Simo-Sihle Mvinjelwa, chief executive officer of Esihle Solutions, chats to us about transforming corporate enterprises through his company. By Kwanele Mathebula
I was born and raised in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. I was a talkative and inquisitive child. Seeing the growth limitations we experienced as black people informed my decision to enter into human capital development with particular focus on transformation. I experienced many injustices in the workplace based on my appearance and wanted to change that by educating corporates on the benefits of a diverse workforce.
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Esihle Solutions is a result of working with many human resources directors. I would often find myself advising and guiding them in their thinking and strategies. So, I decided to commercialise my knowledge by starting my own company. I also branched into recruitment purely on request from the many organisations I have worked with that trusted me to source some of their top talent.
My business has been well received. This has especially been in the financial services sector. Some of our biggest clients include top insurers, reinsurers and banks. Furthermore, within a short space of time I have managed to grow our client book and hire seven people.
SEE ALSO: Creating opportunities for inclusion
My biggest highlight is working on transforming one of the biggest automotive organisations in the country. We saw a huge jump in the number of black people employed in the top, senior and middle management percentages. In most of these levels, we saw double-digit growth in the number of people employed. This has validated my work and mission.
Researching your market and the clients you wish to target is important in this business. Build a value proposition that separates you from the many recruitment agencies out there by adding unique value offerings as additional services to the client. That way, relationships are much longer term.
