Memory Nguwi
We periodically carry out surveys to gauge human resources practices in the country.
In this article, I present some interesting human resources related to statistics from our research. The data is based on 51 companies. The participants were from different sectors of the economy.
The State of Human Resources in Zimbabwe Survey report explored the factors and practices used by different organisations regarding people management.
Any company can adopt the recommendations of this survey report in any sector. By adopting industry-wide practices that lead to good business results, your organisation has better chances of improving its performance.
In this article, I will highlight some of our key findings with regard to HR staffing, management, and leadership in Zimbabwe.
1). The average age for the participants’ board chairperson is fifty-eight years. The oldest board chairperson is eighty years, and the youngest is forty-two years. On average, three executive directors sit on participant companies’ boards, and a maximum of twelve directors sit on the board.
Six non-executive directors on average sit on company’s boards.
2). Seventy-one percent of the executive directors are composed of male directors compared to female directors (twenty-nine percent).
3). Most of the permanent employees are male (sixty-three percent) while thirty-seven percent are female.
4). The results show that the percentage of males in participant organisations decreases as we move from the executives to non-managerial employees. The trend is reversed for female participants. The number of female employees increases as we move from executives to non-managerial employees. This shows that, in most organisations, there are few female employees in executive positions as compared to male employees.
5). The average span of control for Managers/Supervisors with people reporting to them is six. This means that, on average, supervisors have six people reporting to them. The average number of subordinates that report to managers in each department is ten employees.
6). Most of the heads of human resources report to CEOs. