We provide employee learning and development for a fraction of the budget

The International School of Management (ISM), Lagos is a Nigerian business school approved by the Federal Ministry of Education and the Lagos State Agency for Mass Education. ISM offers a suite of academic and professional development programmes across different areas and specialisations in business and management. In this interview with BusinessDay’s PATRICK ATUANYA, ISMs Dr Olugbenro Oyekan speaks about the unique offering of the Business School, its corporate partnership programme, and how SMEs can tap into ISMs training program. Excerpts…

Tell us about your Business School?

The International School of Management (ISM) Lagos is a private non-profit but probably the fastest growing private business school in Nigeria incorporated by guarantee and approved by the Federal Ministry of Education as a postgraduate level academic institution for the provision of professional proficiencies in the form of further & higher education in all states of Nigeria and the FCT. ISM Lagos which is currently undergoing some international academic and professional accreditations is also accredited by the Lagos State Agency for Mass Education.

What is it exactly that you bring to the table that is different from other Business Schools in Nigeria?

ISM Lagos is a professional fellowship of seasoned scholars and best practice believers who are dedicated to the teaching and practice of sound and efficient means of knowledge creation and application. We are scholar practitioners in business, finance, leadership, marketing, human resources, and sector specific and general management. We enable our students and alumni to build on their individual talents and personal experiences as the basis for learning.

Who are your major targets for enrolment and training?

Whether the objectives are to improve staff performance, address skills shortages, develop talented employees or increase loyalty and employee retention, we have a portfolio of learning and development solutions that that can fit around every organisation to boost their employee attitudes, their work commitments, effectiveness or efficiencies in meeting critical business objectives.

We leverage on extensive modern action research and experiential learning to create courses and qualifications that deliver an immediate impact on professionals, their competencies and the performance of their organisations. We adopt a style of theory-practice knowledge fusion to enhance improved organisational performance by applying sound academic theory to rich practical work-based experiences.

How does your Business School improve human capital for corporate organisations in Nigeria?

The ISM Lagos is very fervent about the development of businesses and entrepreneurial competencies in both professional individuals and their corporate organisations. Whereas, the corporate organisations largely depend on the skills and passion of the individuals that constitute them; our   objective is to transform the knowledge and ability of those individuals in their various organisations into enviable accomplishments by helping employees of partner organizations increase their learning through a superlative mix of action and experiences backed with relevant and tested theoretical scaffolding. We create problem specific and scalable learning and development solutions that address the changing needs of organisations.

How can SMEs tap into ISMs training program, especially those that may not be able to afford it?

Entities that succeed without regular investment in employees’ training and development can really exist but only in the seventh heaven. It thus goes without saying that organisations are only as good as the competencies of their employees developed through series of continuous learning and development efforts and investment made deliberately and tirelessly.

This reality can be a daunting challenge for many SMEs across industries and nations. However, organisations that do not train and develop their employees are at a major business disadvantage that is worse than bankruptcy. Beneath this reality are also a dart of existing research and the justification for our noble initiative of a Corporate Partnership programme that enhances employee learning and development opportunities, which also include a variety of added benefits.

Can you tell us about the ISM Lagos’ corporate partnership programme?

The Corporate Partnership Programme of the ISM Lagos is a business to business collaboration initiative of the ISM Lagos. It is an exclusive academic-corporate learning and development partnership designed for the SMEs, NGOs and public offices to contribute to the functioning and achievements of the International School of Management (ISM) Lagos and her bouquet of programs in order for them to equally benefit from privileged access to a premium pool of top faculty, talents and professionals from diverse industries and backgrounds.

The programme enables our Corporate Partners to contribute actively and benefit widely on a variety of fronts within the corporate and academic communities. It is designed as a long-term commitment bringing wholesome benefits to the whole alliance while helping to bridge the gap between theory and practice. The programme seeks to lead to a social change that emanates from academic, corporate and professional communities.

What are the benefits to partners on this program?

Specific benefits to partners of our corporate learning and development programme include the followings and many more depending on the grade of partnership; Free attendance for more than half of partners’ workforce each year at any of our monthly partner development courses running from January to December.

They also get top-notch knowledge and capacity building by erudite faculty and seasoned professionals, huge discount on other chosen executive management and degree programs and membership of the ISM Lagos Fellowship of Scholar-Practitioners, access to global faculties and institutions from amongst our prestigious university partners, practical and Actionable knowledge sharing that translates to immediate work benefits, proximity to target market through regular networking amongst professionals & partners, and strategic marketing through multiple B2B interactions and collaborations.

Others are Relevant and regular management research opportunities relevant to partners’ businesses, Annual Award and recognition, Regular interactive online course to support learning and about 10 other valuable benefits.

In essence corporate partners will help share their knowledge?

Yes and precisely for enriching the learning experience.

Complex societal challenges necessitate creative and innovative approaches; short and long-term approaches that deliver sustainable results for the society. This often requires access to pools of resources that individual organisations are incapable of harnessing alone. ISM Lagos, therefore, also commits to preparing the next generations of business leaders by developing global citizens as business leaders with professional responsibility and accountability in relation to the African business society and the larger environment.

With the involvement of Corporate Partners, who are by extension our Social Partners- in the classroom, in research and conferences or in the governance of ISM Lagos- the ISM Lagos Corporate Partnership programme and all its stakeholders should benefit from the advantages and exposures offered by this collaborative and continuous learning & development arrangements.

We also invite non-profit organisations and public offices to join the ISM Lagos as part of the formidable alliance of the Corporate Partnership programme. This will enable us to influence and strengthen the social commitments with the scope and direction of the teachings of the school. By extension, our Corporate Partners would be contributing to a business relevant but unique Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative.

What would it cost to be a potential partner?

Partnership subscriptions range between N250, 000 and N1 million.

For Business Partners with 1 – 10 employees its N250, 000, Gold Partners with 11 – 21 employees N500, 000 and Platinum Partners with 21 employees and above pay N1, 000,000.

Depending on the level of patronage, partners can be Business Partners, Gold Partners or Platinum Partners.

Where are you located?

The International School of Management, Lagos is located at 5 Yesuf Abiodun Street, Oniru Victoria Island, Lagos. We can be reached at: 08090890909, 08085369898, 08085369976, and 08086815957, Email: corporate.partners@ism. edu.ng and website: www.ism.edu.ng/ corporate-partners.