Brain Drain and the Talent Depletion in Pakistani SMEs                         

By Atif Iqbal

Pakistan, unfortunately, is among the few countries worldwide that have been under consistent leadership and political crises. Still, everyone knows this country’s talent in the local and global industries is unmatched. Our youth offers immense potential, and the struggling young professionals educate and evolve themselves as they prepare for a more brutal future.

Unlike other countries, Pakistan witnessed bouts of economic development; instead, the graph should have been consistent. During the stressful times we are facing currently, we have faced significant brain drain as well. From skilled labour to executive professionals, those with leadership positions left the country for a more suitable and promising future.

In documents, a brain drain is a mere number that keeps on increasing; in reality, the consequences of these talented people leaving Pakistan will strategically affect our economic activity, educational drain, knowledge transfer interruption, and innovation and growth stagnancy.

Along these lines, SMEs in Pakistan are now facing an upfront risk and challenges to find the best resources for their companies. Shortage of talent means compromise on several aspects when companies are hiring. These compromises affect the service delivery, restrict growth, make achieving full business potential tough, and slow down the fulfilment of company goals and objectives.

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Growing companies in Pakistan are left with two significant choices: either invest in building their high-achieving teams or compromise and hire people on an ‘if and when needed’ basis. It will make sense if the latter cannot complete its objectives, let alone the mission and vision, which are supposed to drive the company’s growth trajectories.

Every business hopes and strives to become the next Nestle, Apple, Rolls Royce, etc. They cannot achieve that with teams missing synergy, collective motivation, and the drive to go beyond mediocrity. Companies that focus on building a team of several teams with a singular mission to achieve excellence can beat the competition anytime.

Acquiring professional recruitment services are one way to ensure a growing company finds its missing talent. The recruitment industry originated in the 2007-8 recession. Companies could not sustain their hiring practices, so industry experts collaborated and devised executive search strategies to minimize the risks of wrong hiring, mismatch of cultures, and transparency in negotiations, leading to long-term commitments and maximizing retention rates.

Pakistani SMEs also need to set up high-achieving teams with individuals with the right skills, talent, and motivation to achieve more than the ordinary. RFS HR Consultancy, a UAE-based recruitment firm and a thought leader in the industry, offers complex and effective executive search solutions that maps the candidate market, analyse the best fits, shortlist through a robust process, and on board the finalized candidate with complete transparency, and clarity among all the stakeholders combined.

Recruitment firms offer more security than any reference-based hire since the recruiter maps the industry talent and understands the candidate’s potential and the employer’s needs. While making sure the candidate complies with all the employer’s preferences. Professionals recruited from this procedure are less likely to leave as they are already in line with the company’s future, and the employers get the missing talent on which they can depend for their long-term journey.

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