As MTN Group marks its 30th anniversary, its journey stands as a testament to the power of vision, resilience, and people-centered values. Over three decades, MTN Group has grown into one of Africa’s largest mobile network operators, serving 288 million customers across 18 markets. At the heart of this success is the “Y’ello family,” a diverse workforce united by a common mission: connecting, changing lives, and driving growth.
What is the key to MTN’s enduring impact and success? We sit down with Paul Norman, Chief Human Resources Officer, to uncover the secrets behind MTN’s powerful employee culture, the “Live Inspired” promise, and how the company is navigating the disruptive rise of AI—all to empower its people in shaping Africa’s digital future.
In its 30 years of existence, how has the MTN Group managed to keep the People across the different Opcos (Operating Companies) committed and proud to belong to the Y’ello family?
We are a uniquely African company comprising diverse ethnic, social, religious, demographic and cultural landscapes. The vibrancy of our Y’ello family and the fusion of our multicultural environment embody the intangible strength that powers our organisation and makes us one. This is what we like to call ‘the Power of Y’ello’.
The Power of Y’ello lives in the spirit of our people, turning the seemingly impossible into reality. Over the last three decades, our people have continued to make an impact that truly matters.
We believe that with a significant part of one’s lifetime spent on working, we have a responsibility to create a work environment that is inclusive, purpose-driven and impactful. We have a firm conviction that ‘our people deserve to live inspired lives’, and so at the end of 2020 we reframed our traditional Employee Value Proposition by moving from a ‘proposition’ to a ‘promise’.
Over the last several years, the ‘Live Inspired’ Promise has been the North Star guiding our people, organisation and our culture actions. Our success is a testament to MTN’s firm belief in fostering a meaningful, connected, positive and purposeful environment for our people. One that translates into real impact for our customers, communities and nations.
Our workforce comprises over 17 500+ people, 70+ nationalities across 4 generations. It has been our mission to ensure we create an inspired work experience, tailored to the diverse people who make us who we are. Keeping our diverse workforce has required innovative methods. In our newly launched MTN Group People Report, we deep dive further into these innovative methods. But some examples of this includes:
InspiredSeries: Inclusion rooted in the voice of our people:
We recognise the power of storytelling. We have made significant strides in inspiring our culture through the art of storytelling- featuring people across our footprint. From our people with disabilities who influenced our products to empowering stories of women – stories that inspired change for good
MTN MOVE: Digital wellbeing for all:
As part of our efforts, we developed MTN MOVE, our home-grown wellbeing and lifestyle app, which promotes fitness, mental, nutritional and social wellbeing. 90% of our employees are active users of our MOVE wellbeing app, making it the single largest application used across our footprint.
Skilling for the future:
With technology, automation and AI transforming businesses at breakneck-speed, we have been intentional about our innovative upskilling and reskilling programs that are preparing people for the future of work.
Inclusion and equity
Over the past few years, it has been our mission to ensure we are the most inclusive and successful organisation across Africa. We have embarked on various initiatives over the past few years, which includes our work on Gender Pay Parity. We believe that Gender Pay is a critical component of the gender equalisation agenda.
Over two years, our concerted efforts to reduce the Gender Pay Gap have begun to yield positive results. We know there is more to be done and we remain committed to our gender equality ambitions.
With the advent of artificial intelligence and many other innovations, the working environment is becoming increasingly challenging. What measures is MTN Group taking to support its employees in this reinvention in order to adapt to the changes across the footprint?
Recognizing the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and other technological innovations on the workplace, we have been proactive in ensuring our employees are well-prepared and supported in adapting to this new landscape.
At MTN, we spent time understanding how AI will impact our workforce; on balance, we think it will create more opportunities and more jobs. While 2023 was a year of discovery and building complementary capabilities, in 2024 we have started to shape our internal environment to help MTNers embrace change. From how to prompt AI as a work buddy to how we craft future jobs, it is our responsibility as an HR community to future-fit our people for AI.
While technology, data, automation and digitization significantly changed the shape and narrative of people, skills and work, the rise of AI is once again redefining human work and relationships.
To facilitate this reinvention, we at MTN have launched comprehensive programs focused on upskilling and reskilling employees to equip them with the necessary skills for the future of work.
The workplace is becoming more fluid, and with that we continue to embrace agile work methodologies to support flexibility, creativity, and adaptability among its employees. Through agile teams, flexible work hours, and hybrid work, employees are better able to respond to change and work more collaboratively across regions and functions.
We continue to encourage employees to experiment with new ideas and embrace innovative solutions. We further provide platforms to pitch ideas and develop new products or services within the company. This fosters an environment where AI and emerging technologies are seen as opportunities for growth rather than threats to job security.
Since the pressure to adapt to rapid technological changes can be overwhelming for some, we continue to prioritise employee wellbeing. Our wellbeing App, MTN MOVE continues to support employees through these transitions. In addition, we have a raft of counseling services, stress management workshops, and tools to maintain work-life integration in a tech-driven workplace.
We further maintain open lines of communication with our employees through regular surveys and feedback loops. This allows us to gauge how employees are feeling about the digital changes and adjust our strategies to better support them through the transition.
The MTN Group is a real success story. What is the basis of this dream that remains a reality for the different generations it spans? What is the secret of its sustainability?
Our story began with a humble dream 30 years ago, at the very dawn of democracy in South Africa. A dream to provide telecommunications services that would connect and empower people. This was at a time when only two out of every 100 people in the country had access to telephones. We believe that our success over the last 30 years is rooted not only in the advancements we have made over the last three decades, but the people who have made our story such an inspiring one.
At MTN, we’re all driven by our belief that everyone deserves the benefits of a modern connected life. Today, we’re Africa’s largest mobile network operator, providing voice, data, fintech, digital, enterprise, wholesale and API services to 288 million customers in 18 markets.
We are inspired by the vision of delivering digital solutions for Africa’s progress, but we cannot deliver on this vision without the remarkable people within our Y’ello family.
Over the past 30 years, our people have built world class telecommunications networks and services, driving digital and financial inclusion of millions of people. Our “Doers”, fuelled by a can-do spirit have been at the centre of our growth and progress.
We believe that building the best talent and culture is key to our Ambition 2025 strategy and by creating a place where everyone can contribute with meaning, we can continue to lead digital solutions for Africa’s progress.