Jobs/Appointments
How Businesses Can Focus on Employees to Avoid The Great Resignation
By Hyther Nizam
Across the globe, The Great Resignation has become a source of concern among businesses. It refers to the unprecedented number of workers quitting their jobs in the Covid-19 and post-pandemic eras.
In Nigeria, businesses have recently seen their fair share of voluntary employee resignations. Most notable was the “big quit,” an exodus of top tech talents from Nigerian Banks. Nigerian millennials and Gen Zers, who comprise a large percentage of job-hoppers, also account for the majority of the young workforce population in the country. Now, they are re-evaluating their working experiences after the hard hit of the pandemic. The Deloitte Global 2022 Gen Z and Millennial Survey reveals that the youngest generations in the workplace are now seeking balance, prioritising happiness, and expressing higher expectations for compensation.
With an unemployment rate of just over 33%, you may think few employed Nigerians can really afford to leave their jobs. But the truth is, even here, employers aren’t immune to The Great Resignation. Thanks to the rise of remote work, Nigerian workers (especially those with in-demand skills) can truly compete in the global job market, and not limit themselves to regional roles. They have faced many of the same pressures as other workers around the world as a result of the pandemic, meaning they have the same temptations to start their own businesses or enter the freelance market.
What can businesses do to avoid losing employees to the Great Resignation? While the answer may vary depending on industry and market, the one universally key solution is to earn employee support.
The importance of employee loyalty
Before digging into how organisations can earn employee support, it’s important to remember why it matters. Losing an employee can take a big toll on your company (with the effect magnified for smaller organisations). On average, it takes 41 days to fill a position. That’s 41 days other people in the business have to do all of a former employee’s duties in addition to their own.
Further, replacing an employee can be incredibly expensive. According to the analytics and advisory company, Gallup, it can cost one-half to two times the employee’s annual salary to replace them. Whichever way you cut it, you could give that employee a substantial salary increase and it would still be more financially viable than replacing them.
It’s also worth pointing out that there’s a positive correlation between good employee experiences and good customer experiences. That makes sense—a single positive interaction with an employee can dramatically alter how a customer perceives and experiences the company. The chances of a positive interaction taking place are much slimmer in companies that have high levels of employee turnover and a lack of institutional experience.
Building employee support
With that in mind, how should companies go about building the employee experiences they need to ensure they have the full support of their workers?
The HR team can leverage cloud technology and implement a comprehensive human resource management system (HRMS) in order to automate most of their mundane manual tasks. Through HRMS, an organisation can also create a self-service model so employees have a single portal for various activities, such as applying for leave and adding medical claims. By creating workflows, the company can ensure that when a request is raised, the appropriate approver is automatically notified. Automating processes will free up the HR team to focus on employee engagement activities.
Rethinking talent acquisition
The rise of remote work as a result of the pandemic saw many people leave big cities for smaller towns and villages. For some, the move was inspired by the prospect of a better quality of life; for others, it was about being closer to family.
Rather than lament the loss of centralised offices in big cities, smart organisations should see this as an opportunity. Instead of fighting over the same pool of talent available in metro cities, they can create opportunities for those living in non-urban centres or rural areas, and invest in skill development.
At Zoho, for instance, we have always believed that talent is everywhere, though opportunities are not. We have traditionally hired people from all backgrounds and opened offices away from city centres in order to tap under-utilised talent in smaller towns and rural areas. We expanded this approach during the pandemic by opening smaller, satellite offices wherever we had enough employees residing, instead of prompting them to come back to the office. We have been hiring locally in these satellite offices. By creating opportunities in the sought-after tech sector in non-urban and rural areas, we help communities retain talent and flourish. This adds a sense of purpose to the job, which also helps in retaining talent.
The right (virtual) environment
Even if an organisation meets its employees’ needs when it comes to working location, it’s still important for it to provide the best possible working environment (even if it’s a virtual one).
One of the most effective ways of doing this is to take a considered approach to the software solutions your employees work with on a daily basis. Rather than a patchwork of software solutions, for example, organisations can benefit from a unified enterprise software suite that meets all their needs—from documentation to meetings, to CRM. In an increasingly hybrid work environment, keeping data and processes on a unified system leads to better visibility and fosters cross-functional collaboration.
A holistic approach
Employers looking to ensure that their businesses do not fall prey to The Great Resignation need to have an understanding of the concerns Gen Z and millennial employees have with respect to the workplace and their career paths. They should be deliberate in creating a flexible working experience where the employee can thrive in a globally competitive environment.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
President Bola Tinubu has removed Mt Mele Kyari as the chief executive of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, replacing him with Mr Bashir Bayo Ojulari in line with the powers granted under Section 59, subsection 2 of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021.
In a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, on Wednesday, it was also revealed that Mr Pius Akinyelure is no longer the chairman of the NNPC board as he has been replaced by Ahmadu Musa Kida.
According to the statement, Mr Tinubu reconstituted the 11-man NNPC board, which came into being on November 2023, to enhance operational efficiency, restore investor confidence, boost local content, drive economic growth, and advance gas commercialisation and diversification.
President Tinubu also handed out an immediate action plan to the new board: to conduct a strategic portfolio review of NNPC-operated and Joint Venture Assets to ensure alignment with value maximisation objectives.
