Tongaat Hulett is committed to #GrowingASweetFuture not only in the communities we work, our country and the planet at large but we are also especially committed to the growth of our employees and teams. This Worker’s Month, we’re celebrating some of the most inspirational employees at Tongaat Hulett and have had the privilege of spending a few beats with them.
Nikita Bouverie, Reward Consultant at Tongaat Hulett, has enjoyed a career spanning 13 years and has grown through many positions. Nikita has many career highlights and had this to say about her favourite part of her working environment; “my colleagues inspire me through all the challenges within the sugar industry. They have taught me to remain agile as things are constantly in flux. Something else that continually inspires me is how Tongaat Hulett is constantly looking for ways to champion gender equality and women empowerment in the different areas of the business as well as not only seeing but experiencing the potential for growth.” Through funding from Tongaat Hulett, Nikita completed a Management Development Programme (USB) as well as other short courses. She notes how mentorship from the likes of Michelle Jean-Louis, Jacquie Bhana and Mark Tucker boosted her confidence and how completing her MDP exposed her to other areas and employees of the business and expanded her overview of the Tongaat Hulett business.
Nikita grew through some personal challenges of her own, mainly making her way through school by assisting her parents with her fees. “I worked extra shifts to help pay for my fees and some modules were not offered by the college so I had to fill those gaps with correspondence learning,” Nikita recalls. But these challenges have not been without rewards. “Working at Tongaat Hulett has positively impacted my personal life by being able to purchase my own property, my own vehicle as well as a vehicle for my mum. I have also been able to have at a minimum 1 international holiday per year and being able to travel with my family,” are some of her personal highlights.
Beauty Mwelase, demonstrated early on that she would be a valuable member of the Tongaat Hulett team. Her excellent results in high school secured her a bursary to further her studies in Agriculture at Owen Sithole College of Agriculture. Upon completing her studies, she saw a post for Resource Clerk at the CRDU department, applied and blew the Tongaat Hulett team away with her intelligence and dynamism during her interview. She continued to cultivate these qualities and grew to the position of Extension Officer, which she has held for 4 years. Reflecting on her time, she notes some of the biggest challenges she’s faced as working with growers for the first time and with minimal experience, understanding their needs and how to help them, resolving issues that required her to develop certain skills like communication and mostly interpersonal skills. Beauty rose to the occasion and has seen much growth in her career and her personal life too, aligning with Tongaat Hulett’s goal to ensure that our employees experience the fullness of life beyond the working environment.
We asked Beauty to briefly share what her plans for #GrowingASweetFuture are. “My ambition with my career right now is to be able to work closely with growers on projects that will help them tackle the food security issues in this country and also for them to grow as suppliers of sugarcane for Tongaat Hulett.”
Together we commit to #GrowingASweetFuture
