By Olusegun Obisanya
The Chairman, Association of Professional Women Bankers (APWB), Mrs Funke Ladimeji, welcomed Banking and Industry stakeholders to APWB’s marquee Symposium.
The Symposium addressed several objectives of APWB – to build capacity and empower women, to build corporate Nigeria and to recognise and celebrate female achievements.
The Symposium kicked off with its bid to address the current disruptions in talent market and its attendant negative impact on the country’s economy especially the banking industry. The APWB partnered with experts in human capital management, managers of talents across key sectors of the economy, to find sustainable solutions to the trending but dangerous human capital flight by enterprising young Nigerians to other continents.
Speaking, the Managing Director/CEO, First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Mrs Yemisi Edun mentioned that quality leadership was needed in corporate organisations, adding that if the developing situation was not quickly nipped in the bud, the already disrupted banking industry will be challenged more than other sectors of the economy.
Edun stated these in her keynote address at the one-day Symposium organised by the APWB in Lagos recently.
Themed “Evolution of leadership in the ‘Now’ of work,” the hybrid symposium attracted experts from banking industry and relevant stakeholders in the economy.
FCMB CEO said, “The topic is so relevant now that if we don’t address it and if we are not careful, our industry, amongst others, would be very challenged. Banking has been disrupted more than any others.
“Leadership is all about innovating, thinking about how you do things better. Three companies captured that were formally market leaders: Nokia, Blackberry and Kodak. These were industry leaders making lots of money, but something happened that they were unable to connect to the future of work and the innovation around having a sustainable business. They failed. This is where leadership comes in; ability to be able to predict the future and bring it now.
Quoting statistics from the United Nations Economic and Social Affairs International Migrants from Nigeria, Edun explained that migrants had risen 58% from 2010 to now.
She added, “A decade ago, migrants from Nigeria were less than a million, 990,000, according to the statistics. But now, they are recording 1.7 million per annum. That means, a decade ago, we were losing about one million Nigerians to other continents, but now, we are losing almost double of that to the other continents.
“With United Kingdom, workers visas increased by 11,854 from December 2019 to June 2022.
That was a massive increase for workers moving to UK. It gets worse with students visas for UK: we have seen about 223% increase year-on-year.”
On the way forward, she said, “Corporations will require leaders that can deliver on the promise that they have innovatively thereby looking at how do they connect process, people and technology. Corporations today need leaders who can think differently about how they work with their teams, how do they engage their teams, how do they know their problems, how do they solve their problems.”
She continued, “We need leaders today in our corporations that can communicate and bond with customers. We need to connect with internal and external customers. We need leaders that know how to develop talents, we need leaders that plan for change any time and know how to measure success. Leaders of today must imbibe empathy; that is the age that we are at this time. People are going through a lot; how do we resolve issues for them as leaders? It’s part of the now of work.
Earlier, the President/Chairman of Council, the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, CIBN, Dr Ken Opara noted that the theme encapsulated the challenge confronting human capital managers in organisations especially the banking industry.
Opara, who also doubled as the event Chairman said, “As we have noticed in the recent past, the culture of work is being redefined by events after the pandemic, the impact of cross-border migration, the new orientation of the Gen Z and the millennials, together with changing economic realities of the day; these are creating new dynamics in the labour market.
“The value proposition offered by organisations must as such adapt to this changing reality. Today’s workplace is becoming more diverse than ever. The millennials and Gen Z seeking to control and own their space greater adoption and adaptation of technology. Funds must be made available to train, retrain and retool the workforce. Organisations that do not make the effort to attract and engage the changing workforce may risk losing their workers, and in the process, opportunity for growth is a true reflection of the reality out today.”
In her welcome address, the Executive Director, Coronation Merchant Bank Plc and Chairperson, APWB, Funke Feyisitan Ladimeji posited that the theme of the symposium is designed to capture the ongoing disruptions in talent markets, and the need for new leadership to address the NOW of work.
She stated, “Very importantly, we live in a highly connected world. And our solutioning by one for one, leads to issues elsewhere and an escalation for all.” Essentially saying, for such a pervasive issue, the disruptions would benefit from an industry-wide approach to solutioning.”
She added, “As a result, APWB decided to bring Industry stakeholders together – to rub minds on the topic, to share perspectives, to enhance our common understanding, explore and fashion sustainable solutions to the talent market disruptions.”
The panel session commenced with a reportage on the voice of the millennial and Gen Zs – where three research results which focused on this segment of the workforce, was presented. The research report captured the ideologies of millennials and Gen Zs on work and the workplace.
The panellists provided a rich tapestry of perspectives and solutions to the Talent market disruptions. Mr Yemi Faseun, CEO / Founder of YF Talent Partners, commented that the older generation has failed to prepare the millennials for leadership roles which they (millennials) are currently filling, and this explains several leadership failures.
APWB has promised to issue a Symposium communique to ensure the rich insights from the symposium are broadly available, to enrich the discourse and solutioning for the Talent Market disruptions.
To crown the evening, the APWB launched its APWB Coffee Table Book, which features women at the pinnacle of leadership in the Banking sector. The initiative was introduced by Ms Chinwe Egwim, APWB Treasurer, where she spoke about the creation and curation of the Coffee Table Book and its inspirational value for all Bankers, especially the emerging female leaders.
The Coffee Table Book was unveiled by the Chairman APWB, who spoke about the Book as another fulfilment of APWB’s objective to recognise and celebrate female achievements.
The APWB Coffee Table Book features women on the Boards of Banks, the Boards of Banking Regulators, Boards of top 10 Microfinance Banks and Executives of APWB, while also featuring a wealth of nuggets for a successful career journey.
