TOWARDS REBIRTH IN ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENT A SOUTHERN VOICE
Authors: Del M.N. Sekgaphane  
Published: January 2021

In divergent ecosystems around the world, there is a desire for visible, integral ecological transformation. A lack of ecological transformation is found within various domains beginning with the self, team, organisation and society, and is partly influenced by the loss of identity both within and without the larger ecology. Notably, the issue of identity and transformation remains a burning platform within the African context, for which the researcher proposes a solution grounded in the Southern relational path of community and reason (Lessem &amp; Schieffer, 2009). In the context of this study, the researcher was invited to lead and transform a wealth banking business unit that had become a liability to the greater FNB brand, reflecting the lowest engagement scores at the time.The research methodology was built on the foundation of the 4C Integral Research Approach (Call, Context, Co-creation and Contribution). Each one of the four research paths is integral, as each includes local Origination, local-global Foundation, all-round Emancipation and Transformation towards a consistent path to social innovation. Focusing on FNB Private Wealth Client Servicing as the research community, the researcher set up various communities of practice (CoPs). The applicable ontology was phenomenology, adopting Southern, communal frames from which to drive inclusive transformation, and the epistemology was feminism, encompassing integral research and participatory action research (PAR) as part of the Southern path. The research design followed an integral design on the Four Worlds of South, East, North and West, contextualised using the 4C rhythm and the grounding, emerging, navigation and effecting (GENE) integral paths of renewal towards social innovation. Data was gathered by qualitative means such as participative observations, community engagements, discussions and interviews. The researcher analysed the gathered data by measuring its quality in terms of valuable and truthful results of REBIRTH data analysis. REBIRTH is an innovative organisational change and development process located in the South, and has potential to be adapted and applied within FNB as the rebirth of the transformation journey. REBIRTH, engaged holistically, is designed to cause inclusive transformation though enabling an organisation to re-engage the issue of identity as catalyst for inclusivity. It is a creative experience which starts in the Southern relational path, and unfolds into the four voices of global exploration, towards inclusive transformation and authentic identity. REBIRTH reconnects self, other, community and organisation to identity in Botho-Ubuntu, captured in the FNB case study vision as: “I Care (Heart), I Can (Head), I Commit. Botho-Ubuntu is an African philosophy which draws us back to the value of our humanness and offers an authentic lens through which to view transformational practice. The REBIRTH transformation journey was successfully tested within FNB Private Wealth Client Servicing and FNB Wealth Inland. Grounded in traditional and indigenous knowledge, it offers a new lens for leadership towards inclusive transformation, founded in Southern values and norms and grounded in the essence and philosophy of Botho-Ubuntu as an authentic Southern frame to reconstruct the complexity of today’s ever-changing world.