New director of people and culture for Philip Morris SA

Palesa Moloi, new director of people and culture at Philip Morris South Africa

Moloi's appointment has been made in line with Philip Morris International's greater transformation strategy that sees the company moving beyond cigarettes to invest in smoke-free alternatives. It is a reinvention of how the company operates, with the ultimate goal of replacing cigarettes entirely. At the heart of this evolution lies innovation and technology, but equally important are the people, culture, capabilities, skills, leadership, and ways of working that will make a smoke-free future possible.

Within this context, Moloi is charged with advancing the same vision locally, helping teams move beyond legacy thinking, building future fit capabilities and creating a workplace that attracts and retains the talent needed to accelerate South Africa’s smoke-free future.

“To accelerate a smoke-free future, people have to feel equipped to challenge legacy ways of working, to learn continuously, and to build solutions that are agile, inclusive and fit for purpose,” she says. “My job is to create the environment where that becomes possible, where people want to work here, grow here, and help build what’s next.”

A mother, wife, and MBA candidate, Moloi has over 15 years of experience driving enterprise-wide people strategies across multinational corporations, such as Unilever, Macmillan Southern Africa, Tiger Brands and Ipsos.