MAC Matters 2014 Final - email version

EDITORIAL 1
SARAH DE VILLIERS
A beautiful and bright colleague,
full of life and options for her
future, returned from long-leave
in her native Germany the other
day. She reports that her European
family and friends are aghast that
she would choose to return to
Johannesburg, and that she would
voluntarily cross the South African
borders on the back of our various
African projects. Curious questions
over coffees and dinners revolved
around Ebola, Oscar Pistorius, and
the dreadful misery that she is so
willingly exposing herself to in far-flung
Africa. Asking her, too, why
she would choose to return
to Johannesburg, she implied
to me that her reasons are far
from simple.
We didn’t have time that day to go
into them, but I would venture a
guess that it has just something
to do with the vibe I personally
have grown to love since moving to
Johannesburg 14 years ago. With
roots in the beautiful KwaZulu-Natal
midlands, and student memories
in the tropical and glorious-beach-days
Durban, Johannesburg may
not be an obvious choice for raising
a young family. Yet, here I am. And
I love it.
Living in Johannesburg, we could
choose to focus on a noir narrative
of rolling blackouts and water
shortages, shady gangsters and
the violent murder of a soccer
star. We could dwell on corrupt
politicians and dishonest public
servants, or the trial of the century
in our sister city. This could, indeed,
have been the story we crafted
to characterise our lives in Jozi.
Instead, in our conversations and in
the pages that follow – particularly
in the “Meet Ten MACers” feature
on page 72 – we choose to
celebrate all that is extraordinary
about this city, a cosmopolitan
metropolis that we are proud to
call home.
So, from our base here in Jozi, and
in this issue of MAC Matters, our
people tell their unique stories.
Some tell about the privilege of
working on life-changing projects
with blue-chip clients, extending
our reach into the rest of South
Africa, Africa, and beyond. Others
are thought leadership pieces by
people who make it their business
to contemplate beyond the surface
of things. Yet others are personal
reflections by astute professionals,
who take their destinies very
seriously. In each case, you will get
a glimpse of our life at MAC, and
the type of people that we invite
to join our team. People that we
are honoured to associate with,
and people who contribute to
the unique DNA – the inimitable
fingerprint – that MAC is.
About the cover
Published for MAC Consulting in December 2014
Editor: Sarah de Villiers, MAC Consulting
Publishing and Design: Words’worth www.words-worth.co.za
Photography: Alexander Smith and Gustav Lammerding
Cover art: Nellien Brewer
SA Publication Forum
Awards for MAC Matters 2013
Best-one off publication: Tied
in third place with Unisa.
Certificates for excellence in
design and communication.
Editorial
By Sarah de Villiers
1 PAGE STRAP
Nellien Brewer (BL; BA Visual Arts) is an accomplished digital artist who has been invited
to exhibit her text-based work at, among others, Artspace, Unisa and the RMB-sponsored
Assemblage exhibition at the 2014 Turbine Art Fair. Her industry MAC IS EMPOWERED AN
recognition includes: Top
CONTACT COMPANY
US ON:
15 Finalist at Thami Mnyele Fine Arts Awards; Finalist at Sasol Tel +27 (0) Fax 11 +537 27 (0) 1800
Email
11 327 7388
New Signatures Awards;
enquiries@macgroup.and Top 15 Finalist at the Ekurhuleni National Fine Arts Awards.
co.za
Website
www.macgroup.co.za
Physical address
8th Floor The Mall Offi ces,
11 Cradock Avenue,
Rosebank 2196, South Africa
Postal address
PO Box 2031, Houghton 2041
Nellien created our MAC Matters cover as a special commission, using the names of all
employees at the time of publication. The image represents the unique fingerprint that
our people collectively create for MAC.
MAC MATTERS
MAC MATTERS | 2014 | JOZI AND BEYOND
mac matters 2014 cover out v4.indd 1 2014/11/20 1:13 PM

2 CONTENTS
CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE 4
SUPPORT UPDATE
IT 6
HR 8
Finance 10
Office 12
MAD
The method behind the MAD psychometric process 14
MAC AT WORK: PROJECTS
The quest for world-class operations at Petro SA 17
The challenges continue… 18
Case study: Programme Management Office 20
Implementation
Key account update 22
Food for thought 26
The planet is under threat 28
Observations about balancing mega-industry and the 30
precious bushveld eco-system
Tread gently 32
When the going gets good, the good get going… 34
Mission impossible? 36
MAC AT WORK: CONSULTANT STORY
Who is Me Inc.? 38
Reflections of a “Boomer” 39
Surviving out-of-town consulting assignments 40
A new season 42
Lessons from the 2014 LEAN Summit 44
LEANing into consulting 45
Your LEAN journey to heaven 48
Real data = real issues = real solutions 50
The octopus in the OD room 52
Organisational culture as a key success factor 53
Less teaching and more experiencing 56
Coaching through transitions 58
A view from the inside 59
The Leadership Circle Profile 60
Why employees need to feel engaged 62
Contents
6
12
18
34

CONTENTS 3
MAC DIVERGENCE
The MAC divergence 64
Challenges MAC faces as we spread our wings over Africa 68
SOCIAL RESPONSE
MACers donate for Mandela Day 70
Rally to Read 71
MEET TEN MACers
Danielle Oliveira 72
Lerato Hutamo 74
Mathe Marengwa 76
Kopano Seopela 78
Sherryl Oosthuizen 80
Carel van Heerden 82
Chris van der Merwe 84
Val Hammond 86
Sarisha Padayachee 88
Keshlan Mudaly 90
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Profile: Nivan Moodley 92
Profile: Trevor Jamieson 94
Expanding MAC’s presence at the Mining Indaba 95
Population, energy and the end of fossil fuels? 96
SOCIAL MATTERS
MAC Family Day 98
We’ve come full circle 100
A fair way to spend a good day 102
McLadies paint the town red 104
Company meetings are a laugh a minute 105
Love matters 106
New arrivals 107
RECOGNITION
Chairman’s Awards 108
Promotions 111
Long service 111
DIARY 112
68
78
100
102

4 CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE
MAC: Where the
parts are great and
the sum is greater
Welcome to our overnight year-end
celebration at Mount Grace; we
are honoured to have you and your
family join us in marking yet another
successful year at MAC.
The festive season is occasion
for joy, reflection and, most of all,
celebration. We believe it fitting,
therefore, to publish MAC Matters
at this time every year. MAC
Matters represents, for us, the
culmination of 12 months’ worth of
hard work and accomplishments.
It is a milestone at which we
document and honour the year.
It is an opportunity for us to learn
from one another, and to share
our experiences with family and
friends. Ultimately, however, MAC
Matters is our way of thanking you,
each MACer, who has been so
exceptionally dedicated to making
the MAC team triumph.
And triumph in 2014 we did! We
have seen a phenomenal growth
trajectory at MAC over the last few
years, and 2014 was no exception.
With a turnover of over R180m, it
has been one of our best years to
date in our 20-year history. We feel
very fortunate to be going from
strength to strength, and to see

CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE 5
MAC is an authentic example of “the sum being greater than its parts”.
Each individual contributes to the team, and we are stronger as a result.
our strategy of expanding beyond
mining, and beyond South Africa,
coming to fruition.
The good fortune of working
with great clients and a team
of committed, professional and
competent people, has ensured
continued success. It hasn’t always
been easy though. Working all over
South Africa, Africa and Europe,
across the mining and resources,
public sector, telecommunications
and financial services industries,
many of you have been away
from home for extended periods
of time, working under difficult
circumstances on challenging
projects. As a company, we would
like to thank you and your families
for your sacrifices.
Our home team, too, have ensured
that everything works with the
regularity of a finely tuned machine
and we would like to thank our
support staff, many times unseen
and unappreciated, who make the
consultants’ successes possible.
We know by now that management
consulting is a fickle business and
we have seen many competitors
stall and falter over the years. We
know better, then, than to rest on
our laurels and become complacent.
With economic indicators predicting
only modest global growth and
declining growth in China; Ebola
gaining a foothold in West Africa;
and the increasing cost of doing
business in South Africa due to
labour unrest, energy shortages and
onerous legislation, we will need
to remain innovative and nimble if
we want to keep our competitive Richard, Rika, Cara and Lexi at the MAC Family Day in April.
advantage.
I urge you, therefore, to enjoy your
well-deserved break, to travel safely,
and to return with renewed energy
and resolve for making 2015 the
best it can be.
To close on a sad note, we were
shocked by the sudden passing
of Rika, Richard Kolbe’s wife, of
meningitis in September. Richard
has been with MAC for 12 years
and, given how involved they have
been in our company events over
the years, Rika has become a
part of the family too. We have on
many occasions featured them and
their beautiful daughters, Cara (4)
and Lexi (1), in MAC Matters. We
remember Rika and dedicate this
issue of MAC Matters to her.

6 SUPPORT UPDATE: IT
Cloud-based
solutions strengthen
collaboration
By Chris Birkett and Himesh Deva
were migrated to the Cloud around
eight years ago, so MAC has been
using the Cloud for a while now. The
Cloud model is ideal for a business
like MAC. We have significantly
more people at clients than are
based at the MAC Rosebank office.
It therefore doesn’t make sense for
two programmes are designed to
complement each other. Thus we
needed the one to take advantage
of the new features of the other.
Microsoft has shifted its focus to
the Cloud, much like many other
companies. MAC’s email systems
It has as always been a busy year
in IT. Microsoft Office 2013 was
released last year and this year we
decided that Office 2013 was ready
for MAC and MAC was ready for
Office 2013. This was also, in part,
due to the fact that we upgraded to
SharePoint 2013 this year, and the

SUPPORT UPDATE: IT 7
MAC to have a large infrastructure
at the Rosebank office in order to
get email and document-sharing
functionality to consultants in the
field. The enhanced feature set of
Office 2013 and SharePoint 2013
make it a real competitor to other
Cloud-based document sharing and
collaboration platforms out there.
Other companies beat Microsoft
to the online collaboration space,
but Microsoft is pushing back
by incorporating all those Cloud
features into Microsoft Office, which
remains the business standard for
documents, spreadsheets, email
and presentations. Thus you don’t
have to venture too far from the
familiar interface and functionality
of Microsoft Office to enjoy the
collaboration and online availability
that Cloud offerings bring to the
table.
What this means to MAC is that
more of the collaboration and
online features will creep into
your day-to-day work; things
like collaborating on a document.
This particular article was, in fact,
written by both people in IT, at the
same time. SharePoint 2013 also
has better offline synchronisation
functionality, so if you are in an
area with less-than-perfect internet
connectivity, or if you just prefer
to work on synced local machine
documents (aka Dropbox style),
you can. 2014 has also seen the
release of the Office Mobile apps,
making it possible to work across
multiple devices on the same
document.
MAC has also made far wider use
of Lync for meetings, messages
and online calls this year. Lync 2013
is Microsoft’s business version of
Skype, with all the features of Skype
but with document and desktop-sharing
added on for meetings.
Soon the last vestiges of the old MAC
SharePoint site will disappear. Already
whole suites are on the new platform
and if you aren’t already working on
the new version and want to see
what the new MAC SharePoint portal
looks like, you just have to go to the
MAC templates page.
MAC gives me the opportunity to grow professionally and at
the same time be part of a team that shares, cares and takes
pride in everything they do.
Anerie Rademeyer, Principal Consultant
Chris Birkett (left) and Himesh Deva
are responsible for keeping MACers
connected.

