[img]https:///a/img923/2786/zbw9t1.jpg[/img]

We recently interviewed three ladies for the position of Customer Service Executives, and quite frankly they were very impressive. “One last question”, one of our hiring managers pointed to 26-year-old Marylin Ekoja, who was even more outstanding than the rest of them.

“What is your ideal workplace?” He asked. Her response to this question is the main reason we decided to put up this article.

Marylin’s Response

Please indulge me for a few minutes to give you a background story of my time as an English teacher for over 2 years in one of the most popular secondary schools in my community. This was before I decided to pursue this career as a customer service professional.

The school was barely 5 years old and could already boast of having a healthy advantage when it comes to the number of students in its care. The student’s fee was quite fair, and our salary was rather significant given the location of the school and what other schools pay their staff.

So yes, the school always attracted some of the best teachers and more good hands recurrently sent in their resumes to fill in the non-academic staff category.

A new staff or student would quickly learn three obvious things in the first few months of being hired — Firstly, new staff were frequently hired. Secondly, old ones were swiftly resigning and lastly, more parents were angrily withdrawing their children from the school.

In 2 years, we had lost more than 50% of our students compared to the 5% we admitted at the beginning of every academic year. “These were my observations” — Marylin said

[img]https:///a/img923/7117/ZXJeLc.jpg[/img]

Lack of Flexibility

Change is the only constant that was never constant in the organization. The management was impervious to change, and new ideas would bounce off their skins like a ball bouncing off the wall in the game of squash, no matter how good it sounded.

When an idea is embraced eventually, and good results gotten, they would take all the credit and leave the rest of us to dry.

We Were Uncomfortable and Unproductive

The workplace is where people spend a good part of their lives. So, they cannot afford to be unhappy, unappreciated, unacknowledged and unrewarded.

Worse, is if workers are subjugated, bullied or even harassed. These we all experienced in our own different ways from our employer and the management, therefore, it was hard to be productive.

Poor Commitment

Unfortunately, some staff became disillusioned, and all they wanted to do was show up for work, do their time, go back home and get paid at the end of the month.

There was a great decline in commitment to excellence. Teachers were not striving to be better and no one was willing to take responsibilities for their actions or decisions.

Secrets and Deceitful Communications

At some point, it started being about who was in the good books of our employers. Rumours and lies started flying the length and breadth of the organization, and feedbacks were no longer used as tools for growth, but for revenge.

Backstabbing and unhealthy competition were two mighty elephants in the room we couldn’t get rid of and this denied us a transparent working environment.

No Respect, No Compassion and Certainly No Sense of Humour

We were spoken rudely to, often embarrassed and insulted in front of students who looked up to us. Compassion did not cross their minds even when someone fell ill or was met with a misfortune.

Salaries were slashed if you didn’t show up for work, no matter how delicate or serious the situation might be. Almost, always no reason to be happy, to laugh and to even have fun. We were often depressed, and it reflected in the quality of our work.

There was a long silence in the conference room, the hiring manager had his ear full whilst it looked like Marilyn had an opportunity to vent.

Meanwhile, he assured her that her new job was everything her former job failed to provide, but it struck him what many more Marilyn’s have had to endure in their workplaces. As a hiring manager, it was then critical to make some adjustment as well as evaluation.

Employers have a responsibility to encourage hardworking employee, encourage rest, team bonding activities and personal/professional development.

It is no gainsaying that a happy employee is a more productive employee and it is beneficial to everyone — the client, employer and even the employee.

Read more:https://medium.com/@nownownigeria/what-is-your-ideal-work-place-9cf8ac4cd1e7

[img]https:///a/img924/8308/6DxeBf.jpg[/img]

At the heart of entrepreneurship, is the desire to change the world with new ideas, innovations, products or services.

Entrepreneurs are often faced with the question of whether a business will succeed in an ecosystem where businesses are not guaranteed success.

If you have considered the odds and you are sure that your start-up is worth taking the risk for, here are a few things you should know.

Your Idea Doesn’t Have to Be ‘Out of The Box’

Most aspiring entrepreneurs get hung up on trying to figure out whether their ideas will become the next big thing after Google, Facebook or even Amazon.

