A Kenyan Listed Company, Safaricom, Emerges At Position 67 Among Best Employers in The World Out of 2000

They say that employees don’t look for good jobs but for good employers. Someone also said that employers ‘don’t leave jobs’ but bad employers. For Safaricom PLC to feature among the 100 of the 2000 best world’s best employers proves just how the telecommunications giant is a darling of those looking for jobs.

A report published by Forbes dubbed Global 2000: World’s Best Employers have shown that Safaricom Plc is among the best employers worldwide at position 67.

In its category, the Telco’s giant reigns as the best employer among other telecommunication companies across the globe.

In a list dominated by several industries including computer services, software, and programming, computer hardware, broadcasting, and cable among others, Safaricom beat the odds to lead in its sector.

According to the ranking, Alphabet, a holding company dealing with the business of acquisition and operation of different companies that operates through Google and Other Bets segments held the first position.

Microsoft, Apple, Walt Disney, and Amazon followed subsequently to make the top five. In between the first position and Safaricom, there are myriad companies including conglomerates, airlines, casinos and gaming and auto and trucks manufacturing to name a few.

In Telecommunications services where only 9 companies made the list, Safaricom led the pack at position 67 followed by Advanced Info Service of Thailand at position 86, then Telkom Indonesia at number 112, Nippon Telegraph & Tel of Japan at position 200, China Communications Services at 337, América Móvil of Mexico at rank 338, Maxis of Malaysia at 464, followed by SingTel of Singapore at 492, closely followed by KDDI of Japan at 495.

The ranking is based on Forbes partnership with research institutions that rate career opportunities, pride, culture, the pay package, diversity, among other aspects.

In a country where the unemployment rate is still very high, other industries ought to stay awake all night and ponder where they went wrong.

Statistics show that the Unemployment Rate in Kenya averaged 10.80 percent from 1991 until 2017, and it hit an all-time high of 12.20 percent in 2009 and a record low of 10 percent in 1997.

Meanwhile, as this continues, the majority of the employees in Kenya hate the companies they work for. In fact, most of them endure in their positions just for the paycheck, which means if a new offer from a better employer like Safaricom, for instance, they won’t think twice about leaving.

Companies nowadays focus on making profits and totally forgetting about the force that makes them achieve their goals; the employees. The reason Safaricom Plc is the best company to work for is that it has put in place various measures that have seen its workplace stand out.

It supports mothers and the general staff. For example, should you decide to adopt a child, you are entitled to a two-month maternity leave. Even better, the company extended its maternity leave to include the non-natural parents as part of its employee-focused reforms.

Moreover, among its reforms, Safaricom ensures that there is gender ratio balance which many companies cannot firmly boast about. By the end of 2017, 51 percent of Safaricom 5,085 employees were women, which means it has successfully achieved the 50:50 gender pay parity in the organization. Both male and female employees enjoy the same salaries for equal work done.

Safaricom also offers secondment opportunities to its employees to enhance staff knowledge transfer and the expansion of experience to and from other markets within the Telco’s industry.

Notably, the Forbes ranking gives insightful information for job seekers on which companies to join. Consequently, it serves as a perfect example for other companies in the country to emulate if they desire to be the best. How else would you grow if the employee isn’t happy?