Where are the employees?

There has been an onslaught of businesses in Nigeria. I choose to call it a wave of entrepreneurs. While, this is a good thing ordinarily, it raises many interesting questions about the economy. I’d like to outline some of these questions and attempt to answer them.

Who would be the employees?

As near everyone is now an entrepreneur, a business (wo)man, one begins to wonder, where are the employees? A good employee is a very important part of the success or failure of any enterprise, this is the case regardless of who owns the enterprise; be it an individual, partnerships or the government. With the rave being an entrepreneur (job creator), one has to wonder who would be the employees.

While learning and training for entrepreneurship and self-sufficiency is important and can help accelerate economic growth, neglect of employee training can be likened to shooting oneself in the foot. Few organisations can boast of having good and efficient employees, yet we do little or nothing to change the trend.

In Nigeria, during the compulsory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) year, many skills acquisition programmes are carried out. The publicised aim of these programmes is to promote self-reliance and a spirit of entrepreneurship. I am unaware of the statistics that exist for success or failure of such Small or Medium-Scale Enterprises (SMEs). I do not have the resources or wherewithal to conduct any surveys to this end independently. Perhaps an economist or someone can take up this challenge.

The National Universities Commission (NUC) required that a general course in entrepreneurship be made part of the curriculum for all courses of study in Nigerian universities. This took effect in my school, the University of Port Harcourt, 4 years ago. Has it in any way improved the success rates of SMEs? What effect does this have on the petty trader with no education, or those with Secondary School qualifications?

“I have this job opening. However, I am yet to find someone competent enough to meet the job requirements”. I’ve come across this comment often enough via interactions on social media that i just had to write about it.

Yes, the common response given to such complaints is “can’t you train them?”. However, training employees for potential jobs can be a costly process. The educational institutions have a role to play in this. As our educational system has continually failed to do such, the onus falls on the individual and business owners; sometimes, even (s)he cannot bear the costs. Where do we find middle ground?

Finding middle ground

Employability is in the interest of everyone. The government, business owner, and the job seeker all have a role to play.

The government in its role as moderator of public policy and curricula via the NUC and other education regulatory bodies ought to step up its impact. Finding a link between Academia and Industries is important. Industries that utilise the graduates of universities should have a say in what the universities teach students as prospective employees. Same for vocational schools and secondary schools. Yes, the Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) exists. It should be monitored closely so as to maintain focus on its purpose. Partnerships with Industries should be sought after. Visiting Professors from Industries, Undergraduate Internships and such.

Business owners make up the industry. The basic skill sets they require for operation can be taught in the universities or other tertiary education institutions. The uniqueness of one’s business may require a particular training (induction training) but if the schools fail to give the general training, the business owner is forced to do both. This can prove to be ineffective cost wise. What role can business owners play?

Clamour for the inclusion of basic skills in curricula of schools

This lobby can be carried out more effectively by larger corporations. They have more established structure and more money. Alliances can be with particular schools or local governments, autonomy would aid this surely.

Organise independent holiday training programs

This should work for SMEs as well as large corporations. As a business owner with a 1 month vacation for instance, set aside a week or two to teach interested parties the basics of what you need. I think this can be part of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), one gets a tax clearance for that right? You can make it open or subsidise costs. Stellar performers can be easily made part of your team. That would also breed employee loyalty. I have a feeling of indebtedness to my lecturer who taught me the basics of hydrological analysis using Microsoft Excel, I studied a bit more because he had spurred my interest in the practical applications. Also have that feeling of indebtedness to my Industrial Training boss who taught me the basics of Microsoft Project Manager, I have surpassed even his knowledge in that.

Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have learnt those software applications if someone who needed such service hadn’t called my attention to it. I have never enrolled in any formal training school for these things; honestly, I have not been able to afford them in terms of money or time. I believe there are many like me. Start small, get a small group (say, 5-10 persons) who have a little theoretical background in what you require and give them some practical background. The SURE-P Graduate Internship Scheme (GIS) can be taken advantage of, at least within the major cities of Nigeria.

The role of individuals is a very serious one. Individuals differ in assimilation capacity and all. Interests also differ. Find what interests you, try to learn as much as you can about it. Individuals should recognise that opportunities abound and one should prepare oneself for such opportunities. You can learn the basics, interact with people in your spheres of interest. Interested in the construction industry, look for those within the industry you can learn from. Be social; if you can’t go out and such, your Facebook profile, Twitter profile, LinkedIn profile, you have lots of resources available now that don’t require physical presence. You can also take on an internship in an area of interest, the Graduate Internship Scheme (GIS) of SURE-P seems like a reasonable avenue to link you with prospective industry trainers. Visit http://gis.wyesurep.gov.ng/ for details.

Let’s be true to ourselves. Not everyone can be an entrepreneur, or manage a business successfully. Investments in business go beyond capital and licenses and what not, investment in people matters a lot too. Don’t simply complain of how unqualified the pool of unemployed are, help in one way or the other to make them better. If not for anything, the CSR waivers are a good deal, I think. Cheers!