CHAPTER 4: RESULTS
4.3 Analysis of the research data
The interviews were transcribed verbatim, after which the researcher engaged in a process of analysing the responses and grouping them into relevant themes. Table 4.1 provides a summary of themes that were identified by the researcher.
99 Table 4.2: Themes
THEME DESCRIPTION
Theme 1 Coaching and mentoring
Theme 2 Succession planning and retention
Theme 3 Career sponsorship
Theme 4 Institutionalised bias
Theme 5 Stretch assignments and rotations
Theme 6 Non-executives to executives
Theme 7 Transformation targets and incentives
Theme 8 The power of networking
Theme 9 Credibility and professionalism
Theme 10 Lifting as rising
Source: Constructed by the researcher
4.3.1 Coaching and mentoring
Coaching and mentoring was mentioned by almost all the participants in the research interviews. Most companies lack formal mentoring and coaching programmes and that leaves very few companies that have incorporated this form of initiative. There has been a moderate success rate in the acceleration of black talent by the companies that have adopted this leadership development initiative. The respondents cited it as a necessary intervention in their career development, particularly that of black professionals, as it will propel them to executive positions.
“The challenges with investing in the development of black talent, gets challenged by the resources that the organisation to put aside for that purpose.
For instance, what you find is because there is not a big pool of black talent out
100 there, so sometimes you have to take people and put a mentorship programme and other development assistance to enable them to be ready for the positions that you want to fill in the long term” (R1).
Another respondent added that it is important for black professionals to be given more opportunities to take leadership and be involved, in the same way the sport players would need to field in order to gain experience and competence:
“And sometimes we tend to use experience as an obstruction but actually if you want more black people operating at that level, we need to see more intent and by more intent, we need to start throwing them or putting them on the field of play for them to play. I think what needs to happen is that you know there’s a new field that is growing in this country and that is executive coaching and mentorship” (R9).
One of the respondents stated that mentoring and coaching needs to be formalised in companies, adding that cultural inclusiveness and diversity must be the key driver when selecting managers who will be part of this initiative.
“…mentoring, spending time and being given assignment so that you could use your expertise to share and engage with the young people” (R11).
A number of respondents commented that the youth dimension must also be taken into account. This was argued from the role model perspective, as well as in terms of access to networks and building relationships with senior managers and executives within companies.
“…we need to in our networks, and in our coaching and mentoring of… of young people, we need to share with them what it means to succeed” (R3).
4.3.2 Succession planning and retention
The majority of the respondents argued that there is insufficient or lack of succession planning to be taken more seriously by companies. Most participants viewed it as crucial in positioning black talent for future opportunities, as natural attrition takes place in companies. Retention, most respondents explained, is equally important when
101 dealing with matters of succession. Both succession and retention are critical in leadership development and ensuring progress in accelerating black talent.
One of the participants said that there should be consideration for black managers as potential successors in all key positions within companies, especially at the executive level. However, most companies still have not factored this in their succession plans.
Assessments must also be taken into account to ensure that the leadership development interventions are customised and appropriate for the individual who is on the succession slate. He further explained that companies must be deliberate and offer tangible roles to ensure that succession is not reduced to a mockery by other observers within companies.
“I think I'm convinced that that’s what you need to have. You need to show me the talent map and show me who those individuals are, and why in particular positions there aren’t Black individuals, and depending on the business units ask for disproportionate targets for Black people” (R3).
Most participants linked the success of succession planning to role modelling; when young black professionals see their own in top management or executive levels, that inspires them and gives them hope.
4.3.3 Career sponsorship
All the respondents agreed that the people who make it to executive positions are backed by a sponsor; a career sponsor is someone who takes an interest in an individual’s career and unlocks opportunities that are related to career advancement, such as promotions, participation in business development programmes, and various kinds of exposure. This researcher can attest to this, having worked at the top management of a JSE-listed company, where careers are unlikely to get to such heights without sponsorship.
“So one of the key things is that we use the executive assistant role and the executive assistant gets exposed to a variety of senior executives…” (R7).
Another respondent concurred:
102
“When I became an Executive Assistant for an example, it became apparent that I was being fast-tracked. And I think the onus was on me to perform, so I was being told to say, “Look, you are being fast-tracked.” And this was not a secret but there was also an understanding that it is not going to be given to me on a silver platter” (R9).
The majority of participants highlighted the impact of Executive Assistant roles as the most successful leadership development intervention. They revealed how the Assistant gets exposed to areas of business and company strategies by interacting with the company executives. This also helps the Assistants to build their own personal networks with the rest of the executives within the company.
“Sponsoring for me means that when you sponsor, sponsorship says I am successful when that person is successful I therefore do everything in my power to make sure that they get to that point” (R7).
