Download Chapter/ Interest Group: Nigeria (Country Name) Chapter Lead

Chapter/ Interest Group: Nigeria (Country Name)
Chapter Lead: Kemi Ogunyemi
General Statement to describe HM related activities in 2015:
Business meeting and Knowledge café events were held in the months of November and December
2015 respectively.
The purpose of the Business meeting was to network with other members (old and new); share
information on humanistic management research, practice and policy in Nigeria; discuss the plans
for a knowledge café event on December 1; as well as brainstorm/plan events for 2016.
The purpose of the Knowledge Café on the other hand, was to deepen and enrich members'
understanding of the Network; share information about activities of other chapters, conceive a draft
strategic plan for the Nigerian chapter; and network with one another. Michael Pirson, the global
lead for HMN, joined us via Skype to share his perspectives about the ideals of the Network and the
Nigerian chapter.
Please find below the highlights from both events.
Business Meeting
The meeting took place on Thursday, 19th November, 2015. It had four main sessions which were: a
brief about what HMN stands for; information sharing on humanistic management research,
practice, policy and media in Nigeria; brainstorming/planning session on events for 2016; and a
planning session for a knowledge café event on December 1.
During the first session, attendees were enlightened about what HMN stands for, how it aims to
achieve its goals, the people who can be a part of the network, and the contact details and social
media profiles of the Nigerian chapter of the network.
The information sharing session saw attendees discuss about practices such as the kind of
‘workplace heroism’ that manifests as over-dedication to work and its negative impact on the worklife balance of employees and HM practices within organisations. A number of possible research
questions around this discussion were proposed for the Research working group to explore. For the
Practice working group, there were discussions about ways in which membership to the Network
can be increased, about ranking corporate entities according to their practice of humanistic
management, and about a possible index for this ranking. There was a vibrant exchange of ideas on
how the Policy working group could help policy makers to be more conscious of targeting outcomes
conducive to human well-being, and the possibility of meeting with individuals in either the public
or private sector or both who appear committed to the ideals of HMN. Lastly, for the Media
working group, an initiative to collect stories of HM practices and publish these stories on the social
media profiles of the Chapter was the most interesting to everyone.
During the brainstorming session for 2016 events, the attendees expressed interest in committing to
various activities such as research, membership drive for the network, and policy dialogue with
relevant stakeholders in Nigeria; while the events suggested to take place in 2016 include seminars,
networking sessions and training workshops for members on humanistic management.
Lastly, it was suggested that the agenda for the knowledge café event should be focused on
providing attendees with a deeper understanding of the HMN’s ideals.
Knowledge Café
The event took place on Thursday, 10th December, 2015, and attracted people from various
professions including HR practitioners, business owners, academics, and the media.
The meeting had four main sessions which were: gaining a shared understanding of HMN; learning
from Michael Pirson about his perspectives on HMN ideals and the Nigerian chapter; learning about
the activities of other HMN chapters; and a session on the strategic plan and structure for the
Nigerian chapter.
In the first session, attendees were asked to discuss their opinions, thoughts and suggestions on
what they understood about and expected from the Network. Everyone agreed that all humans
especially in the workplace be treated with dignity regardless of their position in the organisation.
Michael Pirson joined the event via Skype in the second session. He shared his perspectives about
the ideals of the Network and the Nigerian chapter. He also discussed his motivation for starting the
Network which stemmed mostly from clearly seeing the need to shift from an economistic paradigm
to a more humanistic one. According to him, “the two most important notions which make up the
paradigm are human dignity and human well-being”. When humans are treated with dignity, it has a
ripple effect on the economy. He therefore enjoined all chapters to seek to amplify these principles
at the national level.
During the third session, attendees were taken on a virtual tour of the activities of chapters around
the world.
The highlight of this event was the strategic planning session where participants were asked to bring
up different issues (within organisations, in the country and for individuals) which are perceived as
challenges to the humanistic paradigm and human well-being in general. Areas such as access to and
quality of healthcare, poverty, local content policies, corruption and integrity were mentioned. The
session ended with an encouragement to participants to continue thinking through other areas which
need this change and paradigmatic shift, and contribute their perspectives to the evolving strategic
plan.