Making the announcement yesterday, 20 February 2017, Robyn de Villiers, chairman and CEO of Burson-Marsteller Africa said: “The Cornerstones Executive Development Programme is designed to find and groom the next CEO of our business in South Africa. This is a great opportunity for candidates who have around 10 years’ of quality experience, youth on their sides, strong leadership skills and the drive to be part of a growing and reputable business.”
The potential CEOs-in-training will be put through their paces by De Villiers and her current executive team: COO, Ruth Kolevsohn; strategic planning director, Caroline Halton; and business directors, Lyn Fourie and Bridget von Holdt.
The Burson-Marsteller senior team will act in the capacity of an advisory board bringing together a combined experience of over 100 years which positions them to provide strategic guidance to the next generation, to mentor the CEOs in training and to continue to ensure client access to senior counsel across all strategic communications disciplines.
There are three strong candidates, currently on the Burson-Marsteller management team, who have already been identified for the Cornerstones Programme: associate directors, Nkateko Khosa and Melba Geca; as well as recently promoted business director and EXCO member, Karl Haechler.
“We are currently recruiting and inviting applications from suitable talent outside of our organisation to fill the remaining positions on the programme. In today’s world of exponential change, organisations that become entrenched in the status quo are at major risk of disruption. If you are not asking questions about how your organisation is navigating and plugging into disruption and tapping into new talent for the future you will never win the war of ideas. The Cornerstones Executive Development Programme, with its focus on leadership development, adds a new layer to our tried and tested Burson-Marsteller Africa Training Academy which has led the industry with its Starting Blocks Internship Programme, ASSET Internal Training Programme and portfolio of executive level training workshops for clients over 25+ years,” concludes De Villiers.
For more information, please visit www.burson-marsteller.com.
