OYSG Trains Top Leadership Cadres On Talent Management And Mentoring

As part of the ongoing civil and Public Service transformation, the Oyo State Government has trained 100 top leadership cadres across all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) in a specialised executive training workshop, titled, “Talent Management and Mentoring as Panacea for Sustainable Institutional Development.

The two-day interactive workshop was held at the American Open University, Ashi-Bodija, Ibadan. It was organised by the Ministry of Establishments and Training in collaboration with the university.

The training workshop, convened for the top management cadre of the Oyo State civil service, was structured to strengthen talent management and subordinate mentorship frameworks. The overall objective is to build a reliable succession pipeline, ensuring that retiring senior officials leave behind competent officers capable of sustaining exemplary service standards and advancing the state’s developmental agenda.

In her keynote remarks, the Oyo State Head of Service, Mrs Adenike Fasina, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Career Management Services, Office of the Head of Service, Barrister Sunday Olagoke, stated that the relevance of talent management to sustainable institutional development cannot be overemphasised, stating that organisation with robust talent management systems ensure continuity, with capable officers always available to take over from those exiting the system.

Mrs. Fasina further stated that it will curb panic hiring and prevent staff exodus, as an efficient succession plan, being the bedrock of the Oyo State Civil Service, has already addressed these contingencies.

Addressing journalists at the programme, the Commissioner for Investment, Trade, Cooperatives, and Industry, who was immediate past Commissioner for Establishment and Training, Professor Saliu Abdulwaheed Adelabu, explained that participants needed to acquire the soft skills required to increase efficiency, enhance service delivery, and mentor their subordinates for the overall development of the civil service.

Professor Adelabu revealed that the training would be held regularly, adding that the Ministry of Establishment has commenced an in-house training at the Simeon Adebo Staff Development Centre. He noted that a series of certificated training programmes across all cadres in the civil service would follow, in line with the understanding with the American Open University.

“We need to begin to hunt for talent, even while in the service, and develop expertise in your field. Over one hundred thousand civil and public servants rest on the shoulders of less than 150 of you. What are you doing about talent hunting, mentorship, and monitoring? You will not be there forever,” he said.

Speaking on the partnership, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Establishments and Training, Mr Hameed Alade Bello, appreciated the University for the collaboration, and stressed that the workshop is a challenge to the participants’ leadership abilities and urged them to take it seriously.

Representing other participants, the Permanent Secretary of Investments, Trade, Cooperatives, and Industry, Mr Olajide Mamud Okesade, and the Permanent Secretary of the Civil Service Commission, Mrs Abidemi Adejumo, expressed their positive experiences during the training; they added that the training provides the opportunity to look inward for those to whom the baton could be handed over and those who can be utilised to realise the state’s vision of making Oyo State the fastest-growing economy in Nigeria.