Telecommunications giant Vodafone Ghana partnered with HR Focus Africa to organise Vodafone HR Forum 2021 at the Omanye Hall of the plush Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra last Thursday.

There were over three hundred HR Practitioners, Business Leaders and students congregated to share thoughts, exchange ideas and learn from each other under this year’s Vodafone HR Forum organised by HR Focus Africa.

It was under the theme 'Global Changes: Preparing People and Culture for the Next Decade', an apt subject matter for deep-diving especially as the world continues to pick up what is left of the general monumental transformation the Covid-19 pandemic has brought upon us.

Seasoned Business Leaders and HR Practitioners alike who took turns to lead panel discussions and speak concurrently at this year’s event include Henry Baye, CEO, Standard Chartered Bank, Jersey, UK, Kenneth Antwi, National Head of HR, Olam Ghana, Awo Quaison-Sackey, Regional VP of HR, Newmont, Daniel Boi Addo, MD of Hollard Insurance, Hannah Ashiokai Akrong, HR Director, Vodafone Ghana, James Laar, Executive Director, L’AINE Services Ltd and William Easmon, Director of People & Culture, ABSA Bank.

The discussions and idea exchanges were super vibrant on how to leverage people and technology to drive business results from the bottom up, a relevant focal area shared by Henry Baye of Standard Chartered Bank, Jersey, UK which included global statistics on how a net increase of jobs will be created even though a lot more stood the chance of being wiped away due to the deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotics for jobs which were hitherto done by humans.

The CE of L’AINE Services Ltd, Dr (Mrs) Ellen Hagan in her welcome address admonished participants to actively partake in the shared learning experience as well as seek ways to do things a lot more innovatively and differently bearing in mind the demands of the world of work today.

Hannah Ashiokai Akrong of Vodafone Ghana in her keynote speech during the second panel discussion equally challenged the seated participants with a quote from W. Edward Deming, an American Engineer and Author which said, “In God we trust.

All others must bring data” – A truism which underscored the overarching need to back business conversations with sufficient data or just remain opinion bearers.

Other keynote speakers such as William Easmon of ABSA, Awo Quaison-Sackey of Newmont, Kenneth Antwi of Olam Ghana and Daniel Boi Addo took turns to speak about the importance of making people a deliberate fulcrum of every organization as well as to continue to champion people-centred strategies that serve as win-win situations for the entire organization.

The Vodafone HR Forum was an overall success and left participants with useful nuggets to take away.

Some sponsors of the event are Vodafone Ghana, Newmont Ghana, Standard Chartered Bank, GOIL, Labadi Beach Hotel, ABSA Bank, L’AINE Services, OLAM Ghana, VRA, Hollard Ghana, Akai House Clinic, Enterprise Group, Acacia, Petra Trust, Kasapreko, Enclave, Old Mutual, Opportunity International and Crystal Oasis. Media Partners include: CitiFM, Asaase Radio, TV3, Joy FM and Daily Graphic.