WFPMA

MALAWI

Human Resources Management in MALAWI: Perspectives and Issues

Two major incidents will shape things in Malawi as 2006 approaches the end: cancellation of about 90% of the country’s debt by the IMF and World Bank, followed closely by another cancellation of about 90% of bilateral debt by the Paris Club, and a ruling in the Constitutional Court overturning impeachment procedures that were adopted by the Malawi Parliament in 2005. These two developments have almost secured the government of Bingu wa Mutharika a full tenure in office.

The debt cancellation signals a vote of confidence in the government and entails that resources which would otherwise have been used to repay the debt will be available for the country to apply to other various economic and social projects.

IPM is now widely accepted as a leading professional organizationwith an ability to provide leadership on how the country can utilise its people resources. Closer links have been established with senior government officials such that at its upcoming annual conference the coming month, senior government officials including cabinet ministers will share the platform with the leadership of the institute in trying to explore how the country can leverage off human capital.

Macroeconomic data

The latest annualised inflation rate has surprised the market by dropping to around 12%, the lowest since September 2004 when it was at 11%. Improved supply of maize means that the inflation is unlikely to rise since this comprises over half of the weighting used to measure inflation. The inflation for non-food items is dependant on international developments especially the price of oil.

The commercial bank’s lending rate has for a year now remained at 27%. In the commercial and industrial sectors, there has been a slight increase in private sector borrowing. Interest rates still remain high and there is speculation that the debt cancellation may lead to a reduction in the Bank rate which may reduce the commercial bank’s lending rate.

The local currency value of the dollar and euro was almost flat throughout August and September, at about K138 and K178 respectively. Tobacco exports remain the major foreign exchange earner followed by tea and sugar.

The “Doing Business” report by the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation was released in the first week of September. Doing Business ranks 175 economies on the ease of doing business. Malawi performed poorly in the majority of indicators except for dealing with licences and labour conditions where it inched up a bit. Malawi was ranked 110, dropping four places from last year. Despite ranking disappointingly, Malawi still lies ahead of its neighbours Mozambique (140), Tanzania (142) and its other trading partner Zimbabwe (152). Kenya and Zambia are ahead of Malawi at positions 83 and 102 respectively. 

The human resources profession

The major challenges for the profession in Malawi include: Talent Management, Change Management, Leadership Development, HIV/AIDS and how to increase productivity.

In the health sector, there has been a major loss of qualified nurses and doctors to the industrialised west in search of better opportunities. This has also affected engineering industries. A lot of resources is spent in training resources in these areas but because wages in the public sector are generally low, opportunities for growth and promotion are limited, employees tend to prefer to work in the west where wages are relatively better.

Following privatisation of major economic players, most organisations are now facing challenges of dropping a socialist culture that is associated with government ownership. Even in organisations that have not fallen under privatisation, it is becoming increasingly important to refocus themselves so that they are able to compete with regional players.

The high levels of HIV prevalence estimated at 14.4% among adults and a life expectancy of 39 years militate against efforts to increase productivity in general. The situation is made worse as the state of welfare facilities or benefits such as health care, medical aid service providers, counselling, retirement benefit financing are weak. The tendency is to rely on government provided facilities which are also very weak and Non-Governmental Organisations which usually target the very poor. A few private sector employers that have links with regional players in the absence of legislation around these issues rely on facilities provided in the country of origin of the organization.

The national HR association

There are 127 paid up members as at the date of the report. Government is still reviewing a proposal for a Human Resources Qualification Framework that was submitted by the institute to regulate the certification of Human Resources professionals. A standards committee that was set up comprising two academics from the University of Malawi is now operational. This committee reviews grades of membership for members and is the custodian of the code of ethics.

The secretariat remains technically weak in the absence of a qualified Human Resources Professional who can undertake research. Considering the financial resources of the institute however, the current staffing of one Administrative Assistant and a Business Development Manager is considered adequate.

The institute is exploring the possibility of hiring a retired Human Resources Profession from the western countries who would be willing to stay in Malawi and work at the secretariat’s office for at least one year to strengthen the certification process of Human Resources Practitioners through professional assessment of experience.

At the forthcoming annual general meeting, the current leadership will retire and a new council will be elected. This will affect representation in the African Federation as well. Full details of the new office bearers will be provided in the next report.

At the moment, the institute continues to provide the following benefits:

1. Publishes People Manager every quarter which is distributed free to members and is available in some major shops.
2. Distributes World Link Magazine which is published by the World Federation of People Management Associations
3. Distributes People Dynamics which is published by IPM South Africa to members who choose the option on renewing membership
4. Discounted fees to all networking events such as conferences, seminars etc
5. A walk in resource centre which has up to date decisions from the Industrial Relations Court and the High Court on labour legislation

Competency shifts affecting HR professionals

The approach has been to develop conferences and workshops that are built around the strategic side of Human Resources Management. All members of the profession are supposed to show evidence of attending these courses as part of their Continuing Professional Development. When government approval is provided on the proposed Human Resources Qualification Framework, efforts to certify practitioners based on this thrust will be stepped up. At the moment despite running programmes around strategic HR, there is no mechanism for ensuring that members display the competences that are imparted during these functions.

NIGERIA

The year 2005 was quite eventful in the realm of politics, natural disaster but more importantly in Nigeria if not in other parts of the world, safety and environmental management moved to the front burner especially in the aviation industry. At no time in the past, more than in 2005 did it become obvious that disaster and crises management require urgent attention all over the world. Pictures of displaced persons were carried of the Pakistani earthquake later to be replaced in Nigeria with photographs of the plane crashes and near misses.

It was not all bad or gory news though, as also in 2005, Nigeria moved up from the bottom of Transparency International list of the most corrupt nation in the world. While still savouring this, the Paris Club and World Bank took the momentous step of forgiving 50% of Nigeria's debt of $36 billion.

For employers and employees, 2005 was the year they tried to understand and adopt the myriad of reforms of the current government. It was a year of mergers in the banking sector of the Nigerian economy, as banks moved swiftly to comply with the Central Bank's directive to recapitalize. The cliché was either "meet minimum capitalization requirement of N25 billion" or "fold up". At the end of the exercise, 25 banks emerged from the former 89. Moreover, most States of the federation equally engaged in down-sizing (or right sizing?) exercise in keeping with the spirit of effective performance by trimming down the Civil Service.

