Accra, Jan. 18,- The government
is working with relevant stakeholders to find an innovative mode of linking
productivity to salaries of all public and civil servants, Mr Ignatius Baafour
Awuah, Minister of Employment and Labour Relations has disclosed.
“Currently I have constituted
some experts in that field to advise the Ministry about the possibility and how
it can be implemented to ensure that government gets the best output,” he
emphasized.
The Minister who made this known
at a symposium organised as part of the on-going 69th Annual New Year School
and Conference (ANYSC) in Accra admitted that a stronger labour productivity
leads to better economic performance because it enables workers to create more
wealth.
“As the country adopts new
technology, invests in infrastructure and improves the skills of her workforce,
we lay the foundations for our enterprises to become more efficient and
effective thus, we move into activities with a higher added value per worker,”
he added.
On time management, Mr Awuah
complained about the poor time attitude of workers and said quality productive
time was often lost.
“Often we do not measure the man
hours we lose when we attend events late, we report to work late and leave
office early before closing time. All this is a form of stealing and does not
enhance productivity,” he said.
Mr. William Easmon, Human
Resource Manager of Barclays Bank Ghana, noted that most employers preferred
prospective workers with rich experience, creativity, team players, cognitive
flexibility, complex problem solving and self-motivated to work.
He said there was the need to
come out with required skills development programmes to expose the jobseekers
to work exposure and hands-on-experience through education, training and skills
meant to increase productivity.
Mr Easmon said employers also
looked at labour productivity and capital productivity, which were of utmost
importance and relevance to the policy maker, the academicians and
practitioners equipping the entrepreneurs to better their businesses.
Professor William Baah-Boateng,
Department of the Economics University of Ghana, Legon, revealed that of all
the various academic disciplines, health was one of the highest areas of
specialization that had it trainees getting employed after school, while rating
humanities and engineering as areas which graduates found it difficult getting
employment.
“You hardly find a doctor who is
unemployed. After the health the next is education and this is because
undertaking practical work is part of their training,” he noted.
Professor Joshua Alabi, Former
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Professional Studies who chaired the
event, underscored the need for employers to provide good leadership,
innovation, and welfare to employees in order to achieve desired productivity.
“Employers should not dwell too
much on getting the best out of our workers if they do not provide the
necessary direction, support, and tools to work,” he added.
The team for the symposium was:
“Enhancing Labour Productivity Through Skills Development For Industry”.
GNA
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