The Nation Newspaper

Category: Jobs

  • FDI and Nigeria’s investment climate: challenges, prospects

    FDI and Nigeria’s investment climate: challenges, prospects

    The quest for and deployment of foreign capital for national development have become universal phenomena in global economic relations. This is more so that the economies of most states in the world today stand on capitalism characterised by cross-border economic transactions. Partly motivated by the search for raw materials, Britain had colonised Nigeria; and before it granted her independence, it ensured that the country was well knotted into the world capitalism in an unequal economic architecture which has made the quest for foreign capital inevitable.

    Today, it is a strong economic philosophy that, for the country to develop, the government must unequivocally attract foreign investment (FDI) into the country.The quest for FDI has gained so much crescendo at both the federal and state levels that, public officials use every available international platform to call on foreign investors  to come and invest in the country.

    While Nigeria has not been bereft of foreign investment, it has been observed that its investment climate has not enabled it to attract the much-needed foreign capital adequate to transform the economy.  The pertinent questions then are: What are the challenges facing   Nigeria’s investment climate? What are the prospects for Nigeria’s investment climate and FDI? The answers to these questions will form the focus of this article.

    Nigeria had pursued different public policies which have had implications for FDI. Right from the colonial period, Nigeria had in place, “open door policy’’ which facilitated free flow of foreign investment into the country.  The policies of nationalisation and indigenisation which succeeded economic liberalism however posed some threats to FDI before the country reversed again to embrace economic liberalism through aggressive policies of privatisation, commercialisation and public-private partnership (PPP).  Acts such as the Investment Promotion Decree and the Foreign Exchange (Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provision) Decree of January16, 1995 were also promulgated.

    If Nigeria has oscillated between the eras of economic liberalism and economic nationalism, what then is the rationale for the  desperate quest for FDI?

    First, FDI will afford Nigeria the opportunity to inject additional resources which are in short supply to the country.  These include capital, technology and management resources.

    Two, it will also facilitate job opportunities. This becomes important for a country still labouring under gargantuan unemployment rate. For instance, in the second quarter of 2016, unemployment stood at 13.3 per cent up from 12.1 per cent in the three months to March, attaining the highest since 2009.  Third is the desire to achieve the goal of surplus in the country’s balance of payments.

    Also, through FDI, government can earn more revenues; and in the context of globalisation, FDI is also capable of increasing capital efficiency.  Indeed, Nigeria is naturally endowed as an investment haven.

    Apart from its fertile land, the country’s estimated population of 180 million portends cheap labour and huge market. Viewed against the expected level of FDI inflow she  aspires to attain, FDI inflow is still not sufficient.  In fact, FDI inflow has been consistently characterised by rise and fall. For instance, according to Trading Economics, from 2007 to 2016, FDI averaged $1348.23 million reaching an all time high of $3084.90 million in the fourth quarter of 2012 and a record low of $501.83 million in the fourth quarter of 2015.

    According to a release by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), FDI into Nigeria fell 27 per cent from $4.7 billion in 2014 to an estimated $3.4 billion in 2015. UNCTAD attributed this to the fall in oil prices and projected further downturn due to the fragility in the global economy.

    Aside the trends in the global economy, certain domestic developments or challenges have portrayed  the negative  face of Nigeria’s investment climate and have also unleashed the kind of vicissitudes that have been the narrative of FDI flow. First among these is the challenge of insecurity.

    The country has been bedeviled by a lot of security challenges which include militancy in the Niger-Delta, the Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast, inter-ethnic clashes and religious conflicts. In all these, terrorist tactics such as kidnapping and assassination, have been employed. A situation like this is of course very scaring to foreign investors.

    Another challenge is the constraint imposed by the poor state of the country’s infrastructure namely roads, energy supply and water supply. The poor state of all these facilities and more, and the need for investors to privately provide most of them in the course of their operations, have heightened the cost of doing business in Nigeria. Third is the corruption monster. This challenge is so pervasive that foreign investors cannot but be discouraged from doing business in the country if they are not ready to play ball.

    In the corruption perception index 2013 published by Transparency International (TI), Nigeria plunged further from 137th out of 177 countries surveyed in 2012, to 144th. Because of this, not a few foreign investors became skeptical of engaging in business deals with Nigerians.

    The instability that has bedeviled the Nigerian capital market and the foreign exchange (forex) regimes  have also become an albatross to FDI.

    Also, in all other indices that can facilitate foreign investment, Nigeria has been poorly rated. These include the Ease of Doing Business and the Global Competiveness index. For instance, according to Trading Economics, between 2008 and 2016, Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria averaged 145.00 reaching all-time high of 170.00 in 2014 and all time low of 120.00 in 2008.Although it improved in 2016 to 169.00 from 170.00 in 2015, it still signposts a difficult and unfriendly business terrain for investment.

    Nigeria has huge potential that should attract the attention of foreign investors. This however may not occur in the foreseeable future unless the country resolves to surgically operates the ugly face of its investment climate. If looked into closely, most of the sectors of the country’s economy, are yawning for investments.

    Even with the prevailing risky investment climate, although with the caveat of enhanced ease of doing business, it has been projected by Britain that, bilateral ties between Nigeria and UK may hit £11.6 billion by 2030 through non-oil exports and FDI.

    The future is not, therefore, absolutely bleak for the country in respect of attracting more FDI.

    This is moreso that President Muhammadu Buhari has chosen three key areas as the focus of his administration. These are economy, corruption and security. As the tripod constitutes the fulcrum of his administration, he has apparently been addressing most of the challenges to the investment climate of the country.

    For example, the fight against corruption is being vigorously pursued; the fight against terrorism and other forms of political violence has also been taken more seriously; while the zeal for infrastructural development by the administration is equally burning. If the administration can be committed to these changes and if this policy direction can be sustained by successive administrations, there is hope for attractive investment climate and FDI.

     

    Dr.  Adebisi wrote from the Federal College of Agriculture, Akure, Ondo State.

     

  • Recession: recovery constrained by oil, dollar paucity

    Recession: recovery constrained by oil, dollar paucity

    Nigeria’s economy may struggle to rebound from its worst slump in 25 years unless President Muhammadu Buhari can end an armed conflict in the nation’s oil-producing region and fix a currency policy that’s blocked investment.

    Pipeline attacks in the Niger Delta cut oil production by a third last year, slashing government revenue, while central bank intervention and trading restrictions that prop up the value of the naira have stymied trade and investment. A more favourable oil and foreign-currency environment could help the economy expand, analysts say. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates gross domestic product (GDP) contracted 1.5 per cent last year.