8 SUPPORT UPDATE: HR
HR ready to
take you places
By Karina Jardim and Rosy Maroleni
right calibre of consultant not only
for MAC, but most importantly for
our client. The success of MAC’s
recruitment can be attributed
to our seven-step process and
the commitment from HR and
our consultants to interview all
prospective candidates.
Karina Jardim (left) and Rosy Maroleni make a formidable team and run a world-class HR operation at MAC.
on the development of all our
travellers, HRD.
Arrivals Lounge (Recruitment)
We received thousands (1 563 to
be precise) of CVs this year. We
screen, accept, and sometimes
reject, to ensure that we hire the
Flight 537 to MAC Consulting
will be boarding at gate 7 (read:
HR Office)…
We see HR as the OR Tambo of
MAC Consulting. We have, after all,
an Arrivals Lounge, a Slow Lounge,
and a newly added lounge focusing

SUPPORT UPDATE: HR 9
MAC'S (VERY SELECTIVE) SELECTION PROCESS
By October we had conducted
around 400 interviews and
case studies for the year. This
process was not without its usual
challenges. At times it took some
begging and even bribing (sushi)
to get our consultants on board,
but once here they were fully
committed. When last-minute
client requirements leave us
without an interviewer, Rosy puts
on her running shoes and makes
the 150-metre dash to the back
consultant hot-desk room, to find
a willing replacement interviewer.
We would like to make use of
this opportunity to thank each and
every consultant and director who
assisted us with our recruitment
process, and we are happy to
announce that MAC welcomed
48 new arrivals this year.
CVs RECEIVED
Human Resources
Development (HRD) Lounge
We recently opened a new lounge
in HR, called HRD. Not to be
mistaken for a place where you
can sit and relax, this is where
you learn, develop and grow in
MAC. HRD was launched in June
and things are starting to come
together. We will be introducing a
new learning management system
to assist all consultants on their
development journey, ensuring
their progress gets tracked and
measured appropriately. You will be
able to log on and start your journey
early next year, so watch out for
emails from HR informing you of
the go-live date.
Slow Lounge (General HR)
We don’t believe in an open-door
INTERVIEWS
policy, but more of a revolving-door
policy. We enjoy the conversations
– from the casual check-ins to the
serious project discussions – the
laughter, and even the tears. When
you are in the office again, come
and say hello. We look forward to it.
This has been an eventful year for
HR, with Rosy joining the team
and making a huge impact on our
recruitment side, to launching HRD,
researching and testing numerous
HRIS systems (we are still working
on this), to welcoming new joiners
and saying good-bye to good friends.
We enjoyed every moment of
2014 and look forward to an even
better 2015.
400
NEW JOINERS
48
CVs RECEIVED
1563
My first impression of MAC is of a highly professional consultancy which manages, at the
same time, to give genuine consideration to the people and personalities involved. It
gives me great confidence that I’ve made the right decision in joining MAC.
Robin Carter, Senior Consultant

10 SUPPORT UPDATE: FINANCE
With the commencement of several
new international projects in 2014
we have been trading in Euros,
Dollars and, last but not least,
Kwanzas at MAC! Our expanding
multi-currency operation is,
however, only one of many changes
in the finance department this year,
so the team would like to take this
opportunity to formally introduce
ourselves.
Diane Govender joined us in July
2013, and has definitely spiced up
the department with her debtor
comments keeping directors on
their toes in ADCO (though they
also admit to missing her if she
isn’t there). Diane is married and
has an adorable three-year-old son
who often says he “needs a sister”!
Diane is also the party planner in
our team, and organises birthday
parties for her family that would
In for a dime,
in for a dollar
By Caitlin Jay, Marius du Plessis, Jackie Whelan, Sue-Mari Strydom, Diane Govender and Mfiso Zwane.
The finance team that's been juggling Rands, Euros, Dollars and Kwanzas comprises (from left): Caitlin, Sue-Mari, Mfiso, Diane, Marius and Jackie.

SUPPORT UPDATE: FINANCE 11
“When we long for life without difficulties, remind
us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and
diamonds are made under pressure.”
compete with the MAC year-end
function. Occasionally you’ll find
Diane livening up the bar with a
Spiced Gold.
Mfiso Zwane’s learnership with
us started in October last year
and is now complete. Known as
Mr Gadgets (as he rolls with his
phone, iPad, and, of course, his
Phablet), Mfiso has been our
database wizard and, at the time
of going to press, we are hoping
to go live with our database soon.
Mfiso is an aspiring entrepreneur
and is starting his own business
next year. We wish him all the best
and know that he will be successful.
The team has a new face with
Marius du Plessis joining recently
as the Assistant Financial Manager.
He is married to Jolandie, who is
in the process of starting her own
interior design company. Marius
previously worked at PwC and
qualified as a chartered accountant
at the end of 2012, joining MAC
in September this year. He has
adapted “exceedingly well” to the
new office environment, bar the
new speedbumps on the
roof ramp slowing him down a
bit. We now have two sets of twins
in our finance team, both Marius
and Sue-Mari say they’re the
better half.
Jackie Whelan has been expanding
her family and she now has five
cats, three dogs, one daughter, one
mom and 39-and-a-half silkworms.
Jackie, the cool mom, has been
taking her whole family to concerts
(we’re not allowed to mention it
was the Justin Bieber concert). The
year has also been kept busy for
Jackie with our international work
expanding to almost as big as her
family. Sue-Mari is our budding golf
pro, when she keeps her eyes on
the ball!
In her spare time, Sue-Mari too
has been doing an interior design
course to keep her out of mischief.
After six years at MAC, we have
finally discovered Sue and Mari’s
split personality, you’ll find Sue in
her office doing Nigel’s invoicing
and Mari socialising at the bar, oh
yes please.
Anon
Natalie Luke still assists with ad-hoc
projects, so you may see her in the
MAC offices from time to time. We
were all very happy about the arrival
of her delightful daughter Andrea in
March this year.
The year has also been busy for
Caitlin Jay, charged with keeping
the finance team in line. In her
spare time she helps MACers with
their tax returns. Only MACers – no
granddads, neighbours or cousins
please… On the weekend, you’ll
probably find her supporting the
Springboks or the Sharks.
In closing, the 2014 financial year
has been busy and challenging, yet
rewarding. Despite difficult times in
some of our client industries, MAC
had a remarkable year, with revenue
increasing to over R180 million. With
phenomenal debtor collections, our
bank balance increased by 44%.
We would like to thank the
consultants for their hard work in
making this happen, for helping us
make the financial results look good,
and for keeping us challenged!
MAC’s PERFORMANCE IN 2014
OVER
R180
MILLION
REVENUE
MAC is a fantastic
environment with really smart
people who are humble and
pleasant to work with. I am
learning every day from the
diversity of skills in my team.
Joel Maine, Senior Consultant

12 SUPPORT UPDATE: OFFICE
A fresh
perspective
By Tania Stokes
TANIA STOKES Thando Maseti, Millicent Zikalala and Mirriam Shilaloke are a
dynamic welcoming committee as they greet guests at reception
and ensure they have some refreshment to settle any nerves.
Ma Mirriam is even recognised as “the boss of the office”.

SUPPORT UPDATE: OFFICE 13
The doors of the lift open and I
nervously follow the direction of
the signage only to turn and take
in my first impressions of MAC
Consulting: light flooding into an
inviting space that is tastefully
and subtly furnished. Locking
eyes with the lady behind the
counter, I feel welcomed by her
smile. She invites me in and
offers me something to drink.
Immediately I am at ease, as if I
belong. As I am paging through
the numerous professional
publications in reception, laughter
bubbles down the passage way.
Curiously I look up to see who
the bearer of this contagious
laugh is and I am met with
yet a bigger smile and a warm
“welcome here” while she
hands me my glass of water.
“It has been a magnificent year for
me at MAC, a journey of amazing
experiences, growth, motivation
and inspirations. It really fills me
with satisfaction to be part of this
remarkable organisation.”
Thando, Millicent and Mirriam ensure that first
impressions of MAC are warm and reassuring.
This was the first of a series of
interviews and every time, without
fail, I was met by friendly smiles
and genuine care. They even
remembered my name! Since
becoming a MACer, taking over the
role of Office and Events Manager,
on 1 August this year, every time
I walk into reception and see Milli
or Thando’s smiles, or hear Ma
Mirriam’s laugh, I feel that I belong.
Never thought a friendly greeting at
reception was a critical part of MAC
Consulting? Consider this: a good
first impression may not generate
revenue, but it does indicate
whether we, as MAC Consulting,
want to build relationships and
walk the road with our employees
and clients. Though it may seem
small, the reception process is
representative of the culture of the
company as a whole.
Our efficient, friendly desk is staffed
by Milli and Thando, who know not
only the support staff, but every
consultant!
And then there is Ma Mirriam,
who not only knows all MACers by
name, but also their likes, dislikes
and most importantly of all, which
beverage they need prepared in
what way in order to get going.
And in Mark Cotterrell’s words:
“She is the boss in the office.”
What I saw on the surface that
first day reflects what I’ve found
underneath in the last couple of
months, and I am looking forward to
growing with this team.
Millicent Zikalala
“MAC is a place of intelligence, integrity and respect, and it feels like
my second home. It is a place of values and culture, yet a place where
you can be spontaneous and have fun. I feel connected to this team,
where there’s mutual respect, open communication, acceptance of who
people are, and everyone is collaborating towards the same goal.”
Thando Maseti

