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Corporate world should shift from archaic methods of hiring

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A group of interviewees. Colleges should rethink the mode of delivery for their students, not only will this enlist more students but through practical examples they will graduate ready for the corporate world and work efficiently. fotosearch

I was introduced to a corporate manager of a private well-paying company and the minute she learnt I was a business lecturer she asked: Just what are colleges teaching our students nowadays? She recently hired a graduate from a reputable college in Nairobi and says that he is the worst worker she has had in years.

The employee, dressed professionally for the interview, was articulate, knew what needed to be known of the company and most importantly presented transcripts with top notch grades and overall GPA was well above average.

His paperwork was impeccable. Although, in practicability he has no clue how to manage, he is not conversant with analysis concepts required for the job and does not know how to motivate fellow employees – in fact, he does not work well in a team.

So, I ask how did he attain such good grades and fall so short of knowing how to work with tools he had evidently studied and passed with flying colours. Were they fake transcripts? I do not think so, did he cheat in college? Maybe, but how, as his overall GPA is impressive; questionable curriculum or learning methodology in college? - Highly likely.

The tradition most colleges in Kenya have kept and still continue to hold on to in their curriculum is the lecture only style and practical or interactive teaching is not used nor practiced. Fact is lectures play a vital role in teaching and there will always be room for them in learning institutes, they give technical factual material and provide structure in a classroom.

But honestly most students zone off in a lecture that is assigned three hours. Colleges should rethink the mode of delivery for their students – not only will this enlist more students but through practical examples they will graduate ready for the corporate world and work efficiently.

Using real life cases in the classroom and not only makes the class more interesting but gives the students a chance to think about what is being taught and shows them how to effectively solve problems. Gone are the days when students had to cram countless pages to acquire good grades; and what are good grades for if nothing has been learnt?

Kindergartens, primary schools, secondary and higher learning institutions should implement practical business lessons in their curriculum. Parents should also introduce simple business concepts at home while doing homework or make it fun at dinner or play time. Whatever subject is being taught, a practical lesson stimulates discussion, engages more students’ interest and notes are reviewed more carefully.

On the flip side, perhaps the corporate world needs to shift from archaic methods of hiring to using more practical interviewing processes. Unfortunately grades are not all that count – some smart people simply cannot deliver and some grades are highly questionable. If grades achieved in college are the inevitable indication of how wealth and success is attained in life – then many successful businessmen would never stand a chance in today’s business world nor would human resource executives give them a time of ear.

Examples of business icons that have build empires and hire from intuition and yet do not have any college degrees or flaunt grades are; Bill Gates, yes he never did graduate college; Michael Dell dropped out of University of Texas and is the founder of Dell computers, Steve Jobs (RIP) dropped out of Reed College and Mark Zuckerberg one of the youngest billionaires in history.

Successful practical teaching will benefit all parties, students, teachers, businesses and the future of this great nation. The pay off in adapting these practices is not only a win-win situation – but it will show in the results.

Improving on hiring practices and educating selection committees on what to really look for will also reap the same benefits.