In its analysis, the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD), UK, states that “HR is responsible for the key systems and processes underpinning effective delivery. Through HR, CSR can be given credibility and aligned with how businesses run. CSR could be integrated into processes such as the employer brand, recruitment, appraisal, retention, motivation, reward, internal communication, diversity, coaching, and training.”

Therefore to steer CSR initiatives, HR should pay attention to the following:

Promote a policy framework to incorporate CSR as a complementary business initiative and ensure management buy-in. Such policy should states in clear terms the beneficial effects of CSR on the overall interest of the society and how it will promote long-term business sustainability.
Carry out stakeholder analysis, determine who the business stakeholders are, the effects of business operations on them and the risks and opportunities that they present. Sometimes in 2007 to 2010 my office was in a notorious neighborhood on Lagos Island where “Area boys” activities are well noticed, it occurred to me that in as much as we remain in that community we must as a matter of wisdom take cognizance of the need to manage them appropriately as a critical stakeholder.
Identify relevant CSR activities that would impact positively on the environment in which your business operates and determine the significance of such initiatives within the context of the business.
Ensure stakeholders’ involvement in the determination of such initiative without necessarily being boxed in. For example, what a particular stakeholder will consider as significant might not necessarily be needed by another.
Train and sensitize your workforce on the need for them to conduct themselves in an acceptable and ethical manner both in and out of the organization. Know that your business is a brand and your personnel is your brand ambassadors that promote your brand image.
CSR must be transparent, impartial, and adequately reported to ensure continuous support from management and other stakeholders. Note that every philanthropic gesture can be abused hence the need for proper reporting and accountability.
Appraise and measure the overall impact of the effectiveness of your CSR initiative on the business and make the necessary correction when needed.

CONCLUSION

Quite recently a telecommunication firm had its base-station and transmission facilities constantly being vandalized by unknown persons in a community, the organization decided to employ armed uniform men to man its operations, but she suddenly realized that it was costly to do yet the “vandalization” and harassment did not stop. Based on advice the company employs CSR initiative by meeting with the community representatives, simply by providing a water bole-hole that was less than N 70,000 the company now had peace and operate without any incident in the community.

The above illustration should sum up the significance of CSR as an important corporate initiative that promotes organizational peace and ensures business prosperity.

Since CSR plays a pivotal role in business sustainability it should be treated as a strategic business process with HR taking a leading role.

Thank you and enjoy smooth business operations and long-term prosperity.

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THE ROLE OF HR IN STEERING CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR CORPORATE PEACE AND PROSPERITY

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IS GDPR APPLICABLE IN NIGERIA?

Strictly speaking, GDPR is NOT APPLICABLE TO NIGERIA since Nigeria is OUTSIDE the EU economic area and she is NOT A MEMBER OF EU.
However, it is instructive to note that because of globalization and social media borderless transactions most countries are now working out compliance mechanisms including countries outside the EU.
Also, if an organization based in Nigeria transacts business with EU Nations it then means that such an organization must as a matter of necessity comply with the GDPR regulations.

Most importantly, too, based on my HR experience, I have noticed that a significant percentage of businesses in Nigeria have facebook pages or promotes their businesses on social media platforms and in some instances HR places advert on behalf of their organization using external servers that are hosted outside Nigeria. The import of this is that if your business or HR operations are connected to an online media such as Facebook, LinkedIn, social media platform or hosted on a server in EU countries then you are under the covering of GDPR.
Note that with effect from April 2018 Facebook took the decision to implement the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation in all its operation across the world.

HOW TO ALIGN HR PROCESSES AND PROCEDURES WITH GDPR

It is important to state here that GDPR is a “Principal-Based” legislation which implies that the burden of ensuring compliance lies with the data-collecting entity as against the original owner of the data. For example, if “A” sent his CV to XYZ Nigeria Limited, it is the duty and responsibility of XYZ Nigeria Limited to ensure that A’s data is protected. Such failure could result in litigation taken into consideration the opportunistic orientation of some individuals.

To this end, HR has the herculean task of putting in place appropriate procedures and policies that will adequately protect the information of employees as well as job applicants otherwise the organization may be sued for unethical use or disclosure of personal information.
1. Proactively redesign overall HR policies to incorporate data protection right and transparency in the use of employees and applicants’ personal information.

2. Include a data processing addendum on documents that relate to employee’s information and that of applicants alike. This addendum should be written in HR forms and online transmissions and should contain a clear explanation on how personal information would be used.

3. It should be noted therefore that applicants and ex-employees’ information cannot be stored beyond a required time and once the staff is no longer in the company employee such information should be deleted within a reasonable time frame. However, it is sometimes necessary that ex-employees files are kept, especially personal file for reference purposes, what should be the practice, in this case, is to ensure that in the application form a consent agreement is drawn in which the employee gives permission for his or her data to be kept by the organization.

4. Personnel information should henceforth be protected from external threat.

5. There should be a high level of transparency in the use of applicants and employees data by an organization.

6. Theft and loss of personal data in the company’s custody should be communicated and reported to the person concerned.

7. HR should institute training support to prepare the organization ahead.
In conclusion, as pointed out in the preceding pages, GDPR is essentially an EU legislation which impacts cut across the world and because Nigerian businesses play in the global arena, a proactive policy measure is required by organizations especially at the level of HR to ensure compliance so as not to fall foul of data protection right of employees as well as those of job applicants.

In the words, of Tim Cook, Apple Chief Executive, I’m personally not a big fan of regulation because sometimes regulation can have unexpected consequences to it, however I think this certain situation is so dire and has become so large, that probably some well-crafted regulation is necessary,” March 24, 2018.
It is the opinion of this writer that the need to protect employees or applicants information should be given full attention from abuses through a well-structured HR policy so as to be ahead of likely legal issues due to such exposure as provided by the implementation of GDPR in Europe.

Start reading from GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATION (GDPR) IMPLICATIONS FOR HR PROCEDURES AND PRACTICES

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Interestingly as we speak different organizations have integrated AI into their HR process and these will include the use of the following technologies:

TEXTIO Job Description writing and interviewing schedules. By simply typing a particular job title, Textio will come up with the JD, person specification and it could find, select and interview candidates for the positions. It is on record that Taxtio can performance the recruitment processes 17% faster than human beings.
ServiceNow ServiceNow has delivered highly rated services in the managed care and health sector. It has been proven to manage and generates medical benefit and enrollment instruction and details that have to do with medical policy, records, and benefits management. ServiceNow provides users with structured work pattern and intelligent workflow.

MONTAGETALENT This is a tested and known video platform and interviewing scheduling AI system with the capacity to search for talents as well scheduled and interview job applicants intelligently.

TALLA An AI system that provides mobile coaching and visual training using voice and simulative processes. This also supports electronics training platform that delivers training and manpower development for organizations. Talla can equally be deployed to manage HR documentation and filing system.