The foregoing events certainly have salutary effects and impact on human capital management in the country and by extension, the practice of the profession. In keeping with the resolve at the last AGM, the Institute stepped up its advocacy role by timely response to burning issues in the national programmes including media advert in one case. The various State Branches and PPCAs were at the vanguard of creating public awareness, education and information in their local programmes on the regime of reforms as it relates to people, issues and professional human resource management practice.

For the Institute, 2005 was a year of modest achievement in all our traditional areas.

Upon the election of the incumbent, as President and Chairman of Council in 2003/2004, the council promised to continue with the programme started by the predecessor as a priority The main thrust of the programme then were:

i. to have CIPMN as a truly professional Institute,
ii. to create a functional Secretariat, and
iii. to make an impact in the environment.

It was reported that progress had been made in the furtherance of this agenda.

CIPMN AS A PROFESSIONAL INSTITUTE

Annual National Conference.

For some years now, the Annual National Conference has been drawing the attention of every Human Resource practitioner in the country in terms of the relevance and timeliness of the themes, as well as the dexterity exhibited by the Conference Committees.

In particular, the 2005 Conference with the theme "The Enterprise Spirit: People, Power and Possibilities" attracted a total number of 918 delegates and generated and income of N27,315,000.00 (Twenty Seven million, three hundred and fifteen thousand naira only). A net surplus of N19,900,641.50 was recorded at the end of the programme. This amount compared to the 2004 figure of N7,715,900 represents 258% increase in surplus. For the fourth consecutive time, a medley of speakers from within and abroad led discussions at the conference. This trend we hope to continue in order to entrench a culture of benchmarking and inculcating best practice among our members and indeed all practitioners of the profession in Nigeria.

Professional Development
One of the core objectives of this Institute is to “develop and maintain high standards of professional competence”.

In line with this objective therefore, in 2001 the Mandatory Continuing Professional Education Programme was created to provide members with the latest knowledge in HR practice and to ensure that all practitioners are adequately exposed to up to date information on the trends in HR Management.

Consequently, more members are becoming aware of the benefits of this programme, the level and caliber and of the facilitators engaged by the Institute, the level of networking it enables and the skills and new learning being offered through it. This is so much the case that some blue-chip companies have invited the Institute to run the MPCE programme on in-plant basis for their staff. The Institute is ready and available to do the same for other organizations if called upon.

In this regard, six core competences have been identified, these are:
i) Recruitment and Selection,
ii) Performance Management,
iii) Reward and Compensation Management,
iv) Organizational Culture and Management of Change,
v) Industrial and Employee Relations, and
vi) Employment Law.

Participants of the programme, will at the end of the six months duration which includes an examination weekend, receive CIPMN professional certification in the area of their study. This programme was scheduled to commence on Friday, April 7, 2006 with the Certification programmes in Recruitment, Selection and Placement; and in Industrial and Employee Relations running concurrently. A crop of talented and professional facilitators have been put together, and it is expected to have the next generation of HR top coats on this programme.

Research and Consultancy
One of the objectives of the Institute is that CIPMN shall "conduct research into and publish materials on all matters relating to the discipline of Human Resource
Management."

It is in furtherance of this purpose that the department of Research, Professional Development and Consultancy was created in 2004. It is expected that the Institute will produce well-researched books of readings in all areas of Human Resource Management which would be useful to students and all members of the Institute.

With regards to the Consultancy schedule, the overseeing Committee of Councils has recommended that the Institute commence its consultancy activities from its area of capability which is, Recruitment and Selection. The Consultancy arm of the Institute specializes in Recruitment and Selection. It draws from its rich store of experienced professionals coupled with the latest tools in Recruitment and Selection.

Staff Training
Towards the focus of entrenching a professional Institute, staff training was pursued with single-minded fervour since continuous development is one of the core values of the Institute. In 2005, the institute exposed the staff of the Secretariat to training locally and overseas. It was resolved that this practice should continue to lend credence to the intention to be “the Institute to beat”.

The Registrar and Directors got relevant overseas training in 2005, while all other cadre of staff were equally provided with appropriate training. The leadership will continue in the same vein within the provision of the budget.

Accreditation of the Institute’s Professional Diploma
In the last two years, the institute has had combined visitation by representatives of the Federal Ministry of Education and the Federal Office of Establishments and experts from tertiary institutions assessing the examination curriculum of the Institute for the purpose of placing the graduates from the Institute's examination on the appropriate salary grade level in the Civil Service Structure. They had also assessed the documents for the purpose of determining the academic and professional equivalence of the Diploma of the Institute.

The Ministry of Education has concluded it part and recommended to the Office of the Head of Civil Service for final processing, approval and gazetting

Unfortunately, the accreditation is yet to be in the CIPMN bag. The leadership is optimistic that this will be addressed positively, very shortly.

Branch development

Today, the Institute can successfully claim to have presence in 23 States of the federation including FCT. Efforts are however on to birth new branches in Niger, Ekiti, Kano and Bauchi States. The Governing Council has stressed that branches should assist to reach other practitioners in States close to them for branch creation.

The commitments in branch development notwithstanding, the Lagos Branch and State Branches of the Eastern Zone performed commendably in 2005. Lagos emerged the Best Branch of 2005, while the 8th Eastern Zonal Conference was held on the 14th and 15th July.

The Lagos State Conference held on 27th to 29th July 2005 succeeded in attracting eminent personalities from the State Government, as did other branches of the Institute at their programmes. The leadership committee expects this momentum to be maintained for the benefit of the Institute.

Professional Examinations
Perhaps as a result of the Institute’s resolution to admit only through the mode of examination, the records from the Education Unit show an increase in Student and Examination registration in the period under review. The Education Committee has also not relented in bringing to book, students caught in examination misconduct during the February and August 2005 examinations. The two students involved have been expelled from the Institute in keeping with the Institute’s Code of Ethics.

Development of the empty portion of the land at the National Secretariat
In keeping with the resolution to harness resources, plans are underway to develop the empty portion of the land at the Secretariat. As the institutes activities expand, it becomes imperative to have more space for the staff, and additional training and meeting rooms. It is intended that the design and ambience of the proposed development would be of very high international standard.

The relevant Committee of Council is already discussing with architects on the type of befitting structure to put up.

MAKING AN IMPACT IN THE ENVIRONMENT

The Institute continues to be relevant within the tenets of its objectives, and in the context of our socio-political and economic environment. Last year, several interviews were carried in both the print and electronic media of the institute’s comments on people, labour and employment issues, as the voice of the people on all matters relating to Human Resource Management profession and practice. The Institute continues to play an active advocacy role as the need arises.

