Business > 1st episode: Doing Business in Tunisia

A friend of mine, spent 25yrs in the US as a consultant for a major corporation, initially he moved there on an F1 visa, he was one of the early brilliant guru’s of the republic, done his bachelor, master, PhD, professor, invited guest at Yale, etc.

He had this 'brilliant' idea of starting a company that sells intangible goods for the offshore market. He had the backing of the Tunisian Gov with loans, patents, contacts, CEPEX, you name it. Left was, the human resources aspect, so he started advertising a spectrum of positions in the local newspapers, from marketing & sales people to techies, receptionist and even cleaners.
Few days after, he started getting hundreds of resumes, with all having the same thing in common:

1. Highly motivated
2. Willing to learn, to adapt & grow
3. Bac + 4 and sometimes Bac + 6
4. All graduated with memoirs and theses on top-notch & sophisticated topics
5. Many with French degrees, from dauphine, grenoble and even centrale
6. Little to no experience, or some with several extremely short term assignments.
   

The guy thought it can’t get any better than this: a strong business model, backing from the gov and the banks, a rich pool of human resources and a good infrastructure.

After a hectic interview schedule, few candidates were selected and appointed to their respective positions and generously compensated.

Few months down the road of the venture, our friend started to experience strange behavior among the team, for instance:

1. lack of productivity, some employees didn’t take their job seriously due to lack of attendance, poor focus and too much distraction
2. Unusual number of requests for salary increases
3. No sales lead whatsoever
4. No execution & follow-up of agreed upon plans
5. No regard to timelines and quality

In business terms, this is called a downturn or rough times for morale. Our friend decided to get to the bottom of the problem; he picked up one employee and starts the following discussion

Boss X: what’s the problem?
Employee Y: I need a raise
Boss X: why do you need one, you’re already paid above average, please convince me
Employee Y: I work extra hours and I’ve been here more than 3 months
Boss X: is working 8hours considered extra hours?
Employee Y: Look I need a raise; I’ve got extra bills to pay and I have personal projects.
Boss X: I will think about it, but I’m not convinced.
Boss X terminaed employee Y few days after

To my knowledge he ended up firing half of the staff and paying them severance, coz the Tunisian law requires that, ironically most of the staff fired were educated in FRANCE.

You would expect high standards from these guys, but in reality these folks care less about productivity, in fact they still live in the social age of 5 weeks vacation, 8 breaks per day and crazy benefits package, on top their imperial EGO. it seems also, that their number is growing in Tunisia because they’re having hard time finding jobs in high-unemployment France and tougher and tougher immigration policies (SARKO, you rule man !!!)

Bottom line:

Attitude need to change, Tunisians should stop asking for more and start producing instead. The world has changed, protectionism is over, and markets are now wide open for cut-throat competition. It is now matter of survival, if you miss your chance for a job, you probably will never get it again. Textile has already taken a hit and 2008 is approaching!

WAKE UP People, look around you, big business is moving from one continent to the other and Tunisia is left unnoticed and begging for investment in order to reduce unemployment. The west is no longer in charge of the world economy, it’s no longer the west where jobs are the best, it’s now the time for India, China and the like, where you can get for 500$/month, a highly qualified, HANDS-ON, READY-FOR-ACTION & HARD-WORWKING systems engineer worth 150k in the US.

For the teachers of the republic, stop being neutral to the system and your students, stop thinking about the 900DT you get at the end of the month and where you’re going to spend the 3 months summer vacation, stop bitching about raises and DO WHAT IT TAKES TO GO THE EXTRA MILE even if you have to do it on your own time.

I happen to know a teacher in a highly reputed university who refused to do a website for his course (we’re taking one page of HTML here) unless he’s given extra money!!!!

Teachers, start promoting practical skills, help your student resolve their attitude problem, and better prepare them for the job market, not the local saturated market, but the GLOBAL one. Train yourself to stay on top of the cutting edge concepts instead of reciting textbooks from the old age.

So many universities have been ‘commissioned’ recently in Tunisia, but hardly any of one of them produces a quality degree or should I say a quality candidate for the job market.

And one last thing for you GRADS of Bac+14 going to an interview, NEVER ASK FOR the magic number you’ll get at the end of the month, focus instead of how to convince that guy in front of you to hire you and keep you employed.

And be patient, “A” players always get noticed and rewarded, no matter how long they’re employed!!!!