Source: Employers meet amid wages deadlock – The Zimbabwe Independent
Kudzai Kuwaza
THE Employers’ Confederation of Zimbabwe (Emcoz) will next week hold the human resources indaba in Kariba at a time when business and government are at odds with labour over wages.
The meeting, which will be held from March 25 to 28, is coming after a deadlock in the Tripartite Negotiating Forum (TNF) meeting this week between business on the one hand and labour and government on the other over the minimum wage.
On the minimum wage, Emcoz, which represents formal business entities in the TNF, argue that it is not feasible to have a national minimum wage by indexing a proportion of the August 2018 poverty datum line to the exchange rate, as is being proposed by labour and government.
Business also pointed out that the TNF had no mandate to engage in the collective bargaining process, as it was the prerogative of the National Employment Councils (NECs).
The TNF is a legislated platform on which business, labour and government discuss various issues.“In the post-industrial, globalised world, economies are powered through knowledge, information technology and service. Countries are in various stages of getting there and it is agreed that the responsibility falls on human resources professionals to leverage human resources to get the necessary economic trajectory,” Emcoz said about the upcoming human resources meeting in a statement.
“Emcoz has noted with concern that the human resources department has a role to play not only in protecting the welfare and safety of employees, but also in supporting organisational sustainability during an economic crisis.
“The simple reason is that there is always a human side to every challenge that the organisation faces. Business cycles always pose a major challenge to business organisations, especially in this Zimbabwean economic slump. Today’s turbulent business environment requires that firms continuously re-shape HR practices and strategies in order to sustain competitiveness within the market.”
The objectives of the human resources indaba include: to develop a comprehensive comparative analysis of leadership in the current socio-economic and business environment, distinguish the extent of the difference between leadership and management effectiveness and efficiency and ensure leadership legacy as a human need and contribution to business and the nation.
Among the issues to be discussed at the annual meeting are an analysis of the country’s economy, enhancing productivity and value in a turbulent environment, effective and efficient human resources leadership, as well as unpacking the monetary policy statement, which was presented last month and its implications on business.
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