The CHRO Apex Talent Summit, held on 20 February 2025, brought together some of the brightest minds in HR and business leadership to unpack the evolving world of talent management.
At its heart, the summit highlighted that people are the cornerstone of any successful organisation, as discussions went beyond mere strategies, into how learning and growth opportunities can create an irresistible workplace.
One of the standout sessions of the day was the EVP roundtable, where industry leaders shared their experiences and emerging trends in talent management. CHRO at Tiger Brands, S'ne Magagula, highlighted a significant revelation from her roundtable.
“What was surprising for me is there were organisations that really just focused on providing learning opportunities. Not every organisation has defined an EVP, but some focus on learning opportunities and rewards. We all provide rewards, but really differentiated rewards that not only attract talent but keep talent in the organisation," she shared.
“Another important thing that came out is how important it is to listen to your people. Because you might say you've got it sorted out, and you've got the best practices, and you've got world-class offerings, but it's so important that even if you define that promise, it’s important to give listening and understanding to your talent because different parts of your talent base want different things.”
Summarising the discussion he was a part of, Dr. Zain Reddiar, global chief human resources officer at iSON Experience, added another layer of insights, explaining that organisational training should not be confined to internal needs alone.
“There always have to be other components that relate to the EVP. Bringing learning alive in the business and remembering that we train for the organisation, but we should also train for society."
Lindiwe Sebesho, managing director at Remchannel’s roundtable discussion, brought forward the concept of job crafting, as she summarised, “We looked at job crafting where learning not only enables people to align their own passions to their jobs. I love the thing that people are also looking at the number of people that are progressing from a pay perspective and the number of people that are actually justified to progress based on outputs.”
Bringing a clear-eyed view of the unemployment crisis affecting young people after the roundtable discussions, futurist and trends analyst Bronwyn Williams’ keynote address urged industry leaders to reimagine talent cultivation.
“Two out of every three young people we spoke to for our research were unemployed, and most were graduates. This is pretty much in line with the real unemployment figures of our economy. Instead of complaining about how we got here, we should think about the future and where to start to encourage talent to grow," said Bronwyn.
Later in the day, the summit featured the mobility masters panel discussion, which delved into innovative career pathways and succession planning. Joseph Rock, chief people and performance officer at Exxaro, explained a proactive approach to skills management.
“Let's make sure we understand what the skills are that we have and how they can be employed and utilised. What are they complementary with? We've actually found that it benefits us to have people who are not so-called experts coming into areas and just asking different questions. Why are you doing that? Why do you think that's a good outcome for what we're doing? We are absolutely trying to make sure that people have personalised career areas."
In the same vein, Nolo Thobejane, chief people and transformation officer at YUM!, spoke about an innovative initiative in the QSR sector and the role of community engagement in breaking down traditional barriers. “Streetwise Academy is breaking barriers in mobility within the QSR sector. For us to give back to the societies that we live in is to make sure that we become part of the solution."
Palesa Matoli, executive head of human capital and transformation at Bidvest Bank, concluded the panel by addressing the pressing skills gap in South Africa, highlighting the urgency of investing in local talent development.
“In South Africa, there's a significant challenge where the skills that corporate South Africa needs are not being developed. It's alarming to read that many graduates cannot find work while we, as an industry, are struggling to fill critical roles," she stated. "The question arises: who's going to actually do the work if we are not investing in developing these skills locally? We have to take a proactive approach to ensure we have a future workforce that meets our needs."
The summit wrapped up with an engaging networking session complete with drinks and canapés, providing a relaxed environment for further networking and discussions.
This year's CHRO summit was hosted with the support of principal partners Old Mutual and Regenesys Corporate Education, executive partners Discovery Limited, LRMG, and Workday, including associate partners Ayanda Mbanga Communications, Bridging And Associates, FranklinCovey, and EasyDoc.
