CHRO meets Tswelo Kodisang

Tswelo Kodisang, the Chief Human Resource Officer at Tiger Brands, believes that, if  HR professionals are going to make an impact and get a seat at the executive-management table, it’s not going to happen because professionals ‘are making noise about it’. It is going to be through a deliberate intervention by HR leaders. That is why he would appreciate a discussion about the current state and the future of the HR function.

Tswelo met with CHRO SA community manager Didi Sehume to disccuss his personal journey and passion for HR. He believes, for example, that HR leaders need to rethink their approach to recruitment of HR professionals because, as things currently stand, most people are going into HR because ‘they love people’. These are people who typically have a social science/psychology background. Others get into it via a legal background. But these do not have to be the only skills that should be key to the HR role.

“One of my first recruits was a zoologist. I thought that someone like that would understand the systems that need to be put in place and bring systems and analytical thinking. Another recruit was someone who had just completed an MBA and had never worked in people management before. That’s how to get people who can bring fresh thinking and perspective to the function and HR roles” said Tswelo.

He also said that people appointments need to be made from a perspective of setting people up for success. He said this with regard to making appointments with meeting transformational targets as the primary goal.

“It’s one thing to say you want a black female for a particular role, but if there is no person within that demographic that has the requisite skills and experience, you have to approach the goal/plan holistically by ensuring you drive continuous development with the right support structure and sustainability in mind. Because, otherwise, you wil appoint someone that is bound to fail which will damage our transformation ambition and goals.”