Governance
HR Reforms As A Development Strategy
By. Prof. Kellen Kiambati
Africa has an agenda 2063 and failure to put human resource at the center will cost the continent dearly. All countries require a workforce that is empowered with the necessary skills, attitudes and competencies as well as work ethics for sustainable national socio-economic development. Ignoring HR reforms to fit national development needs is costly and can easily cause countries to falter when people systems remain outdated.
Some of the issues we must strategically start thinking about is the work ethics amongst youths, status of TVET programs, enrollment in the TVET’ s, slow rate of responsiveness of human resource development to the changing needs of the labor market, selection of soft skills being developed amongst youth, the reality of work-related attitudes amongst new employees, level of linkages being developed between educational institutions and employers, level of commitment to lifelong learning and minimal research to inform decision making especially on what is needed to translate policies and frameworks into human resource development.
A human resource strategy is a plan for aligning human capital investments with nations, organizations or even business needs. It shapes the character and direction of human resource management activities to focus on supporting what the company istrying to accomplish. The human resource strategy sets the direction for all the key areas of HR such as recruitment, selection, learning and development, performance management, compensation and separation. One Chief HR scientist argued that an HR strategy is always in response to what has been articulated in the business strategy with a view to clarifying how HR will
contribute to achieving the business objectives and helps to guide all HR activities. I can’ t agree more.
Just like any other institution strategic plan, a truly effective HR strategy is far more than a procedural document; it is the living, breathing blueprint for an organization’ s most valued asset and that is nothing but human capital. The starting point is to have deep empathy and clear-eyed analysis, looking both inward at the organization ' s cultural heartbeat and outward at the shifting patters of the market, labor trends, and societal expectations. To do so, HR experts cannot afford to have a short-term fix and move approach but rather a long-term commitment journey of largely between three to five years. It should be looked at as a north star that guides every people-related decision with a view to creating an environment where employees thrive and fuel realization of organization’ s mission. Important to mention is that due to changes in the operating environment, it remains agile and should be revisited every one to two years to align with employees lived experiences and realities that emerge.
HR strategies are unique to contexts, however, there are pillars that cut across. We all expect to see a compelling HR mission statement, which acts as the department ' s true north or a shared creed that is communicated to all employees as it shapes the organization culture where HR moves beyond policy enforcement to intentionally shape an environment of trust ensuring daily behaviors reflect collective aspirations. The other components include strategic talent acquisition and recruitment, talent development, compensation and benefits and separation.
In conclusion, and having demonstrated the need to reform how we view HR, what we witness in the failure of public institutions is not merely bureaucratic inefficiency, but a profound human and developmental crisis directly traceable to weak Human Resources systems. When HR frameworks are weak, they create a vacuum where policy intentions are not achieved at all leading to a cycle of demoralized and under-skilled workforce, operating without clear standards or support, inevitably delivering poor services and eroding the social contract with citizens.
We must remember that we are experiencing accelerating demands of the digital age and if we proceed without addressing this challenge, employees and even potential employees will be dangerously unprepared for future challenges.
In 2024, the World Bank carried a research which indicated that due to evolving labor markets about 1.1 billion workers will need to be retrained in the next decade and many workers will need to change occupations frequently. Investing in robust, strategic HR reform is far more than an administrative upgrade but an urgent and foundational investment for sustainable development.
Prof. Kellen Kiambati holds a BA- HRM from Kenyatta University, MBA from the Kenya Methodist University and a PhD in Business Administration with a focus in Strategic Management from JKUAT. She is a member of the Institute of Human Resource Management of Kenya. She can be reached via: Kellenkiambati @ gmail. com.
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