While many global companies are expanding, or seeking to expand in Africa, the availability and retention of talent is proving to be one of the main challenges facing growth and expansion on the continent. 

Talent is perceived to be one of the major challenges facing business leaders in the region, with 83 per cent of African chief executive officers admitting that they are especially worried about availability of key skills on the continent.

In addition to this statistic, the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Africa Business Agenda report also reveals that most chief executives expect to increase and maintain staff headcount in the next year. It is important to understand that in Africa’s competitive labour environment, these statistics highlight that attracting and developing the right skills is crucial.

That is why is essential to adopt leadership styles which will support and nurture the skills and talent needed for growth. 

Essentially, talent will no longer be the main concern when it comes to employees’ skill-sets, but rather the leader’s ability and responsibility to teach and develop these skills.”

According to a recent survey by EY, while managers in Africa are perceived to be performing well at day-to-day operational activities, they are considered to be less capable when it comes to people management, especially in relation to retention, productivity and engagement.

Globally, it is reported that only one in five companies are providing additional training and development to existing staff, proving that employers are not doing enough to address talent shortages. 

In Africa, these efforts are likely to be significantly less when compared to the rest of the world, and therefore intensifies the need for programmes to be implemented.

For instance, ‘motivated people’ forms part of DHL’s global focus strategy pillars, ensuring that we provide great service quality which results in loyal customers and ultimately a profitable network. We consider our employee engagement programmes to be critical to our business success. 

Understanding the need to drive a common culture across 220 countries and territories, we launched a Certified International Specialists (CIS) learning and development programme for all 3,500 staff in DHL Express sub-Saharan Africa. Everyone from the hlobal chief executive officer to a courier in any country has gone through this training programme reinforcing our core competencies as an organisation. CIS training has been central to our staff retention and development globally. 

Our Certified International Manager (CIM) is an extension of CIS, and is focused on ensuring that we have leaders with the correct balance between intelligence quotient (IQ) and emotional intelligence (EQ) to lead tomorrow’s workforce. 

Each module targets various behaviours and leadership practices; for example, CIM is centered around respect-focused behaviours and getting results without comprising respect.

In addition to our employee recognition programmes, we also have an internal development programme called ‘Made in Africa’, that produces a sustainable and dynamic list of future leaders that can succeed Africa management board positions, country management positions and senior functional roles. The programme reduces the historical dependency on expatriate imports, and improves skills of the talent pool.”

We are fortunate to be the most international company in the world, which enables us to give employees the very best learning and development opportunities. 

Our diverse network, which spans across 220 countries and territories, provides the perfect platform for employees to learn and share experiences in different markets. The value of cross-country, on-the-job learning is immense.

It is crucial for employers in Africa to understand the need to foster a continuous learning and development culture and encourage employees to be masters of their own destiny. As competition on the continent for human talent increases, companies need to work even harder on their talent strategies.

The writer is the DHL Express sub-Saharan Africa Human Resources vice-president

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