Tag Archive for: leadership

Cassidy Dauberman

Relocation Africa Appoints René Webster as General Manager

After 9 years within the Mobilitas Group, René Webster brings her people focused, hands on approach to propel Relocation Africa along a strong growth trajectory.

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA – 4 OCTOBER 2024

Relocation Africa is proud to announce that René Webster will be joining the business and bringing her analytical people focused approach to the team at our Head Office in Cape Town from October 2024 to scale the business into its next phase of growth, by combining her experience and skills with the reputation, processes and quality-centric services delivered by Relocation Africa to their clients for the past 31 years, so we become the Relocation Company of Choice in Africa.

When Relocation Africa started in 1994, to facilitate business flooding into the new South Africa, the entrepreneurial mother and daughter team of Rose and René Maytham could never have dreamt that 30 years later the business would be providing multiple mobility services across more than 30 countries across Africa. Although Rose left the business in the late 90’s, René and her husband, Andrew Stegmann, who joined the business in 2002, have grown the group to a point where it provides quality relocation, immigration, research, payroll and payment services to the mobility sector across Africa, however scaling a business requires different skills.

“Entrepreneurs can start business and grow revenue streams, but there are cleverer people with more structured and analytical skills that can accelerate the scaling of a business better than us.” says Andrew Stegmann, the MD of Relocation Africa. “We’re honoured to have someone of Webster’s experience and standing in the industry joining us to help scale into the future.” he finishes – showing the first hints at the new challenges they will be facing: how do they refer to the two René’s now leading in the business without getting mixed up.

René Stegmann and René Webster have always shared a mutual respect for each other, even as competitors, and have both helped shape the global mobility industry across Africa. Their shared passion for the continent and commitment to service excellence makes René Webster’s joining a natural fit, especially with her deep relationships globally and her extensive knowledge of the industry in Africa.

With René Webster on board, René Stegmann will step into a new role as Head of Strategy, which includes integrating ESG principles and leveraging technology to meet not only the client’s evolving needs, but also focused alignment with the global SDG’s. “Anyone who knows me, will understand how excited I am to be able to focus more time and energy on ESG. It’s a privilege having someone of René’s calibre joining our team, and even more so now that we’ve been chatting, I understand more how passionate she is too about sustainability and focusing on the SDG’s 2030 Agenda. The future is bright, for Relocation Africa”, she says confidently.

Having had a few months off, René Webster is rejoining the industry with a refreshed commitment and energy to provide inspiring leadership to the team at Relocation Africa. In the coming weeks, she will immerse herself in understanding the systems and processes that Relocation Africa employs to deliver exceptional services to clients. Following this, she will collaborate to design and implement a growth strategy that will maximise success for Relocation Africa’s clients into the future.

With a sparkle in her eye, René Webster says: “I’m incredibly excited to join Relocation Africa, mostly because of the amazing people here.” Anyone who knows me understands that I firmly believe success is driven by the strength of the team you’re part of, and I can already see how special this team is. I can’t wait to contribute to and grow with them as we take the business to new heights.

– END –

Contact details:

Cassidy Dauberman

Phone: 021 763-4240

Email: cassidy@relocationafrica.com

Website: www.relocationafrica.com

Cassidy Dauberman

Encouraging Empowerment Through Work Shadowing: From A Human Resources Viewpoint

In the contemporary business world we thrive in today, we are convinced that empowerment is not simply a matter of the individual’s growth. It involves nurturing the environment so that every person can thrive. This year, rather than merely focusing on our team, we are also looking at our community as showcased by our recent work shadow initiative. Namita, who spent two days with us in the office, experienced firsthand how our commitment to empowerment stretches beyond our organisation to make a positive impact on our community.

Her introduction to work shadowing began with us . The moment Namita entered our office, she was enthusiastically welcomed and instantly felt the togetherness that we as a team had with each other. We are committed to diversity and therefore, each person is made to feel valued.

“One thing that amazed me was their kindness.” Namita exclaimed, saying that they made me feel as if I belonged to the place instead of just giving me a tour around.

She echoed the organisational culture that was the wisdom of our team and the caring environment. Thus, by Namita’s side, not only did she acquaint herself with the different departments and team members, but she also participated in some of the discussions regarding her future career path. This collaborative approach, led by a structured itinerary crafted by HR, offered her valuable insights into our operations.

Our vision is clear – to be the relocation company of choice in Africa. This vision does not only explain our activities but also describes what our clients and the whole community will be like when they are with us – supported, valued, and empowered.

Our core values, i.e., Embrace Change, Uncompromising Ethics, Consider the Person, and I do it, I own it! Help in shaping our organisations culture. These values are the principles by which we live and interact with each other. They inform our behaviours and relationships, guaranteeing that every choice and initiative aligns with our commitment to excellence and responsibility.

