By WINSLEY MASESE

Human capital development is a key ingredient determining the success and continuity of companies.

With more complaints that a number of graduates are too half-baked to handle the job-market’s expectations, a number of companies have turned to attracting the best talent through graduate trainee programmes.

Under the arrangement, graduates undergo training in line with the company’s work environment and expectations.

GROWTH FORECAST

One such organisation is Centum Investment Group, which rolled out a two-year graduate trainee programme for a skilled workforce and to manage its growth forecast. Others firms doing the same include The Standard Group Ltd, East African Breweries Ltd among others.

As the firm seeks to increase its investment portfolio as well as its reach in Africa, the programme is a key fulcrum that might help it get enough human capital resources to drive its ambitious growth strategy.

Group Chief Executive James Mworia, who got first to worked with the investment group as an intern in 2001, says the trainee programme gave him the opportunity to learn from the best.

“This is a growing organisation that would need competent managers and the programme is therefore an effort to develop a people driven group,” he noted.

Launched this year with 11trainees — ten from Kenya and one from Uganda, Mworia observed that their goal is to cast the net wide to include some of the best minds from the East African Community, South Sudan included.

GREAT PERFORMANCE

 This is as the group seeks to expand into these countries. “Through the programme, we aim to get the very best who will in turn boost our performance,” he said. The programme also seeks to give the students exposure, train and offer them leadership positions.

Upon successful training, the trainees are absorbed into the companies. This is a demonstration of the company’s skill programme, a testament of its ambitious growth projections. The graduate program is an annual initiative within the leadership development program.

It identifies technically qualified fresh graduates, with a winning attitude and high potential from a array of study disciplines and across geographies in its effort to build a talent base.

BUSINESS CONTINUITY

It creates the basis for a continued leadership pipeline, sustained organisational growth and business continuity.  The programme is aimed at giving structure and focus to Centum’s strategic priority of nurturing talent from within.

 “The investment group is pursuing new businesses and face high quality leadership challenge,” he said.

The graduates are recruited and later put in an environment to develop their skills so that by the time they assume leadership roles, they would be exposed to the different portfolios of the company. The graduates from Kenya and Uganda possess a breath of educational and professional qualifications including commerce, actuarial science, engineering, ICT and Economics critical for serving different business lines.

They will be exposed to a series of leadership development interventions and various corporate operations after which they will take up positions within the Centum Group.

However, Mworia is unmoved that the graduates, after successful undergoing the training might leave the company to pursue other interests, as is the case when one is moving to a company offering better packages.  Centum is among the many companies that have turned to this exercise as part of their efforts to build a strong team of workforce to drive the growth of their respective firms. For example, Sian Roses has advertised a one-year management trainee programme for fresh graduates with a bachelor’s degree in horticulture, agriculture or related field from a recognised university.

DRIVE GROWTH

The programme, which comes to a close on November 22 is a growing example of companies that would want to develop their own skills to drive growth of the firm.

Kenya Revenue Authority is another key government body that invites university students to join in their trainee intake programme.

A good number of the current Kenya Revenue Authority workers went through the in-house training prior to permanent employment.