Cell C’s unlimited leave experiment
Cell C is experimenting with unlimited leave, beginning with the organisation’s executive management.
Cell C boss Jorge Mendes says if the experiment is successful, the system will roll out to the rest of the organisation.
Mendes believes organisations should adapt to a new type of work, especially in high-intensity environments.
“We work at such pace. To take 300 days of work and be off for two weeks or three weeks — I don’t think that is going to cut the mustard anymore, to be brutally honest,” Mendes said.
He said they are trialling unlimited leave at the first 2–3 layers of the executive level of management.
“I have no doubt we will have one or two challenges, but we’ll deal with those,” he said.
“So far, it’s proving to be very successful. I’ve personally taken advantage of it. I was away last week and I try and go every quarter for a quick break.”
Testing an unlimited leave policy is part of Mendes’ drive to have what he calls “the best corporate culture in the country”.
Mendes has said that one of his biggest ambitions since he took the reins at Cell C in July last year was to build and foster a great, inclusive culture and team spirit.
“An amazing culture will help people navigate both good and bad days,” he said.
In addition to improving morale, which helps people perform at their best, Mendes said this would help Cell C attract and retain the best staff.
“We’re already seeing the job applications and CVs flood in,” Mendes said.
He believes key performance indicators such as revenue, profit, and profit margin will improve due to retaining talent and having a good work environment.
“Profits will come as a result of the underlying culture and philosophy at Cell C,” he said.
Cell C previously told MyBroadband that its business stabilisation efforts started yielding results in the third quarter of 2023, when it showed its first revenue growth for the year.
Cell C’s parent company, Blue Label, released its annual financial results on Thursday, which had some encouraging signs for the beleaguered mobile operator.
However, it is still far from out of the woods. Revenue declined from R11.9 billion to R11.3 billion over the past year, Cell C posted a R22 million before-tax loss, and it remains technically insolvent.
This means the liabilities on its balance sheet exceed its assets, resulting in negative equity.
However, the company’s negative equity position improved substantially over the year.
Assets decreased by 6% to R14.1 billion, but liabilities decreased more — from R19.1 billion to R17.3 billion.
This caused negative equity to improve by over 21%, from -R4.0 billion to -R3.2 billion.
Although promising, the results showed that turning Cell C around and creating a profitable and sustainable mobile operator would take a Herculean effort.
Mendes previously acknowledged that liquidity constraints required them to be strict in prioritising their focus.
“Despite the numerous actions we needed to take, we had to make trade-offs, concentrate on significant impact areas, delay some initiatives, and be clinical in our spending decisions,” he said.
“As a result, our teams have become smart and innovative in maximising our limited resources.”
Mendes said Cell C is a lean organisation, and building the right capacity and skills quickly while driving a turnaround agenda has been a big challenge.
“However, we have been addressing these capacity constraints effectively and continue to do so,” he said.
“Building belief, balancing conflicting priorities, and maintaining positive energy are as important as having the right skills and capacity,” Mendes added.
“These factors impact outcomes, and we have had to shift from a survival mindset to one of growth and a can-do attitude.”
Mendes said their previous annual survey showed that they successfully increased internal employee engagement.
They have also built strong, engaged teams beyond the exco level.
“There is a new energy in the organisation, with a good cadence and cross-functional collaboration, marked by strong accountability for delivery and shared project objectives,” he said.
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