At 9:00 AM on February 27th, the conference room of the Best Western Premier Hotel in the Airport Residential Area became the focal point for the future of human capital in West Africa.
Over 80 industry leaders gathered for the HRs Breakfast Meeting, an intensive summit organised by the Association of Certified HRs, Ghana, in partnership with the HR Certification Centre. What began as a networking breakfast quickly evolved into a high-stakes briefing on strategic leadership, digital survival, and the evolving identity of the African HR professional.
The Mandate
Opening the summit, Pearl P. Tehoda, Executive Director of the HR Certification Centre, set a tone of urgent professional development. Reflecting on the Association’s journey since its June 2022 launch, Pearl emphasised that the organisation’s threefold mandate — continuous learning, advocacy, and networking—is now more critical than ever.
“Beyond the conversation, participants must position themselves to implement at least one thing to reposition our organisations for business growth,” Pearl stated, underscoring that for the modern HR leader, documentation and mentorship are the keys to future-proofing the workforce.
Policies as “Living Organisms”
The morning’s headline panel, featuring Raphael Otutey Blaboe, Georgina Bartels, and Festus Badu, tackled the complexities of Strategic Leadership for Business Growth in Africa.
The panel moved the needle on how corporate policy is perceived. Blaboe challenged the traditional “fixed” mindset of HR, describing great policies as “living organisms” that must be reviewed and questioned by managers and regulators alike. “The principles behind policies do not change,” Blaboe noted, “but the trends do.”
Furthering the discussion on regional expansion, Festus Badu highlighted the necessity of codifying core values that can remain consistent across borders. Georgina Bartels added that for these values to take hold, leadership must be the “epitome” of the organisation’s culture.
Adapt or Be Replaced
As the conversation shifted toward technology, the room reached a moment of sharp clarity. Addressing the anxiety surrounding automation, the panel delivered a blunt reality check: “AI will not take your job, but it will take your job if you don’t learn or upskill.”
With Digital Adaptability identified as the primary skill required for the next five years, the consensus was clear—HR professionals can no longer afford to be “tech-adjacent”; they must be tech-fluent.
The Closing Charge: “Occupy Your Position”
The summit reached its climax with a goodwill message from Dr. Jeff Bassay, founder of the HR Certification Centre and the Institute of Leadership & Strategy.
Jeff linked the majority of corporate strategy failures directly to “people failures,” arguing that the business world is still catching up to the reality of HR’s importance. He concluded the event with a definitive call to action that has since been echoing across social media:
“HRs are the deputy CEOs. Occupy your position.”
As the delegates dispersed, the message was clear: the era of HR as a back-office administrative function is over. In its place stands a strategic partner, driven by data, powered by digital adaptability, and ready to lead at the highest levels of African business.
