Guinness comes out on Top in 'Great Place to Work' Awards

From Left, Acting, Human Resources Operations Manager, Guinness Nigeria, Jaiyesimi Gbolahan, Talent and Learning Specialist, Toyin Adewunmi, Head Sales Project, Edi-Bala Emmanuel receiving the Best Top 5 Large Company from Head of Human Capital, Heritage Bank, Nneka Okoro and Director, Great Place to Work, Kunle Malomo, at the 2nd Edition of Great Place to Work Award held at the Civic Center

Guinness Nigeria Plc has been named among the top five best places to work in Nigeria. The company was presented with the Award at an impressive ceremony at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos at the second annual Great Place to Work in Nigeria Awards recently.

Reacting to the award, Talent and Learning Specialist, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Toyin Adewumi representing Mr. Wale Adediran, Human Resources Director, Guinness Nigeria Plc, expressed delight at her company earning the honour. Her pleasure with the award, which she described as fair and transparent is that employees play a key role on how employers (companies) are ranked. “The most exciting thing about this award is that it affords employees a chance to appraise the work culture and environment with a view to appreciating or suggesting improvements, as the case may be,” she said.

The Great Place to Work Awards focuses on organisations’ work culture because the organisers maintain that work culture and ethics are paramount in productivity. Guest Speaker on the occasion, Sunday Adeyemi in his opening remarks highlighted that “competitive advantage is what distinguishes companies from one another.”

On the place of culture in sustaining comparative advantages, Adeyemi said, “Companies onboard or induct new employees to ensure that they conform to corporate culture, thus encouraging them to align with corporate goals to sustain standards and or evolve new products or services, as might be necessary.”

Work culture is of critical nature in attaining corporate goals. According to Adeyemi, “the most critical factor in attaining corporate goals is organisational culture. Having the right culture in place is necessary in the attainment of corporate objectives.”

Managing Director, GPTW Nigeria, Kunle Malomo, said the awards were a way of contributing to the human capital development in Nigeria. He added that Trust Index and Culture Audit were the two criteria used in determining the companies that won the awards this year.

According to him, “While the Trust Index is based on employees’ knowledge of their working environment, the Culture Audit has to do with information on best working practices employed by the companies.