Hey boss: Hire more Kenyans

Dear bosses and managers in East Africa: If you want to be more successful, I think you should hire more Kenyans -- and hire them in more senior positions.

In Nairobi, lots of really great organizations that are heavily weighted toward expat staff, especially in their management positions. And I think that’s a bad move. My motivation here is not affirmative action or empowerment or anything related to ethics (although I do believe making more local hires is the right thing to do). I think that hiring more Kenyans will make organizations more successful, full stop.

Five reasons why you should be hiring more Kenyans:

1. By and large, Kenyans are awesome: Smart, fast, creative, well-educated and effective. Natural entrepreneurs.
2. Local knowledge: This asset should not be underestimated  -- and it’s even more important in more senior positions.
3. Local connections and networks: Who did you go to university with?
4. Longevity: Most Kenyans aren’t in Kenya for a six months or two years. They have more time to offer your organization. Hire a great Kenyan and watch them climb the ranks.
5. Expats are surprisingly expensive. Even volunteers and interns. Add up all the costs (flights, housing, food, your management time and the loss of knowledge when they go home) and you could probably get a qualified Kenyan for the same price.

PS. This blog is focused on Kenyan companies, but this is also true world-wide. Kenyans rock in East Africa and Kenyans rock in NYC, London, Hong Kong, etc.

My guess is that there are four reasons why many organizations don’t hire Kenyans:

1. The people in charge don’t know that many Kenyans.
2. Managers can get international volunteers for “free.”
3. There are cultural differences – for many, it takes time to learn how to work well with different cultures.
4. There’s a perception that Kenyans lack ability, desire or integrity. Check these perceptions twice. There are certainly specialized jobs for which you may need an expat, but those cases are a lot fewer than many people think. And desire and integrity are specific to the individual -- just like anywhere else in the world.

How does one become a great Kenyan employer? I don’t know, but place lots of great Kenyans on your team -- and then ask them. Take this seriously. It’s a mistake to assume that if you don’t know how to do something then it’s impossible or not worth attempting.

Where to get started? Use recruiters. Great Kenyans don’t leave one job until they have another one. Good recruiters have access to talented people who are not yet actively on the job market. Good recruiters are really affordable, when you consider the value of great people and the low risk -- you only pay a small deposit until the recruiter has helped you hire the right person. I recommend Career Connections [LINK: http://www.high-fliers.com/html/overview.html] (definitely the best for very senior positions) and Impact Personnel (lillian@impactpersonnelkenya.com).

Another option is universities. Hire young and wicked-smart kids fresh out of the school. They’ll be running a successful company in 5 years, so it might as well be yours. (I’ll place some university suggestions at the end of the post.)

I've used Kenyans throughout this post, but I think Ugandans, Tanzanians, Rwandese and Burudians are all generally pretty bad ass. I also think that, despite the five East African nations being culturally very different, skilled professional East Africans can perform well in any East African country.

In fact, a good friend of mine, with 20 years experience in Unilever Africa’s management, suggests hiring great people from neighbouring countries, especially for management positions. The reason? The region’s different cultures offer different strengths. When a Ugandan comes aboard a Kenyan company, for example, he has seen fewer cases of corruption and nepotism, and his perspective may benefit his new organization.

Relying on expats is not the best way to run a business in Kenya. So put some resources behind hiring, training and retaining Kenyan staff. I think that those who do will see huge advantages over their competitors.

University contact information:

USIU
Dorothy Ikamba,
Tel: 3606311/3606162
Email: dikamba@usiu.ac.ke

Strathmore University: 

Jatieno@strathmore.edu

Nairobi University
Bernard Mwangi: Bernard.kiige@uonbi.ac.ke
Dean's Office
0722581144

Update: A colleague just asked, "So what are you doing about it?"

I've been lucky enough to hire dozens of Kenyans and East Africans over the last few years. While I've made a few bad hires and had tough experiences, the vast majority have been fantastic people who have gone on to do great work. I'll keep that going. This blog is definitely personal and not a reflection of Jacaranda Maternity, but we are hiring lots now and over the next few months, so stay in touch or tell a friend.