The word governance has several definitions and meanings however, in its simplest term, it is the practices and processes that are put in place to help organizations achieve their goals in the most ethical, efficient and effective way, taking into account the interest of all stakeholders.

HR Governance as a process is a relatively new organizational practice. Presently, there is no commonly acknowledged definition although the term "HR governance" may have been conceived in the mid-’90s along with HR’s widespread efforts to transform the function from an administrator into a business.

The framework for HR governance often includes, but is not limited to, the process and practice introduced by an organization in determining the roles, authority, responsibilities, decision-making, and ultimately, the accountability of all employees and management for the benefit of its stakeholders.

 

Despite the seeming complexity of HR Governance, management can simplify the process by introducing four basic pillars as their governance framework: 

 developing human resources policies 

 implementing and adhering to the policies

 reviewing and updating polices to keep them relevant in accordance to the ever changing times, and 

 making sure that human resources expertise is represented as part of the skill set of the strategic apex of the organization

 

Historically, HR leaders in Ghana and most sister countries, south of the Sahara, have not been challenged enough to think formally about functional governance issues. By "functional governance" I mean applying an approach to governance that focuses on performance (results) as well as conformance (compliance) to key support functions (HR, Finance, IT, Sales, etc) based on the industry in context.

Several recent studies and initiatives have emphasized the importance of a strong ethical organizational approach to creating and promoting an effective corporate governance culture of trust, integrity and intellectual honesty. An excessively heavy reliance on rules-based approaches (compliance) that increase the cost of doing business, overshadow essential elements of good corporate governance, create a culture of dependency, and can result in legal absolutism. 

The way forward for effective HR governance in Ghana is to strike an optimal balance between performance-based and principles-based approaches. The recent upsurge of industrial actions in its varied form has demonstrated that the ethical organizational DNA is critical to the driving force and basis of legal and regulatory requirements. 

Effective HR governance means adhering to ethical principles, not merely complying with rules, and is a crucial guardian of a firm’s reputation and integrity. It is through an effective HR governance programme (that is, one that optimally captures and integrates the appropriate aspects of rules-based and principles-based approaches, and identifies and assesses the related risks) that an organization can reconfigure its organizational DNA for improved performance. 

Focusing on the ethical DNA as the basis for new HR governance measures provides an opportunity to develop a competitive advantage as it represents a potential source of differentiation, strengthens the relationship with all stakeholders of the organization by building a culture of trust and integrity, and re-instills investor confidence that is needed for a growing Ghanaian economy. 

 

 

Francis Agyakwa, Head of Country HR & Admin, DHL Global Forwarding