Leading an organisation prior to COVID-19 has been a challenge. The events of 2020 changed the dynamic completely and forced executives, their teams, and their businesses to adapt overnight in order to survive.
Mervyn Naidoo, CEO of ACTOM
“I will never forget that lockdown announcement and the days that followed. Some of the executives were on leave which they immediately cancelled and came into the office to start planning.
We understood that we needed to make tough decisions upfront; decisions that would not be popular and may even be viewed by some as overreacting. We had one goal in mind, and that was the sustainability of the business and ensuring that at the end of the pandemic our people still had jobs,” says Mervyn Naidoo, CEO of ACTOM.
Sylvester Makamu, ACTOM Group HR Executive
The strategy required a fine balance of drastically reducing and managing costs, while ensuring that business continued with the necessary safety measures in place to protect staff.
Sylvester Makamu, Group HR Executive, had the unenviable task of guiding the process of changing terms and conditions of employment in the Group, requiring staff to take temporary salary cuts.
“One never wants to have to ask people to work more for less, but I believe that our colleagues understood what we were trying to achieve, and that we would all be better off in the end” said Sylvester.
Sylvester believes that his role as the Chairman of the Electrical Manufacturers Association of South Africa assisted his decision making since he was able to ascertain what other businesses in the industry were doing to prepare.
Annamarie van Wyngaardt, ACTOM Group Finance Executive.
“Of course a business must be financially strong to survive, but for me it was imperative that we ensured the livelihoods of everyone working at ACTOM and, in turn, the families they support. I asked my team to keep that in mind while managing our cashflow. I didn’t have a problem chasing customers for money – peoples’ lives were at stake, and we had a responsibility to keep this business afloat,” says Annamarie van Wyngaardt, Group Finance Executive.
Mervyn together with Andries Mthethwa, Chairman of the Group were responsible for the operational and technical aspects of the strategy. Ensuring business-as-usual in the most unusual circumstances was not easy. But then, neither of these gentlemen have ever seen adversity as an obstacle.
“ACTOM operates a decentralised business model, and any strategy we develop must be flexible enough for the businesses to adopt and adapt. As an executive team, we provide best practice and guidelines, with certain boundaries that cannot be crossed. Then it’s up to the Divisional CEOs to run their businesses,” explains Mervyn.
Mervyn reiterates the importance of the value they gain from industry insight, and their personal involvement in various industry leading organisations and government-driven initiatives in helping shape strategic direction for the business.
“At times like these, it’s important to stay in touch with what’s happening around you and not become so inwardly focused that you forget about life beyond the pandemic.
We’ve gained a great deal of insight on how to deal with our current circumstances, but also very importantly, this pandemic has highlighted how we need to look at doing things differently going forward.”
Diversification was a strategy ACTOM adopted prior to the onset of the pandemic.
Andries Mthethwa, Chairman of ACTOM
This certainly proved valuable during this time as Andries explains: “Previously, some of our businesses operated in very niche markets, and this was identified as a threat, necessitating a process of relatively rapid business diversification.
Thankfully, this took place as successfully as it did because a number of industries were hard hit by the pandemic and could have had a real impact on our businesses had we not diversified when we did.”
This relates to another key attribute of leadership – VISION – which was highlighted by Andries.
In his words, “A leader needs to be a visionary. This is not always easy because it often means having to take difficult and unpopular decisions.” He adds, “What’s important is the confidence to deliver on your promise, and you’re only ever able to do that if you can trust your team to have the same moral ethic.”
Andries Mthethwa talks about leadership.
The executives all agreed that communication helped everyone remain focused during this time.
“The executive team met with the Divisional CEOs every week leading up to and during lockdown. Communicating and sharing information ensured that our strategy remained relevant, and I was encouraged to receive feedback on how valuable these sessions were,” says Mervyn.
In summarising the pandemic strategy process, Annamarie commented on how impressed she was with the team and the way everyone contributed with such single-minded focus and willingness to get the job done.
“We all come from diverse backgrounds and have such differing opinions and leadership styles, but everyone listened and respected each other’s opinions.
We debated until the culmination of our broad expertise and views, and our collective desire to overcome this challenge, pulled us together so successfully.”
Mervyn Naidoo talks about the positive developments in South Africa.