Madelise Grobler: DMA winner and multi-faceted ... - Words' Worth

BENEFITS PEOPLE PROFILE 9after I arrived in Delft, Chris Hani wasmurdered. Those were tumultuoustimes, but I was amazed at Europeans’perceptions. People struggled with thefact that I had left my husband at homeand that I was from Africa but not ablack African!”Back in South Africa Madelisedecided that seven years of lecturinghad been enough. For the sake of herprofessional development she had tomove on. “University had becometoo slow for me. They do fantasticdevelopment work, but then it cantake years to deliver. Here at PeopleSolutions, if I think of something today,I can deliver it on Monday – it makesme happy and keeps me busy.”EUC (end-user computing) Academywas the business Madelise founded in1996. Three years later it was acquiredby CS Holdings. Bytes acquiredthe latter in 2004 and Bytes PeopleSolutions was born.More than trainingMadelise is adamant that Bytes PeopleSolutions is not a training company.“Sure, if you want me to presentan Excel course I will, but that isnot how and where we add value.”The way in which Bytes PeopleSolutions distinguishes itself from thecompetition, is territory Madelise hadstarted to chart in the EUC Academydays. “I built the business by going inat the top and either understanding aclient’s business strategy or helpingthem to develop it. The next step is toalign the people strategy to the businessstrategy. Then we look at the profile ofpeople needed in the business and therequired competencies. Only then dowe assess the incumbent against theprofile. For this reason, our training anddevelopment is an outcome, not an endin itself. Price-wise we cannot competewith someone who presents MS Wordcourses as an individual. Likewise, theycannot compete with us when it comesto delivering value.”Madelise’s technical background andbusiness analysis skills enabled her toposition Bytes People Solutions first andforemost as an advisor to its customers.Her point of departure is to build arelationship of trust. “Once you havedone that, customers come back to buyand then we can charge the premium ourservices are worth.” The success of thisapproach is attested to by the fact thatBytes People Solutions mostly do repeatbusiness and word of mouth referrals.A glance behind the scenesAsked about her managementphilosophy, Madelise says she believesin long-term relationships and likesto create a culture where people canflourish. “Most of my core team hasbeen with me for at least a decade. Oneor two of them worked with me at theuniversity, so we’ve been together formore than 20 years.”Madelise has a hand in every newappointment at People Solutions. Once acandidate has been for a final interview,she spends a few minutes with theperson before the final decision is made.“I have a good feel for people, andwhen I bring people in I want to makethem successful – provided they arehere for the right reasons.”Madelise enjoys analysis and creatingthe big picture. Detail is not for her. “Ican do the meticulous implementationif I have to, but I get bored. That is whyI am so dependent on my team – wemake each other strong.”The MD of Bytes People Solutionsbelieves women can have it all – butit takes planning and a supportiveenvironment. In her life, her architecthusband and two daughters, aged sevenand 14, are her anchors. Along with herhousekeeper Mart who has been withthe family for 18 years: “I told you I’m along relationship type of person!”“I always tell mypeople: if you arenot happy here,you come to meand I’ll find youa job – life istoo short to dosomething youdon’t love.”