HORRIBLE BOSSES: AN OUTCRY ON WORKPLACE TOXICITY IN NIGERIA
Written by Janefrances Ibezim
There was a social media outburst recently triggered by an article published by TechCabal and a session on Twitter spaces. Tech giants like Kuda, Bento Africa, Prospa, Life Bank, Ulesson, Wallet Africa amongst others were called out as toxic workplaces according to documented records by Trendinalia, a social media monitoring platform. Bosses like Sim Shagaya of Ulesson, Ebun of Bento, and the founder of Kuda Bank were accused of being high-handed and abusive towards employees in their organizations.
Techcabal did a detailed report on this issue of tyranny and toxicity at the workplace and put Bento Africa as their major focus. Bento Africa (formerly known as Verifi.ng) is the brainchild of Ebun Okubanjo and Chidozie Okonkwo his friend, business partner, and Bento’s chief operating officer (COO), headquartered in Lagos Nigeria. Bento provides payroll management software to 900 businesses, including Hygeia, Paystack, Kobo360 and others. Ebun who was the CEO and co-founder of the company was described as a “narcissistic boss” who dictates the day-to-day operations in the company while his co-founder Okonkwo is rarely around or heard from in the company.
Sim Shagaya is described as one of the champions in the tech world, he has built many businesses such as Konga, eMotion, DealDey, and Ulesson, which is his recent start-up. He was said to be born to military parents in Jos and equally has a military upbringing which many saw as one of the factors that led to his success but also contributed to his tyrannical behaviour.
A Twitter user identified simply as Deji accused his former employer, Goodness Kayode, CEO of Sprinble, of making employees work overnight. Responding to this; Kayode admitted that working late and overnight is a possibility to get things done. In his words, he admitted to shouting at the employees for reasons which he described as “pressure from clients”. Kayode responded to Deji and mentioned that it was stated clearly before employment that overnight work may be required sometimes when deadlines are pressing.
Also, Daniel Emeka, a founding partner and creative director of Surkreo was also accused of maltreating employees and going as far as sacking someone for not singing him a birthday song. Thirty ex-employees were allegedly said to have accused him of harassing them both physically and emotionally while working with him. Responding to this; Surkreo CEO said his methods were different and his passions could be misinterpreted, he equally described himself as “a young experimental genius who makes mistakes”. Benjamindada.com, a publication that reports events across the African tech space, highlighted the need for more active and influential boards that check the excesses of and hold the founders accountable.
On March 24, according to The Will, the chief executive officer of Bento Africa, Ebun Okubanjo in the “Toxic or Horrible bosses” saga, has apologized to former and current employees of the company. Earlier Ebun was said to be known for using abusive and derogatory words on his workers and never seeing their opinion as useful or needed in the company’s decision-making process. According to an ex-employee described as “Pascal” by Techcabal, Bento Africa took everything from him – his sense of humanity, sanity, confidence and trust. Just like Pascal who’s an ex-sales executive, other employees like Kunle, Bola, Tare Johnson and others stated that they worked around the clock and there was no rest for them or break from work. And the present employees despite being diplomatic in their responses as contacted by Techcabal agreed that everything the publication exposed about Bento Africa’s work culture “was not false”.
Bento’s board of directors has opened an investigation into the workplace culture of Bento Africa under Okubanjo. A statement jointly signed by Obinna Ukachukwu, Manpreet Mann, and Adedayo Amzat on behalf of the board said it was reviewing the HR and people practices and guidelines at Bento while working with HR consultants to make the company reflective of “human values” that drive sustainable performance.
The #HorribleBosses hashtag started trending after a Twitter space hosted by a journalist, Kiki Mordi received massive contributions against alleged toxic behaviours of founders and chief executives in the Nigerian tech ecosystem. Others mentioned are the CEO of RadioNow 95.3fm, Mrs Kadaria who was also called out by her former employees for being toxic.
“In many tech startups, the founder usually wears too many hats (for a long time), so what happens is that there is a lot of pent-up frustration, pressure, and inadequacies that the founder is dealing with,” reports Benjamindada.com. “The founder might have his own core functions — like business development or partnerships — so he is now probably managing a team of business development associates and maybe the business development targets are not being met, so he’s already frustrated.