14 MAD
The Method
behind the MAD
Psychometric Process
By Robyn Stephenson

MAD 15
“It’s the human factor… that aids the MAC team in making
informed choices about hiring… offering the individual the
potential to use this compelling data to define development
Many people have completed some
form of psychometric testing at one
or another stage in their lives. The
use of assessments is on the rise as
more and more, organisations are
using psychometric tests as part of
the employee selection process, to
help them get the “right” person and
to give them a competitive edge.
Assessments date back to the
19th century when handwriting
analysis was regarded as a window
on psychological make-up and
became a popular selection tool.
The 20th century saw the advent
of IQ and aptitude tests, which
performed better but were a long
way from foolproof.
The addition of personality
questionnaires added a new
dimension. Although most of us feel
frustrated by its many contrasting
and unrelated statements from
which we are forced to choose,
it still somehow produces results
that are often disturbingly accurate.
With the rapid advancement
of technology, the process of
developing psychometric tests
has become easier and has
made testing more accessible
the world over. There are now
literally thousands of assessment
instruments to choose from that
allow employers to learn as much
as possible about potential
employees.
This growing trend is hardly
surprising given that few of
us reveal our true selves in an
interview. To be fair, the interview
is designed to qualify the “what”
and “where” of the individual’s
experience. It is certainly a useful
tool for gathering information about
the prospective hire, but it’s not
going to reveal the “how”.
MAD’s assessment process covers
the “how”, using several different
instruments and techniques that
allow the candidate to showcase
their talents and skills in a variety
of ways:
l the cognitive assessment asks
how you are going to deal with
complex problems;
l the personality questionnaires
ask how you think you relate to
others, approach tasks or make
decisions; and
l the behavioural exercise is a
means to demonstrate how you
handle yourself in a pressurised
situation when confronted with
some unusual challenges.
But it doesn’t end there. The one
feature of psychometric assessment
that is often underestimated is
the feedback session with the
candidate. This is where the real
“stuff” happens, where masks are
set aside and where facades fade.
This is where the conversation
leads to true understanding and
where it’s less about the actual
scores and more about what
those scores represent for each
unique being. And this is where
the learning occurs. Each feedback
session is an opportunity for the
candidate to gain insight into their
own psychological make-up and
explore their strengths and defining
characteristics, something most of
us very seldom get a chance to do.
Through more than a decade of
working hand-in-glove with the
MAC team and literally living and
breathing the MAC culture, the
process has been honed to cater
for the complexity of the human
mind and character, yet deliver a
simplistic portrait for each individual
that doesn’t just reflect a bunch
of scores but rather entertains
the human factor, something that
is much lacking in the “quick and
cheap” automated processes
prevalent in today’s market. And
we believe it’s this that aids the
MAC team in making informed
choices about hiring, at the same
time offering the individual the
potential to use this compelling data
to define development actions that
can take them to the next level. And
the results speak for themselves
– the fact that MAC continues to
grow from strength to strength,
producing amazing results year-on-year,
is testament in some small
way to the great decisions that are
being made at the point of hiring.
THERESA COTTERRELL
ROBYN STEPHENSON
actions that can take them to the next level.”
About MAC Assessment and Development (MAD)
Run by Theresa Cotterrell and Robyn Stephenson (or MADers
as they are affectionately known), MAD is a long-standing sister
company to MAC Consulting. Having started off as a division
of MAC, and later becoming independent, they continue to
share business premises with us (one might say they are part of
the furniture), and they remain a valued supplier for recruitment
assessments and a valuable support system for all psychometric
processes.

16 PROJECTS
MAC
AT WORK
With over a hundred
consultants working on
between 50 and 60 projects
at any given time, MAC offers
a unique blend of world-class
consulting expertise
and bespoke solutions, with
specialist capability in key
business areas. Our head
office is in Rosebank, but
our consultants are based
at client sites all over the
world. Projects have been
completed successfully
in more than 25 countries
over our 20-year history
and, in 2014, we worked in
predominantly South Africa,
Netherlands, UK, Botswana,
Zimbabwe, Lesotho, and the
DRC. In this section, a few
of our people talk about their
current projects.
EDITOR'S NOTE
In this feature we chose ten of our
consultants to photograph against
ten Johannesburg landmarks. We
wanted to showcase just some of the
talent we have at MAC, at the same
time celebrating this vibrant and
cosmopolitan city that we work from.

PROJECTS 17
The quest
for world-class
operations
at Petro SA
By Klaus Wohlfarth
Problems in the workplace
were now resolved at shop
floor level, rather than everything
being escalated to management.
Visual management was taking
place and workers could see on
display boards what the tasks
at hand were, the expected
targets, and how they were
doing against these.
Another difference that was very
noticeable was the involvement
of management on the shop floor,
who attended the team meetings,
did walk-abouts on a weekly basis,
and interacted with staff. This
showed a marked improvement
in the general morale of logistics
services, and the momentum
of wanting more started kicking
in. The results of the design
test at logistics services were
well received by the PetroSA
management, and we are looking
forward to continuing the Journey
of Operational Excellence within
the broader PetroSA.
were under the impression that
operationally the fundamentals
were in place and that Operational
Excellence would take the company
to the next level. On closer analysis
it was, however, highlighted that
there were gaps in the foundation
elements, these being leading and
managing change, teamwork and
visual management, and before any
further initiative could be embarked
upon, these would need to be
addressed. Thus it was decided to
do an Operational Excellence design
test at the logistics services base.
Starting the design test at
PetroSA logistics services, it was
evident that there were definite
improvement opportunities,
especially when it came to getting
employees to work as teams
towards a common goal. The staff
of the logistics base grabbed
the approach of an Operational
Excellence Journey with open arms.
In a matter of weeks, remarkable
differences could already be seen.
PetroSA, South Africa’s national oil
company, is situated in Mosselbay,
which I was told has one of the
world’s best climates. Having spent
more than a year there, I can confirm
this. I have to add, though, that it is
not the most energetic of places –
with the highlight of a week being
the pensioners’ specials that are
offered in the local restaurants.
The PetroSA refinery is located
about five minutes out of town.
With the worst traffic and everyone
sticking to the speed limit it still
takes five minutes to get there,
which is an absolute pleasure when
one is used to Jo’burg traffic.
In 2013, PetroSA embarked on a
journey of Operational Excellence.
For this they sought the help of
MAC Consulting. We started the
Operational Excellence Journey
with a six-month analysis and
design phase, during which we
looked at all areas of the operation.
Senior management from PetroSA
About
the author
KLAUS WOHLFARTH
Born in Cape Town, Klaus
originally joined the SA Air
Force and studied through
them to become a flight
engineer. A change in
career saw him becoming a
management consultant in
1991, first at Proudfoot and
then various consultancies,
before joining MAC three
years ago as Principal
Consultant. His industry
experience spans mining,
banking, automotive,
government, aeronautical
and petrochemical. Klaus’s
areas of expertise include
process analysis, productivity
improvement, project
management, business
analysis, management
controls and operational
excellence.
MAC is truly a family. MACers work hard, help each other out and
remember that sometimes a good laugh is just what the doctor ordered.
Julia Martin, Senior Consultant

18 PROJECTS
The
challenges
continue…
By Nigel Worthington, Key Account Director
NIGEL WORTHINGTON
See Nigel’s profile on our
website www.macgroup.co.za
Market volatility, depressed
commodity prices, surging Rand and
global turmoil. What a challenging
environment we operate in!
As global economies continue to
fight their way out of recession,
doubts remain as to whether we
are going to stick with the insipid
growth levels or break out. At
this stage it looks like the former,
especially in SA.
Certainly had we known that this
would be the case, it would have
been highly unlikely that we would
have forecasted any form of growth
within MAC for the foreseeable
future. The mining and resource
sector continues to be stressed.
Commodity prices are falling to
levels last seen in 2009; cost
pressures continue with above-inflation
increases, reduced output
and strikes that have been pushing
up unit costs, and a Rand that
has devalued by nearly 30% in 24
months. The net impact has most
probably resulted in an increase in
unit costs in excess of 40% over
the past two years, which has not
been matched by price increases.
Some signs of growth exist albeit
off a low base, but the next two
years could be very much of the
same. Despite all of this, MAC
has had a record year. Why?
Photo courtesy of Royal Bafokeng Platinum (RBPlat).

PROJECTS 19
One of the key factors behind this
has been the MAC brand which
has continued to strengthen over
the 20 years that we have been
operating. The ability to consistently
deliver good work, at a fair cost,
while at the same time building
deep relationships across the
industry, has been fundamental
to our results. During this period
of downturn, we have seen many
of our client personnel move to
different companies and different
opportunities. From their new base,
it has been surprising how many
have promoted and supported us
based on their dealings with MAC
in the past. This combination of our
existing clients, plus the addition of
several new clients, has made 2014
remarkable.
Our somewhat unique brand has
also had an impact in other areas,
such as recruitment, and it has been
very satisfying to see a number
of old friends rejoin the business
and lend their considerable skills
and experience to our collective
capacity.
The confluence of client networks
and experience has certainly been
a major influence in a couple of
the accounts that I am involved
in – notably Anglo Iron Ore, Anglo
Platinum and RBPlat. Each of these
clients are in sectors under financial
pressure – iron ore and platinum
group metals (PGM). However, in
each case, we have managed to
provide the client with broad-based
solutions to a number of issues
that they have, and this has led to
additional opportunities to assist.
Despite the reality of this depressed
and chaotic world we are struggling
in, MAC has shown amazing growth
over the last five years – testament
I believe to the resilience that
MAC and our consultants have. It
is also a reflection of our strategy
in broadening our client base both
within the mining sector, as well
as beyond mining. Our genuine
relationship focus and approach
to clients has not only buffered us
from the economic storms that
have existed, but has allowed us to
strengthen the MAC brand.
The various economic scenarios that
currently exist (Clem Sunter, etc.), do
not provide any real, likely scenarios
of the return of the “good days”
and 2015 promises to be more of
the same. Even potential for further
downside, given the socio-political
landscape that lies ahead of us.
Having said that, I am confident
that resilience, relationships and
good leadership, are three key
characteristics that will allow us to
continue to maintain our position.
My sincere thanks to all those
involved in the account for their
hard work and support, and for
the exceptional results that they
have achieved during 2014. I look
forward to the challenges that
next year will bring.
200
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
1900
1800
1700
1600
1500
1400
1300
1200
PLATINUM AND IRON ORE
Iron Ore (Fe63.5%) IN CIF China $/MT
London Platinum Free Market $/Troy oz (RH Scale)
Source: Thomson Reuters Datastream

20
Case Study:
Programme
Management
Office
Implementation
By Lynne McLean
PROJECTS
About
the author
LYNNE McLEAN
Lynne originally consulted
with MAC between 2000
and 2007, after which she
left for Umtali Consulting,
where she worked from 2007
to 2013. We were pleased
to welcome her back to
MAC as Senior Manager in
2013. With an MBA from
Heriot Watt, Edinburgh
Business School; a Marketing
Management Diploma in
Research and Strategy
from Unisa; and a BA (Law,
Psychology and Sociology)
from Wits, Lynne has
developed strong capability
in project management over
her 15 years in consulting,
eight of which were within
a SAP environment. Her
areas of expertise include
shared services, change
management, business
process re-engineering, and
organisational design and
blueprinting, particularly
within the mining and
resources industry. She
is currently on the Anglo
American Platinum account.
Photo courtesy of Anglo American Platinum.

