Day: March 3, 2021

The Avuna Group with its influence spread across technology, retail, manufacturing and professional services, has acquired a stake in JobsGate, a human capital technology & consulting firm.

JobsGate is a Pan-African recruitment and consulting firm established to render forward thinking services centered around the future of work to firms of all sizes and in all sectors. The acquisition is part of the vision of Avuna Group to contribute to the framework and systems that will support in building great businesses and organisations in Africa.

It is also one of the most strategic acquisitions by Avuna Group, enabling it to expand its professional services reach beyond the existing media and retail consulting setup (Detail and Avedia) and allowing the group to leverage already existing client base.

With the move, there is a clear understanding that human capital is one of the most critical factors behind any company’s success. Therefore, the need to ensure the right people, with the right talent, skills, experience and mentality are aligned with the organisational strategy. Also, being a technology-driven and innovative organisation, Avuna Group is excited to lead JobsGate into the next phase of digitization in the human resource industry, that will go on to impact the building of organisations, businesses and institutions with the capacity to change the socio-economic narrative of Africa, and to compete with the rest of the world in terms of systems, structures and work culture.

JobsGate led by Simon Elisha and Jackson Udobong is on a mission to change the people management landscape in Africa through dedicated and proprietary technology. JobsGate consulting services include Business Performance and Strategy, Recruitment, Management Advisory, Human Resource Planning, Human Resource Administration, Job Evaluation, Succession Framework Development, Process Mapping, Organizational Architecture, Statutory Compliance, as well as, Learning and Development.

The company also engages its own Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) tools specifically developed and tailored for Africa to sufficiently handle all areas of companies operations such as Payroll and Benefit Administration, Compensation Management, HR Policy and Procedure Development, Employee Management, Employee Self Service, Procurement and Sales, Leave Management, Accounting, Payroll, File Management, Employee on-boarding and Off-boarding, Performance Management, Employee Engagement Surveys, among others. The vastness of their offerings puts them in good stead against industry giants like Human Manager, Xceed365, SeamlessHR, Myjobmag, Hotnigerian Jobs, Jobberman, among others.

Speaking on the acquisition, Brian Edwards, head investment analyst at the Avuna Group, noted that, “Our coming into this space is a new chapter for us, as it further expands our professional services reach, which is a big part of our group. Our interest was initially predicated on founder’s passion, how driven Simon was about the project. Then seeing some of the tech they had worked on and how far ahead they were in comparison with what was readily available was the major determinant”.

“Our people know us to have a unique human resource vision and further control of the tech to achieve that makes perfect sense.

“I have great expectations for the firm and where we can take it by the grace of God. This is really the kind of growth we’re going for this year, consolidating and building on our already existing arms. We are passionate about service and this stride is in keeping. Some may suggest human resource technology at this time is a bold vision, but what is a vision if it is not”, he concluded.

People do not buy goods and services. They buy relations, stories and magic.” This quote by the renowned marketing guru Seth Godin captures aptly the widely successful “Retire Today” campaign by Detail and Avedia (D & A) and Oak Pensions Limited. While the pension industry experienced a major shift through the Pension Transfer Window initiative by the National Pension Commission (PenCom), leading to several pension firms suffering massive losses in accounts. Armed with the knowledge of foresight and understanding market dynamics, D & A in partnership with Oak Pensions rolled out a communications plan tagged #WeMove to garner and convert new accounts to Oak Pensions, while in the same stride doubling down on their efforts to keep existing customers happy. The campaign as with all other news materials from OAK Pensions got featured on reputable media platforms like Business Day, Thisday and several others. The “Retire Today” campaign clearly set a new bar for success not just for the brand, but for the pension industry at large. According to the Head of Business at Detail and Avedia in a recent press briefing, Oluwatomi Ikenye, “We deployed an innovative retail-engineered media solution that saw the campaign exceed expectations, blitzing every target we had set for the campaign at inception, going far above client projections in terms of reach, engagement and conversion, over-delivering on our promises and setting a new record for the industry.” Speaking further, Ikenye added “while a lot of PR and media agencies run into trouble with influencer marketing, mostly because of poor research, and little understanding of the determinant data, and then end up throwing money around with no actual business results. In our case, through working with insights backed by buyer psychology, we were able to match the right influencer with the right brand which yielded the desired results for the brand.

Giving us the right kind of digital reach”. Detail and Avedia’s ingenuity and the dedication to excellence led to the production of a creative and customer-centric Radio Ad, with catchy content like, “The Retire Today Song”, which was created in English, Yoruba, Hausa, and Igbo. The Radio Jingle likewise aired on the top ranked radio stations in Lagos, Abuja, as well as the West, North, East, and Southern parts of the country. The major resultant effect of this was Oak Pensions ending up as the second placed pension firm in the country according to 2020 PenCom ranking, the apex body that regulates the pension industry in Nigeria.

Speaking on plans for the year 2021, The Head of Operations at Detail and Avedia, Temitope Igwedinma revealed that the company will be riding on the momentum of 2020 to take new territories this year, consolidate on the victories from last year, and acquire new accounts across other sectors of the economy by providing business oriented solutions. In her words, “our retail backed media strategy and deftness of execution were some of the reasons behind our success last year, and we intend to leverage on them this year. We are already in talks with new partners and we will be launching new campaigns within the first quarter.” “Again, we are pushing the envelope further this year, setting a new pace for the industry through great and innovative work. We will be making major strides in the media and communications industry this year. Some of the bold moves we are making this year, include birthing new products, which will significantly change the PR and media consulting landscape not just in Nigeria but in Africa.” “Also, as a socially conscious organisation, that is not just out to make a profit but to impact lives with every opportunity, we will be driving our giving back to the community initiative more than we have ever done before. In partnership with our parent company The Avuna Group our CSR initiative themed ‘Some Good,’ will intensify efforts this year, especially in areas of educational support for underserved communities, empowerment programs, health aid, Covid-19 related reliefs, socio-economic interventions and capacity building.”