The Director of Human Resource at Vodafone Ghana will on Thursday partake in a forum about Covid-19 and its impact on business.

Hannah Ashiokai Akrong will share her perspective and experience on the topic ‘Managing an anxious workforce during and post COVID-19 for business community.’

This is the 4th edition of Ghana’s Most Respected CEO Breakfast Series, organised by the Business and Financial Times (B&FT).

The Live Webinar, which starts at 8:30am, seeks to bring together over 120 entrepreneurs, businesspersons, business leaders as well as SME owners to deliberate on the overarching theme: Crisis Management and Business Continuity in The Face of COVID-19.

Commenting ahead of the event, the celebrated Human Resource Director said, "In such difficult times, employees look up to leadership for comfort and direction. However many organisations do not realise that communicating, managing and addressing employees concerns are paramount, especially during a crisis.

"Many businesses are shifting from their old paradigm to a new way of working and taking active steps to survive during and after the COVID-19 period. Employees are increasingly feeling a sense of anxiety.

"Leaders needs to pay close attention. I am excited and look forward to sharing my thoughts and some best practices from Vodafone during this period.’’

Ashiokai is a global transformational HR Business Leader and a Certified Coach and Trainer.

She is a multilingual HR Professional with a global mind-set and knowledge and expertise working with highly matrixed multinational organizations in the United States, the United Kingdom and Africa.

She has over 20 years’ experience working with various Fortune100/500 organisations leading global teams to execute on the people agenda.

She joined Vodafone Ghana in April 2016 as Director of Human Resources where she is responsible for setting the people agenda and working with the CEO and her leadership team to set the strategy for Vodafone Ghana.

She has been recognised both locally and internationally for her contributions to the HR field and building successful teams; championing women in the workplace through various programmes and ensuring equity.

She has been recognised as one of the Top 10 HR leaders in Ghana; and one of Africa’s HR Directors on the rise in La Tribune Afrique (June 2019 edition) for her work in ensuring gender equity in the workplace.

She is also credited with positioning Vodafone Ghana as an employer of choice for youth and leading the organization towards Top Employer (Ghana and Africa) certification the past 3 years.

Under her leadership, Vodafone Ghana has picked up numerous awards including the Africa Impact Leadership Award at the EU Africa Summit Awards for Best Company in Women’s Economic Empowerment; Best Organization in Learning and Development; Best Organization in Resourcing and Talent; Best Organization in Employee Relations; Best Organization in Health, Safety and Wellbeing.

Ashiokai has a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from the University of Ghana, Legon and a Masters in Human Resources and Industrial Relations (MAHRIR) from the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, USA and the IAG School of Business, Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium.