Ensuring Kenya’s productivity revolution has a firm grounding

July appears to be the month of dreams. Our politicians are combing through the counties peddling their version of the Kenyan dream.

Our American friends are also celebrating 241 years of the American dream, enshrined in the famous Declaration of Independence: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

In her finest hour, Kenyan Hollywood star Lupita Nyong’o, upon receiving an Oscar award in 2014 for her role in “12 years a slave,” reminded us: “No matter where you are from, your dreams are valid”.

As we listen to our presidential candidates outline their dreams for Kenya, we must ask which of them will unleash the greatest productivity revolution ever known to this land.

PRODUCTIVITY

But which of them will honour that phrase in the national anthem that “plenty be found within our borders”?

As a keen observer of the Kenyan economy, I can attest that low work productivity is the greatest barrier to the Kenyan dream.

Experts tell us that though Kenyans are among the most skilled and educated in the region, their negative attitude and perception towards work remain the greatest challenge to realising improved growth.

Statistical evidence abounds. Kenya has a labour productivity index of 2.2, far below the 4.0 needed to achieve the aspirations of Vision 2030.

ECONOMY

Japan, the third largest economy in the world, has the highest labour productivity index of 7.6.

So how can it be that the economic powerhouse of East and Central Africa is unable to draw from its labour force, output of the highest quality?

The reason is as complex as it is historical. First, our education system has been overtaken by events.

The days of placing emphasis on memorising facts to pass exams are now numbered and can no longer hold up to a globally competitive arena where critical thinking, creativity and problem solving have gained currency.

IMPRESSIVE

The private sector has been impressive in responding to this gap.

Through efforts such as Equity’s Wings to Fly initiative, the Kenya Scholar Athlete Programme and Zawadi Africa, among others, many promising students have secured admission to top global universities which provide them with global exposure and skills.

This year, America’s Yale University admitted more students from Kenya than from any other African country.

That said, this only benefits a small fraction of the population.

MAJOR BLOW

Only the government has the muscle to ensure high educational attainment is effected across the entire country.

Our hope is that the ongoing curricular review will be a game changer.

Second, poor employer-employee relations have dealt productivity a major blow.

Kenya’s version of unrestricted capitalism, disproportionately rewards the owners of capital far beyond the providers of labour, thus creating an unhealthy tension between the two.

STUDIES

In his 1998 book, The Human Equation, which reviewed numerous studies across dozens of different industries, the Stanford organisational behaviour Prof Jeffrey Pfeffer found that workplaces that offered employees work that was challenging, engaging and meaningful, and over which they had some discretion, were more profitable than workplaces that treated employees as cogs in a production machine.

The urban areas are the guiltiest in this respect.

A Nairobi taxi driver may make Sh15,000 a month, from which he would pay Sh3,500 to rent a room where he lives with his wife and children.

Chances are they won’t have a kitchen or a bathroom because these are facilities shared with others in the same building lot.

SHILLINGS

The costly demands of modern life would soon sweep away the remaining shillings, leaving him to fashion a life on a wing and a prayer.

In his encyclical, Rerum Novarum, subtitled “On the Conditions of Labour”, Pope Leo XIII articulated the Church’s response to this plight affecting the workers of the world.

He argues that the free operation of market forces must be tempered by moral considerations.

He writes: “Let the working man and the employer make free agreements, and in particular let them agree freely as to the wages; nevertheless, there underlies a dictate of natural justice more imperious and ancient than any bargain between man and man, namely, that wages ought not to be insufficient to support a frugal and well-behaved wage-earner.”

FREE EDUCATION

It is great to see the major political parties promising free secondary education as part of their manifestos.

However, this mostly solves the problem of access. A lot more investment will be needed to address quality.

Furthermore, strong labour policies will ensure that graduates get absorbed into a labour market that will tap into their maximum potential.

Only then can we say that Kenya’s productivity revolution is under way.

Mr Gichinga is Managing Director at Mentoria Consulting;  [email protected]