MEET THE STAFF SERIES

 

The Management is Adopting Continuous Training Strategy to Bridge Competency Gaps- Sani Abubakar Shanono

 

CCD: Can you briefly tell us about yourself?                                   SAS: My Name is Sani Abubakar Shanono. I am a graduate of Mechanical Engineering. I am currently working in Corporate Services Department under Learning and Development Section of HR Unit.

CCD: Can you share with us your primary responsibilities?   

 SAS :My primary responsibilities as a Learning & Development Officer include:

i-    Conducting training needs analysis to identify the knowledge and skills gaps in the Company and designing training programs to address them.

ii-    Developing training materials, including presentations, e-learning courses, videos, and job aids, that are engaging, interactive, and effective.

iii-    Supporting employee development by creating career development plans, providing coaching and mentoring, and offering opportunities for job rotations and cross-training.

iv-    Keeping an up-to-date record of the latest trends and developments in learning and development and applying them to improve the effectiveness of training programs.

In summary, the primary responsibility of L&D Section is to provide employees with the knowledge, skills, and competencies they need to perform their jobs effectively and achieve their career goal.

CCD: How do you ensure the Core Values of the Company are maintained by Staff?

SAS: By providing continuous training and development programmes as well as opportunities that reinforce the Company's core values. This can be done through leadership development programmes, team-building activities, or even regular performance feedback sessions.

CCD: Do you have any suggestions or strategy on how to improve the capacity of workforce in particular and the performance of HR Unit and Kaduna Electric at large?  

SAS: Focus on employee development: This includes providing training and development opportunities, offering career growth opportunities. Employees who feel valued and supported in their career development are more likely to be motivated and put in their best in their respective work, leading to greater productivity and improved performance.

i-    Enhance communication and inter and intra departmental collaboration. Kaduna Electric can improve communication by implementing regular check-ins and feedback mechanisms, providing clear and transparent communication about goals, objectives, expectations, and fostering a culture of open communication and synergy among the various units and departments. By working together effectively, employees can better understand the Company's objectives and work more efficiently towards achieving them.

ii-    Encourage innovation and creativity by recognizing and rewarding employee contributions, and fostering sense of belonging. A positive company culture can lead to higher employee engagement, better performance, and increased customer satisfaction.

CCD: What do you think is the most challenging aspect of HR management?  

SAS:  Managing employee relations: HR departments must handle various employee issues, such as disputes, grievances, conflicts, and resolve them in a fair and consistent manner. HR must ensure that the organization complies with various employment laws and regulations, such as anti-discrimination laws, wage and labour laws, and safety regulations. The HR departments must also develop and implement policies and procedures that promote a positive workplace culture while also protecting the interests of the Company.

CCD: Any appeal or suggestion to staff or management?

SAS: i-   There is need for effective Communication and continuous employee engagement: Effective communication is essential for a healthy and productive work environment. The Management should encourage open and transparent communication between employees and Management, and make sure that all employees feel heard and valued. Providing regular training and development opportunities can help employees acquire new skills and stay engaged and motivated.

ii-    Flexibility: Consider offering flexible work arrangements, such as telecommuting or flexible schedules, to help staff achieve a better work-life balance. Acknowledge and reward employees for their hard work and achievements.

iii-    Create policies and practices that promote diversity and inclusivity.

 

Kaduna Electric Frontline March Edition

We Target 800,000 Customers Increase in Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara States - Regional Chief, Sokoto.

CCD: Good day Sir, you were recently elevated to the position of Regional Chief assigned to head the operations department in Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara States, how do you see your role as the Regional Chief in that axis?

MR. Sunday: Thank you very much. Sokoto as a Zone is headed by a Regional Chief and is made up of Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara Regions in these three States.  The first thing I want to say about these locations is that they have huge untapped opportunity for Kaduna Electric business. The three States have a total of 58 Local Governments and a combined population of over 16 million people according to the projected census figures of 2019. If you assume 10 people per household and 50% access to our service, you are looking at a potential customer population of about 800,000. In our database for the three States, we barely have 200,000. This represents a huge potential in terms of business growth of about 4 times of what we have now.

