KADUNA ELECTRIC FRONTLINE DECEMBER EDITION

The Quality of Leadership Determines the Level of Staff Motivation - Musa Usman

In general term, we must take full ownership of the business and seek the buy-in of all critical stakeholders. We must be on the same page with our customers, the government, traditional and religious institutions, regulatory bodies and the general public; we must make them understand why certain actions and decisions are necessary for the betterment of the sector. This way, all will play their expected roles. 

                                            Musa Usman Area Manager, Rigasa Area Office   

 

CCD: Let’s begin by sharing your thoughts on the business performance of the Company now especially as regard to your Area Office?

MU: To answer your question, let us compare the time I assumed office and three months after. At the time I arrived Rigasa Area Office, the average monthly energy being delivered to the Area Office by TCN was about 1308229.67 kwh which in monetary terms amounted to NGN 343, 818, 116 and on the average, our collection doesn’t normally exceed NGN 128, 267, 201. However, three months after my assumption, the energy provided by TCN dropped to the average of 10952834 kwh which is equivalent to NGN 288,826,232. Interestingly, our collection increases to an average of NGN 154, 891,455 which translates to whooping increase of collection by 37.3 percent of the previous collection.
 

In addition, when I came in, our average customer response rate was 14,564. However, 3 months after my assumption, the rate has increased to an average 20826. In other words, there is a 11.59 percent increase in average customer response rate and collection efficiency 16.32 %.
 

CCD: What is the key area(s) the Rigasa Area Office is paying or going to pay  urgent and serious attention to under your leadership?
 

MU:   -      Integrity

Enhance cash collection

-         Reduce ATC&C loses

-         Improve customer population coverage.

These four areas are what we, and shall continue to focus our attention on. We believe they provides the answers to most of the challenges facing the Company today.
 

CCD: There is a school of thought that argued that the commitment of the staff to given assignments is barely above average, do you share similar concern and in your assessment, why is a cross section of the workers showing little enthusiasm?
 

MU: I personally do not subscribe to this school of thought. My philosophy and personal experience have always been staff motivation depends on the leadership and management style of the heads. Against this background, our team comprises of variety of staff whose motivation differs from one another. Nonetheless, there are segment of staff with low morale due to lack reskilling and upskilling in which we are currently embarking on upgrading their skills. We shall leave no stone unturned in our effort to bridge whatever gap observed.
 

CCD: The Management recently re-deployed some staff from Head Office to re-enforce Marketing and Revenue Assurance sections at Area Offices, what is your take on this decision? Company’s ATC&C status?  
 

MU: For us, this is a welcome development since their coming provides additional manpower reinforcement. This additional manpower allows us to improve our cash collection. Prior to their deployment, a single sales representative in some clusters usually covers 1200 customers which under ideal circumstances has exceeded the required threshold of 350 customers. However, with their presence, the pressure and workload of these sales representatives have been reduced.
 

CCD: Let look at the business aspect, how is your Area Office faring in terms of collection vis-a-vis the target?
 

MU: On the average, we can argue that there is little improvement compared to the time we assumed office.
 

CCD: The figure does not seem to be heart-warming so far this month, what do you think need to be done to reverse the trend for better?
     

  MU: Awareness campaign and advocacy

-         Community engagement

-         Staff dedication

-         Surveillance for illegal connections

-         Reduce ATC&C loses
 

In general term, we must take full ownership of the business and seek the buy-in of all critical stakeholders. We must be on the same page with our customers, the government, traditional and religious institutions, regulatory bodies and the general public; we must make them understand why certain actions and decisions are necessary for the betterment of the sector. This way, all will play their expected roles.
 

CCD: Having been on the saddle for months, what are the most challenging aspects of your assignment as an Area Manager?
 

 MU: Ability to meet up with monthly collection targets, incessant meter tempering and bypass as well as pockets of vandalism. As I said earlier, we must operate on the same frequency with our customers to address these anomalies. Perhaps out of ignorance, some customers see these misnomers as a plus not knowing that it is a big minus to their desire to have qualitative service.
 

CCD: Is there any help or intervention you need from the higher Management?
 

  MU: -     Additional operational vehicles

-         Automating operation such as meter monitoring dashboard, system operation dashboard

-         Skilling, reskilling and upskilling of operational staff
 

CCD: How about meter tampering/bypass and illegal connection, how are these twin-evils affecting the performance of the Area Office?
 

MU: It decreases cash collections and increases technical and commercial loses. It also hampers our ability to meet the monthly collection target and reduces our confidence on our customers. We working hard to strengthen our monitoring mechanism so as to reduce the twin-evils, as you put it, to the barest minimum.
 

CCD: There are some customers that are not responding to payment of their bills which also contributes to our losses, what do you think is the cause of this poor customers response and what are you doing to reverse the trend?
 

MU: The causes include:

-         late bill production; If bills are produced early, the distribution might commence earlier

-         outrageous bills for few customers; Reduction of outrageous bill by emphasizing critical review on the prebilling input sent to the regional office

-         lack of customer coverage by sales reps due to over population per cluster; More staff were redeployed to area office from headquarters to help the existing sales representatives to cover the entire clusters
 

CCD: In a few words, who is Musa Usman and what brings out the best out of him?
 

MU:  I am a promising young man who believes in bringing out best in humans  and leaving an indelible mark and legacy for others to benefit. I am a firm believer of teamwork.