Don’t try to go it alone — keep on learning from everyone
Vuyokazi Quphe is corporate communications lead for Nissan Africa Regional Business Unit
What makes you proud of your job?
The African continent has been identified as the last frontier of automotive growth, so we are one of the generations that will go down in history as having played an important role in the drive towards realising Africa’s many opportunities.
It’s a great honour and privilege to be an active contributor towards the nurturing of a competitive and healthy automotive manufacturing sector that’s poised to achieve this growth.
How has your work as editor for the Edgars Off-Limits magazine and assistant editor at Seventeen magazine helped you in your work at Nissan?
Having formally trained as a journalist, I understood the principles of effective communication. Though these two roles were in the publishing space, they formed the building blocks to best understand the power of developing stakeholder communications strategies that support business performance while forming the connections required to build brand equity.
How does your work in corporate communications differ from your work at Seventeen and True Love Babe magazines?
It’s been said that “the more things change, the more they stay the same”.
This has made me realise that corporate communications practitioners have the solid foundation needed to authentically connect with our stakeholders.
By fusing the various communications principles, our mission should now be to focus on driving innovative engaging strategies that embrace technology and diversity to strengthen confidence and trust in our leaders, organisations and the brands that build our African economy.
How did lockdown affect the way you work?
In the manufacturing space, while we’d always had a healthy balance between a digital and face-to-face communications framework, lockdown leapfrogged our use of digital tools to share credible information on the virus and drive business continuity.
During lockdown our Rosslyn-based manufacturing team was able to bring to market Nissan’s newest locally produced pickup. Traditionally, a new model introduction involves engineers and experts from across the globe.
Travel restrictions meant we needed to look to technological interventions and tools to stay connected.
I’m proud to say that despite the challenges, Team Nissan was able to successfully launch the locally produced Nissan Navara.
Are there any lockdown work habits you would like to keep?
On the personal front, as a working mother, the flexibility of being able to work from home has been a blessing.
On the corporate citizenship front, I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of SA’s strong corporate community.
Various organisations put their competitive agendas aside to stand together to empower South Africans with accurate and credible information on managing the virus.
What did you want to be when you were a child?
Storytelling and the concept of driving unity through the written and spoken word has always fascinated me.
What is your go-to career advice?
Don’t go it alone. I know I’m not the only one who appreciates the individuals and professionals who positively contributed to me becoming the professional I continue to evolve into. As a student of life, I value every opportunity to continue learning from everyone I interact with.