DPD Laser CPO Solly Mathebula believes culture speaks long before leadership does. In a business once defined by silence, silos and strain, he chose engagement as the turning point.
Reflecting on his arrival at DPD Laser three years ago, he explains the reality he found. “When I joined the company, we used to have mass strikes, low productivity, problems with our cash flow, and a lack of accountability from our leaders. The environment was very toxic,” he says. “This resulted in a blame game, silos and everybody felt that they did not see the bigger picture.”
“HR may be clean and doing things right, but if for example ops don’t understand the bigger picture, unfortunately we’re going to have a problem. If the sales department, again, doesn’t see the value of the business having ops, then we’re going to have a problem,” he says. “So I sat everyone down, because that’s how I was hired – to fix those four KPIs.”
Solly states he knew early on that no turnaround would be sustainable without shared understanding. Out of that thinking emerged The Drum Beats, an engagement initiative that would bring the organisation together again.
“The word drum beat in HR language is called employee engagement. What we needed was for us to come together at the centre and start drumming together – drumming out what the problem was and also charting the direction, stop blaming one another and also respect the turnaround time from each party.”
“It has since reduced the high rate of absenteeism, made people really understand where they fit in and has made people accountable for their function.”
Adding real value
These changes now come from an understanding of what happens when engagement is absent. “If you don’t engage people, they’re sitting there with good brains, but because you don’t tap into their brain, you’ll think that actually you have dead wood,” he says. “People actually lose that enthusiasm because they’re not engaged. They feel like they’re worthless.”
The success of The Drum Beats mirrors Solly’s broader philosophy about HR leadership. “I take myself very seriously as an HR professional,” he says. “I don’t want to be given a seat. My presence, expertise, knowledge, even how I carry myself, reserves a seat for me. As HR professionals, we need to understand business performance, finances and profitability. Without this understanding, we simply cannot succeed or add real value to the organisation.”
He traces this thinking back to earlier experiences. “I’ve worked for a certain company and my manager there told me the playing field is quite big. HR people usually say you can’t do this because the policy says that, but we don’t realise we are just telling the business that they can’t do anything.”
Instead, he believes HR should say that while you cannot do it this way, there’s a better way with minimal risk to achieve the same results. This mindset informed how Solly approached talent development, particularly in the logistics environment.
Inclusivity is another area he speaks about with emotion. With a workforce largely on the road, he believes that connection matters. “We have a deaf culture,” he says. “It broke my heart to understand that I’ve got 17 people who did not get to hear what I say during meetings. Now in our meetings, there must be somebody interpreting in a small window for them as well. We have created an inclusive culture for deaf people to feel part of the business.”
Making a deliberate choice
“Every month we also have what I call the tropical discussion,” he says, describing sessions supported by an app so that employees can access information wherever they are. “Even when I send communication welcoming everybody into the new year, drivers can get the very same message via the app.”
He calls his workspace a solution office and allows people to come with solutions at any time. The cultural impact, he notes, has been tangible.
“We used to go to the CCMA almost every day. Now, in the last three years, I have promoted over 300 people internally,” he says. “Before I joined, no one was promoted internally because of the toxic environment.”
He notes that the journey was not without personal cost. “There was a labour court case against me,” he says. “There were a lot of threats. I had to drive home with bodyguards. It was very hectic as people and unions were resisting the cultural change.”
What carried him through was a deliberate choice to continue with the mandate and not plug into negative energy.
“You have to be humble enough to apologise, humble enough not to use your title to bully people, because once I leave the building, I’m not a CHRO. We are all human beings first.
Indeed, once the office doors close, Solly steps into a very different rhythm. “After five, I’m a radio presenter at an online radio station,” he says, where he focuses on motivational speaking. Beyond the mic, he is a life coach running youth boot camps and he also makes time for the gym and cooking, passions that keep him grounded and energised outside of work.
