Women Empowering Women with guest Sebe Galawe-Rasebitse: HR Executive at Woolworths F B H

08/18/23 • 52 min

Show Notes

In this episode of HR on the Brain, Sheree Comninellis, CEO of Brain eBox, interviews guest Sebe Galawe-Rasebitse who is the HR Executive at Woolworths F B H about the topic of: Women Empowering Women.

Sebe is an accomplished and experienced Human Resources Director with a strong track record of success across various industries. With over 25 years working experience, Sebe has demonstrated exceptional leadership skills and a keen ability to plan, design, develop and evaluate human resource-related initiatives that align with strategic goals. Her expertise spans diverse areas, including divisional and organizational leadership, talent management, diversity and culture initiatives, change management and transformation processes.

At the start of this episode, we learn more about Sebe’s career through her eyes, and the women who empowered her and guided her through all of the various roles in her career; from her first, entry-level roles, through her career growth stages to where she is today as an HR Executive.

During the interview portion of this podcast, Sebe shares her views on how we, as women, can empower the women we work with. She provides valuable insights on how best to support your female colleagues in the workplace who may be experiencing challenges. She reminds us to remember that each person as a unique individual and that, as a result, empowerment may mean different things to different people.

To truly empower our team members she shares that we need to gain an understanding of what they want, and then as leaders our role is to create the space, a work space, that is conducive to empowerment. We also discuss tips for parents and how we can start to model empowerment of women with our children from a young age. Sheree also shares how Sebe empowered her, in her corporate career, and how these lessons have stayed with her to this day.

We end this incredible episode with a powerful parting thought from Sebe, who shares the importance of our role as HR professionals when it comes to the empowerment of women.

This episode is a truly special one, not to be missed. We are releasing this episode in Women’s month in South Africa, when the topic of women empowering women is extremely relevant. If you’ve been wondering how best to empower the women in your team; or how to seek this empowerment for yourself, in your career, tune in to get some wonderful tips.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

5:17 Sebe’s reflections on women who have empowered her throughout her life, from her youth to the present day.

32:11 The importance of empathy when empowering others, and whether this is a skill that can be developed.

34:53 How to best support female colleagues who are experiencing challenges in the workplace

37:00 The essence of empowerment and how it differs between individuals

38:20 How HR leaders can empower their team members

40:55 Our role in empowerment in creating spaces for people to thrive

41:22 Suggestions for parents when it comes to women empowerment

45:52 How Sebe empowered me in my career

49:18 The importance of humanity in our work and leadership

50:33 Sebe’s powerful message of our role as HR professionals, leaders, mothers and women

Featured in the Show:

To get in touch with Sebe Galawe-Rasebitse, connect with her on LinkedIn; or email her to [email protected]
To get in touch with Sheree Comninellis, visit LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheree-comninellis/

Show Notes

We end this incredible episode with a powerful parting thought from Sebe, who shares the importance of our role as HR professionals when it comes to the empowerment of women.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

5:17 Sebe’s reflections on women who have empowered her throughout her life, from her youth to the present day.

32:11 The importance of empathy when empowering others, and whether this is a skill that can be developed.

34:53 How to best support female colleagues who are experiencing challenges in the workplace

37:00 The essence of empowerment and how it differs between individuals

38:20 How HR leaders can empower their team members

40:55 Our role in empowerment in creating spaces for people to thrive

41:22 Suggestions for parents when it comes to women empowerment

45:52 How Sebe empowered me in my career

49:18 The importance of humanity in our work and leadership

50:33 Sebe’s powerful message of our role as HR professionals, leaders, mothers and women

Featured in the Show:

To get in touch with Sebe Galawe-Rasebitse, connect with her on LinkedIn; or email her to [email protected]
To get in touch with Sheree Comninellis, visit LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheree-comninellis/

Previous Episode

undefined - Amplify your contribution, and reap the rewards in your HR Career with guest Ruth Shogoe: Executive: Human Resources at Maskew Miller Learning

Amplify your contribution, and reap the rewards in your HR Career with guest Ruth Shogoe: Executive: Human Resources at Maskew Miller Learning

Show Notes

In this episode of HR on the Brain, Sheree Comninellis, CEO of Brain eBox, interviews guest Ruth Shogoe, who at the time of the interview was the Executive: Human Resources for Maskew Miller Learning, about her HR career and her guidance for HR leaders who are wanting to break into the Executive level. Since the interview Ruth has been appointed as Group Executive Corporate & Public Sector at Maskew Miller Learning.

Ruth Shogoe has a wealth of experience, having been a trusted advisor for employees in the e-commerce, fintech, digital banking, media and education sectors for over 14 years. Starting her career in Human Resources seemed like a mismatch at first given her BCom Economics and Econometrics. However, she immediately recognised the opportunity presented to understand the most important asset of any organisation; the people. She loves her job and having a commercial mindset enables her to better partner with the business in solving for the day to day needs of all stakeholders strategically.
In this episode, we learn more about Ruth’s career. From her initial plans to enter the Commerce world, which was redirected to her entering her first HR role in the tech space. From there she shares her first experiences of working in Human Capital; and then how she transitioned her career to the Executive Level.

