ISSUE 74 | MARCH 2025

AN OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE FEDERATION OF UGANDA EMPLOYERS

FUENEWS

THE VOICE OF EMPLOYERS

FUE CEO MESSAGE

Dear Esteemed Member,

The Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action (BPfA), adopted by 189 countries, is the most comprehensive and transformative global agenda for the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. In 2025, the world will observe the 30th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the adoption of the 1995 BPfA which also coincides with the 10th anniversary of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Its significant to note that all these are not mere coincidences but represent a crucial point where history and the present are at a critical intersection. Together, these frameworks provide an ambitious roadmap for achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment, ensuring no one is left behind.

As key stakeholders on labour and employment matters, we joined the world to commemorate the International Women’s Day (IWD) 2025 themed, ‘Accelerate Action’. This theme is timely to fast-track interventions to achieve Gender Equality due to the discovery that we will have to wait for over 131 years at the current rate of progress to attain gender parity. Under the FUE Womens Executive Chapter, we champion initiatives such as the Female Future Leadership Program, Malkia and Annual Women Leadership Conference to contribute our part in the world of work. These programs have positively impacted over 300 women boosting productivity, facilitating leadership development and to advance sustainable development. We are committed to ensuring Employers are key drivers of the quest to advance Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) at national level.

Furthermore, we convened the FUE 46th Annual General Meeting to share a detailed accountability and achievements of the Federation over the past year in addition to mapping out future projections that will shape the labour market in recent times. At the AGM, we conducted elections for new office bearers to take up significant leadership positions at the helm of the Federation. Congratulations to the newly elected Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and other members of the FUE Governing Council. Furthermore, we extend special appreciation to the outgoing Governing Council Board led by the Former FUE Chairperson, Eng. Dr. Silver Mugisha. We wish the new leadership team a fruitful tenure of service.

As we conclude the first quarter of the year, we implore Employers to adapt digital technology, encourage sustainability practices and secure strategic partnerships to excel in a fast-paced business environment. FUE remains committed to enhance employer competitiveness at local and international level through strategic programs and initiatives to support organisations achieve growth.

Thank you,
Together for Employers.

Douglas Opio

The Chief Executive Officer, FUE

CONTENTS

• FUE CEO Message
• The FUE 46th Annual General Meeting
• International Women’s Day 2025
• FUE-THAUT Partnership
• FUE-UZIMA Workplace Health Awareness Collaboration
• FUE Member Engagement
• FUE Staff Commentary
• Upcoming Events

THE FUE 46TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The FUE 46th Annual General Meeting(AGM) was convened on Friday 28th March at Hotel Africana. The AGM is conducted annually to share a detailed accountability of FUE achievements, projects and initiatives over the year in our service to Employers. The Guest of Honor was Hon. Esther Anyakun, the Minister of State of Labour, Employment and Industrial Relations.

In a bid to enhance employer competitiveness, the AGM commenced with valuable presentations from Netherlands Senior Experts (PUM), Enabel and Uganda Printing and Publishing Corporation (UPPC) on hiring experts to support business growth, upholding sustainability practices, respecting business and human rights in the world of work.

The FUE Chairperson, Eng. Dr. Silver Mugisha in his opening remarks appreciated all partners for their continous support to the advancement of the Employers fraternity. He highlighted the need for Employers to invest in strategies that enhance financial sustainability.

The Chief Guest, Hon. Esther Anyakun, the Minister of State of Labour, Employment and Industrial Relations encouraged Employers to adapt technology and new strategies of work to thrive in the evolving labour market. She commended FUE for its continuous partnership with the government to influence policy and create a conducive business environment. Hon. Anyakun further reiterated job creation, innovation, skills development and digital literacy as key aspects to boost productivity and advance sustainable development.

