GACON GROUP SENIOR STAFF HYBRID RETREAT COMMINIQUE 29TH- 31ST JANUARY 2024

• There were 29 Senior Staff of GACON Group and 12 Resource Persons from various Disciplines & works of life, that participated in the program. The Retreat Event lasted for 3 days, between 29^th January to 31^st January, 2024.

 

DAY 1-29^TH JANUARY 2024

Session 1

• The event started with registration of Participants at exactly 9am. Thereafter opening prayer was said by way of recitation of Nigeria’s National Pledge
• The Group Managing Director in her opening remarks, made the Participants to appreciate the fact that GACON has a bright future. Based on this vision, Board directed Management to organize this retreat; to equip Human Resource with requisite skill to brace the challenge. In concluding, she encouraged participants to lend their ears, give attention & be poised to benefit from this once in a lifetime opportunity of self improvement.
• Thereafter the Group Executive Chairman, presented a paper on “OVERVIEW, VISION AND FUTURE OF GACON LTD”.
• Paper 2 captioned “ORIENTATION & INDUCTION INTO GACON GROUP FAMILY” was taken by the Group Managing Director, after introduction of new & existing staff. The Paper dwelt majorly on what it takes to succeed in GACON GROUP as a staff.
• Session 2
• Under this session, summary report was given by Unit Heads in Purchasing, Operations & Compliance, Value Chain (Cooperative), Export, Shipping & Logistics, Corporate Service & Human Resources, Finance & Accounts on activities carried during the Export year 2023 and planned activities for year 2024.
• SESSION 3
• Session 3 was inspiring and educative with two different topics being presented as Plenary Paper 1&2. These were;
• ‘‘TIME MANAGEMENT AS AN EFFECTIVE TOOL FOR ENHANCED PRODUCTIVITY’’ by Mr. Tom Ebong. Mr. Tom explained that for the GACON of the future, the context has to be professional in every respect: on skills, knowledge, education, character & discipline. He went further to state that ‘‘Time is invested not spent’’
• ‘‘DIGITALIZING GACON’S OPERATIONS AS THE ENGINE OF HER ENVISIONED GROWTH’’ by Mr. Cyrus Johnson. He highlighted that with digitalization, there is no hiding place and digital footprints are being captured by AI all over the place while cautioning that we should be mindful of what we do in the public space online. The session drived interactive session among the participants and paper presenter.

 

DAY 2- 30^TH JANUARY 2024

• After Registration & opening prayers, the first session for the day started with
• Plenary paper 3 by Mr. Victor Oghifobibi. The topic was ‘‘HARNESSING THE POTENTIALS OF MICROSOFT OFFICE 365 IN GACON WORK PLACE’’. Here he gave a detailed explanation on the security potentials of Microsoft 365 and tools in the package that can help improve staff performance, at work. He emphasized that Microsoft is not just an App but a gateway to other Apps, opportunity & a self-improvement platform.
• Plenary paper 4, presentation by Mr. Tom Ebong on ‘‘TEAM BUILDING AS A CORE INGREDIENT FOR SUSTAINABLE GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT’’. He gave insights to how team building can lead to successful execution of projects and overall productivity in an organization. Participants agreed that Team Building is very critical as it fosters leadership skills and improves productivity.
• Workshop Stream One
• Concurrent workshop sessions on technical topics tailored to specific Units/Departments need were also undertaken; These are : “EFFECTIVE PROCUREMENT AS A STRATEGY FOR IMPROVED PROFITABILITY” by Tonye Briggs. He mentioned the key skills set a purchasing person must have, which includes being a peoples’ person. Participants agreed that the target should be cost optimization rather than cost cutting.

“PRODUCING FOR COMPETITIVENESS IN THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET” by Mr. Tobi Raji. Participants at this workshop were equipped with the knowledge of right procurement processing in line with standard food safety regulations towards meeting the Medium-Term Development Strategy (MTDS) & vision of the organization.

 

DAY 3- 31^ST JANUARY 2024

 

With opening activities for the day done, the program started with Plenary Paper 5. This was taken by Mrs. Lara Adeogo on ‘‘EFFECTIVE BUSINESS COMMUNICATION FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE’’, Participants learned, unlearned and relearned communication skills that could help them achieve high performance and contribute to the rapid growth of the organization.

 

 

• Plenary paper 6 had Mrs. Omu Obilor delivered a paper titled ‘‘MANAGING DIVERSITY IN THE WORKPLACE’’. Her presentation showed different ways diversity in workplace manifest. Participants agreed that there could be ‘‘unconscious discrimination’’ and it is important this is not encouraged in the work place. It was also suggested that an organization can overcome this through diversity survey, introducing cultural day and mentorship etc.

 

• Similar to the workshop stream one, presentations on technical topics such as ‘‘THE INFORMED SHIPPER’’ by Mr. Chigozie Offor; ‘‘QUICKBOOKS AS A NOVEL 21^ST CENTURY FINANCIAL WORK TOOL’’ by Mr. Nnamdi Uti and ‘‘COOPERATIVE MANAGEMENT AS A TOOL FOR SUSTAINABLE SOURCING’’ by Mr. Akeem Oyegbile, were taken. All the above topics cut across the shipping & logistics, Accounting & Finance, Operations/Purchasing/compliance units. These Units were targeted with these specific topics to further equip them to brace the future challenge, envisioned by the Board of GACON LTD.

CLOSING CEREMONY

• The Retreat Event was rounded up with a well packed closing ceremony activities; comprising of Awards, Participants testimonies on video clips, Locational Group Photos, Farewell song & closing prayers. All Participants agreed that it was a good way to get equipped to brace the Challenge of The Gacon of the Future.

 

#GACONFUTURE2024#