By Luxolo RubusheManaging Director – Adapt IT Education©
“Why are your staff so happy? How do you do it? I have never seen anything like this before!”, so asked the Vice Principal (VP) Deputy Principal: Academics (DPA) Ehlanzeni TVET College, Mr Bongani Kwayiyo, at our dinner to honour and celebrate our TVET colleges. As I turned my attention towards his direction, I watched my colleagues enjoy the evening without any pretence or reservations. I was struck by just how hard they worked throughout the year, never complaining but exemplifying dedication and determination to see the vision we had set for ourselves. It was an emotional and overwhelmingly positive moment. I had no immediate response to the VP and, as he strode away into the evening’s festivities, his observations and inquisitorial engagement pre-occupied my mental space.
Value System – “Hire for Attitude, and Train for Skill”
What then informed the exuberant emotional state of our staff that evening? As I pondered on this question, I was reminded of the importance of, first and foremost, VALUES in an organisation. I might also add that values are not just drafted and hung up on walls in an organisation. People follow what leaders DO, not what they SAY. We see instances at times where a person will say something and do the exact opposite. This is particularly distressing if they are ill-treating other staff, especially those who may be junior and vulnerable. These are non-negotiables in terms of the values we espouse as a division and company. I regularly revisit our political legacy and context as a country and continent because it is critical to appreciate the sacrifices made for the benefits we enjoy today. For example, when a colleague indicated that they may be paid less than peers for work of equal value, I quickly refuted that assertion because equality and fairness are central to our value system. When this matter was first raised in 2018, we did a thorough review, made salary sacrifices and ensured that not a single employee was being disadvantaged this way. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the outstanding work of Mr Ntokozo Khumalo, our erstwhile HR Business Partner for Education. We shall forever be indebted for his leadership and support. “Siyabonga Phakeme Mfowethu!”
The importance of a value system was best captured at our recent leaders meeting at Cancun, Mexico and it related to how to work with “Toxic A Players”. The consensus was very clear. No amount of strategic or operational effectiveness is worth a toxic individual whose values are inconsistent with those of the organisation.
Our staff are happy because we have been able to align their personal development goals to internal opportunities. They are clear on how each of the tasks they undertake positively impacts their personal growth and that of our customers. They understand that we uphold our values and there is consistency between what we say and what we do. We strive to create an atmosphere of open communication where our staff can express themselves without fear of being victimised.
Adapt or Die – That is the Question and Answer!
Our business has gone through phenomenal change over the four years, initiated by COVID-19, followed by the acquisition by Volaris (Omegro). This acquisition led to a wall-to-wall review of our business, affecting our people, strategy, and operations. Emerging from this review is a clear pathway of the fundamentals we need to institutionalise to position our business for future success. Central to this critical task was galvanising our staff and setting out a new vision and path to victory.
One of the critical roles of a leader is providing and affirming a vision for the organisation. My favourite definition of a vision is “the ability to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom.”
A strategic approach we follow is what is commonly referred to as an EMERGENT Strategic Approach. This strategy encourages the recruitment of the right kind of team, articulating and reinforcing our vision with clarity and alacrity. This management school asserts that for as long as the internal team is clear on vision (destination), they will navigate the evolving operating environment and ‘adjust the sails’, according to the direction of the wind and stay on course towards the desired destination.
Allow me to outline the key highlights of our 2024 strategy:
1. White Space Programme
We initiated the White Space Programme (WSP) and applied the Value Canvas to deeply understand the challenges that our customers face on a day-to-day basis, and how our solutions can address these. We executed this programme for 33 of our customers, averaging one a week from February, until Nov 2024, starting with the University of Limpopo (UL) and ending with Orbit College, respectively. I remember our initial conceptual engagements with Mr Neetham Dabideen, Mr Thabo Mogaswa and Ms Xolelwa Olayi at the University of Limpopo. The programme, broken down to cover Student Management, Finance and HR/Payroll, over three days, for each of the institutions we visited. This programme involved Professional Services, R&D, Sales and Marketing, Infrastructure, as well as Maintenance and Support. The process has been long, difficult, and deeply rewarding.
