Low utilisation of human resources. Some tips on Ghanaian situation
The human resources of the country have not been efficiently utilised internally because of poor salaries and incentives offered by both government and private organisations. The absence of better salaries and incentives such as bonuses, free housing, and subsidised canteen services do not motivate workers to work hard.
Advertisement
• Inadequate job opportunities
The human resources have not been efficiently used in Ghana because there are no jobs for individuals to utilise the talents and skills that they have acquired from the various training programmes or courses. This in fact has brought about unemployment in various forms.
•Inadequate training and skills
Inadequate training and skills have affected the efficient utilisation of human resources. The type of skills and training that people receive for jobs are inadequate and the consequence is that most workers in the country are not better equipped with the training and skills required for the performance of jobs.
•Poor attitude to work
The human resources have not been efficiently utilised because workers exhibit negative tendencies or attitudes such as, lateness to work, absenteeism, laziness, loitering, and unnecessary chatting at the work place. These negative attitudes result in the workers working under capacity, as they reduce the number of hours expected of every worker.
•Putting unqualified people at certain job positions
The human resources have not been efficiently utilised because people who do not qualify for certain jobs are made to perform those jobs. This is the popular saying, “putting square pegs in round holes”. As the people are not qualified for these jobs, they do not perform their duties as expected of them; hence, the inefficient utilisation of the human resources.
• Lack of initiative and creativity
Lack of retraining has also hampered the efficient utilisation of human resources. Individuals who have been displaced from their jobs as a result of government retrenchment programme do not receive any new training to equip them with new ideas and skills to enable them to find new jobs or be on their own.
The writer is with the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Tarkwa.
