intelligent

The potential pipeline for us in 2022 means we will double again as a company .

The other benefit we have is that we ’ ve very niche in supervisory middle management and operational leadership , working with businesses to identify how they lead effectively in that middle tier . We do it through our coaching to performance framework . Our whole role is coaching people into the new ways of work and new behaviours , and through that we show return on investment .

What is your management philosophy and how do you embed this across the business ?

We have an open philosophy , so we ’ re very transparent with our staff . We show them the numbers and tell them where we are – the good and the bad .

That being said , we are project-based , so when we send people out on projects there needs to be a chain of command and roles followed . But when it comes to the company – where we ’ re at and what ’ s happening – anyone can email me or any of the leadership team .

We ’ re very people-focused and consensus driven . If you work with people , you must have empathy . If people know you , they know your heart .

We believe that when you impact people , you impact communities . We want communities to grow through people because people have an impact .

What has your own career looked like so far ?

I finished university with a degree in industrial psychology . I was going to go into the organisational and leadership development space , and I moved into the operational consulting space for a huge insurance company , which taught me I cannot live in the corporate world .

I then moved to an international consultancy where I learned a lot of methodologies before joining a two-man company , which was doing very leading-edge process automation – workflow , call centres and electronic content management systems . I took all the knowledge that I had from the previous consultancy and applied it to the technology projects .

Then in 2010 , I was asked to create a new OIM division , looking at efficiency improvements . We started saying , ‘ OK , so you ’ ve got efficiency , you ’ ve got automation , but you also have people . People have attitudes , values and behaviours . So that ’ s your culture aspect . How do you make people more efficient but change the culture ?’

The next journey was integrating people with technology , efficiency and processes . My journey has been quite exciting – I ’ ve worked in all industries , with technology and without .

How do you ensure different teams in your organisation work together ?

We have a small office in Cape Town , where none of the mining industries are located . The team structure is critical since our employees work away from home weekly , meaning the team becomes family .

We make sure that anyone who joins the company is team based and likes working with people , because you don ’ t want disruption in the emotional equilibrium . The whole hiring process is looking for team-centric people , who can influence , communicate and are easy to work with .

The second aspect is our structure , which is quite rigid . We always have daily feedback sessions . There ’ s always communication on what ’ s going on and from a management side , we schedule physical management meetings monthly .

How do you work with other senior executives to make sure each individual voice is heard ?

From a leadership perspective , we want leaders to be approachable and be

Previous page : Arjen de Bruin , MD , OIM Consulting

MY JOURNEY HAS BEEN QUITE EXCITING – I ’ VE WORKED IN ALL INDUSTRIES , WITH TECHNOLOGY AND WITHOUT .