MONROVIA, Montserrado – The head of the Association of Liberia Human Resource Professionals says he wants human resource personnel in the country to contribute more to their institutions besides limiting themselves to contract and labor issues.

The association’s president, Jonah Soe Kotee, made the statement when he spoke to journalists after a two-day training held by his organization for human resource professionals.

Kotee said if HR workers provide more value to their institutions, they will be able to sit at discussion tables with owners and executives of their respective companies.

He said HR workers too often limit themselves to contract and labor issues, leaving behind critical tools of their functions, such as understanding and interpreting financial reports and their impact on labor issues.

“And in order to understand that, you must be able to understand human resource data, such as workforce data, cost of hire, and how do you measure staff performance across the organization,” he said.

He said his organization conducts routine training and knowledge sharing programs to provide professionals in the sector with the basic tools to transform their performances and improve their roles at their institutions.

“We want to fill the gaps of human resource professional skills in Liberia. We want to ensure that our members who are working in the various organizations have integrity and credibility to do the work. We want to ensure that HR professionals have a seat at the table during decisions that govern the organizations,” he said.

“With these skillsets, human resource professionals will not just be taking opinions, but will be using data to make sound decisions that will impact the businesses or organizations that they work for.”

He said the association’s training has continued to impact the sector, adding that some HR personnel are now being given bigger responsibilities in their organizations.

The recent training brought together human resource managers from several businesses and organizations such as Lonestar Cell MTN, Oxfam, Partners in Health, German Agro, and Bea Mountain. It was facilitated by Roland Teya, an experienced human resource practitioner from Ghana.

Topics treated at the training include transformational leadership, employees’ experience, applying design thinking, recruitment, and human capital value chain.

Bea Mountain’s human resource officer, Isaac Sasiaku, who participated in the training, praised his company and the HR organization for affording him the opportunity to gain new knowledge.

Featured photo courtesy of Jonah Soe Kortee