CHATBOT– Is an intelligent assistant that support the HR processes and could respond to HR related questions such as the availability of openings, recruitment processes, customized learning and development including onboarding for new staff among others. For instance, it is on record that Jane a chatbot designed by Loka in 2014 is capable of responding to HR related questions that can be stored in a computer system.
There are many others AI systems that have a direct relationship to human resource management and are quite beneficial in the way the organization is run today. Identifying AI usefulness to HR processes and adapting it to suit our environment, workplace culture and the overall interest of the organization should be the guideline in giving consideration to AI adoption.

ALIGNING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO WORKFORCE PERFORMANCE

Todays customers are increasingly becoming impatient to slow responses to their demands, they are highly mobile, they change service providers as soon as their needs are not met timely and accurately, hence the need for an organization to increase workforce performance so has to remain competitive. However, without mincing words, the response of human could sometimes be limited by a number of factors, therefore, the need to give consideration to the adoption of artificial intelligence that will enhance the speed of HR service delivery.
Presently the capacity of artificial intelligence has grown to covers areas such as speech recognition, optical character recognition, data processing, performance simulation, image and video and voice deployment which has also significantly supported such difficult task as medical surgery performance using robot, Â diagnosis of leukemia in human and the much publicized ability of Deep Blue the first computer chess-playing robot that defeated Garry Kasporov a reigning world chess champion on the 11th of May, 1997 and IBM Watson that defeated two world champions in the game of jeopardy and won a cash price of $ 1 million dollars
Today Amazon through its prime-air-drones delivery service can deliver items to the customers doorsteps within a minute.

CONCLUSION

Great opportunities are available to us as HR practitioners to hone our skills and ensure that values are delivered to our organization and businesses seamlessly and in a manner that supports and promotes the acceptable global standard. Learning is an endless endeavor hence the call by this writer that we position ourselves for the global revolution that artificial intelligence offers.
Amazingly, too, we need to wake up to the reality that failure to embrace modern HR technology and artificial intelligence for that matter will further push us out of relevance and possibly pushes the non-complying practitioner to the backside of history and insignificance.
The place of AI in human resource management is in the NOW and not in the FUTURE as some people are thinking.

Thank you for being part of the 21st-century organization!!!

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1)Audit and Risk Committee
2)Strategic planning and Investment
3)Nominating and Appointment
4)Ethics and Companys Social Responsibility
5)Remuneration Committee

There are others committees with which the board control and coordinates the activities of the organization but for some explainable reasons the above mentioned are very conspicuous and found in most organizations. For all these committees it can be seen that the emphasis is to ensure that governance and the sustainability of the organization. All the committees are human driven and crucial attentions are mostly paid to the nominating or appointment committee and most importantly the board ensures that the appointment of the CEO is properly done because he is the chief implementer of board decision and the arrowhead of the organization.

Looking at the appointment of the board member too we have seen the organization that consulted extensively to have men and women of proven integrity to join its board because the soundness of board decision devoid of selfish interest will move the organization to the lofty height.
Reasonably too, it can be seen that HR function is of utmost importance in setting an achievable direction for the organization and at ensuring that it realizes its corporate objectives. It is the opinion of this blogger that appointment into board of company must be done in such a way that the board of directors composition is conducted along the line of skills, knowledge, and expertise that each member bring on board or the pedigree of such an individuals to objectively and passionately contribute to the attainment of the companys objectives.

THE EVOLVING ROLE OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AS A STRATEGIC BUSINESS PARTNER

There is increasing pressure on the organization today much more than it was some years ago. The 21st-century businesses find themselves in an environment that exerts so much pressure and demands for quality, quick delivery and less expensive products and services. Today there is neck breaking competition and borderless market with an almost disappearing trade control. The fluidity of technology and a talented workforce has further thrown up challenges that the 21st-century businesses must adapt to.

Just the way it was for businesses so also is the demand on human resource management as a profession, the change from Personnel Management to human resource management was an attempt to not only acknowledge the worth and significance of the employee as an organizational resource but as a critical asset. This shift to a large extent assigned a new and business-like role to HR now seen as a business strategic partner away from the erstwhile perception of it being solely a slow and bureaucratic system that just does the bidding of management without a soul of its own.

Modern writers and HR practitioners have taken up the challenge in charting a new path for the profession and ensuring that we are fully integrated into the mainstream of business partnership and strategic thinking. For example, Dave Ulrich sets new agenda for the next generation of HR Champions stressing that focus of HR should be based on four major areas of deliverables and results viz:
1)Strategic Execution
2)Administrative Efficiency
3)Employee Contribution and
4)Capacity for change

To achieve these results he also established four corresponding roles and focus of human resource management in the organization:
1)Human resource management as a strategic business partner that focuses on aligning human resource with organization strategy

2)Human resource management should be seen as an administrative expert working to improve business processes and deliver basic HR services

3)Human resource management as an employee champion, listening, guiding and meeting employee needs within policies and organizational framework

4)Human resource management as a change agent, managing change to meet the need of the business and workforce in a rapidly changing marketplace

The above postulations will also resonate with the position of Kavi Gupta, who emphasized the need for a shift in focus and accommodation for new challenges presented by the 21st-century organization. He stressed and very strongly too that A 21st-century company has to be employee-centric in order to stay relevant and push the boundaries of industry. After all, it is great people that make a great company

CONCLUSION

This article was written primarily with the objective of helping HRM professional appreciates the requirement of the 21st-century organization and the challenges of adapting to change and the demand of todays customers. Businesses have had to contend with tough requirements to adapt to issues of economic, environment, safety and human right protection. To a very reasonable extent, much more demand is placed on HRM to come into the main stream of business as a strategic partner and proffer solutions to the needs of the 21st-century business.
An attempt has been made to also look at some areas of conflict that are likely to hinder the HRM functions as a strategic business partner vis-Ã -vis the business ownership, the locus of control and coordination. We have seen that without such knowledge HRM professionals have run into the murky water of boardroom politics and got their fingers burnt.
I have taken a time to look at the different types of businesses and come up with role play for HR professional and enhance their strategic relevance and job roles.
It is my opinion that this article will generate more robust discussions and aimed at promoting the HR profession and its relevant beyond the 21st century.

REFERENCES

Companies and Allied Matters Act 2004 (Nigeria)
Investment and Securities Act 2007 (Nigeria)
Ulrich .D. ( 1997) Human Resource Champions: the next agenda for adding value and Delivering Results Boston: Harvard Business School Press
The Director How Good Governance Can Attract Investment Opportunities to Nigeria September 2014, Issue No 12.
Neville Bain and Rober Barker the Effective Board, Building Individual and Board Success. Kogan Page, London, 2010

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BUSINESS STRATEGIC DIRECTION AND THE ROLE OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN THE 21ST-CENTURY

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Who owns the Business Or Company?

There are different types of organizations and depending on their types so also is their ownership and control structure.

1) Sole Proprietor: This is a business type that is own and majorly control by one man. He or she takes all the profits and has unlimited liability for the entire business obligation. The sole proprietorship is not a legal entity because the business is the same with the owner and has no separate existence from the owner. The owner will be held personally liable for any debt that the business incurs.
He can hire people to manage the company but the burden of control lies with him. Here he provides the capital and work towards the success or otherwise of the business. He is also known as a sole trader.