The Zone also consumes between 35-38% of Kaduna Electric power monthly, collecting this money represents another area of opportunity for Kaduna Electric. This is so that we can meet our obligations to the Nigerian Electricity Market and contribute our quota to market stability.  Our area is also vast and is expanding and more and more people are requesting access to our services, which also represents another area of opportunity. We also have to look at a place like Kebbi State where a lot of rice mills with potential for large energy off take are springing up as a result of the nearness to the raw material. This also represents another opportunity for Kaduna Electric to maximize it revenue.

Right now, we are having loss levels of up to 80% and sometimes above that, that’s another potential area for growth by way of loss reduction.

So, to directly answer your question, my role as Regional Chief in a nutshell is to harness all of Kaduna Electric’s human and material resources for greater operational productivity, reduction in aggregate technical, commercial and collection (ATC&C) losses as well as greater customer satisfaction.

CCD: You are not new to Sokoto axis just as you are not new to operations activities of the Company, what shall be your priority?

MR. Sunday: My biggest priority is ATC&C loss reduction, especially the commercial and collection losses that we have direct control over. The kind of losses we experience here are unheard of in this industry, so we will be working together with the team to achieve greater operational efficiency.

CCD: Commercial and collection losses have been a serious challenge to the Company; leveraging on your experiences, why has the problem remained an unsurmountable challenge, what do we need to do to address these teething problems?

MR. Sunday: Thank you very much, for commercial losses our approach will be two-fold, the first is reduction in energy theft through vigorous and thorough enforcement activities. By energy theft, we mean those who connect directly to our line without any bill or record on our billing system. We also mean those who have prepaid meters and have abandoned or bypass the prepaid meters. In other cases, we have those who have tampered with the meters, in all of these, we intend to strengthen our enforcement and disconnection activities to be able to match these vices. The second approach is metering. Metering is a capital-intensive venture and considering the finances of the Company, we will do it in such a way as to optimize the benefit to the Company. We want to ensure that customers are metered and are vending as at when due to protect the Company’s revenue.

For the collection losses, we are closely monitoring the activities of our SR’s, SCM and AMs to ensure that they meet their daily collection targets as well as deploying technology through third party vendors with mobile payment devices as collection agents to provide greater convenience to our teeming customers.

CCD: The National Mass Metering Programme and Meter Asset Providers Scheme have led to the deployment of reasonable number of meters into our network, this include Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara States, how or what are the effects these programmes have on our business?

MR. Sunday: For the National Mass Metering Programme, that was Government’s intervention in the sector to ensure that customers are metered. In the concluded phase zero, Kaduna Electric was not allocated a lot of meters. As a result of the little allocation to Kaduna Electric, what came to this Zone was not much. However, we have been able to deploy them in such a way that it gives us maximum benefits as well as customer satisfaction

For MAP, we are still facing a lot of push back by customers who believe they can wait for the free government meters. However, we are pushing for greater adoption and penetration into our areas. Right now, we have carried out a lot of road shows and sensitization programmes on the benefits of customers being metered through MAP. We also encourage those who are building their houses, to get metered through MAP. I mean, why would someone spend 20-30 million to build a house and tell you they cannot afford 120 thousand for a meter?

CCD: How can we further improve our performance in this regard?

MR. Sunday: We need to do a lot of enlightenment on the need for customers to take advantage of these two schemes to get themselves metered.  We also want to ensure that the timelines set of these projects are met by our team to give it more credibility and further enhanced our esteemed customers’ confidence on the process.

CCD: Let look at energy theft and meter tampering, how bad are the situations in your axis and what strategy do you have in place to checkmate it?

MR. Sunday: The situation is really bad around here. We have over 3,000 meters that have been abandoned and the customers converted to billing on capping.  We see cases of people actually going inside meters to tamper with the circuitry, we also have cases of customers with prepaid meters who abandon their meters at night and hook the line to enjoy energy they will not pay for. So, we want to use this opportunity to appeal to members of the public to desist from such unholy and criminal acts. Electricity is now a commodity that needs to be paid for and people should ensure that they are paying for their electricity to enable us serve them better. We also have some unscrupulous elements going round telling our customers that they can help ‘reduce the speed’ of the meters. We are working with law enforcement agents to track them down and have them face the law.

CCD: We believe that part of your KPIs is to improve the operational efficiency of the Company in the 3 states, what specific tasks, directive or instructions do you have for the Regional and Area Managers to drive home the Managements vision and mission?