21
“The establishment of a Project Management or Support Office within an
organisation is often brought about by the need to change and change drastically.”
Anglo American Platinum
Operations, which turned an
operating loss of R6.33bn in 2012
to an operating profit of R1.97bn
at the end of 2013, has seen a
decline in profits in 2014. The recent
economic downturn, which brought
about a reduction in price and
demand for platinum products, as
well as unprecedented strike action
earlier this year, saw operating
profit down 87% for H1 to R0.4bn.
The organisation subsequently
announced the sell-off of its
expensive and unprofitable assets
in an attempt to regain its operating
performance and reach a market
cap of R55bn by 2020.
In the wake of these economic and
cost pressures, restructuring was
seen as critical to the success of
the organisation and, as a result,
the Platinum Review Office (PRO)
was established to monitor and
track operational performance
improvement for the company.
Significant effort was expended
defining 32 key initiatives, which
would engender a R3.5bn financial
benefit over three years. During the
first year, the PRO tracked R1.9bn
worth of financial benefits to the
organisation, achieved through
these initiatives. Theory will tell you
that the standard role of a Project
Support Office entails tactical
support for the organisation in
delivering on its projects, including
the administration, tracking and
monitoring, and mentorship
support. The PRO filled this role,
specifically focusing on tracking and
monitoring benefits attained, and
ensuring that these are reported to
Anglo American.
Over time, however, it became
evident that the PRO needed to
play a more strategic role as well.
Anglo Platinum has evolved into a
functional matrix organisation and
so the PRO needed to reflect the
same way of doing business. Of
critical importance is the ownership
of project initiatives, and the
outcomes and sustainability of the
changes by the business. Although
Photo courtesy of Anglo American Platinum.
not simple to achieve, the PRO
undertakes projects using business
resources, with a minimum
reliance on outside experts if such
resources do not exist internally.
Given a reduction in overhead staff
complement by 30%, this approach
has placed significant strain on
business resources. However, the
organisational decision to focus
on strategic drivers aligning to the
focus of the company, has meant
that each function has needed to
carefully consider the activities
occupying their time. As a result,
over 70% of projects have been
stopped or put on hold, until the
right resources have capacity to
undertake the work.
The PRO is seen as a strategic
resource for the organisation; it
receives its mandate from the office
of the CEO, and is supported by
each of the directorates. Initially,
a two-year programme, the PRO
lifespan has been extended for the
foreseeable future to support the
strategic drivers of the organisation.
PROJECTS
Following economic and cost
pressures, Anglo American
Platinum Operations
established the Platinum
Review Office to monitor
and track operational
performance improvement
for the company.

22 PROJECTS
Key Account
Update
From the Netherlands to Lephalale, from business turnaround strategies
to basic financial training, the MAC team’s versatility continued to make
an impact on our clients and their employees.
By Harry Steadman, Key Account Director
who have had to learn new skills
while operating in a new industry,
across multiple countries, cultures,
legislations, languages and a
multiple-consultant-deployment
environment.
As we have come to expect
under Victor’s stewardship, MAC
is now well positioned to move
into a leadership role in the
implementation phase of this
project and expand our team’s
presence across geographies and
functions.
So far the MAC team has comprised
Victor, Michael Gering, Tjaart
Coetzee, Kesh Mudaly and Sherryl
Oosthuizen. The work has been
primarily focused on the design of
new Pan-European processes and
organisational structures that will
allow for considerable cost cuts to
be made which, in turn, will return
the business to profitability.
During 2014 the team has held
work sessions in England, France,
Spain, the Czech Republic, Sweden
and Italy and, although the team’s
initial focus was on four out of the
14 workstreams, it has expanded its
role into the Project Management
Office (PMO) where it will continue
to grow during 2015. Additionally,
2015 will focus on implementation
together with the redeployment
in the Netherlands close to the
German border. The project involves
creating and implementing a new
business model for the company’s
European operations with the
objective of reducing operational
costs, improving margins and
moving from a country-based to a
Pan-European based organisational
structure.
The project was initiated via Neil
Maslen (an ex-MAC Director) who
has been appointed into a Senior
Vice President role responsible
for Business Transformation. Neil
“cherry picked” consultants from
his network and previous jobs, and
in this way created a blended team
from BMGI, Dicitas and MAC.
The Office Depot breakthrough
could be used to expand MAC’s
global footprint if we choose that
as a strategic goal. In addition, it
represents a new industry sector
into which MAC could also choose
to expand.
The project team, led by Victor
Bergh, has had to endure long
periods away from their families,
challenging working environments,
grounded flights (due to striking
French pilots) and, of course, the
ever-famous European weather
system. Nonetheless, it has been a
thoroughly enjoyable and rewarding
project for all team members
The 2014FY was a fantastic year
for our account in that we only
missed achieving R75m in revenue
by 33 man-days of billing, but were
still up 12% on our record year in
2013. This was achieved despite
the major project, led by Hercu
Venter, that carried us through the
2008/9 recession, and beyond,
progressively coming to an end.
Just over 50% of the revenue came
from new, or relatively new, clients,
which is a great indicator of the
health of our business.
Office Depot
Office Depot is one of the largest,
if not the largest, office supplies
company world-wide. It has a
primary listing on the NASDAQ
stock exchange in the United States
and in 2013 posted an annual group
turnover of $11.2 billion. Of this,
almost $3 billion could be accounted
for by its European operation, which
spans multiple countries across
the continent. In order to remain
competitive in a highly dynamic and
challenging business environment,
the company has initiated a
transformation programme for this
aspect of its operations.
MAC has been involved in both the
design and implementation phases
of this project, which is based in the
company’s European headquarters
in Venlo, a small industrial town
HARRY STEADMAN
See Harry’s profile on our

PROJECTS 23
The Medupi site in Lephalale (2011).
process to ensure that the
transformation programme’s
business benefits are realised and
that the company’s recovery is both
sustainable and growth-based.
Exxaro
Despite implementation of the
latest round of restructuring in
Exxaro and major delays to their
newest major capital project in the
Republic of Congo, under Hercu
Venter’s leadership and with Chris
van der Merwe, Ben van den Berg
and the team’s support, MAC
maintained a significant presence
through continuing to provide
value-adding services in the capital
project and sustainability areas.
This year also marked MAC’s sixth
year of involvement with Exxaro’s
flagship Grootegeluk Medupi
Expansion Project (GMEP), which
will be completed around the time
of going to press. It has been an
incredibly rewarding experience for
all of the MAC people involved and
enabled MAC to make a substantial
contribution to this very successful
project.
An additional project involved the
Grootegeluk mine management
team recognising an opportunity
to become even more effective
and efficient as a team, resulting in
Henriette Rieger leading them on a
“High Performance” journey aimed
at enabling the development of the
team into a cohesive and effective
unit. This experience was highly
valued by the management team
members.
Once again Exxaro maintained
a strong position in the Carbon
Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI),
which measures transparency and
data management with regards
to the emission of greenhouse
gases among those companies
responding to the CDP. Exxaro
improved its CDLI score from 97 to
98 in the reporting period.
Lephalale Development
Forum (LDF)
MAC continues to provide
coordination and facilitation support
to the LDF. The success of this
forum is critical for all stakeholders
in Lephalale on their quest to
establish the first democratic city
in South Africa. Jacques Snyman
has taken up this challenging
role and has established strong
relationships at all levels throughout
the community. Jacques has
even become a member of the
community by moving to Lephalale
recently!
City Power
The City Power environment
continued to prove challenging
but, with Sherryl Oosthuizen at
the helm, MAC has maintained a
Photo courtesy of Murray & Roberts.

