HR Mentor on Monday:

<strong>HR</strong> <strong>Mentor</strong> on
Monday:
Last month, the SA Board for People Practices (SABPP) launched a new series “<strong>HR</strong> <strong>Mentor</strong> on Monday”
featuring some lessons from its mentors every Monday. It is our wish that these mentors will inspire <strong>HR</strong>
professionals to greater heights. It is our intention to positively position our new mentoring programme
this year, and we want to thank Sage VIP Payroll for piloting the revised SABPP mentoring programme in
2012. This week we feature Gary Taylor, previously <strong>HR</strong> Director at Medscheme and Wits University, and
more recently, Kaust University in Saudi Arabia. He returned to South Africa last month and visited the
SABPP office last week. Let us learn from his life, career, knowledge and experience.
Gary Taylor M<strong>HR</strong>P
<strong>HR</strong> <strong>Mentor</strong> on Monday 6 May 2013 | Twitter: @SABPP1 1

BACKGROUND
Gary Taylor was educated at Diocesan College (Bishops) in Cape Town, funded by parents who worked
and sacrificed to give him that education. He started at UCT studying law and “fell into <strong>HR</strong>” when
working with a career guidance counsellor, and then completed a BA in Human Sciences.
Four years in the Navy’s Personnel division gave him the opportunity to study the IPM Diploma part-­‐
time and get that first job experience. There followed three and a half years with National Mutual Life in
Cape Town doing Sales Training and then Personnel. He then moved his young family to Durban to take
up a Graduate Development role with Unilever’s Head Office.
The prospects of a position as Group <strong>HR</strong> Manager took him to Johannesburg, where he spent 16 years
with Medscheme as they expanded into five countries and grew to win SA’s Non-­‐Listed Company Award.
This was also his opportunity to develop a business focus and serve at board level, which led to his
taking on other portfolios, including Public Affairs. During this time, he completed the one year IR
Development Programme at Stellenbosch Business School and later the Strategic <strong>HR</strong> Programme at
Harvard Business School.
Gary then moved to Wits University, where he served as Executive Director: Human Resources for three
years, which created the opportunity for him to be successful in an international search for the role of
Vice President: Human Resources for KAUST University in Saudi Arabia.
Gary has been married to his soul mate of 33 years, with three grown children. He is a keen musician (a
drummer since high school) and folk guitarist with a passion for travel and photography. He has been a
Sunday School teacher for 20 years and served on the Council of his Church. Living and working in the
Middle East has been an adventure in every sense.
In 2008, Gary was selected as the first Vice President: <strong>HR</strong> for the new King Abdullah University of Science
and Technology (KAUST) which was being built on the shores of the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia. The role
included the recruitment of over 1000 academics and staff from 63 countries globally, implementing
SAP from scratch, compiling all <strong>HR</strong> policies and putting in place a full range of employee benefits in this
start-­‐up role.
He has discovered global diversity challenges far more complex than those prevailing in South Africa, but
also found that South Africans are generally better experienced at dealing with uncertainty than many
others. He strongly recommends that <strong>HR</strong> professionals consider an overseas assignment as part of their
development.
AFFILIATIONS
Gary joined IPM upon leaving university, participating in local branch structures which he found gave
him exposure to practical issues of the day and excellent opportunities to network. He served for two
years as Vice President of the IPM under the leadership of Mpho Letlape. He registered with the SABPP
when it first formed and is currently a registered Master <strong>HR</strong> Practitioner and <strong>Mentor</strong>.
<strong>HR</strong> <strong>Mentor</strong> on Monday 6 May 2013 | Twitter: @SABPP1 2