In accordance with the FUE 2022 Constitution, we conducted elections for various leadership positions in the Federation.
Congratulations to the newly elected Governing Council under the leadership of the newly-elected Chairperson, Mr. Fred Bamwesigye, the Director General Uganda Civil Aviation Authority and Vice-Chairperson, Mona Sebuliba, the Chief Executive Officer aBi Finance Ltd. Other Governing Council Members include Kakira Sugar, NITA Uganda, Foundation Leads, Hariss International, Terrain Ltd, BrighterMonday Uganda, AIDS Information Centre, Joint Clinical Research Centre, Amref and Mt. Elgon Hospital. We look forward to working with the new leadership team to advance the Employers’ fraternity. Furthermore, we extend a vote of thanks to the outgoing team led by Eng. Dr. Silver Mugisha and wish them well in their future endeavours.

Special appreciation to National Water and Sewerage Corporation, Bank of Uganda, Housing Finance Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Uganda Insurers Association, Hariss International Ltd, Movit Products Ltd, Pearl Dairy Farms and MultiChoice Uganda
for receiving the Employer Recognition Award for their valuable contribution to the advancement of the Employers’ fraternity.

As we embark on a new journey, FUE is keen to strengthen partnerships with key stakeholders to create an affluent business ecosystem. Let’s work together to develop a robust business community offering access to new markets & promoting innovation to thrive in the evolving a labour market.

Click the link below to view

The FUE 2024 Annual Report

INTERNATIONAL WOMENS DAY 2025

On 8th March, International Women’s Day (IWD) is commemorated annually to recognise women’s accomplishments in numerous sectors and advocate for gender equality. The IWD 2025 theme was, ‘Accelerate Action’. At the national level, the IWD celebrations was held in Kyankwanzi district with the President as Guest of Honor.

In Uganda, as of February 2024, 33.9% of seats in parliament were held by women. The strides in promoting Gender Equality are significant with increased women’s representation at the political level with 45.8% at the cabinet level, reduction in Gender Based Violence (GBV), economic empowerment leading to an increase in women entrepreneurship through the Parish Development Model (PDM) and GROW Project initiatives among others. In addition, the government seeks to provide digital skills for women, design gender-responsive environmental policies and promote affirmative action for female ICT innovators.

FUE advocates for inclusive work policies, equal opportunities and Sexual Reproductive and Health Rights (SRHR) at the workplace. We believe a conducive environment is key to ensure women exploit their full potential, pursue career advancement and have a healthy work-life balance. Furthermore, we conducted a celebration for our female staff to commend their diligent service and invaluable contribution to the advancement of the Employers’ fraternity.

As Employers, we believe laws and policies that foster socio-economic transformation is a step towards achieving Gender Equality by 2030. Let’s work together to break barriers to persistent inequalities and decent work for women and girls at global level!

FUE-THAUT PARTNERSHIP

On Monday 17th March 2025, we hosted a team from THAUT at our head offices in Kiwanga-Namanve. THAUT is an empathy-driven company revolutionising customer and employee engagement through real-time emotional insights.

FUE’s collaboration with THAUT is aimed to leverage the latter’s cloud based platform to support Employers integrate emotional intelligence into organisational frameworks, transforming interactions into actionable emotional scores. The THAUT platform enhances customer and employee engagement through real-time emotional insights with key features of Emotional Analysis, Data Hub Marketplace, Security Measures, Seamless Integration and Ethical Use of AI. We believe this platform will enable business owners deal with conflict resolution, capacity building, workforce coaching and mentoring, recruitment, mental health monitoring and crisis management among others.

We look forward to a fruitful partnership with THAUT to create a conducive work environment and ease daily work operations in the evolving labour market.

FUE-UZIMA WORKPLACE HEALTH AWARENESS COLLABORATION

The modern workplace has become increasingly demanding and the relevance of mental wellness in the workplace can no longer be over emphasised. FUE has long recognised mental health at the work place as an important intervention that improves productivity, job satisfaction and staff retention among others. We have established a collaboration with Uzima Ministries whose core role is in strengthening responses for mental health through various interventions for youth and schools as well as institutionalised care, support and workplace wellness programs.

As part of the FUE-Uzima Workplace Wellness Support Program, we provide employee counselling, stress and burnout management, coping mechanisms for anxiety and depression, alcohol and substance abuse support programs. We shall provide mental wellness screening and assessment, employee counselling and support, stress and burn out management, copying mechanisms for anxiety and depression and crisis interventions and support. Despite growing awareness and momentum, challenges persist, including stigma, limited resources, and difficulty measuring effectiveness. However, these challenges present opportunities for innovation, collaboration, and leadership in promoting mental wellness in the workplace.

