A majority of small and medium enterprises (SME’s) are fast loosing top talents to rival larger firms due to lack of clear job descriptions, mechanism to measure employee performance and match their pay with market rates.
Human resource (HR) advisory firm, Corporate Staffing services (CSS) said employers in the segment have started feeling the pinch of increased voluntary turnover mostly by youthful staff.
Lack of clear plan, poor HR structures and systems, the agency said has compounded woes of small and medium companies, who are investing heavily to train fresh graduates.
“These employers lack standard HR departments. So they assume candidates are desperate and will therefore work hard, not knowing they (candidates) are actually looking for another job using company resources,” said CSS, Head of recruitment, Perminus Wainaina.
Last year, Kenyan firms lost upto Sh 1.4 billion in employee costs mostly linked to fraud.
The recruiting agency told a media workshop in Nairobi that the country’s labour market has over the past few years experienced an upsurge in industrial disputes resulting to disruptions when employees take employers to court.
Employer intimidation during job interviews has also been described as widespread with employers blamed for over-ruling competency based interviews to asking out of job questions.
“This has made it a tough search for the right candidates in many workplaces including big firms,” said Wainaina.
Lack of opportunity for growth, toxic employee-employer relationship and substandard working tools have also been attributed to factors that force most qualified personnel quit.
The agency also hit out at the current education system does not support teaching on market driven courses.
“There is an urgent need to overhaul the curriculum to ensure institutions also offer soft skills to graduates,” he said.
Areas like Anthropology, he said churns out over 300 graduates annually but are no longer offer attractive jobs in the market.
