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| Human Resource Talk with Miyanda Maimbo Kahari |
| HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND ENTREPRENEURS PART 2 |
 Do Zambian have the Business acumen? This was a question that I was asked as we continued with the excellent Art of Business program hosted by Chibamba Kanyama on Muvi TV. My opinion is that undoubtedly Zambians are certainly gifted with the business acumen. I personally do not believe that the ability to manage a business depends on which country one comes from. I am a firm believer that in each individual lies a driven person just dying to come out. Our challenge as people is that we suppress this drive through fear of the unknown. We are not risk takers and prefer to stay within the confines of our comfort zones. Until we learn to take calculated risk in business then our business acumen will remain untapped water wells within us.
There is a general feeling that Human Resource is a by-the-way aspect of the business, what is your comment? This question always breaks my heart, it is true the business society has not fully embraced the critical aspect of human resource in organizations. Many companies still do not buy into the concept that people are the most important resource in their businesses. It is common knowledge that many businesses look at their assets such as vehicles and equipment as more valuable that the people that work for them, more attention is paid to these same assets that with the people that help purchase the same assets. A simple example, when a car is due for service, there is no compromise, when a machine breaks down it must be fixed without fail even when there are no resources, those resources are always found. The saddest part is when an employee falls ill and they request for assistance from the company to seek medical attention, the amount of deliberations that are taken are unbelievable and yet the same person needs to be fit to come back and perform and produce.
Therefore priorities of many companies when it comes to people are highly questionable. I must also bring attention to the fact the as human resource practitioners we need to come out and take our place on the board room table of businesses. A quick count in industry will show that very few Managing Directors come from a human resource background. This is simply because as human resource people we limit ourselves in the knowledge that we are able to acquire. Finance people make an effort to understand the human resource side of the business because they work with people but human resource people hardly ever take time to understand the financial side of the business.
That is why at times when decisions about marketing or competitors analysis are done, human resource are never consulted because the assumption is that we do not know. When operations issues are discussed we are not able to contribute, however our colleagues in the other fields can recruit people, they know how to develop their staff, they know how to manage performance and can handle queries about compensation. Some even go further and find out about the provisions of the labor laws. My experience has challenged me to wear different hats in the business environment. I had to learn how to sell and market the consultancy business. I am a salesperson first because I must be able to walk into a boardroom and present a proposal to a board of Directors about my ability to recruit a Geologist or a Country Director and be able to them to give me the assignment and that I have the ability to delivery highly qualified and experienced potential employees. I have to be an excellent presenter and have world class communication skills. In addition to that my experience has forced me to have an understanding of finance because I need to be able to determine whether I am making a profit or not, I need to be able to develop budgets for the business, I must be able to interpret financial reports once the accountant has presented them to me.
Human Resource is a serious aspect of the business and not a by the way issue, the business community must understand that without people they will not excel, all important to note is that the same people that you fail to take seriously in terms of looking after them are the same people that can either make or break your business operations.
At what point in the business does an entrepreneur begin to emphasize human resource issues? Chibamba asked. The issue of human resource starts from the time the business is ready for operations. A decision is always made to employ people that will work within the organization, It is important that the entrepreneur takes this stage very seriously. There are many options that an entrepreneur can use to ensure that they have the right people in their organization. You can either advertise the position in the paper or assign the task to qualified consultants. Once the right person has been identified all the correct paperwork is done. Sadly many employees today do not even have a formal contract of employment, many are employed verbally. After giving your new staff their contract couple that with job descriptions so that your employees know exactly what is expected of them. This process can be done at limited cost; I can assure you that you might suffer bigger losses even financially by not providing job descriptions to your staff. Your staff will not perform the way you want because they do not know what you expect and you will end up constantly loosing your temper with them when in fact the fault lies with the entrepreneur who decides to take shortcuts with the human resource aspect of the business. As entrepreneurs lets learn while we are still small to manage people in a professional manner, that way when we grow, we are able to adjust easily.
I would like to encourage readers to visit our website as see the excellent services that we offer Upload your CV or email it to us. We have positions from senior positions such as General Manager and many other vacancies with reputable organization
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| The Author is a consultant for Prosoft Human Resources Solutions. For any suggestions and comments please email miyandak@prosofthumanresource.com 0979472850 / 0955408731 / 01 293406 |
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