Therefore, supporting employees’ mental health. This is not only a moral imperative but also a sound business strategy leading to improved productivity, employee engagement and retention. We are readily available to offer mental wellness support programs at your workplaces.

For inquiries and to access these services, contact info@fuemployers.org | 0392 777 410.

FUE MEMBER ENGAGEMENT

This month, we paid a courtesy visit to Marianum Press Limited, an esteemed FUE Member. Marianum Press is the leading industrial and commercial print company in Uganda that has developed a number of brands across Africa.

If you are an FUE member, you are encouraged to pay your membership subscription to enjoy all benefits stipulated under your category.

If you are not yet an FUE member, contact info@fuemployers.org | 0392 777 410 for inquiries.

Remember, ‘Every Good Employer is a member of the Federation of Uganda Employers’.

FUE STAFF COMMENTARY

APPRECIATE EMPLOYEES’ PERSONALITY DIFFERENCES FOR BETTER WORKPLACE MANAGEMENT

“We are all different, which is great because we are all unique. Without diversity, life would be very boring”, says Catherine Pulsifer, a Canadian author, researcher and motivational expert. While Rick Riordan, an American author and educationist says, “Fairness does not mean everyone gets the same. Fairness means everyone gets what they need (to succeed)”.

According to the major theories that have been developed from years of studies in psychology and behavioural patterns of humans, there are four widely accepted and used temperaments (dimensions of behaviour) which explains why people display different personality tendencies. The Four Temperaments Model confirmed by major theorists classifies people into four distinct personality types, which are Sanguine, Choleric, Melancholic, and Phlegmatic. These temperaments are categories used to describe and understand personality traits.

Temperament, which is often described as an individual’s innate personality traits, significantly influences a person’s behaviour in various settings, including at the workplace. That is, your temperament is the core of your personality, which influences your behaviour and how you interact with the world. It is the underlying framework for your thoughts and actions. (BetaPlus, 2024).

Since every manager strives to have a harmonious and productive workplace, it is necessary for them (managers) and employees alike to have a clear understanding of the four different temperaments that defines our behaviours in order to understand why we behave or react the way we do. The knowledge of our different temperaments can also help us identify our weaknesses and try to control ourself as well as maximise our strengths. Indeed, great leaders are those who understand and leverage their own temperament and the temperaments of others for a harmonious environment in a given social institution. Tiffany 2014, Phoebe Inyanji Lebanon (2024) and Dana Campbell-Stevens (2024) provide the following descriptions of each of the four personality traits. These are:

• Sanguine (joyful communicator) – People who are defined as sanguine are typically extroverted and sociable. They are outgoing, optimistic, and friendly. They have an open sense of humour and find social interaction invigorating. In addition, they are motivational, encouraging, and love to help people see the bright side of life besides being generous. However, sanguine people talk more than they listen, they are attention-seekers who can come off to others as a show-off, and they are often unreliable because there is so much going on in their minds. Besides, they struggle with completing tasks, are chronically late, and tend to be irresponsible and forgetful. At times they are a little sarcastic and indiscipline.
• Choleric (dynamic leader) – The defining characteristics of choleric people are; dominant and assertive. They tend to be logical and straightforward and are generally quite extroverted. Choleric people are known for their ambition, leadership, and determination. They are usually goal-oriented, high-achievers, self-motivated, and very focused people who usually prefer to take charge of situations (domineering). However, choleric people easily get angry, they are aggressive and insensitive. Their strong focus on achieving goals may cause them to lose sight of building meaningful connections and relationships. Besides, they don’t care about the opinions of others, lacks patience, and may prefer to work alone.
• Melancholic (thoughtful analyst) – Melancholic individuals are detail-oriented, analytical, deep thinkers and self-driven people. They tend to be introverted and prefer solitary activities. Melancholics are not necessarily sad, but they are usually deep and analytical thinkers who strive for perfection. They are usually methodical in their approach to tasks (orderly), loyal, honest, considerate, committed, and disciplined people. However, they are unsociable, moody and can be overly critical because they are rarely satisfied and are prone to pessimism. Melancholics usually value family and friendships but they do not usually seek for adventure. Besides, they can get so involved in a given task and forget to think about others. Sometimes they blame themselves for the outcomes because they are honest people.
• Phlegmatic (steady supporter) – The defining characteristics of Phlegmatic people are; calm, reliable, lovable, easy-going and very diplomatic. They are generally introverted and prefer a peaceful and stable life. Phlegmatic people are good listeners, patient, peace makers, and generally love to please others. Their laid-back nature makes them great at managing stress. However, they are always quiet, and loves to have time alone. Also, they can sometimes lack assertiveness and struggle with decision-making (indecisive). Sometimes they are fearful and therefore unable to take risks.

