This archive report was first published on 31 October 2019.
On October 31, 2019, Wale Akinyemi spoke at the 23rd Human Resource Conference hosted by the Institute of Human Resource Management at Sawela Lodge in Naivasha, Kenya.
He emphasized the importance of knowing that the future of every organisation lies in its talent. To transform organisations, the journey must start in the mind, as yesterday's thinking will not deliver tomorrow's results.
Every HR practitioner must be bilingual, speaking the language of the business and the language of their internal customers. They must know the strategic direction of the business as well as that of the industry.
Organisations have failed if their strategic direction is at variance with that of the industry at large. If the HR Function does not understand this, recruitment will be flawed from the roots.
Yahoo was a pioneer in many things, but it failed to adapt to the changing industry. When Yahoo was pioneering, the industry was new and not well defined. As the industry evolved, Yahoo's business model became outdated.
Today's platforms like Facebook and Google are super smart, getting to know their customers. This is why if you search for a wrist watch on these platforms, you will be bombarded with promotions.
The platforms are intelligent, knowing and understanding what drives you. So, when Yahoo should have been hiring coders and programmers, they were hiring marketers. By the time they realised what was happening, it was too late.
Thomas Cook had the opportunity to become Trip Advisor and Air BnB combined, but they did not see it. When they should have been hiring coders to put their business online in a smart way, they were hiring shop attendants.
Timeless brands exist because they had transformational thinking and one of the expressions of this thinking is that they hired right. Brands like Rolls-Royce, Rolex, and Gillette are in the hundred-year age group but are still relevant today.
A KPMG Report says that the HR core competency of the 21st Century will be to transform, lead the employee experience, and drive the shape of the workforce that will lead the business to where it needs to go next.
My question is, does the HR practitioner of today know where the business needs to go next? A business's ability to disrupt or lead rests on its talent.
Nokia started off in 1865 as a single paper mill operation and eventually became a successful mobile phone manufacturer. They were able to achieve this because they had the foresight to recruit right.
The key message is this; if you do not know the strategic direction of the company, then you will recruit for where the company is coming from and not for where it is going.
Once this is done, such organisations secure their irrelevance in future and because of the simple act of recruiting for the past, they have lost the future.
Wale Akinyemi is the chief transformation officer, PowerTalks.
