Expert advocates sound corporate culture in driving performance
By Omobayo Azeez
Good performance of quoted companies at the Nigerian stock market are dependent on their sound corporate governance culture, Bola Adeeko, head of shared services division at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has said.
Adeeko made this know at the recently held culture training organized by SmithsWorks Limited tagged, “A Live Session with David Eaton” at the Stock Exchange House, Lagos.
Delivering his remarks at the training, Adeeko said in today’s accelerating world of work, organisational culture has been identified as critical to the success of an organisation.
He said this is as a result of the need to adapt to evolving external forces, achieve internal integration and deliver on an organisation’s strategic objectives.
“In our experience, maintaining this intricate balance between internal and external forces in any organization can only be achieved through strong corporate governance practices.
“The NSE in its role as regulator and thought leader, therefore, provides various directives and initiatives that help drive the adoption of these practices among issuers,” he said.
According to him, one of such initiatives is the NSE’s partnership with the Convention on Business Integrity (CBi) to launch Nigeria’s foremost framework for ranking companies on issues related to corporate governance, the Corporate Governance Rating System (CGRS), in 2014.
This rating system, he said, was designed to rate companies listed on the NSE based on their corporate governance and anti-corruption posture, thereby improving the overall level of confidence and trust in Nigeria’s capital markets and business practices.
Defined as a set of basic values, perceptions, wants and behaviours learnt by a group of people within an ecosystem, organisational culture is of utmost importance in enhancing performance, promoting teamwork and achieving the organisation’s strategic aspirations, he explained.
“With benefits ranging from greater share-price increases, lower employee turnover, more employment applications, less absenteeism, greater employee productivity and greater customer satisfaction levels, it has been proven that culture can improve and sustain corporate performance,” he added.
Highlighting the critical role of inclusion and strong corporate governance in framing, cascading and aligning the corporate culture with the business objectives of an organisation, Dave Eaton, a culture transformation expert, engaged participants through a series of case studies and practical exercises.
He asked participants were asked to identify the position and aspirations of their organisations across these seven dimensions namely; power, perspective, creativity, time, independence, communications and inclusion.
The event had in attendance Ajibola Ponnle, honourable commissioner, Lagos State Ministry of Establishments, Training and Pensions, as the special guest of honour.
The training, which was co-sponsored by NSE, Axa Insurance, Seevest and Bovas , was also attended by senior human resources managers, talent management practitioners, corporate culture shapers and business leaders across industries.