HR practitioners in Uganda have been urged to constantly invest in upskilling themselves and their workforces to prepare their organisations for the future of work.

While giving the keynote address during the annual ‘Heads of HR Beginning of Year Cocktail’ held at the Kampala Serena Hotel last Friday, Mumba Kalifungwa, Absa Bank Uganda’s Managing Director said, “If you are not deliberate about investing in new skills, anticipating the future and responding to the constantly changing challenges in the overall business environment, you will be left behind.”

He added that the human resource function can be very instrumental in driving the organisation’s strategy by planning for and training employees of the future because of technological advancements and an environment defined by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity.

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers 23^rd Annual Global CEO Survey, there is an increased demand for ‘new collar’ jobs that require a combination of digital, technical and soft skills that are going unfilled in today’s tight global labour market. The report adds that the supply of people possessing STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) skills and uniquely human skills like creativity, empathy, and collaboration are increasingly prized in today’s job market.

Held under the theme: “Enabling Business to achieve Strategic Objectives as the Head of HR from a CEO’s Perspective”, the forum was organised by Motivation Hub – a human resource and capacity-building consultancy and training firm – bringing together the heads of the human resources divisions of leading organizations in the country to inspire them to become better professionals within their organizations.

Pepe Minambo, the Managing Partner of Motivation Hub Ltd. said that the two key pain points of any organization are accountability and execution and that HR can go beyond being just an enabling function, but a support function taking the lead in matters relating to strategy execution.