    “It’s oil prices and production from the delta that will determine growth. When monetary authorities floated the naira, they expected fiscal policies that attract investment and boost activity. But that didn’t happen, and as a result no one has confidence in the float,” Chief Executive Officer of Time Economics Ltd., Ogho Okiti told Bloomberg on phone.

    Lower oil output and global crude prices, and a shortage of foreign currency needed to import everything from food to factory inputs sent the economy into its deepest slump in more than two decades last year.

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), battling inflation at an 11-year high, has rebuffed Finance Minister, Mrs Kemi Adeosun’s calls to cut record-high interest rates to boost the economy and has pledged to continue measures to manage the currency.

     

    Dollar shortage

    While the CBN scrapped a naira peg of 197 to 199 to the dollar in June, it has intervened to hold the currency at around 315 since August. That compares with a rate on the parallel market of almost 500 to the dollar. The apex bank has also blocked importers of 41 items from accessing forex from the interbank foreign-currency market.

    The Chief Economist at Exotix Partners LLP, London, Stuart Culverhouse believes the step will improve the fortunes of the naira. He said: “We expect the economy to recover, in part because oil-price falls and oil-production declines are behind us. The extent of recovery will depend on normalising the FX situation which is still a constraint on the economy.”

    A shortage of dollars needed to repatriate profits forced some airlines to reduce flights to Nigerian destinations, while in manufacturing, investors, including Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, have held back expanding some of their businesses. Some manufacturing outfits have also shut down because of the dollar shortage pandemic.

    Head of Africa Macro Research at Standard Chartered Plc in London, Razia Khan, said liberalisation of the forex market is not on the card by the CBN.

    “There are no imminent plans for further FX liberalisation. FX will continue to be rationed, with key sectors being prioritized,” he said.

     

    Fitch revises credit

    outlook

    Fitch Ratings Ltd. downgraded the outlook on Nigeria’s credit assessment to negative because of concerns that foreign currency shortages will constrain the non-oil economy. Fitch puts the nation’s debt is rated B+, four steps below investment grade.

    Fitch Ratings said: “We expect a limited economic recovery in 2017, with growth of 1.5per cent, well below the 2011-15 annual growth average of 4.8per cent. The non-oil economy will continue to be constrained by tight foreign exchange liquidity. Inflationary pressures are high with year on year CPI inflation increased to 18.5per cent in December. Access to foreign exchange will remain severely restricted until the CBN can establish the credibility of the Interbank Foreign Exchange Market (IFEM) and bring down the spread between the official rate and the parallel market rates. The spot rate for the naira has settled at a range of N305-N315 per USD in the official market, while the Bureau de Change (BDC) rate depreciated to as low as N490 per USD in November 2016. In an effort to work with the CBN to help the parallel market rates converge with the official, BDC operators subsequently adopted a reference rate of N400 per USD. However, dollars continue to sell on the black market at rates of well above N400.

     

    Budget delay

    The agreement by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC member countriesto cut production has helped increase oil prices. Based on the fact that productions in Nigeria and Libya have been greatly constrained, OPEC exempted the two countries.

    CCBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, has warned the boost may be short-lived, and its effect is diluted by lower output. Nigeria produced an average 1.45 million barrels a day (bpd) in December after militant groups sabotaged pipelines, compared with capacity of 2.2 million bpd, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

    Brent crude oil for March settlement gained as much as 55 cents, or one percent, to $55.63 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The price has jumped 75 percent over the past year.

    Any repeat of last year’s five-month delay in implementing the budget would also likely scupper a rebound. Buhari has proposed boosting investment in power, rail, roads and ports to target as much as 2.5 percent growth.

  • Multinationals hit by recession

    Multinationals hit by recession

    The recession has affected virtually all the sectors of the economy, including real estate. Almost everything is going wrong with the sector, from rental defaults to long gestation period of properties and others. The Chairman, Nigeria Institution of Estate Surveyors & Valuers (NIESV), Lagos chapter, Mr. Offiong Samuel Ukpong, says the government should encourage patronage of local building materials. OKWY IROEGBU-CHIKEZIE met him.

    What are the effects of the fall of the naira on real estate?

    Almost all housing components are imported so the currency fall must affect the real estate sector. It is very difficult to maintain buildings now because there are no sufficient local sources for the materials. Sadly, even if there is a factory that can produce some of the components nobody buys it because of this inferiority complex that is in us. If you go round the metropolis, you will find many derelict buildings around because there is no adequate local component to support the sector. This has made it difficult for people to live in decent accommodation. The government is also not helping matters by patronising foreign partners at the detriment of the local skill and technology in the real estate sector.

    How can corruption be curbed in the country?

    Some people are corrupt not only out of choice but also as a result of pressure because of failure of governance. Citizens are made to bear the brunt of social services, such as medical care, school, electricity generation, housing without mortgage etc alone, unlike the advanced economies where there are social security and other welfarist packages.

    How can the planned return of tollgates be used as developmental centres?

    The definition of an estate is whatever is on the land and underneath and road is part of it but whether it is well-managed is another thing. Collection of toll is a function of management but not the sum of it. The Lagos/Ibadan Expressway was created in 1976; it is only recently that the government tried to dualise it. The government had failed to answer certain pertinent questions, such as what the population was when the road was built. We can only advise that the government should use professionals with requisite skills to develop the toll-gates and not consultants who are not estate surveyors  and valuers to turn the toll gates as growth centres.

    My argument is that the planned toll gates should not be seen as revenue generating centres. Let there be a mechanism for ploughing money generated into road repairs or building more roads. The money that is generated may not be enough to maintain the roads or may be more depending on use. For instance, the Lekki Concession Company that built the Lekki/Ikoyi Bridge was in a lucrative business for the promoters but the question is: is the infrastructure  built to rejuvenate the road or get back from the society.

    The distance between toll-gates has to be reasonable. For instance, the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway is about 100 kilometres; if you have more than a toll gate, you will be creating more economic and financial drains. Let the amount collected by anybody in charge be declared openly; there should transparency in running this enterprise.

    Toll gates as growth centres should have functional clinics, banks, Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) posts, restaurants and hotels in about 100 metres from it. This is to avoid making the place desolate. For instance, if am driving from Lagos to Abuja, I could be fatigued and could compromise my safety and concentration. If my car has problems, l can say let me manage it to the next toll gate and fix it. If they take it closer to city centres, it will not serve any useful or developmental purpose. If we run them the way we did it before, then it would go the way the previous did. These growth centres, if managed properly, have the capacity to make huge impact and also arrest rural urban drift. We can build new cities around the toll gates with sufficient facilities to enable those in the rural areas to migrate and develop them into big cities.Weekly or monthly markets can be created, so that people from the villages can come in and sell their wares and go back with all the attractions of a city.

