(*source: www.werkmans.co.za/sabusguide)
South Africa is the most sophisticated free-market economy on the African continent. The country represents only 3% of the continent’s surface area, yet it accounts for approximately 40% of all the industrial output, 25% of the GDP, over half of generated electricity and 45% of mineral production in Africa. Most of South Africa’s economic activity occurs in the metropolitan areas.

Despite the above data, the country’s economic system has a marked duality – a sophisticated industrial economy alongside an underdeveloped “informal” economy. The industrial economy has an established infrastructure and economic base with great potential for further growth and development. The “informal” economy, on the other hand, presents both untapped potential and a developmental challenge for SA.

The SA economy grew by 2.2% during 2001, 3% during 2002, 1.9% in 2003, and approximately 2.9% in 2004. The government expects it to grow by 3.6% in 2005 and 4% in 2006. The inflation rate has generally declined over 2004 and the South African Reserve Bank expects to meet its inflation target between 3 and 6%.

National debt dropped from 48% of the GDP in March 1997 to 36.8% in 2004.

The official unemployment rate is currently 28.2% of the country’s economically active population. If those who have given up the search for employment are included, it is 41.8%.

The HR profession
(*Source: Human resources management in SA, 4:2002)
With the dawn of the new millennium it is clear that the traditional company in SA is becoming a thing of the past. Efficiency and economies of scale, two dominant 20th century themes have been replaced by new values: Teamwork over individualism, global markets over domestic ones and consumer driven focus over short-run profits. Only fluid, flexible, highly adaptable organisations will thrive in this new global market place.

For HR professionals in SA, as well as internationally, one thing is for certain: Traditional personnel approaches that were conceived in cultures emphasizing command and control are giving way to new approaches characterized by greater employee commitment, co-operation and communication. Companies with rigid structures will be swept away. Many issues have arisen within organisations. An example would be workplace flexibility, which has emerged in response to needs of today’s companies and the diversity of their employees. During the last century, standardisation was the norm in personnel administration. Consistency and conformity were hallmarks of management policy. Today developing the capacity for flexibility is considered a vital component of any company’s corporate HR strategy. The HR dimension of organisations has a shifting face. Challenges are continually presenting themselves to the industry. Among these changes, which include the ability of an organisation to be flexible as previously mentioned, are:

External macro environmental issues
o Change
o Diversity
o Ambiguity
o Complexity
o Interdependence

External micro environmental issues
o Speed & Responsiveness
o Cost effectiveness
o Innovation
o Quality
o Value added
o Collaboration
o Global view

Internal macro environment issues
o Highly-focused core competencies
o Broad work areas with clear responsibilities and accountabilities
o Performance driven
o Lean and flat organisational structures
o Leadership
o Capacity to act
o Learning
o Participative governance
Internal micro environmental issues
o The development of wide skill repertoires
o High skill densities
o Rapid skill acquisition rates
o High decision making freedom
o Accessible and abundant information
o High involvement
o Frequent interaction with end users

Further research findings, as provided by several surveys, point out the following as factors that SA HR directors view as current and future challenges:
o Compensation and employee rewards
o Organisational effectiveness and leadership
o Retention and talent management
o Recruitment and selection
o Succession planning and human resource development (HRD)
o International mobility
o HR technology selection and implementation (shared services)
o Health and welfare benefit costs
o Performance management
o Training, learning and skills development
o Legislative compliance
o The role of HR in corporate governance
o Possible professionalisation of HR
o HR driving value in companies/Business partnering
o BEE imperatives for HR practitioners

Competency shifts with HR: strategic realignment
(*Source: Human resources management in SA, 4:2002)
In a fast-paced global economy, change is the norm, especially in the context of South Africa with the current buzz around transformational activities. The increased internationalisation of businesses, as well as the increased scarcity and cost of HR can only mean that long term planning is risky, but essential. For this reason, HR needed to shift from a maintain capacity within an organisation into a capacity where it would function as a strategic component of achieving what the King Report on Corporate Governance identified as the “triple bottom-line”. This concept of a triple bottom-line highlights the movement toward the idea that if an organisation only strives toward achieving its monetary objectives, it may not necessarily succeed in keeping its employees satisfied and productive. In essence the triple bottom-line refers to:

o The economic bottom-line
o The social bottom-line, and
o The environmental bottom-line

The environmental bottom-line refers to the natural capital or wealth of specific nations in terms of both renewable and non-renewable resources. The focus of the social bottom-line is social justice, thus one cannot only speak of business capital, but also of social capital. That is the skills, health, education and opportunities for all members of any organisation. Since it is the function of HR to increase organisational effectiveness and keep employees happy (satisfied) and hence productive, it can be seen how the triple bottom-line becomes very relevant to the modern organisation. It is clear that economic considerations alone are insufficient. Although vital and often referred to as the bottom-line, economic viability and prosperity cannot be pursued in isolation.

