to continuously motivate, encourage, develop and empower my teams, so that they can become the best versions of themselves. That then allows the businesses to continue to grow and become more successful, delivering the best products and services to our customers, creating a sustainable global brand that delivers higher profits to shareholders.

What services does the company offer?

AMIS produces certified reference standards that mining laboratories use for quality control and control assurance. We also offer proficiency testing schemes that laboratories participate in to help improve their overall analytical capabilities. Overall, we offer solutions to our customers, to give them peace of mind by providing them with high quality products.

What empowerment policies does the company have in place?

Empowerment is a way of life at AMIS, and we focus on empowering people in all that we do. In that regard, there is no policy documenting how and who deserves what opportunities, this is something that is deeply instilled in the culture of the organisation.

What does leadership mean to you?

Leadership to me is creating a safe space for my teams. A safe space for them to be themselves, to learn, to try, and to grow. I believe my leadership style is very collaborative and transformational and I work hard at finding different ways to inspire people to find confidence in themselves. It is about helping others become the best versions of themselves.

Have you had an AHA moment in your career? Please tell us about it.

My AHA moment was when a previous manager asked me if I was bored, and made me question my ability to work outside of my comfort zone. He then afforded me an opportunity to do something different, I tried and I failed. He then helped me learn from the failure, and allowed me to try again. This time I succeeded, and that forever changed my outlook and my career journey.

What have been your major milestones since joining AMIS?

I have had many proud moments at AMIS. I stepped into the role of MD with many eyes watching, waiting for me not to succeed and I worked extremely hard to prove them all wrong. Not only did AMIS succeed, but we grew to become a global leader in our sector of the mining industry. Last year, we acquired one of our global competitors in Canada and further cemented AMIS’s presence on the global scale. But my proudest AMIS moments are around the successes of my teams. Watching people’s careers grow, developing the confidence to shine bright, and reach professional and personal milestones, gives me the greatest sense of joy and pride!

How do you prefer to problem-solve?

I am very analytical and systematic, probably the scientist in me in these instances. So I tackle problems one step at a time. I am consultative if needed, I always sleep on it, and make sure I leave emotions out of the final thought process.

From a company perspective, what gets you up in the morning? And what keeps you awake at night?

Besides the crazy 9hr time difference with Canada, delivering to shareholders keeps me up at night, and making sure that we have a sustainable business that takes care of our people. What gets me going everyday are my teams. I am fortunate that I work with incredible humans, and knowing that I can play a small part in the betterment of their lives, motivates me to do better and be better.

What exciting plans do you have for the coming year?

Many! But I can’t quite share them at this stage.

Do you have a message for our readers?

Always stay true to who you are. By being yourself, you are giving yourself the best chance to succeed. No one has it all figured out, no one has all the answers. But if we work hard, don’t lose sight of ourselves and keep showing up, we can take over the world!

Contact details: Address: 11 Avalon Road, West Lake View Ext 11, Modderfontein, 1645, South Africa