MR. Sunday: We have a lot of things lined up towards improvement of operational efficiency; one of them is training and re-training of our staff. The need to build the capacity of our staff to deliver cannot be overemphasized. In this light, we held our first ever Zonal retreat for all management staff across the three States earlier in the year in Sokoto. Another thing is that we are doing our best to ensure they have the tools to do their job. In this regard, we must commend the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Company, Engr. Yusuf Usman Yahaya and his Management team for their support at all times. Another thing we will be doing is constant community engagements to let people know the changes going on in NESI. We are also working aimed at putting a robust reward system that recognizes hard work and result. We are working towards becoming a merit driven organization.

CCD: The importance of synergy and inter-departmental collaborations cannot be over emphasized, how can we ensure that all Departments and Units in the company supports each other and work towards a common goal?

MR. Sunday: In Operations, we interface directly with Technical Service, Commercial as well as Finance. In all of these, we have tried to put structures in place to engender seamless operations. There is only one Kaduna Electric and we encourage a lot of cross departmental collaborations to enable us work towards a common goal.

CCD: Assuming your given an opportunity to talk to the staff in Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara Axis, what will be your message to them?

MR. Sunday: My message to them is to quickly board the change train that is driving the new Kaduna Electric. We cannot be doing the same thing over and over again and expect a different set of results. My message to them is to put in the hard work that is required to turn around the fortunes of this Company; to be honest and dedicated and innovative as we move into the next phase of our existence as a Company.

CCD: Who is Mr. Sunday O. Yahaya and what brings out the best in him?

MR. Sunday: Sunday Yahaya is just a simple man who wants to contribute his own quota to the resolution of the long-standing electricity issue plaguing us. Challenges brings out the best in me. I’m never want to run away from a challenge, I tend to face it head on and expect nothing but victory.

 

  

KADUNA ELECTRIC NEWSLETTER MARCH 2ND EDITION

2023 IWD: Female Staff of Kaduna Electric Charged to Embrace Technology for Career Development.

The Company Secretary/Legal Adviser of Kaduna Electric, Dr. Maryam Shehu Mohammed, has charged female staff of the Company to leverage on the countless opportunities provided by technology to advance their careers and personal skills.

Dr. Maryam Mohammed made the admonition yesterday during a round table meeting organized by the Organizational Development and Design Unit for all the female staff to commemorate this year’s International Women’s Day.

According to her, the theme of this year’s celebration, “Digital: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equity”, could not come at a more appropriate time and therefore challenge her female counterparts to strive hard to acquire new skills and develop their capacities.

“Improve yourselves, amplify your voice, know your art and skills always grab up to your opportunities, be assertive enough to know your right and earn your credit I believed with that you can be better than where you are now” she said.

She also congratulated and appreciated the achievements recorded by some female staff of the Company who were recently elevated to Executive Management position and other senior Management positions recently and called on them to go the extra miles to achieve the impossible things.   

“I will say we are winning the war looking at the percentage of women in leadership position in this company two years back, progress is obviously being made just with position of Engr. Asma’u Ahmed as the Chief Marketing and Revenue Assurance, the number of female Area Managers, Creche among although not as rapidly but we believe we will be where we want to be”, Dr. Maryam Mohammed asserted.

In his goodwill message, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, Engr. Yusuf Usman Yahaya, congratulated the female staff of the Company in particular and the entire women folk and described women as pillars of support to men and God’s greatest blessing to humanity.

He assured the female workers of the Company of the determination of the Management under his leadership to provide conducive working environment and equitable opportunities that will enable the women folk excel in their work.

“Without a doubt, we have modest gains in providing a workplace environment where our womenfolk can thrive. I remember joining my predecessor to launch the creche on my first day here. That was an indication of our desire to ensure that our nursing colleagues have a safe place for their babies and piece of my mind while at work. Our gender policy has also become fully operational. Proof of this is in the rising number of females currently occupying leadership roles at different levels”.

“At Kaduna Electric, we shall continue to encourage women to aspire to greater heights in their careers. We shall provide them with training opportunities to upscale and hone their skills to become the best in their field. I encourage you all to endeavor to join professional bodies and associations where you will be abreast of latest trends and acquire the relevant certifications for personal and career growth”.

