People Lead: Integrated Channels (Everyday Banking) at Absa Group Limited (Absa)

Key Accountabilities:

Commercial awareness and strategic partnering: 

• Demonstrates a deep understanding of the global market place, competitive position and commercial drivers for a complex, large scale retail business.
• Uses business acumen/perspective to translate the Business Unit strategy into a clear people agenda
• A strategic partner to the Business Unit ME/functional leaders in a fast moving, complex and developing environment.
• Uses analytics, data and trends both internally and externally to diagnose Business Unit issues and recommend effective solutions.
• Manages external networks and is well connected to shape the external perception of Absa Group Limited to be in a position to attract the best capabilities to the organisation and have influence in the market place.
• Articulates strategy and is able to translate into actions and results for the function.

Trusted Advisor:

• Owns the relationship with the Business Unit leadership as a trusted advisor.
• Exemplary coach and sounding board to the ME and other senior leaders in the business.
• Demonstrates influence and credibility with senior leaders across the business.
• Actively assists the ME to build the effectiveness and develop the top team appropriately.

Ownership of the end-to-end HR delivery:

• Operates as the relationship manager for the customer base and is responsible for broking People Specialist and Operations to execute on the defined people strategy.
• Works with the Business Unit leadership to identify and develop talent and robust succession for the area.
• Has a high level of focus on customer relations.
• Drives a culture of customer centricity and responsiveness across all People Function teams
• Able to prioritise, manage and lead a team of specialist to deliver across a Pan African agenda.
• Drive the delivery of key People initiatives through employing the appropriate change and project management disciplines across the People value chain.
• Takes the business priorities and translate these into People Strategies and takes end-to-end ownership for delivering key People processes.

Functional Leader:

• Takes ownership of strategic resource planning and delivery and participate in executive and senior role hiring.
• Takes responsibility for Business Unit talent reviews, succession planning activities and talent and capability development.
• Delivers Leadership and Learning programmes via specialists, specifies internal capability gaps and ensure relevant assessments, development and coaching in place.
• Drives the Business Unit reward and performance strategy and provide input and manage the executive compensation and ownership of pay cycle and reward plan delivery.
• Ensures effective employee engagement for the Business Unit in conjunction with the Functional Leader, supporting the People Operations planning and service quality management.

Leading teams:

• Ensure the development of a high performing team through embedding formal Performance development and informal coaching.
• Determine and analyse training and development needs for team members.
• Establish and maintain a succession plan for the team using the formal talent management process.
• Interview and recruit direct reports.
• Develop appropriate engagement plans to drive heightened employee engagement.

 Finance and Risk Management:

• Sets the people risk philosophy and principles for the People Function.
• Understands cost drivers and manages budgets successfully.

Additional Requirements:

• B Degree (Postgrad preferable) 
• Ability to work in a fast paced, highly pressurized environment that operates 24/7 across various distribution channels
• Key understanding of retail is advantageous
• Manage efficiency gains across critical programmes that may result in skills re-purposing
• Responsible for the strategic formulation and build out of people strategies for Integrated Channels and implementation thereof
• Lead large scale people projects that require reskilling and rethinking the status quo
• People centred environment – ability to interact at all levels in the organisation and sustain healthy relationships with colleagues and labour
• Overall headcount of 7000 perm colleagues located nationally
• Oversees a large team of People Partners across various regions in SA