#TopEmployers2025: Nomzabalazo Makubalo, chief people officer, on what makes RMB an employer of choice

Nomzabalazo Makubalo, chief people officer at RMB

This year, RMB earned the number one rank in the Financial Services sector, securing it a spot among South Africa’s top 20 companies for the first time since the organisation began participating in the programme in 2020. RMB Nigeria was also awarded Top Employer certification, which marked a first-ever achievement for the bank’s broader Africa portfolio.

Overseeing RMB's human capital department is chief people officer (CPO), Nomzabalazo Makubalo. Makubalo started with the organisation as the human capital divisional head of investment banking in 2018 - a role that was later expanded to include the corporate transactional banking division, and corporate client group areas, as well as front office and enablement areas. She was officially appointed CPO, as well as a member of the RMB Exco and the FirstRand Human Capital Leadership Forum, in July 2024 - after holding the interim post for nine months.

Here we chat to Makubalo about what makes RMB an employer of choice...

What does it mean to you personally, as well as the company, to be named as a Top Employer for 2025?

Personally, I am proud of this achievement! It reaffirms my commitment to fostering a positive and inclusive workplace culture. It’s a testament to the hard work and dedication of our human capital team, together with our business partners in creating an environment where employees feel valued, supported, and motivated to thrive. This recognition fuels my passion for continuous improvement and elevating our people strategy.

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What do you believe makes RMB stand out as a Top Employer?

RMB is where talent thrives, and our people are key to our success as a business. This certification is testament to our ongoing partnership with our people to create a workplace environment that makes us an employer of choice across our jurisdictions.

RMB was ranked as no.1 Top Employer in Financial Services in South Africa, and RMB Nigeria made an impressive debut which has elevated us from Top Employer South Africa to Top Employer in Africa. As an organisation, we are extremely proud of this achievement.

This is aligned to our purpose of empowering our people and clients to be exceptional together for all to thrive; we remain deeply committed to enable our people to serve our clients and society with distinction.

What are your goals in terms of people management for this year?

Attracting the best talent, development and retention is one of our top priorities. We have a highly skilled workforce and, therefore, ensuring that we continually have a strong employer brand and employee value proposition is of utmost importance to us.

We want our employees to have a lived experience of feeling valued, recognised and cared for. We do this in multiple ways such as with our focus on continuous learning and development programmes, and providing opportunities for professional growth and development.

As a high-performance organisation, I recognise the importance of focusing on how we help our employees balance having to out-perform and their well-being, especially as the lines between work and personal life continue to blur.

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We are committed to providing robust support systems to help our employees manage stress, mental health and maintain a healthy lifestyle so they can thrive. This includes providing access to mental health resources, wellness programmes, flexibility, and promoting a culture of openness and support, amongst other things.

Additionally digital transformation is also a big focus for us this year, especially with the opportunities that AI create in driving operational efficiencies and enhancing the employee experience.

Automation and AI are viewed as massive drivers of change in HR departments - how are you leveraging these programs to your advantage and which are your preferred applications/solutions?

Automation and AI are definitely topical in the HR space. Automation and AI are key in driving operational efficiencies and productivity in organisations.

In HR particularly, these solutions help reduce cumbersome, manual processes. This creates an opportunity for HR professionals to think differently about the role of HR in business and partnering more strategically.

At RMB, we migrated from an on-premise HR system to a cloud-based solution that is AI-powered so we could drive efficiencies through automation, get data driven insights, empower our people with self-service tools and improve the employee experience. We have now begun finding ways in integrating AI in how we do everyday work and increasing productivity across the business.

Even though we are not yet at the pinnacle of our digital transformation, it is a very exciting space and creates a lot of opportunities for us to innovate and evolve as a function.

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What other changes do you view on the horizon that may positively or negatively impact HR and talent management this year?

I recently read a report from Gartner about the 9 Future of Work Trends for HR. What stood out for me was that hybrid flexibility still remains quite topical, which can come across as a dichotomy considering organisations in SA are moving towards bringing their people back to the office.

Even though our employees are also coming back to the office so that they can connect and foster creativity, we encourage a hybrid working environment and flexibility to ensure employees can integrate their work and personal lives.

Globally there is a move towards a skills-based approach to talent management and development. This means that HR professionals needs to consider how they factor these trends into their talent management strategies.

Tell us your top tip for retaining top talent...

My number one tip for retaining top talent is to foster a culture of continuous growth and development. This includes sponsorship and providing them with opportunities for both vertical and horizontal growth.

It is also important to ensure that you recognise and reward their contributions. When top talent feels that that they are valued, their contributions are recognised, and they will be motivated to stay.

I always say if you do lose top talent, don’t close the door. Keep engaging them and keep the door open.