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Painting the bigger picture

Evany van Wyk

The possibility of making a positive impact or change in someone’s life is usually the reason that helps Sam Januarie get up in the morning. From that point, he goes on to fill his position as human resource consultant at Easy HR consulting. He is one of the founders of Easy HR and has been part of the business since 2006.

Januarie specialises in labour and employment relations and regularly assists companies in various industries with human resource management related challenges. Januarie was locked out of his initial career of choice as he did not have the right subjects to enrol for an engineering qualification due to insufficient career guidance.

When one door closes, another opens, however, as this opened Januarie to a world of opportunity in the human resources field, which he is now thriving in.

“Having achieved what could be achieved in my career as an HR professional I am now preparing to venture into more generalist business management,” he says.

Januarie has two major qualifications under his belt, namely a postgraduate degree in labour law from the University of Cape Town (UCT) and a postgraduate diploma in advance project management from the University of South Africa (UNISA). He is currently studying towards an executive master’s in business administration (EMBA) at UCT.

Young people often end up studying in a field that they have no passion for, Januarie says. “If you do not have a passion for what you are studying then how content or happy you will be in your profession will definitely be negative.”

Januarie’s job is one that enables him to frequently meet people from various backgrounds. According to him, the reasons people cross his path might not always be pleasant, especially if it results in impacting the person’s life or someone losing their work. “In the end you do your job.”

Seeing the positive and constructive results in his advice to companies and getting to mentor youngsters who wish to enter the HR field are his favourite parts of the job. “I just wish to have a positive impact on their careers,” he said.

Januarie has accomplished quite a number of things in his career, including being in charge of signing a three-year wage agreement for Dundee Precious Metals, the first of its kind in Namibia. He is not only an honorary member of the Institute of People Management in Namibia but also formerly served as the institute’s president.

“Internationally, I had the distinct opportunity to represent Namibia in various forums such as the International Labour Organisation, African Union and SADC as an employers’ representative,” Januarie says.

It is evident that positive change and being aware of what goes on around him are of vital importance to Januarie, who says he always keeps abreast of new developments in the HR and labour law field.

V1- Sam Januarie is an HR consultant who specialises in labour and employment relations.