Struggling with Stubborn Employer and Low Salaries: How Can I Improve Employee Retention in Lagos?

I am in charge of HR in a company in Lagos, Nigeria. The problem at hand is that the employer doesn't want to move away from the traditional way of running a company. Furthermore, the employees have been productive, and they are calling for an increase in salary because their take-home pay is very low. This situation has resulted in high labor turnover. On the other hand, the employer is not willing to review the staff salaries after several discussions and proposals I have made regarding these issues. Additionally, the employer prioritizes productivity at all costs but only pays lip service to employee welfare. What can I do?

Regards,
Tunde

Some companies are like this. We are recruiting for more than 10 banks in Nigeria, and all of them behave the same way. So, when we recruit candidates for them, we advise the candidates to bargain for higher salaries.

Thank you for the professional advice. Meanwhile, I am going to work towards it. On the other hand, there is another development with the employer, and I need your professional advice. There are local council elections coming up here in Lagos on Saturday, and the state government has pronounced a restriction of vehicular and human movement from 7:00 am to 3:00 pm. Ideally, the company works on Saturday from 8:00 am to 1:30 pm.

In view of this, when the development was communicated to the employer regarding the restriction of movement and the potential post-election violence that might occur, due to previous experiences where the aftermath of local government elections is always uneasy because of its grassroots nature, I advised the employer to consider the well-being of the employees on the election day. However, the employer insisted that the employees should resume work at 4:00 pm and close at 8:00 pm on election day, which is not common practice.

As an HR Person, What Should I Do?

Regards,
Tunde