Nthabiseng Dube takes the human resource management to a higher level

Nthabiseng Dube, not only beauty, but lots of brains

NTHABISENG DUBE spoke to Thembi Masser about her passion for human relations and of her dream of becoming a diplomat. Although she has found her spot in the world, she is still looking for a mentor. At present she works for Polish Management but it is a forgone conclusion that the 26 year-old would soon be establishing her own practice. In the interview with Masser she was practical, jolly but forthright. And this is how the interview panned out...  

What is your career?

Anything related to human resource which includes Payroll as well as recruitment.

What subjects did/do you study for this type of a career at school and at tertiary institution?

Well, In High school my subjects included Math’s, History, business management and biology. Earlier, at high school, all I ever dreamt of becoming was to be a diplomat. To be a diplomat you require only a certain average in high school in order to study international relations at university.

But, instead, I ended up studying under the collage of management sciences at UNISA. My modules included labour law, labourr relations, financial management, business management, management of training, industrial management. Currently under my B.Com honours some of my modules include research, human resource management, strategic human resource development and so forth.

I did a lot of human resource studies at tertiary level. It was also necessary to do management so that it was possible to be certified around my computer literacy.  I did a 3 week course at SAGE for payroll administration.

Learning is definitely my first love. To this end I plan on studying further after I completing my B. Com honors.

What is your job description?

Please note that some answers are from my personal CV as well as the company CV

Currently I have a lot of caps on my head regarding my job description(s)…where do I start? .OK here goes…

Regarding the success of Polish Management

I am responsible for running the day to day business activities of the company. I do this with an emphasis on sales and business development.  I ensure growth by developing new clients while, on the other hand, I maintain the present customer base. I am a creative, result driven managing director with a proven ability to develop and maintain the company’s mission along strong written and verbal communication skills that assist in forecasting good project management and analytical skills.  

 Duties that I focus on are:

         ·         Identifying, developing and directing the implementation of the business strategy.

·         Cultivating the company’s reputation in the market place with suppliers and customers.

·         Planning and organising activities to achieve targets.

·         Looking closely at the profit and loss in the company.

·         Leading, motivating and developing management team.

·         Developing business plans and preparing comprehensive reports.

·         Improving Margins and maintaining high quality service to clients

·         Building client relationship that result in revenue and profitability growth

·         Assisting with collection, compilation and entering of payroll on the pastel payroll system, Knowledge of pastel partner.

·         Issuing of statement of earnings and deductions.

·         Investigating and correct discrepancies

·         Updating payroll reports

·         Preparing and printing out payroll reports

·         Solving problems where they may arise

·         Addressing employee pay slips concerns

·         Liaising / communicating with all levels in the organization

·         Invoicing clients after processing payroll.

·         Calculating leave and bonuses.

·         Issuing of UI-19, EMP201, UIF, UI-2.7,

·         Recruiting and terminating employee contracts

·         I also do recruitment which is another department in the company, it involves looking for specialized candidates that can fill positions that are advertised and keeping them happy enough to succeed in employment retention within these tough economic times we are currently facing in their newly appointed jobs.

 To be able to do the above I need some of the following skills:

·         Tax Knowledge and understanding

·         Knowledge about benefits( medical aid/ provident fund unions)

·         Accurate and fast capturing skills, strong numerical skills.

·         Knowledge of payroll regulations

·         Adherence to all administrative duties( filing, emailing, faxing ,etc.)                      

What skills, subjects and courses are required in this career?

Possess strong leadership skills in new business development competencies.

You must have a comprehensive understanding of financial management principles.

You will also need entrepreneurial foresight with an acute commercial acumen and excellent management skills

When you are a good motivated team player who is results driven you are a valuable member who does not only add numbers.

Result oriented with a positive outlook and clear focus on high quality and business profit.

Be in tune with policies that are aligned with good practice within the current South African legal acts.

Are there hidden ‘nuances’ here we need to know about regarding the occupation?

Hahaha!  Well, just like any job, if you don’t have the passion for it you will “work” for the rest of your life…You see, I deal with all levels of management and peoples’ salaries so sometimes it requires you to work long hours and you are expected to be on top of your game at all times. Be as it may be, you can’t make a mistake as it reflects badly on the business. Therefore it can affect your relationship with clients.

One thing that stands out is there are no rooms for errors, ever.

Where do you work, your work station?

I mostly work online everywhere usually more in my office at home.

What do they do there?

Research, research, research! Doing my payroll as it’s an online based software, emails, marketing and promoting Polish Management. I do these digitally as that is my communication channel. I do everything literally online.

