Firm rewards 10 great work places in Nigeria

The Chairman, Great Place to Work Nigeria, Ghandi Olaoye,. Image source masterplanllp

Great Place to Work Institute has rewarded ten companies in Nigeria for posting outstanding performances last year, providing great places to work for their employees despite the harsh business environment in the country.

The Chairman, Great Place to Work Nigeria, Ghandi Olaoye, said these companies who were rated by their employees through a trust index initiative developed by the institute, have met the minimum requirements of being rated as best workplaces in the country.

Olaoye during the firm’s 2015 great place to work award for best companies to work for in Nigeria , pointed out that the initiative has provided a platform for employers of labour to make the necessary adjustments in creating a better workplace for their employees, maintaining that if the employees are happy, the company’s profitability surges up.

“Most of the companies that have won this award are companies that have grown profitably because they have placed so much priorities and attention in making their employees happy,” he said.

He said employees’ satisfaction about their work place is not only based on financial remuneration ‎ but also the working environment and what their organisations have provided in terms of building a great workplace environment such as employee compensation, flexible work hours, holiday packages and other benefits they get from their workplaces.

“The criteria for choosing these companies, we employ the use of what we call the trust index which looks at high employees and their organisations. The trust index is an International standard ‎and focuses on how the employees rate their organisation. The employees do the ratings and we send to the headquarters of great place to work in San Francisco,” he said.

“When we first came into the country, we were not so accepted because people believe Nigerian employers will not be interested in the initiative, but the truth is that we have been accepted and most business over the years have embraced great place to work institute,” he stated.

He added that the institute is working with the ministry of labour to make a lot of the companies in the country certified as great places to work going through meeting a minimum standard.

“We are also working with the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) looking at the organisations that are quoted ‎to go through journey trainings to empower their staff via training to achieve a great work place. ‎Although, it has not been easy to get this work started, but we believe this is the best step to take to make every workplace in Nigeria a great place to work,” he said.

Also speaking at the event, the Country Manager, Great Place to Work, Michael Thomas said over the last three years, the receptivity of the initiative in Nigeria has been impressive, pointing out that the programme has made more companies profitable “There has been some level of courage and understanding to create a better work place culture. We have also noticed a 45 per cent gap between companies doing well and the ones not doing so well,” he said.

According to him, best companies are the ones ‎who pay less attention to gender issues, saying that 30 to 40 per cent senior officers are female officers compared to the less than 10 per cent in other companies not doing so well.

“Another area where they have succeeded is that they have paid little attention to age discrimination, they have invested and equipped their staff where 90 per cent of employees now feel the organisations they work for got their backs.

“These companies did not only do well, but they also have a yearning that they must remain a great place to work.