Ndeunyema fuels human capital economics and strategy at Namcor

TUNOHOLE MUNGOBA

Stationed in the office of the managing director at the state-owned oil and gas company Namcor, Shiwana Ndeunyema recently took up the role of senior manager for business strategy and performance management.

According to him, his role serves as a catalyst for strategy execution and can be likened to that of a midwife. “A midwife does not deliver the baby. A midwife is trained to assist the woman in the delivery of the baby and to skilfully make the labour process a much less painful experience.”

According to Ndeunyema, to serve in this role, one must be quick on one’s feet in navigating through technical jargon and at home in the in the areas of strategy, as well as business performance management systems design and implementation.

“Management experience that is premised on delivering organisational development and business transformation solutions centred across the people-strategy-processes nexus is also essential. This includes experience in influencing behaviour, improving capabilities and aligning processes across the entire institutional equation,” he tells Careers Hub.

Ndeunyema describes himself as an easy-going guy but notes the importance of balance. “You cannot take your executive cap into your living room. To know when one should leave one’s corporate hat at the boardroom door is absolutely essential in living a balanced and fulfilling life.”

Although originally from Omashekediva village in the Ongwediva constituency, Ndeunyema grew up in the small diamond town of Oranjemund.

He obtained a Master of Science degree in HR with specialisations in organisational behaviour and performance management at the Edinburgh Business School Heriot-Watt University in Scotland, where he is currently pursuing his PhD in strategy. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in economics (Honours) with the University of Namibia (Unam) and other postgraduate qualifications in knowledge management and human resources.

He lists his parents as his inspiration. “As both my parents are trained educators, I was fortunate to have had a formidable early guidance system centred on Christian values growing up.”

When asked about his typical day at the office, Ndeunyema said: “In strategy, because you are involved in every part of the institutional question, every day is different. If you are the type to spend more than 60% of your day in the four corners of your office, you probably shouldn’t be in this space.

“Many a time we jump into execution because we are good at operational execution. This is why many companies execute the wrong strategy perfectly right. Strategy is about being on the ground, diagnosing operations at a macro, meso and micro level, asking questions, probing and trying to understand how we can better deliver the strategy and creating an enabling environment for those tasked with delivering on the key performance indicators.”

Outside the workplace, Ndeunyema has a hand in other entrepreneurial activities aligned to his personal and professional interests. “I am a partner at a domestic consulting firm that provides strategy facilitation services to SMEs and large corporates, alongside other business advisory services. These and other interests keep me engaged most of the time, especially if I am not attending to the demands of my PhD studies.”

Ndeunyema also makes it a point to visit the boxing gym regularly “for improved total body strength and mental agility”.

“I also make time to celebrate family and nurture the friendships I so dearly value. During my spare time, I enjoy an evening out at local boxing bonanzas.”

When asked about an unpopular position he holds, Ndeunyema says he is “a stern advocate of developing the full potential of the Namibian people and Africans in general”.

“This is not a very popular notion in many corridors, I have found. When we say that there is no Namibian competent enough to do this or that, we are basically custodians of the pot of our own subjugation.”

His fondest childhood memory is of the time when he, his two brothers and the boys next door used to push their wire cars in the foggy desert of the Namib, on the outskirts of the restricted Sperrgebiet area.

“I remember the feeling like it was yesterday,” he recalls with a look of nostalgia.

“We took so much pride in our self-made copper-wire cars. They ran on wheels made of the base of ripped cool drink cans. If you did not take extra care in service excellence during the design phase of your copper-wire car, you wouldn’t make it very far into the boys’ desert escapade and you would sadly miss out on the fun.”

The only worry they had back then was making it back home before dusk, he says.