‘MTN has led the ICT and telecommunications revolution in Nigeria’
‘The human resources executive of MTN Nigeria – Amina Oyagbola in this interview with BusinessDay speaks on the IIP Gold certification for MTN
On the feat of Attaining IIP Gold Certification
I feel very proud as a Nigerian and an MTNer to be part of the MTN Nigeria team. Every MTN staff was involved in the IIP assessment process. It was a rigorous but worthwhile experience. The assessment gave us an opportunity to evaluate what we do as an organisation; our people processes; our values and culture; and how we galvanize people to achieve results. The IIP accreditation was important because it is the only business improvement tool that links people management processes to business performance and assesses sustainability.
The IIP brings process and strategy together; it creates a culture of engagement and high performance. It influences the social climate and systems in the company. When I discovered that we were the only company that achieved the standard accreditation and the only Nigerian company that has achieved the IIP Gold status, we were all struck by the enormity of the achievement. Interestingly, out of the four companies that have this mark of governance and quality in Africa at the Gold level, three (including MTN Nigeria) are companies within the MTN Group. MTNN also became a finalist globally in the 2015 international IIP Awards in the ‘Excellence in Leadership and Management Category.’ Even though we did not win the Award, we were told by IIP international to be “extremely proud of our performance”.
I am really delighted and proud of MTN’s achievements in Africa and its attainment backed up with concrete facts and evidence as an investor in people organization that believes in developing local content everywhere we go. This is an organization that believes in people and has demonstrated that through best-in-class people policies and practices that we have deployed to reinforce the things that we do and who we are.
The IIP Award can be likened to an x-ray into every single part of the organization; it is not just what the members of MTN leadership says but more importantly what the staff say and their experience of MTN. The IIP assessors did this through rigorous interviews across levels and functions and locations of our operations. They asked our members of staff about their experiences working for MTN Nigeria; thus, the results of the findings are based on what our people have to say about the organization, not what we think or perceive or believe as management.
IIP also deployed considerable resources in their assessment. A series of detailed questions were asked through a survey that was deployed to permanent and some contract staff. So their assessment was based on one-on-one interviews with employees, interviews with the CEO and top executives of the organization as well as the presentations made to them by the leadership team.
The IIP Gold Certification is significant to us as an MTN operation and part of the MTN Group. The IIP award affirms and validates all the other awards we have received such as the CIPM HR Best Practice award amongst others. So locally and internationally, it is evident that MTN is operating in line with best practice standards and adding value.
Although MTN Nigeria is focused on ensuring shareholder value and returns. It is also focused on ensuring stakeholder value. These include our employees, our customers, our suppliers as well as the government and our ecosystem.
We recognize that our business is a people’s business and that businesses can only succeed through people. So we are humbled to be the only organization in Nigeria to attain the IIP Gold status. Interestingly, based on the level of satisfaction of the IIP assessors with our processes, we have been encouraged by IIP International to also apply for IIP Champions Status.
Assessment of MTN Operations in Nigeria
MTN has led the ICT and telecommunications revolution in Nigeria by being the 1st company to invest in telecommunications. This has created direct and indirect employment across various industries in Nigeria for Nigerians. We have been involved in creating and building infrastructure and institutions in line with good governance practices. We have connected people everywhere you go and transformed people’s lives.
Approximately 120 million Nigerians now have access to mobile phones as against 400,000 in 2001 when MTN made the first call.
I know we still have a long way to go in terms of internet penetration, however MTN is leading and driving the digital changes and contributing significantly to GDP.
At the beginning of the GSM revolution in 2001, there were certain technical capabilities that we did not have in Nigeria but over the years MTN imported that knowledge, transferred those skills and localised them. They call it “Glo-Local”, that is, Global Companies localizing by using local content and resources. There were originally about 300 expatriates working at MTN.
Presently, we have only 8 expatriates; an attestation to the fact that MTN has deliberately invested in developing Nigerians. We also have a Nigerian CEO which is evidence of the robust talent pipeline we have in place. I believe this is how a good organisation should operate.
Doing good while pursuing profitability. Doing good is good business. As a good corporate citizen we must care about our employees and the communities where we operate.
Unique MTN HR policies
We have a unique EVP (Employee Value Proposition) which we describe as the MTN deal. It has five pillars – Investing in our talents; globally diverse culture; total reward and recognition; leadership brand; and brand strength. These are the five pillars of the MTN deal. Under each pillar, there are processes and policies to actualize it. The EVP is a promise we make to our people. The employer offering is what we give to our employees and what we expect of our employees in return. Employee engagement is critical to sustain our performance. We therefore pay a great deal of attention to making MTN a great place to work!
MTN Nigeria’s strategic value chain
I am proud to say that we do not pay lip service to values. Our values are who we are and influence how we do things at MTN. Our values are – Leadership, Innovation, Relationship, Integrity and Can do. Beyond these values we have an “Ethics Management Programme” to really take the concept of ethics to the next level. Ethics also translate to reliance on people’s ability to deliver at the work place. Ethics has to do with confidentiality, integrity and meeting your commitments and promises. Unfortunately, if any of our employees fail to live up to our values, we may have to let them go. We also believe in accountability, collaboration, candor and getting things done.
MTN believes in getting things done because strategy without execution is hallucination. If everyone in Nigeria operates from a value basis, the country would move forward.
General assessment of HR policies and practice in Nigeria
HR policies and practice in Nigeria is evolving and growing through phases. It started from being very administrative, paying salaries and processing transactions, we have gone beyond the administrative and transactional phases because those have been adequately developed in most companies.
We then moved to a phase called “HR Best Practices.” Developing specialist skills and HR solutions which led to the development of the centres of excellence.
As HR professionals continue to understand and align more with the expectation of businesses, we have gradually moved to the “Strategic Business Partnering” phase. To have a seat at the table and build credibility as an HR professional you must develop leading insights and solutions that align with the business goals and expectations.
Science and technology is drastically redefining processes across the world and as HR professionals, we cannot afford to be left behind. We therefore must take an interest and understand the social, mobile, analytics and cloud evolutions. Hence, you must be able to understand your environment and anticipate what may happen within your business ecology. Such understandings include the political landscape, legal and regulatory landscape, and the economic landscape (macro and micro) and evaluate their possible impact on your people and business.
HR is both a Science and an Art. In a digital age and with Big data a great deal more predictive analysis is expected from the HR function that will aid management teams and the quality of decisions.
HR professionals are expected to run HR as a talent engine and present dashboards and reports on people as is done with the financials.
Counsel to younger HR professionals
HR professionals should invest in continuous professional development regardless of their achievements. They should be diligent and steadfast. They must have the “can do” spirit because that is what has brought MTN this far as a company. There are opportunities for people and organisations who have integrity who have been compliant (Good corporate citizens) and who have contributed significantly to the socio – economic development of Nigeria under the new administration. Young HR professionals should remain committed, hardworking and continue to create value and enable organisations to improve their performance.