Senior Specialist: People Change Manager at Absa Group Limited (Absa)

Job Summary

• To provide advice and support in practice formulation and associated best practice improvement tactics; enabling the provision of specialist change management expertise.

Job Description

Project Delivery:

• Liaise with the Change Council to gain approval on projects/change initiatives requested by the various business units (BUs) Assign the project/change initiative to the relevant portfolio manager in order for them to effectively resource the project.
• Vet the resources assigned to the project by the portfolio manager and approve or decline the proposal.
• Oversee the development of the project plan, funding approvals through regular discussions with the portfolio manager or project manager.
• Provide corrective guidance where needed and approve the final recommendations that the project manager will present to the business units.
• Hold weekly meetings with either the portfolio or project manager to discuss and review progress made, risks and issues identified and where needed, provide guidance and resolution on any relevant matters.
• Attend project governance meetings, for example, Steering Committees (SteerCo's), Change Councils, etc. to maintain oversight of and review the project with all the relevant stakeholders.
• Review the architectural design proposed for the project/change initiative to ensure that it complies with the principles of scalability, reuse, sustainability, financial feasibility and ensure that the business processes are pragmatic.
• Any non-compliance to these principles will need to be reworked with the necessary individuals.
• Where a vendor needs to be involved in the particular change initiative, work closely with the project managers to identify the most relevant vendor based on the desired change.
• Approve and manage the vendors' responsibilities and accountabilities on projects through regular reviews, meetings, steerco’s, and other general feedback sessions.
• Provide feedback on the various change initiatives currently in focus to the relevant Executive on agreed period basis through one on one interaction.
• Provide feedback on a monthly basis for Executive Committee (EXCO) by updating the monthly EXCO report.
• Attend other meetings to provide feedback as and when requested. Provide feedback to any other relevant stakeholders.
• To provide a holistic overview of all change projects by collating weekly and monthly progress and performance reports based on submissions from project managers.
• Develop executive summaries based on the key risks, issues and milestones for review by the Executive and all other key role players for each report pack.
• Timing of reports are dependent on project deadlines as determined by project managers and business process owners.
• Understand the business strategies and medium term plans (MTP) and ensure that new proposals for projects or initiatives are aligned to the elements before approving proposals.
• Prioritise the change portfolio by reviewing all new business cases against strategic priorities and negotiating with Head of the business area to finalise the priority lists.
• Mobilise executives within the business to support key programmes by communicating project intent and obtaining buy-in and resource allocation for delivery of key components.
• For all new project and system change requests, ensure that a thorough risk assessment is conducted to determine the interdependencies between this and other projects and the impact proposed changes may have on seemingly unrelated processes and systems.
• Review recommendations prepared by the team on how to address these and determine whether the risk and mitigation is adequate or the change should be altered or declined.

Solutions Development and Implementation: 

• Drive new thinking within the business by proactively identifying, incubating and packaging relevant concepts/solutions that can be applied to the BUs in such a way that they improve efficiencies, productivity and competitiveness, whilst reducing costs.
• Engage with the BU Heads on a regular basis, to understand the business drivers and areas in the business that compromise the business to deliver services efficiently and effectively and that are extremely expensive to operate or fulfil on.
• Creatively explore ideas that can help solve business problems identified above, by facilitating think tank session with staff to encourage the development of ideas that will lead to resolution.
• Provide specialised advice and direction to ensure that the team move these ideas from concept to action and that they prototype the ideas and test the effectiveness, feasibility and adoptability of the solution.
• Approve the packaged offering and ensure that it's presented by the relevant individual, to the business as an implementable solution.
• Support Change initiatives in which new concepts are being investigated or proposed and provide input, guidance and direction to these discussions.
• Contribute to the development of business unit strategy for the next 1-2 years by providing a view on potential improvements for product or services and an assessment of the existing situation and anticipated changes in the external environment.
• Review project closure documentation prior to giving the go-ahead to formally close a project. This includes reviewing the project deliverables against actual deliverables, the benefits realisation reports and the plans to move the processes or systems into business as usual.

Architecture: 

• Ensure that the business environment is appropriately architecture, so that the business as a whole can benefit from one holistic architecture, as opposed to individual silos which support each BU.
• In designing the architecture of business, specific focus needs to be placed on the Services Orientated Architecture (SOA).
• In conjunction with Group Technology, review, design, discuss and depict a single architecture for the business area.
• Give input to design architecture into discrete layers of functionality that support loose coupling and scalability from channel to back end applications.
• Conduct research on a frequent basis in order to remain up to date with trends in the industry and the extent to which they impact technology, processes and architecture and evaluate business position against these trends.

People Management: 

• Work with managers in the team to achieve excellent business results through continuous people development and mentoring activities.
• Ensure the development of a high-performing team through embedding formal Performance Development and informal coaching for the management team on how to conduct meaningful Performance Development discussions with their direct reports and ensure that they conduct the process effectively.
• Determine and analyse training and development needs for managers and ensure they do the same for their teams.
• Ensure that identified training is budgeted for and executed Establish and maintain succession plan for the management team in the area using the formal Talent Management process for identified talent and an informal process for remaining roles With the support from the HR Business Partner, interview and recruit direct reports and provide support to them during the recruitment of their teams on request.
• Ensure that managers create effective workforce plans and recruitment demand plans for their areas Review requests from managers in the team for headcount changes.
• Approve leave requests for direct reports and ensure that they manage the leave planning for their teams effectively.
• Act as second level escalation point for all grievances raised in the business unit.
• Ensure that all poor performance is addressed through the Absa Performance Accelerator (APA) Programme and that continued poor performance is adequately dealt with.
• Review APA reports to determine effectiveness of interventions Motivate employees in the department and ensure that their efforts are recognised.

Education

• Bachelor`s Degrees and Advanced Diplomas: Business, Commerce and Management Studies (Required)