Warren Rother’s mission to fulfil his Human Purpose
Having worked in environments from small mom-and-pop shops to large corporations, SmartTechNXT’s Senior Sales Executive for Southern Africa, Warren Rother, brings his knowledge of various management styles and cultures to his new role. His aim is to not merely sell products, but to address clients’ needs by delivering on and exceeding expectations through a personal, people-focused approach.
The ‘Why?’
One day, in conversation with an engineer during his military service, Warren Rother found himself arriving at the answer to questions that had been nagging him for many years – Why are we here? What is our purpose here on Earth? The answer emerged from his interaction with the engineer: to leave something behind, something useful and permanent. This epiphany propelled him into a civil engineering degree.
A few years later, Warren shifted his focus to include marketing management, and then delved into the world of IT. A varied and exciting career ensued, giving Warren the knowledge and experience that he now brings to the SmartTechNXT table.
Shortly after completing his IMM qualification, Warren took on the role of Supplies Corporate Account Executive at Hewlett Packard, working to increase sales within their bloodline of toner and ink consumables, and becoming the custodian of the HP rebate programme. Here, Warren gained invaluable experience, working with large enterprises in, amongst others, the financial and insurance sectors.
Following a stint as EMEA Programme Manager in Germany, looking after Hewlett Packard’s intellectual property rights in approximately 150 countries, Warren returned to South Africa and became the Sub-Saharan business manager for Indigo, HP’s large printing press arm.
In need of a new challenge, Warren put his entrepreneurial skills to the test and started his own successful business, consulting to 4 companies over 6 years and training young salespeople to become sales managers. He then returned to the corporate environment working for Austrian firm, Trotec, as National Sales Manager and developing, growing and enthusing his team by adopting the attitude of, ‘if you look after your team, the targets look after themselves.’ He reaped the rewards of this new management style, doubling Trotec’s turnover within the first two years.
The ‘How?’
Warren’s experimental, speculative nature soon saw him immersing himself in other exploratory ventures, from hydroponics to natural ecosystem development to life coaching. Through these experiences, Warren found himself once again questioning his purpose in life, which brought him full circle to his reason for studying civil engineering – the ‘why’ of our existence. Through a process of introspection, he realised that he wanted to help people, an instinct that he believes is inherent in all human beings.
This need to help people would soon be fulfilled, because SmartTechNXT’s goal of harnessing smart technology in the service of people speaks precisely to Warren’s personal work ethos, an approach that he refers to as the ‘care and grow methodology’.
“By taking away mundane tasks you can allow people to be more experimental and giving. I think robotic process automation (RPA) is one of the tools that can help companies to achieve this,” says Warren.
The ‘Where?’
Having worked across Africa, Warren believes that selling RPA into Africa will depend on a strategic deployment approach, and that the continent is ready for and open to SmartTechNXT’s unique offering.
“There is an appetite for automation and an understanding that it needn’t compromise job creation. I’ve come across many people wanting to improve the processes in their business, a very comforting experience,” says Warren who points out that automation extends into many other fields, from AI, to data mining to IoT.
Warren’s focus with RPA is to maximise the benefits of time- and cost-saving factors.
“Depending on where it is deployed, RPA can be used to gather and report or improve turnaround times, in turn saving costs. With the current trend in decentralised working, there are many businesses that may find themselves relying heavily on RPA to improve efficiencies by generating, compiling and comparing information.
“I look forward to working with clients to help them overcome their fear of the unknown. I enjoy the challenge of fitting RPA into existing business environments, and I often find that clients need more than they initially expected in terms of RPA deployment.”
The X Factor
When asked what makes working with SmartTech NXT a unique experience, Warren doesn’t hesitate, describing the management team as hands-on, involved and truly caring. “Besides the team’s knowledge and capabilities, I truly enjoy their work ethic and their human way of working.”
The trust that SmartTechNXT shows in their employees is refreshing and inspires people to work hard and make the company succeed in every endeavour. Warren is looking forward to selling products that are the best in the industry for a company that delivers on their commitments and upholds excellent work ethics. He believes that SmartTech NXT has the potential to expand their offerings and grow exponentially beyond RPA. Together with SmartTechNXT, Warren is looking forward to fulfilling his purpose of helping people and leaving behind something not only useful, but permanent.
