The Human Resource Department (HR) of the Forestry Commission (FC) has organised a 2- day programme dubbed “HR shaping the new Future“ at the Institute of Local Government Studies, Accra. All Human Resource managers and officers from FC offices across the country were in attendance.
Mr. Nyadia Sulemana Nelson, Deputy Chief Executive, in delivering the welcome address on behalf of the Chief Executive, Mr. John Allotey, mentioned that this conference is a great platform for HR practitioners to come together to deliberate on performance management, employee motivation, employee benefits, training, just to name a few. He emphasised that mentorship is very key and the mentoring of young graduates by senior officers will equip them with the requisite skills to fill top management positions. Mr. Nelson stated that HR must consider the safety of staff, supply of proper working gears and training of staff both locally and internationally.
He ended by saying that one major challenge facing HR is the salaries of staff and encouraged HR to put in their best to come up with a proper wages structure.
Dr. Edward Kwapong, Former Chief Executive, Fair Wages & Salaries Commission, who was the keynote speaker for the conference, gave a presentation on “How to Use HR to Manage and Adopt to the New Future”. He touched on the Human Resource strategy; HR understanding the activities of the various units and departments as well as aligning the employee’s mindset to the new future which is based on the revolution of technology.
There were other presentations on the SSNIT and Tier 2 pension schemes,and Workmen’s compensation. These presentations threw more light on the lump sum given to workers when they retire, the process to consider when applying for compensation and the need for staff to frequently update their data given on their first day of employment.
Day one was climaxed with a question and answer session.
On the Day 2 of the conference, the Chief Executive, Mr. John Allotey, in a statement said, to be able to manage and protect forest and wildlife resources, there is the need to manage Human Resources very well. According to him, the people taking care of these resources and getting the work done must be well taken care of. If not, it would be a failure.
He added that, managing welfarerecruitment and training of staff is not an easy task. Moreover, it is significant to establish a corporate culture. “We should have a way we do things, let’s develop a culture that makes it easy to manage how we do things”,he added.
He advised HR personnel to make conscious efforts to read and broaden their knowledge to become abreast with information in their lines of duty.
There was a panel discussion on the theme “HR shaping the new future”. Panel members for the discussion included Deputy HR Manager representing the TIDD Manager, Mr. Samuel Adjei Kusi; Wildlife Manager, Ms. Stella Sankah; FSD HR Manager, Abdul Nasir Abubakar (PhD) and Corporate HR Manager, Mr. Mitchel Attipoe. Practitioners were advised to use technology to sharpen the work of HR, by leveraging on the use of ICT. This can be achieved through training and development of staff to be able to survive in a highly competitive environment.
Touching on Artificial Intelligence (AI) taking over jobs, practitioners were encouraged to learn and add on to their knowledge, so that they will not be concerned about AI taking over their work.
Representatives from the Chartered Institute of Human Resource (CIHR) educated HR practitioners about the Institute, requirements they need to become members, fees and exams they need to take.
Mr. Stephen Arthur, Programs Manager of the CIHR, advised practitioners to join the Institute and become members. He added that it is important to have the HR certification to be duly recognized as an HR professional.
Mrs. Mary Balkono, Assistant HR Manager, Wildlife Division, educated staff on how to properly wear the Forestry Commission’s uniform.
There was an open forum to discuss grievances and challenges facing HR practitioners. Issues that came up were centered on promotion, staffing, transfer grants, logistics, uniforms and confirmation of appointment
The Director of HR, Mrs. Anne Brown, thanked all participants for attending the conference. She wished them well in their journeyback to their stations, and encouraged FC HR practitioners to connect with each other so that they can make an impact in the history of FC.
