Naivas Graduates Inaugural Trainees to Bridge the Retail Skills Gap in the Industry

Recruiting and training the best people is core to Naivas’ mission to provide Kenyans with a world class shopping experience, and for this reason the business has been running a graduate trainee programme since 2023.

The programme is aimed at upskilling fresh graduates with competencies in various business functions within retail. The GT programme is an intense 9-month period for fresh graduates, where they are taken through various parts of the retail business.

Retail contributes 9% to Kenya’s GDP, making it an important industry in the country. Developing the next generation of retail leaders is therefore critical to ensuring the continued growth of the sector.

As the leading supermarket chain in Kenya, Naivas takes its role in this development seriously.

From a career perspective, the retail industry has in many instances been looked at as a fallback plan, rather than a first choice.

As Naivas has developed its business through innovation, such as the Foodmarket concept, so the supermarket career option has become more attractive.

Naivas is now looked at as an employer of choice, especially given the wide array of expertise required in fields such as finance, marketing, supply chain, IT etc.

“Naivas wants to attract and retain the best talent in the country. Beyond this we want to ensure that we develop career paths for our employees, and it is for this reason that we set out to create the Naivas Retail Academy with the graduate trainee (GT) program being one of its pillars. We are therefore pleased to be celebrating the first graduation in this programme, with 35 trainees becoming Naivas employees today. However, this is only the beginning, and we expect to expand this programme, including onboarding more learning institutions,” remarked Andreas von Paleske Naivas Chief of Strategy.

“A key measure of success for me is how we continue to transform the industry, and core to this is having the right people. For Naivas, a homegrown Kenyan brand, developing the next generation of leaders is an important step forward. This programme is also a testament to our commitment to ensuring that the business shall outlive all its founders,” said David Kimani