Compliments of the new season to you all.
Perhaps most of us are still struggling to see anything good in this season. Particularly after a bruising 2020 and a bad start of 2021. Covid-19 remains at the centre of our stress, misery, and hopelessness.
In 2020 we looked forward to 2021 yet the second wave, the relaxation by some of our people and the elusive and much talked about vaccine have all made us think otherwise about the so called hopeful 2021.
SABPP office reopened last week with the news of a second staff member being infected. We are grateful that the staff member is recovering well and that we have not reported any deaths within the team. Yet some of our stakeholders have not been very lucky as they lost their lives during the December break. May their souls rest in peace. Our thoughts are also with all those infected and fighting for their lives in hospitals or at their homes. We are working from home. Yet we will continue offering all our stakeholders our first-class service.
2021 is going to be a good year. This year we choose to face our challenges including COVID-19. We are clear that there is no running away, we just have to find our way not around it but through it. It is now very possible that a number of us will be infected at some point. We just need to be prepared. We need to know and deal with what makes others survive while others sadly pass away. We also need to continue protecting ourselves from being infected. We cannot let our guard down. We must not get out unless it’s really necessary. We must always social distance, avoid super spreading events. We must wear masks all the time and protect the vulnerable.
In the era of Covid-19 SABPP will not be deterred nor diverted from its agenda of professionalising HR. We are therefore choosing to make 2021 the year of Segmentation. We acknowledge the growth of the profession and now realise that not everyone is at the same level in their journey. We want to remain relevant to your specific journey. We want to cater for you because you are unique in your own right. We cannot box everyone in the same category. In our effort to offer members value we had to be careful not to think that all our members need the same things. This potentially says that we are prepared to have up to four different SABPPs in one. Are you just starting your professional journey? Surely the one already cruising will need a different kind of support from us. Perhaps you have already arrived or are landing? Your needs are definitely very different. Therefore, our communication, our products to you and everything else must reflect our appreciation of who you are and where you are headed.
Therefore, SEGMENTATION is our language in 2021.
Guided by segmentation, your SABPP will also address the following in 2021:
- Member segmentation. This is our major agenda for 2021
- Continued Emphasis on 5 pillars of the Refocus strategy
- SA Institute of Digital Learning
- Focus on Member value proposition
- Meaningful and value adding Events, workshops and conferences in the new normal
- New business including in unknown and less common sectors
- Smart approach to Working with competitors and alliances
- Remodelling the LQA business for the future
- Volunteerism, member partnership and governance
WELLNESS, WELLNESS, WELLNESS and EMPATHY
Therefore, this is a call to you to once again work with us to make the profession future proof. I cannot end without appreciating the top five individuals who assisted and supported us in our recovery in 2020:
- Mr Suren Naidoo
- Rica Viljoen and Mandala Consulting
- Penny Milner Smith
- Siphiwe Moyo
- Francois Sieberhagen
I also want to thank the hundreds of you who volunteered their time, resources and effort to ensure SABPP continues to thrive. I also thank all committees and students and champions who never lost focus in 2020.
I wish you survival in 2021. I wish you thrive in your personal and professional capacity. We will definitely get through this pretty soon. Thank you to you our dear member for sticking with us through our most difficult period in history. Much SABPP love.
