MD/CEO Heirs Life – Niyi Onifade, and Founder and CEO of The Listening School – Mrs Ebele Chukwujama
One of Nigeria’s leading insurance companies, Heirs Life Assurance has proven to be on top of her game by inculcating listening and inclusive culture in its bid to raise the corporate standard of the organization.
Speaking at a leadership training tagged LIFT(Listening Intelligence for Leaders and Teams), organized in partnership with
The Listening School, a leading human capacity development initiative on Thursday, June 23, 2022, Mr. Niyi Onifade, Managing Director at Heirs Life Assurance Limited expressed his excitement that the company is recognized for her sustained commitment to an inclusive Listening culture where all Heirs Life Assurance people can belong and thrive.
“Our people are the core of who we are as a company, and our culture of Listening is vital to our long-term success. We are keeping ourselves honest and accountable by continuing to actively seek out, listen to, and incorporate the viewpoints of all stakeholders.”
Heirs Life Assurance were keen to ensure that each of her staff was equipped with the skills to succeed in their role and with their team.
To achieve this, Heirs Life Assurance partnered with The Listening School to design a program that enhances leadership capabilities, promotes real-time problem solving, and increases productivity through Listening Intelligence. The participants came from a wide variety of backgrounds with diverse professional experience, so providing training solution that is tailored to meet the needs of each individual, was a key priority.
This interactive four-session course provided training and guidance that enabled participants to understand their listening preferences, recognize the listening preferences of others, and adapt to circumstances and people in real-time without any form of bias or prejudice.
The organization’s top ranking on this list is a result of survey respondents rating the organization on criteria such as consistency in Leadership capability, behaviors, underlying mindsets, and beliefs, as well as general diversity.
One participant noted that in her previous jobs, she often kept to herself, because of misunderstandings and miscommunications.
“After Listening Intelligence for Leaders and Teams capacity-building program, I have been speaking to more people in my workplace, listening more and this is helping me grow in my role and allowing me to learn from more experienced and expert colleagues.”
The Heirs Life Assurance team is now exploring building listening intelligence skills into its wider recruitment and development processes.
The Listening School Chief Executive, Ebele Chukwujama, also noted that the content is diverse, modern, hands-on and versatile, and distinguishable. We want to continue to help individuals understand their listening preferences, recognize the listening preferences of others and adapt how they communicate accordingly, resulting in a more inclusive workplace and a culture where people feel comfortable and confident to do their best at work.
We also want to remain very conscious about adding value to corporate organizations, focusing on advocating Listening Intelligence as part of their Leadership Strategy.
