News
DHL Express awarded most Top Employer certifications on the continent
DHL Express has been recognised as a Top Employer in Africa for the fifth consecutive year, at the prestigious Top Employer Africa 2019 certification ceremony, held at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg on Thursday, 4th October 2018.
Hennie Heymans, CEO, DHL Express Sub-Saharan Africa said that receiving this recognition from the Top Employers Institute for the fifth consecutive year is a huge honour. “At DHL Express we value our employees and constantly strive to ensure they know how much their work matters. We also want them to feel proud to be part of the global DHL team. We couldn’t be happier to have that fact affirmed by the Top Employers Institute.”
DHL received 22 certifications in 21 countries across Sub-Saharan Africa this year, including the coveted Intercontinental Award for having the most Top Employer certifications in the continent.
Countries for which certifications were received include Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
“We attribute this notable achievement to our customer-centric culture adopted across the entire organization, this is without a doubt central to our success. Effective employee engagement programs are integral to maintaining this culture across the globe as it is the people within our business that ensure this culture carries across to our customers,” said Heymans.
“Our focus areas remain entrenched in employee motivation and development as this approach has proven to be beneficial to both us and our employees. We operate in a high performance environment and we encourage this culture among our teams as it promotes and drives leadership diversity.”
According to Heymans, DHL’s use of employee initiatives and programs, including the company’s Certified International Specialist (CIS) cultural change program has helped to unlock the potential of the company’s employees across Sub-Saharan Africa. “We made the decision a year ago to put an emphasis on up-skilling and empowering our middle-managers and supervisors as this rung of leadership is crucial to leading our growth drive in the coming years. We count on our middle-managers to garner trust and inspire unsurpassed performance during our growth cycle. The employee initiatives we implement are critical to ensuring that everyone fully understands their role within the business and how to most effectively execute their responsibilities.”
DHL also recently completed the annual Employee Opinion Survey, which provides an anonymous platform for personnel to express their opinions about the company. “This is a valuable tool that assists us in identifying what we are doing right, as well as what we need to improve,” added Heymans.
Another layer of our employee program is our Employee of the Quarter and Employee of the Year awards which we present to our star performers nominated by fellow employees. “Our network is only as strong as it is because of our incredible people. We believe that no value can be placed on strategic planning and program implementation in this regard.”
To be certified as a Top Employer in Africa, a company needs to operate in four or more countries and have exceptional employee conditions. The Top Employers Institute conducts comprehensive and independent research by getting employees in the relevant companies to complete a HR best practice survey.
The Top Employers Institute survey assesses human resource strategy, policy implementation, practices and employee offerings, to reveal whether the company provides exceptional employee conditions, develops talent on all levels and demonstrates leadership through optimizing the development of its employees and employee practices.
Every completed survey is reviewed by the Top Employers Institute and then the process is audited by a third party. Only organizations that qualify from the selection process receive the Top Employers title and certification seal but all participants receive a comprehensive feedback report.
“We are beyond honored to have gained this wonderful recognition in additional regions this year and to have been recognized as a Top Employer in Africa for yet another year. We will continue to strive to add even more regions to this list and ensure we maintain our focus on attracting, retaining and developing our people across the sub-Saharan Africa region,” concluded Heymans.
The headquarters of Heritage Bank at Victoria Island, Lagos, was besieged on Thursday by members of the labour union, protesting the recent dismissal of 1,000 support workers.
The National President of the National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees, Comrade Anthony Abakpa, led the demonstration, condemning the bank’s management for what he deemed a lack of adherence to due process in the termination of employment contracts.
Speaking during the protest, Comrade Abakpa asserted that the leadership of Heritage Bank failed to follow established protocols before executing the mass layoffs.
He emphasised the union’s commitment to pursuing justice for the affected workers, vowing to escalate their demands until the bank’s management rectifies the situation.
“We will intensify our demands for justice,” declared Comrade Abakpa, urging the bank’s management to take corrective action to address the grievances of the dismissed workers.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, clarified that Nigeria is not utilising its foreign reserves to bolster the naira, despite recent fluctuations in reserve levels.
Speaking from Washington DC, where he is attending the International Monetary Fund-World Bank Spring Meetings, Cardoso highlighted the influx of $600 million into Nigeria’s reserves account within the past two days.
While the naira has experienced a notable appreciation against the dollar in recent weeks, climbing over 40% from approximately N1,900/$ to about N1,000/$1, Nigeria’s foreign reserves have been dwindling. As of April 15, reserves dropped to approximately $32.29 billion, marking the lowest level in over six years.
Cardoso emphasised that the shifts in reserves are typical for any country, where various financial obligations, such as debt repayments, necessitate withdrawals.
He stated, “What you’ve seen with respect to the shift in our reserves is normal in any country’s reserves where, for example, debts are due and certain payments need to be made. They are made because that is also part of keeping your credibility.”
Continuing, Cardoso underscored the dynamic nature of the market, advocating for a system driven by willing buyers, willing sellers, and price discovery.
He emphasised, “The shift in our reserves has really little or nothing to do with defending the naira, and that is certainly not our objective.”
Dangote Petroleum Refinery has made headlines by announcing a further reduction in the price of diesel, dropping it from ₦1200 to ₦1000 naira per litre.
The refinery’s decision comes on the heels of its recent supply at a significantly reduced price of ₦1200 per litre, which was introduced three weeks ago, signifying a remarkable 30 per cent decrease from the previous market price of approximately ₦1600 per litre.
This substantial reduction in diesel prices at Dangote Petroleum Refinery is expected to reiterate positively throughout various sectors of the economy, potentially serving as a catalyst in alleviating the persistently high inflation rate in the country.
In a statement last week, Aliko Dangote, Africa’s wealthiest individual and the owner of the refinery, expressed his optimism regarding the potential impact of the price reduction on inflation in Nigeria.
“I believe that we are on the right track. I believe Nigerians have been patient, and I also believe that a lot of goodies will now come through. There’s quite a lot of improvement because if you look at it, one of the major issues that we’ve had was the naira devaluation that has gone very aggressively up to about ₦1900,” he remarked.
As anticipation builds around the implications of this move by Dangote Petroleum Refinery, stakeholders and consumers alike remain hopeful for the positive effects it could bring to the Nigerian economy in the coming months.
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