The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Publishing Company Ltd, Nana Kwasi Boatey, has revealed that the company faced serious overstaffing and a widespread skills mismatch when he assumed office, issues that were undermining efficiency and professionalism at the state-owned firm.
In an interview with Citi FM, Boatey disclosed that several employees had been recruited without the necessary training or expertise in publishing and printing, the company’s core functions.
“The truth is that the company was very significantly overstaffed. Not only was it overstaffed, but we had a lot of people working there who were not trained,” he stated.
He attributed the problem partly to political and personal interference, which resulted in the placement of individuals with unrelated academic or professional backgrounds.
“You know the thing where they bring you someone and say, ‘find somewhere and put this one for me.’ For instance, you have a publishing company, but people trained in agriculture are doing finance, and those trained in carpentry are doing marketing,” Boatey explained.
He described the practice as unsustainable, noting that the mismatch of skills made training difficult and disrupted smooth operations.
To address the challenge, Boatey said management quickly worked to align staff roles with their qualifications and rolled out a new 24-hour shift system.
“What we first did was align staff with their areas of training. Then, as promised in the first three weeks, we introduced the 24-hour shift,” he said.
Currently, the Ghana Publishing Company employs about 250 workers. Boatey noted that operational reviews showed only around 150 were needed for the day shift—meaning the remaining staff might have faced redundancy under a standard restructuring process.
Instead of laying them off, the company opted to create a night shift to preserve jobs while improving efficiency.
“The rest would have automatically had to go home, but we moved them to a night shift—and that gave us lots and lots of advantages,” he added.
Source: Adomonline
