Njabulo joined the dutch beer company as the HR director of HEINEKEN South Africa in 2015.
HEINEKEN HR director for Africa, Middle East & Eastern Europe (AMEE) Njabulo Mashigo has been nominated for the first ever CHRO Awards to be held on 27 November 2019. The awards will give HR directors and CHROs of listed companies, large corporations, state-owned entities and government institutions alike the opportunity to be recognised and rewarded for their exceptional performance and leadership.
Njabulo’s career began at the early age of 19, after completing her studies at Rhodes University, and she became one of the youngest graduates that Unilever had ever employed at the time. Until she joined the dutch beer company as the HR director for HEINEKEN South Africa, Njabulo Mashigo’s career was neatly split: seven years in FMCG human resources and seven in financial services. After graduation, she got her start at Unilever and SAB, before an opportunity to relocate – both geographically and in terms of industry – to the National Treasury came her way in 2009. It was her first foray into public service. From there, she joined the JSE. But FMCG was not done with Njabulo yet – and when HEINEKEN and Diageo dissolved the Brandhouse joint venture in 2015, she made the shift once again.
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She has since held a variety of rols with the company, serving on two boards and being a trustee for the HEINEKEN South Africa Foundation. In her current role, Njabulo supports the people agenda of HEINEKEN's operating companies in Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, La Reunion, Sierra Leone and Mozambique. She is also the talent management lead across the AMEE region.
In this CHRO SA aritcle, Njabulo explained that she is a stickler for the basics when it comes to her approach to HR, saying that, outside of the boardroom and its strategic value, the day-to-day functioning of HR is just as important. This is because recruitment, training, talent management, remuneration, development, job creation, and leadership training are all key concerns for an HR department and must be well executed in order for the strategic element of HR to be effective.
“I often tell people, ‘You get your credibility with the basics, and then the sexy stuff comes’. Talent management is the sexy side of HR. Equally important is the strategic side which includes development and succession.”
HEINEKEN is one of the world's most international brewers and a leading developer and marketer of premium beer and cider brands. The Group has a powerful portfolio of more than 250 international, regional, local and speciality beers and ciders. The company employs approximately 73 000 people, has a wide geographic footprint, operating 167 breweries, malteries, cider plants and other production facilities in more than 70 countries.
