South Africa’s MTN Group says it places priority attention on human capital development to handle the shifting technology environment particularly the evolving artificial Intelligence space.
“At MTN, we spent time understanding how AI will impact our workforce; on balance, we think it will create more opportunities and more jobs. While 2023 was a year of discovery and building complementary capabilities, in 2024 we will shape our internal environment to help MTNers embrace change. From how to prompt AI as a work buddy to how we craft future jobs, it is our responsibility as an HR community to future-fit our people for AI,” Norman says.
MTN Group owns MTN Nigeria, the largest mobile network operator by subscriber base in the country.
‘At MTN we understand how AI will impact our workforce’
Meanwhile, this focus on trends was outlined by Paul Norman, MTN Group Chief Human Resources Officer, during the company’s annual Group leadership gathering in February 2024 and compiled in the recently-released MTN Group’s inaugural People Report 2023.
With a subscriber base of 295 million and operations spanning across the African continent and in the Middle East, MTN says it is “preparing MTNers for human-AI workforce models.” According to Norman, “In 2023 the hype around AI peaked. As its transformative nature is immense, 2024 is the start of a move from hype to implementation.
“At MTN, we spent time understanding how AI will impact our workforce; on balance, we think it will create more opportunities and more jobs. While 2023 was a year of discovery and building complementary capabilities, in 2024 we will shape our internal environment to help MTNers embrace change. From how to prompt AI as a work buddy to how we craft future jobs, it is our responsibility as an HR community to future-fit our people for AI,” Norman says.
In the same vein, Norman disclosed that the company is leveraging neuroscience to inform talent acquisition decisions. “But if proficiency is to become a partnership between AI and humans, what will be key to making talent decisions?”
“At MTN,” he says, “we are already changing our recruitment patterns to focus more on character evaluation and the neuroscience markers that foster better team dynamics and greater collaboration – and ensure that we put the organisation into the hands of people with the right values.”
To foster a culture of continuous learning and address talent gaps, MTN has introduced the “quiet learning” initiative to fill the gap for scarce talent. This programme allows employees to reskill and upskill their work roles. The aim, MTN says, is to “‘quietly’ transform the workforce into scarce skill areas and help people get past the anxiety of change or job insecurity.”
The company says it is also building a global flexible talent pool of individuals possessing cutting-edge skills to drive strategic initiatives. This approach, according to Norman, will move the company to a skill-based organisation.
To enhance the overall employee experience, MTN is combining automation with human touch. The company is rethinking HR processes to create memorable experiences for its employees, focusing on what Norman termed “moments that matter.”
To measure success effectively, MTN is shifting its focus from traditional HR metrics to those that reflect employee experience and business impact.
“At MTN we believe that there are underlying metrics that can predict the outcomes of what employees are looking for. For this, we need business analysts, data scientists and modellers in our HR teams. Combine these skill sets with psychometrists, wellbeing specialists and coaches and you can define metrics that truly change the way HR functions.
Speaking about the report, Ralph Mupita, MTN Group President and CEO said “At MTN we are inspired by the vision of delivering digital solutions for Africa’s progress. We are at the forefront of harnessing the power of the digital economy and in so doing give the people of Africa dignity, hope and opportunity. We cannot deliver on this vision without the remarkable people within our Y’ello family.
Over the past 30 years, our people have built world class telecommunications networks and services, driving digital and financial inclusion of millions of people. Our people, our “Doers”, fuelled by a can-do spirit have been at the centre of our growth and progress.”
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