2. Price Correction
Our Volaris (Omegro) inspire review assisted us with challenges in our pricing model and misalignment to the value our mission critical ITS Integrator product, delivers. I take this opportunity to express our appreciation to our loyal customers. We truly appreciate how we engaged iteratively until we aligned on the rationale and how to best make the transition. We are sensitive to the challenges facing the higher education sector in Africa, particularly in South Africa regarding funding. I am comforted by the evidence of our intervention assisting institutions to manage leakages and support in minimising operational losses, enhanced reporting, optimise funding returns from the fiscus and data-driven strategic planning.
This has been a particularly challenging assignment for our business development team, and we are grateful for the support provided. Please permit me to recognise Mr Manny Pedro and Mr Fred Sekati for their exemplary support throughout this process.
3. ITS Infinity
We are three years into the journey of developing ITS Infinity. Our DevOps team has done extremely well, starting a rewrite of our legacy ITS Integrator product, the mainstay project that has successfully supported our higher education institution in Africa, and beyond for a remarkable 38yrs.
Our product development strategy is premised on realising our return on investment (ROI) as we develop and roll out our solution. Walter Sisulu University and Tshwane University of Technology have been innovators on our Minimum Viable Product (MVP). As extending our ITS Infinity offering to Early Adopters, we are extremely encouraged by the continuing interest from our customers and have secured an additional three and more on the horizon.
4. TVET Colleges
Our internal customer and market review supported the view advanced by the TVET college sector, a need to cater for and respond to TVET specific requirements and nuances. We held our first TVET Forum with leaders of TVET colleges on the tail end of our highly successful ITS User Group at Sun City, earlier this year.
We were honoured to be joined by, inter alia, Dr Nick Balkrishen, the DHET Regional Manager for Mpumalanga, and North West Colleges. This was followed by a highly successful TVET Summit themed “Now We Know”. We were again honoured by Mr Mashele, the DHET Regional Manager for Gauteng & Free State Colleges and Mr Letswalo, DHET CAS Pilot Operations Manager (Central Applications System). Arising out of this engagement was formalising an internal TVET management unit, under the leadership of Mr Zakhele Khathide, later joined by Ms Desiree Makofane as Project Manager, together with six members of the support team. We have now assigned an individual responsible for supporting each of our institutions, ensuring that we are in constant contact with our TVET customers.
5. Marketing
Our marketing function had a phenomenal year. The year kicked off with an epic ITS User Group at Sun City. The work on the Value Canvas was instrumental in informing our White Space Programme. Our escalated presence on social media platforms, through multiple channels has catapulted Adapt IT to the centre of the higher education thought leadership space. The monthly newsletter solidified the team’s core capabilities in the marketing and communication space. We recognise the leadership of Mr Thabo Mashigo and the outstanding work of the marketing team.
6. Infrastructure Management
One of the highlights for the year was the extension of our Database Management and Support services to incorporate a fully-fledged offering of Infrastructure as A Service (IaaS). When Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) was faced with challenges of reported data breaches, this offering became a lifesaver. We intend to extend this offering to other customers, spurred on by the critical need to provide a secure platform for institutional applications and systems.
Maintaining our Momentum
Momentum is defined as ‘strength or force gained by motion or by a series of events.
Our team has demonstrated strength and resilience to achieve outstanding financial results in 2024. We have created a tangible and impactful force that has gained momentum in all the critical areas of business performance at Omegro.
We have created a firm basis for a successful business in future by ensuring that we generate sufficient funds for continuous investment in R&D, and ITS Infinity in particular. We have a continuous focus on improving support to our existing customers. Our investment and rollout in Zendesk is testimony to this commitment.
Our next major task is establishing and extending our presence in East Africa, particularly Kenya and Tanzania.
I also recognise the effort that has gone into the preparation of our support structures and processes for the start of the 2025 academic year.
I take this opportunity to recognise the sterling work done by the entire Education team, and I wish everyone a wonderful festive season.