LOCUS OF CONTROL AND COORDINATION

By its name, the sole trader or proprietor is solely in charge of the coordination and control of this business. He or she takes action aimed at enhancing the economic interest of the organization. And to a reasonable extent, the success of the business is dependent on the owners ability to take appropriate decision and at the same time be disciplined enough to execute such decision. In some instances, the business can afford to hire experts and individuals with adequate knowledge to run specific aspect of the business such as bookkeeping, human resource management, procurement and so on, in all, however, the decision rest with the sole proprietor.

THE ROLE OF HR IN A SOLE PROPRIETORSHIP

For an expanded understanding of the role of Human Resource Management as a Competitive Edge, please see

HUMAN RESOURCE AS COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Unquestionably, Human Resource Management function is one critical responsibility that consumes the time and energy of small business owner; it is such that if it is not handled properly the ability of the business to meets its obligations to the consumers will be impaired. Whether it is one or two people that are employed by the business it automatically means that HR function has been performed “ recruitment, selection, placement and management of staff functions must have been carried out.
Though unconsciously done, the woman that employed a shop Assistant has performed human resource management function and if such decision as to the quality of the hired is not properly thought out that might end up being the major problem of the business.
But because the sole proprietor takes the entire decision for the organization it has been recommended that any business that requires the involvement of one or two people should consult an HR expert or a human resource management company for proper guidance. Whether a business is employing one or two persons it is the same process and procedure that will be required when engaging hundred people for a multinational company. For example, Darach Associate and Marketing Consulting Company of Nigeria Limited (www.darachassociate.com) which I represent has given extensive support to the organization in the area of HR Management functions and in some instantly directly run such functions for organizations.
In the words of Harmeet Singh, published on August 14, 2014, in Business, Technology, As a small business Manager, youll always be involved in human resource management. Good or bad, it will always be there for you to handle. It can become the single largest consumer of your time and energy if you dont know how to handle things well. And, its still a big consumer of your time and energy, even if youre adept at handling such things.

2) Partnership: This is a business type that involved two or more people that come together to carry on a business or practice within a legal jurisprudence and specific commercial and legal requirements. Each party contributes money, labor, skills, property and expects to share in the profits and losses of the business.
Partnerships are common in professional services such as law, medicine, consultancy businesses etc, the common ground here is shared expertise, skills, and workload aimed at promoting the business.

Typically there are two types of partnership namely:

1) General Partnership (GP): In this type of business, all partners have unlimited liability, where partners share the legal and financial liability of the company equally. In this partnership type, there is no difference between the personal assets of the partners and the company as creditors can legally take possession of the personal assets of the partners in order to recover debts owed to them.

2) Limited Liability Partnership (LLP): Simply puts a limited liability partnership limits the liability of partners to their stake in the company and makes a distinction between the personal asset and the companys liabilities. The advantage of this form of partnership arrangement lies in the fact that a partner is protected from the misdemeanor or negligent of another partner since such business can only be sue without extending such suit to partners personal assets.

3) Limited Partnership (LP): Though this is not common it is seen as a hybrid of the general partnership and a limited liability partnership. The major distinguishing characteristic of this type of partnership is where one partner is classified as a general partner with full personal liability for the companys action or inaction.

THE LOCUS OF CONTROL AND COORDINATION IN PARTNERSHIP

Unlike the sole proprietorship business, the partnership provides a better blend of skills, knowledge, and expertise brought together by members in order to advance the interest of the organization. All over the world, the major reason for business partnership is the leverages that it provides so that each partner can bring onboard resources that other partner may not have and allow the fusion of such skills that the partners have to full advantage and competitiveness.
In partnership, control and coordination are jointly shared, all investors take an active role in management except where you have a passive partner. Ideas are shared and roles are well streamlined and coordinated. Partnership structured should be stated in a partnership deed to avoid misunderstanding and conflict of interest which is the bane of most partnership businesses.

THE ROLE OF HR IN PARTNERSHIP

The size and the nature of the business in which the partnership is engaged in will automatically determine the human resources requirements to meet its production, services and customers expectations. For example, a partnership that is made up of two people and has limited clientele might not require a huge workforce and the employment of a human resource manager or assistant, may not necessarily be required. However, a partnership with a sizeable workforce would definitely require the services of an HR practitioner or a human resource management company.

Human resource management functions are quite diverse and because of the centrality of the human asset in the success or otherwise of an organization, it is required that diligent attention is paid to their engagement, integration, and motivation for productive purposes. HR experts are trained to handle such duties and it cannot be left to someone without HRM knowledge. A well-motivated workforce fully engaged will drive organization successfully and ensure that goals and objectives are achieved.
Except where one of the partners is a trained HR professional otherwise, it is profoundly recommended that such role is given to a professional that is trained in the art and science of human resource management. In todays business, it is apparently clear that human resource is the single most important asset of the organization and it will require skills and tact to successfully manage employees expectations adapt the workforce knowledge to changing technology and effectively get them engaged by managing their mindsets in the best interest of the organization.

3) COMPANY: The third business type is called company or Corporation. This type of business can be divided into Private Company and Public Company. A company is defined according to Wikipedia As a legal entity made up of association of persons be they natural, legal or a mixture of both, for carrying on a commercial or industrial enterprise.

The term company commonly uses in English and in Commonwealth countries Nigeria inclusive while Corporation is an American connotation of a company. So it is used interchangeably in this article.
A company or corporation is distinct and separate from its owners, companies enjoy legal personality, it can enter into contracts, it can borrow and loan out money, and it can sue and as well be sued. The company enjoys similar rights like the natural human being and it can be sued for violation just the same way that it can sue for the violation of its right. Ownership is by shareholding right and the management of a company is different from it owners. Usually, they are managed by a board of directors elected or appointed by the shareholders.

Section 21, 22, 23 and 24 of C.A.M.A. made a distinction between private company and public company. Section 21 subsection (2) states Every private company shall by its articles restrict the transfer of its shares. Also, section 21 (3) states that the total number of members of a ¦ private company shall not exceed 50, not including persons who are bona fide in the employment of the company.

A public company can have its share subscribed to by members of the public also a public company can be limited by guarantee and this will include commercial, art, science, culture, education, research, charity, religion, sport or other companies with similar objects. See section 24 to 26 of the Company and Allied Matters Acts 2004.

In company or corporation, shareholders cannot be held personally liable as their stake is limited to their shares. They participate in company profit by earning dividend and suffer lost if the company failed except the company that is limited by guarantee where its income is to be used for the purpose of promoting the objects of the company.

THE LOCUS OF CONTROL AND COORDINATION IN COMPANY OR CORPORATION

A company by its very nature is bigger than the previously mentioned businesses in ownership structure and exposures to the general public. Because private and public companies play critical economic and social roles in society a lot of attention is paid to their actions and a reasonable amount of compliance and governance is demanded of them.
Control in companies is placed in the hands of members that is the shareholders through general meetings and their votes which are proportional to their share ownership. The shareholders customary do not get involved in direct control and management but act through an elected board of directors which in turn manage the organization through different committees. The day to day management of a company is run by management that reports directly to the board and not the shareholders.

