Great Place to Work launches collaboration with Sterling Bank to reach SMEs

Sterling Bank has launched a collaboration with the Great Place to Work organisation to carry out a workplace culture survey audit for small and medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria.

The partnership codenamed, ‘Project Imagine,’ was launched during a signing ceremony that took place at Sterling Towers on Friday, October 25. The project is targeted at Nigerian businesses which employ at least 30 people and have a minimum annual turnover of N50 million.

“’ Project Imagine” is targeted at helping Nigerian businesses achieve the status of great workplaces, with Sterling Bank serving as a vehicle to reach small businesses across the country.

In a note, Otamere Elegon, the country manager for Great Place to Work said, “Imagine just 10 percent of companies in Nigeria being great workplaces. 10 percent of organisations in Nigeria achieving the status of great workplaces is not just an aspirational goal but a transformative vision with far-reaching implications.

During the signing ceremony, it was noted that the collaboration with Sterling Bank was helped by the bank’s certification as the Overall Best Workplace in Nigeria for five consecutive years. It was also noted that the project was in line with the bank’s HEART (Health, Education, Agriculture, Renewable Energy, and Transportation) agenda.

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Great Place to Work, which was ‘ set up in 1992, is the global authority on workplace culture. It is renowned for its Trust Index Survey and Workplace Culture Audit which has been deployed in 170 countries. According to Otamere, the organisation surveys over 21,000 companies and about 20 million employees globally.

Commenting on the partnership, Temi Dalley, the Group Executive Human Capital & Corporate Services at Sterling Holdco, noted, “When we started our journey with Great Place to Work, in the first year, Sterling was not in the top 100. Then we started the work and years later, here we are.”

“For me, it’s much more than Sterling, it’s nation-building. Private and public sector employees are part of what entails a nation. If we’re able to spread the message of a great workplace culture, you can imagine the impact on the overall national wellbeing.