Nigerian organisations demand global standard without local talent investment- HR expert

Habila Theck, Tank Operator, WAF region at Riverlake observed a widening gap in the Nigerian labour market, which is the growing tendency for employers to demand “global standards” while simultaneously withdrawing the very investment required to create them.

He argues that if an organisation knows the standard it requires, it must be prepared to hire and train people to meet it, rather than expecting world-class expertise to appear out of thin air.
Addressing the issue directly, Theck stated: “There’s a gap I keep noticing: expecting ‘global standards’ without investing in people. If you know the standard you want, then hire and train people to meet it. For years, some organisations have faced the same talent challenges without changing approach.”

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According to him, for decades, the standard for excellence in Nigeria was set by global institutions like Shell, NLNG, and even banks like Access Bank.

He explained that these organisations did not wait for “finished products”; but manufactured them through intensive internal academies and cadetship programmes. Today, however, that culture of cultivation is dying, replaced by a “plug-and-play” recruitment model that is leaving hundreds of roles unfilled.

Ishioma Elora Onah, PhD., Consultant at ICS Outsourcing, admitted that there is indeed a talent gap; however, there os also a training and leadership gap within organisations.

She said, “Too many companies want high-performing employees without building systems that develop high-performing people.The best organisations don’t just hire talent.
They intentionally grow it”.

“So the real conversation should not be if talent is scarce but if organisations are truly investing in developing talent…because in many cases, potential exists, but structure, coaching, and development are missing”.

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The vacancy paradox

The conversation echoes reactions from Tosin Eniolorunda, CEO of Moniepoint, who revealed that his firm has struggled to fill over 500 vacancies since 2024. He suggested that Nigerian candidates often fall short of global benchmarks. While Eniolorunda and some industry leaders blame a crumbling educational system, a growing number of professionals argue that the real crisis is the private sector’s shift from being a producer of talent to a mere consumer.

Hiring for potential vs. finished products

Human resource (HR) experts say that preference for candidates who can deliver immediate return on investment (ROI) without a learning curve may be economically short-sighted.

According to Sanni, lead business transformation consultant, when 500 roles remain open for two years, the cumulative loss in productivity and innovation likely far exceeds the cost of a six-month internal training academy.

He recalled the “Access Bank model” as a good standard for talent development, where candidates were “employed and trained for months” before they ever started their roles. To him, the current inability to find talent is an indictment of modern recruitment strategies.

He noted that the same “local guys” deemed unemployable in Lagos are regularly hired by firms in California, London, and Houston, suggesting the issue may lie with internal processes rather than the talent pool itself.

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However, the private sector does not operate in a vacuum. Some argue that the foundation provided by the Nigerian educational system has become so fragile that the cost of “re-training” is now a deterrent.

Omotunde Abimbola, partner at Arximal Capital, believes the burden cannot rest solely on businesses. While she acknowledges that companies can “upgrade” marginal candidates, she expressed concern that many graduates now lack the foundational skills or values required for professional growth.

“I think the argument is that the majority of the candidates these days are untrainable because of poor requisite foundational skills or have poor values,” Abimbola noted. She called for educational institutions to tackle the problem “from the roots.”

The global compensation reality
Adding complexity to the hunt is the rise of the borderless labour market. Senior professionals argue that “global standards” inevitably carry a “global price rag.”

Ima Hackh, a business consultant challenged the notion of a talent scarcity, suggesting instead a compensation mismatch. She argued that the talent is present but is being siphoned off by foreign remote employers. “With a salary like £5,000 a month, I will find him 5,000 global standard people by next week!” she stated.

Similarly, Olufemi Olayinka, finance manager at CMA CGM suggested that leadership may be out of tune with a generational shift where top-tier talent prefer remote roles with better work-life balance and competitive pay.

“A master-servant relationship does not allow for growth,” Olayinka remarked, noting that critiques of skill often fail to mention if the offered remuneration is actually competitive.

As Rachael Abayomi, finance manager, AWS puts it, “Until more companies start seeing internship and trainee programmes as long-term investments instead of costs, we’ll keep complaining about unemployable graduates while ignoring the broken bridge between school and work.”

Talent gap, a challenge of nurture and compensation

According to Ogugua Belonwu, CEO of MyJobMag, he argues that the perceived “talent gap” in Nigeria is primarily a challenge of nurture and compensation rather than a lack of raw human potential.

He argues that leading organisations should establish internal systems to train and develop the specific talent they need, such as Java developers, rather than expecting pre-trained experts to be readily available.

Another is the compensation factor as there is a difficulty in finding talent which often stems from offering uncompetitive pay scales that fail to attract or retain experienced professionals.

Also, when experienced roles cannot be filled, the focus should shift from “finding talent” to “nurturing talent” through structured training and fair retention packages.

“I want to think that every leading organisation should have a system for training their own talent… I don’t think it’s an issue with talent; I think it’s an issue with nurture, which every organisation should work towards solving… So, do we have talent? Yes. Are many of them leaving? Yes. Are there still talents? Yes. Can they be trained? Yes.”, he said.

In other words, for Nigeria to remain competitive, the corporate sector must return to its root not just searching for brilliance, but having the courage to cultivate it.