Jane Akauba

Strategic HR Business Partner with 7+ years of experience translating business priorities into people decisions across Technology and Energy sectors in Nigeria. Track record of building HR infrastructure from the ground up; performance frameworks, workforce analytics, and ISO-aligned governance, while partnering with senior leadership to drive measurable outcomes: 20% reduction in voluntary turnover, 35% drop in management escalations, and 100% statutory compliance. Brings a data-led, risk-aware lens to talent strategy and organizational design, grounded in deep operational experience across high-stakes environments.

People Operations Lead at PaidHR (2024-03 – Present)

• Strategic HR Partnership: Serve as the embedded HR Business Partner to leadership and department heads, translating organizational priorities into people initiatives; including career frameworks, governance structures, and workforce planning aligned to the company's scaling roadmap.
• Performance & Retention: Designed and deployed full-cycle performance management processes from scratch, achieving 100% organizational completion and contributing to a 20% reduction in voluntary turnover within 12 months.
• Manager Effectiveness: Identified manager capability as a primary driver of escalations and attrition risk; delivered structured coaching to mid-level managers on performance conversations, delegation, and conflict resolution, reducing people-related escalations by 35%.
• Workforce Intelligence: Built and own the organization's workforce analytics infrastructure; dashboards tracking attrition, performance distribution, and succession readiness, used by leadership at quarterly talent reviews to inform resourcing and development decisions.
• Governance & Compliance: Authored company-wide HR SOPs and ISO-aligned policy frameworks, creating the documentation infrastructure required for organizational scaling, audit readiness, and statutory compliance.

HR, People & Culture at H&W Energy Ltd (2018-07 – 2023-12)

• Workforce Strategy: Partnered with operational leaders to redesign onboarding and competency-based training, cutting time-to-productivity by 25% and lifting 90-day retention to 95%, a direct response to attrition patterns identified through people data.
• Talent Reviews & Audit: Led structured talent reviews and performance audits across functions, producing zero findings across all external inspections through rigorous process documentation and compliance tracking.
• Succession Planning: Mapped critical role dependencies with department heads and built succession plans supported by individual development plans (IDPs), strengthening bench strength and reducing key-person risk.
• HRBP Advisory: Acted as day-to-day HR Business Partner to mid-senior leaders, advising on workforce decisions, managing ER cases, and ensuring people strategy remained aligned with operational goals during growth.
• HR Operations: Managed end-to-end HR administration across multiple project sites in a regulated oil & gas environment, employee records, payroll liaison, onboarding, and compliance documentation, supporting a workforce under DPR oversight.
• Regulatory Compliance: Maintained statutory HR records and personnel files that withstood DPR inspections and internal audits with zero non-conformances, establishing a culture of documentation rigour from early career.
• HSE & Risk Environment: Supported HSE operations across sites, contributing to a zero-incident safety record, building an early understanding of risk management, workforce safety, and compliance in high-stakes settings.

B.Sc. in Sociology – University of Port Harcourt (2018)