    Why is land title perfection so vital?

    Simply put, it is the recognition of your title by the government, which means that somebody can do a search on a particular property. But, unfortunately, the government is making it almost impossible for people to get their titles because of the bureaucracy entrenched in it.

    The title makes it marketable due to the fact that it has all the registration attributes, including all transactions on it before now, the survey plan and other relevant attributes and coordinates. It gives confidence to people who will want to transact business with the holder of the title, in that there will be no difficulty in ascertaining the genuineness of the property or otherwise. Generally, if you have perfected your title, you can do a lot of things with it.

    What is the implication if a title is not perfected?

    Inheritance, for instance, becomes a problem. If the original owner of the title is no longer there and there is a transaction, it might be difficult for people to know who the original owner of the property is. Impostors might come up and usurp ownership. A property without a title will neither attract confidence nor business but in the alternative anybody who wants to transact business will be confident that the document he is presented will be the same in government files in the land registry. But, unfortunately, getting title to be perfected in Nigeria is very cumbersome.

    Why is it difficult to acquire property titles?

    Unfortunately, the Land Use Act has made it so difficult to obtain titles due to the different provisions in it. Before the Land Use Act, there were seamless Acts of Parliament that allowed people to register their titles easily, but now, for every transaction, you must get government’s consent. In a situation that you close the deal with a particular family, you will still be confronted with government charges, especially where the government sees title acquisition as an income generating avenue. Sometimes these charges are as high as 50 per cent or above the total cost of the property or more than the cost of the land and building itself. There are too many land that people have acquired, but because of the rigours of title perfection, they cannot in the true sense claim ownership. For instance a particular client bought a property for N6 million but was charged over N10 million as title charges. The question for a prospective property owner will be, which one is more expensive or auspicious, to buy a property or acquire a title?

    How can this contradiction be resolved?

    There should be a decentralisation of the title perfection across the nation. If all properties’titles are perfected, then it will be better for the economy, as it will be transferable, and improve the market value. There is an urgent need to have a seamless land title registration. We are making a case for the removal of the Land Use Act from the constitution. If it is removed, every state will have the liberty to administer land ownership in their jurisdiction.There is so much injustice in the land; sometimes the government takes peoples’land, citing overriding public interest in the guise of Land Use Act but end up diverting them to private ownership. They deprive the original owners of the gain on their property. Now that the economy is in recession, the government is looking for taxes, taxing the already over-taxed public.

    How has the downturn in the economy affected real estate?

    It has affected the sector so badly. For instance, my company has five warehouses in Ijora and has not been able to let them out for over a year; this has nothing to do with pricing. We reduced the price to the barest minimum, yet there has been no effective demand. The people that desire to have it cannot afford it, unfortunately. The initial price tag was N8 million and somebody came for it and offered N5 million, we accepted; he went further down, we still accepted; we had to stop the negotiations when he got to N3 million. As if this is not enough, our office spaces in Abuja and in Polo House in Ikoyi have been largely vacant. There is void everywhere. For instance, the property in Polo House was N6 million, we brought it down to N4million, yet it is still unoccupied till today. So, when the purchasing power of people is low like what is happening in the country, the property market suffers. A lot of people are interested in getting accommodation but they cannot pay. If you go into areas, such as Mushin, Itire, Aguda in Lagos, in one tiny room, you will see about 15 people squatting. These are part of those who add value to the economy, such as shoe makers, brick layers, bus conductors but they are living in sub-human conditions because they cannot afford to live decently due to the depressive economy. Those we knew as living in affluence before are climbing down. How can a medium income earner pay N700,000 as rent? Ideally, a person is not supposed to utilise above 10 per cent of his income on housing. Today, people are poorer and have to share their income on food, accommodation, medicals, education, fuelling of cars, etc.

    This economy has reduced people’s value; those are the things affecting real estate the most. People are barely surviving. Properties have been abandoned half-way, but you also see new construction going on, especially in highbrow areas. The answer is that because of the ‘devaluation’ of the naira, foreign investors are bringing in funds to build expatriate markets. Last week, I was in the hospital and l noticed that there were so many kids being attended to. This tells me something: their parents are financially handicapped to give their kids the best in terms of feeding and conducive environment, leaving them exposed to the vagaries of nature and increasing the high cases of hospital visits by parents. Real estate is a made of peoples’ disposable income that is used to pay rent and when it is not there, you have high rental defaults. Currently, we have multinationals that are defaulting in their rentals, something unheard of. This underscores the fact that the economy is in recession.

    What is the role of the government in all these?

    The government needs to reflate the economy by making investments in infrastructure that has the capacity to inspire growth. But rather than doing this, most state governments are busy over taxing their people through spurious agencies. Rather than creating an enabling environment, they create spurious agencies to tax the people and, basically, not giving anything in return. They seal your office, and charge you for frivolous offences. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are not spared and not encouraged to grow, not minding that they are the engine of growth for most economies. Some companies are retrenching because of high costs of production as they provide their energy and other services that the government should have otherwise provided.

  • Failing to Conduct Background Checks

    Failing to Conduct Background Checks

    On July 25, 2015, Tamal Ali Chammout, a 56 year old driver with Uber Technologies Inc. was accused of sexually assaulting a passenger after dropping her off in her home in Dallas, United States. Interestingly, court records not only show that Tamal Ali Chammout is an ex-convict with several other criminal allegations, it was also discovered that he used a fake permit which not only belonged to someone else, but had expired since 2010.

    • How did Uber miss all of these? They failed to conduct background checks.[1]
    • Could they have prevented this from happening? Certain
    • How? By simply conducting proper background checks.

    Background checks may be described as verification/validation of information presented. It involves investigating the history of a potential employee, or at the minimum, verifying the information provided by such applicant. It is not unusual for employees to provide false information or forged documents. In fact, surveys conducted by human resource professionals suggest that 23% to 45% of all resumes in circulation contain substantially misleading or inaccurate statements[2]. Therefore, it is the responsibility of every employer to conduct background checks on all prospective employees, irrespective of their roles.

    Why You Should Conduct Background Checks

    • Avoid bad publicity and brand erosion: You have spent time and money to build up your brand. Bad publicity can cause your company to lose that unique identity that set it apart from other companies in the marketplace.

     

    • Retain your customers’ loyalty and trust: Customer goodwill is usually the reward of several years of hard work, several management retreats, endless brainstorming and various marketing campaigns and advertisements. You don’t want to lose all of that by one mistake. As they say, “trust takes years to build, seconds to break and forever to repair”.

