The Sunday Mail
Business Reporter —
ZIMPAPERS (1980) Limited group human resources manager Mr Herbert Simemeza last week scooped the Manager of the Year honour at the eighth edition of the Zimbabwe Megafest Northern Region Business Awards, underlying the skills set the country’s biggest integrated media group possesses.
Mr Simemeza was among business executives awarded for projecting a positive image of local professionals. Megafest CEO Dr Tafadzwa Matsika said by winning the award, Mr Simemeza has become part of “the movers and shakers of our time”.
Mr Simemeza said: “The Award shows that Zimpapers is recognised in the business community in Zimbabwe and that we have capable leaders within Zimpapers that can take Zimbabwe to another level.
“It also puts Zimpapers up there on the corporate ladder in Zimbabwe as a company of achievers. Zimpapers is a big organisation with a high staff complement and it has decentralised systems throughout Zimbabwe and regionally in Namibia.
While working with such a huge team is not easy, it has given me the necessary experience in terms of interaction with the heads of different units and also working with various employees within the whole company.”
Mr Simemeza said his experiences at the integrated media house had given him the willpower to overcome various challenges.
“I have had to recruit skilled and talented human resource practitioners to man the business. And obviously these human resource managers and officers needed to work well with general managers and junior staff in the different business units for the growth of the company. For that to happen, I need to have a level head and come up with clever ways to ensure all these people work well together,” he said.
Over the years, Zimpapers has transformed from a newspaper printing and publishing company to become a fully integrated media house with competent skilled employees.
Now it has some of the best talent in radio, print, digital and television journalism and production. Talent management has been particularly critical, with executives like Mr Simemeza playing key roles.
Mr Simemeza joined Zimpapers in 2003 tasked with identifying and putting together a team of skilled HR personnel to transform the administration department which existed then into a human resources department.
“I have managed to bring a core team to the business which has helped in realigning the business. We have brought in people with exceptional capabilities, employees and managers who fit in with the vision of the company and produce desired results across the business,” he said.
Besides recruiting talented personnel, Mr Simemeza has sought to create a gender balance, both in terms of recruitment and management. He says he has made it a priority to narrow the gender gap by giving opportunities to skilled and qualified women.
As the world moved into the digital era, so did Zimpapers’ business model and the company has had to realign operations to accommodate relevant digital, radio and television products.
