Why we are retraining our workforce – Ambode

By Kazeem Ugbodaga

Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode on Tuesday said that the state government is preparing its workforce through training and retraining exercise aimed at sustaining the achievements of the State in the last 50 years and also to surpass it.

The Governor made this known at the opening session of a training programme tagged: “Effective Strategic Management for Repositioning and Higher Responsibilities” held at Citi Heights Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria, for directors in the employ of the State Government.

Underscoring the importance of the topic to the vision of his administration, Ambode who was represented by the Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pensions, Dr. Benson Oke added that the importance of strategy, strategic planning and strategic management had been proven and validated over the years to be very effective in achieving an organisation’s set goals.

He stressed that the training would identify areas where the state public service would have to evolve or innovate or re-position for better service delivery.

Oke said that the state government recognized the workforce as the engine room for its various achievements, hence its decision to continually retool and retrain them for the delivery of more quality services to the citizenry.

“As it was evident to all during the celebration of the Golden Jubilee of the state where arrays of projects were commissioned and delivered to the residents of the State, the government believes that the workforce were instrumental to its success story and deemed it necessary to further hone the skills of these crops of officers so that they can do more in the years ahead.” Ambode reiterated.

The governor maintained that it was high time the entire workforce of the state government realized that Lagos State would no longer be bench-marked with any State in the country, adding that the bar of excellence should henceforth be raised to be at par with other developed and civilized cities of the world.

Ambode added: “you do not need to be world class at mundane business practices that are not your distinctive competence, but you must maintain standards of work equal to that of your competitors.”

Also, the governor said the leading strategist must count on the employees or members of the organization to make sound tactical and operational decisions that were aligned with the desired strategic direction.

“To ensure that these decisions are well made, the articulated strategic direction and strategic plans must be applicable and clearly related to the issues that people face. It is always helpful to remember that an effective strategy provides a picture of the desired long-term future.

“In order to make sound day-to-day decisions, all members of the organization must be able to begin with the end in mind. All steps must ultimately keep the company on course toward the long-term objective.

“The take home lesson for us as managers of men and resources is that in order to ensure that your strategic team is ready to make effective decisions, look carefully in the mirror. Do you encourage debate, even argument, among your team about key decisions, or do you encourage blind alignment with the organisation’s positions?” He asked.