Human Resource (HR) practitioners will today converge in Kigali for the annual national conference that among others exposes HR managers to the sector’s trends and emerging challenges they face in today’s fast-changing workplace.

They will also interact with regional and global experts and mentors, who will share best practices, globalisation and the rapidly changing market demands.

The HR function has increasingly become an essential component of any organisation and plays a central role in the success of companies. Therefore, platforms where professionals are exposed to new challenges and innovative ways of handling company matters are important. This is especially critical in this era where workplaces have become very diverse, more competitive and globally-focused to improve the bottom line.

Therefore, well-equipped and knowledgeable HR professionals are assets for organisations. But sadly, many companies in Rwanda still don’t have an HR function, while some undermine the function which at the end of the day affects their performance.

Realising the key role the HR function plays in the success of organisations, and by extension the performance of the economy, the government recently upgraded HR practitioners in public service to senior specialists and directors.

This is a challenge to the private sector that still undermines the role, or prefer to employ unqualified staff for the task without realising that such a move is counterproductive and hurts their bottom line. So, it’s high time orgnisations, managers and CEOs faced the reality and empower HR professionals to help them realise their business objectives by giving the function full support.

If organisations want to have a happy workforce, grow and prosper, then empowering the HR function that will identify and nurture talent is the way to go.