It is, therefore, very crucial that the Human Resource Manager in any organization develops appropriate strategies to get the entire workforce, from top management to the lowest employer, to mirror the desired culture that the organization seeks to project. 

These were some of the issues discussed by speakers at this year’s HR Focus Conference held on Thursday October 12, 2017 at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Accra.  The theme for the conference was, “The Future of HR: Talent and Culture”.

The Managing Director of Busara Africa, Taaka Awori, pointed out that HR practitioners should ask themselves what the culture of the organization is and get the entire workforce to live the culture of the organisation.  She said that when hiring personnel, it is crucial to recruit people who exhibit the desired culture of the organization. She spoke on a sub-theme: “Shifting Organisational Culture through Innovative HR Leadership”

She said that one of the mistakes that HR practitioners make is that they tend to exempt the management of the company, including they themselves, sometimes, from modeling the desired change. She said that if the HR Practitioner will succeed in this respect, then everyone in the organization must exhibit the same culture. She said that a change should not be expected in the workforce when top management do not model that change.

Taaka indicated that in certain aspects, HR practitioners do not hold staff accountable for undesired behaviour and advised that although HR practitioners needed to have a human face and probe to understand why some people do certain things or, behave in certin ways, they also needed to be firm and crack the whip, where necessary, to ensure that the bottom line was not affected by undesired behaviour.

Speaking on another sub-theme: “Wealth Mangement: Getting the Best from your Talent”, Mr Kobina Ata Bedu, CEO of United Wealth Ltd, pointed out that a number of companies do not put in place policies and packages that will allay the anxieties and fears of majority of workers.  He said that every worker aims at being called a landlord, having a good car for the family, educating his or her family, getting access to the best medical care and retiring with adequate pension support. 

Mr Ata Bedu said that companies should ran programmes that will encourage employees to save, invest and grow their investments. He encouraged employers to have health plans for their workers while in employment and even after they have retired. 

He deplored the practice where employees are transferred without taking into consideration the family of the employees.  He said that measures should be put in place to either facilitate transfer of the employee plus his or her family, or, make it possible for the employee to visit the family as often as possible. 

He urged HR practitioners to employ people who are willing to learn and explore. 

Other speakers included Anne-Magriet Schoeman, Country Lead, Mercer Consultancy and Rev. Celia Apeagyei Collins, Founder and President of Rehoboth Foundation.

The HR Focus is a free quarterly magazine published by L’Aine Services Ltd and is the first and only HR magazine in Ghana.