“It’s different from where I’ve been”
Given how much the pendulum has swung in the past year or so, HR departments all over the world have had to learn new tricks fast. What is it like managing people in multiple offices in a pandemic and its aftermath? How do you sustain culture in a challenging operating environment? Quomodo Social sat down with Damilola Ashiru-Eyitayo, HR lead at Quomodo, to explore these questions and more.
I’ll use myself as an example. I have an infant but I do not have a nanny. One of the reasons I joined Quomodo is that at my previous employer, I did not have the luxury to manage home and office as well as possible. Quomodo understands that the family is important and gave me the room to balance the life at work and the life at home.
Quomodo Social
Hello Damilola. Pleased to have you. First off, how would you describe Quomodo’s culture?
Damilola Ashiru-Eyitayo
Quomodo’s culture is a family-oriented system. There are people we designate as elders, parents, the kids, the grandparents — that family dynamic. The idea is to be embracing without suffocation or sacrificing individuality. We like to have fun together but we know when it’s time to work, it has to be very serious. You come in feeling like you’re part of something, whichever demography you fall into — millnenial, Gen X, Gen Z or boomer. In the HR unit, our work is to facilitate the mix.
QS
How have you adapted to remote work?
DAE
So, for the 1st four months of 2021, we worked from home. Now, we have a hybrid system in which some people work from home and some from the office. The basic understanding is that everyone understands what is required and so we use KPIs to measure performance even when you are working remotely. The line manager is important in this system as they ensure that tasks are completed when appropriate. There are regular meetings to forestall that sense of isolation, and management meets every Monday just to be on top of things. The people in Lagos, because of Lagos’s peculiarities, work mostly remotely, but anyone is free to come into the office as they please.
We have HR Coffee time which is kind of like a confession in the Catholic Church, if you know what I mean? People come in, speak their minds, bring up issues. We keep it confidential and then address the issues. We do TGIFs like everyone else both in Lagos and Abuja.
As for tech in core HR itself, we have an in-house complaints management system called Ayuda. Whatever issues are logged on there by individual employees from wherever they are. The complaints go to the appropriate department and are fixed. As HR, we of course monitor compliance and response times just to make sure everyone gets an optimal experience. The devil is in the detail, you know? Personal and professional development are attended to through IQ Central, which is also another Quomodo solution for training. You can read through your departmental SOPs and other resources put up there too.
QS
At a personal level, how have you had to adapt to these times as an HR professional?
DAE
I’ll use myself as an example. I have an infant but I do not have a nanny. One of the reasons I joined Quomodo is that at my previous employer, I did not have the luxury to manage home and office as well as possible. Quomodo understands that the family is important and gave me the room to balance the life at work and the life at home. I was able to work from home on some days, which helps and made things saner. And that’s what it’s like for other people, married or not. There are people who are allowed to leave work at 3pm for example just so they don’t get stuck in traffic or experience crime. Ultimately, I have been able to retain employees more.
I’m speaking across board now and not of Quomodo alone. Burnout is a serious risk and leads to high rates of attrition. Mothers are not able to perform optimally because they have family duties. Part time work has been going on before the pandemic and we would lose a lot of good techies because they had the option of working part time elsewhere, especially internationally. With the pandemic, I see people staying longer and feeling a bit more relaxed since you don’t have to come into the office.
I think it has reduced the attrition rates significantly. When people leave now it isn’t because they are stressed at work. Now it’s mostly because of education or they are emigrating.
QS
How strategic is HR at Quomodo?
DAE
The precedence in Nigeria has always been that HR is just a support role. My experience in Quomodo is somewhat different. We are a medium-sized company so we probably don’t need the elaborate structure of bigger companies, where for example, there is a direct seat for HR at C-level. Nevertheless, we are not behind-the-scenes and we are not, as the saying goes, hire-and-fire.
Every year, for example, we plan for the year by cascading organizational goals into HR goals. We look at where we need to be as a company, the employee numbers and benefits that would be required to meet that. We look at performance management, talent retention, rewards system, improving employee experience. We do analysis and benchmark against companies. One of the companies that the CEO is passionate about is Zappos. How can we continue to marry optimal performance with a quality employee experience? The C-level is passionate about people and that is easy to see in the mandate we get at a strategic level. It’s different from where I’ve been. It’s not just about bringing in the numbers. It’s also about ensuring that people in Quomodo get the most quality experience possible.
QS
Thank you!
