By Hassan Gbassay Koroma
Minister of Employment, Labour and Social Security, Mohamed Rahman Swaray, has called on and encouraged all Human Resource practitioners in the country to join the Institute of Human Resources Sierra Leone.
He made the call at a networking event that was organised by Power Africa at the Freetown City Council Building in Freetown.
He noted that having such an institution in the country is a blessing for HRs.
He disclosed that he practised Human Resource Management for over 18 years and it was a shame that at that time they did not establish an institution to use it to mentor young professionals and promote the welfare of HR practitioners in the country.
He said the Ministry of Employment, Labour and Social Security was restructured to fit the purpose of one of President Bio’s big five agendas-the creation of 5,000 youth in the country.
He said the ministry’s focus now is to ensure they work with the private sector and ensure that they create the enabling environment for all the private sector.
Minister Swaray said having been at the ministry for seven months now, he had gone through the history and discovered that the country does not have volunteer regulation.
He said some obsolete labour laws have been taken to parliament for review and make them fit for purpose- to be able to address current and emerging occurrences in the labour, private and industrial relations.
Vice President of Monica Tembo of Institute of Zimbabwe Human Resources Management,disclosed that she is a HR practitioner with 15 years’ experience.
She told the gathering that she has held top portfolios in the sector in Zimbabwe, including the position of the vice president of the Human Resource Institute.
She said when she came to Sierra Leone, the first thing she tried to find out was whether there is any HR institute in the country.
she disclose that the Zimbabwe Institute has been in existed for over 60 years and one of the things that kept them going is the membership.
She encouraged HR practitioners in Sierra Leone to ensure they join and be part of the institute, adding that being a member comes with endless opportunities, including jobs, networking, job creation and many others.
Giving the background of the Institute of Human Resources Sierra Leone, Managing Director of Elba Group, Edleen Elba, said they launched the Institute in 2020.
He said the institution is made up of a professional membership organization for Human Resources (HR) practitioners and students, including learning and development practitioners, human resources consultants within the public, private and voluntary sectors of the Sierra Leonean economy and business leaders.
She said the IHRSL brings all HR stakeholders together and provides resources and support in order to address the professional needs of our stakeholders whilst nurturing, developing and enhancing value adding competencies of HR Practitioners in Sierra Leone.
She said one of the institute’s main goals is to ensure that human resource practitioners are formally engaged and consulted in research and policy matters that affect the workforce in the country and also work with the government and policy-makers to shape and influence the national agenda, to improve the capacity and increase productivity of the labour market.
She said the mission and vision of the Institute is to empower human resource practitioners contributing to national development through people policy- efficient structures and resilient and sustainable systems and engaging, facilitating and driving the conversations that matter around human resources management.
She further stated that iHRSL aims to work closely with the leading international professional body for HR, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), based in the United Kingdom, the Africa HR Confederation (AHRC), and the World Federation of Personnel Management Associations (WFPMA).
