Mon, 22 Feb 2016 | Lisa Johnson

FROM MARCH 2016's RECRUITER MAGAZINE

When companies consider what it means to do business in Africa, the answer is often: “It’s complex.” But as a continent on the up, Africa has huge growth potential, so developing strategies to cope with that complexity is crucial

Crown World Mobility research on global mobility into and within Sub-Saharan Africa shows companies are increasingly investing across the region and moving employees and their families to support their business initiatives.

Our survey, in which 20 organisations across a range of industries took part, revealed the top destinations to be Accra in Ghana, Lagos in Nigeria plus Johannesburg and Cape Town in South Africa.

The latter is not surprising. South Africa recently made it into the top 50 most competitive world economies for the first time in the 2015-16 Global Competitiveness Report from the World Economic Forum.

The report also suggested Africa’s middle class — now more than 315m people — is the world’s fastest growing, consequently generating a consumer boom.

So, the incentive to do business in Africa is huge. But what are the challenges? 

THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES HIGHLIGHTED IN OUR RESEARCH WERE:

• security (94%)
• the ability of the employee and their family to adjust to the local culture (56%)
• the employee’s willingness to accept the assignment in the first place (56%)

#1 Getting started: 
Ask yourself what the biggest challenge for your organisation is when moving employees into or within Africa, and what support you can provide or improve to address that challenge.

#2 Security:
If ‘internal security briefing pre-departure’ is your company’s primary approach to addressing security preparation for employees or contractors and their families, try and find one more way to improve this support. Reach out to current and past assignees and ask for their input. Ask team members on the ground to brainstorm quick wins and next steps.

#3 Bribery and corruption:
There’s no getting away from the fact that bribery and corruption issues still exist across Africa. In our survey, 17% said assignees had encountered a need for local ‘fixers’ to facilitate movement through bureaucratic situations in their host country, for instance. How will you prepare employees for these issues? Begin a conversation between your risk and compliance specialists. You may want to include local HR and business leaders in key assignment locations or the assignees themselves. It is important to understand what else would be useful and what the company’s position is on dealing with what some of the employees and their families will encounter. ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ does not sound like a strong policy.

#4 Adjusting to the local culture: 
This was cited as a top challenge for both assignments into Africa and assignments/transfers within Africa. It is not uncommon for managers of assignees and employees themselves to undervalue cross-cultural training support. Settling-in services, especially for regional moves, are often eliminated or not offered in the first place — despite the fact that getting up and running in an environment where the local infrastructure is not consistent or familiar is challenging. Some companies are developing welcome packs, orientation support in the new location and formal on-boarding processes for assignees. What else can your programme offer?

#5 Immigration:
It is clear that no company has found an easy route for the immigration challenges that occur in many African locations. The findings indicate that improving communication, expectation setting and the accuracy of the paperwork process are good steps to managing the unavoidable requirements and addressing employee limbo. But a long-term strategy for some companies with long-term investments in Africa is to become known for their local recruiting and development programmes. By focusing on training the next generation, skills gaps can eventually be met. Is this possible (even on a small scale) for your organisation? It is one thing to meet a requirement around local hiring quotas, but it is another to become highly regarded for your strategy and outcomes in the local communities.

Since the possibilities in Africa are enormous — and visible progress continues to be made — these complexities must become part of the strategy. It’s time to embrace complexity.

Lisa Johnson is global practice leader, Consulting Services, Crown World Mobility – a global company, which helps corporations manage talent across the world. She has more than 18 years of experience in the industry.  

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