At Africa’s Largest Money Manager, Even HR Says There Is a Climate of Fear

(Bloomberg) -- Most human resources professionals will tell you employee morale is an important element to a company's success. PIC management, you've got a problem.

“The mistrust and fear is high,” Ramabu Motimele, a senior human resources partner at South Africa's Public Investment Corp., told a hearing into alleged malfeasance and governance failures at the institution. He was citing results of a survey he oversaw at Africa's largest money manager, entrusted with more than 2 trillion rand ($142 billion) of mainly government worker pensions.

Read this QuickTake Q&A on why Africa's biggest fund manager is under fire

Motimele told the inquiry, which began its sessions in Pretoria more than five months ago, that he was asked after joining the money manager in May 2016 to run a survey of its 300-plus staff to measure worker satisfaction.

The head of the PIC's employment equity committee warned the HR executive that prevailing levels of fear were so great, that few would take part. Motimele pushed ahead, telling the inquiry Tuesday that it was essential for the organization to “continually maintain a competitive value proposition to attract, inspire, motivate, develop and reward talent appropriately.”

The first attempt failed because too few employees were prepared to answer the questions, most saying they were worried about being traced and punished for speaking out. A second bid to take the temperature at the PIC allowed staffers to give manual rather than electronic feedback, which helped boost responses to more than half the workforce.

In focus groups, almost two-thirds of employees referred to the PIC negatively. They complained of a frustrating and over-controlled environment marked by mistrust and victimization. Some said they were undermined and overworked.

Motimele said he was pressured to improve the survey results, partly because the outcome was a factor in executive bonuses. After he refused, the “knives were out.” He collapsed because of stress and was hospitalized in February last year. On his return to work, Motimele was ordered to appear at a disciplinary inquiry and the matter is yet to be resolved with his bosses.

Even so, Motimele was able to sound a positive note at the hearing, saying that the commission's work had provided hope to many employees. He said he believed its final recommendations to President Cyril Ramaphosa “would assist in ushering a new dawn to the PIC.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Janice Kew in Johannesburg at jkew4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Eric Pfanner at epfanner1@bloomberg.net, John Viljoen, Gordon Bell

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.