We have all come to understand and appreciate that skills come not only from books and learning institutions but also from our everyday experiences. When my daughter was in Grade 3 (almost four years ago), the principal was adamant that children should learn critical thinking. I saw her vision then, and I’m seeing it now.
To keep great people within an organisation, leaders should ensure career development takes place regularly. According to a new McKinsey & Company study, done between April 2021 and April 2022, lack of career advancement and development was identified as the top reason why people quit their jobs. The second is the lack of compensation and the third is uncaring and uninspiring leaders. My fourth reason would be: people leave people.
People join organisations for their own reasons. They may win awards or have rockstars as leaders, but I believe new staff shouldn’t join organisations expecting to execute only what they were hired to do. At the Matrix Group, we have compulsory meet-and-greet with new staff members to try to get to know them better. This helps us to better understand what they are passionate about so we are able to help them along in their respective skill set.
This is how we know we comprise of artists, tutors, people who can do flower arrangements … It’s great for our staff to know that they can make a difference in other departments and in the broader group. I recently had one of our MDs interview women in leadership on life and careers in their company. This will come in handy in the future when she is asked to chair a panel.
Learning should also come from the very same people who buy and use your products on a daily basis. Because of lazy thinking, or maybe a lack of time, I believe that marketers gravitate towards a blanket approach to try to sell their products to everyone in the country; forgetting nuances, circumstances, language, and class.
Marketers have the responsibility of upskilling themselves by making an effort to better understand the ever-evolving media landscape, especially given that consumers are bombarded with different product and content offerings almost every second of the day.
Given this industry’s many rapid changes, it is crucial to constantly review and develop people on their strengths and ensure that we get our clients’ brands to the right audience, using the right platforms.
~ Dineo Mahloele is the managing director of the Matrix Group
