Deremi Atanda, Managing Director of frontline African fintech firm, Remita Payment Services Limited (RPSL), has emphasised the importance of cultivating a sound corporate culture as a fundamental component of business growth and success.
Atanda was speaking on the topic ‘Best Practice Approaches to Building a Winning Organisational Culture’ at the Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC) Technovation Conference 2022, held in Lagos recently.
Organisational culture is the practical and pervasive implementation of norms, practices, ideals and values within an organisation, he said.
“A winning culture is one that must deliver overall success to you as you have defined for your business,” said Atanda, who was announced as Remita Managing Director in January.
With the vision to be the preferred payment option for individuals, businesses and governments in Africa, Remita, a subsidiary of 30-year-old SystemSpecs group, is a pioneer in the Nigerian fintech space. Remita currently processes over N21 trillion (US$46 billion) annually and serves as the Payment technology infrastructure for Nigeria’s Treasury Single Account (TSA) and major merchants and businesses.
“And as a 30-year-old business, it is humbling that we have some customers who have been with us from day one who have followed through the different iterations of our business.”
According to the fintech business leader, winning cultures are best measured through the daily activities of the front-line workers. Whilst the prevalence of a winning organisational culture can lead to innovation, safety, compliance and high performance, a broken organisational culture is evidenced by declining customer engagement, inability to attract and retain top talent, and difficulty in driving organic growth.
“A dysfunctional culture eats the customer base as they lose trust in the brand promise or no longer share it with friends. It also eats away at talent as employees fail to see the purpose of their daily work,” said Atanda. “To operate a winning work culture, you need to determine what you believe in, communicate its importance, and remind your employees to adhere to them in an engaging manner.”
Atanda highlighted the major components of a great corporate culture which include communication, teamwork, trust, knowledge sharing and mutual support.
Furthermore, he explained that organisations seeking to engender a winning corporate culture must build shared values and keep expectations clear, ground culture in mutual trust, and strive for transparency and open communication.
According to the Remita lead, “employees are increasingly craving connection and communication; therefore, leadership must be completely transparent, promote honest communication, and encourage dialogue.”
Other criteria for building a winning organisational culture include empowering autonomy, appreciating, supporting and motivating staff, appreciating, supporting and motivating staff, standardizing processes, and encouraging continuous improvement.