24
Just over 50% of revenue came from new, or relatively new, clients,
which is a great indicator of the health of our business.
have been provided with a two-day
intensive programme to create a life
plan during a course called “Drive
Your Life”. The content is based on
similar modules to MAC’s internal
“Strategic Alignment” process,
with similar outcomes. The goal is
to offer this programme to all 6 000
locals by the end of 2015.
Nathan Ananmalay has been
accountable for putting in place and
implementing the funding, capacity
and capability to provide local
people with the opportunity to gain
vocational skills opportunities that
will enable them to participate more
fully in the economic activity in their
region now and in the future. By
year-end over 200 people will have
completed the six- to eight-week
fully SETA-accredited courses in
either basic bricklaying, roofing,
fabrication, or welding. The goal
is to complete over 2 000 people
during the life of the project and
there is much to be done to achieve
this lofty goal.
Lukas Dreyer has worked tirelessly
leading MLI’s “flagship project”,
which sets out to provide job
opportunities that are focused on
improving the natural environment,
encouraging sustainable land
management, and developing a bio-diverse
rich, rural green economy.
l Four “Working on Fire” teams of
25 people each, put in place in
March this year, have completed
their basic training, and are ready
to go into action during this year’s
fire season.
l The second batch of
‘”Environmental Monitors”
(anti-rhino poaching) trainees
will complete their basic training
this year, and a total of 50 will be
undergoing on-the-job training
accelerate the infrastructure
projects required to prepare the
municipality for the opportunities
and challenges that the SIP-1
Projects will present; and
l Facilitating the expansion of
essential services, including
vocational education and training,
to prepare the local people for
future growth.
By year-end over 10 000 people (9%
of the local population and 95% of
the local on-site employees) will
have completed financial literacy
training. From a recent press article,
quoting Lyndy van den Barselaar
(MD, Manpower South Africa), the
business case for such a course is
clear.
“It is estimated that the average
worker wastes 15 hours a month
dealing with their debt issues. They
may even take up a freelance job
that may include working night
shifts, further impacting on their
performance. In addition, these
individuals experience extreme
stress levels, which results in
impaired productivity and increased
sick leave. It may not be possible
for employers to raise wages to
ease the debt concerns of their
employees but employers can
equip their workers with money
management skills. The best line of
defence for employers is to educate
employees as much as possible.
Training employees to either avoid
debt or get out of it as quickly as
possible is one of the best gifts
an employer can give. Otherwise,
many employees could go their
entire careers not seeing half of
what they earn.”
Initially under Kesh’s and then
Ben’s leadership, over 1 000 people
significant presence and remained
the consultant of choice in key
business areas.
Transnet
Through Dave Collins’s world-class
knowledge, experience and thought
leadership in sustainability, MAC
has maintained its relationship with
Transnet.
Medupi Leadership
Initiative (MLI)
The MLI team were just starting
on their journey at the start of the
2014FY – and what a journey! MAC
now has a contract to continue on
this journey until 28 February 2017.
Incidentally, this is my 74th birthday
– not sure if that is a milestone or a
tombstone.
The objective of this innovative
initiative is to provide a bridge to
future capital project employment
opportunities for Medupi
contractors’ demobilised local
people by:
l Presenting them with the chance
to develop financial literacy skill
and to prepare a life plan during
employment;
l Providing portable skills training
opportunities for up to 660 people
per year for three years;
l Implementing the Drylands VP
Projects to restore the natural
environment and provide an
income for periods ranging from
three months to three years;
l Assisting in the acceleration of the
delivery of the Corporate Social
Investment (CSI) projects that are
required;
l Identifying and implementing
additional fully funded Value
Propositions that provide job and
training opportunities;
l Attempting to identify and
PROJECTS

25
during early 2015 before taking
up full employment either in the
Waterberg game farms or in
SANParks reserves.
l The “Working for the Environment”
project is the bulk employer
and over 700 people have been
recruited to create food gardens in
the traditional areas, and restore
the adjacent land to productive use.
Chris has spent his time attempting
to integrate local municipality
infrastructure projects and
construction site contractors’ CSI
plans, in an attempt to optimise
the impact of these investments
on the lives of the local people and
simultaneously provide employment
opportunities for our clients.
The integration, control and reporting
of the programme’s projects has
rested with Paolo Scalco, Kesh
Mudaly and Wynand Singels
through the PMO. Paolo has also
been accountable for trying to
gain benefits for the significant
investment that MLI has made into
the local SMME Hub.
The difficult job of placing people
into the opportunities created by the
projects has been driven by Ian with
the placement team – Rose Mokoena,
Mpho Kekana and Aggy Baloyi.
Expanding the projects offered by
MLI for our clients is essential to
absorbing the many thousands that
will be demobilised over the next few
years. We were blessed to have in
our team people with a real passion
for making a real difference in the
lives of others – Megan Evans and
Mathe Marengwa. Both have created
and leveraged wide networks of
influential leaders in the agriculture
and youth programme areas. New
projects in both these areas are being
developed and will prove critical to
the funding submissions that are in
the process of being prepared.
Funding is the lifeblood of this
project and we were fortunate to
have in our team two exceptionally
knowledgeable and passionate
people in this area – Annie Snyman
and Peter Adams.
Annie has, through her studies and
passion for sustainability, built up a
vast network of influential people
focused on funding projects in the
green economy area. The doors that
have been opened through these
networks are incredible and are soon
to bear fruit in the form of tens, if not
hundreds, of millions of Rand.
Peter has spent much of his life in
the further education and training
area and he, too, has been able
to leverage a vast network of
highly supportive senior people.
The impact has been remarkable.
MLI has been working with the
Department of Higher Education
on the “Skills for and through
SIP” initiative, which includes the
Waterberg Skills Development
Programme. This Programme,
which includes MLI’s skills-building
implementing agent, the Lephalale
Technical and Vocational Education
and Training College, has been
approved as a “Presidential Flagship
Project”. This recognition should
enable the MLI team to access the
required funding and support to
achieve our ambitious goals.
Testimony to the outstanding
outcomes that have been achieved
comes in the form of a quote from
a client leader during the recent
contract extension process: “We just
cannot imagine MLI without MAC.”
What a journey 2014 has been
for everyone on the account. It
has been a challenging, exciting
and hugely rewarding year – with
achievements, extensions and
results that could not have been
predicted a year ago. Thank you to
each member of the team, who
made this possible.
PROJECTS
MAC is the most “together” organisation I’ve ever come across –
vendor, customer or employer. There’s a consistency about the mature
approach to trust, integrity, quality of work, and mutual support which
I’ve never encountered before, and which contributes enormously to
our ability to deliver on customer expectations.
Dave Evans, Principal Consultant

26 PROJECTS
Food for
thought
Heading into rural farmlands
By Megan Evans
The World Bank has calculated that
growth in the agriculture sector is at
least twice as effective at reducing
poverty as growth in other sectors.
An analysis completed by the Food
and Agricultural Organisation of the
United Nations shows that, in sub-
Saharan Africa, growth in agriculture
is 11 times more effective at
reducing poverty than growth in
other sectors.
contact with the primary sources of
some of our most basic sustenance
requirements. The regional focus on
agriculture around Lephalale and the
potential for employment creation
in this sector through smallholder
farming development, has recently
afforded me a deep dive into key
sustainability questions that centre
on food security as part of the
research for my current project.
Driving up to the North of Limpopo
involves a social and geographical
transition, moving out of the
urban world and into the rural.
About halfway, there is a sign that
marks my mental cross-over point,
exclaiming “If you have eaten today,
thank the Farmer and the Farm
Worker”.
As urbanites, we rarely have direct
About
the author
MEGAN EVANS
Megan has been a Consultant
at MAC since 2012. Prior
to that she had 10 years’
working experience at GIBS,
the Business Results Group,
and with Dr Edward de
Bono. She holds a BCom
communications degree from
RAU, a PMD from GIBS, and
A BPhil at Honours level in
Sustainable Development from
Stellenbosch University, which
she obtained cum laude.
Megan has designed
and managed a number
of world-class learning
interventions for managers
and executives in the
construction, financial services
and telecommunications
industries. She is currently
leveraging her most recent
studies and developing a
strong base of consulting
experience working with
MAC clients on complex
sustainability problems.
A new solar borehole pump being installed on a a local farm.

PROJECTS 27
Developing Agro-Industry is
therefore, quite rightly, a priority of
South Africa’s National Government.
This sector has been identified by
government as a potential driver of
one million jobs by 2030 and is also
central to plans related to national
land reform, rural development and
food security objectives.
According to the Statistics SA
Household Survey, over 46% of
households in Limpopo are involved
in some form of agricultural activity.
Agriculture contributes to food
security in the region by providing
an extra source of food for these
households.
Agriculture is also a meeting
point of social and environmental
sustainability pressures. Limpopo
province is highly vulnerable to
these pressures and disruption due
to water scarcity – some areas of
the province are already degraded
and experiencing climate-related
pressure. The WWF states in a 2014
research report that:
“It is becoming increasingly clear
that climate change is an inevitable
process. With likely long-term
changes in rainfall patterns,
rising temperatures and shifting
climate zones (IPCC 2013), climate
change is expected to increase
the frequency of climate-related
shocks, which in turn will put
pressure on food, energy and water
supply. The impact will be amplified
through the interconnections and
interdependence among these
three resources...”
Of critical concern to creating a
sustainable agricultural sector is
the resilience of the environmental
system and maintenance of the
productivity of South Africa’s
slender amount of arable land.
Many ecosystem services provide
inputs into the farming process
that directly impact on the quality
of the final produce. It is therefore
of great importance that the
region’s environmental integrity
Mathe Marengwa engages with a farmer and his prize bull.
A rural farm road leading to the middle of nowhere, somewhere near the Botswana border. The Lephalale project has
seen MAC team members jumping into the back of bakkies and exploring the agricultural context of the region.
is safeguarded for sustainable
agricultural activity, to protect highly
vulnerable, rural livelihoods.
The Department of Environmental
Affairs (DEA) “Working for
Ecosystems” initiative works on
this problem, creating jobs by
rehabilitating degraded land so that
it is returned to productivity and
can generate the vital ecosystem
services that local communities
depend upon. Our team is now
investigating how to build upon this
type of work, in order to generate
further employment opportunities
in agriculture value chains with
emerging farmers. We are
working closely with key corporate
stakeholders in the region, as well as
the Department of Agriculture, and
other local government stakeholders.
This initiative is an example of how
MAC is becoming an integral player
in sustainability-related problem-solving
that will have a long-term
impact on South Africa.
FAST FACT
1 000 000
Agro-Industry has been
identified by government as a
potential driver of one million
jobs by 2030.

