Entrepreneurship is way out of unemployment — Tinuke Jones, recruitment expert

Change in the education system, expansion of employment exchanges, and changes in industrial techniques, among others, may help improve the staggering unemployment problem of the country.

Mrs Tinuke Jones, executive director of IVI Consulting, noted the above at a week-long pep talk (orientation) her firm organised for about 20 new recruits penultimate week.

Record shows unemployment is one of the social deficits the Muhammadu Buhari government will be leaving for the president-elect Ahmed Bola Tinubu administration to grapple with; it is currently at 41% as two in four Nigerians are unemployed.

According to Mrs Jones, executive director of IVI Consulting, a leading recruitment firm in Nigeria, apart from the above factors, entrepreneurship is another avenue that can help drastically energise stagnant unemployment market.

She added that IVI Consulting has been a talent partner with local and national businesses, designing and implementing effective recruitment campaigns for Fortune 500 companies.

She explained that those who are employed lose such easily because for reasons beyond the control of the employees.

According to her, lack of validation or motivation from the superiors, employee not enjoying the role assigned, when employee feels he/she is reporting to an inexperienced superior, among others, public enterprises do not meet up with targeted goals, leading to collapse of such ventures.

Other reasons are the issue of favouritism, which tends to run merit off the road; poor compensation to employees; inadequate tools to work with and poor leadership style.

“These facts,” for Jones, who has been leading the firm for the past 18 years, “account majorly why there are a lot of transition of jobs and eventually unemployment.”

“When these factors exist, both the employees and the employers would ultimately return to the labour market.

“When targets are not met over a period of time, the system collapses. The first casualty is usually the employee who, naturally, seeks employment elsewhere.

“However, let us be clear. There is a place of competence and poor performance. They are not the same.

“When you are confronted with all the above, there is no way one can perform optimally. You can be competent and still perform disgracefully when the system enjoys these unseen factors.

“Poor performance sometimes comes as a choice because of an unfavourable environment .It is critical for employers to investigate why employees are performing poorly in their roles and what interventions to adopt.”