Ayobami Okediji:  Living his passion for people

Though an Engineering graduate from the Obafemi Awolowo University, 25 years old Ayobami Okediji is living his passion for people as a Human Resource practitioner and motivational speaker.

Armed with Human Resource Professional certification from the foremost HR Certification Institute USA, and a global member of the Society for Human Resource Management as well as an associate member of the Institute for Service Excellence and Good Governance (ISEGG), Okediji is also a public speaker involved in a lot of activities.

Okediji who currently works as an HR officer at Global Analytics Consulting Limited, an international consulting firm with its headquarters in Abuja says people are his motivation for going into HR.

“The thing is, there is virtually no organization where HR services are not needed. HR is a people-business meaning we always have humans being at the core of the organization’s activities. I know I haven’t even started yet, but I like the fact that people already know I am fully into HR. In fact, most people that I meet don’t call me by my name any longer. They just say ‘HR’”, he said.

He listed his recent invitation by a Dubai based organization to be one of the guest speakers at the largest HR conference in West Africa – HR Summit and Expo, which held at Landmark Centre, Lagos state as one of the validations that he is on the right track: “I was indeed honoured. It truly means people know value when they see one,” he said of the invitation.”

He also acknowledged that people are always shocked with his passion for HR, given his background in engineering.

“I believe I am still building my success story. But I find this worth mentioning – My success story lies in doing one thing extremely well, and that is creating and cultivating strong relationships with people. The fact that I get emails and calls from various people that have engaged my services, giving me positive feedback and expressing their gratitude makes me feel so good,” he said.

Still, Okediji notes that back in the university; he had coordinated about 42 persons in his department, a responsibility that exposed him to the task of leading people and dealing with different emotions. “It was my first time of leading such a “large” team, but I learnt the people business- HR.

“Leading was fun for me and having to deal with different people with entirely different emotions. Human beings are emotional-driven entities and sometimes emotions can be messy. Having to recruit, select, compensate, motivate “accordingly”, really made so much sense for me. At the time, I will say I was an HR generalist. I determined to delve into the world of HR which means I had to do all it takes to grow in the industry,” he said of how that initial experience goaded him into a career in HR,” he explained.

Having made up his mind, Okediji decided to gird himself up professionally by not just connecting to well-seasoned experts and mentors in the field, but with a premium certification – Professional in Human Resource international (PHRi) from HR Certification Institute, USA.

Though he is based in Abuja, the business of HR has taken him around Nigeria and outside the country. “I remember having co-facilitated a training on behalf of my organization for Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) sometime last year in Accra, Ghana. I have also been called upon to help other budding HR professionals grow in their quest for knowledge. Every other day, I get calls and mails from different people all over the country asking me to help them do one thing or the other. I find this really fulfilling.”

On his future plans, Okediji certainly has big dreams. Apart from aiming to build a very “people-centric” organization where employees are truly valued, his future dreams include becoming a professor of management and leadership at Harvard Business School.

His aspirations also include being able to replicate the leadership qualities of  one of his role models, Sam Adeyemi, the senior pastor of Lagos based Daystar Christian Centre.

“Pastor Sam has a lot of wisdom and leadership qualities I would like to emulate. He has been a blessing to the church and the world at large. I look forward to a day I would be able to do what he does and act in a capacity like that,” Okediji said.

He also listed Mrs. Cheryl Nelson of Robbin Kaplans LLP, a law firm based in USA, Mr. Steve Browne, the Vice-President of HR at LaRosa’s, Inc. also based in the US and Mr. Harry Enaholo, Head of People, Culture and Projects at Mettalloids Limited as his role models.

He identified one of the biggest problems facing youths today as inability to stay focused. “There are a lot of challenges facing the youths of today, but I want to call to memory the words of my boss at my current place of work, Global Analytics Consulting Limited, Mr. Tope Fasua. He once said and I quote ‘those who will make it in life are those who can start a race and consistently follow through and not those who will just engage in it as a quick dash and then give up.”

The HR practitioner notes that unlike the older generation, the “resilient spirit” is lacking in many young Nigerians. “What we find out today is that most youths always look for quick wins. We just want to make the money without any stress like it’s a walk in the park. Life is not a bed of roses. Sometimes you have things working for you but at other times, the chips are down, at such times, stay consistent.”