Ing. Patricia Obo-Nai
Telecel Ghana’s Chief Executive Officer, Ing. Patricia Obo-Nai, has called on Human Resource (HR) leaders to prioritise wellness, resilience, and data as core drivers of long-term organisational success.
Speaking at the HR Connect Conference 2025, themed: “Empowering HR Excellence: Leveraging Data, Resilience and Wellness for a Thriving Workplace”, she challenged the traditional perception of HR as merely a support function.
“We spend more than 60,000 hours of our lives at work. If the workplace doesn’t nourish you, it will drain you,” she said.
She urged HR leaders to create cultures where people are seen, heard, and supported.
Ing. Obo-Nai underscored Telecel Ghana’s progressive wellness framework, which she said “goes beyond physical health” to include emotional and financial well-being.
According to her, among its standout initiatives is an equal four-month, fully paid parental leave for both men and women, an uncommon policy in corporate Ghana.
She noted that the company also offers mental health helplines, confidential peer support through trained Wellbeing Ambassadors, on-site aerobics, wellness months, health screenings, and quarterly social events ranging from karaoke to salsa nights.
“Remember, wellness is not a perk. It is a performance multiplier,” she stressed.
The HR Connect Conference 2025, held on 8th August, 2025 in Accra, brought together HR practitioners, thought leaders, and business executives from across the continent.
The event was organised by HR Network Africa and featured speeches, panel discussions, masterclasses, and artistic performances, which aimed at equipping organisations with tools to build thriving, future-ready workplaces.
On resilience, she reflected on the organisation’s smooth transition to Telecel Ghana, highlighting HR’s critical role in fostering trust, cultural stability, and adaptability during major organisational change.
“It was more than a rebrand. It was asking thousands of people to trust in a future they couldn’t yet see,” she said.
The key, she noted, lay in building trust and maintaining cultural stability.
“When culture leads, strategy follows, and resilience wins,” she intimated.
Turning to data-driven HR, Ing. Obo-Nai urged leaders to go beyond surveys and metrics to uncover the real stories behind employee sentiment.
“Data tells us where to act. Resilience gives us the strength to act. Wellness gives us the capacity to keep acting,” she concluded.
By Samuel Boadi