Prior to the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, mid-sized organizations in Africa were experiencing significant growth.
However, under the wide ranging effects of the pandemic, the economic activity is projected to have declined by 3.3% in 2020 as per the research by the World Bank Group.
In the light of this unexpected downturn, technology and innovation are being increasingly embraced across the continent, with young Africans acting as early adopters of new platforms.
Organizations are increasingly turning to robust and AI-enabled HCM solutions in order to hire, onboard engage, and retain their teams. Their employees demand access to career planning tools that help them to identify their career moves and also benefit the organization that is supporting them. Therefore, this is a perfect win-win proposition for both as they work toward a common goal to provide an integrated approach to empower organizations and their employees to drive productivity effectively.
BizMerlinHR was recently named a Cool Vendor in the 2021 ‘Cool Vendors in Human Capital Management’ Report by Gartner. Agile HR software solutions like BizMerlinHR can strengthen organizations by providing technology that supports their HR processes and culture. Whether it is comprehensive employee records, the flagship performance reviews, or Applicant Tracking System (ATS), BizMerlinHR is fundamentally different from an administrative HR software. Being completely cloud-based and available via browsers and native iOS and Android mobile apps, BizMerlin’s HR application framework integrates with more than 100 applications such as Cornerstone, SAP, Salesforce, Microsoft and many more to provide a cohesive enterprise solution.
Career planning module in BizMerlinHR enables employers to share the career pathways available to employees. This gives the control back to the employees to match themselves against any profile, assess their competency gaps, and identify training using which they can reach the required competencies. Having employees with a clear idea of their career pathway helps them choose their professional advancement. Organizations can map career vision for employees by laying down pathways that combine their aspirations and the company’s needs. It creates agility by putting the employee in focus, especially the millennial employee, by allowing them to navigate their own professional pathways for the development of talent and prepare the pipeline to ensure growth continuity.
In such a context, investing in digital technology is crucial for African organizations to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and foster a sustained recovery.
Developing leaders and effortlessly mapping skills and competencies aligned to goals and aspirations give companies a competitive advantage. “Opening inner career marketplaces for key employees ensures an increase in personnel engagement and retention. It also avoids talent vacancy costs by increasing bench strength with a complete succession planning tool.” explains Mr. Ngoga Pius, AMSCO Development Solutions, Uganda.
Using BizMerlinHR, employees are matched to roles within the organization that fit them the best. Employees can apply for new jobs within the same company. It gives internal employees a bright opportunity to experience different sides of the organization. It serves as a scalable business foundation for competitiveness and business growth. “Especially in these times, having a sophisticated HR solution to manage and retain your workforce is a must have for every mid to large enterprise (whether in Africa, Europe or North America), and in this regard AI powered HCM solutions like BizMerlinHR are playing a key role in bridging that gap.” — Vijay Gurav, Chief Operating Officer, Lambodar Solutions Ltd, Nigeria.
Elena Correas, SVP, BizMerlinHR and Chandni Jindal, Director Sales, BizMerlinHR have experienced this uptick first hand. “Africa is poised for a strong rebound after the pandemic, and we are already experiencing a very significant demand spurt from the region. Customers who had put their HCM implementations on hold in early 2020 are now in overdrive, and that is certainly keeping us extra busy.”
In light of all this, it is certainly clear that 2021 and 2022 bode well for the HCM sector and African economy in general.