How where your teachers involved with your aspirations?

Hmm (ponders deeply)…. No. As mentioned before I have always felt like there wasn’t any person that I could pin point… who really saw anything valuable in me to pay attention to it, except my family of course. I have a really great supportive family and I thank God for them. UNISA is mostly self-study so everything that I am is self-taught.

What about your family?  Did they know about your chosen career?

My Family is 100% behind me! Even when I had my first entrepreneurial blunders I was still got support from them. My mom and aunt used to hand out my magazines at their work to help market Successful Women Magazine.

What did you do at school level to contact role-models and other experts regarding your chosen career?

Hmmm…all I ever wanted was a mentor…Still Looking for one though. I listened to a lot of audio after I learned that I can access anything I want on the internet.

What seemed to work best was listening to a lot of motivation audio’s and  YouTube HR related videos. That’s been my strategy ever since.

Are you a member of an organisation in the area of your occupation?

Currently no, because of the different stages in my life…but I will get there.

What are future prospects of this career?

Polish management becoming one of the most outsourced agencies in human resource, payroll and recruitment in the country.

What is the industry like?
Cut throat. No room for mistakes and it is the pressure is always sky high. I love it because you learn every day. It’s definitely not boring.

What are related fields?

Yes, financial management and labour relations to name a few.One thing I love about human resource is that it’s the heartbeat of most organisations as it starts and ends there in terms of hiring and firing. So it relates with a lots of fields as you are required to learn about IT if you are to recruit the best IT talent

 Where did you attend schools and tertiary?

My first primary school was all the way in the Vaal, the Park Ridge Primary School.

Then after moving to Pretoria I finished grades 6 and 7 at the Glenstantia Primary School.

Afterwards I enrolled at The Glen High School till grade 12.

Tertiary it has always been UNISA till today.

What subjects did you do at school? What were your favourite subjects?

Life Sciences is the only one that stands out as at one point I wanted to be doctor and all I thought I had to do is get a high mark in life science. That way I would cut people brains…

How are they aligned to your career?

Well maybe business management, as I did it through out tertiary level and now….but what I learned in theory is different compared to the practical world. Business management served as a tool of direction in my life.

Who were your favourite teachers?

Mrs. Olibakinde she was quiet motivational. She was science teacher but she unfortunately passed on in 2009.

What community organisations are you involved with?

Online communities, mostly business forums but nothing in particular.

What sport do you play?

I was great at hockey in high school, first team and all… but since then I just been working out at the gym when I get time.

How old are you?

I am 26 years of age born in 1990 the second of March.

Do you have any children and are you married? 

Currently no to both questions

  

Nthabiseng with business mogul, Richard Maponya

What services does Polish Management Offer?

Polish management has three separate departments of which we currently focusing on increasing clients under Payroll services which include but not limited to offering small to medium companies that currently done have a functional HR department in the companies

Processing of payroll and issuing of comprehensive pay slips

ü Payment of staff via bank transfers

ü Deduction of all statutory levies, as required by current law. These include UIF, SDL, and PAYE. Where applicable, Pension / Provident Fund, Medical Aid, Security related Industry related levies, Union fees

ü Submission of statutory levies PAYE; SDL; UIF; directly to S.A.R.S, on e-filing

ü Monthly submission of U.I.7 on u-filing

ü Monthly amending & submission of U.I.19 declaration on u-filing

ü Deduction of Third Party deductions, including Medical Aid, Pension / Provident funds, Garnishee orders, Union fees

ü Reconciliation and Submission of Third Party payments, including Medical Aid, Pension / Provident fund, Garnishee orders, Union fees etc to the relevant institutions

ü Submission of EMP501 bi-annual reports

ü Generating I.R.P.5 Certificates

ü Registering and deregistering of staff members at the relevant institutions

ü Detailed monthly reports for submission to auditors and accountants

ü Administrating all leave in the company

Recruitment Services-

As recruitment and selection plays a central role in ensuring the best skills are present in the employment industry by understanding where our services rank in the marketplace has helped us improve our standing among consumers.

However, it will serve clients with needs for select, specialized professionals rather the light industrial workers. Polish Recruiters has 10 divisions, targeting the following areas of expertise:

 General administration

 Sales and Marketing

 IT

 Banking and Finance

 Construction.

 Life Sciences and Pharmaceutical

 Supply Chain

 HR

 Fashion retail

 Engineering

Objectives

 POLISH recruitment will manage the professional, staying in close contact with the client and communicating with the worker regarding any personnel issues that may arise through spending time with potential candidates by doing research on the business growth trends that project the requirement of the specific general set of competencies at leadership levels.

