Name:

Date:
Purpose:

Papee Kwaison Armah

5 February 2015
An essay to meet the requirements for employment at the Society for Human
Resource Management

Introduction
The Society for Human Resource Management, Ghana (SHRM) is one of the youngest chapters
of the Society for Human Resource Management which was founded in 1948 and headquartered
in Virginia, USA. Indeed the maiden meeting of the Ghana Chapter of the Society was held on
11th May 2013.
Being such a young association, like many other young associations, the Ghana Chapter of the
Society for Human Resource Management is fraught with a number of challenges. These include
slowed membership enrolment, members lackadaisical attitude towards the activities of the
Society, increasing numbers of dormant members and inadequate funding for the activities of the
Society.
As part of the processes to help manage these setbacks, the Society has decided to appoint a
programs coordinator who will be at the fore front of ensuring that the Society runs smoothly as
well as grow in terms of membership. The programs coordinator will also be responsible for
ensuring that members participate fully in the activities of the Society.
I have applied to be considered for the position of the Programs Coordinator and I write this essay
in partial fulfilment of the requirements for appointment to that position. In this essay, I will
attempt to explain how, if appointed as the Programs Coordinator, I will help manage the
problems as enumerated in paragraph two above. In particular, I will address how the Society,
spearheaded by the Programs Coordinator, can ensure that:
a. Membership enrolment increases and dormant members are revived
b. There is maximum participation in the activities of the Society by members
c. There is adequate funds to finance the activities of the Society
Before I proceed to look at these issues in more details, it will be helpful at this juncture to briefly
present my knowledge and understanding of the origin and mission of the Society for Human
Resources Management.
The Society for Human Resource Management
Founded in 1948, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is the worlds largest
HR membership organization devoted to human resource management. Representing more than
275,000 members in over 160 countries, the Society is the leading provider of resources to serve
the needs of HR professionals and advance the professional practice of human resource
management. SHRM has more than 575 affiliated chapters within the United States and
subsidiary offices in China, India and United Arab Emirates. The Society is gradually moving to
Africa, and Ghana is one of the latest countries where an affiliate chapter has been established
with current membership strength of over 200 members.

SHRM is committed to developing the Human Resource Profession globally. To realise this
commitment, SHRM provides resources, global best practices and a network of more than 9,000
members in over 160 countries. Additionally the Society is actively engaged in delivering
certification preparation courses and other educational products and services to members around
the world and partnering with volunteers in select countries to lead member forums and
encourage local networking among members.
Members in Ghana meet under the auspices of SHRM Forum Ghana which is incorporated as
limited by guarantee in Ghana, with the mission to advance the HR profession and serve the HR
professionals in Ghana. SHRM Forum Ghana has been authorized by SHRM as its local
chapter for the purposes of bringing its members in Ghana together.
SHRM Forum Ghanas objective is to allow like-minded HR professionals in Ghana to connect,
mix, share ideas, have fun and learn to stay on top of organizational issues. For this reason,
SHRM Forum Ghana has attracted over 120 members with varied educational and professional
backgrounds. The members are made up of a good mix of HR Directors, Managers,
Administrators, Officers and students from the tertiary institutions. The forum also seeks to
collaborate with all HR fraternities in Ghana to advance the profession.
As indicated earlier, the Ghana chapter is one of the latest additions to the Society for Human
Resources Management and in order to run smoothly, there is the need to manage a number of
issues as listed in paragraph four of this essay. I will now address each of these issues.
Ensuring increase in enrolments for membership and reviving dormant members
The members of the Society for Human Resources Management are its key stakeholders because
without the members, there will be no Society. It is therefore important to ensure that not a single
member becomes dormant or inactive as the case may be and to provide opportunity for more
qualified individuals to find it attractive to be members.
In order to retain current members, I, together with the other leaders of the Society, will plan and
develop platforms that will enable members to know each other and actually have the personal
contacts of one another. I will create a Society membership data base and make it accessible to
all members and at all times on the Societys website. This I will do with the support of the
leading members of the Society. Again I will create a social media platform which will serve to
provide timely information on the activities of the Society to all members and to repeatedly
announce upcoming events and programs of the Society. The platform could also be used to
remind members about their obligations towards the Society, including the need to reach out to
other qualifying persons to enrol with the Society.
Further to this, I will encourage current members to introduce new members. The requirement to
introduce new members may be done in a target form so that each current member may be
required to introduce and enrol at least two members annually. This will also be done with
support from leading members. I will spearhead the development of a membership enrolment and
retention plan that will enable the Secretariat to identify qualifying individuals and following
them up with proposals until they enrol.

Again, as the Programs Coordinators I will participate in the planning and development of forums
and Continuous Professional Development programs that should discuss the pertinent issues
affecting the profession and human resources management in general. These could be in the form
of breakfast meeting, dinner meetings, etc. and these meetings must be well advertised to attract
as many Human Resource Management Professionals. At these meetings, requests may be made
for persons willing to enrol to do so.
Ensuring maximum participation by members
Participation in the activities of the Society, whether forums or other social events, organised by
the Society must be a MUST for each member. These activities must first of all be attractive. The
programs must serve to meet the continuous professional development needs of the members,
with various topics addressed by seasoned members of the profession. Again social activities
must be organised such that they appeal to the patriotism and emotional needs of the members.
To assure attractive and appealing activities, I will encourage members to participate in the
choice of discussion topics and activities for the year. I will further send information to members,
as many times as possible, on an upcoming event either via text messages or the Societys social
medium. I will also ask members to confirm their participation in each activity so that the
potential numbers of participants can be known when planning an activity. I will encourage
members who show a desire not to participate in any activity to change their minds by appealing
to their sense of obligation towards the Society.
Innovative ways of raising funds
The funding drive of the Society must be able to provide adequate funds for the Society to run but
must not overburden Society members to the extent that they may wish to disassociate with the
Society. As the Programs Coordinator, I will encourage members to pay their dues to the Society
as set by the leadership and agreed with all members. I will follow up with members to ensure
that membership subscriptions are paid on time. Further, I will encourage members to make
financial commitments or pledges towards specific programs or activities of the Society. Again, I
will explore the possibilities of companies and other organisations helping to finance the
Societys activities and make suggestions to the leadership to pursue the opportunities I discover.
As much as possible, I will ensure that the Society obtains value for the time and money invested
in each activity by ensuring that the activity meets the needs of members and is run at the least
cost possible.
Conclusion
The steps enumerated above and others that I will discover as I work as the Programs Coordinator
are some of the actions I will take to ensure that the Society runs smoothly, gradually becomes
the association of choice for all Human Resources professionals in Ghana and grow in terms of
the number of members.