The Wrong Fit Will Cost You
A human resource professional’s worst nightmare is hiring the wrong fit. Apart from the lost time, productivity and a dip in momentum and productivity; a wrong fit is outrageously expensive. On average, it costs 3 times the annual salary of the position. This is why hiring the right person for the right role at all is crucial for business performance and succession planning.
The African Talent Company (TATC) Kenya has planned a series of HR workshops to bring together HR professionals and talent gurus who understand the challenges facing companies today and have solved them. These workshops are meant to discuss and share practical techniques and solutions to various HR and business challenges.
On 12th September 2019, the Talking Talent congregated over 80 HR experts and high-level business executives at Fairmont the Norfolk in Nairobi. Just like the premier Talking Talent workshop in Lagos, Nigeria, the workshop unpacked practical strategies to help companies identify the right talent, hire right, train and develop talent, and strategically plan for succession and future resource. View details of the Lagos Talking Talent workshop here.
The Workshop had Three Sections;
A panel discussion by top HR experts discussing how to identify and retain top talent. On the panel hosted by the BrighterMonday CEO, Emmanuel Mutuma was; The African Talent Company Managing Partner: Heather O’Shea, HR Consultant and Expert: Flossy Njagi, HR Manager, Wananchi Group: Timothy Kajume, Global Director, PeopleTree Group: Martin Sutherland.
An in-depth presentation on Talent Analytics by Global Director, PeopleTree Group, Martin Sutherland and Chief Operating Officer, Brett Mulder.
One-on-one consultations with the talent gurus that centred around Hiring Right, Talent Development, Succession Planning. Hiring managers ad HR professionals got personalized insights for challenges raised in the break-away sessions. These sessions were led by the talent gurus.
The Focus Shift to Succession Planning
During the panel discussion and break-away sessions, it was clear that most companies in Kenya do not practice succession planning. This means that companies always have to reset teams when an exit happens. The challenge cuts across different industries with the biggest impact in industries that face huge attrition levels.
HR professionals also cited as a challenge, the fact that they don’t get sufficient support from departments. Succession planning should go beyond the HR department. It is about mentorship which can only happen within departments. It, therefore, should be ingrained in the company’s DNA and seamlessly executed across departments.
The Feedback Session
The Talking Talent workshop was characterized by engagement across the different sessions with discussions, questions and feedback. HR professionals asked questions that centred around succession planning and it’s execution. The talent gurus addressed these questions with real examples of situations they have encountered in their career journeys. This made correlation easy and the process of succession planning seem possible. This is what TATC is all about; offering practical and working solutions to challenges facing companies across Africa.
This high-impact workshop series will continue on a regular basis as TATC helps companies tackle talent management challenges across different industries and markets.
See the complete gallery of photos from the event below.
