That the performance of employees is crucial to the success of an organization is an established fact. But what often goes amiss in the domestic industry is the realization that driving career-long success among individuals requires companies to go beyond skill-base training to aligning the interests of individuals with those of the corporation.
In Pakistan, multinational corporations have long been the preferred choice among graduates of leading educational institutions, not just due to the lure of international exposure and best practices; but also because of their inclination towards individualized talent development.
While the domestic companies often prefer to poach mid-level, experienced staff from their competitors, multinational corporations have increasingly displayed a willingness or even inclination towards hiring fresh resources and developing them internally.
“Majority of the employees we hire are directly from universities,” Mehreen Cheema, Talent Practice Leader for P&G Pakistan, told BR Research. She added that the company believes in developing these minds internally to turn “today’s fresh graduates into tomorrow’s business leaders”.
But recruiting students straight out of university comes with its own set of challenges as many of these candidates have never witnessed the internal operations of a company. In order to introduce prospective employees to their company, P&G Pakistan recently organized the CEO Challenge, where university students were introduced to operations ranging from marketing to finance and retail. The competition is a case study for other firms that aspire to tap young minds to develop their future management and leadership cadre.
“The interaction with senior P&G management and exchange of ideas for innovative and practical solutions to real business problems was exciting in itself,” says P&G CEO Challenge participant Saad Ahmed Qazi who is studying marketing at a leading local university. “Such experiences give students a complete picture of what a business is really like and the operational challenges involved in running it.”
Academic institutions in the country are often criticized for not inculcating skills and expertise that are relevant to the domestic market. Leading institutions like LUMS, IBA and FAST have realized the importance of regularly tapping the industry to ensure that their graduates are sought after by leading employers.
Companies stand to gain most from a steady influx of well-acquainted and qualified young professionals. Little wonder then that the best performing companies in the country are the ones that have taken the lead in personal development of their team members.
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