The efforts at getting the attention of the State and Federal Government appear to be paying off. Last year, President Obasanjo sent the Head of Service of the Federation, Alhaji Yayale Ahmed, CFR to open the National Conference in September this year at Abuja.

With respect to maintaining a relationship with international Institutes, the Registrar attended the Conference of the Society for Human Resource Management in the United States of America (USA), while two of the Directors were in the United Kingdom (UK) to attend a programme organized by the CIPD, UK. They used the opportunity to foster a closer relationship between our Institutes for mutual benefit.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

Investment Committee
It was reported and agreed in 2005 that the Institute establishes an Investment Committee charged with the Investment of the funds of the Institute. It was reported in 2006 that the Governing Council had established credible systems and guidelines for Investment of the Institute's funds. It is hoped that through this, the Institute's financial position will be further enhanced, and that it would be easy to leverage the envisaged funding requirement of the Institute's development project.

Payment of Sitting Allowance
For quite some time now, several members of the Institute who serve on Committees have discussed the issue of paying sitting allowance for Committee and Council meetings. Such demands were based on the knowledge of what obtains in other professional Institutes, noting that the CIPMN should not be an exception.

Contacting the Secretariat
It is now easier to get access to the Institute through electronic mail or even to find out what programmes being offered through the website - www.cipmnigeria.org

(Excerpt from AGM speech by Victor O Eburajolo, FCIPM, President /Chairman of the Council)

SOUTH AFRICA

South Africa is a middle-income developing Country with an abundant supply of natural resources, well-developed financial, legal, communications, energy, and transport sectors, a stock exchange which ranks among the 15th largest in the world, and a modern infrastructure supporting an efficient distribution of goods to major urban centers throughout the region. South Africa is the largest, most sophisticated economy in Africa with a GDP (gross domestic product) almost 4 times that of Egypt, the next largest economy in Africa. Although occupying only 4% of the land of the African continent, South Africa has more than half the cars, telephones, banks, and industrial facilities on the continent.
Formerly dependent primarily on gold and the mining industries, the economy is now more broadly based, with manufacturing, the largest sector, contributing nearly one quarter of GDP. South Africa has a modern, well-diversified economy in which agriculture, mining, manufacturing, commerce, and a broad structure of service establishments contribute to the wealth of the nation.
The South African Government has taken a number of steps to make its markets more attractive to foreign investment. Included in these efforts are:

• The reduction of tariffs and subsidies to local firms
• The elimination of both the discriminatory non-resident shareholders tax, and certain limits on hard currency repatriation
• Cutting the secondary tax on corporate dividends in half
• Foreign investors are permitted 100 percent ownership and the government treats it the same as domestic enterprise for various investment incentives such as export incentive programs and tariffs, tax allowances and other trade opportunities.

For foreign investors, South Africa offers: a substantial market with significant growth potential, a market-oriented tradition, access to other markets in Africa, excellent communication and transportation links, liberal repatriation of profits and earnings, lower labor costs than in Western industrialized countries, and availability of inexpensive electrical power and raw materials.
Business customs in South Africa are generally similar to those in the United States and Western Europe.

South Africa's economic policies
The South African government is committed to providing facilities and opportunities to communities disadvantaged by the pre-1994 apartheid system, and to enabling those communities to share equitably in the resources of the country and its economy.

The government's macro-economic Growth, Employment and Redistribution (Gear) strategy is, at the same time, based on promotion of the free market and financial and fiscal discipline, aiming at economic growth, job creation and provision of basic services to all South Africans.

The government has underlined the importance it attaches to investment by introducing measures to enhance and support trade and industrial development.

The government is also promoting the development of small businesses. The National Small Business Act provides a mechanism to review the impact of proposed legislation on small businesses. It is also the enabling legislation for the Ntsika Enterprise Promotion Agency and National Small Business Council.

The National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) facilitates discussions to reach consensus between government, business and organised labour on issues affecting the economy.
Business organisations such as the Chamber of Mines, the SA Chamber of Business, the South African Foundation, and foreign chambers of commerce in South Africa regularly liase with government and comment on draft legislation.

Key reforms

The government is committed to sound public finances. Key reforms since 1994 include:

• The introduction of a three-year medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF).
• The establishment of co-operative inter-governmental institutions to manage budgetary and financial coordination between the national, provincial and local government.
• The creation of the South African Revenue Service as an autonomous and strengthened tax administrator.
• The adoption of a framework agreement to restructure state assets.
• The introduction of auction marketing arrangements as part of improved debt management.
• The enactment of the Public Finance Management Act of 1999

Strategy outline

Fiscal policies aimed at attracting foreign investment include:

• Reducing the budget deficit
• Easing the debt burden
• Improving tax collection
• Privatising state assets
• Eliminating government dis-saving
• Increasing government investment on infrastructure
• Reducing household and corporate taxes
• Reducing government expenditure as a percentage of GDP

Achievements
South Africa has achieved a level of macroeconomic stability not seen in the country for 40 years.

The budget deficit came down from 9.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 1993 to fractionally over 1% in 2002/03. Total public sector debt fell from over 60% of GDP in 1994 to barely over 50% of GDP in 2002/03.

The net open forward position of the Reserve Bank fell from US$25-billion in 1994 to zero in 2003, while foreign reserves rose from one month's to two-and-a-half month's import cover in the same period.

These advances are creating opportunities for real increases in expenditure on social services, reducing costs and risks for investors and thus laying the foundation for increased investment and growth

10TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA

Addressing parliament on 8 May 2006 on the occasion of the 10th Anniversary of the adoption of the constitution of the Republic of South Africa, the President of South Africa, Mr Thabo Mbeki had this to say:

“As we celebrate the tenth anniversary of our Constitution, we cannot but recall and salute the contributions of all sectors of South African society and millions across the world to the great victory of the cause of freedom and democracy in our country. The milestone we celebrate today should also serve to reinvigorate the transformation of the unity and solidarity we built during the course of our struggle for freedom, into a durable partnership for reconstruction and development, and the building of a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous South Africa.

