Nigeria’s HR leaders urged to connect workplace reform with measurable results

Nearly 5,000 delegates attended the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria’s 58th International Conference and Exhibition in Abuja, where discussions centred on how organisations should respond to artificial intelligence, changing skills and pressure to improve productivity. The conference, held from September 21 to 24, 2026, was organised under the theme “Repositioning for Value and Impact”. It brought together business leaders, policymakers, human-resources professionals, academics and other workplace specialists.

A central message was that HR performance can no longer be measured mainly by activity levels, such as the number of people recruited, employees trained or vacancies filled. Organisations increasingly want to know whether those actions improve productivity, strengthen management and help retain essential staff. CIPM President and Chairman of the Governing Council Mallam Ahmed Ladan Gobir said the conference’s value would depend on what delegates did after returning to their organisations.

The source material said that impact could include better decisions, redesigned processes, stronger teams or difficult workplace issues finally being addressed. Artificial intelligence was another major theme. Discussions moved beyond whether AI would replace jobs and focused instead on which parts of jobs might change, which skills could become more valuable and how employers should decide where the technology should be used.

The source material said these questions place HR at the centre of technology decisions. If AI changes how work is performed, it can affect job design, recruitment, training, performance management, workforce planning and leadership. HR professionals therefore need enough understanding of technology to assess its effects on people and organisational performance, without becoming technology departments.

Speakers also linked workplace management to broader economic outcomes. Poor training, weak leadership, damaging organisational cultures and the loss of critical talent can affect output, performance and institutional effectiveness, the material said. The conference attracted 4,905 delegates, including 4,020 attending physically and 885 participating virtually.

Its longer-term significance, according to the source material, will depend less on attendance than on whether participants apply the ideas in their organisations.