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Recruiting culture fit talent in Africa

Recruiting and onboarding the right culture fit employees for a business is a tough and delicate process. Human staff – unlike elements, machinery, and tools for trade, are not inanimate with universally fitted specifications – have personalities, ideas and varied levels of expertise that must be treated and compensated differently according to different outputs. 

It is therefore necessary for recruitment specialists to be well versed in an organisation’s overall functional attributes, from technology, finance, engineering, communications, law. Understanding the different job specifications of each employee enables recruitment managers to draft job titles and scope of work that is congruent to each employee’s or service provider’s remuneration scheme.

Legal matters in the hiring process thus require a clear binding contractual agreement between employee and employer, from the onset of their working relationship. Sometimes this takes the form of an independent contractor and employer, still, a clear service level agreement must be binding to avoid litigations and penalties imposed by governmental labour laws. In the African context, hiring managers from multinational businesses must take into account the different labour laws that govern the employment frameworks of the countries they operate in.

Some of the key considerations in the recruitment process are the standard matters of compensation or recurring monthly remuneration, leave days, tax filing by employers to adhere to governmental regulations. By extension, this will include employee induction, training or educational opportunities aligned with business strategy. Presenting training and educational opportunities is also a way to breed future leaders, ensure continuum, and institutional memory especially in foreign markets to the mother company. 

Some African countries, reeling from protracted wars, have experienced a brain drain – where skilled graduates are leaving in numbers to seek opportunities in other countries – emptying the capacity for skills transfer opportunities that can develop these nations. Big businesses thus have a window of opportunities to entice these highly educated graduates with their leadership academies and trainee programmes. 

Grooming local talent and investing in countries of operation is favourable for a company’s tax bill. African countries are attracting foreign direct investment with reduced rates for trade, thus making a sensible and plausible case for business to recruit home grown talent with less red tape. The two-way exchange for business operations and government regulations is one that must be chartered with hiring managers at the forefront, growing local talent in alignment with business strategies. 

As part of our global network and access to markets, AIMS International has introduced a webinar series that will focus on Africa, where global leaders working in Africa and the Middle East share their experiences, advice, best practices and opportunities to do business on the continent. Read more about eyeAfrica

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