These are certainly not
best of times for the management and staff of one of Nigeria’s leading beverage
company, Promasidor.
For those who don’t know,
Promasidor is the maker of beverage brands like Cowbell, Onga, Loya Milk,
Amila, Top Tea, to mention only a few. If the formation reaching us is anything
to go by, then the company is really in a big financial mess.
Hi People gathered recently that
Promasidor embarked on a mass sack exercise of its large workforce due to cash
flow problems currently plaguing the company in order to remain in business.
Further digs revealed that a major chunk of the company’s sales usually comes
from the northern part of the country, but no sooner than the killing and
bombing unrest by the deadly Boko Haram sect began, the company sales nosedive
irredeemably. Further investigations by this magazine revealed that sales from
the north alone accounts for over 60 percent of the company’s total sales
across the country. As soon as the management of Promasidor recognized this
fact, they went back to their drawing board, and decided that the best option
will be to embark on mass sack of its workers. This action caused a major
unrest in the company to the point that the National Union of Food, Beverages
and Tobacco Employees, NUFBTE had to wade in. When the whole brouhaha first
started, it was the casual staffers who were mostly affected. You will recall
that when the issue of the mass sack was first address by NUFBTE, the company
decided to recall some of the staff but is was not business as usual as they
were deprived of some of those benefits like car loan, housing, sampling
products they use to enjoy. The cash crunch situation that the company found
itself was further buttressed by the MD’s memo.
Mr. Richards in a memo to the workers dated June 22,2012 volume 5,
issues 13, and titled “MD’s Communication: Back to work”, read in part, “With
immediate effect, all salary advances, housing and other loans and staff
sampling are suspended. As we desperately need to build stock to sell there
will be no staff product issue at the end of this month. We will be undertaking
a comprehensive review of our operations to establish our total manpower
requirements in the face of current economic conditions. As yet, I cannot
guarantee the outcome of this review. Much still depend on our productivity and
our ability to sell in this very difficult market.” The company did not only
stop at sacking the junior and casual staff, they went on to take on the some
of the top managers that they feel are just sitting down and collecting fat
salaries without doing little or nothing. A case in point was that of one of
the senior managers who went abroad for a throat surgery, only to be welcome
and greeted by a sack letter, which brought to three the number of managers
that have been shown the way out. The situation was so bad that the management
had to close and merge some department to be able to meet up with the current
financial realities on ground. We also gathered that the atmosphere in the
company is not conducive at all as the wind of sack is blowing in the company. Other
senior managers who were left are not sure of their stay in the company not
even the MD, Mr. Keith Richards, who is just an employee of the company. Our
source revealed that the management decided to focus on the manager because
they feel that while some of them are working, others are collecting fat
salaries without doing anything. Since the company is battling to weather the
storm and remain is business, one strategy the management has adopted is to cut
down cost at all cost and the only way to do that is through downsizing.
According to our source,
more heads are still going to roll unless there is improvement in the cash flow
of the company that will be largely dependent on two key factors, peace in the
northern part of the country where the company’s products are sold the most as
well as aggressive marketing drive. Keep a date with us, as we keep you posted
on events as they unfold.
Efforts to speak with Mr.
Andrew Enahoro, Head, Legal and Public
Relations of the company proved futile as his mobile number was not available
as at press time.,
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