KAMPALA —The Government Chief Whip Hamson Obua has indicated that there’s a need to regulate Human Resources Management practices in the country and promised that his administration in Parliament would push for a law in that regard.
Speaking at the launch of Best HR Practices Survey 2022, the Chief Whip who was represented by Mr. Patrick Okello, the Commissioner Human Resources Management in the Office of the Prime Minister said Uganda still has many quacks masquerading as human resource managers.
“I want to appeal to all key stakeholders here to look into this matter,” he said, adding that: “We need to have a law that regulates Human Resource Management practices in Uganda and I’m told at one stage the Uganda Human Resource Managers Association, had come up with a bill but where it disappeared, nobody knows.”
Obua said Human Resource Management functions world over are the backbone of the successes and failures of every organization—urging that the practice must be supported by the government to function to its best.
“….Because whereas you may have all the other factors of production, without the Human Resource Management component, nothing can take place. It is there for us on that basis that we, as the Office of the Prime Minister, welcome this launch, and pledge our commitment to work with all the partners here to ensure that the launch is a success,” added.
Obua said an initiative such as the Prudential Best HR Practices survey shows the commitment and dedication of the private sector towards achieving the economic transformation of Uganda by highlighting practices that are best for the development of our collective human resources capacity.
“I therefore urge all employers to encourage the participation of their employees and be open to embrace the feedback your employees offered as the effect ripples through the communities and country at large. I am confident that this survey will offer key insights to all employers including Government and also inform Government’s continued evaluation of policies that enhance skilling of Ugandans and optimising the productivity of our workforce,” he said.
The Best HR Practices Survey 2022 launched by Prudential Uganda in partnership with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) seeks to recognize organisations with Best HR Practices in Uganda.
This is the second time the survey is happening after the inaugural 2021 survey.
Officials said it is designed to collect feedback directly from employees on 14 thematic areas that are of most relevance to management of Human Resources today.
The feedback from the survey will be analysed to provide insights into those thematic areas to enable employers to better understand the views of their employees across each thematic area and to inform actions and programs designed by employers to respond to feedback from their employees.
Prudential Uganda CEO, Tetteh Ayitevie congratulated all organisations that demonstrated best practices in the 2021 survey and urged the Heads of HR to encourage their staff to participate in the 2022 survey.
He also thanked the government for taking interest and putting their weight behind the initiative to promote best practices in Human Resources Management
“I particularly want to thank the Government of Uganda for recognizing the importance of promoting best HR practices in both the private and government sector. Human resource is an integral element in any organisation, as it guarantees business continuity and effective service delivery that impacts not just the organisation but the community and country at large. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provides a shared blueprint for prosperity for people and the planet, most of which are key issues articulated in the survey. Some of these key issues the survey explores are organisational sustainability, reduced inequalities, decent work and economic growth, innovation, and health & well-being; all of which affect employees to a personal level”
He added, “Today, we are pleased to launch the Best HR Practice Survey 2022 which will take the same approach as the inaugural survey, requiring employees to share their thoughts about the key things at the workplace that allow for productivity and excellence for both the employer and employee”.
Speaking on behalf of PwC, Uthman Mayanja, the Country Senior Partner, explained that “In addition to the recognition, each participating organisation will receive the 2022 HR Best Practices Survey report and the report will highlight best HR practices across the fourteen thematic areas that will be covered in the survey. All the information received from the employees will be handled with strict privacy guidelines and is not accessed by Prudential Assurance,” he said.
The inaugural 2021 survey was conducted between October – December 2021. 534 organisations participated with 1,526 Survey responses. Some of the thematic areas of this survey are diversity and inclusion, flexible performance management, talent development, employee empowerment and wellness, collaboration and communication, reward and recognition, quality and innovation.
Uganda Breweries Limited emerged as the overall winner of the HR Best Practices Survey 2021.
Other notable winners from the thematic categories included: TotalEnergies E&P Uganda, dfcu Bank, aBi Development among others.
This year, the survey will be conducted in between November and December.
