Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd
“maximizing returns on human Capital”
Head Office: 1 Grosvenor Road, Highlands, Harare
Tel: (04) 481946-8, 481950, 2900276, 2900966
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.ipcconsultants.com
2013
Contents
Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 3
Participant Profile ................................................................................................................................ 3
Results.................................................................................................................................................... 3
Skills lacking ......................................................................................................................................... 4
When hiring managers .................................................................................................................... 4
When hiring recent graduates ........................................................................................................ 5
Current staff ...................................................................................................................................... 6
Reasons for difficulty in filling jobs ................................................................................................... 6
Impact of shortage in organization.................................................................................................... 7
Statistics ................................................................................................................................................. 8
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................ 8
Introduction
The aim of this research was to investigate whether Zimbabwe has skills shortage or not.
Participant Profile
Participants were drawn from 19 industries with most of them coming from manufacturing,
mining, I.T and Telecommunications, and financial services. The Headcount from the
participating organizations ranges from a minimum of 11 employees to a maximum of 10 000
employees. The respondents are Human Resources professionals from the title of Human
Resources Officer to as high as Human Resources Director.
Results
When asked if they experience any problems hiring staff, 39.10% confirmed that it was a
challenge.
Are you having problems filling jobs?
61.90%
70.00%
39.10%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Yes
No
The jobs mentioned more than once as most difficult hiring in 2013 include Engineers,
Accountants, and Human Resources personnel. These are represented in the graph below:
Which jobs did you find difficult hiring in 2013?
20%
15%
12%
10%
8%
5%
3%
3%
3%
3%
5%
0%
Skills lacking
The survey assessed skills that lack when hiring managers and recent graduates, and those
lacking in the current workforce. The results are shown below:
When hiring managers
When asked which skills they found lacking when hiring managers, leadership and people
management topped the list, as shown in the following graph:
Which skills did you find are lacking when hiring managers?
12%
11%
10%
8%
7%
8%
6%
6%
5%
4%
4%
4%
4%
4%
2%
0%
When hiring recent graduates
19% of participating Human Resources practitioners found technical skills lacking when
hiring recent graduates. The graph below shows other skills lacking when hiring recent
graduates.
Which skills did you find are lacking when hiring recent graduates?
19%
20%
18%
16%
14%
12%
10%
8%
6%
4%
2%
0%
10%
10%
10%
10%
6%
Current staff
The following graph shows responses to the question: When you look at your workforce,
which skills do your staff lack? Only 6.50% of respondents have no skills shortage whilst
leadership and management skills are the most lacking.
When you look at your workforce, which skills do your staff lack?
73.90%
80.00%
65.20%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
37.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
6.50%
10.00%
0.00%
Leadership &
Management
Skills
Soft Skills
Technical Skills
No skills
Shortage
Reasons for difficulty in filling jobs
Respondents cite a variety of causes behind their inability to fill jobs, ranging from lack of
experience to a mismatch between what is being taught in academic institutions and what is
in demand in the job market. This is represented in the following graph:
Why is it difficult to find the skills noted above?
25%
22%
22%
20%
15%
10%
8%
6%
6%
6%
5%
0%
Impact of shortage in organization and strategies to overcome shortage
Most Human Resources practitioners believe talent shortage has an impact on the resources,
cost, and quality of work. They highlighted increase in lead time between tasks, number of
contract workers, consulting fees, and poor quality of work. This has led to a decrease in
productivity and employee motivation.
Question 13 asked for the opinion of the participating Human Resources practitioners on ways
to address the skills gap at their respective companies. Most responses echoed the need for
training and attracting the expertise of graduate trainees, apprentices and interns. The training
is to be in the form of capacity building, mentorship, and departmental.
Human Resources practitioners were asked what strategies they are implementing to
overcome the difficulty of filling jobs. Responses were similar to the suggestions they gave on
addressing the skills gap. Their responses vary widely from providing continuous on the job
training to influencing academic institutions to produce a curriculum favourable to the work
environment. Responses clearly point the need for training to be implemented in different
ways such as on the job, capacity building, and multiskilling employees.
Statistics
56.50% of the Human Resources managers recruited graduate trainees in 2013, whilst 43.50%
did not.
The human resources practitioners were further asked the number of employees who left the
organization voluntarily. 87.00% of the respondents had less than 50 employees leave
voluntarily, whilst 10.90% of had over 50 employees leave. This is shown in the following
graph:
How many employees left your organization voluntarily in 2013
87.00%
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
10.90%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
0 - 49 employees
50 employees and above
When asked the number of employees retrenched in 2013, 76.10% of the Human Resources
practitioners confirmed not to have retrenched any employees whilst 19.60% retrenched some
employees. Of those retrenched, the most number of employees retrenched were 25 and the
least was 1.
82.60% of the Human Resources practitioners hired more than 50 employees in 2013 whilst
17.40% hired less than 50 employees.
Conclusion
The 2013 talent shortage survey results are similar in many ways to the global results
published by the Man Power Group in the same year. 35% of global employers say they are
having difficulty finding people with the right skills whilst 39% of U.S employers are also
having similar challenges. According to the Man Power Group report, the top 6 hardest jobs
to fill are:

Skilled trades

Sales representatives

Drivers

I.T Staff

Accounting and Finance Staff

Engineers
In general lack of experience seems to be the underlying reason for talent shortage faced by
most organizations. Most managers agreed that training is an effective tool to cater for this
skills gap. However careful steps should be taken in the training process. Most importantly
training needs should be first identified and a means of feedback to track and report on the
success of the training. Leadership and management skills were identified as the most lacking
in employees hence this is an example of a need that has to be addressed through training.
Organizations should also identify employees who demonstrate the potential and willingness
to learn and grow. The world is dynamic and needs employees that can keep up with such
trends as technology, emerging markets, and globalization. The engagement with academic
institutions is also a necessary action as it integrates the learning process with the
requirements of the actual job market.