By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The 2024 Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM) HR Oscars held in Abuja recently saw AXA Mansard as one of the biggest winners.
The leading insurance firm was recognised for Best HR Practice (Insurance Category), Employee Engagement, and Internal Communications Initiative.
Also, the member of the AXA Group was the second runner-up overall in Nigeria for the 2024 HR Best Practice Award.
According to the Chief Client Officer of AXA Mansard, Ms Rashidat Adebisi, the awards underscore AXA Mansard’s unwavering commitment to fostering an engaging, stimulating, and progressive workplace for its people.
She remarked further that the company believes that living out its customer-first value should begin with a positive employee experience. AXA’s HR policies and practices are thus deliberately tailored to be people-oriented.
“We are convinced that when we care for our employees, they will care for our customers, and everybody wins. The customers win, the employees are fulfilled, the society is better, and the marketplace prospers”, she said.
“So, to be awarded three awards by a prestigious human capital institution such as CIPM is something we take seriously. It is a confirmation that our people philosophy is in tune with the realities of today’s workforce requirements.
“I congratulate our HR team for consistently embodying our Employee Value Proposition. I understand the dedication and precision involved in achieving each of these awards, so winning three in a single year is a clear testament to the great work we are doing for our employees.
“This achievement not only solidifies our position as an industry leader but also reaffirms our commitment to being a people-oriented, role-model organization,” she added.
Also, the General Counsel and Human Resources Director of AXA Mansard, Ms Omowunmi Mabel Adewusi, noted that the awards are another testament to the organization’s HR best practices and their real impact on the employee’s total well-being.
“These awards underscore that our Dare and Care philosophy is a driving force within our organisation. Being recognized as the company with the Best HR Practice within the insurance sector—and across multiple industries in Nigeria—is a significant accomplishment.
“This recognition reflects the bold, forward-thinking policies and initiatives we have put in place to ensure our employees are engaged, productive, and find purpose in their work each day.
“For example, our AXA We Care program offers employees benefits such as menstrual leave, paternity leave, psychological assistance, caregiver leave, maternity leave, teleconsultation services, free medical check-ups, minimum financial coverage in the case of cancer, and many more.
“We understand, for example, that women’s menstrual cycle is not what we are culturally tuned to discussing, especially with managers of the opposite sex. But it’s a key part of the women’s wellbeing, so what we have done is to ensure that women can take leave days if they need to during their monthly cycle.”
The CIPM promotes excellence in people management through value creation, optimisation of human potential, and standardization, as well as regulation of Human Resource Management.
The HR Oscars aims to identify best practices and recognize achievements. Its assessment for recognition is based on the demonstrated proof of positive business impact based on the change, initiative, program, or process improvement described in the submissions.
The AXA We Care programme is deployed under four main policy pillars;
Caregiver policy: This policy provides employees caring for immediate family members who require elder care or care due to a serious health condition and disability with up to five days of fully paid leave.
Domestic and sexual violence policy: AXA stands against domestic and sexual violence. For any employee impacted by such a situation, AXA commits to providing access to psychological support, specialist support services, flexible working arrangements, and five days of fully paid leave.
Parental policy: Besides the existing fully paid maternity leave for female employees, the We Care program provides an extended fully paid paternity leave for male employees for up to 10 working days. Additional leave and flexible working arrangements will be offered to support employees receiving and recovering from in-vitro fertilization or in the case of pregnancy loss.
Healthy You program: Launched in 2020, this health and wellbeing program provides AXA employees with benefits such as psychological assistance, teleconsultation services, medical check-ups, minimum financial coverage for cancer, and more. The program will expand further to include a supportive working environment for employees experiencing menstrual health conditions, menopause, or andropause.
Adedapo Adesanya 
Aduragbemi Omiyale