28 PROJECTS
Restoring Ecosystems, Providing Jobs
The Planet is
under threat
By Annie Snyman and Lukas Dreyer
The Working for Wildlife project aims to conserve endangered animals including White Rhino.
The word “ecosystem” is derived
from the Greek word oikos, meaning
house and system, which beautifully
supports the notion that the earth is
our “house” and we should protect
its “system” if we want to continue
living in our “house”.
The Millennium Ecosystem
Assessment defines ecosystems
as “a dynamic complex of plant,
animal, and micro-organism
communities and the non-living
environment interacting as a
functional unit. Humans are an
The recent Living Planet Index (LPI)
Report by the World Wide Fund
for Nature found that humans are
consuming environmental resources
at a rate that would require 1.5
earths to sustain. The LPI also found
that, based on 10 380 populations
of over 3 038 vertebrate species
assessed, these species declined by
52% between 1970 and 2010. 1
Why should we care? Because
humans are dependent on biodiversity,
ecosystems and the services they
render for our existence.
About
the authors
ANNIE SNYMAN
With over 20 years’ consulting
experience managing
multi-disciplinary projects in
industries spanning mining
and resources, aviation,
health, financial services,
ICT, the public sector and
utilities, Annie is an Associate
Director at MAC. She has
significant international
experience, including in the
USA, EU, UAE, UK, Canada,
Ghana, Namibia, Botswana,
Zimbabwe, Angola, Tanzania,
Kenya, Nigeria, China, India
and Peru. With a specific
interest in sustainable
development, Annie is
currently completing her
Master’s in Development
Finance at the University
of Stellenbosch Business
School. Prior to joining MAC
Annie worked for, inter alia,
Gold Fields, Anglo American,
Deloitte, and Booz-Allen &
Hamilton.
integral part of ecosystems.” 2
Ecosystem services refer to
“services” humans are dependent
on – for food, timber, biomass fuels,
many pharmaceuticals and industrial
products, as well as recreation.
However, during the past 50 years
almost 60% of the ecosystems that
exist, have been degraded or are
being utilised unsustainably. 3
A similar situation exists in
South Africa, where 20% of
our terrestrial ecosystems

PROJECTS 29
Food gardens are making a real difference in the lives of children in the area.
have been lost. In addition, 48%
of wetlands, 42% of rivers and
80% of estuary ecosystems are
critically endangered. Finally,
62% of known ocean species are
overexploited, have collapsed or are
threatened. 4 And, although many
species are on the endangered
list, sadly 3 550 rhinos have been
poached between 2000 and
September 2014. 5
Making a difference
on the ground
MAC is privileged to currently be
supporting one of those projects that
many consultants dream of: making
a real difference to people and the
planet. It is a truly collaborative
effort between public, private and
community sectors, who are working
together in creating jobs, addressing
ecosystem threats, and protecting
biodiversity. Funders include the
Department of Environmental Affairs,
as well as commercial companies.
The Drylands Programme is one
element of the project. It aims
to gainfully employ unskilled and
semi-skilled workers who are
being demobilised from a large
capital project, as well as local
unemployed people, on projects
that significantly improve the natural
environment, ensure sustainable
land management, and make a start
on developing a bio-diverse rich,
rural green economy in the area.
Currently the Drylands Programme
focuses on three sub-projects,
namely:
1. Working for Ecosystems to
restore the productive potential
of land by reversing degradation
through erosion, overgrazing and
alien vegetation;
2. Working for Wildlife to
increase conservation capacity
within SANParks and to provide
patrols, rhino monitoring and other
conservation tasks; and
3. Working on Fire to undertake
fire prevention interventions, wild
fire suppression, and the safe use
of fire for ecological functioning of
systems.
These projects are already
employing more than 660 people
and impacting positively on people’s
lives and the environment.
Apart from the direct benefits to
the employees concerned, there
are indirect benefits to the broader
communities as well, such as
Food Gardens where 2 000 children
are being fed from the harvest
as part of the “School Feeding
Scheme”. The first harvest of the
year took place at Seleka Primary
School.
1. WWF, The Living Planet Index Report, 2014
2. UNEP, Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Summary, 2005
3. UNEP, Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Summary, 2005
4. SANBI, The State of South Africa’s Biodiversity, 2012
5. DEA, 2014
LUKAS DREYER
Lukas has been a Principal
Consultant at MAC since
2010. Prior to that he
worked for, among others,
Proudfoot, Umtali and Plessey
Telecommunications. With a
Master’s in Education from the
University of Pretoria, Lukas
started his career in schools
in 1979, working his way up
to the level of headmaster of a
large comprehensive school.
He decided to change to
consulting, however, which he
did in 1993. He therefore has
over 20 years’ consulting and
line management experience
in the mining and resources,
retail, and telecommunications
industries.

30 PROJECTS
LEPHALALE:
Observations
about balancing
mega-industry
and the precious
bushveld eco-system
By Ian Sandilands
Lephalale continues to transform
from a quiet rural community into one
of the fastest-growing towns in South
Africa. Although Woolworths Food,
Ster Kinekor, Motherland Coffee
and Kauai are still to arrive, it now
boasts three KFCs, a McDonald’s,
the largest gym in South Africa,
and the new Lephalale Mall. This
development is driven by mining and
power generation, juxtaposed against
the surrounding game farms and
breathtaking natural beauty.
Our project team in Lephalale
has observed how the protection
of these natural assets is offset
with industrial growth. The drive
to the project site is characterised
by magnificent scenery, and the
team has seen sable, giraffe, nyala
and wildebeest, not to mention
numerous impala, warthog, baboon
and monkey sightings. As you
descend from the Waterberg to the
huge flat plain that stretches into the
Note the PFO Office in the background.

PROJECTS 31
Kalahari, and look past the scenic
Mogol River and the three baobabs
at the entrance to town, the massive
Matimba and Medupi power stations
loom in the distance.
The drive is also known for its
potholes, bakkies, huge numbers
of trucks, some hair-raising driving
and interesting places to stop.
The MampoerBoer, Biltong Go
Back, Boere wat Braai, Plek van
die Vleisvreters, Die Koffiekan and
Castle de Wildt (host to exclusive
and rare game auctions), among
others, provide a taste of this
opposing, changing setting.
The annual Bosveldfees, on a
chilly winter’s evening in July, is a
traditional “platteland” festival with
cattle shows, 4x4 competitions,
dodgem cars, live entertainment,
traditional food and a beer tent. This
is contrasted with an increasingly
cosmopolitan feel and a number
of new residents: Pakistani street
vendors who speak little or no
English; Indian shopkeepers; a
Chinese-owned bottle store and
money lending business; Congolese
artists, and a Thai restaurant offering
karaoke and massages. On-site
there are Scottish engineers,
Taiwanese technicians, French
inspectors and (rumour has it) even
some Afghan welders. The project
office itself has some interesting
neighbours, including the “Human
Biltong Kiosk” and “Dr H Adlam
from Central Africa”.
Additional power stations, solar
parks and other independent power
plants, and the development of
mines to supply them, will continue
to drive unprecedented growth
and attract people from all over
the world to this small bushveld
town. How this growth is balanced
with the delicate eco-system, the
availability of water, the health of
the wider economy, and the impact
of other planned infrastructure
projects, will determine how fast
and where further growth will take
place. Meanwhile our project team
will continue to be part of this
dynamic, contrasting story.
The competitive world of bakkies in the Bosveld.
Everybody loves a good braai.
Not sure if Mr Human thought this through.
About
the author
IAN SANDILANDS
With BA and MBA degrees
from UCT and GIBS, Ian is a
Principal Consultant at MAC.
Starting out as a graduate
trainee at Anglo American in
1992, Ian moved to Accenture
in 1994, where he reached
the level of Senior Manager
before joining MAC in 2004.
His areas of expertise include
strategic alignment, financial
and human performance;
organisation design and
transformation; operational
improvement; and change
management. He has been
engaged on a number of
large-scale change initiatives,
primarily in the resources
sector, and spanning countries
that include South Africa,
Namibia, Botswana, Tanzania,
the United Arab Emirates and
the United States.

32 PROJECTS
Tread gently
Mitigating the negative impact of Capital Projects on local communities
By Ben van den Berg
Major capital infrastructure projects
change the lives of people in the
relevant communities forever.
Infrastructure development brings
with it excellent personal growth
opportunities, but also major
challenges. For many it means
getting a job for the first time and
higher income than they are used
to. It does also, however, bring the
pressure to spend their money
wisely and plan their lives, to ensure
a better future for themselves and
their families.
The leaders of a major infrastructure
project in South Africa recognised
this need early in 2013 and appointed
a training company to educate
local people on how to handle their
finances effectively, and plan their
lives for the future. And so the “Life
Skills Value Proposition” programme
was born, a project which MAC has
been privileged to assist the training
company with in 2014.
The Life Skills
Value Proposition
Many hours were spent in planning
the execution of this training
initiative, in an environment
where operational pressures are
intense. Nine local facilitators were
appointed to roll out the training on-site
and in the community. Targeting
mainly on-site unskilled and semi-skilled
employees, the programme
consists of two courses.
1. Financial Literacy aims to
develop knowledge and skill in
handling money, while encouraging
FAST FACT
13 200
Number of people who have
received life skills training.
a culture of saving. It helps people
take control of their money by
understanding more about personal
financial management, and how
to plan for their financial goals
and future.
2. Drive Your Life assists
participants to set goals and
design the roadmap for achieving
their dreams. It helps people see
opportunities in the world around
them, and build a life plan aimed at
maximising these.
Various and interesting challenges
had to be dealt with in making the
programme work. From finding
venues (training was and still is
done in a variety of venues ranging
from bomas, tents and parking
bays, to extremely professional
facilities), to chasing up schedulers
and making sure there is adequate
water and food supply!
A combination of planning,
relationship building, effort and
persistence, has led to great results
so far. Since June 2013, more than
4 700 people have completed the
Financial Literacy course, and 900
Drive your Life. Plus 8 500 people
were trained in Financial Literacy
offsite, in the broader community.
The valuable life skills that these
people have obtained is a once-in-a-
lifetime gift, and we are hopeful
that it will make a significant
contribution in enhancing the
socio-economic context of a
massive construction project.
We’d like to think that the feedback
we’ve received already attests to this.
Participants
“I worked for the Municipality for
the past 20 years and had nothing
to show for it. When I left the job
I was given a very good package
and with all the excitement I had
misused the lump sum I received.
Life was good, until I finished it,
then I started looking for a job. Basil
Read hired me and then they sent
me to attend the Financial Literacy
course. There I have learnt how to
manage my money, draft a budget
and have a savings goal. I started
saving to build a house and am now
the proud owner of a five-roomed
home. The progress I see in my life
is amazing. All this I have achieved
in a period of two years. I have
learnt that it is not about how much
you earn, it is about planning and
thinking ahead and spending less
than what you earn.”
“I attended the Financial Literacy
and Drive your Life training and
my life has a whole new meaning.
With the skills that I have acquired
from these two life skills courses,
I have managed to start saving my
money and bought tilling [tiling?]
and welding material. I have opened
a business which is also renting out
this material to other small business
people. As I speak, that material
is being used in Johannesburg,
while I’m busy working here.”
“I used to withdraw all the money
in my bank account after I got