We will first seek to create customer awareness regarding services offered, then develop the customer base and finally work toward building customer loyalty and referrals.

Polish recruitment policy is to ensure recruitment and selection is done fair, efficient, effective, transparent and equitable manner. We aim to promote workplace diversity and attract scarce skills and enhance service excellence in all aspects of the company by generating a sufficient pool of applicants and ensuring availability of necessary skills and requirements to fill up positions.

It’s not what we do but how we do it, patient centred, working together, enhancing values delivering success.

We aim to achieve and maintain satisfaction while we run and grow our business, by value creation in our services and being transparent within our business ventures with our clients and candidates. To provide all resources our employees need to remain as productive as possible.

Here are some of her colleagues

The young feed the nation

When her father died and left her a farm GUGU NTSHINGILA did not sell it and chow the money like the prodigal son, but she left her burgeoning education career to get her hands dirty. Today she and her partner THOBILE LUMKAWANA are doing are thriving business as the only female farmers in the hydroponics farming out in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands. The two entrepreneurs spoke to Thembi Masser while they were in Gauteng looking for other business opportunities.

Gugu, 30, shy and reserved, knew from long ago that she had all the stars shining on her petite body. As early as when she was five years old she wanted to be a dentist.  But, bizarrely, she also dreamed that one day she could a white person and have lots of money and fly all over the world. But today she runs this farm where seed is not inserted in the ground but plants grow from bags and clay pots above the ground.

Hydroponics farming is a special farming project which, according to Thobile, is economical and the future industry in the farming sector. To start with it is not seasonal “In fact, it is the best way to farm, considering all the advantages,” Gugu says. Plants are not affected by the weather and this is a boon when they have a year-long supply contract with fresh fruit and vegetables retailers.   The harvesting is faster and is plenty because there is not so much loss.  The project is so cost-effective that very minimal equipment is needed for the day-to-day running of the farm and it saves water. “And there is no toyi-toyi here. Not because the labourers cannot do it, but because we have interns from all over South Africa coming here to get education while they get paid for it and gain valuable experience,” Gugu remarks.

The farm is accredited as a business and a training center with AgriSeta.

The farm is in Pietermaritzburg in the where the two ladies live with their four children at the moment. Gugu is from Umlazi Durban while Thobile is from Soweto. The name of the farm is derived from the Chichewa language, the language Thobile learnt while she was married in Malawi. It is called Wa-mai, which means fortune. Gugu inherited the farm in 2014 after the demise of her father. Her father ran the farm from 2002 and it was a successful enterprise which attracted retailers like Spar and the local Pick-n-Pay. It has also supplied food to the Ishonalanga Game reserve, lodging establishments and restaurants.  It is more than 2000 acres big and has four channels, two shaded and two under renovations as we speak.

‘We show gratitude to the interns we have here,” Gugu enthuses. She says they provide bedding and safety boots and blankest for them. “We are grateful for their presence here and do not bask in the sun and say the Seta pays them. No, we play our part meaningfully. The kitchens are fully kitted and they buy their own food while toiletry is optional. Sometimes, when we can, we provide it,” she laughs.

While Gugu wanted to be as pale as the white man and extract teeth for a living, she relishes the tasks they do at the farm and firmly believes in the future of the farm. “I get my hands dirty.” But surely it is in the office where she is well-acquitted. After matriculating at the Velabahleke High she enrolled for an educational degree at Unisa after a one year stint at Edgars. While studying at Unisa she facilitated at the Intuition College. At Intuition she taught public relations and communications.  

Upon completion of her teaching degree she then worked at KPC3 Professional accountants entrusted with the post of company registrations and funding.

“I suppose all of this start at high school where I did all these subjects. Her favourite subject was English, but biology, maths, accounting physical science and geography all play their part in her present occupation, which she hopes makes teachers at her primary school in Umlazi proud of her. “I am sure my favourite teacher at high school, Bongeka Mabaso raises my flag whenever the occasion calls for it.”

It is against all odds that she is where she is right now considering the tribulations black kids go through in their education. For instance there was no career guidance at Velabahleke.

Now, at the farm, it is all hands on deck.

Her partner, Thobile is more boisterous in presence. She is a Sowetan who has travelled Africa during her marriage to a Malawian politician. Thobile is an energetic 32 year-old who wished that one day she would don the uniform of flight attendants and fly all over the world. “I just liked the lithe bodies in these uniforms and would look endlessly at their pictures,” she whistles. At the same time she entertained her mother with the stories of wanting to study for law. “I wanted to study it in Nigeria.” Being a social worker was also in the mix. ‘The influence to be a social worker was from my auntie.”

