The Chartered Institute of Human Resource Management, Ghana (CIHRM) held its 15th Conferral and 19th Graduation ceremony in Accra, conferring Chartered status on 25 new members and graduating 279 Associate members.

In his welcome address, the Chief Executive Officer of CIHRM, Dr. Francis Eduku, said: “Today, we are conferring a Chartered Human Resource Management Practitioner status on 25 students who have completed the Level Four programme and 279 Level Three students who successfully passed their exams will also join our noble Institute as Associate Members. This second batch of new entrants in 2025 means that, at the end of today's ceremony, our Chartered Human Resource Management Practitioners will increase from 399 in 2024 to 452 in 2025, and our Associate Members from 2,237 in 2024 to 2,686 in 2025.”

Dr. Eduku added that the HR Institute was committed to elevating HR competencies of its members and had entered into strategic partnerships with global HR professional bodies, enabling its members to gain access to contemporary knowledge and insights into emerging trends in the HR field.

“In line with our commitment to enhancing the competencies of our members, we have entered into regional and global partnerships with renowned HR professional bodies to provide you with access to professional materials and emerging perspectives in the field of HR. In October this year, we signed a strategic partnership with one of the largest HR professional bodies in the world, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), based in the USA, to enable our members in good standing to access cutting-edge HR toolkits, templates, checklists, manuals, policies, procedures, and research at heavily discounted rates", he explained.

"Whereas HR professionals who are not members of our cherished Institute pay US$118 annually for SHRM global membership, CIHRM members pay only US$10 for SHRM global membership, saving US$108. Again, we have secured a special deal with SHRM, where our members will pay a US$30 subscription covering three (3) years instead of US$354 for non-CIHRM members. This special deal for our members will end by January 31, 2026, and I urge all members to take advantage of this great opportunity before it expires", he added.

The President of the CIHRM, Florence Hutchful, challenged HR Practitioners to model discipline and professionalism, particularly punctuality, describing it as a critical national challenge.

She urged the new graduates and the new chartered practitioners to value time, saying: “Lack of order, and in particular, the widespread disregard for time, has resulted in chronic lateness. It is the next major challenge we must confront as a nation, second only to the menace of galamsey, if we are to make appreciable progress in national development.”

She also appealed to the new Chartered Members and Associate Members to recommit to a transformative habit by showing up on time, as this was one of the simplest ways of building credibility and influence in organisations.

Speaking on the theme, “Unlocking HR Excellence: The Role of the New HR Practitioner”, the Guest Speaker for the ceremony, Dr. Irene Stella Agyenim-Boateng, the Vice-Chairperson of the Public Service Commission, emphasised that today’s organizations are undergoing dramatic shifts, requiring HR Practitioners to be more proactive, agile, and responsive to internal and external organizational demands.

“Unlocking HR excellence in today’s dynamic workplace begins with adaptability, agility, and swift response to both internal and external stimuli. The workplace is no longer static; globalization, technology, employee sophistication, community scrutiny, and shareholder anticipation are constantly re-shaping it", she stated.

She advised the new HR Practitioners to create organizational value by empowering employees, shaping organizational strategies, anticipating disruptions, and pivoting with resilience.

The ceremony was attended by the Vice-President of CIHRM, Dorothy Asare; the Immediate Past President of CIHRM, Dr. Edward Kwapong; Anita Nanfuri, Chairperson of the Professional Certification Board; Dora Siaw-Lartey and Louise Agyeman-Barning (Council Members); other members of the Professional Certification Board, Resource Persons, and Level 4 Supervisors.