While there’s nothing wrong with thinking big or thinking out of the box, this has been a major setback for starting a start-up. People often become discouraged about their ideas because they feel they are not good enough.

a start-up idea doesn’t have to be completely original, some of the greatest start-up owners or entrepreneurs are not innovators, they simply understood the market and developed better ways of doing the same thing.

The faster you get to work with that idea, the better your chances of starting a start-up.

Find a Problem and Brainstorm the Solution

a start-up typically begins with an idea or dream that has the potential or capacity to meet a need or solve a problem.

Within your immediate environment, think of how you can make the world a better place. Look for what value you can add or create, find out who will need the value you intend to create.

Research on how best you can make this value available to people at a reasonable cost.

Sometimes the solutions you come up with may be born from a need to correct an ineffective service or a bad product from other existing start-ups or companies.

Your start-up is not a start-up if it is not solving a problem. Find a problem and solve it.

[img]https:///a/img923/215/DmegN7.jpg[/img]


Share with Like Minds

Rome was not built in a day and it certainly wasn’t built by one person. Your knowledge is limited, which is why you will need a team with the right skill and expertise.

One or two like-minded people who can provide the answers to some of the questions you might have.

They understand your vision and can correct you where they think you are wrong, encourage and push you to live out your full potential. In addition, it might be a great way to find a co-founder or partners for your start-up.

Build Product Prototype and Approach Investors

Market research is necessary for deciding the best solution, product or service for your target market. Once this is thoroughly evaluated and decided. the next thing will be to build your product prototype.

This is the initial test model or release of your product. It represents almost all the functionalities of the final product.

a prototype is needed in preparation to meet potential investors. You cannot approach potential investors with an idea of your product, they will be interested in seeing how your product works and if it will be worth investing in.

Therefore, you need to develop a product prototype to present to investors, while still working to perfect it.

Launch and Grow Your Company

When all is said and done, and there remains no question or doubt about the value your product will bring to the market, launch your company or product officially.

People may not notice at first, it is normal for starters, but feel free to launch again, and again if need be.

Once you have launched your start-up, focus on marketing and growth. The early stage is the best time to listen to your customer and take note of all feedbacks.

Go back to the drawing board and keep improving on your product to better serve them.

https://medium.com/@nownownigeria/how-to-start-a-start-up-7631ebd5388a

Over the years, there has been some sort of a silent contention about the availability of jobs for the ever-teeming population of youths graduating from our prestigious universities and other tertiary institutions every year.

While CEO’s and employers have repeatedly said that jobs exist everywhere. They are, however, saddened by tedious recruitment processes and frustrated for not being able to get the best fits for these jobs.

The conclusion is the fact that there is a huge skill gap and our graduates are not adequately prepared to transit from schools to jobs.

On the other hand, thousands of graduates are produced from our tertiary institutions every year, including those who return home to compete for jobs after a few years of studying abroad.

Batch by batch these graduates are asked to go through a mandatory one-year youth empowerment program — The NYSC.

As the days draw near to their ‘passing out of service,’ they become be-deviled by the one truth they have always known — there are no Jobs! But how true is this truth?

While we agree as employers that a lot needs to be done to bridge the skill gap — which is alarmingly wide, it still doesn’t account for a good number of the skilled, and unemployed young job seekers out there.

youth empowerment cuts across so many areas. It is a process where young people are encouraged to take charge of their lives. One way of achieving this is to make jobs readily available to them.

Here are a few ways fintech is helping to empower the youths

One, fintech is a young industry. in the past, job roles in financial institutions often require older people with long years of experience, but this is gradually changing since the inception of fintech.

fintech roles require a more tech-savvy generation to drive their innovative mobile financial solutions.

We believe that this is one of the most exciting times to work in Nigeria.

Now more than ever, technology is empowering youths with a wide range of skills and specialties that allows them the opportunity to work even in the most unlikely places. More than that, it is empowering them to be their own bosses.

Two, fintech Empowers. The Mobile money agent network of fintech companies like NOWNOW Nigeria is one great example to look at.

The number of agents being recruited and empowered daily to serve as payment access points for the unbanked areas or communities in different parts of the country is quite impressive.

Mobile money agents are usually between the age of 18 and 35 and they are paid commissions for every transaction they make on behalf of people by using the mobile app.

