HR and finance leaders came together for the final Community Conversation of the year
In the final Community Conversation for 2020, HR and finance leaders came together for a light-hearted evening of reflection on a rollercoaster year. Each attendee was encouraged to bring a beverage of choice and there were some heartwarming stories from representatives on both sides.
Autoboys HR director and 2020 Young CHRO of the Year Kyle Chetty told attendees to see the silver lining in what was a difficult year. Because, even though the year saw HR leaders having to make difficult decisions around retrenchments and related matters, they have also played a big role in overseeing their organisations and people through it. Furthermore, the pandemic has allowed most people to connect with their families and take stock of what’s really important.
Said Kyle: "There are a lot of positives that we can take with us into the new year. We value our families and jobs much more than we did before. Thanks to CHRO SA, we also have a great community that has supported us through this year and they have helped us in many ways.
“Going into the new year, it's important to realign our focus both personally and from a business strategy perspective so that we emerge stronger than we were before this all began. Many of us have made mistakes and have been forced into the fourth industrial revolution but I strongly believe that it will all be for the better of our organisations in the long run.”
Discovery Group chief people officer and 2020 CHRO of the Year Tswelo Kodisang shared Kyle’s sentiment. He said he’d never connected with his family as much as he did during lockdown. One of his daughters started joining him on his runs and he got valuable time with her and the rest of his family.
Stay positive
Despite all the disruption experienced by organisations, Tswelo believed it was a positive disruption, saying the CHRO community had “never been as vibrant as it was this year because of Covid-19. Going forward we need to make sure that this community stays intact and as vibrant.”
He said it was important for HR leaders to lift the floor of their profession and make sure that young people become excited and aspire to being members of the profession instead of seeing executive HR roles being used to drive transformation objectives. He also stressed the importance of remaining positive as organisations go into the new year.
“One thing I've learned from Discovery Group CEO Adrian Gore is the value in being an optimist without being naive. When you think positively, you create opportunities to innovate. When you think negatively, you close your mind from being able to solve problems,” said Tswelo.
"We have solved big structural challenges throughout this pandemic only because we saw it as an opportunity to do things differently. And that’s what it takes to live up to the phrase that says “never waste a good crisis”. To my colleagues here from the finance and HR fraternity, I would like to challenge you all to not let this crisis go to waste by trying to go back to the way things used to be.”
Just for laughs
At the end of the evening, comedian Nik Rabinowitz wrapped up the discussion. He had been listening in on the discussion with the intention of summarising the highlights in his signature comedic style. He imitated the commentary of Xhosa rugby commentator Kaunda Ntunja, who passed on in June this year, bringing attendees to side-splitting laughter. He also engaged leaders on the funny side of the organisations they work for.
All in all. It was a fun-filled event with everyone in attendance having the opportunity to take it easy and engage with their colleagues in a relaxed forum.
