At the just-concluded annual conference of trainers in Jos, Nigeria, one issue stood out with particular relevance to aviation: the challenge of replenishing the workforce. For Africa’s aviation industry, this is becoming increasingly urgent. Replacing skilled workers is difficult enough; retaining them after substantial investment in their training is an even greater challenge.
Aviation requires highly specialised skills, and training them is expensive. Yet, even after organisations have invested in developing these skills, retaining the people who possess them is becoming increasingly difficult. Migration, which is as old as man, remains a powerful pull factor for African talent. But migration is no longer the only competing attraction. There are other distractions — or perhaps better described as “noise” — competing for the attention of the younger generation.
The betting industry, for instance, was identified at an industry conference in Africa as one such distraction. There are also numerous online opportunities promising an easy path away from poverty, sometimes presenting quick financial rewards as an alternative to the discipline, patience and hard work that aviation demands.
Aviation itself is a demanding knowledge industry. Its professionals must constantly keep abreast of developments contained in IATA white papers, Airports Council International (ACI) publications, advisory circulars, Airport Cooperative Research materials and numerous technical and regulatory documents. Navigating the industry terrain requires continuous learning and professional development.
The question, therefore, is how the industry can keep its workforce engaged, motivated and committed.
The conference of trainers was a gold mine of ideas, but one concept stood out: organisations must deliberately design reasons for their employees to stay. They need a “stay proposition” strong enough to compete with the “leave proposition.”
This is where Africa may possess an advantage that is often underestimated. Informal social interaction can reinforce the stay proposition. Africans are social people, with numerous opportunities for interaction — weddings, child naming ceremonies, burials, religious recognitions and other community activities. Within organisations, staff clubs, social gatherings and even the assortment of local delicacies can contribute to a sense of belonging and work-life balance.
These may appear insignificant compared with salaries and career opportunities, but they are part of the employee experience. They can help create a workplace where people feel connected to something larger than their job. In an increasingly structured and impersonal global employment environment, these indigenous social advantages can become useful instruments for retaining talent.
But culture alone will not solve the problem.
The aviation industry must, as a matter of urgency, develop a database showing the types of talent leaving the industry, where they are going, the reasons they leave and the skills gaps created by their departure. Such information will provide the evidence required for long-term workforce planning and strategy.
While organisations cannot stop people from leaving, aviation can borrow a leaf from other professions. Medical professionals in the diaspora, for example, often return to their communities to provide specialist services through organised outreaches. Aviation could develop a similar pipeline, allowing professionals who have migrated to remain connected to the industry and periodically contribute their expertise.
This may require collaboration across the continent. Beyond creating a skills pipeline, Africa needs an ecosystem in which professionals in the diaspora can do business with the aviation industry with ease. They should be able to reach decision-makers without bureaucratic barriers stifling initiative and resourcefulness. Indeed, such barriers may themselves be among the reasons why some talented people leave.
Knowledge management is equally important. The industry’s knowledge should not reside only with international aviation organisations such as IATA and ACI or within the training centres of aviation bodies. There must be a deliberate effort within individual organisations to transfer and cultivate knowledge across departments and units.
The best minds should not leave or retire and leave behind a knowledge vacuum that is difficult to fill. A properly maintained talent pipeline can ensure that former employees and retired professionals remain accessible, allowing the industry to call on their expertise and, where appropriate, offer incentives for them to continue contributing.
The challenge, however, is to ensure that talent identification is based on competence rather than perception, political connections or prebendal considerations — particularly in an industry where the government remains a major player.
Ultimately, the aviation industry must keep three things firmly in view: culture, pay and purpose.
Research has shown that a significant proportion of employees in organisations do not fully understand their organisation’s strategic direction. This is dangerous for an industry that depends heavily on specialised people working toward a common objective. Aviation organisations must therefore ensure that they do not merely have a purpose; their employees must understand that purpose, see the direction of travel and appreciate why it matters.
Talent management is too important to be left to the human resources department alone. Designing a “stay proposition” that outweighs the “leave proposition” is a strategic responsibility for boards, chief executives, managers and the entire aviation ecosystem.
Africa cannot afford to continually train talent only to lose it. The answer is not to prevent people from leaving, but to create an industry compelling enough to remain connected to — and attractive enough for some to return to.
The future of African aviation may depend not only on how successfully we recruit and train the next generation, but on how intelligently we give them reasons to stay.
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Ekelem Airhihen, an accredited mediator, has an MBA from the Lagos Business School. He is a member, ACI Airport Non-aeronautical Revenue Activities Committee; his interests are in market research, customer experience and performance measurement, negotiation, strategy and data and business analytics. He can be reached on ekyair@yahoo.com and +2348023125396 (WhatsApp only).
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