Calybre People Manager

Calybre; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 600,000 - 900,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading people management firm in Johannesburg seeks a People Manager to enhance employee engagement and lead talent acquisition strategies. The ideal candidate has a degree in Industrial Psychology and relevant experience in similar roles. Key responsibilities include managing onboarding processes, performance reviews, and maintaining a high-performance culture. This position offers an exciting opportunity to shape the employee experience and drive organizational success.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in a people management role.
• Strong understanding of Labour Law (SA, UK, US).
• Ability to drive employee engagement and retention.

Responsibilities

• Lead talent acquisition and onboarding processes.
• Develop performance management frameworks.
• Foster a high-performance culture in alignment with company goals.

Skills

Communication

Leadership

Coaching

Problem solving

Time management

Education

Degree in Industrial Psychology or similar

Job description

Overview

The People Manager originates and leads People Management practices and objectives that will provide a people oriented, high performance culture emphasising empowerment, quality, excellence, accountability, and goal attainment. One of the main purposes of the role is to drive staff engagement and retention whilst still meeting company objectives.

The People Manager forms a strong leadership combination with the Engagement Lead; together, they are responsible for the leadership and management of the consultants that are part of their team.

The People Manager ensures that humanity thrives in the workplace and ensures that our employees' journeys with us are dynamic, flexible, collaborative and innovative. By supporting our top technical talent and encouraging all consultants to reach their full potential and often exceed their own expectations of growth and excellence, the People Manager is seen as the glue that keeps our company together.

Key accountabilities / responsibilities

The People Manager's purpose is to work closely with employees, forming trusted relationships and achieving alignment to Calybre strategies and goals, ensuring that the employee experience is one of the best in the industry. They achieve this through :

Talent Acquisition

• Work with Engagement Lead to develop a Talent Acquisition plan for your team


• Obtain approval for Talent Acquisition plan from Executive team


• Work with Talent Acquisition team to confirm recruitment requirements


• Participate in recruitment process and interviews


• Take responsibility for psychometric testing

Onboarding / Orientation

• Directly responsible for employee onboarding and orientation for Calybre


• Create a positive and professional impression of Calybre from the first contact with new starters


• Ensure that the company is ready for the employees as soon as they start (email addresses, systems access, building access, laptops, desk)


• Understand the Consultant Journey plan, initiate this with each new starter and track their progress


• Ensure that the Orientation Programme is constantly updated and refreshed by keeping abreast of current trends


• Use of technology to ensure that all new starters, no matter where they live, are onboard professionally.

Performance Management and Improvement

• Collating and conducting performance reviews


• Monthly 1 : 1s to touch base with consultants and develop high trust relationships – ensure all action points are followed up within 24 hours of the meeting


• Coaching and soft skills development


• Continuous tracking of KPIs


• Ensure that the Consultant Journey is always clear to the consultant, that continuous learning is supported, and next goals are defined and achievable;


• Ensure consultants' time is put to good use if they are not allocated to billable work. Motivate them to be productive in their “down time”.


• Good knowledge of Labour Law (SA, UK, US as appropriate)


• Good knowledge of Calybre employee contracts and company policies


• Ensure correct processes followed when initiating Performance Improvement Programmes (PIP) for cases of poor performance.


• Understand that the intention of PIP is to turn undesirable behaviours around or close skills gaps


• Ensure correct processes followed when initiating Disciplinary action for cases of misconduct. Ensure staff are treated firmly but fairly and in line with our Disciplinary Code


• Documentation of all incidents that could results in performance / misconduct hearings

Career Journey

• Be involved in the entire lifecycle of employees “from hiring to retiring” (onboarding, career development, coaching and mentoring)


• Employee orientation and onboarding – ensure all new starters have a clear view of the organisation and their role within the organisation from day 1 (including but not limited to Role Profiles, KPIs, Learning Paths, etc)


• Ensure employee's career journey is clear and vivid


• Assist with formulating consultant's career journey goal setting


• Offboarding – exit interview, resignation confirmation, etc. Ensuring the offboarding process is as professional and as clear as the onboarding process

Calybre People Management

• Advise and deliver on improvements to any element of the Calybre People Management function


• Remain up to date with developments in Human Resources, Human Capital, Talent Management strategies and trends and include any relevant practices in the organisation

Key performance indicators

• Recruitment excellence – quality of candidates, low turnover due to recruitment error


• High value EVP – evident in feedback and social media presence


• Consultant retention – best place to work, low staff turnover


• Consultant excellence (soft skills) – evident in feedback from customers


• Success of the Consultant Journey Programme for your team


• Team Engagement levels – based on surveys and other validations

A Day in the Life of the People Manager :

You know that song…. Goes something like ‘Today's going to be a good day'….. hmmm, maybe it was ‘Tonight's going to be a good night' – probably less relevant, but you get the drift. Today is going to be a good day. When I set out to study Industrial Psychology, I had a dream about working with people and technology. So many people told me that I needed to face reality – that the chances of this dream job existing were slim EVEN THOUGH the media was constantly reporting that psychology was the career choice of the future. Well, have I got news for all those naysayers because I am doing exactly, yes, you heard me, exactly what I always dreamed of.

