All about results
What does it take to work for Neotel? Human resources manager Lucky Ndwalaza knows. He has the job of picking the right people to be a part of the group.
Ndwalaza is clear about one issue: a degree will get you an interview but it will take more than an impressive piece of paper to get you a job at Neotel. “We are looking for people who can deal with a fluid environment,” Ndwalaza says.
This essentially means that as a start-up organisation, Neotel – which is still in the process of creating its corporate culture and operating procedures – needs people who can get things done even though the rules have not yet been completely worked out.
Ndwalaza says the group has so far been lucky in finding the kind of people it has been looking for. It has managed to recruit some good talent from across the industry. “Our results speak for themselves,” he says of who Neotel has so far managed to attract.
One of the group’s notable successes is bringing in Stefano Mattiello. He was at Motorola prior to joining Neotel as executive head of enterprise group. He has also worked at SAP and Sun Microsystems.
But bringing in talented new people is only part of Ndwalaza’s job. He also has the unusual task of helping create a corporate culture from scratch.
To get staff to buy in to feeling a part of the company, orange – Neotel’s corporate colour – posters are everywhere encouraging them to put extra effort into their work and pointing out the difference between working for another company and working for Neotel.
There is also a programme that rewards employees – sometimes on the spot – for a job well done. “We need to make sure people can identify with the company,” Ndwalaza says.
He makes the point that it is not just the reward that is a powerful incentive; it is being recognised by one’s peers for a job well done.
He says Neotel’s systems of rewarding and recognising the efforts of its staff means people are free to take the initiative, if it means the company will benefit. “You have to allow people to make mistakes,” Ndwalaza says.
The culture that Ndwalaza wants to see in the organisation is not one of some bland corporate mission statement but one that resonates with the heart and mind of every employee. Essentially, he wants staff to be bold in coming up with new ideas, making sure things get done, responding quickly to any issues and being pragmatic when the situation calls for it.
Getting staff to buy into the group’s culture means management has given priority to giving them information. Neotel’s financial performance and its advertisement campaigns are revealed to its employees first.
Creating a Neotel culture also solves the problem of having to deal with established behaviour arising from the three companies – Tata Communication, Eskom and Transnetthat have formed the basis of the group.
Other corporate mergers such as that between Chrysler and Daimler Benz have fallen apart because the difference in cultures between the organisations could not be overcome.
Ndwalaza is well aware of the dangers arising from a clash in cultures. So far, Neotel has managed to avoid this kind of divisive behaviour. “You will be hard pressed to find out who came from what company,” he says.
But Ndwalaza’s work is not complete. Neotel’s acquisition of Transtel has kept him busy with the integration of its staff of 500 into Neotel’s base of 400 people.
To allay their fears of becoming part of Neotel, Ndwalaza spent two weeks visiting each and every Transtel branch.
Apart from dealing with questions of how the move will affect pensions and health cover, he was also selling the Neotel corporate culture of reward and recognition for a job well done.
New employees have to go through two days of induction to teach them the “Neotel way”.
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