What is it about?
The main purpose of this study was to investigate organizational sub-groups at the Kenyan National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) and tease out the multiple team perspectives of employees as experienced in their everyday lives within the organization. This involved encouraging employees to become more reflexive in their engagement at KNBS. As a reflexive study the three aims were to: First, understand why staff have not been replenished regularly leading to mass exits. This would then improve the staff recruitment strategies. Second, to identify strategies that would foster understanding between the older and younger generations. This will improve employee relations within the workforce and improve retention rates. Third, to link the organization’s strategic objectives to the human capital challenges as well as the Government’s development blueprint, the Vision 2030.
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Why is it important?
Against the backdrop of a rapidly growing, and better educated youth population in SSA, the representation of the youth in the public sector has been marginal. This raises a number of concerns that form part of the research enquiry prompting the need to explore whether a Strategic Workforce Plan (SWP) would be accepted and implantable in order to mitigate the demographic challenges in the workplace of a Public Sector organization (PSO) that should be a role model for the public sector in Kenya. The findings of this study reveal a general consensus on the ageing workforce challenges at the PSO requiring the need to revisit the status quo on the recruitment and retention strategies as well as succession planning and talent management practices within the organization.
Perspectives
Interestingly there have been numerous debates and commentaries from personal blogs to reports by the likes of the IMF and the World Bank and yet other think tanks on the pros and cons of an ageing workforce for the global economy. This article seeks to articulate these observations from a rather surprising context with a teeming youth population and the ensuing pensions crisis. The challenge of an ageing workforce is not a common occurrence in developing countries especially those in youth populated geographies such as sub-Saharan Africa.
Professor Nnamdi O Madichie
Nnamdi Azikiwe University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: An exploratory insight into the workplace demographic challenges in the public sector, Employee Relations, October 2016, Emerald,
DOI: 10.1108/er-01-2015-0002.
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