Lafarge Director upbeat on readiness for post-COVID-19 future

The Organisation and Human Resources Director at Lafarge Africa Plc., Gbemiga Owolabi, has said the company is “well prepared for the future” thanks to actions taken by the company amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

  Owolabi, who joined Lafarge in the heat of the novel coronavirus outbreak last year, noted that the strategy organisations used before and during COVID-19 should be different from that of the post-pandemic era, a period often referred to as the new normal.

“Recall that I joined during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, which made it somewhat challenging to hit the ground running. However, over the past seven months, apart from providing leadership for the HR function, my focus has been to ensure that we get the business ready for the future. During the lockdown earlier in 2020, we more or less tested our resilience and we satisfactorily handled the challenges of the period. The business is now well prepared for the future,” said Owolabi, a 1988 graduate of Industrial Relations & Personnel Management from the University of Lagos with experience across sectors of the economy, from Fast Moving Consumer Goods, Oil & Gas, to Telecommunications.

    Highlighting some of the measures taken by the company since he joined the firm amid the crisis, he stated that Lafarge Africa, through regular engagement with business leaders and employees, has been able to develop a robust HR strategy linked to the overall business strategy, especially one that is predicated on a very high growth agenda.“When you look at the employees who are going to drive that going forward, you must keep them connected and informed to ensure that they are all ready for a high growth agenda,” he said.

    Part of the company’s efforts was the launch of Project One, which, according to Owolabi , focuses on building a high-performing organization, with one team all moving in the same direction. The initiative was launched in collaboration with the Communications, Public Affairs, and Sustainability Development team at Lafarge to drive the “One Team, One Direction” agenda in order to further entrench a culture of oneness built on trust and collaboration.“We leveraged the benefits of this shift considerably during the lockdown and post-lockdown phases of the pandemic, projecting us to be ready for the future,” Owolabi said.