The year’s first community conversation focused on the challenges and opportunities that 2021 brings.
With a new Covid-19 virus variant that has been identified, HR leaders attending the inaugural 2021 CHRO Community Conversation showed they were ready for another VUCA year. A high level of energy and optimism was clearly evident throughout the conversation – with HR representatives from across a range of industries frankly discussing challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
Athol Swanepoel, the current talent manager for Nestle East and Southern Africa and soon-to-be HR director for the food and beverage company, kicked off the session by taking stock of the year that was and recognising that HR is a function that is central to organisations.
“Last year made it clear that HR is indispensable. It has also accelerated the digital transformation journeys of many organisations.”
He then went on to say: “I am under no illusion that 2021 is going to be an easy year, but we are more prepared now despite the challenges ahead. Covid-19 made flexible work come to life. It gave us a glimpse of what future skills are required.
“The age-old conversation of HR having a seat at the table has been put to bed. It is clear that HR is at the forefront and leading organisations,” he said.
Mental health
Elanie Kruger, group CHRO at Tsebo Solutions, provided an overview of the current situation from a services industry perspective, where a large number of employees have to “work from work”.
“We are focusing on three key messages: We want employees to be safe, to keep their jobs safe and to continue being renumerated fairly.
“We are working hard to restore the normal as far as possible for 2021. Our 2021 goal for our organisation is: Establishing a high-performance culture. We want to focus more on strong leaders, empowering and engaging employees and on leveraging digitisation."
She added that in their business, many employees do not have the option of working from home. Therefore, their approach has been centred around personal safety, being operational, commercial and forward looking.
“Mental health is a focus for 2021. With the second wave of Covid-19, we are concerned that people are disconnected and do not have support from the work environment and work family. This year we will move into empowering and engaging employees, expanding digitisation and establishing a high-performance culture,” she explained.
Vaccine
This context provided an excellent foundation for the discussions that took place during the breakaway sessions, with HR leaders also expressing their views on the current Covid-19 vaccination debate that is taking place in the country.
Thought-provoking information was provided by the HR leaders, with the matter of making vaccines mandatory for employees being weighed against the effect on employee relations.
Tshepisho Tabane, group HR executive for Clientele, noted that in 2020, HR was involved in organisational matters that are not traditionally associated with the function.
“HR is an essential service. We have had to work closely with the chief risk officer during the pandemic, for example. Vaccination of employees is a potential cause of friction in the workplace. Organisations have full responsibility when it comes to providing a safe and compliant workplace, and then there are the less tangible aspects of living through a pandemic that HR needs to take into consideration,” she said.
Interestingly, whether vaccination should be mandatory for employees is not a debate relevant to South Africa alone as organisations that work across geographies have to consider customer requirements in other countries, too.
Andisa Liba, Cisco’s HR lead for Africa, believes that the agility required of organisations and HR in 2020 is a key trait that organisations will continue to rely on to address the matter of vaccines and other challenges in the years ahead.
“We are completely agile and accepting of the situation and the unknown variables. We need to be pragmatic and empathetic while we assist employees and immediate spouses and households, through our EAP programmes. It is about thinking global while acting local,” she said.
Although there are no easy answers, all HR leaders present agreed that employee wellness and leadership were the two pillars necessary to support employees through the process.
Vuca 2.0
Zogan Opperman, HR director at Tsebo Holdings SA, left all HR leaders with food for thought at the end of the webinar, by coining a new HR meaning for the acronym VUCA.
“V is for vision, not in the sense of a new mission statement but our ability to see what's coming around the corners and becoming better at predicting outcomes. It speaks to the virtues of the organisation.
“We, as leaders, have to be the inner strength of the organisation to shine the light in times of darkness. If there is no understanding of the vaccine and the implications that Covid-19 will have on the business, our people and our organisations will be in trouble. The need for understanding is why learning and development are going to be absolutely critical in this difficult time.
“The C speaks to compassion and the need to lead with empathy. We are all human beings facing very difficult challenges.
“Lastly, A reflects the need to adapt and be agile. This the version of Vuca that I would like to drive in my division and my organisation,” he concluded.