Continue to: THE ROLE OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS IN PROVIDING BUSINESS DIRECTION

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1) HRM Objective and Procedural Design.
One sure way of attaining organizational vision is by aligning Human Resource Management objectives to the overall objectives of the organization, and this can be achieved through effective HR planning. In the words of Baird and Meshoulam (1988) Business objectives are accomplished when human resource practices, procedures, and systems are developed and implemented based on organizational needs, that is when a strategic perspective to human resource management is adopted.
When making his point on the best-fit approach strategic human resource management, Michael Armstrong (2009) clearly supported the view expressed above, when he said The best-fit approach is in line with contingency theory. It emphasizes that HR strategies should be congruent with the context and circumstances of the organization.
The start point in the successful management of human resource and in making her a competitive advantage is to have in place a well designed objective and policy procedures that align strategically with corporate vision and objective. For example, a company employment policy must be clearly written, communicated and approved by top management to serve as a guide for hiring, placement and the general management of the company personnel.

2) Employment Process

The process through which people are hired or brought into the organization must follow best practices and acceptable international standard. The organization must be planned, job and task clearly identify, job-holders role and their relationship to other positions must be identified. In the overall interest of the organization and in the best interest of HR practitioners; every job must have a clear objective and its contribution to the organization objective clearly stated.
To achieve this, a clear policy must be established regarding the following:
Human Resource Management Objective
Human Resource Management Planning ( Organization of the HR functions and Evaluating HR functions)
Job Design and Role
Job Analysis Process ( Job Description, Person Specification, Job Evaluation Criteria)
Performance Management.

3) Employee Engagement

Employee engagement has much deeper meaning than commitment and job satisfaction. Opinions are divided among writers and HR practitioners on the relationship between engagement and job satisfaction or on whether engagement should be equated with commitment.
Without dwelling so much on the controversies surrounding these intellectual arguments I would like to say here that engagement is the totality of organization policy, organization atmosphere and individual motivation and heightened commitment intended to build a stronger tie between it and her employee.
Drawing from an industry discussion, debates and dialogues one was able to understand the place of employee engagement in bottom line result for an organization. It was succinctly pointed out that:
engagement is the soul of the company which ‘excites’ and ‘energies’ people to work. It’s all about meaningful work, not the career glamour. It’s the mission that drives bottom-line results

HOW CAN ORGANIZATION DRIVE EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT FOR COMPETITIVENESS?

1. Employee perception of job importance ( job Design, job enrichment etc).

2. Employee clarity of job expectations.

3. Career advancement/improvement opportunities.

4. Regular feedback and dialogue with superiors.

5. Quality of working relationships with peers, superiors, and subordinates.

6. Perceptions of the ethos and values of the organization.

7. Effective internal employee communications.

There are clear ways and means of achieving the listed strategies, the important thing, however, is the commitment of corporate leadership and a qualified and competent HRM unit to lead the process of engagement.
Having said all, we must, however, be careful as HR practitioners or corporate leaders not to engage in employees manipulation scheme because they know if the organization is committed also to them or trying to extract their engagement for the selfish end of the organization. The words of David Macleod (2015) should be a precaution to us here:
Employee engagement cannot be achieved by a mechanistic approach which tries to extract discretionary effort by manipulating employees commitment and emotions. Employees see through such attempts very quickly and can become cynical and disillusioned

4) Training and Development

Every organization must invest in training and development to ensure that they are at pace with changes in customer preferences, technology, and global economic conditions. A well thought out training plan should not be seen as a cost factor but rather as an investment for the good of the organization.
One major challenge for HR practitioners or training and development consultants bothers on their inability to measure and effectively evaluate the impact of training on employee performance and on the organization overall objective.

To achieve this and do it successfully the following should be noted and implemented:

1)Corporate objectives and Direction ( Alignment of corporate strategy and organization Culture)

2)Training Output Determination. The result of every training must be predetermined and clearly written ahead of the training itself. Often time people leave this out thinking that if training is properly delivered it would be seen in job performance. This is not only erroneous but lazy approach to training.

3)Pre-training Assessment ( Assessment of current knowledge and skill set of the employee vis a vis their present performance rating and organization expectations)

4)Training Design and Methodology. Training should be design to meet individuals needs and address the shortfall in skills or knowledge. The idea of a general training for all does not necessarily address specific issues except if it is intended to communicate a new direction or introduce new ideas. Content determination and method of delivery are very germane to having a high impact training that will benefit the organization and make it competitive.

5)Post Training Assessment. There are two aspects to this namely 1) Post Training Assessment (Reaction and Evaluation of Delivery by Participants) and 2) Post Training Assessment (Learning and Impact Assessment). As a matter of fact, training must be evaluated to help in evaluating the appropriateness of the training method of delivery.

6)Follow-Up. Drawing on Donald Kirkpatricks four-level-model, a proper follow up on training must be conducted to ensure that those trained are applying what they learned the right way.
Follow up plans must consider the following as given by Donald Kirkpatrick.

• Reaction: How was the training overall? What did participants like and dislike?

• Learning: What knowledge and abilities did participants learn at the training?

• Behavior: How have participants applied the skills they learned?

• Results: What was the effect on the agency or organization?

7)Customer-Focused and Customer Friendly Orientation. Lastly to achieve competitive advantage through people every organization must have a philosophy that placed a premium on customer value. Every employee must understand clearly that they are employed to meet customer needs and exceeds their expectation whether they be an internal or external customer. I have talked extensively about this in other articles on this blog.

Conclusion

An organization should strive to achieve multiple and sustainable competitive advantages which often times serves as a cushion during a moment of business challenges and stiff competition. While attention should be paid to low pricing, quality products and services, strong asset and balance sheet, the most important factor for sustainable competitive advantage would remain the outstanding management of human resource.
Thank you for reading, your comments, and further discussions are welcome.

Reference

Michael Armstrong ( 2009): Armstrongs Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice (11th Edition). Kogan Page
O.B. Fagbohungbe 2006): Personnel Or Human Resource Management: The Repository For Human Resource Utilization.
Forbes.com
Ken Faulkenberry 2015
Mckinsey Global and Mckinsey
World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (2015)
Wikipedia 2015

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To achieve these fundamental objectives different resources are required and these resources will include capital, land, technology, and most importantly human beings. The successful combination, deployment, and management of these resources will inevitably generate economic gains and prosperity for the organization.

For every resource deployed for the business of the organization, there is an expected reward, for examples, ventures capital will be rewarded with interest and capital growth, land and technology could take the form of improvement and value appreciation over time while the human resource is rewarded with compensation, reward, and other benefits. Rewarding people for their contribution to the growth and fulfillment of the organization has been viewed over time as a major impetus why people work.

