"There has to be an alignment, because an aspiration affects everybody. In the analogy of a family, the parents' aspirations become the nexus of the aspirations of the children. Yet it can be either a positive or negative influence, depending on how it is communicated to and understood by the children. If poorly communicated, they may see the aspiration as a threat, rather than the opportunity that it might be."

An oddity of aspiration is that to be successful it has to have a positive intention and one has to work at re-creating it continuously, or it dies.

Apartheid, in its own way, resulted from leadership aspiration. But because it was based on a philosophy that did not offer any benefit to the greatest number of people, it quickly degenerated into the preservation of the status quo for a minority who did benefit.

"There is also the danger, even in the case of positive aspirations, that in the absence of succession leadership to champion new aspirations, existing aspirations may evolve into preserved ideals," says Brian. “Hence the importance of governance, which provides mechanisms that enable aspirations to evolve,” he adds.

"There is a journey that Murray & Roberts must prepare itself for over the next two years, and I am satisfied that the company now has the necessary governance structures in place to guarantee that it moves ahead positively and does not stagnate."

Murray & Roberts is moving in the direction of greater critical mass, which will create a more sustainable platform from which individuals can prosper and fulfil their personal aspirations.

"Critical mass can also be the weight of ideas – not just assets. When there is sufficient critical mass, nobody has to think about entrenching themselves in ways that may prevent them from developing – there is an abundance of opportunity."

Capacity and Capability

"Organising is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it’s not all mixed up," said Christopher Robin from Winnie the Pooh.

The development of human capacity and capability is one area of the transformation underway at Murray & Roberts that is receiving a great deal of attention.

 

Retaining good people requires capturing personal aspirations, reworking strategies and systems and doing whatever else it takes to meet those aspirations. Wise management understands this and also realises the impact of losing talent. Therefore, they work hard at retention programmes.

“Good ideas are of little or no use without the wheels that give them motion. While it is important to develop the right strategies, companies must recognise that it is equally important to gather enough management enthusiasm to convert thinking into fulfilment,” says Brian.

"As an organisation, if we do anything it can only be in the context that we have the capacity and capability to achieve it. This applies to our human capital, our systems and our partnerships.”

In a perfect world, the leadership of an organisation should represent the greatest capacity blended with the appropriate capability.
 

Capacity & Capability

Capacity defines inherent potential, and capability the skills and experience necessary to fulfil that potential.

The greatest risk we face in pursuit of our aspiration for the future lies in our capacity and capability to engage the journey and we recognise three key challenges in this respect.

Human Capital where the transformation process has placed many of our people under significant pressure, but liberated the performance potential of our organisation.

New executives are joining the Murray & Roberts team, building our future capacity. Various development programmes are in place to convert capacity into capability. The challenge to meet our equity commitments has been embraced and new talent is now constantly brought into our employ through bursaries, learnership arrangements and recruitment.

Systems where the demands of a Unitary Murray & Roberts place increased levels of pressure on our varied internal systems. The backbone for connectivity will be the financial reporting and consolidation system and a systems integration package will connect most of our existing systems capability.

Partnerships where the risk of specialist and geo-political markets challenges our commitment to deliver world class fulfilment.

Brian Bruce