Two KZN executives walk away with IPM excellence awards
Once again, two Durban business executives have won top awards at the IPM National Convention held at Sun City early this month.
Once again, two Durban business executives have won top awards at the IPM National Convention held at Sun City early this month. Thapelo Molapo, vice president HR & Training - Toyota South Africa Motors, Durban was joint recipient of the IPM HR Director of the Year Award with Sinenhlanhla Mkhize, HR director Sasol Group while Andrew Layman, CEO of the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry was runner up for the IPM CEO of the Year Award.
The convention was attended by over 1,000 HR and business executives from South Africa other African countries and from abroad.
The presentation of the awards was made at a glittering gala dinner held in the Super Bowl at Sun City. This is the second time that Layman has received this Award for his achievements in leading and repositioning Durban Chamber as the country's largest Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
IPM KZN Branch is proud of this achievement by two of its nominees and congratulates them on the outstanding work they are doing in their respective roles in the province and internationally.
Thapelo Molapo is responsible for the entire HR function in the Toyota group. In the past 18 years he has worked across the vertical and horizontal spectra of the HRM disciplines from his first role as an HR consultant in a large insurance company to his current role as HR VP in this major multinational corporation and chairperson of the Automotive Industry Employers' Organisation.
He spoke at the World HRD Congress in India and received the World HRD Congress Global HR Leadership award. He also gained valuable experience over the past five years in the field of international HR management as a member of Toyota Motor Corporation's Global HR Summit. He successfully played key roles in the settlement of wage negotiations in the Auto (OEM) industry as a mediator in 2007 and as a chief negotiator in 2013 respectively. He is a certified director by the Institute of Directors Southern Africa and a member of the institute. He was appointed by the minister of higher education and training as a member of the governing board of MERSETA. He is also the chairman of the HR & Remuneration Committee of the SETA – this is in addition to other strategic positions that he held and still holds in other organisations.
As Automotive industry chief negotiator in 2013, he's been able to lead the process of narrowing down demands totaling an on-cost of 60% to the industry to a settlement level of 10%,8.5%,8.5% for the next three years respectively. This achievement requires thorough knowledge of the businesses of all companies and to reconcile both common and divergent aspects of their strategies to collective bargaining.
He has been chairman of the Automobile Manufacturers Employers Organisation for three consecutive years and was re-elected twice. This involves leading engagement between all seven auto manufacturing companies in the country on collective bargaining issues. In this position he has also chaired the National Bargaining Forum where the industry employers engage with the union between negotiations to monitor and direct the implementation of collective agreements from time to time.
As vice president of HR and training at Toyota South Africa, he has led a team of at least 160 HR practitioners, serving the company workforce of over 8000 people. On an ongoing basis, the structure of the team has been improved and aligned to business objectives of the given time.
Toyota Motor Corporation is a global case study of effective team work. As head of HR & training, Molapo has led the Toyota All Company Quality Circles. This is the platform through which all employees in the company collaborate to solve workplace problems and then showcase their solutions to each other locally, nationally and globally. This program runs successfully each year.
When he started with the company in 2008, the company employed 2230 office staff to service the same size business. Through ongoing improvement of operations and strict management of workforce attrition, the company has been able to save up to R200m per annum in indirect labour costs. This is an ongoing programme of improvement which will continue to benefit the company as well as employees.
He is Toyota South Africa's statutory employment equity manager with responsibility to drive the company's mid to long term transformation programme. The company had a DG review in 2010 and by 2013 the Department of Labour expressed confidence that the company can be a leading example of transformation.
Molapo works closely with the CEO of his company on daily strategic HR issues as well as with CEOs of all auto industry companies on a regular basis regarding industry level industrial relations and strategic HR issues. He is a member of the executive structure of the company and invites members of the Board and board committees when he guides the company on the management of risk and opportunities.
Molapo participates in a global review of HR at company head office in Japan and then translates global HR strategy into a local one. He then rolls this out into various business unit plans and monitors implementation each year.
During the global economic crisis in 2009 HR, under his leadership, led a programme to protect the profitability of the company through people's cost efficiency mindset. The programme achieved significant cost reduction but more importantly changed the way people thought about cost in their daily work activities.
He is a regular speaker both locally and internationally on HR matters. He has shown through his public contributions a passion for the profession and a desire to contribute to its improvement both locally and globally.
Andrew Layman is the CEO of the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a position to which he was appointed at the beginning of 2011. He formerly occupied a similar position in the Pietermaritzburg Chamber of Business for thirteen years. Prior to that date, he had a career in school education, which spanned thirty years and included positions at Glenwood High School and Maritzburg College before he took office as the headmaster of Alexandra High School, a post he occupied for ten years. For a year and a half after leaving the school, he worked in the education department managing what was known at the time as the right-sizing of education.
During his teaching career, he was very active in the Natal Teachers Society, of which he had a term as president. He represented teachers in numerous provincial and national organisations, such as the Natal Education Council, the Council and Senate of Edgewood College and the Education Labour Relations Council in which he was a member of the executive committee.
Layman holds a M. Com (Leadership) degree, with a speciality in local economic development, which he has recently obtained from the UKZN.
He has become well-known as a newspaper columnist, with weekly features in the network publication of The Mercury.
He holds a Masters in leadership from UKZN, which was awarded after participation in the LED post graduate programme sponsored by the KZN department of local economic development and tourism. He nurtures a culture of transparency and respect and has led the development of an economic blueprint which is an excellent guide to all local business in the development of their business strategies.
He is an excellent role model to all Durban business in this regard and champions these areas via the SMME department and committee. Layman provides good support to the HR co-ordinator on internal HR/IR issues and to the chairperson and members of the Chamber's HR forum. This is demonstrated through his extensive knowledge of HR/IR, reflected in his review of labour legislation amendments and regular articles in The Mercury. This is also demonstrated via areas explored and discussed at monthly HR forum meetings attended by HR directors, managers and practitioners.
Layman is recognised as an excellent role model because of his inclusive and mentoring management style which results in the transfer of knowledge and the building of self esteem in subordinates. As small business feedback is given in an informal manner and his open door approach means staff feel free to voice their opinions. A regular bi-annual performance review system ensures individual KPA's are linked to the business strategy and feedback on performance is provided.