Ruth shares valuable insights into how HR leaders should think about their role strategically, and how position themselves in the business. This includes her tips on how to grow your career to the Executive level, how to find a mentor and how to address challenging situations which you may come across during your career.

In this episode we also learn about a few of Ruth’s career highlights to date, as well as her vision for her future career prospects. Throughout this episode Ruth reminds us that as HR professionals we need to adjust our mindset. We need to realise the important role we play and do the work to make an impact in the lives of employees and for the business' desired outcomes. When we do this, as Ruth says, your contribution speaks for itself.

This episode is for you if you an HR leader wanting to learn how to position yourself more strategically in your organisation and amplify your contribution. Ruth shares actionable tips that you can apply today to start planting the seeds that will enable you to reap the reward of a bountiful harvest in years to come.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

5:53 How Ruth shifted from completing her Commerce qualification to entering the world of HR.

10:00 Ruth’s first experience in Human Capital.

12:30 How Ruth transitioned to the Executive level.

15:35 How HR leaders should position themselves in the business.

20:02 Ruth’s tips on how to grow to the Executive level in HR.

23:21 Suggestions on how to find a mentor.

25:51 Ruth’s career highlights to date.

32:32 How to address people challenges you notice as an HR Business Partner

39:32 Ruth’s intended future impact and contribution to the education industry

Featured in the Show:

To get in touch with Ruth Shogoe, connect with her on LinkedIn: Ruth Shogoe
To get in touch with Sheree Comninellis, visit LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheree-comninellis/

Next Episode

Ignite Thinking with Coaching Conversations with guest Megan Galloway: Director of thoughtsmiths

Show Notes

In this episode of HR on the Brain, Sheree Comninellis, CEO of Brain eBox, interviews guest Megan Galloway, Director of thoughtsmiths, where she is the Head of the Coach Training School about the topic of igniting thinking with coaching conversations.

Megan is a scientist by training, and in a previous professional life was a diamond exploration geologist working both in the field and in the laboratory. She worked for De Beers as well as smaller exploration companies for nearly a decade. Megan developed an interest in organizational culture, workplace effectiveness and the impact of leadership while working in this environment. She went on to qualify as a coach, ran her own coaching practice, and is now co-owner of thoughtsmiths Pty Ltd where she is currently the Head of Coach Training School. Megan has been coaching for 12 years and training coaches for 8 years. Her style of coaching creates a stretching, insightful and productive experience and her specific areas of expertise include leadership and mindfulness.

In this episode we discuss how Megan made the move from Science to Human Resources, and what sparked her initial interest in coaching. What follows is a thought-provoking discussion on the value of coaching for leaders and organisations, and how it enables leaders to ignite the thinking of their teams.

We had an interesting discussion about whether there is a “right way to coach” as there are so many coaches and ideas of what coaching is out there. Megan distils for us some of the key components of a coaching style conversation to ignite thinking.

For HR professionals, this episode is jam packed with great tips on how you can show your C-suite the return on investment of a proposed coaching intervention, as well as how to encourage team members to get involved in these interventions. We also talk about how you can go about creating a coaching culture in your organisation. You’ll find yourself wanting to get a pen and paper out to take notes as you listen – it’s that good!

What you’ll learn in this episode:

4:43 How Megan got involved in HR & Learning and Development, given her BSc and diamond exploration background and then what sparked Megan’s interest in coaching.

15:12 How can coaching help leaders and organisations reach their goals?

19:18 The benefits of coaching to teams and their thinking.

21:00 How to create a business case for coaching to present to your C-suite?

27:10 How HR leaders can encourage team members to participate in coaching interventions.

35:00 Is there a right way to coach, or can any leader implement coaching conversations.

41:49 How we can use our language to create powerful thinking.

49:47 How HR leaders can build a coaching culture in their company, without bringing in a coaching programme.

58:20 Megan shares more about Thoughtsmiths and how your company can get involved.

Featured in the Show:

Download the ICF White Paper on Creating an Impactful Coaching Culture from the link below. In this guide you will learn how to develop a culture that makes a difference in engagement and profitability and measure the positive impact of coaching in your organisation. Link: https://coachingfederation.org/coaching-in-organizations/create-impactful-coaching-culture
Short article on on measuring and communicating the ROI in executive coaching: https://coachingfederation.org/blog/roi-in-executive-coaching
To get the graphics Megan refers to in the episode, email Meryl Barends to: [email protected]
To get in touch with Megan Galloway, connect with her on LinkedIn; or email her to [email protected] or visit their website: www.thoughtsmiths.com
To get in touch with Sheree Comninellis, visit LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheree-comninellis/