     

    • Avoid lawsuits: Legally, an employer can be held liable for the negligence or wrongful acts performed by its employee within the course of his duty, even without the knowledge or prior approval of the employer. This is known as the principle of vicarious liability.

     

    • Perform your duty of care: As an employer, you owe a duty of care to your employees, customers, as well as the public. Background checks allow you as an employer to determine if a potential employee poses a threat to your other employees, customers or the public at large.

     

    • Increase the chances of hiring high potential employees: In conducting background checks, focus should also be on positive patterns and not just negative. It affords an employer the opportunity of identifying a high potential employee from such employee’s history e.g. educational background, previous employer checks/references, other achievements, etc.

     

    • Avoid employee turnover: Consider the cost of replacing a wrong hire; management, administrative and legal costs, plus the indirect cost of stolen/damaged goods, equipment, employer reputation, etc. According to a survey conducted by Right Management Consultants, the replacement cost of a bad hire is 1 to 5 times the salary of the job in question.

     

    The Dos for Conducting Employee Background Checks

    • Be broad and thorough: Do not limit yourself to one specific item e.g. criminal records. Get information like educational background, previous employer, medical and even social media history, etc.

     

    • Follow the law: Applicants have privacy rights and despite the fact that they may be desperate for jobs, they are still protected by the law. Take due care to conduct legitimate background checks. You should consult your legal adviser for advice.

     

    • Follow a standardised process: Ensure that the process is the same for all applicants, especially for the same job role, as different job roles may require different processes.

     

    • Watch out for patterns: Don’t look for only the negatives. Evaluating both positive and negative patterns are the best way to evaluate your employees.

     

    • Hire a professional agency: Don’t do a limited search yourself. A professional agency or consulting company with experience will do a greater job of finding information you want with accurate processes and procedures.

     

    Where to go from here

    Talal Ali Chammout will pay for his crimes subject to the court’s findings and ruling, but the pertinent question in this context is; what consequence(s) will this have on Uber’s business? This is just ONE employee that slipped through “standard procedure”, but if there were others, then multiply the effects already highlighted above and the consequences could be endless. Unfortunately for Uber, public perception is that the company is loose with conduct of background checks as more employees have been found with criminal records after this incident and more and more cases have been filed against the company.[3]

    Before you condemn Uber’s lapses and mistakes, evaluate your own hiring process. Are there leaks in your background checks process?

    Drivers need the following driver/vehicle requirements when joining Uber:

    • Drivers License
    • Comprehensive Vehicle Insurance
    • Vehicle Inspection Report
    • Complete an Online Integrity Assessment
    • Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN)/Payer ID

     

    Bolaji Olagunju is the Lead Consultant/CEO of Workforce Group; a Management Consulting Firm that offers diverse services in the areas of Learning, Development & Research, HR and Business Consulting, People & Task Outsourcing and Recruitment Services

     

     

    [1] http://www.nigeriannews.net/index.php/sid/235954881

    [1] http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikalbelicove/2012/10/26/the-10-dos-and-donts-o-conducting-employee-background-checks/

     

    [1] http://www.scribd.com/doc/273907327/Uber-Letter-to-City-of-Dallas-Aug-2015

    [2] David Fairley, e Resumes & Resume Writing Services

     

     

  • Unemployment: CIPM’s report sees MSMEss, others as solution

    Unemployment: CIPM’s report sees MSMEss, others as solution

    Worried by the rising unemployment, the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM) has urged the government to stem the tide in line with the report of its committee, reports Bukola Bolajoko.

    Nigeria has been battling with a huge population of unemployed, or under-employed youths. This has prompted successive governments’ demonstrating highe resolve in the promotion of entrepreneurial skills, bearing in mind that the much desired boom and diversification of the nation’s economy can only be achieved through a buoyant Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SME) sector which thrives on entrepreneurship.

    Efforts by past administrations have brought about the emergence  of agencies and institutions such as the National Economic Reconstruction Fund (NERFUND) in 1989, with an initial capital outlay of N300million, Nigeria Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) in 1990 with paid-up capital of N1.367billion, the Peoples Bank in 1990 with N330million,

    Also in the basket of job creation initiatives

    were the Capital Market and the formulation of a policy in 1990 that promoted the establishment of Community Banks, which was later amended to give birth to Micro-Finance Banks (MfBs) in 2006. The Bank of Industry (BoI) was another financial institution created to promote the aforementioned in a bid to tackle unemployment.

    The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) which was created in response to the austerity measures, following the adoption and implementation of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP)  and the National Economic Empowerment Development Strategies (NEEDS), are two additional agencies created by past administrations to address the huge percentage of the unemployed, and as well reduce the dependency on government for job and wealth creation.

    Despite these past efforts and ongoing ones, the reality on ground  is that, the national unemployment statistics showed that 25.1per cent Nigerian youths are still unemployed (NBS, 2015), with some 35 per cent underemployed.

    This gloomy picture has prompted the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM), being the professional body backed by law to regulate the practice of human resource management in the country, to conduct  research into the causes of the prevalent rise of unemployment level in Nigeria. The feedback from the research was further validated at focus group discussion held early in the year to identify and clarifya list of causal factors of unemployment.

    Not surprising, policy inconsistency ranked highest in the report. According to the research, this rated as the most significant factor responsible for unemployment in Nigeria. This prompted a call for a critical analysis of the applicability and sustainability of public policies, before and whilst being formulated, as well as calling for more realistic and pragmatic policies that can truly impact a sustainable drive aimed at significantly reducing unemployment levels.

    Poor political governance and setting of policy direction which elicits harsh operating business environment, was also reported as a major cause of unemployment as its effects leaves many organisations reducing their employees, and fueling joblessness.

    Emeritus Prof Pai Obanya echoed this,  stressing the need for government policies to address youth unemployment. He said this would help prevent the present youth bulge in the population from becoming a time-bomb.

    Other causal factors listed in the report include; a lack of stakeholders’ own-able employment policy, as well as misalignment of educational system output and skills set mostly demanded by employers, causing a predominantly sub-optimal quality of graduates.

    In addition, the report said inadequacy of data of unemployed and underemployed people, has been identified as a key factor. The obvious difficulties in accessing timely and accurate data on either employed, or under employed persons causes a widening gap on effecting technological advancement, social, cultural, religious and other metrics that can be devised in curbing the unemployment scourge.

    According to the CIPM research report, echoed by its President and Chairman of Governing Council, Anthony Arabome, there is need and indeed a strong call for reforming the educational sector to include enforcing high educational standards, full implementation of technical and vocational education, and determined vigour at promoting the Federal Government’s policy on entrepreneurship education.