PROJECTS 33
paid my salary. Then I would buy
expensive clothes and sponsor
my friends with alcohol. I had
a mountain of debt, from cash
loans to clothing accounts. Since I
attended this course, I’m a free man
now, with the budgeting activity
that they taught me, I am now
able to plan, save and decide on
whether what I am saving for is a
need or a want.”
Facilitators
“As a facilitator it has taught me
a lot in terms of shaping my own
life into something positive. I feel
honoured that I play a positive role
in the people’s lives that I train. I
have found that most learners who
pass through the programme are
interested in starting their own
businesses after the training. It gets
people thinking and planning for their
children’s education, taking control of
their family’s expenses and spending
and, most importantly, finding a way
of grabbing the opportunities that
exist by including them in their plans
for the future.”
“It has been an incredible
experience for me and I always
look forward to my sessions. I have
noticed the impact of the training
during and after the course. I have
been approached in the street by
employees who have been through
the training and they invariably
let me know how they are now
determined to change their lives for
the better. It has taught them the
importance of unity, community
and working hard to achieve their
dreams. The training also gives
them an opportunity to realise their
vision for a better town, and a way
of expressing their hunger for what
is possible in their communities.
People really enjoy the training
through participating and engaging.
It is indeed a great source of
inspiration and motivation for
everyone who is fortunate enough
to participate in this programme.”
IR Managers
“As a management team, we would
like to extend a word of thanks to
the training team for the course
they provided to our employees.
The positive feedback received
from attendees signals the value
of the service to them. Judging
from the employees’ reactions, we
are convinced that the course had
brought positive changes to their
lives and behaviour. We appreciate
the service delivered.”
“The initiative of training unskilled
workers is great, obviously, but
through this programme they
receive a direction, instead of a
task. Their eyes have been opened
and most of them are doing a lot
more planning now. They’ve got
ideas to open little businesses
which they hadn’t had before. I
truly think that their appreciation
for what they do have has grown,
and they are now capable of leading
better lives. It isn’t easy changing
someone’s way of thinking,
especially if they aren’t open to
change, but this initiative has done
that quickly, with an excellent
programme and, for that, I say –
WELL DONE!”
About
the author
BEN VAN DEN BERG
With an MCom in Psychology
from Unisa, Ben is an Industrial
Psychologist registered with
the HPCSA, and a Principal
Consultant at MAC. He has
over 28 years’ experience
mainly in the resources and
petrochemical industries. His
areas of expertise include HR
management, performance
management, communication
/ stakeholder engagement, and
talent management. Prior to
joining MAC Ben worked for
several blue-chip companies,
including Sasol, De Beers and
AngloGold Ashanti.
Large projects, such as Grootegeluk, place more disposable income in the hands of the local communities, which
often means they need financial skills training.

34 PROJECTS
When
the going gets
good, the good
get going…
SHAUN SCHMIDT
See Shaun’s profile on our
By Shaun Schmidt, Key Account Director
Illustration by Lisa Botes.

PROJECTS 35
Our clients are increasingly regional African and global players, and the
work we are doing is significant, meeting one of our stated goals.
Econet to our client list. We are
currently embarked on a significant
international project for them.
Account growth has allowed us to
build the team, and we have been
pleased to welcome a number of
very capable new people. Over the
last year Leigh Anne Albert, David
Tannahill and Rhian Capastagnio,
among others, have deepened
our skill base considerably with
their many years of consulting
experience. And the capability of
our team has been recognised
through a number of promotions
this year. Well done to all of you!
We recognise that, after an
extended growth period, we need
to allow our clients time to breathe
after large projects. We need to
Our account has had a wonderful
year and we far exceeded our
revenue targets, making a
considerable contribution to MAC’s
stellar performance in 2014.
More importantly, on the client
front, we continued to deliver great
work for some of South Africa’s
most recognised companies, such
as Sasol and MTN. In fact, our
clients are increasingly regional
African and global players, and the
work we are doing is significant,
meeting one of our stated goals.
For example, we have been an
important component in helping
one of our clients roll out a new
operating model and restructure
their entire organisation. It’s a
journey we started with them
several years ago while developing
their long-range strategy. It doesn’t
get much better than that!
At another client we have helped
implement a new budgeting
process and system, reworking how
they do budgeting from strategy
through to business performance
management.
Then we are assisting another
two clients on their journey to
improve their operations and drive
down operating costs, through
lean and continuous improvement
methodologies.
We continued to build on our Telco
expertise and have welcomed
A Sasol Plus account teambuild.
breathe too! Looking after our
people during this consolidation
period will be one of our priorities.
As a team we will focus on self-renewal
in a continuous quest for
personal, as well as collective,
growth in the coming year. Our
personal and team growth will
be aligned to the four principles
espoused in the MAC values:
1. Play for the team
2. Value the individual
3. Deliver on your commitments
4 Bring something extra
I therefore urge each of you to
enjoy a well-earned rest period in
December, and to think about what
that improvement journey will look
like for you, in 2015.
The Sasol Plus account team align their personal growth to four principles espoused in the MAC values:
1. Play for the team 2. Value the individual 3. Deliver on your commitments 4. Bring something extra

36
Mission
Impossible?
By Saar Ben-Attar
PROJECTS
About
the author
SAAR BEN-ATTAR
Prior to joining MAC in 2003,
Saar had held marketing and
then general management
roles in the manufacturing
industry. After five years
consulting with MAC, Saar
left for Ernst & Young, where
he was Associate Director
between 2007 and 2008. We
were pleased to welcome
Saar back to MAC in 2008, first
as Principal Consultant and
now Associate Director. With
a BBusSc (Honours) degree
from UCT, Saar has over
18 years’ work experience,
during which exposure to
a number of consulting
practices, methodologies
and projects, has led to
a deep understanding
of the transformation
process, as well as detailed
knowledge of supply chain
management, strategy and
project management. He
has led projects with MTN,
Anglo American, Transnet,
Gold Fields, Rio Tinto, Total,
Nampak and others.
time, generate new revenues
from providing services to others.
Special thanks to Rhian Capostagno
and Johann van Jaarsveld for their
leadership, and the team for their
great work – Kate Barnes, Alex
Storey, Lovemore Fuyane, CJ
Nwosa, Robin Carter, Joel Maine,
Sarah Wadlow, Julia Martin, Susann
Ribe and Jannie du Toit. It has been
great working with each of you.
And, as we become known and
our reputation grows, this is also
the first time we will be attending
AfricaCom, the “mining indaba” of
telecoms on the continent.
Looking back over the past year,
there is much for us to celebrate
– we have gone Beyond Mining
and Beyond South Africa – two
strategic priorities for MAC. We
connected with our clients at a
deeper level and contributed to their
growth, often at both personal and
business level. We have grown our
understanding of the industry and
the issues that really matter in our
clients’ lives, and we have grown as
individuals and as a team.
Having travelled such a journey
this year, I wonder where we will
venture in 2015?
attracted to the business with a
compelling value proposition and
working in an environment within
which they can thrive.
But where there is challenge, there
is often opportunity. This year we
have seen our work in the telecoms
industry grow from strength to
strength. Our relationship with
MTN has grown as we worked
across the 22 operations to roll out
a group-wide business planning
and budgeting solution. We were
also selected to facilitate the group
strategy session, where we helped
clarify the strategic priorities for
the group and agree a coherent
approach on how they take new
products and services to market. I
would like to thank Lisa Botes and
Susann Ribe for their great work,
lifting the bar on many occasions,
Dunja Kartte, for her contribution
to the strategy, and Shaun Schmidt
(Key Account Director) for his
guidance and masterful facilitation –
an example to us all in the team.
We also began work with a second
Telco operator in southern Africa.
Our work with Econet has seen
us designing a shared services
organisation to support their
international growth and, over
You are the newly-appointed CEO
of a large telecoms operator in
the emerging world. Your mission,
having accepted the role, is to
steer the company through the
stormy waters of today’s world of
telecommunications. Expect the
commoditisation of Telco services
and pressures on your margins
to continue. While your brand
has won accolades and awards in
past years, distinguishing it in the
face of increasing competition will
be difficult. You will meet more
business-savvy and demanding
regulators, who require a different
model of engagement, as well
as increasingly astute consumers
who are no longer tied to your
organisation and who can switch
to competitors where they see
greater value. Your traditional voice
revenues will decline and must
be replaced with new revenue
streams. Unfortunately, these
are in industries with mature
and capable competitors – think
banks, insurance companies,
and healthcare providers, not to
mention Google, Facebook and
other “platform owners”. And the
organisational capabilities and
talent you will need to grow these
new businesses are not always
within reach – they will need to be
MAC places strong emphasis on achieving outstanding results
for clients through dedication, innovation and teamwork. This
creates a challenging yet hugely rewarding work environment,
which allows for individual growth and development.
Siseko Zibi, Consultant

PROJECTS 37
You will meet increasingly astute consumers who are no
longer tied to your organisation and who can switch to
competitors where they see greater value.
FAST FACT
55%
By the end of 2014, 55% of all mobile-broadband
subscriptions are expected to be in the developing
world, compared with only 20% in 2008.
Source: ICT Facts and Figures

