African Prism — Bespoke Intelligence
Human Resource Management

Building people, end to end.
For forty-five years.

One practitioner across the entire HR value chain — from workforce planning and hiring through development, performance, reward and succession, to how people leave. Not a set of HR functions, but one continuous system for turning a workforce into an organisation's greatest source of value.

PractitionerDr Gert Kriel
DisciplineThe full HR value chain
DoctorateOrganizational Behavior — UP
BasedPretoria, South Africa

People are the enterprise. Everything else is just where they put the value.

01 / the big picture

HR is the value chain, not a support function.

Intangibles — overwhelmingly people and what they know — grew from 17% of S&P 500 market value in 1975 to roughly 92% by 2025. The organisations that win manage that human value deliberately, end to end.

02 / one system

The links only pay off when they connect.

Planning, hiring, development, performance, reward, succession and exit are one chain, not eight departments. Break a link and the whole system leaks value. My practice is the whole chain.

03 / measured, not assumed

What gets measured about people gets managed.

Modern human capital reporting (ISO 30414) treats culture, capability, mobility and cost as numbers, not impressions. Duty of care sits inside this picture — the part of HR that never sleeps.

The HR value chain · end to end

Eleven links. One chain.

Most careers touch two or three links of the HR value chain. Mine has run the whole length — from the first workforce plan to the final exit — inside armies, banks, mines and foundations. The international HR standards (the ISO 30400 family) are noted against each stage.

01
Plan

Workforce planning & organisational design

Deciding what work, what roles and what capabilities are needed — the blueprint the rest of the chain is built on.

In practiceDesigned competency profiles for every role across FNB, and rebuilt the structure during the Zambian bank takeover to keep it legal and operational through the transition.
Standard · ISO 30409 workforce planning · ISO 30434 allocation
02
Attract & select

Talent acquisition & screening

Finding the right people and reading them accurately before they join — the highest-leverage decision in the chain.

In practiceScreened FNB hires for aptitude and attention to detail, cutting teller errors and moving cost-to-income to 50%. Built the methodology that placed former adversaries correctly during the merger of three armed forces.
Standard · ISO 30405 recruitment
03
Onboard

Onboarding & integration

Turning a signed contract into a productive, committed — and in tough settings, safe — member of the organisation.

In practiceBuilt expatriate onboarding for teams deploying into extreme-risk environments, and integrated whole workforces during banking and defence-force mergers.
04
Develop

Learning & development

Growing capability continuously so the workforce keeps pace with strategy — the link that compounds.

In practiceHead of L&D at FNB; won the Asia Pacific Global HR Excellence Award for L&D Leadership (2010). Lecturer at Stellenbosch Business School and tutor of ten courses at the LSE.
Standard · ISO 10015 competence & people development
05
Measure

Performance management

Making expectations explicit, measuring fairly, and using the result to develop rather than just to judge.

In practiceCo-designed the FNB Retail performance system across 30,000 employees in multiple countries, and installed 360-degree assessment group-wide.
06
Reward

Reward & remuneration

Paying people fairly, competitively and legally, aligned to performance — so created value is shared without distortion.

In practiceRan the integrated annual salary review across the FNB retail network, and redesigned every pay band and allowance to Zambian labour law during a reserve-bank takeover.
07
Grow & retain

Talent management & succession

Identifying, stretching and keeping the people you can't afford to lose — with someone ready behind every critical role.

In practiceBuilt the talent and mentorship pipeline for one of Africa's largest retail banks, and led it to Investors in People status on first assessment.
08
Engage

Employee relations & culture

Fairness, discipline, voice and lived culture — the fabric that decides whether the chain runs on goodwill or friction.

In practiceDeveloped HR policy, procedure and disciplinary frameworks across multiple entities as a transformation executive. Doctoral research on how cultural group moderates job fit and commitment.
09
Improve

Organisational development

Working on the system itself — structure, capability, change and behaviour — so the whole chain keeps improving.

In practicePhD in Organizational Behaviour (University of Pretoria) and a post-graduate certificate in OD, applied across four decades of restructures and mergers.
10
Protect

Duty of care, wellbeing & resilience

Keeping people safe, well and supported wherever the work takes them — the protective edge of people management.

In practiceBuilt FirstRand's traveller-protection programme for 3,000 people — recognised with the International SOS Foundation Duty of Care Award (Berlin, 2017).
11
Transition

Exit & continuity

How people leave — with dignity, with knowledge transferred and the organisation intact — closes the loop.

In practiceKept a full workforce intact and legally covered through a hostile bank seizure, and managed the human side of merging three opposing armed forces into one national defence force.
Signature work · 2010–2024

People work, recognised on the world stage.

2010 · BANGALORE

Asia Pacific Global HR Excellence Award

Won for Learning & Development Leadership, co-designing the FNB Retail performance system across 30,000 employees. Nominated again in 2011.

L&D · Performance
2006–2014 · FNB

Investors in People — first-pass accreditation

Led one of Africa's largest retail banks to Investors in People status on first assessment — later registering as an IiP assessor in the UK.

Talent architecture · Culture
2017 · BERLIN

International Duty of Care Award

Won for FirstRand by the International SOS Foundation for the programme protecting 3,000 travellers — the wellbeing link done to award standard. Nominated again in 2018.

