Episode 8: The Story of Griselda
Foreword Hendrik
While many companies are still talking about how to get more women into management positions, we simply do it.
At fairafric, 40% of our managers are women - just as many as in the rest of our team.
And that's in Ghana, where female leadership is still the exception. If you want to make a career here, you not only have to be smart and committed - you often have to achieve twice as much as your male colleagues.
And that's in Ghana, where female leadership is still the exception. If you want to make a career here, you not only have to be smart and committed - you often have to achieve twice as much as your male colleagues.
Griselda is one of these women. She started with us as Chief of Staff, switched to Sales - and today, as Production Planner, plans the entire chocolate production in our solar-powered factory.
Without her, fairafric would not be what it is today.
In our latest Impact Story, we tell the story of Griselda's journey - impressive, inspiring and proof of what real equal opportunities can achieve.
Your Hendrik
Learning under constantly changing conditions
Griselda's father is a pastor and was regularly transferred to new stations around the country. As a result, the whole family had to move with him every time.
Between the third and sixth grade alone, Griselda had tochange schools three times. Griselda therefore had to learn early on how to adapt to a constantly changing environment and make the best of situations.
Between the third and sixth grade alone, Griselda had tochange schools three times. Griselda therefore had to learn early on how to adapt to a constantly changing environment and make the best of situations.
To minimize the many changes, she decided to attend a boarding school for her time in junior high school.
However, the stability of the environment also came at a high price: during this time, she wasrarely able tosee her family and was dependent on the often very poor care provided by the school.
Griselda then attended a secondary school in the Eastern Region, near Amanase, where the fairafric factory is located today. There shecompleted her degree in social sciences.
In 1994, there were only 6 universities & colleges in Ghana. In recent years, however, there has been massive investment in education and today there are 304 colleges and universities. Some of them are even among the best on the continent. However, the number of female students is still rather low. Only around 6% of all women in Ghana study (in Germany it is around 30%). This is mainly due to the sometimes high tuition fees, which many families cannot afford.
But Griselda refused to be stopped. Driven by her ambition, she wanted to learn from the best - and prove herself. She made the leap to the renowned Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and obtained her bachelor's degree in business administration. Her thirst for knowledge drove her on: instead of the usual four years, she completed her training as a chartered accountant in just one year - with distinction.
But Griselda refused to be stopped. Driven by her ambition, she wanted to learn from the best - and prove herself. She made the leap to the renowned Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and obtained her bachelor's degree in business administration. Her thirst for knowledge drove her on: instead of the usual four years, she completed her training as a chartered accountant in just one year - with distinction.
Meet Griselda
Griselda Esther Ossei had to learn to assert herself at an early age, as she is the only girl among four brothers. Her mother works as a teacher and her father is a pastor.
She was born in February 1995 in the Ashanti region and lived in more than six regions of Ghana in her youth.
She was born in February 1995 in the Ashanti region and lived in more than six regions of Ghana in her youth.
Every challenge holds an opportunity
As is so often the case, it was very difficult for Griselda to enter the world of work, which is why shebegan her career in the administration of a school.
However, she was hopelessly underchallengedthere, which is why she looked for a new challenge in 2020 where she could develop further.
However, she was hopelessly underchallengedthere, which is why she looked for a new challenge in 2020 where she could develop further.
At that time, we were in the middle of building a factoryand the number of topics and their complexity was slowly but surely increasing. We were therefore looking for an assistant for our Managing Director Michael, who could support him in setting up the factory and operational processes.
Griselda convinced us with her great curiosity and her unique ability to find outstanding solutions under pressure.
From day one, she helpedset up a variety of processes, from logistics to administration and production. In her role as Chief of Staff, she ensured that our processes could grow with us. In addition, she acted as a crucial link between our team in Germany and the team in Ghana and contributed significantly to efficient collaboration between the teams.
Once the factory was completed in record time and production was up and running, our biggest challenge was toboost sales. As Griselda had developed into an absolute all-rounder in the meantime, we promoted her. She wasresponsible for setting up sales in Ghana. It is thanks to her skill and ambition that Ghana isnow fairafric'ssecond largest sales market after Germany. As part of this work, she also represented fairafric at many trade fairs, including the Salon du Chocolat in Paris, one of the world's leading chocolate trade fairs.
However, with the increasing growth, the complexity of production also grew, as we currently produce on several lines simultaneously and in some areas around the clock all year round.
This is why Griselda now works for us as a production planner and is the brain of our supply chain.
This is why Griselda now works for us as a production planner and is the brain of our supply chain.
As there is alack of suitable software for the Ghanaian market , Griselda acquired the "black belt" in Excel and Microsoft Office and built the processes there from scratch.
Today, she ensures that we can fulfill all customer orders by managing our inventory and creating the production plan.
Today, she ensures that we can fulfill all customer orders by managing our inventory and creating the production plan.
Griselda - full of energy, courage and vision
In just a few years, Griselda has become an absolute key figure in our team. She knows our processes like no other and without her, fairafric would not have been able to achieve such growth. Her great wish is to take on even more responsibility in the coming years and to help shape the further strategic development of fairafric. To support her, we recently enabled her to attend a training course in Germany. A major highlight of the trip was a visit to the Berlinale. We are already looking forward to these steps, because her potential is far from exhausted and the next opportunities are already waiting for us.
Creative solutions for all employees
As Fredis familiar with the major challengesfacedby families in ruralGhana , he is also responsible for and has helped to develop one of our most important support programs for our employees: The interest-free loan program
With this program, fairafric employees can receive an interest-freeloan from fairafric, which theyrepay in full over the coming months through a pro-rata reduction in their salary.
This is particularly important as private individuals in Ghana rarely receive loans from the local banks and if they do, then only at extremely high interest rates. In some cases, these are over 40%.
To make matters worse,many costs in Ghana arenot paid monthly .
These include, for example, theschool fees that have to be paid every six months , but one of the biggest reasons is an area that is unthinkable in Europe: rent.
In Ghana, rent is not paid monthly, but in one payment every 12 months or sometimes even only every 24 months. At these times, the sums exceed the reserves of most families.
With this program, fairafric employees can receive an interest-freeloan from fairafric, which theyrepay in full over the coming months through a pro-rata reduction in their salary.
This is particularly important as private individuals in Ghana rarely receive loans from the local banks and if they do, then only at extremely high interest rates. In some cases, these are over 40%.
To make matters worse,many costs in Ghana arenot paid monthly .
These include, for example, theschool fees that have to be paid every six months , but one of the biggest reasons is an area that is unthinkable in Europe: rent.
In Ghana, rent is not paid monthly, but in one payment every 12 months or sometimes even only every 24 months. At these times, the sums exceed the reserves of most families.
Through the program, we were able to find a simple way to support our employees.
The way think along and findinnovative solutions is a prime example of what great solutions young people in Ghana can find if you only challenge and encourage them.
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