The President of the institute, Mr John Wilson, who led the delegation congratulated the minister on his appointment and briefed him on the role the institute has been playing in national development.

Mr Wilson reiterated that the IHRMP continued to train highly skilled HR practitioners through its professional certification programmes, saying the institute was currently in talks with the Public Services Commission to train HR practitioners in the public service.

The IHRMP president expressed the institute’s willingness to support the ministry in addressing pertinent issues on the labour front, including challenges in its human resource management.

Mr Wilson said the institute was poised to make valuable contributions towards national development, including making inputs in the development of a National Strategic HR Plan through the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC).

Other members of the delegation were Mr Ebenezer Agbettor, the Executive Director; Messrs Kwame Apedzi, Leonard Quarcoopome and Seth Dzordzorme, all executive members.

Positive collaboration

For his part, Mr Awuah said he was happy to identify with the institute, and pledged his support for its activities.

The minister commended the institute for developing a Code of Ethics and Conduct to regulate HR practice in the country.

He acknowledged the herculean task of the ministry but was quick to add that he and his team had accepted the challenge and would work to promote proper HR management and development in the country.

He suggested that the institute and HR practitioners in the country should project HR management issues to the forefront of businesses and at the national level, stating that, “today’s business and HR thinking is about developing employees to become more productive to the business.”

Mr Awuah also promised to collaborate with the Minister for Education to complete work on the HR Bill, which was highlighted as a key requirement of the institute.

He accepted the offer of support from the institute and promised to keep the relationship by engaging them more.

The employment minister, however, advised the institute to reach out to practicing HR practitioners who were not members to help build a strong profession, both in the public and private sectors of the country.