There is a new problem
in town. But I think its not to the common mwananchi but to the business
community it is. It’s a unique one especially to those who are working in the
HR departments. The human resource department in firm is the administrative
unit that deals with Hiring, Promotions, Reassignments, Position classification
and grading, Salary determination, Performance appraisal review and processing,
Awards review and processing, Personnel data entry and records maintenance, Policy development, Technical policy
interpretation, Employee assistance referral, Workers' compensation and addressing
employees grievances. Surely this is one department whose role is no longer
taken for granted. For production, sale and even consumption to take place,
people working for the firm are key. They are the first consumers of products
and services of a business, they determine how much is produced and sold and of
course they are the ambassadors
of the business. Every effort must be made so that the peoples welfare is taken
care of. However, The folks at this common department have over the last couple
of years been faced with an unprecedented pattern of employees turn over. Now
than ever, the levels of employee turnover are ceiling. They are finding it
hard to cope up with the new challenge.
A new research is in out that complicate the matter and
leaves more headache to the persons incharge of personnel. Quoting from an
article from Daily nation, “In a survey
of Kenyan corporates, 80 per cent of respondents said employee retention was
their number one priority in terms of human capital management. However, most
of the companies are unable to cope, with 52 per cent admitting that they were
not “ready” to deal with the challenge. “Senior management and specialised
skills sets are increasingly rarer to source in the Kenyan job market …
retaining and engaging talent has emerged as the key human capital challenge,”
said Deloitte.” The new trend many companies are facing is inability to
retain hire and retain talented individuals who should take companies in the
next level of profitability. This problem has actually hit employees of all age
groups but it has been found to be common to the young generation. This new
challenge the article suggest that its not only common in the private sector
but also in the public service-government parastatals also experience the same
challange. According to a February 2014 paper in the International Journal for
Science and Research, poor talent management has seen staff retention fall to
30 per cent in over 60 per cent of Kenya’s state corporations.
Some of the reasons that have been sighted for all these
change in human resource management shift are Employees are no longer seeking
employers to serve for a lifetime; they are looking for jobs that can serve
their lifestyles. No one wants to work for single employer throughout their
lifetime, they want to work where they will feel appreciated and still pursue
their ambitions. If in case they fail to get this opportunity they leave as
fast as they can perhaps to a place they will identify with. Another reason for
the high turnover of specialized experts is the change is the increasingly, the
younger employee wants to work in an environment in which he feels nurtured,
and she wants to pursue career goals that fit in with her personal life. Both
want to work at what they are passionate about. Lastly and maybe the most
important of all is the talent war in the corporate sector. In the case of
Kenya the case studies are, Kestrel
Capital raided rival Africa Alliance Investment Bank taking with it five staff.
It was the second such raid on Africa Alliance in five years after Standard
Investment Bank poached senior staff in 2011. In 2008, Renaissance Capital
suffered after Equity Bank executed a clean sweep of its senior management. Equity
Bank has also found it difficult to retain staff having gone through five chief
finance officers (CFOs) since 2010. The constant poaching among Kenyan
companies had raised local staff costs above the regional average.
Ok. I have given that background information because I think
as I make my last comments on that issue it will help us understand where am
coming from. Just before I get the ball rolling this is another one last fact I
want to give us about the human resource management. It has also been found
that there is a shift in the hiring and recruitment process - Whereas, before
job candidates would have been more concerned about painting a good picture of
themselves in interviews and recruitment drives, in today’s job market
employers also need to sell themselves to potential candidates. They have to
try and convenience interested job seekers that they offer the best remuneration
for the most qualified and talented, they offer better platform where the
graduates can pursue the dream and one where they will be nurtured. Given that
the talented graduates are scarce then writes Deloitte that, “As the
battlefield for scarce talent continues to shift, talent acquisition is
becoming more like marketing every day,” Great, that’s an eye opener and
important facts that cannot be wished away by potential employees and employers.
They represent dynamics in the corporate world. Let me take on the employees
first. Am of the opinion that they need to improve workplaces. Actually there
is an urgent need to create work environments that impress top talent. Change
the administrative work of the HR department from just the traditional record
keeping and payroll processing to just slightly above these. Take part in
policy development of employees. They need to understand the new needs of young
talents in organization which are no longer just a salary. No its more to do
with where can they receive the benefits of a flexible working hours, more
responsibilities, more appreciation and more ownership. They need a space they
can try new ideas from all the trainings they attend and of course they want to
be casual. Young graduates hate excessive supervision and indeed one such
graduate was quoted saying, ‘when you
offer twenty thousand shillings per month and you expect us to come every
morning and sometimes even on weekends then you will soon find yourself without
workers. I
would rather work in my own kinyozi despite my qualifications and earn unsupervised
twenty thousand shillings rather than work in bossy environment with no
adequate earnings.’ You
see this young person brings to issues that are very important, payments and
supervision. Most young person would prefer the second option that the first in
such a case. So employers be on alert over them. Make sure your top talent is
satisfied and it will not leave the organization.
To the potential employees where I belong, we celebrate this
new development and indeed they seem to favor us especially those who consider
themselves to have extraordinary abilities in management, leadership, technical
skills and generally good in handling organizational issues. The dynamics are
considerably working for us if we display prudence in our attitude. More
payments, less bossy environment, more flexibility and such other benefits. Its
up to us to show our interest and willingness to work. The best will come for
us and if we prove faithful where we will be then must will be entrusted to us.
I hope i have enlightened us.
