Human Resources Management, digital and African culture
20.11.2019
Kadia Moisson, Development Director Africa for Grant Alexander, sheds light on a continent experiencing an HR boom.
This month, she offers us an interview with Yves-Bernard Koby, HR Director of SUCRIVOIRE, a subsidiary of the SIFCA group.
In this interview, he shares his views on the impact of African culture on HR management in companies established in Africa, and how digital transformation is taking place there.
K. Moisson: You have held senior HR positions for over 15 years in Africa within internationally renowned companies. Is there HR management specific to African companies?
Y.B. Koby: Companies operating in Africa are either local entities, African multinationals, or foreign ones. The question of whether there is HRM specific to these companies should rather be asked in the context of foreign multinationals. HRM, as a science in its own right, is based on principles, approaches and universal tools that should be adaptable to local particularities. However, the specificity of African issues at work in these multinationals seems to me insufficiently understood, accepted and taken into account for optimal human capital management.
Several reasons could justify the non-existence of an HRM specific to African companies. First, the logic of harmonizing HR practices in multinationals does not contribute to the emergence of HRM nourished by Africa’s specificities. Second, the impact of African subsidiaries on their global turnover does not always justify the design and deployment of HR solutions tailored for Africa. The famous slogan “Think globally, act locally” remains more philosophical than practical here. Third, HR teams on the continent continue to implement practices that have proven remarkably effective elsewhere, but whose relevance is questionable in our socio-cultural context.
In the end, the laws and collective agreements governing labor appear to be the most powerful factors in adapting HR practices to the local context. These texts, because they result from tough negotiations between social partners, contribute to a much better anchoring of HR practices in our socio-cultural realities.
K. Moisson: Does the African cultural environment have an impact, an influence on business management and HR management?
Y.B. Koby: Absolutely! Powerful cultural determinants influence the behavior of African employees.
The African family, tentacular by essence, exerts financial, psychological, etc. pressures on the African worker. Clan or tribal reflexes continue to undermine management, hiring or promotion decisions. The sacred respect due to elders still leads us to show regrettable passivity in the face of their performance shortcomings. Affect, too present in the professional field, tends to relegate the requirement for results to the background. Moreover, the myth of the chief favors management through submission instead of participative management.
The points I am raising here in a scattered way are part of a string of cultural obstacles to company performance and good HR management in Africa. In 1998, Marcel Zadi KESSY made them the backbone of a monumental work entitled “African culture and modern business management.”
However, if the influence of culture is strong, we must not remain prisoners of clichés, moreover aging ones. In fact, over the last twenty years, the African continent has made considerable progress with an average annual economic growth rate above 4%. Several forces are at work, modifying the behavior of Africans at work: demography, urbanization, internet and media, digital revolution, education, return of diaspora executives, professionalization of the HR function…
Today’s youth, more urban, has not always been raised in pure African tradition. More individualistic than collectivist, it tends to free itself from the burdens I mentioned earlier. Western media and the Internet exert a strong and decisive influence on the evolution of mentalities and professional behaviors.
Local talents born between 1970 – 85 and graduates from the diaspora are reaching decision-making positions on the continent. There have never been so many local executives at the head of multinationals in Africa as today.
The renewal of executive committees contributes to the emergence of a more evolved African leadership, participative and resolutely performance-oriented.
The legendary tolerance towards non-performance is being severely tested by pressure for results in a context of fierce competition. Elder or not, you have to deliver.
In the same spirit, the myth of the chief is gradually losing its vigor in the face of a generation of employees eager to express themselves and who believe in their potential. Young Africans aspire to have leaders or coaches, not chiefs. The relationship with hierarchy is undergoing profound change.
Beyond behaviors, the HR function environment is changing. The trend is towards professionalization of HR. Skilled professionals are taking charge of the HR function and it is undergoing transformation across the continent.
The implementation of increasingly selective recruitment processes reduces the risk of hiring decisions based on tribal logic. HR Directors have become aware of the critical role they play in the emergence of a performance-oriented corporate culture.
Finally, the growing interest of companies in the concepts of Compliance and Ethics, as well as the strengthening of internal control mechanisms, encourage decision-making in the sole interest of business.
In conclusion, we must put on new glasses to appreciate the current dynamic rather than clinging to clichés about business management in Africa. Certainly, our values and beliefs have an undeniable influence on the professional behaviors of Africans. But these are truly losing ground. Lines are shifting quietly and this trend is irreversible.
K. Moisson: For several years now, in our modern societies, we have been experiencing a new revolution, the revolution of digital technology, of the digital economy, and we must adapt to the advent of this new era which impacts the company’s ecosystem, its development strategy and its performance.
Africa is very prominent in terms of digital due to its incredible technological leap. As with all major technological disruptions in processes and professions, a number of questions arise for African companies and particularly for HR professionals like you. What has changed in the organization of work and leadership?
