The term repats refers to the continent’s youngster who left their home country to continue their studies in Western Universities and wish to find good opportunities that would allow them to come back to Africa after the years of experience they have gained back in those places. This new wave of mostly trained professionals represent a pot of gold for local companies that are struggling to find loads of ready to work professionals in the continent.

Like majority of Sub-saharan countries, the job market in Senegal is increasingly looking for people with advanced skilled and advanced technicality which the young professionals from the continent are missing due to vocational trainings that are most of the time too theoretical or too academic and consequently unfit to the reality of the country. Those youngsters who stayed in the continent will have to compete with the repats that had the privilege of developing their skills in multinationals and having a taste of a more competitive working environment. When the repats on one side are very much aware of what it would mean to sell their international experiences to the continent based companies, the locals on the other side can barely realise that in the end, they will be reduced to doing staff support or administration positions if they don’t do an assessment to identify their strengths and develop their expertise.

We have noticed 4 essential habits to adopt in order to keep one’s employment value as we grow a career in a competitive and demanding environment.

Get training–

Needless to say that vocational training is the foundation of a successful professional career. Presently thanks to the internet you can find several specialization under the acronym MOOC. Those vocational training are made by professors from prestigious universities and sometimes necessite a few dollars in exchange for a full access to knowledge. Platforms like Coursera Udemy or edX allow you to have unlimited access to high quality ressources and certifications at the end of each course.

Be informed–

Information is power! For a full understanding of the issues that the companies based in the Continent are facing, you need to listen and therefore participate in fairs, conventions, open houses or just do some chatting with friends and acquaintances that happen to work in those places so you can know the skills they are looking for and how you could anticipate their needs and consequently make a good impression at the job interview. 

Have a good understanding of the environment–

If there is something that the repats do not really have is a good knowledge of the environment. After spending years away from the Continent and its issues, they are not aware of the environment in which the companies are evolving. It would be wise for the locally based professional to sell his knowledge of the environment and its challenges on the results of the company. It would be a major advantage because it will show that you have skills in understanding and analyzing your environment.

Work on your branding-

If you have all the necessary skills, you will then need to be able to sell yourself. You will need to know the product (yourself) and always display it at its best. Not being able to sell our best product just because we don’t know it well enough would be sad.

Basically, the repats that are entering the job market on the Continent, represent a wake up call for the young local professionals who will need to develop their skills up to an international standing, just like professionals from the rest of the world, so they can be up to competition and remain relevant in a globalized environment.

A Personal Development Plan (PDP) is for most of organizations, like a map that would lead to the development of a career and stimulate the employees. PDP is a tool that helps professionals to set  career goals and develop the skills to do so. Currently, Managers use it to help their teams grow by connecting the opportunities within the organization with the skills acquired by the associates throughout the years. Clearly PDP is not about correcting performances because it has to be focused on the qualities of the employee so it can develop his potential, allowing him to grow in the organization.

A personal development plan primarily focused on two approaches: the first one is about all the  new skills and expertise that are necessary to guarantee the performance of an employee beyond his current position, the second one is about using the actual qualities and dispositions of that specific employee to not only identify his specific abilities but also use them to seize an opportunity for career development within the organization.

the PDP structure is different from one organization to the other, but most of the time, it is elaborated around 5 steps.

Setting goals for the 3 next years to come.

This step is about giving an opportunity for the associate to think about his own goals and identify the real prospects within the organization. It is also an incentive because the associate will project himself in the future.

Identifying the qualities that are specific and exploitable

It is about spotting 2 or 3 of the biggest qualities of a co-worker and look for ways to use them for his own development. For example, an associate who is an accountant with good abilities in project management could be involved in the implementation of some specific projects that are not really part of his job description but will help him show his skills.

Identifying growth opportunities in relation to the needs of the organization

This step will require to identify all the opportunities that will allow the employee to use all his specific abilities and skills not only for his own benefit but also for the benefit of the organisation. All the opportunities will have to be relevant to allow an increase of the performance of the organization.

Commitment 

It is not all about developing the PDP, but mostly about using it wisely and putting all the efforts that are necessary to its achievement. The commitment of the Manager and the associate are essential to the process. Both parties will need to put their signatures to show their agreement and commitment. 

PDP Assessment and Correction

The final step of the PDP development is about regularly assessing its relevancy value and adjusting its content in compliance with the different developments that happened during the year. The assessment also helps to measure the progress of the associates in terms of reaching their goals.

PDP is not a legal document used as a way to compel the Manager and his associate. However it is an important tool to use in career management which requires for the Manager and his associate to have a lot of time in their hands to take all the necessary actions to establish it. The lack of commitment will undermine the relevance of such a tool and create frustrations. The PDP is an excellent asset to use in the stimulation, the development and the planning of the organization. 

Luc Herve ZOK

Manager in Africa – Management theories have changed since Frederick Winslow Taylor’s work on « The Principles of Scientific Management ». He based his work on the fact that having people work hard was not as useful as maximizing the way the work is done.

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