A century ago in April 1906, when it would have been impossible to foretell the day of freedom both for ourselves and the rest of our colonised continent, Pixley ka Isaka Seme nevertheless uttered inspiring words at Columbia University in New York, which are surely relevant to our celebrations today. And this is what he said:

“The brighter day is rising upon Africa. Yes, the regeneration of Africa belongs to this new and powerful period. The African people... possess a common fundamental sentiment which is everywhere manifest, crystallising itself into one common controlling idea. The regeneration of Africa means that a new and unique civilisation is soon to be added to the world."

Mr Mbeki also quoted what the former President of South Africa Mr Mandela said when the South African Constitution was adopted on the 8th of May 1996:

“The new Constitution obliges us to strive to improve the quality of life of the people. In this sense, our national consensus recognises that there is nothing else that can justify the existence of government but to redress the centuries of unspeakable deprivations, by striving to eliminate poverty, illiteracy, homelessness and disease. It obliges us, too, to promote the development of independent civil society structures.

“While in the past, diversity was seen by the powers-that-be as a basis for division and domination; while in earlier negotiations, reference to such diversity was looked at with suspicion; today we affirm in no uncertain terms that we are mature enough to derive strength, trust, and unity from the tapestry of the language, religious and cultural attributes that make up our nation.”

“Let us now, drawing strength from the unity which we have forged, together grasp the opportunities and realise the vision enshrined in this Constitution. Let us give practical recognition to the injustices of the past, by building a future based on equality and social justice. Let us nurture our national unity by recognising, with respect and joy, the languages, cultures and religions of South Africa in all their diversity. Let tolerance for one another’s views create the peaceful conditions, which give space for the best in all of us to find expression and to flourish. Above all let us work together in striving to banish homelessness, illiteracy, hunger and disease.

“In all sectors of our society – workers and employers, government and civil society, people of all religions, teachers and students, in our cities, towns and rural areas, from north to south and east to west – let us join hands for peace and prosperity. In so doing, we will redeem the faith, which fired those whose blood drenched the soil of Sharpeville and elsewhere in our country and beyond. Today we humbly pay tribute to them in a special way. This is a monument to their heroism…(Thus) we give life to our nation’s prayer for freedom regained and (a) continent reborn…”

IPM subscribes to the values enshrined in the Constitution of our country and promotes programmes and interventions that would create a truly diversified and unified workforce.

LABOUR, SKILLS DEVELOPMENT, TRAINING AND EDUCATION

• National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS)
• The Government of the Republic of South Africa has developed a National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS) for the period of 1 April 2005 – 31 March 2010.

The NSDS is grounded on the following principles:

• Support economic growth for employment creation and poverty eradication.
• Promote production citizenship for all by aligning skills development with national strategies for growth and development.
• Accelerate Broad Based Economic Empowerment and Employment Equity. (85% Black, 54% women ad 4% people with disabilities, including youth in all categories). Learners with disabilities to be provided with reasonable accommodation such as assistive devices and access to learning and training material to enable them from access to and participate in skills development.
• Support, monitor and evaluate the delivery and quality assurance systems necessary for the implementation of the NSDS.
• Advance the culture of excellence in skills development and lifelong learning.

Department of Labour Strategic Plan

The Department of Labour of the Republic of South Africa has also developed a strategic plan, which has medium and long-term objectives running up to 2009.

This strategic plan has been developed within the context of Asgi-SA (Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa)

Key objectives of this strategic plan are:

• Contribution to employment creation
• Enhancing Skills development
• Promote equity in the labour market
• Protecting vulnerable workers
• Strengthening multilateral and bilateral relations
• Strengthening social protection
• Promoting sound labour relations
• Strengthening the capacity of labour market institutions
• Monitoring the impact of legislation
• Strengthening the institutional capacity of the Department

Asgi-SA: accelerated growth for all

The South African government's Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for SA (Asgi-SA), launched by President Thabo Mbeki in July 2005 and headed by new Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, aims to guide and improve on the country's remarkable economic recovery since the removal of the crippling policies of apartheid.

Its primary aim is to halve unemployment and poverty by 2014 - 10 years after the policy was first set out in 2004, and 20 years after South Africa's first democratic elections in 1994. "We believe that we have built the basis for a national programme of shared economic growth," Mlambo-Ngcuka said in presenting the Asgi-SA strategy in February.

"With this programme we can achieve our social objectives, and we can more than meet the Millennium Development Goals."

South Africa's economic growth has been impressive, rising from 3% in the first decade of freedom to around 5% in 2005. The boom has been based on high commodity prices, large capital inflows and strong domestic consumer demand, and rooted in anti-poverty measures, growing employment and rising asset prices.

But to have the desired impact on poverty and unemployment, the government has determined that growth must be boosted to at least 6% - if not higher.

The unbalancing effects of growth

An important principle of Asgi-SA is that economic growth cannot be at any cost: it must be sustainable, and it must be shared among all South Africans. This comes from a recognition that recent growth, while welcome, has been unbalanced in two important ways.

First, the combined effect of all the drivers of South Africa's growth has been to strengthen the country's currency, making it difficult for exporters outside the commodity sector or those who compete with imports to stay competitive. That led to a trade deficit of nearly 4.5% of gross domestic product in 2005, well financed by capital inflows, but demonstrating South Africa difficulties in competing in more than raw commodities.

There is therefore a risk of "hollowing out" - losing capacity and jobs in more specialised sectors such as manufacturing - or, at least, an unbalanced economy. This risk is compounded by uncertainties in future commodity prices, capital flows and domestic consumption.

Another risk of rapid growth is a widening of the gap between rich and poor. While the social grants programme has made radical inroads into reducing poverty and redistributing income, a full third of South Africa's people are yet to benefit from the country's new prosperity.

There is more to this than social injustice. As long as a significant proportion of the population is excluded from the mainstream economy, South Africa's potential for future growth will be seriously obstructed. While the policy of broad-based black economic empowerment aims to address this economy-stifling imbalance, Asgi-SA seeks to take it further.

Six constraints, six responses

In developing Asgi-SA policy, the government consulted widely with experts in its departments, in business, industry and labour, and with international specialists. The conclusion was that interventions to accelerate growth in a shared manner must surgically target weaknesses unique to South Africa's economy and government.

This approach contrasts with that of the Washington Consensus approach, popular in the 1980s and 1990s, which set out a long list of "virtuous" actions held to solve any country’s economic problems.

Six binding constraints have been identified - a list short and focused enough to allow consistent and coherent responses:

• The overvaluation and volatility of South Africa's currency.
• An inadequate national infrastructure.
• A shortage of skilled labour.
• Barriers to entry, limits to competition and limited new investment opportunities
• A cumbersome regulatory environment.
• Deficiencies in state organization, capacity and leadership.

To counter these six constraints, Asgi-SA initiatives fall into six broad categories:

• A massive investment in infrastructure.
• Targeting economic sectors with good growth potential.
• Developing the skills of South Africans, and harnessing the skills already there.
• Building up small businesses to bridge the gap between the formal and informal economies.
• Beefing up public administration.
• Creating a macroeconomic environment more conducive to economic growth.

Asgi-SA initiatives must still be adjusted and fine tuned, and consultations continue. The government plans to regularly review progress in its implementation, and the programme will also be reviewed by a team of economists and social scientists based at Harvard and other universities.

"Our second decade of freedom will be the decade in which we radically reduce inequality, and virtually eliminate poverty," Malmbo-Ngcuka said.

"We know now that we can do it, working together around an initiative which has the support of the nation." SouthAfrica.info reporter

Business throws its weight behind newly-launched JIPSA Published 28/03/2006

Business has contributed about R2 million into the initial activities of the newly-launched Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA).

JIPSA is a multi-stakeholder working group, through which government, labour and business will join forces to fast-track the provision of priority skills required to support accelerated and shared economic growth for the country.

“Finally in business (as in life) money is a good indicator of serious intent,” noted the chief executive of AngloGold Ashanti, Bobby Godsell.

Godsell is also one of the business representatives in the JIPSA task team.

Addressing the launch, Godsell said the shortage of skills was not a challenge faced by government alone, but affected other stakeholders, including business and labour.

“Let us as a nation join forces to produce the skills equivalent for new airports, new harbours, and the broadband connectivity of our telecommunications infrastructure,” he said. Godsell called on companies to invest five percent of their payroll on skills development programmes, saying this would benefit their businesses in the long term. He welcomed the introduction of JIPSA, saying that new ideas were imperative if the country was to undo the skills inequalities created by apartheid.

“Good ideas are useless unless matched with good deeds. These are deeds that I think will be present in every company that is serious about its long term future in South Africa,” he said.
Godsell also said that JIPSA needed to address skills shortage at three levels, including at the operational “broad based education” level of the workplace, artisan, management and leadership levels.

The JIPSA programme will be implemented in phases, with the first phase expected to be completed in 18 months. The complete life span of the project is set at three years.

The project’s joint task team, which is headed by Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, comprises 23 members, including government ministers, business and labour.

The joint task team will identify and advise on the shortage of scarce skills highly sought to help the country achieve an economic growth rate of six percent by 2010, to halve unemployment and poverty by 2014.

Source: BuaNews
The National Qualifications Framework Brochure SAQA’s Mission:
To ensure the development and implementation of a National Qualifications Framework which contributes to the full development of each learner and to the social and economic development of the nation at large.

What is the NQF, and how did it come into being?
The National Qualifications Framework (NQF) is a Framework on which standards and qualifications, agreed to by education and training stakeholders throughout the country, are registered. It came into being through the South African Qualifications Authority Act (No. 58 of 1995, Government Gazette No. 1521, 4October 1995), which provides for ‘the development and implementation of a National Qualifications Framework’. The structure of the NQF is outlined below:

Further Education and Training National certificates (FETC)

General Education and Training Certificate (GETC)

What is the purpose of the NQF?

The NQF is a means for transforming education and training in South Africa.It has been designed to:
• combine education and training into a single framework, and bring together separate education and training systems into a single, national system;
• make it easier for learners to enter the education and training system and to move and progress within it;
• improve the quality of education and training in South Africa;
• open up learning and work opportunities for those who were treated unfairly in the past because of their race or gender; and
• enable learners to develop to their full potential and thereby support the social and economic development of the country as a whole.

Who will implement the NQF?
The South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA), which also came into being through the SAQA Act, is responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of the NQF. However, all South Africans who have a stake in education and training, have the responsibility for ensuring that the implementation of the NQF is successful – providers of education and training(e.g. schools, training centres), those who ensure the quality of that education and training, and of course learners themselves.
SAQA itself comprises 29 members. These 29 Authority members represent a variety of education and training constituencies. The SAQA Act identifies those sectors which can nominate representatives, and the Minister of Education in consultation with the Minister of Labour appoints the Authority members.

How will SAQA oversee the development and implementation of the NQF?

• In the NQF, all learning is organised into twelve fields. These in turn are organised into a number of sub-fields. SAQA has established twelve National Standards Bodies (NSBs), one for each organising field. Members of NSBs are drawn from six constituencies: state departments, organised business, organised labour, providers of education and training, critical interest groups and community/learner organisations. Up to six members from each of these constituencies serve on an NSB. The NSBs recommend standards and qualifications for registration on the NQF to SAQA.

• Each of these NSBs is responsible for recognising, or establishing, Standards Generating Bodies (SGBs). SGBs in turn develop standards and qualifications and recommend them to the NSBs for registration. SGBs are formed according to sub-fields, and members of SGBs are key role-players drawn from the sub-field in question. For example, the SGB for Teacher Educators is made up of school teachers, professional teacher bodies, university, college and technikon teaching staff, etc.

• SAQA accredits Education and Training Quality Assurance bodies (ETQAs) to ensure that the education and training which learners receive is of the highest quality. ETQAs in turn accredit providers to offer education and training in accordance with the standards and qualifications registered on the NQF.

• The SAQA Office which is responsible for implementing the decisions of the Authority, is headed by the Executive Officer. There is a Standards Setting division and a Quality ~Assurance division. Other divisions include a Resource Centre, Communications and Secretariat, and the division for the Evaluation of Educational Qualifications.

• Two sets of Regulations have been published under the SAQA Act to enable SAQA to oversee the implementation of the NQF: the National Standards Bodies Regulations (Government Gazette No. 18787, 28 March 1998) and the Education and Training Quality Assurance Bodies Regulations (Government Gazette No. 19231, 8 September 1998). In addition, SAQA has drafted criteria and guidelines for the generation and evaluation of standards and qualifications and for the accreditation of ETQAs and providers. All these documents have been published on the SAQA website, and are available from the SAQA offices.

Who benefits from the National Qualifications Framework?

• Learners: benefit from quality education provision of qualifications that enjoy national recognition and where appropriate, international comparability;

• Workers: benefit from clear learning paths in the qualification structure, to facilitate and support life-long learning and career advancement;

• Employers: benefit from a work force, competent in the skills and attitudes required in the competitive global economy of which South Africa is a part;

• Society: benefits from a proud, learning nation with the intellectual ability to adapt swiftly to change, especially technological change.

