LABOUR NLC raises concern over Stanbic IBTC trains staff, customers Kogi leadership crisis on workplace engagement

The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) says it is appalled by the political developments in the Kogi State House of Assembly “where the speaker, Honourable Alfa Imam was forced out and a more compliant one installed.”

A statement issued by the NLC President Ayuba Wabba at the weekend stated that “the offence of the former Speaker was that he had initiated a legislative process to look into the disbursements of the Paris Club refund following non-payment of salaries and pensions and the industrial tensions in its aftermath.”

“But the former Speaker was lucky to have gotten off “lightly” as the House Member who moved the motion for this process ended up in Plaster of Paris (POP) courtesy of the thugs dispatched to disrupt the House proceedings,” he added.

Wabba noted that the Kogi State mess represents the height of intolerance, impunity, dictatorship and anarchy and should be condemned by all wellmeaning Nigerians even as he called on the Federal Government to salvage the situation before it spins out of control.

“We call on the Federal Government to, as a matter of urgency, commence investigations into the disbursements of bail-out funds (50% percent of which it had directed should be applied to payment of salaries, pensions and gratuities); continuous non-payment of salaries and pensions; endless staff audit which has become a convenient alibi for owing salaries and pensions.

“We also believe that the Federal Government should be concerned that the state-contrived industrial disharmony in the state is slowly but steadily degenerating into a political crisis as exemplified by the clamp down on ASUU and the state-sponsored violence in the House of Assembly and other acts of witch-hunt in the State’s socio-political space,” he said.

The NLC president stressed that the crisis in Kogi State is a threat to democracy and should not be condoned. Stanbic IBTC Plc, has advanced its customer relations with a seminar on workplace engagement for Human Relations Managers (HRM) of organizations doing business with the company.

The seminar themed, “Employees Engagement, Part of the Workplace Efficiency” held in Port Harcourt attracted HR Managers from all works of lives in Rivers State.

Delivering her lecture, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of H. Pierson Associated Ltd and the Seminar Facilitator, Eileen Saiyen, called on employers to engage their employees with passion to achieve workplace effectiveness, efficiency and organizational goal.

Saiyen stated that the inability of employers to give emotional connection and passion to employees is responsible for employees low performance.

Commenting further, the Facilitator who averred that the Nigerian workplace is regretfully emotional said employees need to be mentored so that “disengaged employees do not undermine the efforts of engaged employees and spread misery to everyone; so that they can move up the ladder of engagement.”

“It is not about the number of hours an employee puts on the job, but the quality of productive hours put on the job. Emotionally engaged employees put more extra energy in their work. In tougher times, employees are happier, more contented and do better on their work than the less engaged worker,” she said.

She admonished employers to handle their staff with human face, saying “these types of employers must learn to attract and nurture employees so that they can increase workplace productivity.”