A highly experienced operations executive

Wetumwene Shikage

After beginning as a trainee salesperson in Grootfontein, Otto climbed the corporate ladder to managerial positions over the years and now is the operations executive at Pupkewitz Megabuild.

With over 30 years of experience, Otto has encountered many accomplishments and challenges, which he says were mostly in personnel management.

“People are diverse and sometimes one must take tough and hard decisions. To be successful as a leader one must have a stable management team and I am proud to say that my team supports me 200%,” he said.

Timeline at Pupkewitz Megabuild

· Three years in sales.

· Eight years as a branch manager at Grootfontein, Swakopmund and Walvis Bay.

· Two years as the coastal regional manager.

· Four years as an assistant general manager.

· 11 years in general manager operations.

· Five years as an operations executive.

Otto’s main responsibilities include the role of every leader: to serve and to always have satisfied clients. He says he accomplishes this by managing his day-to-day roles well, running the business by receiving external products and delivering these products to the clients on site.

Some of the fundamental roles of an operations executive are to keep an active eye on expanding the brand and its operations in Namibia, to bring the company’s products and services closer to the clients and to create job opportunities to eradicate unemployment and poverty in Namibia.

Otto says he is proud to have seen the company grow from five branches back in 1988 when he started to 19 branches now.

Education

Otto obtained a national diploma in marketing and sales management at the Pretoria Technikon but says most of his knowledge came from years of working and from the leadership and guidance of his managing directors.

He advises young people who wish to pursue specific careers in leadership positions to work hard and to fulfil every role and responsibility with integrity. He adds that they should treat people with respect, always stay humble and lead by example.

10 facts about Otto

· He is a family man.

· Happily married with three children.

· He is a grandfather.

· His day always starts and ends with a cup of coffee.

· An outdoor person who loves camping.

· He must braai once a week, especially on Saturdays.

· Loves sport especially rugby (Namibia, Western Province and Springbok supporter.)

· Otto loves quad biking.

· He is competitive and hates losing.

· The proud owner of a Land Rover Defender.