One of the participants emphasised the significance of white executives offering career sponsorship, arguing that it will assist in the improvement of race relations. Clearly, there are benefits that go far beyond career acceleration within companies.
“I think it is useful to get a white person, a white male for that matter to sponsor a black person, because they’re going to have to go out of their way to do that.
And for them, sponsoring a black person, it gets them to open their eyes on black talent, you know, a little bit more than ordinarily that they would do” (R4).
Another participant indicated that while the Executive Assistant programme is great, every executive should have an assistant that is being exposed, not just the CEO. He concluded that this will help to achieve scale and impact the acceleration of blacks to executive levels in companies.
4.3.4 Institutionalised bias
Bias came out as one of the discussion and impact in halting the advancement of black talent; almost all the respondents agreed that it exists and is prevalent, saying that black professionals and women are always on the receiving end of this bias. One of the respondents argued that it is as a result of people feeling threatened or seeing
103 their career progress being at risk, and thus becoming negative about transformation.
Only those who are close to retirement seem to be comfortable with accelerating black talent.
“… like I know that I’m close to retirement and it’s easier for me to assist in developing my successor because he or she does not threaten me. But the human reaction is such that unless there is some incentive for me to do it, your natural reaction is always likely to be negative” (R1).
This respondent also contended that the economic prosperity of the company seems to be a key driver in putting people at ease and supporting the acceleration of black talent. By extension, if there are no alternative opportunities within the broader economy, then people tend to hold onto their jobs and not unlock opportunities for others, particularly black professionals.
The respondent added that:
“But the other problem that sometimes arises is that within the organisation, you find there is resistance. So particularly in a time where the companies are not growing so then people think okay, if I assist this fellow, my job may be on the line and I can’t see my own career” (R1)
Nevertheless, another respondent insisted that how people are socialised and their background is at the core of what fuels bias in companies, adding that the acceleration of black talent will not happen without leadership taking transformation seriously - only then will the culture change to enable transformation to take place. Leadership and culture are thus instrumental in redressing institutionalised bias in companies.
“…if you go to the United Kingdom other than international companies that actual chose just to operate there your general head of a British company what do you expect them to be, if you go to China your heads of Chinese businesses, if you go to Brazil what do you expect them to be, those companies are not discriminating, you will find some black people but you will expect if you walk into a French company the majority of the top leadership is French because that is actually normal…” (R2).
104 One of the respondents indicated that South African companies need to reflect the demographics of our society, and that diversity must be at the core of what drives companies if we want to do well as a country. This diversity must be reflected across all management levels within companies across industries. However, another respondent had a completely different view, and argued that diversity training in companies has not yielded the desired outcomes.
“…so I think companies have to do unconscious bias training and again I don’t think diversity training, that’s not what I am talking about, diversity training hasn’t worked”
(R11).
Another respondent supported the argument by highlighting that:
“… a lot of the people that have to make the changes are white people. And because of that, a lot of them have got unconscious bias, a lot of them would deny that they are racists, but they will take actions that you and I would understand as being the outcomes of either deliberate or unconscious bias”
(R3).
Bias is essentially a prejudice based on favour for or against a certain person or group, and it is inherently anchored by unfairness. In corporate South Africa, bias is largely institutionalised given the racial history of the country; people have been socialised in racial terms and that seems to be the lens through which they view the world.
Consequently, top managers and executives in companies are no different from how the rest of the society has been socialised.
4.3.5 Stretch assignments and rotations
A stretch assignment is an additional responsibility or project given to an employee over and above their normal duties, while rotation is about taking on a new responsibility within the company or organisation without any responsibilities and dependencies to a previous role. Both these initiatives have proven to be effective in the development and acceleration of talent in companies. Most respondents believed that they must be skewed in favour of black professionals and women to improve the demographics in top management structures of companies.
105 “Rotation is almost a domino rotation… when there's an opportunity there that’s created by one person moving, we put another person and rotate another person into that space. If there's a project that the company is working on, we can rotate people into those projects” (R5).
This respondent further indicated that it is critical for companies to invest in training and developing their employees, and insisted that these stretch assignments and rotations are the most effective ways of advancing blacks and minorities in the gas and petroleum industry. The prioritisation of black talent, she concluded, will assist in the acceleration of black professionals to executive levels in JSE-listed companies.
The respondent also highlighted that:
“…you’ve got people that are ready because you’ve trained them, and you’ve made them ready. You’ve exposed them to other projects that are similar to the one that we are starting in China because businesses always grow adjacent”
(R5).