• Building our new nation demands the establishment of an integrated education and training system which acknowledges the achievements of all learners equally and supports a learning nation.

BROAD-BASE BLACK ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT

The Government of the Republic of South Africa has enacted broad-based black empowerment Act and also released codes of good practice on broad-based Black Economic Empowerment. The objective of the black economic empowerment process is to facilitate and promote entry into the main economic activity by Black people who were previously disenfranchised.

HUMAN RESOURCES

IPM is the premier human resource organizationin the country having being established 60 years ago. Its founding mission which it has fulfilled over the years is to contribute in a meaningful way to the effective development in the country in as cost effective a manner as possible. In keeping with this tradition IPM in collaboration with each branch networks and other strategy partners hosts high quality workshops at major centres throughout the country. Since the ushering of the democratic dispensation in the country in 1994 IPM has been expressing challenges in the sense that alternative HR organisations has sprouted in the country. IPM has responded to this challenges strategically by doing the following;

• Redefining its strategic niche within the South African contexts in an electing a new Board and interim CEO

• Entering into strategic alliances with organisations of similar interests and convictions.

In line with its renewed strategy IPM will be hosting its 50th Anniversary Convention from the 1- 3 October 2006 at Sun City.

The theme of the convention based on the Government Asgi-Sa and JIPSA initiatives is:
"GROWTH / PROFITABILITY / COMPETITIVENESS"

"DRIVING HIGH PERGORMANCE THROUGH PEOPLE"

Speakers of repute both nationally and internationally will speak at this convention, some of which are;

• Mr Brand Pretorius, CEO, McCarthy Limited, Bidvest Group
• Professor William Joyce, who wrote the bestseller “What really works”, from the USA;
• Peter Howes, CEO of Info HRM in New Zealand
• Professor Stella Nkoma of UNISA.

Details of the current IPM Board that is driving this renewal strategy are as follows;

• Professor Shirley Zinn IPM President and HR Director for Nedbank;
• Renier Krige Vice President Strategy and HR Director for JD Group;
• Raj Seeparsad Vice President and HR Manager at TDM;
• Elijah Litheko Vice President : Stakeholder Relations and Interim CEO;
• Mpho Letlape Immediate Past President and Managing Director HR at Eskom;
• Geoff Verschoor : General Manager HR Randwater
• Angelo Peterson : Board member and Director at Capespan;
• Brenda Hendricks : Board member from the Department of Public Administration;

In planning an organising the 50th Anniversary Convention the Board is supported by the convention committee who’s names appear below:

• Dennis Ritter from Nedbank
• Italia Boninnelli from Nedcare
• Sandy Mohonathan from ABSA
• Victoria Makoe from Eskom
• Maggie Mojapelo from Avon
• Guy Blackbeard from Maccauvlei Training Centre
• Elijah Litheko from IPM.

IPM has established long term relationships with sister organisations both within the continent and abroad.

Data on the National Associations

Unlike the Pre-Democratic Dispensation the Human Resource Profession in South Africa is highly fragmented with the following associations amongst others being in place:

South African Reward Association (SARA)
ASTD
The South African Board of Personnel Practice
The Industrial Relations Associations of South Africa
The Skills Development Facilitators Association of South Africa.

Elijah Litheko
Vice-President Stakeholder Relations and Interim CEO
Institute of People Management
Tel: 011 785-6800
Fax: 011 803 5316
Cell: 082 554 4047
elitheko@ipm.co.za

SWAZILAND

Swaziland is a small landlocked country surrounded by South Africa and Mozambique as her neighbours. She is Africa’s last remaining absolute monarch. In accordance with the IMF Reports, the country though small has an open economy mainly based on imports and exports with an average economic growth of 1.2% in 2006 compared with 2.0% in 2005 with a projection of 1.0% in 2007. The IMF global reports have highlighted the HIV/Aids prevalence at 38.8% of the population, 30% high unemployment rate, poverty and high-income inequality whereby 70% of the population lives below the poverty line. To boost the economy, the weakening currency i.e. the Lilangeni (Rand)/ US Dollar exchange rate has helped enhance the competitiveness of the manufacturing and other export sector such as tourism.

The Government has been vigorously launching various programs to deal with the high HIV/Aids prevalence in such a way that there are about 13000 patients now receiving antiretroviral drugs for free from government hospitals and health centers. To curb the high level of unemployment, Government has been developing the cotton industry to promote textiles and clothing in the country and also has launched a strategy to grow drought resistant crops to improve the lifestyle of the people. This has seen a growth in Textile jobs mainly driven by Asian investors in the past five years or so.

On the political front, the country has developed and adopted a new constitution, which is first of its kind in thirty years and it became law in July 2005. One of the highlights of this law is that His Majesty the King retains absolute power and as such approves all legislation passed by parliament and the activity of political parties is still yet to be a determined by the courts if they are actually engendered by the constitution.

CHALLENGES FACING HR PRACTIONERS IN SWAZILAND

The H.R profession has not been given the utmost importance it deserves in Swaziland because most of the time, it has been used as a dumping ground for any employee or manager who was seen to be under performing in other various departments as it was considered a very simple job which was mainly clerical just dealing with leave papers, personal files, and above all just hiring and firing of employees. This is worsened by the increased textiles firms that mainly originate from Asia who do not want to adhere to country’s labour laws which they find to be more worker friendly and thus go against the high productivity drive at a low cost effective manner that operates in Asia. This has been a major challenge to the profession in that they defy the laws and end up bringing their own practitioners who do not subscribe to HR practice in Swaziland hence the need for code and ethics for the profession.

It has only been recent since 2004 that the practitioners in the field have raised concern and most organizations have started viewing HR Practitioners as strategic business partners. This has been made more possible by globalization whereby most of the multimillion investors from Europe, South Africa and United States coming into start companies or partnering in with local ones come up with a more complex global expectation of the HR role in their business in such a way that it is now expected to add value just like any department hence return on investment.

In the recent IPM Convention held on the 12th October 2006, with the theme being “The Changing Role of the Human Resources Function”, the deliberations led to resolutions taken that there is need to come up with a code of ethics for the HR profession and skills development framework so that the HR practitioner is ready to deliver the value to the organizations in view of the fact that there has been economic challenges which have even seen drastic reduction of work forces through retrenchments in major sections of the economy like the agricultural industry, banking industry and the textile industries as the export business has been negatively affected by the unfavourable Lilangeni (Rand) / US Dollar exchange rate.