Now, where inadequacy comes in is that he might not have even been trained as a people manager and was just an individual contributor in his previous employment and that is if he has even worked elsewhere. The average 20-something-year-old founder has never worked anywhere, and founders who are older might have been used to toxic workplaces growing through their careers. So, they don’t know what the expectations of a good manager are, and nor do they have the right training.
The blogger, Benjamin Dada advised that “when you start hiring past 10 employees, you should start critiquing your competence — find out what you are stronger at, and where you could use some help either by going for coaching or hiring a People Lead or both.
It is also important to get more awareness about people management. But the active and influential board comes in when they need to help founders point out areas of weakness, and suggest the training/coaching, discipline and hiring components that could save the future of the company.
“I think there’s a lot the tech ecosystem (including future employees) stands to gain, as I think it’s a lesson for everyone involved to assess themselves through the lens of the recent revelation,” Dada added.
The happenings in Bento Africa and other places are not a new thing nor are they surprising, the various interviews carried out showed that it’s been happening, still happening and will continue to if these red flags are ignored. And this shows the fact that most people are used to this toxicity and would prefer to work in such places for the payment instead of leaving for their own peace of mind.
REPLICATING YOURSELF IN BUSINESS
From our years of business consulting, we discovered that one of the constant worries of business owners is how to replicate themselves in their business.
Well, here are some tips we share we them:
First, you have to accept that it is not possible for anyone to become just like you.
Secondly, the way to replicate yourself in business is by creating standard operating procedures. People are not concerned about who cooks a meal in a restaurant, they are only concerned for the food quality and taste to remain consistent.
Thirdly, you replicate yourself by documenting the processes involved in every job function and having templates for future purposes.
Fourthly, you have to make sure your standard operating procedures are not dependent on individuals.
Fifthly, standard operating procedures can be upgraded and improved upon, it shouldn’t be too rigid.
Lastly, if you are worried about people stealing your ideas or template, just make sure they sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement before they resume.
Successfully replicating yourself in business will help you have time to do other stuff, give the business life of its own, reduce stress and workload for you.
#DoBusinessBetter
#BuildYourBrandRight
YOU CAN TAKE A BREAK FROM YOUR BUSINESS.
I look forward to a time when I can take leave from work and business is still going fine. I am currently about 40% there and still putting in the work.
Presently, we are developing a marketing and sales system for Mapemond that wouldn’t be halted if I go on a vacation to enjoy life. It’s part of our 2022 plans.
Can you take leave from your business?
Or do you look forward to such a time?
A business where nothing happens unless you are actively involved with daily operations is a trap and you should be working your way out of it over time.
Yes, in the days you are still trying to figure out things and getting a good footing, you have to be readily available and actively involved, but that is different from being obsessed with yourself in the business.
Imagine those who own multiple branches of their business, how do they keep them running without being present in all?
Systems, my friend. Systems.
The elderly woman who sells foodstuff in my neighbourhood now spends more time resting because, after the first few years of starting the business and teaching her children the ropes, they now have the competence to handle most things themselves. Her suppliers now also bring the goods to her shops.
Your employees are not your children, loyalty and long-term service is something they choose to give, it’s not something you force. They could leave at any time and you would have to replace them. How do you minimize the effect of people exiting and people coming onboard?
Systems, my friend. Systems.
Many of the primary and secondary schools that those who are 35years and above attended are struggling to survive mainly because they were centred around the founders who are now ageing and their children have their own career paths to pursue. What could they have done differently?
Systems. As the years went by, they could have kept revamping their business structure to enthrone a system that can provide better sustainability.
If you intend to do your current business for long, you will come to this same realization and it’s my hope that these lessons I freely share would enable you to navigate things better.
If this strikes a chord in you, then you are my Co-Traveler in business and it’s your kind that Mapemond is looking at working with, that’s if you are willing and open-minded. Let’s start the conversation early enough, reach out via inbox or send an email to wecare@mapemond.com
It’s our desire to see reputable brands and sustainable businesses emerge from Africa.
