‘Invest in human capital in your organisation’

A former Director, Capacity Building and Human Resources, at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mrs Chizoba Mojekwu, has asked CEOs of organisations to invest more in their human capital.

Mojekwu made the call while speaking on the topic ‘Attracting and Retaining High Flyers’ at a human capital strategy forum, organised by Bratim Group in Abuja, recently.

“It’s funny, we sit down and talk about sales and marketing but we never talk about our people. We talk of financial results but we don’t talk about people who bring about that result. We need to understand the strength and weakness of each person in our organisations,” Mojekwu said.

Mojekwu said when organisations understand their staff, they will know how to motivate them. “When you do that, you will talk about what motivates each person. The ones that are performing, you look for financial and non-financial ways to keep them in the organisation. Particularly, if they are threatening to leave.”

The CEO of Bratim Group, Tejan Ibrahim, said the forum was organised to enlighten the Human Resources (HR) practitioners that HR function is not about training alone but learning to know the people that work for them.

“What we are saying here is that people should invest in their labour, because nothing moves the machines that we use millions to buy.  To bring your organisation to the peak, labour is very important to the organisation’s performance,” Ibrahim said.

The Director, Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria (CIPM), Abuja chapter, Mr Hosea Sukkushe, speaking on ‘Creating the Foundation for Excellence’, urged employers to make the vision of their organisations very clear to enable employees to attain excellence.

Sukkushe asked practicing human resources officers to be certified with the CIPM or they would be considered as quacks.

The chairman, Bratim Group, Seyi Katola, in his welcome address, said the forum came at a time when managers needed to do more than upping of games for both medium and long-term survival of their organisations to motivating their staff.