Human Resource Industry Leaders Explore Trends in the Digital Age Influencing Talent Management

Ajira Digital organized an executives’ roundtable with the industry leaders in the human resource industry, recruiting job boards, and the private sector organizations at Radisson Blu Hotel, Nairobi, on Thursday, to explore the emerging trends in the digital era while re-imagining hiring in the wake of the digital economy in the country.

This meeting was mainly advised by Ajira’s efforts in solving youth unemployment in Kenya where it aims to create one million work opportunities annually for young people in the country through digital and digitally-enabled work.

The landscape of hiring and retaining talent is continually evolving, prompting organizations to explore new and innovative approaches. There is a change in work preferences by organizations and the need for diverse and skilled employees and digital technologies have provided new methods of attracting and accessing the top talents.

These approaches encompass strategies such as employer branding, virtual recruitment, gamification, data-driven hiring, employee referral programs, talent development and upskilling, flexible work arrangements, personalized employee experience experiences, and a strong focus on diversity and inclusion. These approaches have proven to give organizations a competitive edge in the market while driving their overall success.

“According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, the number of Kenyans without jobs increased to 2.97 million underscoring the labour market woes in the wake of elevated inflation and reduced activity in the dominant agricultural sector,” said Geoffrey Kaituko, Permanent Secretary at the State Department of Labour and Skills Development while giving key remarks during the forum. He explained that with the persisting youth unemployment challenge in the country just like in the region, there is a need for all the stakeholders in the economy to rethink alternatives and leverage emerging digital opportunities.

Mr. Kaituko told the participants that the Government continues to address this unemployment challenge by investing in favourable policies, programs, initiatives, and other supporting activities in partnership with all stakeholders. The efforts to grow the digital economy and digital work opportunities for the youth are among such ongoing strategies.

The digital economy in Kenya has emerged as one of the fastest-growing sectors in Kenya driven by expanding ICT infrastructure and increased access to internet connectivity. Recently, the Government launched the e-Citizen to facilitate services offered by the government to the public and at the same time create more work opportunities for the citizens.

According to a study commissioned by Ajira Digital Program in the year 2022, there are already close to 2 million young people working in digital and digitally-enabled jobs, up from 638,000 in 2019. The World Bank reports that the digital economy in Kenya is expected to grow to $23 billion by 2025, thereby creating more new jobs.
Speaking during the forum, Dr. Ehud Gachugu, Director, Youth Employment and Ajira Digital Program at the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) explained why the sub-sector plays an important and pivotal role in connecting supply and demand sides with intermediation services, data, and insights that can greatly transform labour market in response to the changing environment resulting from a need for a globally skilled workforce and digital transformation. He said that the conversation is very timely as new and emergent labour-related disputes have started to surface particularly in organizations working in Digital and ICT-related sectors and these developments could negatively impact gains made in making Kenya a leading labour choice destination for companies globally. The stakeholders in the ecosystem including the HR practitioners who are very fundamental in the organization’s decision making therefore need to be included in policy and practice discussions in relation to these emerging issues and opportunities for scaling job creation efforts in the country.

During a panel session held during the forum, a young digital work participant and one who are persons with a physical disability called Stephen Mboya, described to the HR practitioners that skills should come first before the disability or credentials of a potential employee. Giving an example of why Apple is the best seller on phones, Stephen said that most probably it is because they have embraced diversity and inclusivity. As an IT enthusiast and being very talented with technology skills, he said he would appreciate the opportunities to offer his talents which will be made possible through the digital technologies in place.

“Since recruiting today is almost fully automated, employers should also be accurate in communicating exactly what they want of the potential candidates to the systems. By doing this, they are sure of getting suitable candidates and will not miss out on the right candidates. Employers also need to be conversant of the data protection issues as with this model of hiring and outsourcing talents there is a risk of data being misused,” advised Ms. Wandera Kweyu, Head of People at Jambojet.

Speaking at the Forum was also Mr. Macharia Muthondu, Vice President of the Federation of Kenya Employers and the Lead of the Labour Sector Board at KEPSA, where he paused a question to the employers and employees to think through what they really want to achieve when it comes to job acquisition and management. He said that the Federation is charged with the mandate of ensuring decent workplaces, fair remuneration, and a fair work environment which is what businesses and organizations should also be seeking to achieve.
Job boards and recruiters have evolved into indispensable tools that add significant value to the private sector while also expanding work opportunities for young people and especially women and marginalized groups. From expanding the talent pool and streamlining recruitment processes digital technologies empower the private sector to thrive in a competitive global market which is key to the growth of the nation’s economy.