It is no news that Emerald is operating in a rapidly evolving, increasingly complex, and
ever more challenging environment like most other businesses in Nigeria. These challenges
create a pressing need for dynamism and innovation as we commit to our vision to fulfil
stakeholders’ dreams.
Over the past few years; we have seen massive shifts in the global economy; a growing transition from the way businesses run, a shift towards remote work, moves to reduce costs while maximizing profits, upskilling of workforces to meet global standards, meeting changing consumer needs, revolutionization in the leasing industry regionally, nationally and internationally – placing new expectations on leasing companies to perform at their best.
Therefore, the climax of the challenge is that while demand for our services is on the increase, the cost of operation has experienced an uncontrollable surge while funding has remained relatively plateaued, requiring that we go back to our drawing boards to harness our strengths, strengthen areas with insufficient coverage and develop new approaches to meeting our stakeholders’ needs.
With these trends, you can easily guess what our focus was during our strategy retreat which took place on the last weekend of January 2022. We had to critically look into the 4Ps for measuring the success of any business; People, Process, Performance, and Profit. The strategy retreat aimed to rechart the course of our business and revamp our modus operandi.
We were able to successfully close in on the gaps between these four integral areas of any business, sighting short-term and long-term goals that could result in outstanding results. Our people (workforce) were equipped with tools for a more balanced work-life equation during the retreat.
These tools which are being implemented are resulting in the realisation of various strengths with innovation as a front-burner while aligning the career and vision of the workforce to that of Emerald.
Our management team is made up of industry experts with several decades in leasing. These experts have recorded multiple landslides of successful projects. Drawing from their wealth of experience, ‘business success is impossible without consistent results’ and this can only be achieved through a good setup process.
Having effective processes in all business units helps to achieve repeated successes and eliminates waste of resources which in the long-run results in profit for all stakeholders.
Consistency in making profits would require utmost individual and team performance. Effective performance results in productivity, a highly motivated workforce, and rapid business development. The purpose of every business strategy is to make a profit. Profit describes the financial benefit realized when the revenue generated from doing business exceeds the expenses, costs, and taxes involved in sustaining the business.
All other Ps as discussed during the strategy retreat aims at this goal which is to make a profit. From all indicators, the strategic changes made have been impactful and would be resulting in a well-gapped profit margin by the end of the year.
A keynote speech during the retreat was delivered by the Chairman, Emerald Leasing Limited, Chichi Ojeme. During her speech, she was able to highlight some of the feedback gotten from stakeholders and the need to utilise them in decision making. She also reiterated the need for individual contribution to the achievement of the mission and vision of Emerald while staying motivated and active without burning out. The strategy retreat also gave room for physical and mental refreshment which is an integral part of the optimization of performance.
A strategy retreat is a tool that should be explored in all organisations as its
advantages are innumerable; from getting your workforce to bond and collaborate, to
creating the atmosphere for new ideas and innovation, revamping processes and procedures,
etc.