Without taking a side on the appropriateness or inappropriateness of the term reward or compensation, it should be noted that this article will take reward and compensation as meaning the same. I will also restrict myself to compensation management for human resource as against other resources.

WHY PAY ATTENTION TO COMPENSATION MANAGEMENT

As it was with my previous blog write ups, this article is a response to a blog reader who sought to know the role of HR in payroll management vis-a -vis conflict with other departments in his organization over this role. He wanted to understand the ideal processes in salary determination so as to avoid some legal related problems and conflict of interest with the finance or account department.

To address all these issues I have decided to expand the article coverage beyond his initial questions and properly considered the below objectives as the primary aim of this article.
• To help reader clarify the role and responsibility of HR in compensation management as distinct from the role of finance or account department
• Established the fundamental and governing principles on which compensation and reward management lays
• Ensure that readers understand the law governing salaries determination, processes, procedures particularly within the ambit of the Nigerian Labour Act, Wages and Salaries Act, Minimum Wage Law and Living wage regulation.
• Espouses on the 21st-century practice of compensation management by looking at different countries and how things are done as a basis for improving our internal reward system
• Critically consider the aim of compensation management and how it could be extended to your organization for maximum benefits
• Help readers avoid the error of an over bloated payroll and organizational collapse resulting from the inability to meet up with overhead cost.
• And, lastly, pick on the issues of payroll fraud and what can be done to effectively curtailed such fraud

COMPENSATION MANAGEMENT DEFINED

The relationship between the organization and its employee should be value-based, whereby the employee gives his productive time, skill and labour for the services of the organization and in turn he or she gets rewarded for this through wages, salaries and other fringe benefits. By implication, it then means that employment is a derived demand; where people are employed for the value that they can create. The question, however, is how engaged is the employee in his day to day activities? How do you determine the rate of value created by the employee? How do you determine an appropriate and fair reward or compensation for an individuals effort?

Answering these questions should, therefore, take us much deeper into the definition of compensation or reward management.
According to Michael Armstrong, who prefers the terms reward management, he defines reward management as €¦ formulation and implementation of strategies and policies in order to reward people fairly, equitably and consistently in accordance with their value to the organization.

Implicitly, however, compensation is the sum total of monetary and non-monetary reward received by an employee in exchange for the labour and services rendered to the organization. Compensation primarily is made up of three components namely direct financial pay in the form of wages and salaries, bonuses and commissions received on a regular basis and indirect financial reward such as leave allowance, paid vacation, health insurance, pension, life insurance premium etc and non-financial compensation which will include intrinsic values created by the employment relationship such as career advancement, experience gained, work environment and others.

KEY CONSIDERATIONS AND AIM OF A TOTAL COMPENSATION SYSTEM

This was put more succulently by Brianna Whiting who said: The goal of compensation management is to find quality people who perform quality work and then compensate them in order to retain them and reduce turnover rates.

It suffices to say, therefore, that the key considerations or aims of a total reward system are:
• To find and retain quality talents, that is, employees that will help the organization achieved its corporate objectives
• To develop a culture of performance that motivates and help bring out the best in the employees
• Ensure pay equity, fairness, and justice in the pay system and create a sense of adequate compensation based on individual contribution and effort to the organization
• To reduce turnover rate and prevent disruption to the organizations business
• Ensure compliance with the extant law and government policies and regulations on salary and wages i.e., minimum wage, collective agreement, and contract of employment.
• Align work processes, reward system to corporate objectives and goals
• Punish non-compliance with what the organization considered as non-helpful and acceptable work behavior thereby reinforcing positive behavior in the workforce

COMPENSATION STRATEGY AND GUIDELINES FOR 21ST CENTURY ORGANIZATION

Experience in compensation management has taught me over the years of the need to have a well thought out strategy that is built on specific corporate philosophies and direction which the organization has charted in realizing its long term objectives and aspirations. Compensation policies are not ad-hoc as it is being handled by some organizations but a truly strategic decision that adequate attention must be paid to.

The 21st-century organizations use compensation as a decisional tool that answers the questions about where are we going to? How do we get to our desired destination? And, how do we know when we get there?

Compensation strategy today pays attention the broader issue of alignment of employees aspiration within the context of corporate vision and look at the issue of corporate citizenship and engagement.

The 21st-century organization is faced with the question of pay equity and how people should be rewarded for their contribution to what the organization considered valuable as against erstwhile contingency pay scheme and so called year-of service-pay scheme as seen in the Nigerian civil service.

It is important to note that payroll in most organization constitutes about 65% plus of total budget and cost hence the need to be strategic in its planning.

It is recommended by experts that organization should have a guiding philosophy and strategic ideology on compensation so as to be able to navigate the organization to success using available resources. It should be noted, however, that compensation or reward management system is evolving and HR practitioners should be mindful of the need to adapt the companys compensatory system to evolving trend and the requirements of the 21st-century workforce.

DEFINING THE ROLE OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN COMPENSATION MANAGEMENT

First, let us start by defining Human Resource Management then look at the strategic role of HR department in an organization. It is important to state clearly that HRM functions has moved beyond the traditional role set and has become a strategic function in organizations. In the words of Susan M. Heathfield (October 2, 2016), Gone are the days when HR staff received direction from the executive team as to their priorities and needs, HR is now expected to sit at the executive table and recommend processes, approaches, and business solutions that improve the ability of the organizations people to effectively contributes.

STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT DEFINED

Therefore, Human Resource Management is the formal, strategic and comprehensive management of an organization workforce through which tactical initiatives are created to promote the attainment of the organizations vision, workplace culture and create a balance that serves all stakeholders such as owners, executive members, employees, shareholders and customers alike.

WHOSE ROLE IS IT TO MANAGE COMPENSATION IN AN ORGANIZATION?

Compensation determination and payroll administration is a multilayer responsibility that requires the involvement of HR, Finance department, line managers, the staff and direct supervisors. The conflict over jurisdiction should ideally not arise if these roles are well structured and properly highlighted.

THE ROLE OF COMPANYS PROMOTER / BOARD IN COMPENSATION MANAGEMENT

Organizations are driven by motives or corporate objectives and it is expected that those who float or promotes a business should have an idea of how these objectives could be realized. Expectedly people will be brought onboard at the level of the board to drive these objectives. The appointment of the board of director is the function of the shareholders likewise it is their responsibility to determine the director fee.

The board would in turn through its committee on recruitment and remuneration hire top level executives such as the CEO, Managing Director and any other position of interest into functional offices.

Except in some rare occasion that Group Head of HR is hired by the Board the head of HR in most cases are left to the executive level officers to be recruited and their compensation determined appropriately.

Once the top executive level members are appointed and their remunerations determined, it automatically becomes the responsibility of the CEO and its executive team to search for a competent Human Resource professional to work out HR policies that will regulates the HR management functions such as recruitment, selection and placement, pay and benefits, performance appraisal and evaluation, training and development, companys social responsibility, Labour relations and employees exit planning.