    The call, he said, is also strong for accessible financial support to start-ups and existing businesses; provision of a social scheme to support nascent businesses; creation of a healthy competitive environment that gives rewards and consideration for innovation, as well as provision of incentives for selected industries with potential capacity to create more jobs.

    The report also canvassed availability of accessible grants for MSMEs, either for start-up or for expansion, and creation of employment opportunities in conducive environments, including rural areas, will be crucial for the country in achieving an optimal employment level.

    In progressing this great initiative, the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management, through findings made by its committee on the Management of National Unemployment Challenge (MNUC), is committed to the engagement ofkey stakeholders across the private and public divide, including the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity, and the Presidency for an adoption of its recommendations.

    Its engagement would project the importance and value of these findings and the associated recommendations to all stakeholders at all levels for full acceptance and implementation, he Registrar/CEO, CIPM, Sunday Adeyemi, said.

  • People matter – Strategies for improving employee productivity

    In spite of our amazing technological advances, the work of an organisation is accomplished by people.

    People interface with the customer, make the product, deliver the service, plan and coordinate how work gets done, improve processes and systems, ensure quality standards, and return a profit. Technology has provided us with better tools and made us far more efficient and productive. But it is still people who do the work of an organisation and are ultimately responsible for its success.

    There is wide spread recognition, within the business world, of the importance of human resources. Most companies claim, somewhere in their mission statements and values, that their employees are important. And yet most companies also fail to utilise the intelligence and creative talents of their people. In practice, managers view their job as controlling rather than empowering their workers. They view them as “costs” or “tools” rather than capable, responsible human beings. The consequence is that, in many companies, large and small, people are vastly underutilised.

    I sat in the cafeteria of a successful company, a number of years back, and talked informally with an employee whom I knew to be a person with a good work ethic and high standards of personal integrity. I wanted to gain insight into the work climate and attitudes of people doing the core work of the organisation. So I asked: “How productive is the average employee? To what extent do they work at their capability on an average day?”

    He replied that most people put out somewhere between 50 and 60% effort. I was astounded. “So that means that, if people really cared and were truly committed, they could almost double their average daily production?” “Yes,” came back his reply. “Most employees do as little as possible. If a manager or visitor is nearby on the floor, they work harder, but most of them don’t really care about the job they are doing.”

    Research supports this observation. It has been reported that fewer than one in four employees (<25%) say they work at their full potential. Forty-four percent report that they do the minimum possible and only work hard enough to keep their jobs. And three in four say they could be significantly more effective in their jobs.

    Most of us don’t need hard data to understand that many companies don’t get the most from their people. We observe it regularly. Are the people you manage/supervise committed to give their best? Do you know of people who have “retired in place” and do the minimum possible rather than give their best day’s work? Have you ever witnessed people who even undermine the performance of the organisation through their indifference, negativism or, at times, wilful acts of sabotage?

    People want to succeed. The vast majority want to feel good about themselves and their work. They want to make a difference to the company and to the lives of their customers. And they have enormous capacity to do so when fully engaged and committed to their work.

    The challenge of leadership is to create a culture in which everyone cares and contributes to the business. Rather than just “showing up” or doing the minimum required, we need to find ways to allow people to use their intelligence and creativity to make decisions, solve problems and contribute to the overall success of the business. Can you imagine what would happen if every employee worked at their full potential? Every business leader should be asking how he or she can motivate their people to do their best because they “want to” rather than because they “have to.”

    There are no quick fixes or simple formulas for creating a culture that unleashes the capability of people. It sometimes requires intervention in a number of dimensions of organisational life: challenging management philosophy and practices, communicating and aligning everyone to the business strategy, improving processes and systems, providing training in social and business skills, etc.

    Below are seven recommendations that supervisors, managers or leaders can implement to help their employees feel and act like true partners in the business. Doing so will increase employee engagement and loyalty and help you get the best from your most important resource.

    1. Share information generously: Employees can’t be fully engaged in their work if they’re in the dark or lack vital information. I have a checklist of about twenty questions that I believe every employee should understand in order to feel like partners in the business. These have to do with the strategy and direction of the company, competitive landscape, feedback from customers, their personal or departmental performance, what is happening in other parts of the company, and so on. The more people know, the more valued and respected they feel and the better they are going to perform.
    2. Address performance problems directly: Nothing demoralizes a staff more than a co-worker who doesn’t care or do his/her share of the work. Such people drag down everyone around them. It is critical that managers learn to confront these problems directly and hold people accountable. Too often we ignore and let these problems fester and become toxic to the entire department. I’ve seen amazing turnarounds in departments or teams when their managers developed the mind-set and skills to be “firm but fair” in their treatment of employees.
    3. Empower employees by encouraging them to solve problems when and where they occur. Problems should be resolved at the lowest level possible within the organisation. Of course, leaders must provide the information, training and resources so this can happen. But solving problems when and where they occur engages people and creates a culture in which people know they make a difference.
    4. Provide training and development. The best companies invest time and money in training their employees, knowing that the investment will be returned many times over in not only a more capable but also more loyal workforce. This training is not only technical, but includes business and social skills as well.
    5. Share responsibility widely. There are many functions traditionally done by managers that staff/team members can take on or at least be involved in—setting goals, planning and scheduling, communicating with other departments, trouble-shooting problems, tracking performance, and so on. This doesn’t mean that leaders give up control of these areas. They remain involved by setting boundaries, providing training, monitoring how things are going, etc. But the more variety and responsibility people have in their jobs, the happier they are going to be.
    6. Listen. This is one of the most important skills leaders can develop. Employees have opinions and feelings which need to be expressed and heard in a safe relationship. If they can’t express their negative opinions and feelings then you can bet they’ll act them out in subtle, destructive ways. Listening takes time, but it also builds trust and ensures that you’re dealing with real issues and getting to the root of problems.
    7. Think “we.” The best leaders involve people. It’s not “I have a problem,” but “We have a problem.” Not, “What can I do?” but, “What can we do?” Not “My success” but “Our success.” They create a sense of shared ownership in everything that’s going on. This certainly doesn’t mean that every decision is made by consensus. But it does mean that people will perform better when they are involved in aspects of the business that impact them.

    Most organisational resources depreciate in value over time. Technology and software aren’t worth as much in a year as when first purchased. But employees are different. They have the potential to add greater value to the company the longer they’re employed. And one of the most important roles of leaders is to create a climate in which their employees thrive. Implementing these seven ideas will help you create that climate in your organisation.

