The Reward and Recognition Policy Should be Sustained to Create Healthy Competition Among Staff - James Friday
CCD: Can we have your brief profile Sir?
JI: I am James Ikedichi Friday, an indigene of Benue state, a graduate of Economics from Benue State University Makurdi. I did my one year compulsory National Youth Service Programme with the Research Department of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Lagos Branch in 2009. I got my first post graduation job with Guinness Nigeria Plc, as a distributor admin clerk in 2012. I worked in different capacity with the Company before joining Kaduna Electric in 2015 as a Sales Representative. Presently I am the Kakuri Service Centre Manager under Makera Regional Office.
CCD: Tell us what it is like supervising a Service Centre?
JI: I see it as a privileged to serve the Company in this capacity as a Service Centre Manager. Though It has never being an easy task supervising your colleagues and friends, but it only takes humility, tolerance, patience and understanding to be able to get the best out of my subordinate and get the office up and going.
CCD: What do you consider as the challenging part of supervising people and managing customers?
JI: Being a supervisor may appear to be an easy job that requires one to only gives instruction to his subordinate but this is not the case, as a supervisor, I faces a lot of challenges in running the affairs of the Service Centre effectively. For instance, my superior may require an urgent report from me and I need inputs for the report from my subordinate and that at same subordinate happened to be my good friend, he may not understand the urgency of that report and failure to meet deadline attract a query for me as the supervisor so, I am in a fix because query awaits me and my friend is not responding; it is a big challenge and also the medium of communication between me and my subordinate often pose some challenges. However, most time I fine a common ground for effective communication for work to move forward.
CCD: What is your total customer population and their classification?
JI: Our total customers population is Seven thousand four hundred and fifty five, Total post-paid customers is One Thousand eight hundred and ninety one, while total prepaid customers are five thousand five hundred and sixty four.
JI: I am James Ikedichi Friday, an indigene of Benue state, a graduate of Economics from Benue State University Makurdi. I did my one year compulsory National Youth Service Programme with the Research Department of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Lagos Branch in 2009. I got my first post graduation job with Guinness Nigeria Plc, as a distributor admin clerk in 2012. I worked in different capacity with the Company before joining Kaduna Electric in 2015 as a Sales Representative. Presently I am the Kakuri Service Centre Manager under Makera Regional Office.
CCD: Tell us what it is like supervising a Service Centre?
JI: I see it as a privileged to serve the Company in this capacity as a Service Centre Manager. Though It has never being an easy task supervising your colleagues and friends, but it only takes humility, tolerance, patience and understanding to be able to get the best out of my subordinate and get the office up and going.
CCD: What do you consider as the challenging part of supervising people and managing customers?
JI: Being a supervisor may appear to be an easy job that requires one to only gives instruction to his subordinate but this is not the case, as a supervisor, I faces a lot of challenges in running the affairs of the Service Centre effectively. For instance, my superior may require an urgent report from me and I need inputs for the report from my subordinate and that at same subordinate happened to be my good friend, he may not understand the urgency of that report and failure to meet deadline attract a query for me as the supervisor so, I am in a fix because query awaits me and my friend is not responding; it is a big challenge and also the medium of communication between me and my subordinate often pose some challenges. However, most time I fine a common ground for effective communication for work to move forward.
CCD: What is your total customer population and their classification?
JI: Our total customers population is Seven thousand four hundred and fifty five, Total post-paid customers is One Thousand eight hundred and ninety one, while total prepaid customers are five thousand five hundred and sixty four.
CCD: One tough challenge facing the company is poor collection, what is your contribution to that?
JI: Well, poor collection has being a major challenge to the Company as of today, even though from our end we are doing our best to achieve 70% to 85% collection of our given target. The Company has to first engage in human capital development, pro-active investments and preventive maintenance of all the networks and installations of the Company.
The Company also have to do more in community engagement and public awareness about electricity, people should know electricity is not free, it doesn’t belong to the government and when you pay your bills, it help the company to serve you better; reward and recognition for Staff that are outstanding to create healthy competition within the system. I think by so doing, collection in itself will automatically begin to take a new shape for good.
CCD: What are you doing in terms of relationship management with staff and customers as well?
JI: I have good relationship with my staff over time, though we usually have our difference but then I give room for constructive criticism to my leadership style as long as it is to the interest of the Company. And for the customers in my services centre, I enjoy good relationship with our host community through our engagement mechanism with the heads of the community and the locals which has reduce harassment to our staffs when carrying out their lawful duties. I also try as much as I can to listen to all customers that have complaints or letters address to my table, I make sure I proffer immediate solution to their complaints. I also go out of my way to check the registered complaints to make sure that the engineers attends to all the customers complaints of the previous day. We try as much as we can to give quick response to our customers complaints because by doing that the customer gain our confidence and he/she will be satisfied at the end of the day.
On the Company’s career progression, I think I am on the right part in my career growth because I love what I am doing right now and the position I currently occupy owing to the fact that I started as a Sales Rep and today I am a Supervisor’ one thing I know for sure is that with dedication and hard work sky will surely be my starting point.
CCD: What would you consider as your major achievement as a Supervisor?
JI: I have been able to improve my Service Centre collection for post-paid customers from 4 Million Naira as at last year August when I took over to 7 Million Naira as at today. I also increase the customers’ base by 15% owning to the fact that the service centre is already saturated.
JI: I have been able to improve my Service Centre collection for post-paid customers from 4 Million Naira as at last year August when I took over to 7 Million Naira as at today. I also increase the customers’ base by 15% owning to the fact that the service centre is already saturated.
CCD: Any appeal or suggestions to staff or management?
JI: Frequent training and re-training of staff by Management, improve welfare package to meet up with standard of the electricity sector.
JI: Frequent training and re-training of staff by Management, improve welfare package to meet up with standard of the electricity sector.
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