SPECIFIC ROLE OF HR IN THE MANAGEMENT COMPENSATION

1. Determinations of Compensation policies and practices that will help the organization achieve its objectives.

It is instructive to mention here that compensation should be design in such a way that enables its implementation motivates and helps the organization achieves its objectives in the long run. It is the concerned of Human Resource to provide answers to the following questions:

1. Within the HR policy framework can our compensation plans attract top quality talents required to drive the production or operations?

2. Relative to other companies in our industry is our compensation package competitive enough?

3. To what extent will this plan motive employee to deliver their very best and be fully engaged?

4. In view of production or sales performance, how sustainable is our plan?

2. Human Resource Planning, Job Analysis ( Job Description and Person Specification) and organizations staffing requirement

This is the most important requirement in salary and wages determination and erroneously the often neglected by most practitioners. Determining the organizations manpower requirement, the nature and form of the task to be performed and the specific skills required to be effectively and efficiently deliver on these task falls within the realm of Human Resource Planning and Job Analysis.

The import of human resource planning is further highlighted in the definition given by Reilly, P., who defines (Workforce Planning) As a process in which an organization attempts to estimates the demand for labour and evaluate the size, nature, and sources of supply which will be required to meet the demand

Benefits of Human Resource Planning
• It allows for perfect prediction of manpower requirement thereby preventing overstaffing and quickly detect shortfalls
• It enables the manager to determine in advance the quality of personnel to be employed and their sources of supply
• It helps organization keep down the cost of recruitment
• It supports training and development needs in the organization

JOB ANALYSIS AND ITS EFFECT ON COMPENSATION MANAGEMENT

One important requirement of good compensation policy is pay equity where the job of equal values is placed on an equal pedestal without discrimination. Individual employees would naturally place value on their work and this should be made clear by HR through a systematic process called job analysis. Arnold, Cooper, and Robertson (1995) construe Job Analysis as the process of extracting systematic information about jobs, including the nature of the work performed, equipment used, the working conditions and the position of the job within the organization.

In his definition, Michael Armstrong (2009), defines, Job Analysis as the process of collecting, analyzing and setting out information about the content of jobs in order to provide the basis for a job description and data for recruitment, training, job evaluation and performance management

Without a proper analysis of the job, compensation cannot be said to fair and just. It is one of the fundamental roles of HR to set out a proper analysis of the job and ensure that a workable job description and person specification are generated within the organization.

3. Determination of salary structure that will help attract, retain and motivate the employee

Compensation should be properly structured in a way that it has the capacity to attract suitable employees and as well motivated them to give their best. When the job positions are well graded and allow for mobility along the levels in the organization then it will serve as an engagement tool.

For instance, companys organogram specifies either position or duties points and by the same tokens who report to whom in terms of job functions. We have also noted that this structure in most cases determines pay level and seniority scales in an organization.

Pay structure should result from organizations structure, appropriate HR Planning, and Job analysis; it must be thorough and ensures that it maintains some level of orders and corporate harmony.

4. Determination of salary levels for different categories of works in the organization

Skills, knowledge, experience and the worth of individuals contribution to the realization of business goals should form the basis for salary differentials and not who are you or your connection in the organization. In actual fact, longevity or how long you have spent in the organization is no longer a key consideration in todays businesses. The question should be asked, what value is he or she adding, if this cannot be quantified in terms of productivity then there are no reasons for retaining such an individual.

5. Ensure compliance with extant laws and relevant government regulations on compensation

Laws governing labour matters are within the precinct of the government and her agencies, therefore, it is required that HR should be well acquainted with all relevant laws and regulations so as not to run afoul of the laws in place. The major flank of such law is the Nigerian Labour Acts, Wages and Salary Acts, Workmen Compensation Acts and the minimum wage Acts.

Also, it is important to state here that Collective Agreement and Collective Bargaining Agreement stands strong and should be understood by HR Practitioner particularly in the industry that they operated in. We should come to term that one major consideration in signing such agreement is the companys ABILITY TO PAY so no agreement is entered into with extensively deliberation with key stakeholders and management consent.

It is erroneous and a misnomer for HR to commit their organization to any agreement without first obtaining consensus from management and being able to present both short, medium and long term implications of such agreement to the organization.

6. Pay advice and payment monitoring

An effective compensation policy must be dynamic and flexible enough to adapt to policies measures such as government regulations on minimum wage, cost of living dictates, trends in the industry and other labour related bargaining.

Therefore, it is the responsibility of HR to ensure that appropriate advice is given to management and guide such policy compliance in the best interest of the organization. For example, HR should be a member of relevant bodies and form appropriate alliances with agencies that regulate salaries and wages.

Preparation of monthly pay advice is a key responsibility of HR, issues such as when and how salary should be paid are regulated by law, matters that bother on salary deduction on disciplinary issues could attract law suits and should be handled by HR. Leave allowance, maternity pay, payment for overtime work formed part of compensation and are mostly regulated by law.

HR has played important role in ensuring that salaries are not over blotted and manipulated by fraudulent personnel, checks are put in place and sometimes managed in the best interest of the organization. Today, software is available for effective management of payroll, so HR must be well familiar with the use of modern technology to manage payroll.

7. Converting compensation to a motivational tool that brings out the best in the employee

Over the years researchers and organizational development experts have advanced postulations to justify the linkage between employee job performance, reward received and the evaluation of reward for satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Motivational theorists such as Victor Vrooms Valence-Instrumentality-Expectancy theory (1964), Lawlers Productivity-Reward-Satisfaction Model (1968) and Adams Equity Theory are sufficient reasons to know that if well-managed compensation can be a veritable motivational tool to enhanced productivity and staffs performance.

A trained HR practitioner should be well suited to utilize compensation as an instrument for motivation that ultimately leads to productivity. Having said this, it is important to make the clarification that compensation should not be a tool for manipulation but motivation.

NIGERIAN LABOUR ACTS, LAWS, REGULATIONS AND COMPENSATION MANAGEMENT

Part 1, of the Labour Act, Chapter 198, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 1990, makes general provisions as to the protection of wages, contracts of employment and terms and conditions of employment.
It is my advice to HR practitioners to get a copy of this act and study it extensively. However, I will be x-raying some specific sections of the Act that speak specifically to the focus of this article.

Part 1, Section 1 subsection a and b: Manner of payment

This section specifies the currency of payment to workers in Nigeria, i.e, its states that:

The wages of a worker shall in all contracts be made payable in legal tender and not otherwise, and

If in any contract the whole or any part of the wages of a worker is made payable in any other manner the contract shall be illegal, null and void

Section 2: Agreement as to the place and manner of spending wages is illegal

No employer shall prescribe or dictates how a worker should spend or where he or she should expend his or her salary or wages.

Section 3: Wages not to be paid on certain premises

Wages shall not be paid to a worker in premises used for the sale of intoxicating liquor or for the retail sale of goods, except in the case of a worker employed on the premises.

Section 4: Advances

(1) No employer may make to a worker an advance of wages in excess of one month’s wages.

(2) Where an advance in respect of wages has been paid to a worker the minimum period for the recovery of the advance by the employer shall be three months.

