Working from home provides flexibility and motivation, says outgoing MTN Ghana CEO Selorm Adadevoh

In an engaging event held today at MTN House in Accra titled "Time with Selorm," the outgoing Chief Executive Officer of MTN Ghana, Selorm Adadevoh, shared insights on the company's approach to remote work and its impact on staff motivation.

During the event, Mr. Adadevoh discussed the hybrid work system that was implemented groupwide during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

He highlighted the flexibility it provided, allowing employees to work two days in the office and three days from home, based on agreements with their managers.

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Mr. Adadevoh said the cost savings associated with working from home, pointing out the significant expenses incurred by employees commuting to the office daily. He acknowledged the challenges posed by the rising external environment and stressed the importance of adapting to changes.

The CEO underscored the positive impact of remote work on encouraging diversity and achieving gender balance within the workforce. He noted that the flexibility offered by the hybrid system contributed to a sense of normalcy and significantly motivated team members.

Reflecting on the lessons learned after implementing the hybrid work model, Adadevoh highlighted the improved performance of the business and the heightened sense of responsibility among employees. 

He addressed concerns about productivity, citing positive trends in productivity numbers shared towards the end of the previous year.

Adadevoh commended the management capabilities and style that evolved to effectively handle the challenges of the hybrid system, ensuring continued improvement in productivity. He expressed satisfaction with the overall benefits gained from the initiative, including positive feedback from staff.

The outgoing CEO concluded that, from a business standpoint, MTN Ghana has not sacrificed performance but has gained valuable benefits in terms of motivation and flexibility for its staff.

Below is a transcript of his comments on remote work at MTN;

"So, the hybrid system was a groupwide system during COVID. During the lockdown of course we had to adhere to the local lockdown rules but after lockdown, each market was allowed to explore working two days in the office and three days from home. Of course, you had to agree on these things with your manager.

"What we have found since then, honestly there are a lot of learnings. You talk about balance when it comes to the workplace and just how you achieve balance.

"The amount of money it costs to come into work every day is significant and like I said the external environment has gone up and we can't increase everything at the same rate as the external environment. So, working from home gives people flexibility. 

"We talk about encouraging diversity at work and gender balance... That flexibility allows a sense of normalcy or at least it approaches a sense of normalcy that results in a significant motivation for our team members.

"People really appreciate the flexibility it gives them. Something we learnt after implementing this and the performance of the business and the responsibility people have taken has reinforced the importance of these types of initiatives.

"I know there are different schools of thought around productivity and all that type of stuff. If we look at our productivity numbers, at least what we shared towards the end of last year, our productivity continues to go up. Now this is not only as a result of the hybrid system but also our management capabilities and our management style has also improved over time dealing with the hybrid system to ensure that our productivity continues to go up. For me this is a great thing for the business from that standpoint, I don't think we have given up anything in terms of business performance but we have gained a lot from the benefits and the motivation and the flexibility that it allows our staff and the feedback we get has been extremely positive".