The energetic HR leader enjoys challenges and encourages her peers to push boundaries.
It was a natural curiosity of wanting to know what drives people and where they fit in that led Cindy Botha, vice president of people and engagement at Makosi, into human resources.
It is the same curiosity that Cindy credits for her success and impact throughout her career, always striving to understand how employees function, think and how to make the work-life balance better.
This people-centric style is also what helped Cindy to grow and develop, both in her personal and professional capacity, and transition from her role as head of people at Makosi to vice president of people and engagement. Prior to joining Makosi in April 2021, she was the head of HR for the British Council’s southern region for three years.
The hands-on mother notes that her time at the British Council broadened her horizons and enabled her to become more intently aware of the importance of shaping and enabling working environments and organisation cultures that embrace and empower diversity and inclusion.
The energetic HR leader enjoys challenges and encourages her peers to push boundaries, to focus on the bigger purpose of changing and to have fun while doing it.
Balancing act
“Although HR is seen as challenge-averse, I am always for pushing boundaries and being aware of the risks and rewards. It is a balancing act. Make time to have fun, stay focused on high-impact results, and follow your passion,” she says.
Cindy pursued studies in marketing and business management before expanding her knowledge and curiosity in strategic people and hiring practices and employee relations.She started her career as a recruiter and career coach before moving into the HR space in the auditing industry.
“I have been in a privileged position where every opportunity that I have had to serve as part of a HR and people function, I have been able to experience the direct impact and bigger purpose that we, as people leaders, have influence over when we are focused in driving a people-centred strategy,” she says.
Cindy believes it is the shared commitment and people-centric vision from the executive leadership team and the bigger people team that enables her to drive the people agenda at Makosi.
“We have seen, and continue to see, exponential growth, which is a tangible result of our commitment to uphold our core values in everything that we do, and delivers on Makosi’s mantra of Now There’s Room to Grow ®, which is our sole focus point for our people,” she says.
Simplified agility
Cindy believes that she will continue to grow and build on her successes, especially within the people space together with newly appointed CPO, Lindsay Gaal.
Cindy’s experience has enabled her to achieve significant success in designing and implementing HR strategies and objectives into tangible business solutions, but emphasises this would not be possible without the backing, support and commitment from fellow people leaders and teams.
She has now placed her focus on developing an agile and impactful people operations function, with a vested commitment around employee experience, that will allow and enable consultants worldwide to provide expertise with greater impact.
In terms of personal focus, Cindy aims to be a self-aware leader who listens and drives inclusion and enablement.
“Leading through listening and leading through serving for the greater good have become my main purpose, in my personal and professional capacity. And although it isn’t always easy and I don’t always get it right, my passion for people and growing with the future leaders of our profession will keep me motivated to get up everytime I fail or fall,” she adds.
