Senay Lemma

Senay Lemma is the Founder and CEO of People First Consult PLC. He is an experienced Senior HR Professional with over 15 years of hands-on experience in all HR matters. Senay has extensive knowledge of Ethiopia’s labor issues and industrial relations practices. He has been involved in several studies on employee engagement, organization structure, optimal staffing, job evaluation and grading, career path, and salary & benefit benchmarking for various businesses in Ethiopia.

Before founding People First Consult PLC, Senay held various HR leadership roles, including Regional Human Capital Manager for Eastern Africa at Elsewedy Electric, Country HR Services Manager for Coca-Cola SABCO (Ethiopia), Country HR Manager for Fonterra Brands Ethiopia, and Country HR Manager for DHL Worldwide Express Ethiopia.

Senay has an MA Degree in Human Resource & Organizational Development, a BA Degree in Business Management, and an Advanced Certificate in Strategic Human Resource Practices from Cornell University. He is also an accredited Psychometric Assessment Practitioner.
Senay’s expertise spans across FMCG, NGOs, Governmental Organizations, Public Enterprises, and Management Consultancy.

His notable achievements include passing the Top Employers HR audit twice in 2015 and 2016. The Top Employers Institute, based in the Netherlands, certifies excellence in the conditions that employers create for their people globally. He also successfully led several Change Management exercises to improve efficiency and productivity. Through Talent management and employee engagement initiatives, he has maintained a low voluntary employee turnover.