One woman’s mission to tackle industry skills gap
Susan Makau, director of International School of Advertising
TALENT SHORTAGE | School opens to transform graduates from academicians to workers
The noise about fresh graduates being ill equipped for the workplace now sounds more like a cliché. It has gone on for years. Still, the matter disturbs industry players, as ascertained by a report released last August following a study in Kenya by Washingtonbased Results for Development Institute. The organisation found that about one-third of Kenyan companies had contracted or planned to contract external providers to manage the skills shortage among fresh graduates. While one Susan Makau may not have necessarily participated in the survey, she is quite alive to such finding.
That’s because she personally encountered such graduates while recruiting for companies she previously worked in. The situation bothered her, she says. In July, that urge to do something about it ultimately came to life. Ms Makau opened what she refers to as a “finishing school” for the advertising industry. She called it International School of Advertising (ISA). “We are calling this a finishing school because it has a very pragmatic approach to learning. We are taking what is in the workplace and giving it to (our apprentices),” she explains. “What we have realised is that our educational institutions seem to be producing only academicians, who end up not solving the problems of the day. Courses are still being taught using obsolete equipment and technologies, while the industry looks on and complains endlessly,” says Ms Makau, an old hand in the industry with over 20 years of advertising experience.
She is not done explaining: “The nature of this industry is that we just do not have the time to train (on the job). Everything is so fast-paced that once someone is recruited, it is assumed they have the knowledge or can learn fast on the job.” The next thing, Ms Makau adds, would be negative feedback from clients being served by the fresh graduates. Some situations would even result in the loss of a client. The end result of this scenario, says Makau, who previously worked for TBWA, Red Scan (now Scan Group) and Ogilvy, has been that the different companies have turned to poaching from each other and failed to grow the talent pool. Her creation, ISA, targets this gap by offering what she would rather refer to as apprenticeship. Situated in Nairobi, ISA admits fresh graduates and exposes them to how things are done at the workplace. She explains: “We are approaching this from the other edge of the sword…the one of industry and what it expects. We are imparting the practical understanding and familiarity of the skills that graduates need.”
lution?
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The noise about fresh graduates being ill equipped for the workplace now sounds more like a cliché. It has gone on for years. Still, the matter disturbs industry players, as ascertained by a report released last August following a study in Kenya by Washingtonbased Results for Development Institute. The organisation found that about one-third of Kenyan companies had contracted or planned to contract external providers to manage the skills shortage among fresh graduates. While one Susan Makau may not have necessarily participated in the survey, she is quite alive to such finding.
That’s because she personally encountered such graduates while recruiting for companies she previously worked in. The situation bothered her, she says. In July, that urge to do something about it ultimately came to life. Ms Makau opened what she refers to as a “finishing school” for the advertising industry. She called it International School of Advertising (ISA). “We are calling this a finishing school because it has a very pragmatic approach to learning. We are taking what is in the workplace and giving it to (our apprentices),” she explains. “What we have realised is that our educational institutions seem to be producing only academicians, who end up not solving the problems of the day. Courses are still being taught using obsolete equipment and technologies, while the industry looks on and complains endlessly,” says Ms Makau, an old hand in the industry with over 20 years of advertising experience.
She is not done explaining: “The nature of this industry is that we just do not have the time to train (on the job). Everything is so fast-paced that once someone is recruited, it is assumed they have the knowledge or can learn fast on the job.” The next thing, Ms Makau adds, would be negative feedback from clients being served by the fresh graduates. Some situations would even result in the loss of a client. The end result of this scenario, says Makau, who previously worked for TBWA, Red Scan (now Scan Group) and Ogilvy, has been that the different companies have turned to poaching from each other and failed to grow the talent pool. Her creation, ISA, targets this gap by offering what she would rather refer to as apprenticeship. Situated in Nairobi, ISA admits fresh graduates and exposes them to how things are done at the workplace. She explains: “We are approaching this from the other edge of the sword…the one of industry and what it expects. We are imparting the practical understanding and familiarity of the skills that graduates need.”
lution?
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