In the beginning she did not finish her grade 12 studies “because I was going through some stuff.” But relief came in 2014 when she went to lifeline to work as a counselor. Earlier, in 2005, she got married.  The two established an NPO in Malawi, Hands of Hope, which ran for hour years. “We supported girls in our endevours to equip them with the necessary tools to conquer life while we led women in business.” They also supported children in school at the time. “I gave motivational talks and inspired many to look at the stars above. 

“In 2013 I separated from him and completed my matric then. Thereafter, in 23014, I went to LiifeLine.”   But LifeLine was not the solution. “I had to work to feed my three children and myself. So I went job hunting, which revealed a miracle although I did not know it at the time.’ Thobile found a job as a painter at MacJaz construction enterprise. She was the only female at the time at the site. She developed a passion for the job and not satisfied with her wages; she started her own construction company after only a few months at MacJaz. She employed two men and the three of them accepted any job offered to them. “But I am not ashamed to say I made money. We still do a trick or two when it is so possible,’” she sighs.

But life was not all that easy for the Sowetan. After her primary school at Entwandwini primary she went to PJ Simelane High where her subjects where tourism, geography, biology, history, Zulu and English. Maybe it is not only fate which brought them together in Daveyton, but the choice of their subjects might have played a major role in weaving their paths together. Geography and history were her favourite subjects while Bridget Marboom was her favourite teacher.

‘Today I am a director here at Wa-mwai and I do everything on the farm just like in my previous company. I am grateful to Gugu for her undying love to hold my hand to lead me through the intricacies of farming. And life.”

The two met in Daveyton earlier this year and since then have been inseparable in their quest to lay tracks for other female black farmers to feed the nation. Gugu is full of hope: “We want to expand and make forays into Africa as well.”

Productivity SA Awards for top performers 2016

From left to right: Dr Danisa Baloyi  - President of the Black Business Council; Mr Mothunye Mothiba – Productivity SA CEO; The Emerging Sector Winners- Eat Smart Organics; The Cooperatives Sector winners - Inqolobane Yobumbano Secondary Co-operative; Center Back: The Deputy Minister of Labour – Inkosi Phathekile Holomisa; Mr Mthunzi Mdwaba – Chairman of the Productivity SA board; The Public Sector Winners - SAFCOL Timbadola Sawmill  and The Corporate Sector Winner - Eberspächer South Africa (Pty) Ltd

Top companies who managed to improve their productivity throughout the year have been honoured at the National Productivity Awards held at Gallagher Estates, Midrand this past weekend.

The Productivity SA Awards are a means to recognise creativity, innovation and productivity within South African enterprises. Productivity SA is established in terms of section 31(1) of the Employment Services Act, No. 4 of 2014 as a juristic person with a mandate to promote employment growth and productivity, thus contributing to South Africa’s socio-economic development and economic efficiency.

The Chairman of the Productivity SA board, Mr Mthunzi Mdwaba in his welcome speech said “Behind productivity growth is the worker, strong work culture, and the worker working smarter. This establishes a need for South Africa to make important adjustments and improvements in the labour market which is characterised by structural mismatches resulting from historical patterns of production in the economy on one hand, and education and skills development on the other.”

Productivity and competitiveness are concepts that are important in order to harness the energy that build economies. The need exists to address these challenges via raising national productivity and competitiveness, which is a key challenge in itself. 

The Keynote Speaker at the function President of the Black Business Council, Dr Danisa Baloyi, urged everyone from business, labour and government to work together with Productivity SA in ensuring that it becomes the apex of productivity and is accessible to all who need the interventions. 

The winners were awarded in the following categories:

• Emerging:  Eat Smart Organics – (Western Cape)
• Corporate: Eberspächer South Africa (Pty) Ltd – (Eastern Cape)
• Public sectors: SAFCOL Timbadola Sawmill (Limpopo) and 
• Cooperative sector: Inqolobane Yobumbano Secondary Co-operative – (KwaZulu- Natal)

The Deputy Minister of Labour Inkosi Phathekile Holomisa says the mandate of the DoL is to regulate the labour market through policies and programmes developed in consultation with social partners, which are aimed at:

•      improved economic efficiency and productivity;

•       employment creation; sound labour relations;

•      eliminating inequality and discrimination in the workplace; alleviating poverty in employment;

•      Enhancing occupational health and safety awareness and compliance in the workplace; as well as nurturing the culture of acceptance that worker rights are human rights.