4.3.6 Non-executives to executive conversion
The conversion of non-executive directors to executive directors was one of the most captivating and creative perspective. Most of the respondents indicated that it is easier for companies to achieve diversity and inclusivity at the board level than at the executive committee level.
One of the respondents highlighted two examples where this initiative was perfectly executed in different JSE-listed companies where he serves as a non-executive director.
“… the Deputy CEO, I’ll use her as an example. She used to be a partner in an audit firm. Then she became a non-executive director at our company, but because she could demonstrate talent, the CEO said to me I’d like her to be the next CFO. So we then transitioned her from being a non-executive to being an
106 executive, and then she ran a unit called Balance Sheet Management which really focuses on managing capital for the group” (R1).
This has proven to be a massive success as the candidate was already familiar with the company and part of the development of strategy, and had a good understanding of the drivers and levers of the business.
The respondent further commented that:
“Because when you look at it, people have been there in the board, they have a visibility of what’s happening in the company, they understand the nitty- gritties. Then it makes sense for them to be converted, and that candidate is a good example and now CEO of a Top 40 listed company” (R1).
4.3.7 Transformation targets and incentives
Most participants stated that there must be incentives for transformation to be achieved that must work on two levels, one for individuals whose performance bonuses must be linked to the promotion of black talent, and one for the companies themselves through tax breaks and other forms of benefits.
One of the respondents indicated that companies and boards must set targets that they want to achieve because without targets there is no aim. He insisted that these targets must be linked to the management’s performance indicators. A timeframe of three years must be set with the leadership team in terms of how KPIs will be achieved.
“The other way maybe you can encourage businesses to overcome this obstacle, is maybe there needs to be a process in place where we reward companies taking this thing seriously. Maybe it could be in the form of tax breaks, it could be in some form of rewards and rebates that will encourage companies to be able to take transformation seriously” (R9).
Another respondent explained:
“So we actually do set targets, sometime a 50%, sometimes a 30%, depends on the different environments. Fifty percent women, 30% women, 60% blacks,
107 so we set quite very high targets on recruitment and on promotion of women”
(R5).
Some respondents argued that rewards and penalties must cascade to the executive and management levels and have a direct personal impact to encourage the acceleration of black talent.
“…we’re going to call them what they are and we are going to implement them, and we are going to have rewards and penalties, just like we have rewards and penalties for business objectives” (R3).
Another participant added that:
“At a point in time here for the top guys our incentives were weighted and it was as much as 20% for transformation at a gender and race level” (R2).
There was also an interesting view from one of the respondents who suggested that there must be a bonding of positions to encourage transformation to take place. This essentially means reserving positions or roles exclusively for black professionals.
“You got to start making calls like are you going to bond this position for a black person and we’ve done that with some roles” (R11).
4.3.8 The power of networking
Networks were mentioned as one of the most powerful mechanisms in career progression. These networks are informal and sometimes takes the form of interest groups when people participate in recreational activities or even just going out for drinks. Black professionals could progress their careers if they participate in these networks.
One of the respondents highlighted how she was excluded from a social conversation on the basis that she did not participate in that recreational activity. The activities that are done outside professional work seem to strengthen relationships and ease professional relationships as well.
“They watch the same shows, they do cycling like, and for instance this morning I was the only black lady in that meeting. There were four white men, one
108 Indian, four white men, and then the white lady that has just joined. So towards the end of the meeting, finished and they are talking about cycling, I don’t cycle, I don’t even know how to ride a bike, so obviously I am not going to be part of that conversation…” (R13).
All the respondents highlighted the importance of networks in advancing a corporate career; when colleagues spend time together, their conversations cover both social and work topics. One respondent argued that networks have to be across racial lines, as black professionals will benefit from the power of other races in building and strengthening theirs to benefit their own career acceleration.
“She says because when we’re sitting, we’re having drinks, there’s this project and there’s that project. Not because people consciously say we’re going to talk about work and drinks, but you start to talk about this, about things of work”
(R4).
Another respondent highlighted the racial aspect of it:
“You know, businesses work, based on networks, and because we don’t have a big enough pool of black professionals as yet, it’s that much more difficult to have the networks going, and as such, other races’ networks will always be much stronger” (R8).
4.3.9 Credibility and professionalism
Most respondents argued that black professionals themselves need to be role models and demonstrate credible track records. Taking charge and displaying excellence seems to be their preoccupation, however the challenge seems to be how that black excellence mantra can be cascaded to all black professionals.
“… I wish we can institutionalise black excellence, and black excellence is really about when you assume a position of leadership, you also demystify the perceptions of you got this because you know so and so. But to show that you can actually competently deliver to the expectations of all stakeholders. And if we do that, and also make sure that when you achieve a position at the top, you also create space for others to get there” (R1).