     

    Bolaji Olagunju is the Lead Consultant/CEO of Workforce Group; a Management Consulting Firm that offers diverse services in the areas of Learning, Development & Research, HR and Business Consulting, People & Task Outsourcing and Recruitment Services

     

  • A seven-point hiring manager’s checklist

    *Right Reasons, Right Position, Right Person

    Hiring’s too important to be left to HR. For developing and implementing organisational policies, managing employee development programmes, resolving conflicts, and similar essentials of company life, HR fulfils a vital role. Yet in industries that are as skill-specific as the oil and gas business, for example, or for highly specialised roles, line managers can directly affect the success of their staff members… and of the company itself.

    As a manager, however, you probably weren’t hired for your hiring abilities. Your job is much more expansive than that. You will, though, be evaluated on the outcome of your hiring decisions – how effective an employee is, how each one contributes to revenue (or cost control), how well he or she fits the culture of the firm and your department, how quickly they’ve developed and applied new abilities, and how long they stay with the company.

    To help you be as good at assessing your manpower needs and finding the very best person to fill each position as you are at doing your primary job, this 7-Point Hiring Manager’s Checklist will guide you through the best practices that professional recruiters rely on.

     

    Seven Points of Right

    1. Decide What’s Most important

    People aren’t hired to do a job. They’re employed to solve a problem. So determine exactly what the problem is, the best ways to solve it, which human skills and characteristics will contribute to the most effective solution, what tools will be required for maximum employee effectiveness, and what training may be needed to help ensure employees’ success.

    The methodology you use can be as unique as you are, but it must be comprehensive. It must help you analyse whether you need to add to your headcount or, instead, make an investment in robotics or remote operations; whether you need one person with multiple skills or several with specific abilities; and whether a new employee has to fit into an existing team, contribute to a new one, and function independently.

    The more detailed your analysis, the more likely you are to come up with a realistic assessment of what you must have, would like to have, and don’t require at all.

    1. Distinguish Between Qualified and Suitable

    Many people look good on paper. They may have every relevant credential and degree, proven experience, a long list of successes, and glowing recommendations from colleagues and managers. They may also be completely wrong for the way your department or projects are run.

    You need to look deeper when everything seems to be right. Whether you search online and check social media, ask candidates to describe what they’ve done (or think they would do) in particular situations, or use the sort of questions that reveal how someone approaches problems (HR may prove to be a good resource for these).

    The objective is to get a truer perspective on someone’s “chemistry” and a better sense of how they’ll complement their colleagues and succeed in their position, as a member of a team, and within the company’s culture.

    1. Verify

    Trust is crucial. If anything in a person’s CV veers from the facts, it may be a sign of trouble.

    Whether it’s taking credit for someone else’s accomplishments, misrepresenting education or training, claiming honours that were never bestowed, or assigning testimonials to people who didn’t provide them doesn’t matter. It’s the implication that the work they’ll do for you and with colleagues might be compromised.

    So check with every reference and, if you suspect that individual is glossing over anything, check with others in the organization, including other managers. Depending on local rules and company policies, the responses may be more matter-of-fact than you’d like, but there may be ways of asking questions in particular ways that give you the insights you need, and your HR department may be able to offer suggestions.

    1. Validate

    If someone claims a typing speed of 80 words a minute, that’s easy to check. If they say they’re accomplished at deep well analysis, underwater stabilisation to prevent blowouts, or pipeline engineering, there’s more work to do to make sure their assertions are valid.

    Checking with the education and training institutions the individual attended only tells you if the coursework was completed. It doesn’t guarantee they’re very good at what they studied. So figure out what tests can validate competency. A good way to do so is by taking the candidate through a rigorous assessment centre. Existing team members may be willing to help, since they’ll want to know that a new employee is qualified just as much as you will, or you may outsource the process to a qualified consultant.

    If the only reliable method is to have a candidate do actual work, consider paying them to do it (while they still hold their present job if they’re currently employed). It gives them an added incentive to prove their worth, and it’s a small investment that could head off a future disaster.

    1. Determine the Fit

    Somebody who’s qualified and suitable still might not fit. They may have worked effectively as part of a team, as a specialist who works independently, or as a link in a coordinated process. But if their interests are different, they’ll have lower levels of engagement, or if they seem subdued and your group’s very lively, that could compromise their overall effectiveness.

    There are numerous effective personality tests and character assessments, which the HR department can handle, but you might ask a candidate to join a departmental lunch to gauge their interaction and level of comfort or have them spend some time with the people they’ll be working with and see how all of them respond. The tests and assessments may be valid, but inter-personal activities may reveal the kind of nuances that don’t come out on paper.

    1. See the Future

    After so much analysis – in steps 1-5 – you’ll have gained a perspective on a person’s prowess… and potential. A pattern of consistent improvement, on-going education, greater responsibility, or countless other indicators will give you a sense of where a candidate may (or should be) headed.

    Your organisation may have a formalised programme for job-related training, university study, and the mentoring by senior staff of promising employees. Yet, within your own division or department or group, you’re in the best position to see what talents you’ll need as the years go by… and who’s best suited to provide them.

    That requires you to expand your hiring criteria beyond what someone can do for the team and the company now. You must consider how they’ll contribute in a year, in five years, or in a decade.

    1. Have Allies

    Modern Human Resources departments grew out of industrial and labour relations management and today focus on everything from benefits and performance appraisals to succession planning and regulatory compliance. They may help bring candidates to your office, but they almost certainly won’t have the depth of knowledge that you have when it comes to selecting the most promising applicants. That takes a specialised approach.

    Consultancies can help you on multiple levels by

    • ensuring you attract the right candidates by creating specific profiles for each position
    • verifying experience and validating skills by developing appropriate criteria and tools
    • gauging job-specific personality traits by providing customised methods and materials
    • plotting career development pathways through analysis of your area’s evolving needs.

    When you know where you’re going, it’s much easier to get there, and these seven guidelines are a route map to better hiring, better employee and company performance, and better job satisfaction for employees… and you.

    Bolaji Olagunju is the Lead Consultant/CEO of Workforce Group; a Management Consulting Firm that offers diverse services in the areas of Learning, Development & Research, HR and Business Consulting, People & Task Outsourcing and Recruitment Services

  • ‘I know a talent when I see one’

    Tobi and Ayo are candidates vying for a Sales Position in your organisation. Tobi has excellent academic qualifications, a relevant certification and some years of experience in this field. However, Tobi has poor presentation skills, is heavily accented with strong mother tongue interference, lacks confidence and is totally unable to make eye contact. Ayo on the other hand, equally has excellent academic records, no certifications and has little or no experience in the field. Ayo is confident and enthusiastic, an agile learner, projects a healthy sense of self-esteem and possesses excellent people relational skills.

