By Kofoworola Belo-Osagie
Having spent four years as chairman of the Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Dr. Ganiyu Sopeyin knows what it means to manage a large workforce to fulfil organisational goals.
His experience in that regard is contained in his new book “Managing your Workers – Roadmap to a committed workforce in the Education Industry” launched recently at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers Ikeja.
The 272-page book was reviewed by Prof. Ngozi Osarenren of the University of Lagos, who described it as a “compendium of essential ingredients for managing workers effectively and efficiently in both school and non-school settings.”
The former Education Commissioner for Education praised the book for exposing the damage corruption had done in the education system in one of its chapters.
“The book brought out the damaging effect of corruption in areas that they have been normalized,” he said.
She also said the 20-chapter book discussed human behaviour in organisations; workers’ motivation; classroom management; management of education bodies in Nigeria; teachers’ morale; corruption; evolution of education ordinances in Nigeria, among others.
Chairman of the event, Dr. Michael Olawale-Cole, underscored the importance of quality workforce to the prosperity of an organisation.
He said there was need for more resources like Sopeyin’s book to drive the re-orientation of Nigerian workers towards productivity.
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“One of the reasons for my deep interest is because I understand and believe strongly that ‘everything rises or falls on human resources.’ The better the personnel, the better the organisation, the better the civil and public servants, the better the government, the better the citizens, the better the country.
“As a manager of human resources and an employer of labour for over 40 years in both private and public sector, I strongly endorse this book and also advocate that more books with similar subject be written to further enhance a long-overdue mental transformation that is seriously needed in this clime,” he said.
In an interview, Sopeyin underscored the need for managers to understudy their workers and how to motivate them.
“You will need to identify individual traits of your workers and at the same time, be able to strategise in managing them. It is important that when you know your workers.
Sometimes you have to deal with finance, psychological state of individuals and sometimes it is the health state of the workers. For instance, some managers who do not really know the quality of managing individuals might likely worsen the situation.
“Basically managing human resources is key to development. We cannot continue to live in the past; we have to think of a way to move the system forward,” he said.
Top functionaries in SUBEB, Lagos State Ministry of Education, Lagos State government, as well as the private sector and representatives of the Oba of Lagos graced the occasion.
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