ACHIEVEMENTS
Gary has been a regular contributor to <strong>HR</strong> journals both in RSA and has been the South African
contributor to People Management magazine for CIPD in the UK. He has presented at several IPM
Conventions, <strong>HR</strong> Africa and the Commonwealth Universities <strong>HR</strong> Conference in Malaysia. Gary authored
a chapter for “Building Human Capital” by Boninelli & Meyer, and has been honoured by the IPM in
2008 with the President’s Award for capacity building. He is featured in the Who’s Who of Southern
Arica.
MAJOR <strong>HR</strong> LESSONS LEARNED
Here are some of the more unusual lessons Gary has learned:
• Be prepared to embark on initiatives with insufficient funding. Don’t cop out by saying “if they are
serious about X, they must invest…….”. Firstly, there is no “they” and all pioneers have to make
progress (and suffer setbacks) with inappropriate resources. Full support is earned.
• Be both enthusiastic and cynical about new fads. Read the literature but don’t blindly follow it.
Commercial interests are just dying to “facilitate” your path toward the latest silver-­‐bullet solution.
Explore change actively, but seek out the opinion of the cynics before committing.
• Most <strong>HR</strong> functions deal with a variety of service providers: provident fund administrators, medical
aid providers, training consultants, etc. Many <strong>HR</strong> people treat them like short-­‐term vendors, and
miss out on the benefits of a partnership relationship. Harness the experience of your service
providers, explain your business to them and get them invested in your success.
• Few employers spend time in ensuring that their resigning staff leave “well”. Even yesterday’s
heroes are often relegated to the good riddance file when they move on. Besides the unkindness at
a human level, disgruntled ex-­‐employees often resurface as clients, regulators or take-­‐over bosses
with a memory! Let people resign with dignity and well wishes – your company’s reputation is
materially affected by ex-­‐employees. Create the climate for the good ones to want to return.
• Develop a genuine passion for the business you are in. We all want to make a strategic impact in
<strong>HR</strong>, so we have to earn the right from our line colleagues. Once you know what makes your industry
tick, (partner with your Finance colleagues) you can then apply all your <strong>HR</strong> knowledge in a practical
way. Get your hands dirty.
• Learn to manage company politics – just saying that you don’t like it is not good enough.
Understand the key players and what drives them – work with the organisation dynamics but try not
to get embroiled in picking sides. You need to develop skills in diagnosing the politics and finding
your way to get the job done without bucking the system or unnecessary game playing.
LEARNING FROM YOUR MENTORS
<strong>HR</strong> <strong>Mentor</strong> on Monday 6 May 2013 | Twitter: @SABPP1 3

Gary has been privileged to rub shoulders with some great people from whom he has been able to learn
lessons to incorporate into his professional life.
Dr George Lindique pioneered transformation in Eskom and demonstrated change in his own
circumstances with great integrity – a true example. What wisdom! Lot Ndlovu of Nedcor has been an
inspiration in respect of vision and determination. Bheki Sibiya demonstrating true humility and regard
for his fellow man.
Mike Jackson (Liberty, PPS) was an early example of the business approach to <strong>HR</strong>, and Prof Shirley Zinn
remains one of the most professional all-­‐round <strong>HR</strong> executives Gary interacted with. Also, his
Medscheme CEO, Anton Roux was possibly the most empowering person he has ever worked with.
ROLE OF SABPP TO YOUR SUCCESS
Says Gary: “I joined SABPP when it started in 1982 and he I have been pleased to walk a long road with
it. By helping to pioneer the way for professional accreditation, the Board has united what could have
been a very fragmented group of professionals into a profession. Although Gary disagreed some years
back with the strategy of legislation, the Board patiently allowed the issue to be debated and play itself
out.”
SUCCESSES ACHIEVED BY MENTEES
What a thrill to see an <strong>HR</strong> Professional you have hired move to manage their own <strong>HR</strong> team. Zakhe
Makhaye was one from his Medscheme days, becoming an <strong>HR</strong> director in his own right.
Nimee Dhuloo left to found the successful Chien Consulting and Tshepisho Thabane is a person to watch
as she blooms.
A gratifying word of feedback from Johan Bosch to Gary was: “I enjoyed working with you but, perhaps
more important, I learned a lot from you”.
PROFESSIONALISM OF <strong>HR</strong>
On the issue of professionalism, Gary says: “My view has
always been that we in <strong>HR</strong> will earn our reputation and will
make our professionalism a reality. Exclusivity or envying
other professionals will not do it. Adding value to our
organisations is what they want from us – not pieces of
paper.” He goes on to say: “The SABPP is doing great work in
identifying the key competencies. Our role is to get ourselves
a good <strong>HR</strong> education and then enhance it. Practical
experiences are the bricks on the foundation.”
“My view has always been
that we in <strong>HR</strong> will earn our
reputation and will make our
professionalism a reality.
Exclusivity or envying other
professionals will not do it.
Adding value to our
organisations is what they
want from us – not pieces of
paper.”
<strong>HR</strong> <strong>Mentor</strong> on Monday 6 May 2013 | Twitter: @SABPP1 4

