Hiring top talent in Africa presents a unique mix of obstacles as well as fantastic opportunities for businesses looking to scale. There are undoubtedly many prospect due to the rapidly expanding talent pool and highly qualified experts in industries like tech, finance, healthcare, and more. However, a lot of businesses still have trouble finding and employing qualified candidates. Why? Because they’re turning away top prospects with their expensive mistakes.
In this blog, we break down the common hiring blunders to avoid and share strategies to help you hire more effectively and better across the continent.
Key Takeaways:
- Culture fit matters. Adapt your hiring strategy to local cultures and workplace.
- Make use of Regional Job Platforms: Local job boards like Proten Connect can be helpful because relying solely on global job boards can likely restrict your access to top talent .
- Prioritise real-world experience (skills) over formal education.
- Align your salary packages with local expectations as one size fit all isn’t working anymore.
- Clarity, Speed, and transparent hiring process makes all of the difference
Nowadays, hiring has evolved beyond simply filling positions to include creating a tenacious staff that is aware of the local market, aligns with your company’s goals, and remains dedicated over the long term. Guess what, businesses aiming to expand throughout Africa must reevaluate their conventional employment practices. Keeping that in mind, these five tactics will get you top talent across the globe .
1. Take Cultural Context Into Consideration When Hiring
Africa is a continent with many different nations, each with its own professional values, linguistic quirks, and work culture.
However, a lot of businesses continue to use a generic hiring strategy that isn’t effective locally. If your company wants to expand into any African nation, you need first adapt your job descriptions to the local standards and values of the workplace.
Additionally, work with regional recruiters who are familiar with the talent market and culture, such as Proten International. Most importantly, make sure that interviews replicate the workplace culture your workers will be working in.
2. Don’t Prioritise Degree Over Practical Skills
We’ve seen how work has evolved over time from what it was to what it is today, and this trend is undoubtedly here to stay. In light of this, some biases ought to be disregarded, one of which is, the idea that a candidate is unfit if they lack a “big name” degree.
The truth is that many top individuals develop their abilities through unconventional means like boot camps, online learning, and practical projects, which is why new careers are emerging. This indicates that if your company wants to hire top talent, you should stop focusing only on degrees on resumes and instead search for real-world problem-solving skills and practical assessment to evaluate talent rather than just certificates.
Actionable takeaway: Audit your hiring criteria. Are you filtering out great candidates based on outdated education expectations?
3. Ditch Global Job Boards as Your Only Source
International platforms gives you visibility, but they rarely bring relevance. On regional job boards like Proten International, you’re more likely to find dedicated and skilled professionals. So while you embrace your global job boards, consider local job board platforms specific to the African labour market and leverage talent acquisition firms like Proten International with strong local networks to seamlessly like the quality of talent you want.
Actionable takeaway: Diversify your sourcing channels. Reach out to local platforms that top talents truly trust.
4. Streamline Your Hiring Process so You Don’t Lose Top Talent
Talented candidates in Africa, especially in tech, mid-senior, and C-suites roles have options. A hiring process that is unclear or takes too long will always provide them an excuse to leave without a second thought.
However, you can improve by just scheduling your interviews, making decisions more swiftly, and providing feedback as soon as you can. Respecting candidates’ time by eliminating several pointless rounds and maintaining good communication throughout the hiring process are two other things you shouldn’t overlook.
Actionable takeaway: Review your current time-to-hire and decide on what bottlenecks can be eliminated? Would you rather get experts to help with the hiring process and give you only the top 5% talent?
5. Generic Compensation Packages Isn’t Working Anymore
It’s no lie that what motivates talent in Nairobi will likely not work for someone in Lagos. This right here has caused many companies to miss out on hires because their compensation structures are either too rigid or not in tune with the local standard.
You can explore partnering with Proten to help you research salary benchmarks and benefits per country. That is not all, you can offer flexible options like health insurance, remote work, learning stipends and align rewards with lifestyle needs of candidates in that region.
Actionable takeaway: Survey your existing team. What benefits do they truly value? Use those insights to attract similar talent.
Final thoughts:
It takes more than simply a transaction or drafting a JD and posting to hire top people in Africa; you also need to create relationships and modify your strategy to suit the local market. By avoiding these typical mistakes listed above, you can build a team of talented and driven professionals that can drive your business growth.
It’s understandable that this can be a lot for businesses, we have simplified the process of building a strong hiring strategy in the African workplace. Contact us today to help you find and retain the best talent for your business.
