CIHRM confers chartered status on 28 members; urges HR professionals to adapt in AI era
The Chartered Institute of Human Resource Management (CIHRM), Ghana, has conferred Chartered status on 28 professionals and admitted 170 new Associate Members during its 14th Conferral and 18th Graduation Ceremony held in Accra last Friday.
The milestone marks a significant expansion of the Institute’s professional community. Delivering a welcome address on behalf of the Chief Executive Officer, Dr Francis Eduku, the Institute’s Research and Policy Manager, Mr Yen Sapark, noted the steady growth of CIHRM’s membership. “Today, we are conferring Chartered Human Resource Management Practitioner status on 28 graduates who have completed the Level 4 programme, while 170 Level 3 graduates will join our noble Institute as Associate Members. This means our Chartered membership rises from 399 in 2024 to 427 in 2025, with Associate Members increasing from 2,237 to 2,407,” he said.
In her remarks, the President of CIHRM, Mrs Florence Hutchful, emphasised the need for HR professionals to respond to the evolving demands of the workplace, especially in the face of advancing technologies such as artificial intelligence. She stressed the importance of building resilient teams and shaping work environments that enable talent to thrive. “Beyond discipline, integrity, courage, and business acumen, HR practitioners must develop emotional intelligence. It is this quality that empowers us to empathise with employees and provide the emotional support that AI can never replicate,” she said.
The keynote address, delivered by organisational psychologist and Director of the Pan African Doctoral Academy, Dr Collins Badu Agyemang, centred on the theme “Navigating the Storm: Managing Humans and Non-Humans in Today’s Workplace”. He described the role of HR professionals as increasingly crucial in an era defined by rapid technological change and human capital transformation. According to him, HR practitioners must become “skilled sailors” able to foresee and balance competing priorities while navigating turbulent shifts in the modern workplace.
Dr Agyemang painted a vivid picture of the workplace as one standing at the crossroads of human ingenuity and AI-powered automation. He cautioned that while technologies such as chatbots, robotics and algorithms provide unmatched speed, precision and efficiency, they also introduce complex organisational and ethical challenges. He observed that many HR professionals are already facing a unique set of pressures, including the restructuring of job roles by AI, the presence of multigenerational workforces with varied expectations, the transition to hybrid and remote work models, and the challenge of aligning data-driven decisions with human-centred leadership. He said the integration of non-human technologies into human teams must be approached with thoughtful planning and ethical foresight.
Despite these pressures, Dr Agyemang reassured the graduates that the human element remains indispensable. “While non-human technologies excel in speed and precision, humans bring emotional intelligence, creativity, adaptability, cultural sensitivity, and ethical judgment—qualities that remain irreplaceable,” he said. He called for proactive upskilling and reskilling, the adoption of ethical technology policies, and the design of hybrid workspaces that harmonise digital and human strengths. “As HR practitioners, we cannot control the ‘wind’ of technological change, but we can certainly adjust our sails,” he added.
Dr Agyemang challenged the new professionals to champion lifelong learning, promote critical thinking and emotional intelligence, and ensure that technology serves humanity—not the other way around. “If calm seas never made a skilled sailor, let us embrace this storm as our opportunity to steer the future of work with courage, innovation and compassion,” he concluded.
The event was attended by the Immediate Past President of CIHRM, Dr Edward Kwapong, members of the Institute’s Council and Professional Certification Board, Level 4 supervisors, resource persons, and family members of the graduates. The ceremony reaffirmed CIHRM’s commitment to shaping a resilient and forward-thinking HR profession prepared to lead in an increasingly digital and dynamic world.