(3) No advance in respect of wages shall be paid to a worker who is liable to repay any part of such an advance paid to him previously, except in cases of necessity as so approved by the employer.

(4) No employer shall make any deduction by way of discount, interest or any similar charge on account of any advance of wages paid to a worker in anticipation of the regular period of payment of the wages.

(5) The State Authority may by order declare that this section shall not apply to any particular kind of advance paid to any particular class of worker or to all workers.

Section 5

(1) Except where it is expressly permitted by this Act or any other law, no employer shall make any deduction or make any agreement or contract with a worker for any deduction from the wages to be paid by the employer to the worker, or for any payment to the employer by the worker, for or in respect of any fines:

(2) Provided that, with the prior consent in writing of an authorized labour officer, a reasonable deduction may be made in respect of injury or loss caused to the employer by the willful misconduct or neglect of the worker.

(3) An employer may with the consent of a worker make deductions from the wages of the worker and pay to the appropriate person any contributions to provident or pension funds or other schemes agreed to by the worker and approved by the State Authority.

(4) Upon the registration and recognition of any of the trade union specified in Part A of Schedule 3 to the Trade Unions Act, the employer shall-

(a) make deductions from the wages of all workers eligible to be members of the union for the purpose of paying contributions to the trade union so recognized; and

(b) pay any sum so deducted to the union, but a worker may contract out of the system, in writing, and where he has done so, no deductions shall be made from his wages in respect of contributions mentioned in paragraph (a) of this section.

(5) No deductions shall be made from the wages and salaries of persons who are eligible members of any of the trade unions specified in Part B of the Schedule 3 to the Trade Unions Act except the person concerned has accepted, in writing, to make voluntary contributions to the trade union.

(6) Deductions may be made from the wages of a worker in respect of overpayment of wages, but only in respect of any such overpayment made during the three months immediately preceding the month in which the overpayment was discovered.

(7) An employer shall, when making a payment to a trade union under paragraph (b) of subsection (3) of this section, include with such payment a list of the employees from whom deductions were made pursuant to paragraph (c) of the said subsection.

(8) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the total amount of deductions that may be made from the wages of a worker in any one month shall not exceed one-third of the wages of the worker for that month.

Section 6: Authority of employer to open shop

(1) The Minister may, after consultation with the State Authority, give approval to an employer to establish a shop for the sale of provisions to his workers, but no worker shall be compelled by any contract or agreement, written or oral, to purchase provisions at any shop so established.

(2) No employer shall in any place of employment establish a shop for the sale of provisions to his workers (or permit such a shop to be established or kept) otherwise than in accordance with subsection (1) of this section.

CONCLUSION

This write-up has dealt extensively with the role and responsibility of Human Resource management units, departments, and practitioners in compensation, wages and salaries administration with the aim of helping them appreciate and to understand their specific duties and avoid controversy with other units in their organization.

An attempt was made in looking at the law governing salaries and wages determination and how to construe it to meet the 21st-century organization and its challenges. Without a doubt, human resource is the most important driver of corporate objective hence, the focus on how to use compensation as a motivational tool.

It is believed by this writer that if done well, the problem of disequilibrium between performance and reward will be totally eliminated and just and equitable pay system will be instituted in the organization to the extent of driving corporate prosperity and support performance improvement.

Lastly, this article does not intend to create an impression of having covered all grounds on compensation, salaries and wages administration but should be a vehicle that drives further discourse and help HR practitioner mastered the art and science of human resource management.

Thank you for being a part of this.

Kayode Ibukunoluwa-Micah (Master in Managerial Psychology, B.sc Political Science)
Certified International Professional Trainer (CIPT), Certified Human Resource Management Professional (CHRMP), Certified International Supply Chain Manager (CISCM), Certified International Professional Negotiator (CIPN), Member Association for Talent Developer, AM- Institute of Director

REFERENCES

Armstrong. M, (11th Edition, 2009): Armstrongs Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. Koga Page, London, and Philadelphia

Labour Acts: www.nigeria-Law.org/ : Labour Act.htm

O.B. Fagbohungbe (2006): Personnel or Human Resource Management: The Repository for Human Resource Utilization. Redemption RH Horizon

Reilly .P, (2003): Guide to Workforce Planning in Local Authority Employers Organization for Local Government. London.

The National Minimum Wage Act, 2011

The Employees Compensation Act, 2010

Thompson . M, (1992): Pay and Performance: The Employer Experience. Institute of Manpower Studies, Brighton

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One interesting fact that we must all embrace is the truth that the economic situations of Nigeria and most African countries are largely regulated by forces outside the control of these nations and until we take decisive action to diversify our economies from a mere natural-resource-based system to value added and transformational economies we would remain at the same point and further decline if proper care is not taken.

At the beginning of 2015, it would be recalled that the Nigerian economy outlook was projected as the strongest in Africa at 6.7 percent growth rate. However, vagaries in global oil prices and the economic vulnerability to change in demand made this projection difficult to attain.

To further drive home the not too bright outlook for the economic, the IMF in its update of world economys outlook predicted higher risks and a weaker recovery in 2015 and 2016 than it had previously projected. The agency said global growth will slide 1 percent to about 0.2 percentage point from July 2015.

Maurice Obstfeld, IMF Chief economist said global economy is at an intersection of three forces, which he named as

1) Chinas economic transformation

2) Fall in commodity prices and

3) Impending normalization of monetary policy in the U.S.

A discerning mind would see that the factors above are outside the control of Nigeria and the only factor that we can reasonably control to the advantage of our economy is item two and it seems we are yet to realize this.

THE POWER OF THE HUMAN MIND

I have mentioned elsewhere that whether a Nation is classified as a first, second or third world to which majority of African Nations belongs is a matter of the brains that drive national development and the orientation of the people generally. The human mind has enormous ability to make things out of nothing; the capacity of the human mind to invent, create solutions and transform societies has been put on display by the ascendancy of China as the number two leading economy in the world and the giant stride by the Asian Tigers.

In the word of Chuk Danes The potential of the Human Mind is subject to and limited only by our individual beliefs or unbelief. As to whether we can accomplish a thing or not. Human Mind Power is evidenced by the fact that we always get to be right.
That American is today a global leader is a decision made by people who believe in the possibility of their collective aspiration to attain lofty height. The American system deliberately unlocked the potentials of the human minds thereby bringing out their creative ability.
Franklin D. Roosevelt alluded to this when he said: Man and woman are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.
I have been personally challenged each time that I read about corporate organizations that have been in existence for over three to four century and are still waxing strong yet we have companies in Nigeria that have barely existed for ten years and yet are having survival problem.

HUMAN RESOURCE AS A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

I want to say here without fear of contradiction that Nigeria as a nation has all it takes to become one of the seven leading economies in the world. All we need to do is to harness the enormous natural resources that nature has blessed us with using a vast array of human resource and capability.
In this article, I will pay attention to human resource and how it can be made a competitive advantage by both public and private institutions to the benefit of the Nigerian project and development.

