Nigerian workers risk losing relevance in changing workplace — CIPM Chairman

The chairman of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM), Oyo State Chapter, Mrs Omolara Onipede, has tasked Nigerian workers with retooling themselves or risk being shoved aside due to the changing nature of the world and its effect on the future of work.

The CIPM boss made this call at the inaugural seminar organized by the Employment Relations and Human Resources Management Students Association, Department of Sociology, University of Ibadan.

In her speech, she stressed that workers need to acquire skills relevant to the future of work, especially the ability to deploy automation, robotics, and artificial intelligence in the workplace.

Onipede further emphasized the importance of crowdsourcing and the use of gig workers to gain more ground, stating that the future of work will become more fluid with co-located workplaces and the use of more remote workers.

She argued that employment relationships face numerous challenges in today’s rapidly changing world of work, including work-life balance, job insecurity, lack of job satisfaction, income inequality, workplace safety, globalization, and poor working conditions, among others.

She stated that employment relations could be improved if organizations put employee experience first, break down walls between managers and employees, provide formal management training, celebrate successes, avoid favoritism, set examples, and communicate clearly.

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She added that employers should be approachable, involve their employees, focus on inclusivity, build an official handbook, and provide opportunities for employees to give feedback.

In his opening remarks, the President of the Employment Relations and Human Resources Management Students Association, University of Ibadan, Olaniyan Emmanuel, said the inaugural seminar was important “to know the contemporary issues happening in employment relations.”

He stressed that the world of work is changing and that there is a need for people to be abreast of challenges in the workplace, bearing in mind digitization and technology.

According to him, the lecture would enable students and practitioners in the employment relations field to prepare themselves for the changing nature and future of work in order to stay relevant and valuable.