Ozem Muriuki, head of HR & organisational development at Prudential Kenya and Maureen Juma, human resources and administration manager at Flex Money Transfer both in financial services make the case that the people function belongs at the centre of business strategy, not on the edges of it.
In financial services, HR decisions extend beyond people management, influencing customer experience, regulatory compliance and organisational reputation.
Maureen Juma, human resources and admin manager at Flex Money Transfer, built the HR function at the organisation from the ground up. The experience gave her a clear view of where people strategy and business governance converge.
“In regulated financial services, people risk is business risk. HR therefore has to embed compliance, accountability and ethical behaviour throughout the employee lifecycle,” she says.
Ozem Muriuki, head of HR and organisational development at Prudential Kenya, frames the same argument from the perspective of the executive table. For HR to be trusted at that level, he argues, it must bring something beyond administrative competence.
“A strategic HR leader must understand the business model, risk landscape and growth ambitions with the same rigour as any other executive. We must bring data and insight rather than anecdotes, demonstrate how people decisions directly affect performance and risk, and operate with absolute integrity as a confidential sounding board,” he says.
Both HR leaders draw a distinction between compliance as a set of rules and compliance as an organisational habit. Maureen sees the HR function as the mechanism through which that habit is built, particularly as fintech and digital financial services expand into new markets.
“Organisations need to innovate quickly while maintaining strong governance, customer protection and regulatory discipline. I see HR's role as creating the capability and culture that allow organisations to grow responsibly, ensuring that compliance becomes an enabler of sustainable growth rather than a barrier to innovation,” she says.
Ozem is equally direct about what happens when HR loses sight of that responsibility. The function's credibility, he argues, depends entirely on where its priorities sit.
“The moment protecting the function becomes the priority over protecting and creating organisational value, trust begins to erode,” he says.
They both treat performance management as a continuous responsibility rather than a periodic process. Maureen connects this directly to the pace at which fintech environments move, where priorities and expectations can shift faster than an annual appraisal cycle can track.
“In a fast-moving fintech environment, performance expectations can also evolve quickly. Managers therefore need to continuously realign teams as priorities, technology and customer needs change,” she says.
Ozem places the same emphasis on continuity in talent and leadership development.
“Neglect any of these three areas and organisational capability erodes quietly, often while short-term metrics still appear acceptable. Long-term success is built on the quality of the people system, not despite it,” he says.
