SPEAKER
Amb. John Ulanga, Ambassador and Director of International Trade and Economic Diplomacy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation
MODERATOR
Mr. Taji G. Liundi
This session elaborated on the most crucial part of any organization which is its people. Ambassador Ulanga, then Country Director, Trademark East Africa showed the value of people in any organization, and here are the takeaways.
The most crucial asset in any organization is the People. The difference between successful and unsuccessful organizations lies in the management of people as resources to maximize productivity.
Ambassador Ulanga also gave some pointers on what to look for when hiring people in any organization. Organizations should look for.
1. Passion :- passion drives learning; if there is no passion, there is no motivation.
2. Integrity: – if you are not of high integrity, people create bottlenecks because they benefit from the inefficient system.
3. Intellectual curiosity :- this means your mind has to be curious every day, every time to learn something new.
4. Emotional intelligence :- is the ability to relate with people, maximize your strengths, and minimize your weaknesses. People with Emotional Intelligence will find ways to maximize their productivity
Hiring is one thing but ensuring these good people stay in your organization, they should be supplied with.
1. Training :- an employer must provide professional training.
2. Mentoring and Coaching :- it is the role of an Employer to create a mechanism mentally. Most employers do not spend time with their employees to mentor and coach them.
3. Constant motivation :- as much as you need them to be efficient, you must also have to be a source of motivation.
Every organization is as good as its people.
Mr. John Ulanga
Country Director
Trade Mark East Africa
John Ulanga is the Country Director of TradeMark East Africa in Tanzania (www.trademarkea.com).
TradeMark East Africa is a not-for-profit, multi-donor funded, Aid for Trade organisation established in 2010 with the objective of improving trade within the region and between the region and the rest of the world.
This is achieved by improving physical infrastructure for trade, policies, systems, procedures, processes and capacity for managing trade and trading environment.
Over the seven year period has invested over $560m in the region. Before joining TradeMark East Africa, John Ulanga was the Vice President, External Affairs and Sustainability for BG East Africa (Tanzania and Kenya).
Before joining BG Tanzania, Mr. Ulanga was the Executive Director of the Foundation for Civil Society, the largest support mechanism for civil society organizations in Tanzania and before then Mr. Ulanga worked with the Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF).
Mr. Ulanga is the Chairman of the University Council of the Hubert Kairuki Memorial University, Dar es Salaam; the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Tanzania Financial Services for the Underserved Settlements (TAFSUS), a UN-Habitat-supported initiative to upgrade slums and underserved settlements in Tanzania; Member of the Board of Directors of Mwananchi Communications Limited (publishers of The Citizen, Mwananchi and Mwanaspoti Newspapers); Member and Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of Tanzania Media Foundation, a Board Member of KCB Bank Tanzania and a Member of the USAID Tanzania Advisory Group.
Mr. Ulanga is also a Member of the Africa Policy Advisory Board for ONE Campaign (www.one.org). He is also a Fellow of the African Leadership Initiative in East Africa and the Aspen Global Leadership Network of the Aspen Institute, and a 2012 Senior Fellow of the Centre on Philanthropy and Civil Society Studies at the Graduate Centre of the City University of New York.