DEFINING HUMAN RESOURCE

Using the words of Armstrong and Baron (2002) Human resource will be defined as People and their collective skills, abilities, and experience, coupled with their ability to deploy these in the interests of the employing organization€¦
Ingredients of Our definition

1) People. People here refer to a section of a national population that qualify and are ready to work or be productive what we call the working population. In Nigeria, if properly harnessed we are looking at a working population that constitutes about 52.7% of the nations population. These are people between the age of 18 and 64, fewer children, the aged and retired population.
Age structure:

0-14 years: 43.2% (male 39,151,304/female 37,353,737)

15-24 years: 19.3% (male 17,486,117/female 16,732,533)

25-54 years: 30.5% (male 27,697,644/female 26,285,816)

55-64 years: 3.9% (male 3,393,631/female 3,571,301)

65 years and over: 3% (male 2,621,845/female 2,861,826) (2014 est.)

Source: World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency- 2015
A look at the age structure and population distribution in the above data indicate that if properly harnessed and provided with the right skills and education the Nigeria population could skyrocket it to the status of a leading economy in the world.

2) Skills. Skills are acquired capabilities gotten by an individual in the course of their exposure to a task or a particular endeavor to which they have special proclivity or talent.

3) Abilities: The concept of ability to HR portends competence demonstrated by an individual over task or work assignment. The ability like skill can be acquired or learned but would normally develop over time.

4) Experience: This is knowledge or expertise acquired following repeated exposure to a particular career or work.

5) Deployment: This is a guided process through which people effort are intentionally directed at a productive task. It is important to note that labor can be dormant, wasted, under-utilized or wrongly deployed.

6) Employment: The process of finding, attracting, managing, organizing and directing human effort profitably in order to achieve organizational objectives and aspirations.

7) Organization: For the purpose of this article I will adopt the definition given by Weber in ( 1947) who sees an organization as a corporate group, a social relationship which is either closed or limits the admission of outsiders by rules€¦ so far as its order is enforced by the action of specific individuals whose regular function that is, of chief or head and usually also an administrative staff.
Please note that definition is not intended to downplay the more liberal thoughts on human resource management but I view it as more appropriate for the purpose of the opinion that I wish to express here. This definition will align with my view that if African Nations must move away from their third world status their effort must be concerted and deliberately planned just like we saw in the case of China and more recently with Indian.

Putting all these together I will define Human Resource as the totality of a nations ideological stand point on human development, effective and productive educational system that gives room for the acquisition of knowledge, skill, and ability ( KSA) and their application to value-adding activities.

HOW TO PROMOTE HR AS COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN NIGERIA OR IN CORPORATE ORGANIZATION

Comparative human resource management practices across the world point to the adoption of best practices, domesticated processes and procedures to suit local condition, as the best means that organizations can adopt to attain a reasonable level of competitiveness. However, I will highlight some findings and experiences gotten in the course of managing HR functions for the past 18 years.

WHAT IS COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE?

Competitive advantage is an organization Superior marketplace position relative to competition Lawrence S. Kleiman (2000). In his words competitive advantage can be achieved in two ways namely:
a) Cost Leadership,
b) Product Differentiation
Cost Leadership shows the relative advantage of an organization to produce quality and acceptable products or services at a lower price relative to competitors. This is calculated as
No of Units Produced
_____________________
Total Cost of Production

Cost leadership can be achieved through a planned process of quality assurance, dedication to customer service, right attitude and commitment to work by employees. It is not abnormal that customers would demand better quality product at cheaper prices so it behooves the organization to adopt creative and innovative means at ensuring that the demands and expectations of the consumers are met profitably.
Product Differentiation. This is the ability of an organization to ensure that its products or services have a mark of uniqueness that made it preferred by the buyers when compare to competitors.
Kleiman gave four ways that organization can gain competitive advantage using product differentiation namely:
1. By creating better quality products and services
2. Provide innovative product and service
3. Choose a superior location
4. Promote uniqueness

Running a summary of the position of Kleiman, one would come to a conclusion based on the fact that competitive advantage can only be achieved through human resource engagement, planned operation, and production processes that take cognizance of customer value propositions. For an organization to successful to achieve competitive advantage in the face of competition would require about 70% of human resource effort.
WHY IS HR THE MOST POTENT WEAPON THAT COULD HELP ORGANIZATION REMAINS COMPETITIVE?
Traditionally the resources of an organization are classified into four subgroups namely:
1. Land
2. Capital
3. Equipment
4. Labour.
Out of these, it is labor, defined as the totality of human productive effort deploy to making the first three factors productive and create utility for the human being. It then means that without labor; land, capital, and equipment would remain dormant and of no use.
Human resource is the most potent of organizations resources because she can think, be creative, she has emotion and feelings. Properly managed you will get the best from labor and not properly managed they could frustrate your effort.

Continue to:HOW TO MAKE HUMAN RESOURCE A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

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WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE?

This is the capability of intelligent agents such as machines to display or carry out functions such as reasoning, problem-solving, learning, making a prediction, using language and speech recognition.
Artificial intelligence became an academic field properly speaking in 1956 after a workshop in Dorthmount. The workshop primary objective was to fund research efforts aimed at developing intelligent computer-based agents with a behavioural capability and ability to do what human beings can do more accurately and with minimum interference from a human.

THE 21ST-CENTURY ORGANIZATION AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Landmark achievements have been made in artificial intelligence research that enables it transcends the field of neurological sciences, psychology, computer science, biology and environmental sciences. These studies have tremendously impacted the world of business and the 21st-century organization.
For instance, Watson developed by IBM has played a significant role in the healthcare sector helping with an accurate diagnosis of patients and through its analytical mind makes prescription of drugs for different ailment including the treatment of cancer.
Also, chatbots have helped in the expansion of customer relationship management and in automotive service delivery such as voice recognition, auto-response, automation of job posting, CV sorting and application management as seen with Gartner and Forrester.
Interestingly too, Amazon Voice-based apps; ALEXA has been shown to have more than 15,000 skills and can perform errand and take action intelligently.
The advancement in robotics engineering should interest us, where robots are assigned to the performances of difficult tasks such as heavy equipment lifting in manufacturing plants, in the construction industry and space exploration.
Generally speaking, Artificial Intelligence has contributed more in transforming workflow processes in the organization and has helped simplify the process of task performances particularly for routine and sometimes specialized functions. It is an evolving phenomenon that is daily being refined to function as intelligent beings and more perfectly too.
Going by current statistics the worth of Artificial Intelligence market globally is estimated to worth 2.42 billion US dollars in 2017 and has been projected to reach 59.7 billion US dollars in 2025. It is a huge industry that we must be prepared to play in as HR practitioners if we must continue to remain relevant.
Let me end this part with a quote from Ray Kurzweil, who says,
Artificial intelligence will reach human levels by around 2029. Follow that out further to, say, 2045; we will have multiplied the intelligence, the human biological machine intelligence of our civilization a billion-fold.

Please continue to THE IMPACT OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ON HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

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