HR Recalibration post-Covid-19: An African perspective

Covid-19 has had a profound impact on how we view, indeed, how we prepare for the new world of work, HR-wise, post the pandemic.

The new world of work is alive and well globally, none more so than on the continent of Africa. The aftermath of the pandemic has highlighted a plethora of key world of work trends on the continent and has brought to the fore a number of HR initiatives which will be required to be introduced so as to ensure companies have the right people, in the right places, doing the right things, at the right times in order to plan and execute their business strategies going forward.

A number of studies have been conducted, globally, into what the new world of work will look like post-Covid-19. One such survey was conducted by People Africa Advisory, a Pan-African advisory group that conducted a survey of 180 companies in Africa.

In ‘New Ways of Working: An African Report 2022’, the advisory firm concluded that whilst a change in staffing dynamics could be a global trend, companies in Africa needed a regional understanding and appreciation of the ever-changing world of work environment, particularly in how to source and retain talent going forward.

Some of the new world of work imperatives HR Practitioners needed to focus on, the report suggested, included, inter alia, strategic staffing, remote working, retention policies, quiet quitting, hybrid working, and employee productivity.

Whereas the pre-Covid era saw organisations and companies typically employing people through permanent or fixed-term contracts to help them plan and execute their strategies, the post-Covid era has seen companies moving more to insourcing their talent requirements on a part-time, contract or project basis. Many companies around Africa and indeed the world are now supplementing their workforce with short-term, or project-focused/based employees.

The benefits of such an approach are obvious, not only to the employer but also to the employee. Talent can be sourced from anywhere in the world if the work required to be undertaken is able to be done remotely, resulting in the company engaged in the recruitment and selection processes not having to restrict its talent search to a particular city, province, region, or country. Another benefit to the employer going the insourcing route is the obvious cost benefit.

The benefit to the employee is that they have the freedom to work from anywhere in the world, receiving their remuneration in the currency of their choice, not having to get embroiled in company politics, and not having to be exposed to the sometimes toxic corporate cultures that unfortunately exist in many companies.

Other benefits such as not having to spend hours in traffic and cutting down on idle office chitter-chatter and small talk around the water cooler, not only improve individual productivity but also contributes to improving overall business efficiency.

Being able to work from a location other than the office definitely brings practical productivity gains and has become the norm for many organisations on the continent.

Consequently, companies, organisations, and employers in Africa are encouraged to introduce, implement, and institutionalise flexible remote working strategies, policies, and procedures at their places of work.

Another area where the new world of work and the so-called ‘new norm’ is being evidenced on the African continent is the number of people looking for employment opportunities elsewhere in the world.

A lot has been spoken and written about the ‘brain drain’ from South Africa, with South African talent relocating in their droves to countries around the world. An interesting more recent development is the number of talented Nigerians currently relocating to Canada. Forward-thinking retention strategies and policies will become imperative in the new world of work, especially for African-based companies.

Companies with the foresight to recognise prevailing employment volatility levels as being opportunities, and not threats, will attract new talent from around the world. People, globally, are looking for employers that actively embrace this new way of thinking and working and will reconsider their current positions for better offers around the world. Companies not embracing this new world of work talent search and remote work philosophy will do so at their peril.

Against the backdrop of this new world of work dynamic, there are those (in the main permanently employed people on ever-green contracts) who have adopted a ‘quiet quit’ mentality. Put differently, this is where people quit or disconnect from their jobs without actually leaving the company’s employ. This behaviour manifests in low productivity, inefficiency, low morale, and toxicity.

Employers are urged to engage with their ‘quiet quit’ employees and to provide them with an ultimatum of either ‘pitching up or shipping out’. Those who fail to demonstratively change their behaviour should be shown the ‘exit door’ in order to provide opportunities for talented ‘new blood’ to enter the organisation, preferably on a remote work basis.

Accordingly, employers are urged to rethink, redefine, and recalibrate their talent sourcing, talent management, talent retention and talent remote working strategies and policies – your competitors will most definitely be doing exactly that!

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