COVID-19 triggers workplace reforms - UCC seminar

The Dean of the Business School at the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Prof. John Gatsi, has called on the government to invest in ICT tools and machinery to help avert the disruptions in public work.

He made this call at the e-seminar series being organised by the University of Cape Coast School of Business to engage the public, students, staff and alumni to reflect on the challenges and opportunities presented by the pandemic.

Prof. Gatsi stated that data from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) had indicated that only 10.7 per cent of households in Africa had computers in 2019 with only 28 per cent having internet access as compared to 83 per cent in Europe.

Speaking on the topic, “Coronavirus Pandemic: Implications for workplace reforms and employee wellbeing”, he further asked human resource experts to unearth other critical challenges that the pandemic had caused such as health, safety measures and unemployment, so as to establish a basis for comprehensive review and solutions.

Technology

For her part, a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Human Resource and Organisational Development of the KNUST, Dr Vivian Osei, also called on organisations to invest in the virtual infrastructure that would enable workers to efficiently deliver in the new Covid-19 work environment.

She explained that because of the effects of the pandemic, it was important for companies to invest in new reforms such as acquiring quality technological equipments to be used at the workplace.

Dr Osei further reiterated that with technology and proper capacity building, it would be easy for employees to deliver effectively irrespective of where they worked from.

Contracts

Issues on employee contract terms and the effects of the pandemic on such contracts were also discussed.

The Vice- President and Human Resource Director of the Goldfields Ghana Limited, Mr Francis Eduku, said that one of the issues that labour unions for instance had been silent about is the impact of the pandemic on contract terms.

He said the major challenge facing work agreements were the unwritten contracts made by management of organisations to their employees.

This, he said, could be resolved through collaborative efforts of employers and employees to engage in discussions that could lead to a review of written contract terms.

He further asked employees to follow redundancy procedures and negotiate for better review of contract, advising employers not to take advantage of the pandemic to breach contract terms.

Challenge

Another challenge for organisations includes how to build new work models around the pandemic.

For instance, some workers have to be made to work remotely, while a few work at the office.

This has the risk of cutting out socialisation at the workplace which can slow teamwork.

In addressing this challenge, the Executive Director of the Institute of Human Resource Practioneers, Dr Agebettoh, said employers should share experiences and highlights of the organisation to improve trust and flexibility among workers, while engaging in constant virtual communications.