Since 2023, the Mr Tinubu administration has implemented oil sector reforms to attract investment. Last year, NNPC reported $17 billion in new investments within the sector. The administration now envisions increasing the investment to $30 billion by 2027 and $60 billion by 2030.
His administration targets raising oil production to two million barrels daily by 2027 and three million daily by 2030. Concurrently, the government wants gas production jacked to 8 billion cubic feet daily by 2027 and 10 billion cubic feet by 2030.
Furthermore, President Tinubu expects the new board, whose appointment became effective today, to elevate NNPC’s share of crude oil refining output to 200,000 barrels by 2027 and reach 500,000 by 2030.
Business Post reports that Mr Adedapo Segun, who replaced Mr Umaru Isa Ajiya as the chief financial officer last November, has been appointed to the new board by President Tinubu.
Six board members, non-executive directors, represent the country’s geopolitical zones. They are Bello Rabiu, North West, Yusuf Usman, North East, and Babs Omotowa, a former managing director of the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas( NLNG), who represents North Central.
Mr Austin Avuru is a non-executive director from the South-South, Mr David Ige is a non-executive director from the South West, and Mr Henry Obih is a non-executive director from the South East.
Mrs Lydia Shehu Jafiya, permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, will represent the ministry on the new board, while Aminu Said Ahmed will represent the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
The new board chairman is from Borno State. He is an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he received a degree in civil engineering in 1984. He also obtained a postgraduate diploma in petroleum engineering from the Institut Francaise du Petrol (IFP) in Paris
On his part, Mr Ojulari hails from Kwara State. Until his new appointment, He was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company.
His Renaissance recently led a consortium of indigenous energy firms in the landmark acquisition of the entire equity holding in the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), worth $2.4 billion.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The tenure of the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Mrs Kemi Nanna Nandap, has been extended.
Her tenure was extended by President Bola Tinubu, according to a statement issued on Monday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga.
She was first appointed to the position on March 1, 2024, and was to serve till August 31, 2025, but the President has shifted her term forward to December 31, 2026.
Mrs Nandap began her career in the NIS on October 9, 1989, and under her tenure as the head of the agency, the NIS has witnessed significant advancements in its core mandate, with notable improvements in border management, modernisation of immigration processes and national security measures.
President Tinubu commended the Comptroller-General for her exemplary leadership and urged her to continue dedicating herself to the Service’s strategic priorities, which align with his administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
He reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to supporting the NIS in fulfilling its mandate to protect Nigeria’s territorial integrity and promote safe, legal, and orderly migration.
By Adedapo Adesanya
A cross-border payments company, Blaaiz, has announced the appointment of Mr Oladunjoye Afolabi, a distinguished executive and transformational business strategist, as a non-executive board member.
This monumental appointment signals a bold new chapter for Blaaiz as it cements its position as a dominant force in the global payments landscape.
Building on its recent expansions into Kenya and Uganda, alongside the acquisition of key licenses in the USA, Canada, and Nigeria, Blaaiz is now intensifying its push into other strategic markets including Ghana and the UAE, with Afolabi’s visionary leadership set to be a cornerstone of its expansion drive.
According to a statement shared with Business Post, in his role on the board, Mr Afolabi will focus on strategic finance, global expansion, and operational excellence.
He is expected to advise Blaaiz on optimising its cross-border payment infrastructure, enhancing risk management frameworks, and developing cutting-edge financial strategies to scale operations worldwide.
Mr Afolabi brings over 18 years of executive experience driving exponential revenue growth and operational excellence within multinational corporations across tech, telecom, consulting, manufacturing, and shipping industries.
He has held prominent leadership positions at one of the biggest global providers of digital communications infrastructure firms, serving across West Africa, East Africa, and Europe.
His most recent role was Chief Operating Officer & Board Member, where he spearheaded multiple innovative financial strategies.
His leadership optimised complex multinational operations and transformed companies’ financial architectures for sustainable growth. His expertise also extends to strategic financial oversight and regulatory compliance, which he honed through his experience at two of the big 4 accounting firms, Ernst & Young and KPMG.
With Mr Afolabi’s appointment, Blaaiz says it continues its relentless pursuit of providing seamless, secure, and innovative cross-border payment solutions. As the company expands its reach across Africa, North America, Europe, and beyond.
Speaking on this development, Mr Ifelade Ayodele, CEO and Co-Founder of Blaaiz, stated, “Afolabi is a true trailblazer and his appointment represents a watershed moment for Blaaiz. His proven track record of delivering exceptional financial outcomes across multiple continents and navigating complex regulatory requirements across key regions is exactly what we need as we pursue our ambition to become the leading provider of secure, borderless banking solutions in emerging markets.”
“Having Afolabi onboard is a key testament to our commitment to world-class governance and we are incredibly lucky to have him,” he added.
Adding his input, Mr Oladunjoye said, “I am honoured to join Blaaiz at this crucial stage of its growth. I’m impressed by their innovative approach to cross-border payments and I look forward to contributing my expertise to their regional expansion, empowering users to send money across the world with purpose.”
According to the statement, Blaaiz remains committed to empowering individuals and businesses to connect financially across borders, turning every transaction into a step towards a brighter, more inclusive financial future.
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