Not only do I get to work with some of the best people in the data industry, but I get to help to mould the careers of some of the future best people in the data industry! How awesome is that! I work closely together with Philip, the Engagement Lead. Together, we are building a team of brilliant data consultants. Each month, we hire a new ‘pod' of graduates or inexperienced people and they start their Consultant Journey at Calybre under our leadership and guidance. I spend my days checking in with my team, making sure that they are on track with their learning and helping wherever I can to make sure their path is as smooth as possible. When it comes to ‘power skills', like communication, negotiation, time management, leadership and the like, I am directly involved in not only delivering the course, but also in coaching my team through whatever challenges they may encounter.

I feel responsible for the success of my team. Being involved with the employee selection process increases my level of responsibility, I suppose. It\'s a two-way street. As much as they must deliver on their promises to successfully complete their learning and progress to the next phase of the Consultant Journey, I have to ensure that I am supportive in the right moments, challenging in others. I do dread the day when something goes wrong; I would be naïve to think things could be perfect all the time. I do have one young man in my team who seems to be disengaging. I need to understand what is going on with him but, either way, I will probably need to institute a PIP (performance improvement programme). At least, I will get the chance to properly support him and hopefully get him back on track.

I'm sending the latest Engagement Survey out later today. I'm looking forward to the results! I'm not expecting any real surprises, but it will be good to get ideas from everybody on how we can improve even more. I love that we can innovate and be so creative in our approach to our work. Just that freedom alone increases our engagement and makes our Employee Value Proposition so compelling.

Tomorrow is a big day as Philip and I are introducing a new team at the customer. I'll stay with them on site for most of the day just to make sure everything is plain sailing. It will be time well spent as I can get through some of my psychometric test results for our new recruits. I think there are some great new candidates in the bunch of people we interviewed recently. Our team will be up to 30 people next month and the plan we have put forward to our MANCO looks like it will be approved, which means we will be growing to our target of 50 people by the end of this financial year. So much excitement!

Anyway, time for coffee before I check in with some of the guys busy with their first week of their learning programme. I just wish I could get that song out of my head……

Key Personal Attributes

Key Personal Attributes

Core Competencies

Professional – never gets confused between friends and colleagues although colleagues can become friends and vice versa

Integrity, Trustworthy, Self-confidence, Communication

Thick-skinned – doesn't crumple into a ball when someone behaves in a less than polite manner

Composure, Communication, Self-confidence

Cool as a Cucumber – would do well as a professional poker player

Composure, Communication, Self-confidence

Kind – tough on the outside but soft on the inside, an armadillo is their spirit animal

Integrity, Trustworthy

Genuinely interested in the success of others – your success is my success and vice versa; reciprocity does also extend to chocolate

Developing People, Self-confidence

Good listener – as long as you are talking about work….

Trustworthy, Communication

Actions speak louder than words – inclined to take action based on discussions

Action oriented, Communication, Decision-making, Problem solving, Team spirit

Genuinely interested in technology / data, particularly in new trends and developments

Self-development, Team spirit

Motivated to improve processes – can't stand the thought of doing something slowly if it can be done quickly

Operational Efficiency, Managing Change, Action Oriented

Consulting experience – Loves the variety of working in different client situations, fears turning into a rock if things move too slowly

Grit; High Moral Code

Bright – intellectually and socially

Self-confidence, Self-development, Intellectual Horsepower, High energy / high pride

Driven by success – gets a kick out of a job well done

Organisational Agility; Setting Goals; Process Oriented; Drive for results, Action Oriented

Independent – doesn't want to be micro-managed but works as part of a team

Organisational Agility; Setting Goals; Process Oriented, Action Oriented

Leadership and sometimes Management – able to lead a team like the Pied Piper of Hamlyn

Building Team Spirit; Drive for Results; Empathetic; High-EQ, Leadership

Requirements for Role

• Tertiary Education – Degree in Industrial Psychology / similar


• Registered Psychometrist is a bonus


• Relevant work experience in similar / related role


• Alignment to Key Personal Attributes


• Strong alignment to company values