The Head of the Public Services, Professor Lord Mensah, has urged human resource practitioners within Ghana’s Local Government Service to embrace the digital revolution to enhance efficiency and improve service delivery.
He warned that human resource managers who continue to rely on analogue methods of working risk being left behind as the public service increasingly adopts digital systems.
Professor Lord Mensah was speaking at the 2nd Annual General Conference of the Human Resource Practitioners of Local Government Service–Ghana (HRPLGS-G), held in Kumasi.
He said human resource practitioners must ensure that staff report to work on time, remain at post during official working hours and are productive enough to meet the expectations of leadership and the demands of the Service.
“It is important for them not to be left behind because of the digital revolution we find ourselves in. If you continue to do things the analogue way, by the time you realise it, you may no longer be part of the Service because the Service would have moved far ahead,” he said.
Professor Mensah also urged HR practitioners to ensure that information provided for decision-making is accurate and credible.
He explained that inaccurate data could negatively affect decisions taken by management, particularly as the Public Service works towards introducing new digital systems.
“As for computer programmes, when you feed them with wrong information, they will also give you wrong information, and that can affect decision-making,” he added.
According to him, the Public Service is developing software that will require reliable data from Human Resource practitioners to support effective planning and decision-making.
The conference brought together Human Resource managers from various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies across the country to deliberate on challenges confronting the profession and ways of improving Human Resource management.
The conference also featured the election of new executives for the Human Resource Practitioners of Local Government Service–Ghana.
The President and Convener of the Association, Mr. Vivien Akumiah, also called on the government to invest more in capacity building and training for staff of the Local Government Service.
He said inadequate funding continues to affect the ability of the Service to provide regular training and professional development opportunities for its personnel.
“We lack training because we always lack funds to train. When we get support to build our capacities, I think it will go a long way to help Ghana,” she said.
She noted that Human Resource practitioners operate across the country’s 276 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies and play a critical role in advancing Ghana’s decentralisation agenda.
