By early 2017, Deon Viljoen had been with Alexander Forbes for over a decade, and he was ready for a different type of challenge. ‘The approach to join Discovery came at the right time. After my initial discussions with Adrian Gore, the founder and CEO, I could not help but feel impressed by his vision and intellect.  I was convinced that this role was the right fit for me because of the group’s deeply entrenched purpose driven approach, highly innovative culture and the brave initiatives the Group was undertaking, which included building a bank from the ground up.’

Shared value

In May that year, Deon was appointed Group CFO of the Discovery Group. What won Deon over was the proven track record and the leadership position Discovery had with the shared value model.

‘The model works like this: A significant part of the financial value inherent in products such as health insurance and life assurance is ultimately determined by behavioural aspect of the insured such as healthy lifestyle choices and physical activity.  There is very significant value to unlock in that relationship if the client engages in those healthy choices and that value can be shared back in the relationship with the client in order to continue to drive that virtuous cycle.  These same principles can be applied in for instance driving behaviours in short term insurance and financial behaviours in banking. At the same time, it also delivers substantial social good.’

The member is encouraged, through an engagement program and different rewards, to alter behaviour through doing such things as physical exercise, safer driving, quitting smoking and saving his or her money. This leads to a reduction in risk and claims, leading to financial rewards for the member and monetary benefit for the group which are ploughed into investment in innovation that ultimately leads to better products at lower premiums.

‘In my view, this shared value thinking was way ahead of its time and is exceptionally well positioned for the future world. I was aware of it previously, but the depth of it obviously only became more apparent once I joined the company. This is an incredible environment to work in, very fast paced. The leadership is agile, and the people here are very talented.’

Best outcomes

Deon believes that Discovery has some of the brightest people in corporate South Africa and whenever this team put their minds together, they formulate the best possible outcomes.

‘As a company we are doing what is right by identifying what our global differentiator is and leveraging it. Purpose, values and shared value thinking is very much in the DNA of the company from the leadership to every staff member. We also prioritise benefit for the customer as we strongly believe that if you are not able to promote a mutually beneficial relationship with your client you will quickly become irrelevant, particularly in the financial services sector.’

Deon believes the positions he has held along the way were good training grounds for the challenges of his current position. ‘Being appointed a partner at PwC was a career highlight for me because I got that position when I was relatively young. It was a defining moment because it gave me solid grounding for senior roles from then on. I was lucky enough to experience the challenges I did and there are choices I made along the way which have altered my career path.

‘I’d like to think they were all the right choices because I learnt a lot from them and continue to grow. I consider this a great privilege.’

Advice

Deon firmly believes that you should define yourself by who you are as a person rather than by what you do professionally. He may be the Group CFO of one of South Africa’s biggest and most prestigious companies, but what is most important to him is living up to his responsibility in society, living with integrity and caring for his family.

‘Professionals should not lose sight of the privilege they have to be professionals in a country where the unemployment rate and poverty levels are so high. Coming back to the shared value idea, having such privilege makes it our responsibility to drive societal good to fruition. We can improve the solutions to societal problems if we put our minds together and it is up to each individual to figure out in what capacity they can participate in this.’

According to Deon it is important to be clear about what is important to you personally and what is important to you professionally. You should have a personal purpose over and above the organisation’s purpose and stay true to yourself first. With that clarity of purpose, you should not hesitate to bring in your perspective to the organisation because diversity of opinion is what makes an organisation stronger, he says.

Moreover, have an eye for opportunities so you can seize and drive them. In Deon’s world challenges should be  viewed as opportunities for growth. ‘Never waste a good crisis because it is an opportunity for you to step up, learn and contribute,’ he advises.

Deon reminds professionals that they need not fly alone when faced with challenges. They should learn to identify when they need the input of others to get to a solution.

This article is an extract from the book Masters of Money – Strategies for Success from the CFOs of South Africa’s Biggest Companies available here – https://www.takealot.com/masters-of-money/PLID90121297?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAyp-sBhBSEiwAWWzTnmLGsW3EWthrsEzrN69lcPhFqkxkQjPsxSF6CHoP2oj6-XRBtDB5gBoCfA8QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds