One on One

To celebrate Women’s Month, Profica is featuring some of our women we have in the team who add value all across the continent. This week we meet Michelle Geldenhuys who works as a senior Project Manager in Johannesburg.

Tell us a bit more about what YOU bring to the Profica team?

I can confidently say that I have the Profica DNA.

To me, that means having the right skills to soar in this industry, a great attitude and a solid work ethic to help me manage work-life balance with ease.

I always try to add an element of fun to the Profica team, as well as encouraging and complimenting people on their “switched-on” Profica culture.

Apart from fulfilling my daily work objectives, I take the time to get to know people and this adds to creating a real sense of belonging in our company. This type of collaboration is critical in this industry to empower individuals to step out of their comfort zone. Profica has a team of highly skilled and talented individuals and this has been proven time and again in the way we are able to complete the work we are tasked with and in how really shine in the projects we have completed to date.

This Women’s Month, what is your dream for women in your industry?

I want women in my industry to believe that they can achieve anything and to disregard conceptions of “it’s a male environment,” which may influence their thinking.

No man achieved construction success by sitting in a comfort zone – the same must be said for women too. My dream is for woman to be able to be assertive in the workplace without being considered too emotional. This is a sad reality in some industries.

We as women need to continually support each other and work with our with our teams holistically to create impact, showing results for our company and our industry at large.

How does Profica elevate the work and might of great women within the organisation?

Profica has challenged me to be able to produce deliverables I did not think I could achieve.

This growing company is encouraging me to complete and gain PMP qualifications, which I believe is such a privilege and quite an achievement in the industry.

Profica respects that I have a family and allows me to “Work-Hard” and “Woman-Hard” too.

This is an aspect of Profica that allows me to achieve the best I can in my work life duties, as well as knowing I can still attend to family aspects and manage to juggle the work life balance.

This allows for me to perform to a higher level, as it removes the stress associated with a regimental type of organisation that does not acknowledge the “Woman-Hard” aspects.

Profica promotes people based on ability and achievements and does not restrict this to any specific gender. Profica proudly selects best-in-class females, and lets us know it too!