Sustainability, major issue in effective succession planning, says Onafowokan
AMANUFACTURER and the Chief Executive Officer of Coleman Technical Industries Limited, George Onafowokan has hinted at how sustainability is a major issue that should not be looked down upon towards achieving effective succession planning. He said the failure of businesses to have proper succession planning might lead to the collapse of such ventures.
He said this during the Nigerian- British Chamber of Commerce ( NBCC) 2024
Next Generation Series with the theme ‘ Transforming Manufacturing Business’. He pointed out that the sustainability programme for the workforce was dependent on growing a team that is built from the ground. According to him, sustainability can only happen when a leader is not micromanaging but empowering people to deliver on each role.
He hinted at how his organisation, a family business, which will be 50 years old next year, has been able to build a team that is focused on being able to deliver on its own. “You can’t build a sustainable business based on only you. You can only build a sustainable business, built on a team of employees and members who know what they are doing. You are not micro- managing but you are empowering people to deliver on an individual role.”
On getting people on board and addressing trust issues, the Onafowokan said the trust must be built on a legacy and respect, which is reciprocal.
The bigger your business grows, the less you are doing it yourself. Most business owners fail because they believe that “this is my own and you can’t tell me how to do it. But those stakeholders are what makes the business work, so why do you think they are not seeing what you are doing?
“You say things are difficult and you are going on a spending spree or we are going to be aligning to a certain vision and you are changing it, you are creating no respect for trust. The discipline of the entrepreneur or employer is key to building trust within its employees,” he said. Earlier in his address, President and Chairman of Council, NBCC, Ray Atelly, said as chief executive, succession does not mean “just handing over to your children but grooming others within the organisation so that they can take over. “What if you don’t have kids or your kids are not interested? Would that be the end of the business? You need to train others and give them the enactment so that they in turn would want to succeed,” he said. Going by many youths who are not interested in their parents’ business, he said: “You can take that business, polish it and make it better. If you don’t like the business, perhaps, there is another side of the business you can explore. If your father is running an analogue business, you go digital. The most important thing is to keep it going and keep the people employed so that you don’t have to shut down and start all over again.”