Harnessing Reward as Enabler for Youth Productivity

Amid a demotivated youth population cloaked in despair and defiance, Omolabake Fasogbon writes on how corporates intervention by way of reward and recognition of feat is changing the narrative

 Franklin D Roosevelt once said, “We cannot always build the future, but we can build our youths for the future”. According to the United Nations, with improved education outcomes, relevant skills and competencies, and access to decent jobs, the youths are best prepared for the future.

 Consequently, they help accelerate progress on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and foster a prosperous, sustainable and equitable socio-economic environment for all.

 Sadly, the gaps are wide that are limiting possibilities for the youths, posing existential threats to the future.

 From statistics, over 33.6 million (16.8 percent) Nigerians comprise the youths (aged between 15 and 35), with the figure still growing.

 To experts, a huge population of this group means that a maximum number is in the working age, with dynamic and innovative qualities that should be explored to a country’s advantage.

 Executive Director of United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Henrietta Fore says of the youths,   “These young people also present an incredible opportunity for the world and for your businesses. They’re not only your future employees and customers. They’re tomorrow’s dreamers, doers and thinkers – tomorrow’s leaders. Imagine what they could create: new medical cures, new modes of transport, new ways to communicate, more sustainable economies, even a more peaceful world.

 “Their lifetimes could be full of breakthroughs, inventions and progress that could benefit entire economies. They hold the future in their hands”.

 If the position of Fore on the youths was anything to go by, indeed, the more the youths are in number, the merrier for a nation.

 However, the Nigerian situation is bleak as compounded by endemic threats like infrastructure deficit, scary unemployment figure and poverty, amongst others.

 Notwithstanding, some Nigerian youths are breaking the glass ceilings and therefore blazing the trail to humble challenges and setbacks.

 A perfect fit is the young Founder of Haima Health, Bukola Bolarinwa, a legal practitioner holding sway in the health sector.  She is reputed to have built Nigeria’s first online and mobile blood bank to transform the country’s blood supply system.

 Like Bolarinwa is also 31-year old Maya Horgan Famodu, the Managing Director of Ingress Capital, an equity crowdfunding platform that connects investors with start-ups seeking funding.  Coincidentally, both are 2022 winners of Lord’s London Dry Gin’s prestigious Lord’s Achievers award.

 From ages, Geoffrey Chaucer’s popular maxim that says- ‘Idle hands are the devil’s tool’ has proven right till date and an evidence of threat for an environment that packs inactive youths.

 On the other hand, it is widely believed that recognising and appreciating efforts could inspire an idle hand into productivity and spur an achiever into achieving more, not minding the obvious constraints.

 A Human Resource expert, Mary Jones averred that reward and recognition increase productivity and motivation.

 “The act of recognising desired behaviour increases the repetition of desired behaviour, and therefore boosts productivity”, she said.

 Similarly, an article published in Scientific World Journal says “Recognition for positive behavior is an appropriate response of the social environment to elicit desirable external behavior among the youth.”  It is said to provide positive reinforcement for good behaviour while encouraging one to complete a difficult task.

“A system that provides a variety of incentives, rewards, and recognition is needed in order to serve today’s diverse youth audience; the effect of this translates to growth in society and economy,” the article submitted.

 Realising that Nigerian youths are hardly celebrated for their feats, Indigenous premium spirit brand, Lord’s London Dry Gin came up with the Lord Achievers’ Award.

 The annual award aimed to celebrate and recognise young individuals between age 25-40 who through great strength and tenacity, have achieved significant strides in their fields of endeavours.

 As argued by academic scholar, Ilyas Abdilahi,   “organisations need to be youth-centric and one way of getting this is by prioritising youth-focused initiatives, including recognition of feats, as a critical part of their  corporate social responsibility mandates”.

 The Lord’s Achievers award was conceived as a major component of Lord’s London Dry Gin to influence societal development.

 Other than celebrating achievers, the award since inception has been a source of inspiration to many youths who hitherto had given up on themselves and the system, as evident in the testimonies of past winners. The effect of which has brought more youths into the productivity circle and contributing meaningfully to national development.