38
Who is Me Inc.?
By Lisa Botes
the environment that manages
your personal brand to ensure its
success, your positioning. Finally,
you should monitor to ensure that
your personal brand continues to
support your aspirations. As those
aspirations change and progress,
so too will your personal brand
design and strategy for embedding
it. This is a continuous cycle that
ensures your brand stays relevant;
the second imperative for a strong
personal brand.
Madonna is a personal branding
master, she has created and re-created
herself from a material 80s
fashion icon, to an outrageous sex-crazed
wild woman, then a devoted
family woman, and now an avid
philanthropist. I’m not proposing
that changing your personal brand
from one extreme to another is a
good idea but I do appreciate that
with a stated personal brand and
strategy you can position yourself
almost any way you want (provided
it is authentic, of course). I really
enjoy Madonna’s perspective,
“No matter who you are, no matter
what you did, no matter where
you’ve come from, you can always
change, become a better version
of yourself.”
equipped on how to do that. You also
may not have the know-how or tools
to drive and embed your brand. You
land up with a personal brand that
is born out of luck, or lack thereof,
with a haphazard or opportunistic
approach to strengthening it. The
end result is an underperforming
personal brand that offers weak
service to your personal success.
With a defined personal brand and
strategy to drive it your brand will
work for you, creating momentum
for your personal goals. As Tom
Peters said, “We are CEOs of our
own companies: Me Inc. To be in
business today, our most important
job is to be head marketer for the
brand called You.”
Authenticity is imperative to a
strong personal brand; without this
all you have is a façade that will
either be exposed or make you
come off as phoney. That’s why the
journey starts with understanding
yourself properly; what makes
you, you, and how that shapes the
way you do things. Only once you
understand yourself, can you define
and fine-tune your purpose in a
way that keeps you authentic. This
informs the design of how you want
to be seen and how you create
We all come across people with
exceptional capability whose
competence is never in question
but their personal brand is weak.
They seem unsure of who they are
or something seems “off” about
them; their physical appearance
does not match what they seem to
value or say, or how they behave
seems out of sync with their
aspirations. This could very well be
a misaligned personal brand.
You may have heard the saying that
if you are not branding yourself, you
can be sure that others are doing
it for you. And it’s true, it’s human
nature and we can’t help ourselves.
In almost every interaction you have
with others physically, remotely or
electronically, you are positioning
yourself in their eyes, creating an
imprint in their minds of who you
are, what you stand for, what you
value, what you are an authority
on, your intentions, capabilities,
strengths, etc.
However, the brand you have been
associated with may not actually be
the one you want. Often it’s a case
of not having given enough time to
defining exactly what your brand is,
which could be because you are ill-
About
the author
LISA BOTES
A Principal Consultant with
MAC, Lisa is a generalist
consultant with strengths in
strategy development and
implementation, sales and
marketing management,
process analysis and
improvement, communication,
as well as programme- and
change management.
With an engineering degree
from UJ, Lisa started her
career as a heavy current
electrical engineer at Eskom.
With a BCom degree from
Unisa, MAP from Wits
Business School and MBA
from GIBS, Lisa subsequently
occupied various marketing-related
management roles
at Altron, Xerox, Aberdare
Cables, and AG industries Ltd,
prior to joining MAC in 2011.
Lisa holds a special interest in
the topic of personal branding.
MAC has undoubtedly been my best “New Joiner”
experience in the course of my career. I found the
processes to be super-slick, and my new colleagues
to be warm, welcoming and knowledgeable. Serious
professionalism, client-centricity and focus on quality
are highlights of my experience to date.
Alex Storey, Senior Consultant
CONSULTANT STORY

39
Reflections
of a “Boomer”
What I’ve learnt in discovering the mysteries of the Xer/Millennial
generations – somewhere between my children and grandchildren
I used to enjoy the joke that went: –
“Employ a 16-year-old while they still
know everything”. Since the young
generation of the 21st century have
become my colleagues and friends,
I have learned that there is more
truth than humour in this. Why have I
come to the conclusion that we had
better listen and listen again to our
young talent?
The answer lies in what seems
to be a truism: they are a new
generation in a new era. Keith
Coats quotes Toffler’s prediction
in Future Shock: “The illiterate of
the 21st century will not be those
who cannot read and write, but
those who cannot learn, unlearn
and relearn.” That seems to be a
warning to me to keep up please!
Very little stays the same in
the economic and political
environments of today and Steven
Covey’s white water analogy
brings him to the conclusion that
“success breeds failure” in the
sense that new challenges demand
different answers to the ones
that have worked for us before.
This requires some of the things
that the Xer/Millennial generation
bring to the table – inquisitive
minds, flexible norms, outputs not
inputs, optimism, confidence, and
principles not rules.
Being a borderline Silent/Boomer
I have to work my mind around a
generation that “works to live or
contribute” rather than “lives to
work”, with all the attendant norms
like differences in ideas on work/life
balance, loyalty, pecking orders and
personal values.
Part of that process is to examine
myself and ask “Why shouldn’t
it be good to be loyal to self first,
career mobile, self-reliant and life
style-centred, just because my
generation wasn’t? Is there anything
wrong, I should ask, with preferring
matrix rather than hierarchical
structures, or a rights- rather than
responsibility-orientation?”
It is always going to create
debate to generalise, so if the
characteristics mentioned above
don’t all apply to you as an Xer/
Millennial, that’s fine, but they
do give me food for thought. It
certainly should make leaders
pause to consider whether there
are different things you need to do
when leading the new generation.
I am always guided (sometimes
unsuccessfully) by these two
principles: firstly, be constantly
discovering and developing your
“authentic self” as a leader and,
secondly, become a leader with an
abiding humility and a fierce resolve
to achieve your goals. If these goals
are achieved they will work, I believe,
with any generation of colleagues.
Perhaps I can leave you with this
thought from Coats: “Leaders who
aren’t learners aren’t leaders of the
future.”
The idea for this article was seeded
by Keith Coats in a 2007 blog, and I
acknowledge his contribution to my
learning, www.keithcoats.com
About
the author
KEITH HARTSHORNE
With a BA degree obtained
from Wits in 1967, and
numerous Executive
Development Programmes
under the belt (Wits, UCT),
Keith started off his career
with OK Bazaars in 1968,
working his way up to
Group HR Director by 1988.
Ten years later Keith joined
Strategem Training Services
in a consulting role, before
moving to MAC in 2000,
where he is currently a
Principal Consultant. Keith
has a wealth of experience
in the human resources,
leadership development,
organisational development
and change management
disciplines. on a personal
note, he has been married
for 44 years to Penny and
they have three daughters,
four granddaughters and
two grandsons.
Since my first interaction with MAC Consulting I was impressed
with the leadership style, the people, the brand, the values
and the culture. MAC is a paragon in the consulting industry.
Cobus Terblanche, Principal Consultant
By Keith Hartshorne
CONSULTANT STORY

40 CONSULTANT STORY
Surviving
Out-of-Town
Consulting
Assignments
By Val Hammond
VAL HAMMOND
See Val’s profile on page 86.
Val was pleasantly surprised to find out how resilient her two daughters Jenna (13) and Megan (11) were when she
had to be out of town on assignment. Husband Roan discovered his culinary talent en route.
heard it’s hot, sticky and dusty. We
were headed to a Copper Mine
and I was unsure about whether
I’d like the work, whether I’d enjoy
travelling with my colleagues, what
the accommodation would be like,
or whether I’d survive the motion
sickness on the little plane (an
Airlink 27-seater).
dinner at night? Who would find
the car keys for my husband in the
morning? Who would remind him to
buy dog food or lock the front door
at night? I was absolutely sure their
lives would collapse without me.
I also wasn’t sure whether I’d enjoy
the assignment in Phalaborwa. I’d
I always thought that I could not
do consulting assignments outside
Gauteng. I could not possibly leave
my daughters (aged 10 and 12)
and my husband alone. How on
earth would they cope without me?
Who would get the girls up in the
morning? What about school lunches
and homework? Who would make

CONSULTANT STORY 41
So, on that first trip to Phalaborwa I
left home anxious, wondering if this
was an assignment I could endure.
As it turns out, that first night in
Phalaborwa was tough and I had
some tears from the children at
home (and a couple from me). But,
it was an excellent experience and I
can now say: I can do the travelling
thing. However, for a consultant
with family commitments, there are
a few lessons that were useful in
helping me not only to survive the
out-of-town assignment, but also to
thoroughly enjoy it. Perhaps others
might find these useful too:
1. Children are quite resilient and
mine surprised me by how much
they’re capable of doing (and
doing well) without my help.
They ably got up in time for
school in the morning, diligently
completed their homework and
studied for tests – all without
driving my husband completely
insane.
2. Husbands can actually cook. Even
though my husband’s culinary
skills quickly disappear when
I’m at home, I have it on good
authority (from the children) that
he produced meals and they did
not suffer any negative side-effects.
However, they all admit to
preferring my cooking (sadly).
3. Working with an accommodating
Key Account Director and Project
Leader always makes things
easier. Paul Whysall and Andrew
Wilson were understanding of
my family situation and allowed
me some flexibility in the travel
schedule. I was never away from
the family for more than two
nights and three days at any one
time and, if I was not needed
on-site or could successfully
complete certain deliverables in
Johannesburg, Paul and Andrew
graciously allowed me to do so.
4. Working with colleagues who
have a sense-of-humour is an
absolute necessity. Andrew
cracked me up at least once
every hour when we were away.
He has a dry sense of humour
that I so appreciate. On one
occasion, we were running a
little late for a meeting, but
we still had to go through the
security checkpoint. Andrew,
very seriously, put on his
sunglasses and told the security
guard that we were from the
FBI and were at the mine to
complete important inspections.
This helped speed up the
process considerably.
5. Interesting work and fabulous
clients make out-of-town
assignments much more
rewarding. The clients we dealt
with in Phalaborwa offered us
a great opportunity to work
in an area that was new and
interesting and to engage
with problems that required
teamwork, and a sharing of
ideas. The clients also placed
a lot of trust in us and didn’t
require us to be on-site five days
a week.
6. Fabulous, upmarket, air-conditioned
accommodation
is a must – especially in
places as hot and humid as
Phalaborwa. We always stayed
at an incredible lodge with
self-catering units. Self-catering
is definitely the way to go,
otherwise one risks weight gain
as well as homesickness.
7. Motion-sickness medication.
I can’t say enough good
things about motion sickness
medication. It not only helped
me endure the small plane
experience, it also made
Andrew’s driving completely
bearable.
8. Make friends with the lodge or
hotel staff. Andrew did this very
quickly (especially with the ladies
in the reservations department)
and as a consequence
was always given the best
accommodation.
9. Find the local Spur. Nothing
makes you feel at home quite
like the Spur. Every town has
one and they’re all the same.
10. Find the local Woolies. This
is even more important than
finding the Spur!
Armed with these vital life lessons,
I now say “bring on the out-of-town
assignments”!
My earliest impression of MAC was the natural, effortless excellence
of the people. In the months since joining, that impression is only
stronger. The real MAC difference is in how much people care about
work, their clients, and their colleagues. I am proud to be part of an
organisation with such a rare blend of brain and heart.
Kobus Prinsloo, Senior Consultant

MAC Matters 2014 Final - email version

MAC Matters 2014 Final - email version

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