Saturday, 24 August, was a historic day for Human Resource Society Botswana, as members converged at BA Isago University Convention Centre in Gaborone for the society’s first-ever elective general meeting.
The AGM attracted registered members from across the country, with the mandate to elect new leadership, deliberate on finance reports and discuss the organisation’s state of affairs.
Held under the theme, ‘The path to progress to regulating Botswana’s HR profession for Impact,’ the gathering also featured several exhibitors.
Speaking at the event, Chairperson and Founder, Bame Lekoko admitted getting to this momentous stage has been five years in the making and far from straightforward for the society formed in 2019.
“We planted a seed and wanted to see it grow. When I first shared the idea to form this society on social media, the idea got the biggest response from practicing professionals and graduates. At our first conference I expected 100 people but less than 20 people came who were mostly HR related consultants. But those few gave us a motivation to push forward,” revealed Lekoko, noting Covid-19 greatly stalled their progress.
Lekoko proudly highlighted that, after a slow start, the HR Society Botswana has been much more active in recent years, experiencing both growth and stability since 2022.
In her role as Keynote Speaker, Deputy Permanent Secretary-Employment and Productivity at the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs, Tshepo Nkwadi stressed the AGM was extremely important as it addressed issues pertinent to the economy.
“As a Ministry, we are responsible for employment and job creation and rising to the fore to address this shows you are moving in the right direction; I applaud you for that endeavour. We are plunged by low productivity levels in Botswana but since we want to reach high income status as a country, we need to rise to the occasion. We are striving for a private sector led economy and position the country as a high performing economy and focus on issues that ensure our economy improves,” she said.
Youth unemployment has increased from 34 percent to 38.2 percent, something Nkwadi says calls for drastic action.
“We have established an Employment Services Department in 2022 which provides a platform for job seekers and address issues of labour migration. We have even made 27, 000 graduates employable with affording them soft skills in partnership with UNICEF,” disclosed Nkwadi, adding the transfer of internship programme from Ministry of Youth, Gender, Culture and Sports to their ministry is also a welcome development.
The well-attended AGM was sponsored by BOMAID, African Alliance, Focal Point and BA Isago University.
