Attainment of goals which precedes the celebration, joy and euphoria that greets the arrival to a pre-determined, planned or schedule place/point; hitting a target, reaching a limit and/or completing a task successfully, is by every stretch of the imagination, facilitated by humans, a reason, may be, enterprises, private or public, big or small, is regarded as a purposeful, organised human activity.
By "human resource" in the context of this piece, I mean: people's effort, Kreleased in a work environment or organizational setup to make things happen: convert inputs (raw materials) to more valuable/useful outputs (goods and services). I regard, the results that are achieved through the efforts as the derivatives, and in view of these regard the deployment of humans towards the attainment of organizational goals, as fundamentally strategic. This reasoning, shaped my perception and informed my classification of the human resource of MSMEs, as a tool, and like any other tool, must be effectively and efficiently deployed, in pursuit of their desired goals or results.
To remain active, functional, competitive and cooperative, and be celebrated as responsive to the needs of the market, and be counted among those making huge difference as major contributors in the economy as pathfinders: opportunity seekers and wealth creators, the erector of structures that make innovation and creativity to thrive, and base builders of growth and sustainable development of any economy, the MSMEs, in Nigeria must be concerned about putting to best use the human resource, available for their use, in their operations, how they are assembled and deployed.
The benefits to MSMEs, in particular, and the economy generally, are not only huge and inherently profound, but also sustainable. A quick run down of the use of the human resource reveals that it is useful in the design, planning and shaping of activities and programmes. It is also vital in the implementation, measurement and evaluation, just as it is in improvements and management of deviations, essential for mitigating the challenges that threaten other resource inputs, and make alignment of efforts consistently to the ultimate goal of delivering the most appropriate results, difficult. It is key, in both equipment purchase and leasing, and effective in hiring all other tools and machines; and critical when replacing worn out parts, and in improving the value and quality of assets. it is also a major factor in staff recruitment, and placing order for raw materials, receiving supplies, taking decisions about the introduction of new products, penetrating new markets, and designing the strategies to maintain old customers and clients, attract and retain new ones and convert them not only to profitable, but constant repeat buyers.
For deeper insight, more understanding and clearer perception of what my view is about human resource, I invite my esteemed reader to align with my reasoning that finds solace in the conviction to present for what it truly is: "FORCE BEHIND THE WORK". As a community of honoured, respected and reputed wealth generators, job creators, and builders, the MSMEs, in Nigeria will impact the economy more, when there is more commitment at realizing and tapping increasingly from the human resource at their disposal. This will aid in no small measure in accomplishing their accompanying task of diversifying the economy, attracting more investors, generating and deepening the interest, especially, of the producers, on local content; and increasing the consumers appetite, hunger and demand for locally made goods. It will also result to the strengthening of advocacies for policy reforms, lead to extensive and extended push for business enabling environment, as well as heighten call for provision of soft financing products, Ease-of-Access (EoA); affordable rates, and safety Net, for facilities extended to the MSMEs.
It is an indisputable fact that increased productivity by the MSMEs, in both the urban and rural areas, and by extension the economy, will remain a mere fluke, an oxymoron of sort, if there is no deliberate effort and proper articulation, strategy wise, harnessing effectively the human resource available to MSMEs. It is how well that the human resource, is managed that will determine the extent of influence and impact other resource input will have on the outcome of any process. As a matter of fact, it is how well the MSMEs manage their human resource that sets the pace for delivery of benefits to stakeholders: employees (salary), day-pay earners/contract staff (wages), consultants and technicians (lump sum, workmanship), the market (fair prices, quality goods and services) and property owners (rent), fund providers (interest) and the government (revenue from taxation), Utility (charges, bills).
The benefits that accrue from improved human resource management, is not limited to the mentioned, but extends to noticeable improvement in handling family related differences, disputes at the workplace, and resolving challenges with other members of a household: domestic worker/staff (house helps), and visitors even: home and workplace.
In the event that MSMEs, undermine or deny the very important and critical role of the force behind the work (workforce) it is obvious that most of them will be wobbling and headed to a crash. The workplace will be saturated with litany of challenges: poorly motivated staff, low productivity, high mobility of labour, poor policy implimentation, etc.
Without a good workforce, it does not matter how huge an investment is. It does not also matter, the quantum of money, anyone intends to re-inject, into a business, as a beef up package. It does not equally matter, the brandname, the quality or cost that is expended to acquire the latest and even more sophisticated machines, furniture/fittings; how massive the office space is, and the expanse of land it is sitting on, and the amount spent as exchange for it. Similarly, it makes no better sense, that the business is in a choice location, a bubbling part of a city, with beautiful, work environment, if the workforce (the human resource), is nothing to write home about.
Without the right human resource, in place, to convert investments, into more valuable outputs, the entire project will sink, go into oblivion, turn to a colossal waste, a massive loss of resources.
Before signing off, let me deposit that the likely replacements for effective and efficient human resource, include, but not limited to: poorly managed people, insensitive and heavily disoriented staff, open to manipulations. Other outcomes are: rumour mongering, vested interests and greed. Misinformation, in the form of misleading facts/figures, bandied about by disgruntled, easily irritated and abusive people, prone to conflicts, and shortchanging of their organization, and the customers and clients, regularly, are glaring indicators and manifestations. The Other consequences are: regular breakdown of machines, inferior or low quality goods and services, high cost of production, persistent rise in abnormal losses, frequent demand for salary advance, and poor record keeping, etc.
By Nnabugwu Chizoba
Happy New Year from
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