The President of the Institute of Human Resource Management Practitioners (IHRMP), Dr. Edward Kwapong has urged Human Resource Managers to keep the lines of communication open with employees during and after coronavirus crisis.
He believes that will go a long way to assist employees, especially those working from home to maintain a positive mindset towards their job.
Contributing as a panelist during Ghana’s Most Respected CEO’s Breakfast webinar, on the theme: ‘Managing an anxious workforce post COVID-19 for Business Continuity,” Dr. Kwapong who is also the current Chief Executive Officer of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission explained that having an open and frank discussion with employees during and after the pandemic has become necessary since doing so gives the workers some level of assurance about their job security.
The IHMP President further advised HR practitioners to ensure that the workplace at home is safe and conducive for their employees working from home to enable them operate efficiently.
Emphasizing the need for the mental health of workers to be sustained, Dr. Kwapong noted that it is important for HR managers to ensure that employees undergo psychological counseling with the aim of preparing them to return to the workplace.
He admitted that although HR practitioners in the country were not adequately prepared for the challenges that emanated from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, practitioners innovated effective interventions to address the difficulties at the workplace, citing the work-from-home policies, as one of those measures that ensured sustained production.
“We were caught unprepared, but we immediately responded and made sure we were trained people with some multi skilling, and had others working from home and. And so for me yes, it was a reaction to a crises, which we did not expect, but the moment it happened, we quickly organized and started working on our staff,” he stressed.
“Also we started issuing guidelines to ensure the safety of our workers was maintained to the extent that IHRMP put out a guideline observing the necessary protocols so that workers stayed safe and return to work once the pandemic is over,” Dr. Kwapong added.
Benjamin Nana Appiah/adrdaily.com
