04Apr

The economic competition that prevails all around the world, but which has a particular aspect in Africa, pushes companies of all sectors to engage in a “war of talent”. Depending on the positions and needs, companies offer more and more attractive compensation packages. However, good talent is hard to come by. Fortunately, a technique, which can resemble that of the piston without being so, exists. This is co-optation. In a market as broad and diverse as that of Africa, which is surely also the most social in the world, there are only opportunities for co-optation on the continent. How can one take advantage of one of the most important advantages of recruitment in Africa? Think about co-optation.

Accept to give a chance to the contacts of his colleagues

​Coopting is not hell. It is about creating a habit that you surely apply in other areas of your life: let your employees offer you candidates for open positions, in return for benefits previously defined with them; Enough to round off their month ends. Very often, they are friends, former colleagues, former schoolmates, or even clients looking for work. By this method, even debauchery a talent from another company remains easier for employees. If you want to better formalize your co-op strategy, you can go through digital platforms. In Africa, they are still rare, but it is a vein that seems to have a bright future ahead. With them, not only can your employees offer their contacts, but you also have a database of potential customers even more extensive as they are contacts of other members of the database that can be offered to you. If you are still wondering why co-opting in a labor market like the African one, do not think it is because spontaneous applications will fail. No, in addition to spreading across diverse countries and cultures, you are almost sure to come across quality talents. Indeed, a member of a co-opting platform, or just one of your employees, if he is able to create a good reputation in his field of activity, can think only of potential candidates who have little Close to the same professional culture as him. In the “Talent War” sector, it is the best people who think of being co-opted because, even socially, the talents aspire to create clubs of “high potential”. It is a culture that was born on the African continent with the arrival of networking “afterworks” which bring together, most people, individuals who take the courage and every chance to be attracted by the Companies. Similarly, very often, on the internet, their professional e-reputation allows them to aspire to integrate companies with an e-reputation that reassures them.

Africa, future of co-optation?

  ​Because it is not necessarily easy to find talent, especially at a high level of responsibility in Africa, even through recruitment agencies, co-opting makes it possible to be able to have a network of potential collaborators under the hand. The co-optation strategy can even think of the concept of “alumni” of the major schools and universities around the world. In the recruitment strategy, the “co-op” can even be compared with the employee who co-opts him, both on his values ??and on his skills. In any case, in Africa, everybody cooperates informally. The whole thing is to formalize a game that is well worth the effort, so all the stakeholders of such a strategy win. In addition to saving talent, co-opting allows you to meet candidates who have been briefed on the values, strategy and approach of your company. This allows for better integration into your team and facilitates mutual trust for a more stable team of employees. Today, co-opting is a classic in the IT sector, but also in the major financial and insurance groups. Sponsorship makes it possible to clearly define the selection criteria, but also the role of the co-op, which becomes important once the co-op is hired. The first guide and advises during the first steps of the second in the company. Nevertheless, it is an economical and secure channel, limiting the risks of investing in a very costly and limited efficiency HR strategy. The co-optation strategy can thus be successful on the continent by making it possible to better qualify candidates, but also to better understand the expectations of candidates. It can above all allow to capture talents invisible on the market and absent from jobs boards. With co-optation, new recruits can find themselves with knowledge of schools or work, which promotes the “entre-soi” and thus the working atmosphere. However, strict co-opting rules must be defined to pay particular attention to the commitment of the employees of the employees who made the recommendations.

Because co-optation is a “2.0” recruitment option insofar as it facilitates the conditions in which the encounter between recruiter and future recruited is easier, it promotes the quality of the candidatures. In Africa, its formalization can go through platforms that, with a good marketing strategy, succeed in recruiting success. Even within a company, co-option offers itself as an additional level of internal motivation.