CGF and SABPP strategically align to empower HR specialists (2014-11-06)
March 17,
2015 10392 10392 
In general terms, HR (Human Resources) has not been seen as a department within an organisation where ‘fireworks’ normally happen.
Usually it is the marketing and sales department who most often take the credit for the organisation’s successes. To illustrate the point, it is quite rare to hear organisations boosting the role or value they have derived from their HR or internal audit departments. This is even more so the case with the specialists found in an organisation’s legal, secretariat, governance, risk and compliance departments. Adding insult to injury, one often hears employees saying that the ‘real’ work only happens in the boardroom and at other executive levels. Expectedly this leaves a person wondering whether or not HR and their unfortunate counterparts are merely stand-by operators, being paid for menial tasks and that they add no value to the successes of the organisation? Since some of the spectacular corporate governance failures such as Leisurenet, Macmed, Regal and African Banks; the poor perception surrounding those departments who are not in the lime-light -- and that they don’t fulfil a critical role in the organisation -- is far from the truth. Organisations who still punt this archaic thinking will need to urgently correct this ill-conceived perception.
For any organisation to be successful, it is imperative that all its activities are strategically inter-locked and that there is not a perception -- in general terms -- that one department trumps another (i.e. in function and importance). This is the essence of a fully functional, well-governed organisation where all the wheels, each which are equally important, are all turning in the same direction. Indeed, the board of directors is charged with ensuring that they are in full control of the organisation and it’s at the board level where a
Corporate Governance Framework® must be firmly established to ensure the organisation is able to perform optimally to enable its profitability. Expectedly, HR fulfils a critical and key-support function within the organisation’s Corporate Governance Framework®. Whilst the organisation’s approach to corporate governance is treated as a
strategic objective, HR has its own governance functions and these are a
systemic approach to management which enables the organisation to achieve its strategic and operational objectives (including performance outcomes).
Accordingly, it is clear that HR is a critical ‘connector’ between the organisation’s strategy and its ability to achieve the strategy through the many deliverables which flow from the HR department. Part of HR’s governance functions, which are core components within the Corporate Governance Framework®, include the manner in which human capital assets are sought, aligned and optimised to meet the organisation’s strategic objectives.
Considering the central role HR fulfils within the corporate governance arena, it should come as no surprise that CGF Research Institute (Pty) Ltd (‘CGF’) and the SA Board for People Practices (‘SABPP’) have decided to strategically align their respective efforts in order that South African organisations may benefit from this integrated thinking and approach. As a testament to this value, CGF and the SABPP have recently aligned CGF’s renowned
Governance Beyond Boards® Interventions and the
Corporate Governance Framework® Workshops with the SABPP’s Continuous Professional Development (CPD) standards. This is the first for South Africa; and the two organisations believe their initiative will not only be regarded positively amongst regulatory bodies and international agencies, but the HR profession will also benefit greatly across the African continent.
