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Editorial

Failure to change

is fatal

stute employers have long ago realised called the “It doesn’t matter if a person has or hasn’t
that, if they want to attract the best talent, got a degree. So long as they can do the job, we’ll
they not only have to attract that talent hire them” phenomenon.
to their organisations but also away from This should send any vice chancellor with strategic
Aother organisations. foresight into a flat spin to ensure that degree
Economist, Trudi Makhaya, recently appointed programmes are realigned to accommodate this
economic advisor to the State President, summed trend.
up the new dawn that is breaking across the global This issue features a number of articles which will
workplace when she said, “We need to get away also alert the wide awake to the fact that things are
from this ‘bromance’ and ‘dude culture’ that often changing fast. What is important is to take action
characterises entrepreneurship.” now. The longer one waits, the fewer options one
She was speaking about the role of women in the has until one runs out of options ...
economy, but she unintentionally also commented Conversations with certain HR Directors have
on the sea shift that is happening with regard to the revealed that they, too, have not understood the
traditional macho/male style of leadership that has speed and significance of the changes that are
dominated the workplace for the past, well, few taking place. They say they have, but their actions (or
thousand years. lack thereof) say otherwise.
If male leaders who are currently calling the shots If you’re serious about renewing your company
in their companies don’t shape up and shift up a from its senior leaders to the most junior employees,
gear to change their leadership style, they’re going to I urge you to shift this high and fast up the priorities
see themselves becoming irrelevant. list as you don’t have the luxury of time. As Rupert
And this is not about “if” but about “when”. Murdock has rightly said, “Big will not beat
Some to whom I have spoken just can’t seem small anymore. It will be the fast beating the slow.”
to fathom what and why this is happening. This Big companies are already starting to falter. Just
presents a major opportunity for HR Directors with keep your eye on the media and you will see for
the strategic foresight to understand the need for yourself what is happening.
their CEOs, FDs, COOs, CIOs and CROs to ditch the In keeping with our 17-year-old vision to prepare
military style of leadership they were taught in their people for the future of work, this issue features
youth and embrace the new emotionally intelligent articles which will alert you to what’s happening in
style of leadership that is making its presence felt in the world of work, and will give you ideas to renew
the workplace of the future. your policies, processes and performance.
The days of relying on the technical skills you got Don’t make the mistake of thinking, “It’ll never
at university – as in the case of CAs, engineers, happen to us.” It can and probably will, if you fail to
architects and even doctors, among others – are take the appropriate actions.
rapidly becoming a thing of the past. Going forward, Twenty years ago, organisational change was
leaders will certainly still need their technical skills, conducted at a fairly comfortable pace. Today, it’s
BUT they will also need to acquire and apply in the happening so fast it needs to be managed by a race
workplace, qualities they never considered necessary car driver!
in a leader. These include, empathy, insight, self-
awareness, gentleness, vulnerability ... I can just hear
all those macho leaders’ toes curling as they read
this.
These significant changes aren’t confined to
leaders. They flow all the way through organisations
of all shapes and purpose. Universities, which for
hundreds of years have provided the graduates who
have gone on to head up companies are in trouble.
There’s a new trend sweeping the workplace. It’s

2 JUNE 2018 · HR FUTURE