A total of 196 HR students have graduated from the Professional Certification Programme of the Institute of Human Resource Management Practitioners (IHRMP), Ghana at the Institute’s 10th Graduation ceremony held at the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, Accra.
In a welcome address, the Executive Director of the IHRMP Ghana, Mr. Ebenezer Agbettor revealed that this year’s graduands’ figure of 196 is an increase over that of last year that stood at 145, thus representing a percentage increase of 35 percent. The 196 graduands Mr. Agbettor added, is made up of 32 Certified Human Resource Management Practitioners and 164 Associate Human Resource Management Practitioners.
The Guest Speaker, Kwadwo Asare-Bediako, speaking on the theme ‘’Managing Redundancy through Employee Management’’ shared a lot of practical ideas with graduands regarding redundancy management which he described as the ‘’most sensitive and difficult role of an HR Manager.’’ In promoting employees’ engagement and involvement in the process, Mr. Asare-Bediako recommended seven key areas for discussion namely: rational for the redundancy, specification of those to be affected, definition of the criteria to be used for selection, documentation of the selection process, the retrenchment process itself, future re-employment or engagement opportunities and life after redundancy.
On his part, the Chairman of the IHRMP Ghana Professional Certification Board, Mr. John Elerkeh, in a brief remark commended the graduands. Touching on the quality dimensions of the Professional Certification Programme, Mr. Elerkeh revealed that the Institute’s Programme had at its core thorough attention to due diligence, strict adherence to quality assurance meshed in well laid out processes and procedures among others. In this regard, he added that it was thus appropriate for the graduands to be proud of their certification.
In a valedictory speech, a graduand, Mrs. Dora-Madonna Dery expressed the joy of her colleagues to be graduating from what she described as ‘’rigorous, tortuous, herculean yet worthwhile journey to securing professional certification from the Institute of Human Resource Management Practitioners, Ghana.’’
Paying tribute to the value of the HR Professional Certificate earned, Mrs. Dora Dery acknowledged that:
‘’the certificate we receive today represents success and achievements, not just for ourselves, but for this great Institute that has given us the training.’’
She added that
‘’we have been exposed to rich experiences and best practices in human resource management and for that reason, empowered to meet the demands of our profession to positively impact corporate Ghana.’’
In that regard, she pledged their commitment to ensuring the highest standard of professionalism in their respective fields of work.
In his closing remark, the Vice-President of the IHRMP Ghana, Mr. Leonard Quarcoopome reminded the graduands of the quotation that:
‘’Education is not what you learn
It’s about what you do
With what you learn’’
In that regard, Mr. Quarcoopome challenged the graduands to go out and demonstrate their professionalism.