Employee well-being key to organisational success — Legal expert

The Managing Partner of Kimathi and Partners, Kimathi Kuenyehia, has said that for any organisation to succeed, it must take cognizance of its employees' well-being by adopting a thoughtful approach to foster a positive workplace culture.

Speaking at the University of Ghana’s annual convention of Alumni in industry in Accra yesterday, he said achieving an exceptional operational performance was not just about drafting governance strategies for workers but ensuring that those strategies aligned with values such as integrity and reliability.

“So, if you are a company and you are a leader in an organisation and you say you will pay salary on the 24th, but you always pay it on the 7th of the following month, it's going to be very difficult for people to obey the things you have stated in your document.

“So, my general view has been that we go back to the values we used to call  traditional values but I think they are very universal values. If you're keeping your word, you don't have to worry about governance strategies,” he said.

He further underscored the need for organisations to move towards a value-oriented environment to enable them to implement effectively their governance strategies.

“I think what helps you implement what we call governance is not the nice documents, it is not the things you see, it is not the speeches you make, but it is a values-oriented organisation.

Once you have that in place, you don't even have to worry about governance,” he stated.

Event

The University of Ghana Alumni in Industry Convention brought together graduates of the university who are now working in various sectors and the current students.

Industry experts shared practical strategies for dismantling departmental barriers and fostering cross-functional teamwork.

It featured panel discussions and presentations on various topics, with Mr Kuenyehia’s theme focusing on “Leading at every level: Ensuring effective strategy execution and operational excellence”.

Mr Kuenyehia, the Oxford and Harvard alumnus with world-class legal expertise and deep passion for entrepreneurship, and ethical leadership, shared his firm's approach to recruitment, which involved extensive assessments to ensure candidates aligned with organisational values, thus preventing nepotism.

He added that, for instance, people seeking employment opportunities to his law firm would have to write at least 12 essays on different aspects of their lives before landing a job.

That, he said, did not only prevent nepotism but created a system where only the right people joined the firm which had advised many international businesses looking to invest in Ghana.

“What that has done is that it has prevented us from recruiting people who really don't want to be in the firm or who really don't want to work very hard in the firm,” the legal practitioner, who is also the President of the American Chamber of Commerce-Ghana, said.

Commitment

The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Professor Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, reaffirmed the university's commitment to lifelong learning and strategic leadership, encouraging alumni to engage actively in shaping the future of the institution.

“Join us as we continue to build a university that remains relevant to national and global development," she said.

She further called for continued fundraising efforts to support key university initiatives, particularly in areas such as human resources and student financial aid.