Doing Life With… is a BellaNaija Features series that showcases how people live, work, travel, care for their families and… everything in between. We are documenting the lives of all people and ensuring everyone is well-represented at BN.
Did you miss last week’s conversation with Victor Daniel? You can catch up here.
This week, we’re doing life with Emmanuel Faith, an HR Professional with close to 10 years of experience. Emmanuel has led the HR teams at General Electric, Corywise and Big Cabal Media. He talks to us about his journey into the world of HR. Enjoy the conversation!
Hi Emmanuel. How are you feeling today?
I am fine o, I need a sumptuous meal and a rich sleep after a long day of capitalism.
Haha, everybody wants that. Can you share a bit about your background — your upbringing, education, and any key moments that shaped your career path in HR?
I have always been a leader, always managed people, processes and projects. I played a lot of football in my teenage years and I was always the team’s captain or vice-captain. The fact that people trusted me to give the right instructions and directions in a sport as intense as football quickly built my innate leadership abilities. Being a first-born of a single-parent family also contributed immensely.
I held two perfect positions in secondary school and was an executive at a university from 100 to 400 levels. I was one of those guys that, if they were on your team, you knew the group assignment would get done no matter what. You can call me Mr. Reliable.
In the department, I was the Public Liaison Officer at 200 level, Public Relations Officer at 300 level, and a committee head at 400 level. I had a similar stint in the fellowship, from being the Academic Secretary to being the Fellowship Editorial Director. Being able to coordinate people to achieve different kinds of goals and steer them in a certain direction is one trait I think contributed immensely to how successful my HR Career is today.
Is it stereotypical that male folks don’t often aspire to be HRs?
Oh, it’s definitely a stereotype. I don’t think there are a lot of males who aspire(d) to be HR professionals or at least, accidentally found themselves in HR. Maybe there were (are) not a lot of systems of structures to spark the interest or build a foundation that enhances pursuing a career in HR. I mean, how many universities offer HR as a course in Nigeria?
Right, but what initially drew you to human resources?
My interest in HR started when I realised that I didn’t like finance or wasn’t excited about finance like my colleagues who studied Economics. I had a career chat with my senior colleague, Funto Koya, who asked me to go and research the field of HR because she felt I had the traits, thanks to my consistent delivery of excellent leadership. That was my foray into the field.
I don’t have a single career mentor, and aside from my professional materials (GPHR and ACIPM), I have never completed an HR, but I read a lot of articles. I once read an HR article every day for 180 consecutive days. I also have a couple of career guides who held my hands when I was just starting out my career. Shout out to Ijeoma Ihegwagu (nee Nkwota), Samuel Akinlotan, Dolapo Dahunsi and Funto Koya for their helpful counsel and advice.
You’ve worked at different places like General Electric, Cowrywise and Big Cabal Media. As an HR professional, how have your positions in these organisations shaped you as an individual?
Thanks for asking that! GE was my learning point. I learnt from awesome HR Managers and People Leaders who showed me that there was a unique way to practise HR-ing in Nigeria beyond the conventional ways. Their guides made me commit to being a different kind of HR.
At Cowrywise, I was given the wings to fly and I am forever grateful for that. I had co-founders who believed in my skills, abilities and competence, and it enhanced me to iterate, execute, make mistakes and go again. They asked me a lot of questions and drilled me a whole lot, but the result was building the best place to work at that period. As I often say; I built my HR roots at GE and watched the fruits sprout at Cowrywise. Being the first HR meant I had to build the HR, People and Processes from the ground up. I like to think I did an excellent job. The results are there.
My stint at BCM was short but my biggest takeaway was executing at a different level of impeccable (ruthless) excellence, and the power of documentation in enhancing operational efficiency. I now document everything; from a spontaneous employer-branding campaign to a full-blown employee engagement project. Shout out to Anita Eboigbe and Ope Adedeji for that lesson.
Is HR our friend?
The best answer I have found to this so far is that “The Office of the HR’” is not your friend, they are here to do a job. So sometimes, the HR can be your friend, but has to act in the capacity of “the office of the HR” and at that point, they are not your friend. They are just an employee like you, obliged to do their jobs.
Your interests are diverse, but what’s interesting is your fun passion for women’s football. Tell us about this
I am ardent about SDG 5 and I love football and basketball. I found love in women’s football while exploring the intersection between my devotion to Gender Equality and my interest in Sports. I currently guest-write for two International Platforms –Impetus Football and Herfootballhub. I am also a returning contributor to Kingsmeadow Magazine, the number-one magazine for Chelsea women fans in London. Last year, alongside two friends, I founded a platform called Fervora, where we tell laser-focused, data-driven stories on African Women Footballers. It’s been an intriguing journey so far and we have been featured on both local and international platforms. We also published an encompassing report about the exploits of African Women Footballers across the globe, the first of its kind ever.
That’s so great
I know, right?
So what’s the most rewarding part of your personal life, and what has been a particularly proud moment in your career?
The most rewarding part of my personal life is people telling me how I have changed their perception of the HR profession, especially in Nigeria. I think a particularly proud moment was winning the HR and Talent Recruiter of the Year at the No-code Tech Summit, and being listed as one of the top 100 creators in Africa by Selar.
Congratulations again
Thank you o.
Doing everything, what does success mean to you, Emmanuel?
When my YouTube channel hitting 2k subscribers and 4,000 watch hours? Just kidding. For me, success is putting smiles on people’s faces, watching people’s joy after I finish teaching, or facilitating a learning session, and hearing how impactful they thought I was. It’s being able to do good work, make a great impact, get paid the worth of my work across board and get recognised on global stages. Success is getting a second passport. The day I get one ehn, I will first roll on the floor and give thanks to God.
Do you have an unconventional thought about the world that you think people might not agree with?
I think marriage isn’t for everyone, and not everyone should bring children to the world. I think Christians and Christian institutions don’t talk about sex as a concept enough. All they do is mock, condemn and berate people. This has done more harm than good. The last thing is that many things can influence your success in life, but right now, I think where you are born is the most determining factor, as I said in a TEDx speech.
You seem busy. What’s a typical day in your life like?
I don’t have a typical day o. HR is always quenching the fire at work. I run my day in a 24-hour model as against the conventional day and night, so I spend the first few hours 00:00-04:00, working on things that need intense focus like a data-driven article for the women’s football platforms I write for, an HR Campaign, policy or strategy, or anything important. I sleep by 04:30, wake up by 09:30, and start work by 10:00 after doing a couple “up and grateful”. I close work by 18:00 and think about what to eat. I read a book, watch Kdrama, facilitate speed consulting with a tech founder or career professional, or catch up with my friends, and the cycle continues.
If you could remove three things from the HR world, what would they be and why?
The first thing is that I think admin should be completely separated from HR. They should ban any “HR and Admin” role. HR is becoming more operational and strategic, the latter more than the former. Seeing admin being affixed to the profession occasionally reduces us to “errand folks” who do “admin stuff”. I also think employees should be able to apply for leave immediately after completing their probation period, and also be able to receive leave allowance accordingly (or as the company stipulates).
One thing people will be surprised to know about you?
That I am an introvert at the core or that I read 303 books between 2018 and 2020. The former is more than the latter, tbh.
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Many thanks to Emmanuel Faith for having this conversation with us and answering all our questions – and swiftly too, we must add.
Do you love this content, have any feedback for us or want to be a BellaNaija Features contributor? We’d love to read from you. Shoot us an email: [email protected]. Join us on Saturday for the next episode!
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