Duty of care · Wellbeing
45+
Years across the full
HR value chain
30,000
Employees under one
performance system
11
Value-chain links
built in practice
3,000
People under a
duty-of-care programme
Career · six chapters

The same chain, through every chapter.

One through-line: building and running people systems. Each role shows the HR read at its core, with the protective read — the duty-of-care thread — alongside it.

2022–now
Independent
HR Advisory
Africa & UK

Independent Human Resource Management Consultant

Advising boards, foundations and operations on the full people system.

HR read

The people links in demanding settings — planning, screening, onboarding and development for teams far from the nearest city. The Oppenheimer Foundation (2023) as HR Management Consultant.

Protective read

Duty of care and workforce resilience on remote sites: Gemfields (Mozambique), Antelope Gold (Zimbabwe), Ausenco (Namibia), Kenmare (Mozambique), Syama (Mali).

2014–2021
FirstRand
Banking Group
South Africa

Head of International Security

Duty of care and geopolitical advisory to the Country Risk and Credit Executive team.

HR read

Built the group's traveller-protection programme for 3,000 people — turning an HR duty-of-care obligation into a lived culture through training and briefings.

Protective read

Country risk assessments across 30+ nations; set up the group's kidnap & ransom capability and created the International Safety and Risk Department.

2006–2014
FNB & FNB Africa
South Africa,
Zambia

Head OD · Head L&D · Transformation Executive

Nine years leading the people architecture of one of Africa's largest retail banks.

HR read

Competency profiles for every role, 360-degree assessment, Investors in People on first pass, the integrated salary review, and the talent pipeline.

Protective read

Cut teller errors and losses by screening for aptitude — moving the retail cost-to-income ratio to 50%. Every people system was also a control system.

2011
Finance Bank
Zambia

HR Executive / Risk Project Lead

Deployed on the Zambian Reserve Bank's seizure of a non-compliant bank — HR and risk in one appointment.

HR read

Redesigned every role, pay band and allowance to Zambian labour law during the takeover — keeping the workforce intact and legally covered.

Protective read

Ran the in-country Joint Operation Centre and internal risk for five months post-seizure.

1998–2001
Massmart · FirstRand
South Africa

Risk & Administration Manager · Senior HR Consultant

Retail loss prevention and banking HR advisory.

HR read

Developed and implemented HR policies across FirstRand entities; handled OH&S compliance for Massmart end to end.

Protective read

Co-designed Massmart's loss-prevention strategy, cutting stock losses below 1% within six months.

1977–1996
South African
National Defence
Force

Assistant Director, Army Intelligence Corps

Twenty years of intelligence, culminating in the merger of three opposing armed forces.

HR read

Designed training across every level of Army Intelligence and the screening that placed MK and APLA entrants correctly during the amalgamation.

Protective read

Ran a 24/7 control room and the Joint Monitoring Commission between the South African and Angolan governments during the transition.

Geographic footprint

People, talent, development and duty-of-care work across six continents — grounded in the international HR standards.

AngolaBurkina FasoChinaDR CongoEgyptEthiopiaFinlandGermanyGhanaIndiaIsraelIvory CoastKazakhstanKenyaLebanonLesothoLithuaniaMalawiMaliMauritiusMexicoMongoliaMozambiqueNamibiaNigeriaPolandRussiaRwandaSouth AfricaTanzaniaUgandaZambiaZimbabwe
ISO 30414
Human capital reporting & disclosure
ISO 30405
Guidelines on recruitment
ISO 30409
Workforce planning
Investors in People
Registered assessor (UK)

The protective link draws on ISO 31000 (enterprise risk), ISO 18788 (security operations), FEMA 452 and SOLAS 1974 — the duty-of-care discipline that sits inside modern people management, not apart from it.

Education & credentials

Academic and professional foundation.

2018

B Tech L4 Certificate, Risk Management

Pearson (UK)
2017

PhD, Organizational Behavior

University of Pretoria — Honorary Academic Colors
2009

Master's Degree, Human Resources Development

University of South Africa
2002

Investors in People Assessor (UK)

United Kingdom
1992

Post-graduate Certificate, Organizational Development

Sep Serfontein & Associates
1990

BA Honours, Psychology

University of South Africa
1985

Bachelor of Arts

University of Pretoria
1997

Internship, Psychometric Assessment

Academic teaching

Formerly Accredited Lecturer at the University of Stellenbosch Business School Executive Development Department, and Risk & Crisis Management Tutor at the London School of Economics — ten courses delivered.

Selected engagements · 2018–2024

Recent work, across the chain.

2024 · NAMIBIA

Ausenco Uranium Mining

Country and site assessment, South West Namibia.
2023 · SOUTH AFRICA

Oppenheimer Foundation

Human Resource Management Consultant, Jun–Dec 2023.
2022 · MOZAMBIQUE

Gemfields Ruby Mine

Site and country assessment, Northern Mozambique.
2022 · ZIMBABWE

Antelope Gold Mine

On-site assessment, Kwekwe.
2022 · MOZAMBIQUE

Kenmare Titanium Resources

Desktop assessment, Northern Mozambique.
2018 · MALI

Syama Gold Mine — Resolute

Full on-site and desktop assessment over three weeks.
Get in touch

When people are the whole game, call.

Advisory to boards, foundations, banks and operations — the HR value chain, end to end or link by link.

Direct
+27 (0) 69 4377 309
Email
gkriel@africanprism.com
Languages
English · Afrikaans · Elementary Dutch