 Speaking on the motivation for the initiative, Director of Marketing and Innovation at Grand Oak Limited, the parent company of Lord’s London Dry Gin, Obinna Ike stated that the company observed that many worthy achievements and innovations driven by millenials have gone unnoticed and not celebrated, adding that it lowers morale.

 Ike said the recognition platform was ideated to champion innovation amongst the youths, but also to give the target audience more reasons to keep their craft, regardless of obstructions.

 He said, “The age range selected of 25 – 40 was intentional as Nigerian youths are frequently underrepresented in other recognition platforms, a disservice to the tremendous impact they make in the community.

” The Lord’s Achievers Award was established to recognise and celebrate those who despite their ages have set out to hold themselves responsible for the excellent delivery of solutions, ensuring the positive impact of their activities on the end-user; execute robust plans in the face of barriers, and stay unflinching in the face of challenges, as they chart unfamiliar territories”.

 He stressed that youths remained the organisation’s target, since these ones live and radiate the Lord’s Gin DNA such as distinct, unique, inspiring, vibrant and young.

 “These people have made an impact in their chosen fields, inspired many with bold, audacious and impactful innovation, placed Nigeria on the map by others’ recognition of their skills, and displayed attributes of perseverance and resilience in the face of difficulties. They have proven to be a role model in leadership and laid down a sustainability structure for their platform”, he expressed.

 Honorees for the award are usually shortlisted by a sample of randomly selected individuals who are engaged to present names of achievers as well as decide on rationale for the nominations. Recurring names are thereafter compiled and presented to a council of eight-man executive jury from diverse fields for final review.

 The eight-man jury , subject to change yearly,  decides on who emerge as final winners after screening their achievements which are usually determined by the reach and scope of  work; duration of project and the potential for scale and future impact on wider socio-economic outcomes.

 For these organisers, the initiative is not a business strategy but more of impacting humanity, hence its worked-out structure for sustainability.

 Ike explained further, “The awards ceremony has been strategically planned to be a long-term initiative with inbuilt sustainable process. To ensure it continues in its journey to recognise deserving youths, we are exploring partnerships with different organisations across board who espouse similar values and understand its importance.”

 “Our return on investment is the opportunity to inspire youths across the nation to believe in their dreams, strive to achieve said goals and resulting in a domino effect of impactful contributions to the community . This knowledge provides the measure of satisfaction needed.”

 Ike revealed that this was why the organisers have always expanded the scope of the award to reflect the dynamic and evolving nature of the country and challenges.

 “For example, we began in 2019 with seven categories but have expanded to 10 as at the last edition, because we observed more problems and social issues that demand interventions by resilient youths, to secure the growth and prosperity of Nigeria. Such expansions will continue to be based on needs and where necessary, we might bring in other forms of engagement,” he said.

 In addition to Famodu and Bolarinwa, others  that made The Achievers Award  list for year 2022 edition included, Founder/CEO of Ladda and Money Africa, Tosin Olasiende  who  clinched  the prize in the  Finance category and  Co-founder/ CEO at Spleet Africa, Akintola Adensami who  emerged winner in  the Tech category.

 Dapo Adedeji, a visual storyteller and the Co-founder /Chief Commercial Officer at Voriancorelli, Jennifer Onyebuagu won the Art and Agriculture categories respectively while the Fashion, Literature and Social development laurel went to Founder of Arami Essentials, Ore Runsewe ;Nigerian-British Author and Poet, Sarah Aluko and Founder/CEO of Water With Development (WaterWide) Wilson Atumeyi, respectively.

 Award-winning TV and radio presenter, Tomike Adeoye clinched the honours in the entertainment category.

 Ike reaffirmed that the programme offered a platform for achievers to network with fellow like-minded individuals and build greater awareness for their organisations towards business growth.

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The recognition platform was ideated to champion innovation amongst the youths, but also to give the target audience more reasons to keep their craft, regardless of obstructions