Abigail Isokpan
Independent
Trainer
• Abigail is a certified coach, multi-sector HR leader, and management consultant. She has over 20 years of experience leading the design and execution of people strategies across government, healthcare, banking, and telecoms sectors.
• She is a managing partner of International Leadership & Coaching Services (ILCS) Limited, a practice specializing in executive & leadership coaching, organizational diagnostics, culture & change management, employee engagement & organization development, strategic HRM, and HR outsourcing.
• She started her career as a training and management consultant at a government resource institution (Centre for Management Development) where she built, delivered, and evaluated learning and development interventions for public and private sector clients.
• She later joined the multinational healthcare company Sterling Health with responsibility for employee/ human resources development. Among her key achievements were leading people and culture integration programs following a merger with SmithKline Beecham and championing the adoption and application of Total Quality Management (TQM) principles in the workplace.
• Abigail’s move into banking started with one of Nigeria’s biggest banks, United Bank for Africa (UBA), where she held multiple roles, rising to the position of general manager, of human capital management. She had overall responsibility for the HR strategy and function, and at different times, her scope of accountabilities was expanded to include customer service, procurement, and corporate affairs.
• She also worked at the leading global bank, Citibank, where she was responsible for manpower planning, career development, performance management, job evaluation, and employee opinion surveys.
• She was subsequently hired to lead the HR function of the Nigerian operation of the UAE-based mobile telecoms operator, Etisalat. In this capacity, Abigail was responsible for setting up the HR function, developing and communicating the company’s people policies and processes, and ramping up staffing levels pre and post-launch of operations. She led the design and implementation of pay-for-performance best practices (including annual bonuses and quarterly incentives), culture change, and performance management tools. She championed high-performance business standards through people, placing the company in the top quartile of global organizations in the McKinsey Organizational Health Index (OHI). She oversaw the integration of employee engagement as a core dimension of the company’s talent management strategy, embedding an evidence-based approach that positioned the company as one of the most engaged workforces in the Etisalat Group with an Employee Engagement Index of 75%. She oversaw the transition of the company’s brand and operations from Etisalat Nigeria to 9mobile (following the acquisition).
Career History (most recent at top):
• Managing Partner, International Leadership & Coaching Services (ILCS) Limited, Lagos (July 2019 – present)
• Chief HR Officer (CHRO), Etisalat Nigeria/ 9mobile, Lagos (July 2010-June 2019)
• Acting CHRO, Etisalat Nigeria, Lagos (November 2009-June 2010)
• Director, HR Policy & Strategy, Etisalat Nigeria, Lagos (January 2008-October 2009)
• Lead HR Manager, Etisalat Nigeria, Lagos (July-December 2007)
• General Manager (GM), Human Capital Management, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Lagos (2005-07)
• Deputy GM, Human Capital/ Acting Executive Director, Corporate Services, UBA, Lagos (2004-05)
• Assistant GM/ Acting Head of HR Department, Citibank, Lagos (2003-04)
• Assistant GM, Staffing & Development, Citibank, Lagos (2002-03)
• Assistant GM, Performance Management, UBA, Lagos (2001-02)
• Assistant GM, General Administration, UBA, Lagos (1999-2001)
• Head, Manpower Planning & Career Development, UBA, Lagos (1998-99)
• Manager, Human Resources Development, Sterling Products Nigeria (later SmithKline Beecham), Lagos (1995-97)
• Manager, Employee Development, Sterling Products Nigeria (later SmithKline Beecham), Lagos (1992-95)
• Officer, Principal Management Development, Centre for Management Development (CMD), Lagos (1986-1992)
• Officer, Management Development, Centre for Management Development (CMD), Lagos (1978-1986)
Education (most recent at top):
• Advanced Management Program (AMP), Templeton College (now Said Business School), University of Oxford (2006)
• Strategic Human Resource Management Program, Harvard Business School, Harvard University (1998)
• MBA, University of Benin (1982)
• BSc Zoology, University of Ibadan (1977)