The study conducted by Ménard and Brunet (2011) titled “Authenticity and Well‐being in the Workplace: A Mediation Model” found out that employees who feel they can be authentic and true to themselves at work, experience higher job satisfaction and lower levels of burnout. In this regard, Ralph Waldo Emerson, an American author and educationist counsels: “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment”. Studies have further revealed that some individuals may have traits of two different personality types, but one type would always be predominant than the other. Therefore, understanding your employees’ temperaments would help you as a leader in creating teams that are better equipped to achieve organisational goals (Khalid Saleh, 2022).

Whereas, it may not be easy to identify an employee’s temperament given that some people may possess traits of two temperaments, having a general understanding of the different temperaments would give you clues about an individual’s temperament(s). For Instance, do they tend to be more withdrawn or outgoing? Are they more prone to outbursts of emotion or more level-headed? Are they too shy or assertive? The more you know about someone’s behaviour, the easier it will be to identify their temperament.

This then begs the question: How can one create a positive and productive work environment for all employees regardless of their temperament? Khalid Saleh, the CEO and cofounder of Invesp, the leading provider of conversion optimization software and services, and an authority on marketing optimization, advises that once you have identified an employee’s temperament, you can start to think about how best to utilize their strengths. For example;

If you have a choleric employee, you may want to give them tasks that require a lot of energy and ambition. If you have a melancholic employee, you may want to give them tasks that require a lot of creativity and thoughtfulness. If you have a phlegmatic employee, you may want to give them tasks that require a lot of calmness and patience. If you have a sanguine employee, you may want to give them tasks that require a lot of optimism and enthusiasm. Similarly, when you are trying to come up with new ideas, it would be important to put together a team that includes both choleric and melancholic people. But when you want to implement new systems or procedures, it’s necessary to put together a team that includes both phlegmatic and sanguine people, yet Melancholic people work well when self-supervising but have clear goals set by the management.

Specifically, the fact that sanguine people excel in roles requiring interpersonal skills, they can be deployed in sales, customer service, public relations, and entertainment, while Choleric people can be assigned areas that enhance science, innovation and business ideas since they excel in demanding roles that require decisiveness and problem-solving skills. Meanwhile, Phlegmatic people can be in supportive roles such as counselling, social work and child development since they are good listeners and therefore steady anchors of a team, while melancholics are valuable assets in any team. However, they excel in roles requiring accuracy and precision like accounting, social work, medicine and philosophy.

Therefore, creating an environment that recognizes and celebrates workplace diversities is very critical rather than trying to force everyone into the same mould. While some people are naturally outgoing and enjoy working in a busy and lively atmosphere, others prefer a calmer environment where they can focus on their work without distractions. A harmonious and productive workplace begins with understanding and appreciating employees’ diverse temperaments as Kimberle Crenshaw, a civil rights advocate advises, “Treating different things the same can generate much inequality as treating the same things differently”. However, it is important to note that there is no temperament that is better than the other. Whether you identify yourself as a Sanguine, Choleric, Melancholic, or Phlegmatic, our differences do not make us superior or inferior to one another as Con Miguel Ruiz, a Mexican researcher and motivational expert rightly points out. It is God’s design and intention to create us differently and with different talents so that we can serve each other for His glory.

By Patrick Ajuna, Policy and Research Officer

UPCOMING EVENTS

[wpcdt-countdown id=”4350″]

Follow us on Social Media

Facebook

Youtube


Linkedin