Kabelo Ncholo, the founder and CEO of Y-Brand – an African-based Marketing, Advertising and Communications agency – was named HR Leader of the Year at the Future of HR Awards Ceremony. Held at Emperors Palace in Johannesburg on 23 October 2025, the ceremony was hosted by Topco Media.
The Future of HR Awards is South Africa’s premier annual event recognising and celebrating excellence in human capital management, HR innovation and HR technology. Now in its 10th year, the awards have become the benchmark for HR excellence and honour the most exceptional, inspiring and effective leaders in the HR industry.
Focused on innovation in leadership, talent, and the future of work, these awards align perfectly with Y-Brand’s evolution and people-first strategy.
Kabelo was handed the HR Leader of the Year Award highlighting his accomplished, innovative leadership of Y-Brand’s HR team. At the helm of the organisation, he has demonstrated a track record of excellence in managing HR functions and employee engagement, ensuring to strengthen the company’s organisational framework to align with best-practice HR policies and industry standards. He leads a high-performance HR function that attracts top talent and which drives initiatives that improve morale, teamwork and workplace satisfaction, while inspiring staff to perform at their best. Through his exceptional management, Y-Brand’s HR Department has implemented innovative approaches to recruitment, retention, and succession planning and executed HR strategies that have improved business performance.
Speaking at the Awards Ceremony, Kabelo said: “We believe that the most valuable asset of a business is every employee that makes up the business. We strive to create a psychologically safe work environment that encourages opportunity and promotes diversity. To be a leader is to lead the people. You can really appreciate yourself as a leader when you see the people you lead excelling.”
Boitumelo Moahloli, Y-Brand’s Head of Corporate Services, says she is so proud to see Kabelo recognised as HR Leader of the Year and that it is an honour that is well deserved. “This achievement is a true reflection of his visionary leadership and the example he sets by leading from the front, fostering accountability, and continuously inspiring us to grow and do better,” she says. “It is a privilege to work with a leader who not only drives results but genuinely champions people, growth and purpose.”
Boitumelo adds that Y-Brand believes that the true measure of success is not only in financial performance, but in creating an environment where employees thrive, feel valued, and are inspired to contribute their best every day. “We have built a workplace culture that is rooted in belonging, empowerment and collaboration; one that is high-performing and deeply human,” she says.
Y-Brand building a workplace that prioritises employee wellbeing, celebrates diversity and invests in continuous learning and development led Kabelo to not only winning the HR Leader of the Year Award, but to also being nominated for the CEO of the Year and the Employer of Choice (SME) at this year’s Future of HR Awards. This recognition showcases his visionary leadership and people-first approach and his commitment to building a workplace culture that is innovative, fair and supportive.
It is this dedication to making Y-Brand an enjoyable and professional place to work that has enabled the business’s 300 employees – who operate from eight offices in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Gqeberha, Windhoek, Lusaka and Lagos – to be a strong and productive workforce.
These latest achievements in the field of HR add to a string of other accomplishments awarded to Kabelo and Y-Brand in the company’s 21-year existence. In 2024, Y-Brand was named winner in the Employer of Choice: Small – Medium Organisations and a Finalist in the CEO of the Year category by The Future of HR Awards. That same year, he won the Richard Fletcher Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the Top Empowerment Awards and was a Finalist for the Top Empowered Entrepreneur Award at the awards in 2023, 2019 and 2017 and he has garnered other awards.
At the Top Empowerment Awards, Y-Brand was a Runner-Up in the Top Empowered Company: Fast Growth Black-Owned SMME of the Year in 2023 and the business has won numerous other awards.
Staff satisfaction is critical to the overall success of an organisation. Y-Brand will continue to prioritse the holistic well-being of its staff, which will in turn advance its continued growth and prosperity