One of SA's newest major Internet service providers, Vodacom ISP, has embarked on an aggressive recruitment drive, poaching staff from competitors, as competition to retain skilled staff heats up.
Industry observers claim that head-hunting or "aggressive recruiting" is likely to become a common trend in the local telecommunications sector, as companies scramble to retain talent amid a changing regulatory landscape and an acute skills shortage.
Internet Solutions (IS) is the latest company to lose key executives to Vodacom ISP, with COO Johann Pretorius and new business director Ermano Quartero resigning this week. While Vodacom would not confirm this, several sources this morning said both IS executives have, indeed, defected to the mobile operator's subsidiary.
Their exit follows moves by former Telkom CTO Thami Msimango and chief sales and marketing officer Wally Beelders last month to join Vodacom ISP.
While Vodacom would not comment directly on whether it was poaching from competitors, Nicolene Visser, Vodacom's head of communications, says the company is taking measures to strengthen the management team of its ISP business. The business is currently being headed by Vodacom COO Pieter Uys, who is acting MD of the ISP unit.
New appointments
IS CEO Angus McRobert downplayed the loss of Pretorius and Quartero, saying this provides opportunity for other IS employees to advance in the ranks.
He says the company is aware that it operates in an extremely competitive environment, where experience and skills are often scarce. However, it has demonstrated a strong ability to retain staff and many of its key people have significantly long service and clearly-stated career paths within IS.
"These changes, at the executive-level, have created several changes in our senior management structure, thus giving some of our up-and-coming stars the opportunity to make their mark."
New IS executive appointments include Greg Payne as COO, and Hillel Shrock as business solutions director. Payne, who previously served as client services executive, replaces Pretorius, while Shrock replaces Quartero.
Other appointments include Tony Walt, as chief customer officer, and Tony Koutakis, as sales director. Siyabonga Madyibi joins the IS divisional board and becomes responsible for the company's regulatory affairs. McRobert says additional management changes will be communicated shortly.
Changing landscape
An analyst, who prefers to remain anonymous, says aggressive recruitment of key executives is the beginning of things to come, especially as regulatory landscape is changing and allowing new competitors to enter the market.
"Clearly, Vodacom is aggressively poaching staff to prepare for a more competitive landscape and it has the financial muscle to get the skills it needs," he says. "If I were their competitor, like Telkom and MTN, I would be concerned."
The analyst says, while the competition to attract and retain skilled staff is good news for workers in the ICT sector, it is not good news for profits. Telecoms operators like Telkom and Vodacom have been rapidly growing employee expense lines, as they've had to employ more skilled people to meet market demands, he says. These expenses are expanding well ahead of inflation, he says.
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