Y.B. Koby: As you know, our work involves processing and archiving a large volume of documents and data. In the ongoing digital transition, the major changes in the organization of our work consist in the dematerialization of documents, automation of workflows or tedious tasks. A comparative review of HR practices in the agro-industry shows that all companies are affected by the digital tidal wave, but to varying degrees depending on their level of maturity.
The most common practices observed in the field are the automation of leave management, social declarations, monitoring of employment contracts, processing of certain payroll variables, digitization of HR documents and the online publication of employee files.
Similarly, collaborative tools make it possible to manage performance, recruitment through dedicated platforms. In the field of training, there is an explosion of offers via SPOCs, MOOCs, virtual libraries, etc.
Digitalization has also changed the way of communicating. Monthly or quarterly company newsletters seem to be losing their appeal in the eyes of employees seeking almost instant access to information via corporate social networks or groups set up on social media.
The dematerialization of information and the development of collaborative tools make remote work possible. However, the few companies that dared telework had to backtrack. Indeed, for some workers, telework was assimilated to days without work.
It is not said often enough, but the digital transition is also a sociological phenomenon in view of its impact on our lifestyle. Indeed, beyond connected objects, platforms and networks evolving at an exponential speed, there are mentalities and behaviors that do not evolve at the pace of the tools. Leadership has not yet evolved to take into account the requirements of the digital age.
K. Moisson: The HR Director is today perceived as a true Business Partner and a guardian of Human Capital, involved in major transformation projects. The digital economy relies on strong technical skills. However, even though Africa has serious assets thanks to its youth, a good part of it is already excluded from the movement due to lack of training.
Moreover, training centers, although more numerous each year, still do not train enough engineers and experts in new technologies. Thus, is it likely that the number of qualified resources capable of driving digital transformation in African companies will not be sufficient? The competition to attract this type of resource is global, and the need for engineers in Western countries makes them open their arms to all well-qualified immigration candidates.
And locally, GAFAM and some large international groups are now creating research centers or learning campuses attracting the best of those who do not want to go abroad. African companies will therefore have to be ingenious not to deprive themselves of these resources essential to their development and performance. How will you approach this war for talent?
Y.B. Koby: Given the immense gap between demand and supply of skills, we are truly facing an unprecedented problem. No African company can have a lasting answer to it. Indeed, even if it managed to find these rare resources, it would be extremely difficult to retain them.
The war for digital talents can be conducted according to two tactical choices. In application of the rule “Build or Buy”, we can either develop the skills we will need, or acquire them. The second choice, recruitment, would only be relevant in a market where qualified resources exist.
And again, their scarcity would inevitably pose an equally critical problem of talent retention. In the African context, we must therefore seriously explore the second option: developing talents.
The challenges of the digital revolution go far beyond the training capacities of any company operating in autarky. To cope, companies would benefit from acting on two levers. First, employers’ associations should work towards creating national or sub-regional training centers for digital professions. Second, they should put pressure on public authorities so that substantial tax advantages are granted to these centers. A tax system serving the digital sector is desirable and possible since digital is part of the development strategy of most African states.
If today Rwanda is a pioneer in digital transformation in Africa, it is because of a clear political will. Since 2012, the Africa Digital Media Academy was created in Kigali. Its goal: to train world-class digital specialists. And it succeeds. Rwandans are creating digital solutions for businesses and the Rwandan state. Other countries, such as Egypt, South Africa, Ghana, have public policies in favor of digital and progress is being made.
To conclude, it is the entire training ecosystem which, under the impetus of companies and with the support of States, must get moving to produce the resources that companies need in the context of digital transition.
Then, we can talk about a war for talents.
November 2019 – Kadia Moisson – Africa Development Consultant
📩 kadia.moisson@grantalexander.com – 📞 06 63 11 85 86
Biographical note Yves-Bernard Koby
Holder of a 3rd cycle diploma in Human Resources Management (Université de l’Atlantique), Yves-Bernard KOBY is also a CHRM™ (Certified Human Resources Manager) of the International Academy for Business and Financial Management (IABFM).
After a brief experience as an HR consultant, he worked at COGIM-TECNOA as HR and Administration Head of Department from 2004 to 2006. Then, he served for 6 years in various positions at Nestlé in Côte d’Ivoire and the regional office for West and Central Africa. He then became HR Director of the Olam Group in Côte d’Ivoire before joining the Swiss giant Novartis Pharma as HR Director for Central and West Francophone Africa. Since 2017, he has held the position of HR Director of SUCRIVOIRE, a subsidiary of the SIFCA group.
Ivorian by origin, 43 years old, Yves-Bernard KOBY is married and father of two children. He enjoys walking, reading and fishing.