#DoBusinessBetter
Captain,
Maple
HAVE YOU REALLY THOUGHT ABOUT THIS?
In all honesty, do you run a one-man business?
If yes, how do you intend to mitigate key man risk?
You can have a hundred employees and still be a one-man business.
Can critical decisions be taken without you?
Can business move on without you?
Over the weekend we had a virtual meeting with two investors abroad on behalf of a business venture here in Nigeria.
They sought to know what happens to their investment should anything happen to the business owner.
When the business is a sole proprietorship and the investment sum is small, it is easier to take the risk, but not when the investment sum isn’t a small amount.
Typically, we say “God forbid. I cannot die. Nothing will happen to me”. It is okay to have faith, but the preservation of people’s investments shouldn’t be on the basis of your faith.
You need to have a clear plan on how to mitigate key man risk (a concern for most investors), especially if your business is incorporated.
What should you do?
1. Find an IDEAL co-founder or partner, IF YOU CAN and give some powers to the person.
The next one is more important in the context of this discourse.
2. SET UP A BOARD.
Set up a functional board of directors. I don’t mean an advisory board, but a board of directors that is listed with the corporate affairs commission.
A board of directors can take crucial decisions. The board can even hire a new CEO to continue with the business.
You don’t have to consider death to think about these things. Government can create a regulation tomorrow that says the CEO of a company shouldn’t serve for more than a period of time.
You may decide to establish another company that requires your attention while someone takes over as CEO to run the other company.
So when an investor throws that question at you someday, tell them you have a functional board of directors that will take decisions in the best interest of the company and stakeholders should anything happen to you.
This issue is one major reason why we are not building trans-generational companies in Nigeria. Our sense of control and power limits the potential of the company and our vision doesn’t develop deep roots for sustained growth.
If you have registered a limited liability company, what is keeping you from setting up a proper board of directors?
You know that the listed directors you have on your CAC documents were just to meet the criteria for registration.
When do you intend to do the right thing? Are you even considering it?
If you really want to go big and build a sustainable company, think about these things and ACT.
DOING BUSINESS WITH PARTNERS
THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS.
Chief Consultant
Mapemond Limited
UNDERSTANDING BUSINESS STRUCTURE
On structuring your business, there are a number of things to consider, but we will present just an overview.
Structure is one of the fundamental differences between being self-employed and owning a business.
In self-employment, the business is totally dependent on you. The business needs your constant presence to function. Decisions cannot be taken without you. Procurement can’t happen without you. Business is just a hustle.
In being a business owner, you create a system around the business so that it can keep running even in your absence. You can even resign or move on to other things and the business will keep running so long as there is good management in place.
So how is a structure set up?
First, you have to outline all that needs to be happening in the business for it to run effectively and profitably.
That then leads to the need for people who will get the outlined things done in an effective manner. The higher the quality of people you employ the better.
These people won’t be moving in various directions or doing what they want, they have to be aligned to what you want for the business.
Therefore, there should be clear instructions for each person (job description), performance appraisal (key performance indicators), and penalties (policies et al).
There also has to be clear reporting lines for each officer with you at the helm of affairs CEO.
However, even you need to report to someone and be put in check. Hence the need for a board of directors (for limited liability company) or an advisory board (for business name or yet to be registered business).
You will have to someday leave the position of CEO for someone else to take over, but you can move on to be the Board Chairman if you like or just a founding director.
Note that for each position you create, you also have to vest the needed power into that position without micro-managing. The business account will need other signatories. There should be other decision-makers at different levels and so on. There should be a succession plan for each officer that exits the business.
There are many more things in between but we hope that this gives us a good perspective on what structuring a business is really about.
#DoBusinessBetter
WHEN WILL YOUR SMALL BUSINESS STOP BEING SMALL?
Do you look forward to seeing your business exit the small business stage?
What needs to happen for your business to stop being a small business?
Can you handle your business becoming a company?
Look at your business, do you really have other executive officers?