Furthermore, the concept of a triple bottom-line necessitated HR to become more strategic of nature. HR is no longer responsible just for the maintenance tasks of an organisation such as the issuing of uniforms and recruitment. HR practitioners, directors, consultants and the like now function in a role that exists in order to ensure that company objectives are met, ie business partners.

With regard to the competencies required by HR professionals, the following proved necessary:

o Interpersonal skills
o Progressive proactive decision-making abilities
o Teaming skills and succession planning
o Communication and persuasion skills
o Creative and innovative thinking capacity
o Technical HR knowledge
o Business knowledge and a strategic focus
o Leadership and planning skills
o A sense of urgency and initiative
o Intellectual independence
o Ability to envision and motivate
o Approachability and flexibility
o Organisational and management skills
o Dealing with and managing policies regarding HIV/AIDS


Critical success factors for HR include the ability to master business, link results to business, focus on facts, be ethical, build alliances, provide regular feedback and be transparent (Dudu Nyamane, HR Director IBM: Central Africa).

Furthermore, Nyamane (2004) identified a series of key objectives for human resources:
1. Empowering HR
2. Detailing the necessary training and up-skilling initiatives essential for driving BEE implementation
3. Ensuring the decision makers in top management are sufficiently represented in terms of BEE requirements
4. Creating a climate conducive for BEE.

Conclusion
In conclusion, a number of critical issues face the HR industry of South Africa today. Improving worker productivity and transformation through HR initiatives, programmes, policies and techniques remains a challenge. Thus, innovative HR activities, strategies and ideas must meet the needs of a diverse labour force while enabling the company/HR practitioners to compete successfully in the global economy. Furthermore, it is the responsibility of the HR component of any entity to aim toward increasing the general quality of working life.


3. UGANDA

Uganda’s economy has been on a steady climb over the last 15 or so years. According to the statistics the economy has grown at a rate of between 4 and 7 percent per annum during this period thus making it one of the fastest growing economies in the world .
In pursuit of continued economic growth, Uganda signed the East African Community Treaty in 1999. The new trade bloc aims to work towards economic policies that are pro-market, pro-private sector and pro-liberalisation. On the bright side we see an unprecedented combined market potential of 80 million people in the region and an opportunity to strengthen our capacity to meet the challenges of globalization. However this can only be realised if your products are competitive and inevitably puts new challenges on HR professionals.

Uganda and the East African community
The differing levels of development put Uganda at a disadvantage especially when compared to the more powerful economy of Kenya. It is evident that Kenya's economy, mainly the manufacturing sector, is more competitive than that of Uganda. In addition gains from trade complementarities (e.g. commodities or services that one nation has to sell and another wants to buy), are limited as Uganda’s exports consist of mainly raw or partially processed agricultural products, which are sold outside the region.

The table below provides a breakdown of the three economies

Tanzania Uganda Kenya
Population mid-year (millions) 35.9 25.3 31.9
GDP (US$ billions) 9.9 6.2 13.8
GDP (average annual growth) 5.6 4.9 1.3
Agriculture (% GDP) 45.1 42.5 19.9

Industry (%GDP) 15.8 19.1 18.7

Total Exports (fob -US$ millions) 600 439 1,765
Total Imports (cif-US$ millions) 1,592 1,513 3,302

Source : World Bank Data 2003

The East African community and the job market
Building human capital by strengthening people’s abilities and productivity is therefore central if we are to fully benefit from the EAC. A skilled and healthy labour force, combined with sufficient entrepreneurial capacity, is indispensable. The new challenge is therefore to develop and enhance the skills and capabilities of our people.

It is evident that Kenya has a larger skills base than Uganda. While supporting the idea of labour mobility within the region, we would not like to put the limited employment opportunities available to local workers under undue stress. By the same token it will become increasingly difficult for HR managers to convince shareholders to invest in upskilling local people rather than tapping into the already existing skills elsewhere within the region.

HR management in Uganda
According to the Labour Force Survey, 2003 carried out by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, Uganda has an active labour force of 9.2 million out of a total population of over 25.2 million as at November 2003. At 3.2%, the unemployment rate is highest among those with a secondary education and above. Furthermore, the survey found that 90% of the labour force is employed in the informal sector, 68% of whom are agricultural workers. Of the employed population, over 90% earn less than Ushs 200,000 a month (approx. US$115).