I thank the organizers of this event which I learnt has been running for the past three years. I encourage you to keep the momentum. You have my full support” he said.

The Head, OD&D, Adeola Akanni appreciated all the women in the Company and charged them to brace up and face the challenges as their male counterpart.

 

Airforce Appeals for More Power Supply

The Regional Chief, Sokoto Region, Mr. Sunday Yahaya, has reiterated the role of distribution companies in the electricity value chain, stressing that DISCOs are responsible for distribution of electricity generated and transmitted by generation and Transmission companies respectively.

He made this clarification when he paid a courtesy visit to Air Commodore Ekele Steven Odekina, the Commander, 119 Composite Group, Nigerian Airforce, Sokoto.

Mr. Sunday Yahaya further listed the challenges of power generation in the country and explained the value Chain of how electricity supply emanates

North withstanding, he assured the Airforce Commander that Kaduna Electric will give priority of electricity supply to the Airforce.

The Regional Chief kaduna Electric, Sokoto region highlighted how electricity is crucial to security and economy.

Mr. Yahaya though, appreciate the efforts of the Air force in settling their electricity bill, he however encourages them to do more promptly, he said the only thing that guarantee power supply is prompt payment of electricity bills by the customers.

In his response, the Commander, 119 Composite Group, Nigeria Airforce, Sokoto Air commodore Ekele Stevan Odekina thanked the Regional Chief for the visit.

While appreciating the cordial relationship between the Airforce and Kaduna Electric, Air Commodore Odekina solicited for more supply of electricity to the Airforce quarters at Mana area.

Air Commodore Odekina assured that the Airforce will not relent in settling their electricity bill as at when due.

 

MEET THE STAFF SERIES

 We Need to Narrow the Gap Between us and our Customers Through Continuous Engagements- Rilwanu Ahmad Gulma

 

CCD: Briefly tell us more about yourself?

 RAG: My name is Rilwanu Ahmad Gulma. I am currently the Service Center Manager, GRA KBI Service Center, Kebbi Central Area Office.

CCD: You have been Service Center Manager GRA Birnin Kebbi for a while, what did your job role entails?

CCD: My job role is to represent the Management at the Services Center, and also to supervise all business activities in the Service Center; to provide the necessary leadership to my colleagues in the service Centre so as to maximize productivity in our daily operations so as to get sustainable growth in the overall performance of the business at the service center.

CCD: What are the challenges so far?

RAG: The challenges in the operations all goes to the economy of the country. It is indeed difficult to carry out any business especially the nature of our business in such situation. Regulations challenges etc.

CCD: What are your plans in making sure those challenges are minimized?

RAG: My plans are to engage my team on both personal and professional development, I believe in knowledge as the fundamental of any development. Customer engagements we need to narrow down the gap between us and our customers, so as to ensure consistency in response to payment of bills, HRB load assessment for appropriate billing and payments. Debt recovery among others.

CCD: Collection and performance are one of the key areas in our business, what are your plans in making sure the performance of your Service Center is improved?

RAG: There are so many practical measures we are working with to ensure sustainable growth. We are on key customers enumeration and segmentation, and also to prevent customers skipping monthly bills payments.

CCD: What support do you require from the Management of the Company in meeting up with your targets?

RAG: The Management should intensify trainings, also there should be adequate logistics for the operations.

CCD: Any word of advice to the staff in general?

RAG: There are a lot of opportunities for personal and professional devolvement I am advising my colleagues to try and utilize those opportunities. Continues learning, is a tool that can make us better personals every day.

 

 

KADUNA ELECTRIC NEWS LETTER MARCH 1ST EDITION

 

Kebbi Regional Manager Engages Electricity Stakeholders in Yauri, Kebbi South

The Regional Manager, Kebbi Region, Mr. Gaddafi Saminaka has called on leaders of thought and other critical Stakeholders in Yauri, Kebbi State to educate their wards on the importance of timely settlement of electricity bills.

He made the appeal when in Yauri recently during stakeholders’ engagement held at Kebbi South Area Office where all the electricity committees within the Area attended.

Mr. Gaddafi stated that the aim of the engagement is to bring all concerned to tune with the reality of the Nigerian Electricity Industry and enlighten the customers on the operations of Kaduna Electric and also discuss issues of common interests.