Namita’s time with us was not just about a 2 day job shadow in the workplace; it was about taking part in a culture that values empowerment. As we continue to expand, our commitment towards empowering others through support activities like mentorship, community engagement, or sustainable business practices, will stay.

Work shadowing programs, in which people like Namita get to gain empowerment and our organisation becomes enhanced along with the community connections. Subsequently, we are looking forward to keeping environments that are not only supportive but, most importantly, beacons of empowerment that we do together as a team.

Owning empowerment as a strategic focal point this year, Relocation Africa does not only heighten individual experiences but also promotes a culture of inclusivity and growth which is echoed throughout the organisation and beyond.

 

Written by Cassidy Dauberman

Sisipho Ntsabo
, ,

Unlocking Core Values with Andrew Stegmann

Unlocking Values with Andrew Stegmann

Core values are principles and beliefs that are the cornerstones of a company’s actions. They are guiding principles for your employees, the company culture and business strategies. In this day, stakeholders – internally and externally are asking companies to be transparent about their company values in an effort to hold them accountable. More and more, it has become apparent that the consumers are aligning themselves with companies that reflect and resonate with their own personal values.

Andrew believes that a business is a collection of people (read employees) with their own personal values, believing that their personal actions are right. Thus, it almost becomes imperative to define your own company values in efforts to not only build team cohesion but to achieve a collective goal and gain.

Stegmann says that defining company values with your employees is important so that they know what values to evoke in their personal decision making. More so, to identify which values closely resonate with them and that they can live out boldly, and which ones they may need to work on.

Relocation Africa presents their Four Core Values

After a 6-week robust, extensive workshop ran by Relocation Africa’s HR Generalist, Joy Jackson, the team defined Relocation Africa’s four company values. Every Wednesday, the team gathered to discuss their personal values and values they ‘think’ Relocation Africa represents. Stegmann highlights that the reason for this 6-week course was to create a collaborative space for employee and employer to define values not only to publicise but to define the true reflection of who they are.

“It is important to understand in defining our values that we are not trying to create some desirable, fictitious, theoretical values but to assess and document what the values in the business are” 

After an intense six-week deliberation, the team is proud to announce their four core values:

EMBRACE CHANGE

Our attitude towards change is an opportunity to be better. Adapt to progress.

UNCOMPROMISING ETHICS

We proudly hold ourselves to the highest standards in all our actions. We build trust through responsible actions and honest relationships.

CONSIDER THE PERSON

We believe in the power of each of our differences – Seeing with the eyes of another, listening with the ears of another, and feeling with the heart of another​

I DO IT, I OWN IT!

We accept accountability for what we are entrusted with by our stakeholders.

 

Values as a structural framework in Decision Making 

Speaking to Stegmann is quite interesting as I ask why it is imperative to document and publicize a company’s values. He says, “Our team needs to see what our values are, to use them with their decision making. And if people are making decisions, they need to have a framework which they reference it against. We can only be more productive when people are making decisions without having to get approval to check if it is the right decision”. Indeed, values give a structural framework for decision making. Core values simplify and facilitate the decision-making process for not only the employees and employer but also for the client. Clients know what the value system is of the business they are partnering with and to know what is acceptable and what is not.

Values as a counternarrative to the world’s misrepresentation of Africa

Africa is often misrepresented and mis-imaged. This draws back to centuries of work through colonialism, media, religion, education, and science. The only way to counter these narratives is with intentional acts such as defining company values for stakeholders, clients and the broader community to see. This is an active construction of a counternarrative which deconstructs and debunks the world’s negative perceptions and representation of Africa, while actively legitimising and it documents what is true and a lived experience in African by Africans.

Stegmann speaks quite extensively about the importance of having contextualised Relocation Africa’s core values. While some values may seem to be a ‘no brainer’, we must be cognisant of the Africa’s positionality in the global sphere. It is seen as a corrupt and disorderly nation. Therefore, defining and publicising their values is not only an act of internal team cohesion but an act of committing to represent Africa in a positive light.

Measuring and Monitoring the Fulfilment of Values

With almost everything in life, there is an expectation of measuring and monitoring what it is you have introduced/implemented in life and in business. In efforts to measure one’s progress with the newly implemented object or routine, one sets measuring tools or criteria for accountability.

Posing the question to Andrew, he replies “I would suggest that it is almost irrelevant, because values are supposed to be part of what you are doing. Values aren’t something to measure, they just are what they are”.

These next few weeks, we will be discussing defining core values in its entirety. From the workshop with Joy Jackson, to discussing each of the values and their alignment with Relocation Africa. Watch this space. Unlocking core values with Andrew Stegmann.