African Business magazine releases Careers in Africa Employer of Choice Ranking

Fri, Aug 9, 2019
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THE African Business magazine has released the annual Careers in Africa Employer of Choice ranking, EOC. This year the EOC report features a ranking for both regional African companies and international brands operating in Africa.

The multinational integrated oil & gas company Total topped the charts as the brand which African professionals most wanted to work for. The study is based on a range of criteria focused on the reasons why talent wants to work for a particular brand, termed “attraction drivers”, both in terms of what they offer employees and how they are perceived in terms of the best places to work in Africa.

Nigeria LNG tops the African brand ranking followed by telecoms group MTN and the African Development Bank. Three UN agencies feature in the top 10 of the international ranking.

The ranking is a collaboration between African Business magazine, and expert talent and HR consultancy Global Career Company. Over 30,000 African professionals responded to the survey, making it the most comprehensive study of its kind, representing every country on the continent. Opinions were gathered on over 1,100 brands, the employee-centred global ranking provides a quantitative analysis of what makes a great employer – from popularity to choosability.

Interestingly, in what is a still a relatively difficult period for the oil and gas industry globally, this year’s study ranked Total and Nigeria LNG respectively as the strongest perceived brands to work for. Other oil & gas and energy providers featured strongly within our top performers including Seplat, Vivo Energy, Sahara Group, Shell, Chevron, Exxon Mobil emphasising the continued perception of the industry amongst the continent’s workforce as a place for career growth.

In terms of the attraction drivers, the opportunity for challenging work and the ability to make a difference to society through the organization were the most popular reasons for selecting a company, attracting 20% of the votes each. The opportunity to develop skills comes in as the third most important driver with 15% of the votes.

Explaining this year’s results, Scheherazade Zekkar, Head of Consulting Services at Global Career Company, says that “the reputation for being a forward-thinking brand” was a key attraction driver seen rising in importance this year.  The focus of African talent is changing, “becoming more focused on the relationship their employer has with them, how they can affect change through the company, and particularly how their company is developing an employee-centric model”. How brands are adapting to change is key to their success, with “traditionally popular brands now performing well because their employee value proposition is well known and appreciated”.

Since the launch of their company, she says, there have been significant changes, most notably in the importance of perceived employee experience and the two-way relationship that talent wants with their employer.  Challenging work, social impact and skill development are much more important now than financial reward.

– Aug. 9, 2019 @ 11:25 GMT |

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