The Chartered Institute of Human Resource Management Ghana (CIHRM) has held its hybrid 2023 Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Friday, June 23, 2023. The programme was streamed live to members of the Institute with few in-person officials of the Institute at its HR office complex at Tse-Addo in Accra.
Welcoming its members to the AGM, Chief Executive Officer-CIHRM Ghana, Dr. Ebenezer Agbettor, said the CIHRM Ghana Council would normally come to the AGM to seek approval for numbers that could be inducted. However, since the CIHRM Ghana 2020 (Act 1020) and as per practice of other sister bodies like ICAG, CIBG, GhIE and CIMG, the Council has assumed full responsibility of its management. Therefore, the CIHRM Council holds the duty of making every decision concerning Fellows, which is supported by the Fellows Committee’s work. Subsequently, there should be no limit as to the number of members that we confer fellowships on annually as long as they meet the criteria.
Presenting his Report to members at the AGM, the president of CIHRM Ghana, Dr. Edward Kwapong, said the Institute managed to increase its membership in all the categories during the year under review. Chartered members increased from 115 in 2021 to 255 in 2022, indicating an increase of 122%. Full membership increased from 1,845 in 2021 to 2,887 in 2022, an increase of 56%. Associate members saw an increase by 56%, Affiliate members increased by 24% while Corporate members increased by 21%. Fellows were 40 in 2021 and remained the same in 2022.
On financials, Dr. Kwapong said, total income increased from GH₵1,673,611 in 2020 to GH₵2,917,878 in 2022, indicating an increase of 74%. Total Expenditure of the institute for the same period also increased – from GH₵1,585,083 in 2021 to GH₵2,605,989, indicating an increase of 64%. The Institute recorded a net surplus of GH₵311,889 in 2021 as against the 2020 net surplus of GH₵88,733, an increase of GH₵223,361 representing a 252% increase in net surplus.
Briefing members on the Legislative Instrument (LI) status, the CIHRM President said the Institute continued its engagement with the government of Ghana on the LI through the Ministry of Education (MoE) and Attorney-General’s office, and eventually got it forwarded to the Subsidiary Legislation Committee of parliament. On 19th June 2023, the Institute was invited for the pre-laying of the Regulations, which to all intents and purposes ended successfully. Hopefully, by end of this year the LI will be in place to enhance operationalisation of the Institute’s parent Act, CIHRM 2020 (Act 1020). He urged members of the Institute to shine everywhere they work and hold the Institute’s image very high.
Speaking under the theme ‘Managing Expectations of Employees in the Current Economic Dispensation – The HR Perspective’, the 2023 AGM guest-speaker, Mr. Eric Adadevoh, Chief HR Officer-AT Ghana (formerly Airtel Tigo), stated that the recent rise in inflation affected operations across all sectors – hence the need for a proper review of various salary schemes. He said if inflation is hovering around 42%, central bank’s lending rate is over 25% but salaries negotiation is around 10%, it means Ghanaian employees are becoming poorer and poorer.
Providing strategies to manage expectations of employees in the current economic difficulties, Mr. Adadevoh called for transparency in communication on the operations of respective companies in all sectors. He also spoke about Regularity in giving updates to employees on operations of the business. He suggested once-in-a-quarter Town Hall meetings with management and leadership of the business, to talk with employees about performance, targets, bottom-line figures and production guidelines. He also suggested focus-group meetings with CEOs and MDs of the business in breakfast meetings to share information about the business.
“We need to explain challenges the company is going through to employees, as they are equally key stakeholders. They should be able to understand what is happening due to the current economic challenges. Flexible remote working has become a very important tool for HR in managing employees due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” he added.
He explained that the current inflation has affected all operations of organisations; and as a result there is a need to be open with employees and engage them on several issues confronting salary reviews.
At the AGM, six (6) outstanding members of the institute were recognised and the Council approved the conferral of Fellow status on them. They included: Mr. Isaac Sackey, Governing Council member; Mrs. Nana Yaa Twum, Former Council member; Mr. Eric Bose Duker, Chairman-Tema Chapter; Mrs. Georgina Yeboah, Chairman-Kumasi Chapter; Mrs. Dora Siaw-Lartey, former Accra Chapter; and Mr. Emmanuel Korsah, Immediate Past Chairman-Accra Chapter.
