| Economic Community Of West African States |
Discover ECOWAS
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
Human Resources Directorate
- Acting Director Albert SIAW-BOATENG
In his celebrated work “The Human Side of Enterprise”, Douglas M. McGregor, an American Management theorist,
has defined human resources management as the task of harassing human energy to organizational
requirements. The objective of the Department of Human Resources is to maximize the return on investment from
the organisation’s human capital, while at the same time creating room for the employees to attain other social and
individual needs.
2. From the fore-going definition, there can be no gain saying that the human resource is the most vital resource
at the disposal of any organization. This view equally underscores the crucial role of the department responsible
for this resource in the scheme of affairs of any organization.
3. In virtually all formal organizations, the Department of Human Resources is traditionally and conventially
charged with five broad functions. These are recruitment, compensation, performance, appraisal and industrial
relations. The Department has the responsibility of ensuring that well qualified and competent hands are hired to
perform the various roles required for meeting organizational objectives. Since the employees are out not just to
achieve organizational goals but also satisfy personal needs, they need to be compensated for their labours. The
performances of employees need to be appraised on a periodic basis to identify strengths and weaknesses. High
points attract rewards by way of promotion, while weaknesses are remedied through structured training
programmes.
4. The Department of Human Resources is one of the three Departments created from the former rather
elephantine Department of Administration. The two others are the Department of Administration and General
Services and the Department of Conference. The Department, along with the Department of Finance, are under
the supervision of the Commissioner for Administration and Finance. Finally, since disputes are sometimes
inevitable in the employer-employee relationships, the Department of Human Resources puts in place mechanism
for dealing with such a situation.
5. As one easily recalls, the Department of Human Resources is one of the new departments created at the
ECOWAS Commission in the wake of the recent restructuring of the management of the Community institutions
aimed not only at enabling them play more effective roles in the integration agenda, but also to better adapt to
developments in the international arena. Given the enlarged structure (comprising a total of 25 departments) and
scope of operations of the ECOWAS Commission, the critical role of the Department of Human Resources cannot
be over-emphasized.
6. It is against this background that proposals have been made for a departmental organogram comprising a
Director who will supervise a gamut of operational activities organized into four Divisions. These are:
- Manpower Planning and Recruitment
- Reward and Performance
- Human Resource Operations
- Learning and Development
The Heads of Divisions are proposed to be assisted by a total of twenty five Professional Officers and a host of
General Service and Auxiliary Staff.
7. Given the enormity of the tasks on the ground, the need to speedily address the requirements of the
Department of Human Resources can hardly be over-stressed. However, given the necessary logistics
wherewithal, this Department is poised to avail with ECOWAS Commission a highly competent and well-motivated
work-force who are ready to give off their very best to achieve a genuinely integrated and developed West Africa.
| 101, Yakubu Gowon Crescent, Asokoro District P.M.B. 401 Abuja, Nigeria Tel: (234) (9) 31 47 647-9, Fax : (234) (9) 31 43 005, 31 47 646 info@ecowas.us |
| Created and maintained by the Community Computer Centre (CCC) in collaboration with the Department of Communication Send comments to: admin@ecowas.us Copyright © ECOWAS 2012 Latest Update : Feb 26 2012 |