Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Dr Muda Yusuf Treating employees well is a hallmark of a reputable employer. It forms a relationship, trumping contracts and mixing with a layer of shared experience, to the benefit of the business venture, ARINZE NWAFOR writes You cannot win over a worker with just a salary.
These modern times make it particularly challenging to win over a worker with just a salary. There are other benefits, including emotional and social, that employees consider when choosing a workplace to apply to or when moving forward with another offer. A competent business spots these needs early on to satisfy them.
Days when workers’ welfare was centred narrowly on wages and safety are over. It has evolved to a multidimensional framework that shapes productivity, loyalty and long-term enterprise value. Welfare in the early industrial era meant compliance issues: factory safety, basic housing and minimal compensation.
By the late 20th century, advanced economies began to treat employee well-being as a game-changing element. They saw a need to integrate healthcare, pensions, training and workplace culture into corporate governance. Today, global leaders go all out on flexible work, mental health support, equity options and cost-of-living interventions in their operations.
This article will show you how employees’ welfare directly impacts your business’s growth. Welfare is changing Companies’ level of innovation in welfare has proved its value. Top firms subsidise transportation, provide on-site healthcare, offer continuous skills training and introduce inflation-linked pay adjustments.
These policies have produced measurable outcomes: higher retention, stronger productivity and improved profitability. There is an established link between good welfare and high performance. The best companies appear to reduce employees’ daily financial stress, among others, and often unlock sharper focus and better execution.
Nigeria’s peculiar situation Why is this important for Nigerian businesses? The Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Dr Muda Yusuf, has argued that wage increases alone cannot deliver sustainable welfare gains in a high-inflation environment.
Many Nigerians agree with this view, as often reported in the news. Rising food, energy and transport costs continue to erode real incomes, leaving workers worse off even after periodic salary adjustments. Employers have to decide how to support workers without undermining their own cost structures.
Political leaders have also noted the urgency of reform. Former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi, in his International Workers’ Day X post, stated, “We celebrate the tireless efforts of our Nigerian workers, whose unwavering commitment and immense contributions drive our nation’s growth and development… We must recognise the dignity of labour and promote a culture of respect and appreciation for all workers.” Obi added that Nigeria’s high unemployment and underemployment rates demand aggressive investment in people to shift the economy from consumption to production.
“Nigeria has an unemployment and underemployment rate of over 35 per cent and a youth unemployment and underemployment rate of over 45 per cent, which is one of the highest globally, fuelling all sorts of criminality and social vices,” he noted. For Nigerian business owners, the message is clear.