Many organisations in Uganda have started to realise that strategic HR management is a core value driver in their organisations and as such have started giving HR management the prominence it deserves both at management level and in the boardroom. Clearly, there is a paradigm shift within HR practice in Uganda as HR practitioners move away from the traditional personnel management to HR management as championed by the HRMAU.

The human resource profession in Uganda is one that has only just started to be recognised as a profession in the same sense as accountancy or engineering. Like any other idea in its infancy, the human resource profession in Uganda has got several challenges that it faces. These may be separated into external and internal challenges as follows:

Internal challenges
Large number of HR practitioners who see and practice HR as personnel management rather than strategic business management;
Due to its infancy, the HR association does not have the ability to set criteria for professional membership and certification such as qualifications or experience;
The HR profession does not have the ability to threaten sanctions for people who practice HR without certification, which weakens the practice from a professional point of view;
Lack of national coverage of the HR association due to its infancy;

External challenges
The need to transform perceptions of HR management as a backroom function concerning personnel management to one of HR management as a strategic topic that deserves boardroom status
Failure to recognise HR as a profession by top management in many leading organisations;
Lack of choice for recognised HR qualifications provided by higher institutions of learning in Uganda.

The HRM Association of Uganda
The HRMAU is run by an Executive Committee, which comprises the following people:
President- Florence Namata Mawejje
Secretary General- Francis Peter Ojede
Treasurer- Esther Mirembe

It also has sub-committees, which deal with specific activities of the HRMAU. These are:

o The WFPMA sub committee which deals with all matters associated with the World Federation;
o The AFRHMA sub-committee, which deals with all matters connected with the Africa association. This sub-committee also helps the Secretariat of the AFRHMA which is currently run by Uganda under Florence Namata Mawejje; and
o The HRMAU sub-committee, which deals with all matters connected with the association in Uganda.

The HRMAU currently has about 100 registered members in Uganda.

Since inception the HRMAU has been very active in organising quarterly breakfast meetings for its members. At these meetings, various people talk about topical issues in HR from their own experience and perspectives as HR practitioners. In the course of last year, the HRMAU had breakfast meetings in August, October and December 2004.The next breakfast meeting is slated for 4th March 2005.

Competency shifts affecting HR professionals
As mentioned above, one of the main challenges facing the HR profession in Uganda is that of determining what constitutes an HR professional and the competencies required. The current practice in Uganda under the Human Resource Managers’ Association (HRMAU) is that any person who is interested in the HR profession, in spite of their qualifications, experience or background are welcome to subscribe as members of the HRMAU. There is, therefore, no standard that determines what would constitute an HR professional in Uganda, apart from showing interest in the profession. Suffice it to say that the trend shows that most people who subscribe to the association are either HR practitioners within organisations or HR advisors or consultants who provide HR consultancy services to organisations.

At this stage in the life of the HRMAU, the attainment of professional standards in HR is a subject that has not yet been tackled. However, the key competency shift within the members of the HRMAU is the move away from personnel management to strategic HR management, which involves looking at people in an organisation as a strategic resource whose abilities must be used optimally towards the achievement of organisational goals. This involves being able to quantify HR efforts through appropriate HR metrics, designing appropriate reward and performance management strategies etc.

Projects
From the foregoing, it is clear that some of the most important projects that other WFPMA member countries can help the HRMAU with are:

Setting up standards for certification of HR practitioners in Uganda basing on qualifications and experience or both. This would be based on best practice as is done in other WFPMA member countries that face or faced similar circumstances as Uganda. It is important that this certification be strict enough to earn respect and yet comprehensive enough to attract HR practitioners;

Setting up of linkages with international certification bodies such as the CIPD for members of the HRMAU who are certified as members of the HRMAU;

Arranging workshops and seminars in Uganda on topical issues with recognised and experienced global HR leaders. These topics would include issues relevant to the paradigm shift from personnel management to HR management.


4. ZAMBIA

The year 2004 saw the Zambian government strictly applying the World Bank/international Monetary Fund (IMF) conditions in order for the country to reach the heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) completion point.

The HIPC initiative was first launched in 1996 by the IMF and the World Bank with the aim of ensuring that no poor country faces a debt burden that it cannot manage (JCTR Policy Brief 1 – 2nd Quarter 2004).

Zambia was supposed to have reached the HIPC completion point by December 2003 but this did not take place due to the delay in privatizing the National Commercial Bank (ZANACO) and the budget overrun. As a result Zambia was put under an extended Staff Monitored Programme (SMP) as a pre-condition for working out a new Poverty Reduction and growth Facility (PRGF) with the IMF by June 2004.

