The Minister of Labour, Jobs, and Employment (MLJE), Dr Abdul-Rashid Hassan Pelpuo, has charged council members of the Chartered Institute of Human Resource Management (CIHRM), to develop tailored-training programmes and competency guidelines for the country’s labour force to help meet the need of the contemporary market. 

He said human resources played a critical role in national development and added that a country lacking quality human resources would struggle to progress.

“Ghana has, at times, suffered due to poor human resource management practices, where expensive projects were completed but later collapsed due to inadequate expertise and skills,” Dr Pelpuo, who is also the Member of Parliament for Wa Central Constituency, said when council members of CIHRM paid a courtesy call on him.

He emphasised his ministry’s commitment to labour management within Ghana and beyond, particularly in circular recruitment across various sectors and the protection of workers' rights and well-being, underscoring the importance of meaningful collaboration between his office and the CIHRM.

That, he said, would help to enhance the quality of HR in the country.

He further encouraged the institute to be bold in executing its mandate as enshrined in its governing legislation and to ensure that no one bypassed proper procedures to obtain certifications from the institute.

Delegation

The delegation was led by the President of CIHRM, Florence Hutchful, and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CIHRM, Dr Francis Eduku.

Other members are the Vice-President, Dorothy Asare; Dora Siaw-Lartey, Louise Agyeman-Barning, and Eric Adadevoh.

The acting Chief Director/Director of Policy Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation (PPME), Gloria Bortelei Noi; the Director of General Administration, Hamidu Adakrugu, and other officials from the ministry were part of the delegation that received the guests from CIHRM.

He congratulated the minister on his appointment as the sector minister.

Mrs Hutchful highlighted the institute’s role as the only legally mandated HR professional body established by law to regulate the practice of human resource management in Ghana and to set standards to guide best practices in employment, talent management, employee relations, workforce training, and development.

To this end, she revealed that efforts were far advanced by the institute to develop human resource management standards to guide best practices in employment, talent management, employee relations, and workforce training and development.

She added that the HR standards would be rolled out before the end of this year.

Mrs Hutchful also assured the minister of the institute’s commitment to collaborate with the Ministry by providing insights from the institute’s members and sharing people management expertise to ensure the creation and sustainability of a harmonious labour environment in Ghana.

Strategy

For his part, Dr Eduku stated that the institute had set out a deliberate strategy for engaging and partnering with academia.

As a result,  Dr Eduku noted that CIHRM was signing a Memoranda of Understanding with various universities nationwide to bridge the gap between theory and practice of human resource management in the country.