What is of major drawback is that the country drafted a Human Resources Development Bill in 1996 which is still in a draft form even today and has not been enacted as a law because of lack of interest by the Tripartite forum dealing with it i.e. the Labour Advisory Board advising the Minister of Enterprise and Employment on labour and human resources issues at the workplace. What should be noted on this draft bill is that it deals with the issues of National Qualifications Framework, Skills Development and Training & Localization Authority issues with emphasis on skills transfer in particular when it comes to imported skills brought in my expatriates from other countries. The latter part of skills transfer was a major interest and prime responsibility of the Ministry of Enterprise and Employment (formally known as Ministry of Labour) had already established the Training and Localization Committee which is only fully operational at a political level by forcing companies to localize most of the positions occupied by expatriates and ensure some sort of affirmative action by promoting local to substantively senior positions with their organizations.

It is worth noting that even though the localization takes place, the actual training value and the skills transfer by these expatriates cannot be effectively measured by only understudying them, without a National Qualifications forum and a Skills Development framework which is contained in the draft Human Resources and Development Bill.

It is also worth noting that currently the labour laws that govern employment in the country have been under review and some amended.
The Employment Act 1980 as amended in 1985 and 1997 was recently concluded by the Labour Advisory Board with the following major highlights: -

a) Part-time employment – which entitle employees to work for more than one employer provided the employee is employed for not less than 24 hours a week, for a cumulative period of six weeks per annum (with that respective employer). The Bill also discourages employers from engaging employees on part-time if the nature of the work for which the employee is engaged requires permanent employment.

b) Unfair Labour Practice – unfair treatment regarding promotions, probation training and dismissals will be reported and accepted by CMAC.

c) Compassionate leave – the Bill entitle employees a maximum of seven days on half pay for death of their spouse and biological children and five days on half pay for other siblings.

d) Hours of work are clearly regulated as well as provisions for domestic workers

e) Maternity leave- Whilst the current Employment Act does not compel an employer to pay an employee for any time spent on maternity leave, the amendment compels an employer to pay at least 4weeks of the period an employee is away on maternity leave

f) Payment of severance allowance now extends to cover the employee’s beneficiaries, in the event the employee dies while in employment.

g) Integrated labour inspection

h) Inclusion of HIV/AIDS in the definition of discrimination

Industrial Relations Act 2005 was passed replacing the IR Act of 1980 which was basically redefining disputes to exclude trade disputes; collective bargaining definition now extended to include other issues of mutual interest to both employers and employees; introduction of compulsory arbitration whereby parties in dispute have no choice on the Arbitrator who is now appointed by CMAC after being directed by the Industrial Court; period of the procedure for strike action has been decreased from 21 days to seven (7) days for the ballot and only 48 hours for the strike notice and thus means that there is no more mediation in between.

All these labour laws now have a clearly definite impact on HR practitioners because of the recent adoption of the Kingdom’s Constitution, which entrenches fundamental worker rights and employer’s rights to a certain extent to be overriding any other laws.

With the above, comes the issue of challenges posed by the HIV/AIDS pandemic and highlighted earlier on. This has crippled the workforce and such HR practitioners have to be very innovative on how best to manage the scourge at the workplace whilst ensuring that there is not discrimination against the infected and affected employees yet at the same time ensuring maximum worker productivity set in such a way that there is added value from employees to the employers.

CONCLUSION

All the above challenges have stimulated debates and deliberations amongst practitioners and other stakeholders including the Minister of Enterprise and Employment, Honourable Senator Lutfo Dlamini, Worker Federations and the Federation of Swaziland Employers to focus on the issue of National Qualifications Forum and Skills Development have taken a major priority amongst stakeholders.

In order to realize the above and many other issues affecting the profession, IPM Swaziland has set up set up its annual general meeting to be held on 30 November 2006 where the Minister as the Guest Speaker, practitioners, and relevant stakeholders in particular the University of Swaziland will deliberate and come up with resolutions so shape up and propel the Human Resources Development Draft Bill towards its finalization by the Labour Advisory Board and become law of Parliament for the betterment of the HR profession with particular emphasis on the national qualifications forum and skills development.

Lastly but not least, it is expected that HR Practitioners will also be able to come up with a road map and Task Team to draft the code of ethics for the HR profession which will then be a major priority for the upcoming financial year for the Institute.

UGANDA

Perspectives and issues

Uganda is a land-locked country found in East Africa with a total surface area of 241 thousand sq. km. According to the World Development Indicators of 2005, Uganda’s population is estimated at 28 million people with an annual population growth rate of 3.5%. Literacy rate among the youth female (aged 15-24) is estimated at 71% with the GNI of 8.5% (US $ billions). Prevalence of HIV among the working population is 6.7%.

Macroeconomic data

According to the World Development Indicators database, April 2006 GDP growth is estimated at 5.6%. This prediction has remained constant since 2000. The report indicates that inflation has rose from 6.1% in 2004 to 8.6% in 2005.

According to the 2002/03 Uganda National Household survey, the Uganda labour force is estimated at 9.8 million of which 53% are females. Overall, 36% of the Uganda labour force are working poor (3.5 million persons) of whom nearly half were employed in agriculture. The share of wage and salary in non-agricultural employment is very small. The share of women in non-agricultural employment is 28%.

Overall unemployment rate in Uganda is 3.5%. The unemployment rate for females is 17%. The urban unemployment rate is at 12%. Generally, unemployment for youth is 6.3%. Underemployment stood at 17%.

Uganda’s economic performance has been hit by a range of events like HIV/AIDS, Civil wars, high illiteracy rates, poverty, unemployment e.t.c. Despite, Uganda’s success in reversing the HIV/AIDS pandemic, Uganda still faces challenges with high prevalence rates (6%) among its labour force (15-49). The civil wars in Northern Uganda have increased military expenditure to 2.5% in 2004 compared to 2.3% in 2000.

The State of Human Resource Management in Uganda

According to the Pricewaterhouse Coopers salary survey report (2004), many organisations in Uganda have realised that strategic HRM is a core value driver in their organisations and as such have started giving it the prominence it deserves both at management level and in the boardroom. Companies and organisations that have taken up, and put into practice the Human Resource function have no doubt registered success.

