AGRO-PARK STAFF RETREAT

The staff retreat held on 5thand 6th of January 2018, both days turned out to be awesome and impactful. 

The retreat started on the 5th of January by 12:00pm, participants were welcomed with refreshments, around 12:50pm the Executive Director (commercial) Mr. Seun Edun kick started the meeting with welcome address, encouraging participants to open their mind and put to action whatever they will learn in the course of the retreat. 

Mr Olusola Olunowo, Executive Director (operation) of Agro-Park took the first session with the topic ‘YES WE CAN’, he started by taking us back to the basics where and when Agro-Park started, reminded the staff of our vision, mission and core-values and how far we have gotten, he also showed a detailed projection of what we set to achieve in the year 2018 which is possible since we have God on board alongside staffs on board. He encouraged the staffs by sharing inspiring stories of people who overcame their challenges such as President Barack Obama, Oscar Pistorius (blade runner) South African athlete whose knee was amputated when he was 11 months old and still went ahead to be one of the best athlete that ever graced the running tracks, to show Agro-Park staffs that they can achieve whatever they put their heart into. He closed the session by charging the staffs to get to work so at the end of the year we can say yes we did it, we achieved our plans and goals. 

The second session was handled by Mr. Ola Emmanuel who also shared our mission and vision, the role we play and how we can achieve them. He went further by telling the participant how to set ‘SMART.ER’(Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely, Ethical and Recorded)goals and implement the goals, using an action and strategic plan. 

Mr. Ola Emmanuel also handled the third session, where he talked about the topic EFFECTIVENESS & EFFICIENCY IN RELATION TO PRODUCTIVITY.He stated that actions such as thinking, challenging conventional wisdom, and talking openly and honestly, should occur amongst staff and managementwhich willaid identification of problems, categorization of problems and how to solve themfor effective and efficient productivity. Lastly he advised each worker to do reality check on how they effectively spend their time while carrying out their work, in order to be efficient and effective in their duty. The first day ended well and participants’ questions were well answered and were motivated to be effective and efficient in their duty. 

The second day started with Dr.Jide Johnson who took the participant through ‘BRAND DEVELOPMENT & MANAGEMENT’. Hestarted by introducing the participants to the concept of brand, and what branding is all about, he explained that“A brand is more than a name, and a product. It is a promise and proposition of optimal value offering”. He pointed out that brand has two attributes, which are:tangible and intangible attributes, also brand has its elements and there are two types of brand, individual and family brand. He showed the participants the essence of brand management, 4 steps to create a brand (Brand identity, Brand awareness, Brand equity and Brand loyalty),how a brand is perceived and strategic process in brand management.He concluded with the statement “Brand management is an internal and external communications management of the brand environment”, which shows how key it is to our organisation. 

The second session for the day was handled by Mr. BoyeOloyede who took participants through ORGANIZATIONAL GROWTH;talked about the company’s value and its growth, also defined Growth pains as when an infrastructure is not aligned with organisational size. He stated the indicators of growing pain in an organization, how to plan for growth of the team and customers, and also the components of organization which are divided into two components that is visible and invisible components. He pointed out 4 levels of organisational intervention, (physical, infrastructure, behavioural and cultural), and enlightened us on stages of growth in an organization through to stages of organizational maturity, which should help us differentiate between professional and entrepreneurial management. Into the third session Mr. BoyeOloyede talked on the LEADERSHIP, he defined leadership as the ability to inspire and influence a group of people to achieve worthwhile goals, then showed us the DNA of leaders which are: character, competence, vision, communication, courage, ability to connect, empathy, positive attitude, commitment, learners and eye for potential. He also explained JOHN MAXWELL’S 5 level of leadership (i.e. Personhood, People Development, Productivity, Permission, and Position), alongside benefit of leadership development. He concluded the third session by explaining in-depth on how to train leaders. The retreat ended on high note with practical group sessions and presentation amongst participant and questions were answered. 

Executive Director (commercial) Mr. Seun Edun ended meeting, appreciating every participant and our facilitators. He urged everyone to put the knowledge gained into action.