MTN wins employer of the year and 5 others at HR awards

MTN Ghana has been adjudged Employer of the Year plus other top five prestigious awards at the just ended 2nd Ghana Human Resource Innovations Awards 2019 held on Friday Feb 22 at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel.

The other awards include Outstanding Employee Retention Policy, Excellence in Employee Engagement, HR Innovation of the Year and HR Team of the Year for the Private Sector (Gold).

The Ultimate award went to Mrs Ama Benneh-Amponsah, Head of HR and Administration for MTN Ghana who emerged the HR Personality of the Year.

Speaking on behalf of the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, the Chief Executive of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC), Dr Edward Kwapong said the wealth of a nation or organization lies in the hands of its human resources and how well those resources are managed to the benefit of all.

He noted that the importance of the work done by those whose responsibilities it is to manage those valuable resources cannot be overlooked.

Dr Kwapong indicated that the creation of decent and welfare of workers is utmost importance to the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations.

According to him, the 2015 Ghana Labour Force Survey report reveals that the unemployment increase from 5.8% in 2013 to 12.1% in 2015.

He added that youth unemployment was pegged at 16.13% and 25.9% for between the ages of 15 and 35, and 15 and 24years respectively.

Dr Kwapong intimated that Government as part of its aggressive developmental agenda places job creation as its main focus.

He mentioned the coordinated programme of social and economic development policies from 2017 to 2024 actualised by the numerous ongoing government initiatives most of which includes the 1D1F, One village One Dam, Planting for Food and Jobs and others.

To achieve government’s vision of Ghana beyond aid, Dr Kwapong added that the quality of our human resources is a key and essential requirement.

“Ambitious restructuring and retooling of the nation’s education and training facilities are on-ging to facilitate the production of the needed resources,” he posited.

He emphasized that the responsibility of development rest on all players including the private sector and civil society which are essential to the achievement of the shared development agenda.

“It is the job of HR managers both in the private and public sector to ensure that the right number and calibre of skilled labour force are available to ply the achievement of our socio-economic goals,” Dr Kwapong stated.

He commended the organisers for providing the platform to recognize and reward hardworking human resources experts and professionals for their efforts and contribution to the employment and the labour sector of the country.

“An event such as this to recognized the great work of professionals is a good catalyst and a motivator to make sure that our human resources are at par if not ahead of the changes in the human resource sector in the country,” Mr. Kwapong stressed.

The CEO Instinct Wave, Mr Akin Naphtal said Human Resource units now play pivotal and strategic roles in sustaining organizational growth in a highly competitive global environment.

He noted that the impact of HR leaders is rarely celebrated or recognized in most organisations.

Mr Naphtal indicated that in the last few decades, there has been a paradigm shift in the management approach by organizations and Practitioners, unlike previous trends where the focus was on functions such as planning, organizing, staffing, coordinating attendance, payroll, recruitment, etc.

He added that over the years, the values have evolved and the emphasis has shifted on managing employees than supervising them.

With this shift in the management approach, Mr Naphtal stressed that there has been a subsequent shift in the role played by HR in the organization as well.

According to him, the HR manager now wears multiple hats; these roles vary from being an employee advocate, a change agent and a strategic partner.

“This is why Ghana HR Innovation Awards celebrates and honours Organizations with excellent HR practices and models as well as leading practitioners, who have demonstrated excellence &Innovation in the HR Profession,” he stated.

credit: modernghana.com