NEWLY APPOINTED ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND PMS SPECIALIST TO STRENGTHEN VUT’S RESOLVE TO FOSTER A DYNAMIC AND SUPPORTIVE WORK ENVIRONMENT
Staff Reporter – 14 June 2024
The Vaal University of Technology (VUT) is proud to welcome Mr Martin Tsiliso Lerata who has been appointed as Organisational Development and PMS Specialist effective from 01 June 2024.
This appointment underscores the University’s commitment to fostering a dynamic and supportive work environment.
Mr Lerata brings with him a wealth of experience and a track record of success in strategic planning, change management and diversity, wellness, as well as performance optimization, to mention a few. With a robust background in government, academic and corporate settings, he is well-equipped to drive initiatives that will enhance the overall effectiveness and efficiency of our institution.
His early career dates back from 1981 when he started working in the Mines after completing his Matric and as fate would have it, he found himself in Human Resources (HR) Department, which was then called Personnel Department. Since then, he has been working in HR fraternity and Strategic Planning environment across range of sectors. His influence also extended to Medscheme where he administered different Medical Aid Schemes, before joining the Mangaung Maximum Security Prison, University of Free State (UFS) and worked for South African Local Government Association (SALGA) as Head of HR and Strategy.
His core function was to develop strategies and implementation plans for Municipalities on HRM, Infrastructure Plans, Corporate Services, LED, Community Services, and Integrated Development Plans etc. He also worked as a Municipal Manager in Naledi Local Municipality in the Free State. He later moved to Westonaria Local Municipality where he worked as Manager HRM and later was promoted to work as Executive Director Corporate Services responsible for HRM, Legal, ICT, Facilities, Fleet Management, and Administration.
In 2019 he joined higher education and worked as Manager: Organisational Development (OD) at the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University where he started OD Section from scratch. This move was prompted by the journey he took to study PhD in Business Leadership and Administration with UNISA, and his thesis was about Organisational Innovativeness (OI) and the use of Management Models (MM) in Universities. This was intrigued by a passion of how Organisational Innovativeness and Organisational Ambidexterity can be embedded in the culture of these Universities in order to ensure that they are competitive, and their workforce are efficient and productive.
This is after the private universities flooded the SA shores. As part of his studies, he developed an innovation index and framework that these Universities can use to measure their level of innovativeness and ambidexterity. If everything goes according to plan, Mr Lerata will be graduating for his Doctorate in September this year.
In a nutshell Mr Lerata has been working in HRM, and Strategic Management Fraternity both in Private and Public Sector at both Managerial and Executive Level for over 40 years. He regards himself as a Seasoned Strategist and Administrator. He believes and subscribes to the principles of Collective Wisdom and is of the view that in order for any organisation to be competitive, sustainable and successful, everybody should embrace the principles of Organisational Innovativeness (OI) and Organisational Ambidexterity (OA).
In addition to strategy development and performance management, Mr Lerata is expected to assist line management to develop operational action plans which support the University strategic objectives. He will also be responsible to proactively identify and implement change management interventions to support structural/ /system/process changes.
By his own admission, he says he hopes to make positive contribution to VUT because of his vast experience and his educational background. To achieve this, he says he would rely on the help of everybody, and ultimately ensure that all employees work as a collective in achieving the strategic objectives enshrined in VUT Strategy 2033+. Most of all to ensure that we live VUT Values (Excellence, Innovation, Ethic of Care, Collegiality, Integrity and Diversity).
We welcome Mr Lerata to the VUT Family.