Who Is Your Guy?

I like to think of myself as a regular guy. I am married with 2 kids, and I find a lot of joy in being at work with colleagues and spending time with my family.

I started off my career in what is now known as ‘Customer Experience’ at one of the foremost Telecoms firms. Thereafter, I joined Heirs Holdings as an Executive Assistant to the CEO of Heirs Real Estate at the time. I moved around a bit working with a couple of Executives, before joining the Human Resources team. I decided to switch to HR following feedback from colleagues and my mentors when I began to consider a career change.

My venture into HR was heavily influenced by ENN, the Group CEO and Modupe Akindele, who was Director of Human Resources. They provided me with all the support required. Also, Shedrack Onakpoma and Oyindamola Oyeduntan were very important towards that transition.

During my time working directly with ENN, there was a particular appraisal cycle where he requested to know what my career plans were as he was always very particular about my growth within the organisation. I was prepared with an answer having engaged Modupe, Shedrack and Oyindamola a lot. I told him I wanted to transition to HR. Almost immediately, he engaged Modupe, and both developed a plan that saw me take up HR responsibilities eventually leading to my transition.

They both also played a key role in getting my local and international qualifications – CIPM and SHRM (USA). Modupe was actively invested in this, and she mentored me all through. This is perhaps the biggest reason I have been in the Group for as long as I have. The leadership I have received from those I reported to has been nothing short of exceptional.

Working in HH has been an absolute delight. Every day is a different experience, a different challenge, a different mission. I have met the most intelligent and passionate people in HH. The leaders here are brilliant, hands-on, and particularly humble. However, the most fulfilling thing is watching the Group venture into new sectors and immediately making a mark. I saw the birth of Avon HMO and supported the first business plan for the insurance businesses, followed closely Tenoil Energy’s challenges and victories, and Transcorp’s surge from just being in hospitality to expanding into the power sector. I watched how Samuel Nwanze, Oyindamola, and Nnamdi put in the most extraordinary level of commitment towards the birth of Heirs Oil and Gas. I can go on and on, but I would honestly say the last 10 years have been an adventure with an awesome family and solid leadership from the Chairman.

My most memorable experience in HR, firstly was the setting up of the HR function for the insurance segment. Modupe and Jennifer of Afriland along with Mr. Tony of HIB were so confident in my capacity to handle it given the level of experience I had at the time. Our colleagues, Blessing, James Akpan, Tosin Bayo, Christian Ubioworo, and James Edokpolo, who joined the team during that exercise are still with us today. It remains memorable because I gathered a lot of hands-on experience and direct mentorship from my leaders. The second was receiving my certifications. It was tough, but again the leaders in HH were so full of support. I remember how scared of failing I was especially because of how much faith and confidence they had put in me.

When people say I am everybody’s guy I usually don’t know how to react to it. The one thing I try to do is help people and create as much value as I can. I believe that success comes from being committed to the values of a team and making yourself available for the team. No matter what role you are playing, just be there for the team.

The perception that HR doesn’t show up for people comes from the old days of HR when it was basically an administrative function. HR has since transitioned into being strategic and becoming a partner to business success. I am focused on being more of a strategic partner to the overall success of the business. This means helping the Group get the right talent and developing those talents in such a way that they continue to add value to the Group and to themselves and for that, I will always be your guy.