18 Effective Human Resource Management strategies that work in Nigeria

18 Effective Human Resource Management strategies that work in Nigeria

People will always be special in the grand scheme of things. It takes people to get things done. It takes people to be able to build dreams for other people. In a world that has become increasingly automated where robots are taking over what normally people should be doing, people are still prime in the achievement of business goals.

In a country like Nigeria, it just has to be all about the people in your business making it work and also about the people that your goods and services are delivered to. As such, how you manage the people in your organization directly determines the absolute level of your success or failure in the marketplace. This is because organizations are made up of people and these people are the people that carry the vision and implement the mission of the organization.

When an organization wants to implement human resource strategies for its people, the strategies to be implemented must as a matter of practice and not only principle reflect the true values, norms and practices of the organization whilst at the same time be in conformity with international best practices globally. You must have a way to make everything you do for your people work for them and for outsiders at the same time!

What we refer to as success which is the financial success and paper profits is not the only success that an organization can achieve. Also, organizational success is also determined by how happy and fulfilled the workers in your environment are. This key performance indicator also has a net effect on how much profits are being generated since the best evangelists of a company are the employees themselves. Thus, effective human resource strategies must indeed be put in place so as to create a workforce that is battle ready to take the business from one level to the next!! In order to get the best out of people, they must be given the best.

As such, the following points depict the most effective human resource management strategies that work:

Adequate remuneration: When it comes to wages and salaries, this is one telling indicator of the measure of care that is given to the people that make your organization a success. How much of your inflow is dedicated towards salaries and allowances? How fast do they get paid? When they get paid, what deductions are made from their remunerations? What is the ratio of the company’s earnings to the total salaries and allowances? Is it fair? Can any member of staff resign and be given one month’s take home as per labor laws? While it is a bad sign for a company to keep spending without having some sort of caution, it would be inhuman for an organization to pay peanuts when the income to the organization is actually quite substantial. As the saying goes “if you pay pea nuts you will get monkeys”. So, make sure that at least something that can take care of your staff is which you can AFFORD is paid to them else they will take care of themselves from your business at the expense of the business.

Educational and professional advancement: Are you a business owner that discourages staff from advancing academically and professionally? Do you want to have mediocre people handling your business? Are you mediocre yourself? Anyone who does not allow his or her people to advance either professionally or educationally is someone who lacks excellence. Maximum productivity can only be gotten when the human resources of an organization are constantly being updated with the knowledge of the best practices of their various professions. This is because the individuals that make up the core of an organization also need to be at par with their associates and colleagues so as to maintain competitive advantage in the marketplace. Unless of course you’re a mediocre manager who can’t stand progress. With the increase of knowledge comes an increase of progress and excellence.

18 Effective Human Resource Management strategies that work in Nigeria

Insurance contributions: There exist various kinds of risks; especially in the workplace environment in Nigeria. What kinds of insurance contributions is your organization making as regards the kinds of risks that the staff face in your organization? Various risks exist for various policies which can also save the organization whole lump sums in the events of work place accident. However, the good thing is that with group policies as per insurance, premium costs tend to become lower than for single individual policies. This is one of the most neglected strategies that Nigerian business owners fail to implement. This is because insurance contributions are looked upon as a frivolous cost until something bad then happens in tandem with the business risk and the employer now has to find a way to pay the costs associated with such incidents as a result of ignorance.

Hours of employment: This is another critical aspect of human resource management that is ignored by many employers in Nigeria. Simply because a person works for you does not mean that he or she is your slave. Keeping people for hours that are over and beyond even what the labor laws have prescribed will only produce Workers that have no zest to work and hence low productivity. There is a reason why the labor laws prescribe hours of labor. This is because the human body is not a machine that can keep going on and on for long periods without recuperation. As such, adequate numbers of staff in a reasonable number of shifts will enhance the productivity of any organization and will lead to a higher quality of products sold and services rendered.

Promotions: As your organization grows, are you known to have a non-committal attitude towards loyal people who have been with you since the beginning? Promotions for the people that deserve it either due to merit or core competence is a sensitive issue that must never be allowed to linger. People must be promoted as and when due. They must also be paid their salaries and allowances so as to keep talent. Keeping talent within an organization is cheaper than hiring new talent due to the fact that the time cost that the old hands have taken to learn is irreplaceable and the time that the new hands will take to learn from the mistakes that they will make is unaffordable. Hence, the need for promotions to serve as a deterrent to staff turnover.

18 Effective Human Resource Management strategies that work in Nigeria

Leadership selection: How does your organization select its leaders? Apart from the delegation of responsibility, what other gains do such leaders stand to make from taking the heat for implementing the vision of your organization? Leaders anywhere always have benefits that are not available to the followers. What have you done for the leaders lately? How have you made them feel like they are doing a worthwhile job? It is always lonely at the top for leaders, and as such proper leadership management strategies need to be put in place in order to enable the organization as a whole to soar and achieve beyond the results that are expected of it. Leaders amongst the workers are the ones that have the pull to induce everyone else on their teams to believe in the organization and then hence to give their best.

Labor relations management: This is one of the most sensitive components of human resource management. Under Nigerian law, workers are given the right to form unions and other trade organizations that can defend their interests. This is the right of the typical Nigerian worker. As such, effective labor relations management is a core part of effective human resource management. How organizations relate with labor unions show to a great extent the leadership qualities that the management of such organizations exhibit. Labor unions are not a law unto themselves. There exist extant laws that govern and regulate their activities. As such, if any one of such unions run afoul of the law, there exist methods of seeking redress. Any organization that has excellent relations with the unions that its staff are members of exhibits a certain level of excellence that shows that such an organization is also caring for its human resources.

Environmental and safety management strategies: Depending on the type of sector that an organization operates in, environmental and safety management strategies are also an important part of effective human resource management strategies. Nobody would consent to working in dangerous conditions where safety of the people are not considered. If the environment is not safe, then the onus is on the organization to make it safe for its workers. Since it varies from sector to sector, best practices have to be implemented in order to ensure that workers are safe, feel safe and deliver results in safety. If this particular strategy is not adhered to, fear for the jobs and tasks at hand would exist and as such there would exist human resource apathy which is very difficult to tackle unless the cause is eliminated.

Managing people since the beginning of time immemorial has never been an easy task. It takes emotionally intelligent professionals who can understand the basic ways, means and methods of motivating human resources in order to ensure peak performance. What other strategies are you employing that are working? Do not hesitate to share!!

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Dayo Adetiloye
(B.Agric, MBA)
08105636015, 08076359735

Serial Entrepreneur - International Business Planning Consultant - Speaker - Trainer - Author - Blogger - Network Marketing professional.

- 2018 SME Business Trainer and Coaching Advisor at GIZ for SME Loop.
- 2018 YALI RLC Online Cohort 9
- 2017 Fellow, Inspire Africa Train-the-Trainer Entrepreneurship programme sponsored by US Consulate Lagos and the Dickey Center, U.S.A.
- 2016 Fellow, Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme
- 2015 Top 50 Innovative Entrepreneurs, BET5 by Diamond Bank and EDC, PAU.

He is an alumnus of Enterprise Development Centre (EDC) of the Lagos Business School (LBS), Pan-Atlantic University (PAU). Through his training, mentoring, speaking and coaching programmes, he has empowered many young people over the years to start and grow their own business, build wealth, create multiple streams of income and achieve financial independence.

- He is a Certified Trainer in Design Thinking by the U.S Consulate, Lagos and the inspire Africa Entrepreneurship Institute.

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