All businesses, including high growth companies, require the right skills in the people they employ at the top to thrive. It means that companies are creating more opportunities to those with good track record in terms of abilities and performance.
Gladys Ogalla is a good example of a few Kenyans who are making companies excel in more ways than one. The founder and chief executive of Virtual HR has become the second lady to serve on the board of directors of Liberty Kenya Holdings, a financial services group.
Having a rich experience in various sectors including insurance, ICT, banking, investments, telecommunications, and education, Ms Ogalla has the potential to help the organization in its quest to increase its stake in the local insurance sector. Drawing on the experiences she has amassed from countries like Tanzania, Ghana, Cote d’ivoire, South Africa, Namibia, Swaziland, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, she brings in essential expertise.
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Apart from a career in human resource management, she has dabbled in the ICT sector, and boasts of more than 14 years of experience working at Africa Online and MTN business. She has also founded the Azizi Hair & Beauty College, an initiative aimed at empowering young individuals interested in the field. Prior to joining the board of Liberty Kenya, she served as a non-executive board member of HF Group for a year. Also, she served on the board of Pacis Insurance and Rwanda’s Crystal Ventures Limited.
Ms Ogalla holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) and a Bachelor of Education degree from Kenyatta University. She joins the board of Liberty Kenya at a time the company is experiencing a dip as far as uptake of insurance premiums in the country is concerned – the company recorded a loss as revenue collected from its insurance premiums decreased from Sh21.5 million to Sh6.3 million at the end of 2018. The company also experienced a drop in earnings, from a net profit of Sh667 million at the end of 2017 to Sh608 million at the end of 2018. With the addition of the calibre of Ms Ogalla, the company has an opportunity to turn things around and head back towards profits. However, this will only be determined in time.