    Which of these candidates would you hire? Do you really know a talent when you see one?

    Talent Managers, Talent Scouts, Coaches and Human Resources Professionals often make this claim, as though it were an intuitive skill. However, when asked specifically, who is a Talent, don’t be surprised when you get dodgy and cliché responses like “it depends”. For you to retain your credibility as a Talent Management/HR professional, you must have a strategic framework for identifying talents and a well thought through answer to this important question.

    Who indeed is a Talent?

    Very aptly put, Talent is the ability and the capability to do something well. A Talent “possesses a specific combination of anatomical-physical characteristics, abili­ties, and other personality traits” cutting across all professions. This presupposes that Talent has two key components: ability (current performance) and capability (potential performance). Ability is about the now; capability is about the future.

    Let’s take football for instance, where the word Talent is commonly used. For most talent scouts, early indicators of talent may be used to provide a basis for predicting those individuals, who are more or less likely to succeed at some later stage. For them, the talent concept is often used because of the need to validate the identification of players ahead of others and often at an early age.  This indicates the intention to separate the performers on the basis of “talent” and abilities, and to a lesser extent on the development of skills/ capabilities.

    Both Ability and Capability can be observed, tested and measured. Observability and measurability are essential to any objective discussion of Talent because if you can’t see something and you can’t measure it, then how can you be expected to recognise it, let alone evaluate it?

    Talent Evaluation

    The concept of Talent Evaluation is very important but extremely controversial. Again in Seather’s research, it was identified that in Football, the subjective assessment of Talent is carried out under the following criteria TABS (Technique, Attitude, Balance, Speed), SUPS (Speed, Understanding, Personality, Skill) and TIPS (Talent, Intelligence, Personality, Speed).

    However, what is truly strategic and where competitive advantage lies for savvy Talent Managers is in the area of Evaluating/Assessing for Potential. Many football coaches and talent managers do not seem to have a clear definition of what potential talent is and how it can be identified. Based on our experience with several organisations, we have discovered that this is also a problem.

    Measuring Potential; best practices

    The following parameters can be used to assess the potential of an individual:

    Ambition – Does this person have the ambition to grow, test themselves, and become the best they can become in whatever career path they choose to follow?

     Ability – Does this person have the basic abilities and intelligence to fulfill the highest levels of achievement in their chosen career path?

    Agility – Does this person love to learn and attack career related data to capture new and unique ideas that can be applied to solving business problems and building their career?

     Achievement – Has this person been highly successful in their assignments and have a track record of exceptional success in all responsibilities they have been assigned?

    Employee potential can and must be developed. The key to developing employee potential lies in the questions used to assess potential. Organisations need well designed Employee Potential Development (EPD) Frameworks for their Top Talents and High Potentials. After assessing the potentials of the employees, Individual Development Plans should also be created, customised for each individual on what to do to develop their potentials.

    Employee potential is crucial for succession planning and business continuity. Organisations that want to build to last will do well by assessing the potential of their employees on a regular basis.

                                                                                              

    Bolaji Olagunju is the Lead Consultant/CEO of Workforce Group; a Management Consulting Firm that offers diverse services in the areas of Learning, Development & Research, HR and Business Consulting, People & Task Outsourcing and Recruitment Services.

     

  • ‘Pension scheme is foolproof’

    ‘Pension scheme is foolproof’

    Dr. Hamzat Sule Wuro Bokki, who has over 26 years cognate experience in human resource management, investment banking and corporate governance, among others, is the pioneer Managing Director/Chief Executive, NPF Pensions Limited, which manages the pensions of members of the Nigerian Police Force nationwide. In this interview with IBRAHIM APEKHADE YUSUF, he speaks on the prospects and challenges of running the company vis-à-vis in innovations in pension, among others. 

    Why was NPF Pensions Limited established?

    This company is relatively young. It is the youngest pension fund administration company in Nigeria and it’s less than two years old. The NPF was licensed by the National Pension Commission (PenCom). It is owned by members of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF). Members of the NPF totalling over 300,000, expressed dissatisfaction with services provided previously by the other PFA companies managing their accounts and, therefore, the Federal Government granted their wish.

    They now own their own PFA company to manage their pensions accounts and  are now able to address all the issues involving the management and administration of their pensions. We actually started the transfers of the Police pensions in other PFAs in December 2014. That is, transferring their contributions from the 20 other PFAs. So far, we have transferred the accounts of over 220,000 police officers in this country back to NPF Pensions Limited. The transfers are ongoing.

    But in the past a lot of these pensions’ funds were misappropriated. With this new scheme, what measures are in place to forestall a repeat of the experiences of the past?

    No we don’t have such challenges in this scheme. The only challenge the police officers have had is lack of statements. There are two pension schemes. I want to clarify. The first one is the pay-as-you go, which is the defined benefit scheme. We’re not managing that one. That person has to go to the Federal Government, or the former police pension. This one operates under the Pension Reform Act, which has a system of checks and balances. The monies are kept with a Custodian, not with me or the NPF.

    So the PFAs managing these monies don’t have them as such, there is no question of mismanagement under this scheme. No.  What we have are customer service issues only. For instance, they’re entitled to quarterly statements, having zero balances and all of that. They’re having zero balances because the documentation was not being completed but the money is there in the system. So, it’s not like there is mismanagement. We celebrated 10 years of the new pension scheme in June 2014. As at that time, the industry was managing nearly N5 trillion. There was not one reported case of mismanagement.

    In this scheme there are strong safety nets. There is no way the PFAs will misappropriate your money. It doesn’t happen. But when you’re not satisfied with the information given to you by your PFA you have a right to complain. It’s like your bank been unable to give you a statement. Without the statement you may not know what your position is, but the money is there anyway. What I’m saying is that we’re trying to address the customer care issues that police officers have had. The issue of mismanagement has never arose.

    Now PenCom is a regulator and I think you can attest to the fact that we have never had one report of misappropriation since the inception of this scheme.  I don’t have means to misappropriate no matter how fraudulent one wants to be. The money is not with the PFA. Once the Federal Government wants to pay the pension of a police officer in my own case, they pay to First Pension Custodian. And when I want to invest, I take a paper and write to them, and say please buy the shares of Dangote Cement, at N1b then, I raise a cheque and they will go and execute it. If I want to place money with a bank, I will tell them, I have agreed with Access Bank to deposit N1b fund for a period of 90 days. It is First Custodian that would send the money to Access Bank. When the money matures, Access Bank will return the money to First Custodian. That is the relationship. I assure you the safety net is strong.

    In terms of reinvesting the income yielding assets, what modus operandi do you adopt?

    First of all, there are guidelines and appropriate regulations for these things as to where to put the funds. We just don’t put the funds where we like. For instance if we’re using a quoted company, it has to have declared profit in the last five years of its operations and must have paid dividend in the last three years within the same period before it is qualified for your investment. And in any case, you don’t invest more than five per cent of the funds in such an investment. So there are limits to what you can do. It’s something that is very regulated and that’s why PFAs have never lost money.

    According to the Pension Reform Act, a pensioner is eligible to collect his or her pension when he is 50 years old. Does this apply to the police too?

    Yes, it is the same Pension Reform Act that covers us. All the rules and regulations and guidelines are applicable to every participant irrespective of whether you’re a police or a teacher. We apply the same set of rules and regulations. But the police apart from the Pension Reform Act have their internal little contributions; I may not be competent to speak on that. I know they have their cooperatives and all of that. That is self-funded by them. But apart from that, the Pension Reform Act covers everyone equally.

    What have been the issues you have had to grapple with thus far?

    Most of the issues that we’ve been trying to address are issues that have been brought over from the management of their funds by their previous PFAs. Most of these issues range from underfunding of their accounts, nil balances in their accounts, to mention just a few. Imagine, in the past, an officer will wake up and just about the time he is retiring, realises that there is no money in his account, that it has not been funded overtime.

    Then there are issues of underfunding, whereby officers are promoted one or two ranks ahead, but the contributions being paid to their accounts are still the contributions of their former ranks. Let’s assume that an officer is promoted from a corporal to a sergeant and from sergeant to inspector. But you find that the contributions being paid into his accounts are that of the rank of a corporal, whereas what is being deducted is now for the rank of inspector. There is a shortage and it is hanging somewhere. It has to be brought back. And you also find officers; nearly half of the policemen in this country have not been receiving quarterly statements and all of that. These are some of the issues that we have been trying to address.

    What other specific measures do you take to prepare the officers and men for retirement?

    We undertake a number of activities. Most times, we interact with officers that are due to retire by the end of the year and get them informed about the processes and procedures of how to make the transition smooth and easy for them to collect their pensions at the end of their tour of duty. We talk to them about the documentation and how to go about doing it.  So that by the time an officer is due to retire in the effective date he will get his pensions as soon as possible. Most times, we go round this country to do the interface and discuss across the six geopolitical zones. We have started with the South west in the second phase because we know how important the formations and commands here and how large they are.

    Once we conclude the exercise in the south west, we hope to head to Bauchi and from Bauchi we go to Sokoto, where we will continue to execute the exercise and it’s a continuous one. We want to interact with our prospective retirees, give them pieces of advice and have their relevant medical conditions checked. We have specialists talk to them on entrepreneurship, on the psychology of retirement and to tell them that there is still life after retirement that they can still do a lot to the country and to their respective communities and families.

    What would you consider as the important milestones achieved by the company so far?

    I don’t want to say anything yet. But I think we’ve transferred 220,000 accounts out of about 330,000 and we have made very good returns which is far above industry average. So far, we thank God we’re getting the cooperation of the National Pension Commission as well as the cooperation of the police authorities and we’re getting the cooperation of all other stakeholders. So, I think we’re moving on as planned.

    What are the challenges so far?

    The challenges that we’re facing are negative publicity and negative impression being created by the other PFAs who have said all kinds of bad things against the new PFA, against the police authorities. But it is normal in a competitive industry environment. Not everyone would like the progress we’re making. But I think we’ve made some progress.

    You talked about having been able to transfer 220,000 accounts so far. What is causing the delay in doing the turnaround for the other 110,000 accounts?

    There is nothing causing it. As I said, it’s a continuous process because the National Pension Commission had decided in consultation with stakeholders not to transfer overnight because it could affect the investments of the other PFAs if they are to return these assets they have to liquidate some investments. And we don’t want them to lose money in the process because it is retirees’ money anyway and we have to be accountable. So we’re doing it gradually so that there are no sudden shocks on the market that may liquidate investments. So that is it. It’s ongoing and it was given a period of 18 months. So, it’s still ongoing and the process is seamless.  It’s just a matter of time.

  • Hope is not a strategy

    A study was conducted of five hundred companies to better understand what causes successful organisations to struggle financially for extended periods of time. The researchers found out that 87% of these companies suffered one or more ‘stall points’ – a term used to describe the start of a prolonged financial decline.
    When the researchers pored through the data to uncover the cause of the stall points, they found that 70% were attributed to poor choice about Strategy. While it is convenient to blame the economy for one’s misfortunes, the data clearly show that most financial decline was well within management’s control.
    It is an established fact that organisations desiring to succeed must have a well formulated and clearly articulated strategy. However, in our experience with various business challenges that we proffer solutions to everyday, we discovered that, rather than a clear strategy, what most organisations have is “hope”.
    They invariably hope:
    • That things will go well;
    • That employees will know what to do, how to do it, when to do it and the importance of doing it;
    • That they will go ahead and actually do that which they have to do in their job roles.
    This erroneous assumption has been a catalyst of failure and mediocre performance in many organisations because:
    “Hope is simply not a Strategy!”
    Organizations seeking and driven by results understand this, and they value the importance of engaging a Winning Strategy that is deeply rooted in their realities.
    Execution Is More Important Than Strategy
    Is having a Strategy then a guarantee that organisations will be successful?
    Unfortunately, the answer to this is NO. It isn’t!
    A Strategy cannot be effective in a vacuum, it must be empowered with an effective “execution system & structure”. No matter how superior a Strategy is, without execution, it will not deliver the expected result.
    “Superior Strategy cannot and will not compensate for inferior Execution”.
    As a matter of fact, great execution is more important than Strategy because Execution itself, when it is exceptional and flawless can give birth to superior Strategy. Hence, the ability of an organisation to execute their objectives exceptionally well is non-negotiable. It is said that it doesn’t matter what your strategy is but it matters greatly how well you are able to execute your strategy.
    The Competitive Edge
    As your organisation works towards getting better results or creating unique competitive advantage, the ability to execute flawlessly will play a central and crucial role in ensuring the realization of your goals and objectives. This is a critical capability that businesses cannot afford to ignore.
    For more tips on execution management and driving for results, visit www.workforcegroup.com.

    Bolaji Olagunju is the Lead Consultant/CEO of Workforce Group; a Management Consulting Firm that offers diverse services in the areas of Learning, Development & Research, HR and Business Consulting, People & Task Outsourcing and Recruitment Services.