ROLE OF SABPP IN SHAPING THE <strong>HR</strong> PROFESSION
The SABPP is essential to ensure a consistent approach to
our profession in South Africa, to prevent us remaining
reactive. It is also the body that will partner with other <strong>HR</strong>
bodies representing the sub-­‐disciplines.
In addition, it will ensure that we have professional links to
global organisations and international best practice, while
leading the way in our continent to ensure that we meet the
development needs of Africa.
“Your people resources are
the only asset which has the
potential to appreciate
meaningfully in value. “
MESSAGE FOR YOUNG <strong>HR</strong> PRACTITIONERS
MESSAGE FOR LINE MANAGEMENT
Get yourself a Little Black Book of <strong>HR</strong> professionals who are
better than you in every <strong>HR</strong> discipline you can think of.
Networking is one of the best value-­‐for-­‐money tools for
growing your skills and your career.
Do not just fraternize with colleagues at work, drawn from the
same demographics as yourself. Meet up with <strong>HR</strong>
professionals at conferences, through the SABPP and IPM.
Contribute – don’t just look to eat. Feed others.
FUTURE OF <strong>HR</strong> IN SOUTH AFRICA
“As practitioners, we will need
to get even better at our
discipline, and do it well. At
the same time, we cannot
become technocrats playing
with the latest <strong>HR</strong> fad, but will
need to develop the highest
level of strategic skills to
provide a truly valued
contribution.”
Virtually every asset on the books of your organisation
depreciates every year – with most being “written off” in a
few years. Your people resources are the only asset which has
the potential to appreciate meaningfully in value. Therefore,
partner with your <strong>HR</strong> colleagues so that we can jointly invest
in growing the value of this asset.
“Networking is one of the best
value-for-money tools for
growing your skills and your
career. “
<strong>HR</strong> will continue to grow in importance to any organisation because “people practices” are some of the
most complex and uncertain in all of business. And, just as technology will continue to explode, more
sophisticated tools for the attracting, retaining and development of human capital will be experimented
with.The <strong>HR</strong> profession in South Africa will need to contribute further as our country competes in an
unforgiving world. As practitioners, we will need to get even better at our discipline, and do it well. At
the same time, we cannot become technocrats playing with the latest <strong>HR</strong> fad, but will need to develop
the highest level of strategic skills to provide a truly valued contribution.
<strong>HR</strong> <strong>Mentor</strong> on Monday 6 May 2013 | Twitter: @SABPP1 5

This article is an extract from the book Wisdom from <strong>HR</strong> <strong>Mentor</strong>s edited by Marius Meyer, CEO of SABPP available
from Exclusive Books, published by SABPP and Knowledge Resources. More information about SABPP is available on
www.sabpp.co.za, and Knowledge Resources www.kr.co.za and you can follow SABPP on twitter @SABPP1.
<strong>HR</strong> <strong>Mentor</strong> on Monday 6 May 2013 | Twitter: @SABPP1 6