Availability of skilled workers remains biggest constrain

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Mongezi Mtati

Human resource practitioners are responsible for building systems, policies and frameworks that reduce disputes and encourage ethical behaviour in the workplace. Sadly this is not the case. Both public and private sector institutions incur high costs over dispute resolutions. Evidence of unethical behaviour continues to surface at the workplace from senior to junior staff members.

The skills section of the profession is not providing adequate training fast enough, looking at the 2009 figures from the auditing firm Grant Thornton. These figures indicate that 41% of South Africa's privately held businesses cited the availability of a skilled workforce as the biggest constraint to business growth.

"South Africa as a developing country should focus on human capital competencies in order to survive in the current economic times and grow profit margins," says Elijah Litheko, CEO of the Institute of People Management (IPM). Litheko believes that factors that are a major barrier to South Africa's growth can be resolved within five to ten years with the right political commitment and redirection of priorities.

Directors from Africa, in the public and private sectors, are in desperate need for better qualified HR practitioners who are trained in both core and elective functions of the profession as a whole. The business value that HR practitioners should add will be explored at the IPM convention which will be held at Sun City from 31 October until 2 November. Some of the topics that will be discussed include creating a high performance culture, training staff with a small budget, reducing head hunting and equipping the public sector to deliver services.