Winners of the 2016 Standard Bank Rising Stars Awards were announced at an event held at the Hilton Sandton hotel in Johannesburg last week.
Gareth Kingston, change manager: organisational change management at Britehouse (a division of Dimension Data), was named the ICT sector winner at the awards.
The Rising Star Programme, now in its fifth year, aims to recognise, celebrate and connect young talented individuals (aged 28 to 40), in an effort to raise awareness of and develop young talent.
Winners have a unique opportunity to network across industry sectors, with both their fellow winners and top minds in the country through a mentorship programme.
Kingston has over 15 years' experience in learning and human behavioural change. He has gained insights working across various industries and cultures around the world in managing organisational disruption more effectively.
He previously held project management, change management and learning and collaboration roles at Trainiac and Accenture.
Kingston says winning the award will give him the opportunity to make a positive impact in his business as well as to help build the foundation of South Africa's next business leaders.
On the back of awards such as the Standard Bank Rising Stars, Kingston wishes to establish himself as an expert in the ICT sector in the field of organisational change management and develop a framework for the change management of tomorrow.
"From a career influence perspective, I think there is huge benefit in experiencing the exposure that comes with this award. In particular I'm hoping that it will highlight non-traditional areas in the ICT field, most notably my speciality: the people readiness side."
In general, when faced with the term "Information and Communications Technology" the immediate thought is of tangible hardware, software and installation thereof, he notes.
"Not many would liken the field to people integration and implementation of a business solution and performance management - which is interesting when it's the people who need to derive value out of the technology and are measured on delivering business results."
Kingston was chosen for the award because he is visionary in his thinking and the judges especially enjoyed his examples on how to better utilise gamification in changing organisational culture, says Sharmila Govind, head of human resources at HSBC Bank Johannesburg Branch and Rising Star Judge 2016 - ICT Sector.
"He was clear in in his thoughts and ideas and in planning his answers, but most importantly he was authentic and yet practical."
"We are always impressed with the young talent coming through the Rising Star programme, and we know that this year's winners will go on to do great things," says Amelia Muller, global head of resourcing at Standard Bank.
"Sitting back and complaining about the lack of skills and brain drain we face in most industries is not conducive to crafting a solution, says Laura Barker, MD: BlackBark Productions, organisers of the Rising Star Programme.
"Forward-thinking companies are realising that they have a responsibility to attract, develop and retain young talent. They will not be the only ones to reap the rewards - the economy as a whole benefits when organisations are committed to growing the skills pool."
Previous winners of the Standard Bank Rising Star award in the ICT sector include: Michelle Ramnath, GM, consulting services at Britehouse (2015), Muthe Rambuwani, then business intelligence analyst, now product manager at P:Cubed (2014), Tamzin Gray (nee Burrill) - then CSI manager, business partner organisation at IBM SA and is now GM, regional executive at first distribution/IBM (2013 and Jean du Plessis, head of front-end development at Quirk eMarketing (2012).
Winners in other categories include:
Brian Mahlangu of Nedbank for the Banking and Financial Services sector.
Charlene Joseph of Liviero for the Construction and Engineering sector.
Leon van Wyk of Eskom for the Energy and Environment sector.
Grant Gavin of RE/MAX Panache for the Entrepreneur sector.
Lerato Legoale of Aberdare Cables for the manufacturing, retail and FMCG sector.
Rousseau Jooste of AngloAmerican for the Mining and Minerals sector.
Dapo Adeyemo of Khonology for the professional services sector.
Nomthandazo Dlanga of Johannesburg Property Company for the service Public and Private sector.
Thabo Ngoepe of Emperors Palace - Peermont Global for the Tourism for the Leisure and Hospitality sector.
Ntsako Nukeri, Transnet Freight Rail for the Transport, logistics and security sector.
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