During the inaugural CHRO East Africa Launch Summit in Nairobi, Titilope Olajide, partner for people and change at KPMG East Africa, urged human resources leaders to understand the commercial realities of technology and politics in their organisations.
Speaking to senior executives, Titilope Olajide, partner for people and change at KPMG East Africa, challenged HR leaders to think deeply about their impact.
At the start of her address, Titilope shared a light-hearted story about her transition to Kenya and the various ways people mispronounced her name. She noted that while name spelling can be challenging, building a shared community of learning remains invaluable. With centuries of collective experience in the room, she emphasised that sharing knowledge is essential to reshaping the modern workplace.
She explained that emerging technology is already transforming the consulting landscape and the broader human resources function.
“Clients are increasingly demanding faster results and data-driven diagnostics. They expect a 30 percent reduction in the time it takes to deliver everything that you said. They say they will give you all the data, plug it in and let it generate from our promises because you do not need to talk to every single leader in our organisation,” she said.
The technology shift
To address these shifts, Titilope highlighted how leading organisations are building robust internal capabilities. She shared the example of a bank building a future technology academy to equip workers with specialised digital skills.
“Another entity decided to democratise digital skills so that everyone in human resources and finance knows what we are talking about,” she said.
She also noted a growing trend of companies investing in human resources technology that prioritises employee experience to drive customer satisfaction and overall business performance.
“People have finally agreed that employee experience directly impacts customers. Let us stand on tech and support them through the experience to find out what motivates them and makes them more productive,” she added.
Beyond technology, Titilope left the audience with key questions for reflection regarding the role of human resources in executive decision-making and career progression.
“Can a senior executive who is not in human resources sit and say that when they were in this organisation their career moved on and they can attribute that to you personally as an HR leader,” she asked.
She also stressed the importance of understanding the internal political dynamics that shape corporate governance and power.
“When power is served in an organisation, it is not the most powerful person like the person on the top. It is the person to whom the powerful person listens,” she concluded.
