Tag: boardroom

Corporate South Africa has made strides in recent history to be more inclusive of formerly marginalised groups in an effort to rectify the disparity of the past and be more diverse, including in the executive decision-making tiers. But the retirement of Maria Ramos, the last remaining woman CEO in the Johannesburg Stock Exchange top 40 listed companies earlier this year, illustrated that we are not making the progress we thought we were on gender parity.

Nolitha Fakude grew up as a shopkeeper’s daughter in the Eastern Cape, studied at the University of Fort Hare and then entered the workplace in 1990 as a graduate trainee at Woolworths. Subsequently, she has worked in very senior positions at some major blue-chip companies, including Woolworths, Nedbank and Sasol. She was also managing director and then president of the Black Management Forum (BMF).

Being a woman who works in a male-dominated profession teaches you an incredible self-discovery and how to believe in yourself.  Working my way up to a financial director has been one of the most challenging, and yet equally rewarding experiences of my career. My almost 8-year journey has been one of incredible self-discovery and of making a noise in this male-dominated industry. 

People in corporate environments are often put off by the idea of storytelling as the first thing that comes to mind are fairy tales. But storytelling is a very powerful mechanism that can be used to help employees at every tier of an organisation understand the corporate strategy, the vision and their role in achieving a company’s objectives. It is also a way for leaders to be powerful communicators who can deliver a message that resonates with employees.

Boardroom efforts to make customer experience a priority is being hampered by rising costs, retention and bad debt. South African firms continue to be challenged by rising costs of customer acquisition, retention, fraud and bad debt while striving for innovation through leveraging data and AI techniques.