Global recognition for excellence in people practices as company’s #ThinkHumanFirst  strategy succ3ssfully delivers

The international Top Employer Institute has confirmed Momentum Metropolitan Holdings Limited’s 2023 certification as a Top Employer for the third consecutive year.  The Hague based Top Employer Institute is the global HR authority on certifying excellence in people management practices and employee and workplace conditions.

Momentum Metropolitan joins 2 052 companies from 121 countries on five continents for this year’s successful recognition and certification. 129 South African companies received certification this year.  Certification is determined by a rigorous HR Best Practices Survey that interrogates human capital and people management practices (350 HR practices and procedures) benchmarked against global standards of peer review and excellence. 

Six HR pillars or domains (Steer, Shape, Attract, Develop, Engage, Unite), broken down into further categories such as people strategy, work environment, talent acquisition, learning, diversity, equality and inclusion and wellbeing, are evaluated to determine the strengths and shortfalls of particular companies, pitted against universal standards of human capital excellence.  Shortfalls can result in non-certification.

Momentum Metropolitan has year on year steadily and significantly improved its overall rating from 66.15% in 2021 to 75.98% in 2022 to 82.44% for 2023.  Besides being a meaningful and earned accolade the certification has also contributed to yearly improvement in particular areas and the evolution of best practices within the company. 

Momentum Metropolitan improved performance in five of the six domains from last year, doing exceptionally well in two of the domains: (Engage with a score of 84.25% and Unite with a pleasing score of 92.9%), both receiving high scores and both pegged above the global benchmark score.  The Engage domain looks at well-being, employee engagement, reward and recognition, and off-boarding, while the Unite domain looks at purpose and shared values, ethics and integrity, diversity and inclusion and sustainability. 

Extensive refurbishments of many of the company’s office spaces during the pandemic lockdowns may have contributed to a positive uptick in the Shape domain which includes a focus on work environments.  New office spaces have been engineered to be open and airy with more spaces deliberately designed to be collaborative hubs and comfy coffee nooks.  Embracing a hybrid work from home / back to the office approach may have also contributed to employee ‘workplace’ wellbeing. 



The single outlier, Steer, which remained almost the same as last year (82.37% in 2021 versus 82.08% in 2023), and which deals with business and people strategy and leadership, was interestingly the company’s strongest area of performance last year. 

Lettie-Basani Phume, Group Human Capital Executive at Momentum Metropolitan Holdings, says: “Particularly in my portfolio of human engagement, I feel like we are a glorious butterfly emerging from a stilted cocoon of the pandemic years.  It is our time to show our colours, flex our beautiful wings and continue to put our people at the centre of what we do.  An energised, engaged workforce that feels valued, and respected will be best motivated to serve the strategic goals of the company and success of the business.  Each year our scores in all the categories have mainly improved.

“Our HC mantra of #ThinkHumanFirst is our steadfast reminder of the importance of great people management practices and the need to constantly improve and evolve.  I am particularly proud of the domains in which we have excelled, Engage and Unite as these speak to positive shared experiences and mutual respect from and for, all our employees. 

“The last few years have shown us that businesses are increasingly measured on how they treat their people and acknowledging the whole human being, both as a human capital contributor but also as Mom or daughter, wife or partner and friend or colleague is beneficial.  The significant shift to working from home or a hybrid model has allowed us to see into the homes and individual personas of a colleagues, making for a richer understanding of who our people are and their priorities.  I believe this strengthens us,” says Phume.

Top Employers Institute CEO David Plink says in conclusion: “Exceptional times bring out the best in people and organisations. And we have witnessed this in our Top Employers Certification Programme this year: exceptional performance from the certified Top Employers 2023. These employers have always shown that they care for the development and well-being of their people. By doing so, they collectively enrich the world of work. We are proud to announce and celebrate this year’s group of leading people-oriented employers: the Top Employers 2023.”