Page 7 - MiNDSPACE Issue 1 2022 - Old Mutual Corporate

MALUSI NDLOVU
Early access to retirement savings: a double-edged sword? (p28)
There have been a few recent regulatory changes that affect Old Mutual Corporate’s business and people’s retirement funds. Which one do you see as the most positive? ‘The mooted two-pot system of retirement funding (an accessible pot for pre-retirement needs and a long-term retirement-only pot) could be a positive development for aligning people’s long-term savings and more immediate financial needs – if it’s implemented well.’
With regard to our economy, do you see a silver lining after 20 months of lockdown?
‘You don’t have to look too hard to see where South Africans and South African companies are taking up space. Take Yoco, the South African payments company. Last year, they announced that they had 200 jobs in data science and engineering to fill to be able to support their growth trajectory.’
As a country, what is our biggest obstacle?
‘Our biggest stumbling block is our inherent pessimism. I would like us to be more opportunity- minded. Sure, there’s a lot that’s not working but we also have a lot we can use to succeed. The rules of success are known and remain the same, whether you are in Soweto, São Paulo or Stockholm.’
ROZE PHILLIPS
Succession planning in a pandemic (p38)
You made a big career change at the end of 2020. What prompted it?
‘We don’t take enough time to assess the professional paths we are on against the impact we want to deliver in the world – what I like to call our to-be list as opposed to our to-do list. So I took the leap and resigned, and gave myself 2021 to think about what is important to me.’
Was it scary to pull the rug out
from under your feet?
‘Most of my career has been in management consulting and I am accustomed to pivoting every few months to a new client engagement in a different industry. I am a continuous learner and believe that career longevity comes from career diversity. The most difficult part is actually not the learning, but the unlearning.’
If you had a magic wand, what’s the
one thing you’d change overnight?
‘As organisations, we need to direct more of our time to reskilling and upskilling business leaders, because they play an outsized role in how the future of work and society will be structured. They hold the budgets and make the decisions
– and he who pays the piper, calls the tune.’ M ISSUE 1 2022 | 3
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