At the academic level, most higher institutions of learning in Uganda are offering Diploma, Degree and Masters programmes in Human Resource Management, Organisational Psychology, to mention a few.

Challenges facing Human Resource Management in Uganda

The HRM challenges like any other discipline are political, economic, social cultural and technological. These are both macro and micro in nature. The increasing complexity of organisations resulting from changing technology, multi-cultural work force and the fierce competition in the markets, all pose real challenges to which HR professionals must measure up or lose legitimacy and run the danger of being listed among non-core functions of organisations.

Globalisation, liberalisation and privatisation have no doubt created a more complex operating environment in which the human resources are managed. The increasing knowledge base of an active and yet diverse community has placed challenging demands on Human Resource Managers today.

The HIV/AIDS pandemic has taken its toll presenting the HR practitioner with the physically and psychologically weakening labour force that nevertheless must co-exist with a fast paced dynamic environment.

The global and national legal and regulatory environment is also changing at a fast pace and increasing the requirement to adopt more flexible yet practical human resource policies and procedures.

The regionalisation of the East African economies has created HRM challenges on the labour market as it increases the complexity of labour mobility within the region.

The work force is so diverse that it’s so challenging to work out reward systems and motivation schemes that are constantly satisfactory. The tax regime regarding income tax does not make it any easy.

Brain drain still remains a challenge, yet the cost of training and up-skilling staff has not taken a regressive trend. On the other hand, the state of the trade unions has been challenged by the move towards privatisation and more liberalised economies, leaving them with less effective collective bargaining roles as a basis of improving employee welfare in certain quarters. Unemployment has also facilitated unethical practices in some organisations in relation to HRM.

At a micro level some companies still use the old leadership style of management with tall structures. The current environment demands flat and flexible structures with decision making authority, however these are far from being achieved in view of the co-existence of tall and complex bureaucracies. Leadership development is a challenge for HRM today.

Appreciation of the strategic role of HRM by peer functions is yet to be achieved. This is probably because the profession is still encumbered with personnel management hangover where most of our practitioners are still engaged in the transactional functions of the discipline.

Profile and activities of HRMAU

The Human Resource Managers’ Association of Uganda (HRMAU) is a professional membership association for human resource management practitioners as well as public institutions with a Human Resource function. The Association is affiliated to the World Federation of Personnel Management Associations (WFPMA), African Federation of Human Resource Management Associations (AFHRMA). In Uganda, the Association is affiliated to the Federation of Uganda Employers’ (FUE). HRMAU

HRMAU’s vision is to be a leading professional association in people management that enhances competence, productivity and quality of life.

To achieve the vision HRMAU pursues the following strategic objectives;

• To network with stakeholders to influence formulation of policies that favour the association, create synergies and share best practices

• Develop, update and disseminate quantitative and qualitative Human Resource Information Systems to stakeholders

• Develop, implement and update HRMAU code of conduct and certification standards to guide HR practices in line with existing international standards.

• To market and publicise the HRMAU to the stakeholders to create awareness and promote HR function.

• Develop and implement resource mobilisation strategies to ensure sustainability of the association.

HRMAU represents interests of over 5,000 HR professionsals of which about 4% are registered members of the association. Registered membership has increased from 18% in 2005 to 24% in 2006.

In June 2006, a new governing council was elected to oversee implementation of strategic activities spelt out in the strategic plan (2004 – 2007). Members of the council held a retreat to further analyse the strategic plan to determine immediate activities.

The association is starting up a certification to locally certify HR professionals. A certification proposal has been written with consultation from other international certification bodies.

The association is starting up a bi-annual newsletter to act as a focal point of information sharing, discussion and exchange of ideas or issues.

A number of breakfast meetings have been held to continue sharing information and updates on emerging issues in the HR profession.

Competency shifts affecting human resources professionals

Internationally the human resource profession is evolving into a strategic and professional field of practice with proper certification and codes of conduct. Uganda is also beginning to evolve towards a more strategic and professional focus to meet workplace demands and align with International standards.

Internationally, there are several certification bodies and the Ugandan practitioner can decide to obtain any, although it seems to be quite expensive and difficult to accomplish.

In order for the Ugandan HR practitioners to adjust to these changes and match the challenges we need to develop the means of having localized certification for all Human Resource practitioners/personnel in a bid to maintain established professional standards at the workplace.

Currently we have various Universities offering Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Human Resource Management and Organisational Psychology. We also have the Uganda Management Institute which is offering the Postgraduate Diploma in Human Resource Management.

Accordingly, this is not enough to certify one as a professional human resource person. Among other things, qualified Certified Human Resource Professionals must be able to:-

1. Link organizational initiatives to human resource management
2. Recommend strategic human resource solutions;
3. Implement plans with best practices;
4. Assess situations with accuracy and acumen;
5. Provide sophisticated change management skills;
6. Plan for emergency situations;
7. Anticipate the impact of legislative changes;
8. Assume a leadership role at senior management table; and
9. Deliver excellent performance consistently through a commitment to continuing professional development.
10. Initiate and lead the Organisational development activities in a company

But above all follow an established code of conduct.

Currently Uganda proposes an exam to form a base for the certification. For the Association to start the process, we are recommending the following:-

1. National standards defining the work performed by HR practitioners in Uganda to form platform for law/policy development.
2. The required core capabilities.
3. A verification process for assessment of candidates and administering of the exams.
4. Standardized procedures to ensure that those achieving the designation are meeting and continuing to meet high levels of expertise and competency.
5. A disciplinary committee to deal with the people going against the set standards.
6. A circulation of the core competences to tertiary institutions offering HR and related courses.

Certification of individuals can take place when all academic and experiential requirements are met. The process would be on going and involving recertification where certified professionals must commit to continuing professional development to maintain certification.

The Certification process:

A three-step process is proposed:

1. Completing an academic program of courses
2. Two years experience before undertaking professional exams
3. Completing the professional exams:
• The knowledge exam
• Professional practice assessment (PPA)
4. Keeping current by recertifying

To maintain certification, the Association shall require HR professionals to recertify every three years. Recertification can be obtained by documenting 60 hours of professional development experience including continuing education, instruction, on-the-job experience, research and publishing, leadership activities, membership in a national or international professional organization such as the Human Resource Managers Association of Uganda (HRMAU), CIPD or by retaking the examination ("recertification by examination"). At a fee.

All certified members shall have clear identification for the period of validity.

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