This has been an effective tool used by fintech companies in a bid to tackle unemployment and financial inclusion

The fintech industry is constantly recruiting. As a young and evolving industry, there will always be a need for growth and expansion, hence the need to constantly hire young people who can easily adapt to a dynamic and fast-paced work environment

It has been a long ride for Nigeria, from the days of Flora Shaw to James Wilson Robertson. We dare say that Nigeria has seen it all. We have sucked, we have been backed, we have crawled, but our tenacity remains the same.

The Nigerian Spirit has remained the same from colonialism to neo-colonialism. Though many negative narratives sort to cripple us as a nation. Still, our identity remains the same — Nigerian.

To be Nigerian means to be strong-willed, dogged and free. It has never been a question of skin but the warrior’s spirit within. Look around, there’s no country in the world that a Nigerian does not reside, be it Antarctica. Nigerians are excelling in their given endeavour all around the world. Therefore, it will be foolery to join the naysayers and bystanders to discredit true independence.

Truth be told, we’ve had our shortcomings, but we would rather take little strides forward than go in rotary motions. To be independent is to be guaranteed of safety, choice and a voice — that air of ease.

There can be independence despite the stifling bank processes, you can be independent despite the frustrations of school systems, you can be free irrespective of work-life imbalance. The possibilities are endless in real life.

The Revolution for independence has begun and it is only a matter of choice. The transition from traditional systems to modernized patterns are particularly impressive. A case in point is the ongoing hassle for financial inclusion.

This really is the best form of independence for the average Nigerian. The power of choice handed over on their lapses, the option of doing life on-the-go. Independence is what mobile payment solutions avail you. Not just because of the low or no cost transaction rates, but the ease and speed of transactions.

Within every Nigeria is a desire for expeditious services, what our Nigerian dialect refers to as ‘NOWNOW’.

It is an unparalleled joy to be aware of NOWNOW app as it delivers its brand promise of fast, safe and convenient mobile transactions. For everyone, this is a life hack.

I can’t even begin to tell you how good I felt the other day when I realised that I haven’t visited a bank in over 5 months.

This might not mean anything to you, but for someone as busy as I am, who does so many bank transactions in a week, it does mean a lot to me.

the world is moving at a faster pace, new technologies and innovations have us all looking in the direction of easy, convenient, fast and secure day to day living.

For instance, when was the last time you had to wait in a long queue at a banking hall?

Well, I Imagine a lot of faces already frowning at this question, and yes you have the right to be angry, because, unfortunately in this part of the world, we’re still playing catch-up to some of these technological advancements.

Nevertheless, I’ll join the rest of us who still believe in the Nigerian dream to say that our country is just a 58-year-old baby compared to the likes of Japan, USA, South Korea, Israel, Germany and the host of others.

So yes, we’re young and we’ll get there someday.

For now, let’s talk about what really matters, if the world is moving towards easy, convenient, fast and secure day-to-day living, then the future of money in Nigeria is mobile.

With simple financial technologies, your mobile phone gives you the power to transact anywhere, and at any time by simply downloading an app or wallet and pressing a few buttons.

I haven’t had to look for a nearby shop to buy airtime, for God knows how long now. What about paying up my electricity bill or subscription for my DStv? I can’t remember the last time I visited any of their offices.

Why? I simply downloaded a mobile wallet recommended by my sister and now I’m able to do all these transactions on the go.

If you know me, then you know that I’m a bit of a traditional person, I prefer to stick to the old ways of doing things, So, I’d rather walk into a bank just to do a money transfer.

Please don’t judge me much, as I said, I can be a bit traditional. Besides, I wasn’t buying the idea that it is secure to do such money transactions on the internet outside the framework of a bank.

My kid sister was at the receiving end of my stubbornness when she needed money urgently in school and I didn’t have the time to go to the bank.

I was completely deaf to her persuading me to download what she called the NOWNOW mobile wallet.

Well, not until my reluctance almost cost her an important examination, when I couldn’t send her the money for registration on time.

Now you see why I’m a bit more passionate about this easy, convenient, fast and secure kind of life.

I finally gave in and downloaded the NOWNOW app, since then, the rest has been history.

So, are you tired of long queues at the bank, or do you want to drop your traditional way of banking to join the many of us enjoying easy, convenient, fast and secure banking with our mobile phones?

Go ahead and download the app using this link https:///2vHlFD2 for android and this https://apple.co/2McgBAR for ios

You can also visit nownow.ng/ for more info…