Managing Nigeria’s Tech Talents: The Unique Dynamics

Emmanuel Faith is a globally renowned HR powerhouse, a 4x TEDx speaker, an award-winning author, and a thought leader who is redefining human resource management.

We talked about:

• His HR journey and his work providing consulting services through HR Clinic

• The dwindling pool of mid-level talent in Nigeria’s tech pipeline 

• The importance of succession planning for sustainable businesses

• The wisdom in hiring talent your business can reasonably afford instead of chasing “shiny” people

Key Takeaways

1. There is a problem with succession planning and that contributes to why we don’t have (enough) mid-level talent in Nigeria

2. Encourage learning among your employees and invest in training them

3. Celebrating your employees and providing them with extra perks boosts their morale and productivity

4. On the social media discourse of Marketing talent versus Technical talent: Do not place one role above the other. All roles are important and contribute to the success of an organisation

5. You do not need to hire the most popular or senior person to hire good talent, hire who you can afford and don’t underestimate or overlook skilled undergraduates

Find Emmanuel

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmanuel-faith/ 

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/themmanuelfaith 

Find Iwalola

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iwalolasobowale/

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iwalolaa/ 

• Twitter: twitter.com/IwalolaSobowale

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In this episode we cover:

00:00:00 Intro

00:01:55 Icebreaker

00:05:35 About Emmanuel Faith

00:13:07 Getting into HR

00:17:40 Best temperaments for HR professionals

00:20:58 Emmanuel's proudest achievements

00:28:35 Emmanuel's superpowers in HR

00:34:17 Challenges faced while recruiting talent 

00:38:56 Why we don't have mid-level tech talent in Nigeria 

00:44:40 How HR Clinic helps organisations

00:49:25 Unique strengths of Nigerian tech talents

00:53:16 The technical talent vs non-technical talent conversation 

00:58:47 Emmanuel's perspective on The Peer shutting down

1:05:24 Are people hiring "shiny" talent because of the lack of mid-level talent?

1:10:42 Hard skills vs soft skills

1:12:33 Advice for aspiring HR professionals

1:14:18 Other things Emmanuel is working on

1:18:31 Final words

1:19:14 Outro

Referenced

• Cowrywise

• BCM

• Fervora’s African Women’s Football Report

• SHRM Podcast on Spotify

• HRCI

• Why You Act the Way You Do by Tim LaHaye

• Spirit-Controlled Temperament by Tim LaHaye

• Myers-Briggs Personality Test

• 16 Personalities 

• ProductDive 

• AltSchool

• Geneza Brands

• Geneza School of Design

• Innovating Africa: The Rise of Tech in Nigeria by Peace Itimi

• HR Clinic

• Bloomberg

• Asana

• No-Code Tech Summit

• Luminous Consult

Previous Episodes

Here are some previous episodes for you to enjoy:

1. Is Data the Answer to Nigeria’s Problems?

2. Decision-making using-AI: The Insight7 Story 

Until next time, stay curious!

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