Growing rapidly from a single South African operation MTN group has rapidly grown into a major player in the telecommunications industry in Africa and across the Middle East. This has meant that as an organization it needed to counter the usual movement of talent from Africa to the rest of the world and actively build a talented workforce in locations as disparate as Nigeria and Afghanistan. In many countries a license condition is the development, attraction and retention of local talent.
MTN’s Human resources executive understood the value of building a compelling employee value proposition and the need to go beyond money as a motivator in attracting talent back to Africa and the Middle East. A very inspiring and successful talent management strategy was developed around the theme of “Leaving a legacy”. This strategy was anchored in the desire of many expat Africans to return and make a difference to their countries of origin and the willingness of technical professionals from all over the continent to help build a world class telecommunications network across the continent. In the intervening years MTN has become a leading player in the telecommunications arena expanding rapidly across the African continent and into the Middle East, largely due to its ability to attract and retain top technical talent in unusual places. So where did this awareness of the crucial business importance of a dual market strategy have its origin? How was it that the MTN human resources team was able to define a compelling, multifaceted employer brand in a region where this kind of thinking was largely absent?
MTN’s leadership team was the first ever South African organization to participate in Celemi’s Tango® business simulation. It was here that the need for a marketing approach to talent management was incubated. How is this relevant in the tough times of 2008 – 2010? Today more than ever companies need to be able to retain top talent without commoditizing their employer brand. Now more than ever top employees are attracted to a comprehensive and compelling employment offering that transcends money and offers a unique mission and lifestyle as part of a meaningful work-life. Of course it all needs to make business sense, hence the need to simulate the impact that the two equally important markets in any company’s existence has: the market for talent and the market for customers. Celemi Tango® is unique in providing a powerful way of experiencing the interaction of these two markets in building shareholder wealth.
Responding to massive external change
Riding the waves of currency fluctuations, Microsoft "Tangoes" to stay competitive in a time of financial crisis. Operating in a region where wild currency fluctuations are the norm, Microsoft Southern Africa is often faced with the challenge of having to deal with 30 to 40% swings in the value of the currency used by their customers to purchase their products, while having their revenue targets remaining in USD. This challenging environment has major impact not only on the short term profitability of their business, but also on their ability to forecast, plan for marketing investments and to attract and retain highly mobile technology savvy staff. Having grappled with the challenge of preparing their people for this constantly changing environment, Microsoft Southern Africa decided to turn its back on normal classroom training and use Celemi's Tango® simulation to put their leadership and sales teams in a intensive "flight simulator" allowing them to experience in 2 days the dynamics of months worth of industry and currency changes. Using a dual market Tango with two currency areas, Microsoft's people were able to test, try out and develop strategies to deal with the impact of currency changes on their business and people.
They were also able to hone their people's gut feel understanding for the business, allowing impressively accurate market forecasting in the simulated environment and then in real life. Getting the whole management team to share a practical understanding of how to respond to massive external change prepared this unit of the world's number one software company to remain profitable in challenging times. As we face yet another era of massive instability in world markets, Tango can effectively prepare other organizations for these challenges in a simulated environment.