According to him, “It is pertinent to know that Kaduna Electric as a participant in the Nigerian Electricity Market, we buy energy and distributes to our customers; as such, it is expected that we collect the full cost of energy supplied and remit same to the Market and Yauri is not an exception”.

“Our operations depend on the revenue generated from our customers, your prompt response to bills payment is therefore very essential to the sustenance of our operations”, he further stated.

The Regional Manager craved the indulgence of the critical stakeholders in Yauri for attitudinal change by the electricity consuming public towards payments of bills to enable the Company to continue to deliver efficient service.

In his response, the Chairman of Yauri Emirate Council Electricity Committee, Alhaji Sarkin Fawa thanked the Regional Manager and his team for providing a forum for the customers to meet with the service provider and discuss issues of importance.

He expressed satisfaction with the measures taken by the Company to ensure sustenance of service delivery and promised to disseminate issues discussed down to the community leaders.

“We will not relent in our efforts to continue to support Kaduna Electric in its operations, as I am optimistic that this will yield positive results for the betterment of all us”, he said.

Kebbi Regional Manager Visits to Controller, Nigerian Correctional Service.

In his efforts to reduce the debt profile of the Kebbi Regional Office, Mr. Gaddafi Saminaka paid a courtesy visit to the Controller, Nigerian Correctional Service, Kebbi State Command in Birnin-Kebbi.

In his opening remark, the Regional Manager said the visit was aimed at further cementing the relationship between the Company and other stakeholders as well as appeal for more positive response towards payment of monthly bills by the Correctional Service in the State.

He sought the support of the Correctional Boss to continue to pay their electricity bills as and when due, as that will go a long way in availing the Company with the needed resources to continue to deliver on its mandate.

While responding, the Controller, Nigerian Correctional Service, Kebbi State Command, Alhaji Suleiman Isiyaku lauded the efforts of the Regional Manager and his Team for the gesture, saying that the visit will strengthen the cordial relationship that has already existed between the two organizations.

“I assure you my office will support and also work hand in hand with your office to ensure the outstanding payments are responded to accordingly”, he assured.

 

MEET THE STAFF SERIES

We Care for Customers by Responding to Their Needs - Muhammad Sani Musa

CCD:  Can you briefly share with us your background- school attended and academic qualifications obtained as well as your previous working experience? 

MSM: I am Muhammad Sani Musa. I obtained a degree in Human Resources Management from Kaduna Polytechnic. Also, a Professional member of NIM.                                                                                                                     CCD: When did you join the service of Kaduna Electric and what have you been doing ever since?                                                                                        MSM: I joined Kaduna Electric on 1st September 2015, As a Customer Care

Representative.

CCD:  What are the nature of Complaints mostly received from the customers?                              

MSM: Mainly, the nature of complaints we receive requests for the purchase of Prepaid meters; the procedure for obtaining meters through MAP; there is also the issue of customers buying token online via KAE App, Irecharge & Buy power where a customer’s account is debited without receiving token. In this case, we listen first and check Dotnet App to see if it has been updated on the vending history and if we see it, we give it to the customer and apologize for the inconvenience. Also customers inquiry on how to effect change of name on newly acquired properties, the Name or Address as the case maybe. We also guide customers with newly installed meters on how to load their key change for activation code to unlock the meters.

CCD:  What is the expected time frame within which the Complaints are responded to?              

MSM: The time frame the correct change of Name or Address is 15 Working days because of the billing cycle, Tokens not received due to online issues could be resolved within minutes after checking Dotnet application on vending history.

CCD: How do you ensure that the concerned Unit or department addresses complaint(s) forwarded to them by your Unit on time?                                      

MSM: Receiving written complaints and creating tickets I'd of the complaints and assigning it to the appropriate section to handle it within the companies’ database for easy tracking of complaints.

CCD: What are the challenges that hinders timely resolutions of Complaints?                                  

MSM:  The major challenge that hinders timely resolutions is when the company Server maintenance is going on and this will prevent us from getting relevant information about customers that come before us and makes us helpless to the customers.

CCD: What are your suggestion to the management and staff?                                   

MSM: Lastly, I am suggesting to the Management of Kaduna Electric to create a backup application for customer details and equipped with Customer Relations Management application to counter system downtime. Thank you