To reach the HIPC completion point by December 2004 Zambia needed to implement drastic measures. Amongst these was the infamous wage freeze. The resultant reactions from labour Unions were industrial unrest but the situation improved after protracted negotiations with government. As for HR managers, It was a challenging period as they were made to select other means of supplementing workers in the wake of the wage freeze.

Macroeconomic data
In order for Zambia to have a successful HIPC process certain assumptions were made:

These should be “stimulation and maintenance of annual real economic growth of 5% between year 2000 and 2009 that would then be used as a springboard for reducing poverty. However, the country has not reached the projected 5% target and it is unlikely that he situation would improve drastically even though growth may be recorded”.

It was envisaged that there would be a “steady increase in government revenue from $554 million in 1999 to $1.164 million in 2010 but this would be difficult to realize due to reduction in the formal sector employment as a result of retrenchment”. This has narrowed the tax base.

It was further expected that these would be “steady increases in export receipts from $841.7 million in 1999 to $2,348.1 million in 2010”. However, given fluctuations in the price of copper on the world market, it seems unlikely that this would be achieved.

The government promised to provide a “stable macroeconomic and structural economic environment in order to attract foreign investments”. In some cases the macro policy environment has improved, such as the reduction in inflation rates. However structured reforms have brought misery to the people as more jobs are lost (original IMF document – 2000).

Nevertheless, the government has recorded some positive results during the initiative process. For instance there has been a deliberate effort to target the poor and channel more budgetary resources to the social sectors. There is also been marked improvements in health, education and social expenditure.

The year 2004 was really a challenging one to Human Resource Managers in the country, as most of them were made to find other means of motivating/rewarding the workers other than through wage increments.

Zambia Institute of Human Resource Management
The Zambia Institute of Human Resource Management (ZIHRM) is a non-profit making organisation dedicated to the development of Human Resource Management in Zambia.

As a professional body the Institute’s main objective is to provide opportunities for individuals in the field to achieve their full potential and ensure that its members and students contribute to the competitiveness, efficiency and effectiveness of the organization for which they work.

The institute was established under Act No. 11 of 1997 for the purpose of regulating the profession of Human Resource Management in Zambia. Our vision is to be an effective institute dedicated to the promotion of good practices, serving professional interests of members and enhancing ideas in the field of Human Resource Management in Zambia.

The institute has constituted functional committees to cater specifically for the needs and development of HR practitioners in various areas. These committees consist of experts (mostly from outside the council) in their respective Human Resource responsibilities, who provide proactive guidance in the latest trends and developments in the profession and practice. These committees are:
Finance and business development
Conferences and publicity
Training, development and professional standards
Industrial and labour relations
Editorial Board

Creating a culture of high productivity
In the year 2003 the Institute organized the 6th Annual Convention with the theme “Human resources: the key to organizational success”. In the quest to fulfil the year’s theme, workshops on performance management were held. The President of the Institute Mr. Masautso Nyathando went on to caution the practitioner that “the Institute shall not shield practitioners who fail to perform to acceptable standards”. Indeed, if human resources were key to organizational success, it was time that only qualified people were employed in their respective fields - and most of all in the HR function. Because HR practitioners play an instrumental role in creating a conducive environment in which employees can apply their optimum potential.

However, performance only does not make an employee suitable for the task at hand; hence in 2004 during the 7th annual convention, emphasis changed from performance management to creating an attitude or a culture of high productivity. The absence of this culture manifests in poor performance.

In fact one of the major problems besetting a number of organizations in Zambia is the absence of a culture of performance and accountability. HR practitioners therefore should strive to understand and measure productivity and individual competences. To achieve this, there is need for a paradigm shift from focusing on sharpening of knowledge and skills to creating positive attitudes towards work. The Zambia Institute of Human Resource Management would thus spearhead the attitudinal change amongst its members through sensitization on the need for change.

Projects that can be developed or shared under the aegis of WFPMA
In the quest to change attitude it is envisaged that countrywide workshops should be held to sensitize practitioners. All this should be organized under the aegis of the WFPMA. Further, networking should be encouraged amongst African HR associations. This would go a long way in developing synergy within the associations.

The WFPMA should also ensure that it invites participation of representative from African Human Resource Associations at the conferences and workshops. Similarly the WFPMA should be represented at annual conventions of member associations. The Zambia Institute of Human Resources Management holds its annual convention in October every year unless otherwise notified. The WFPMA is invited to attend and present a keynote address.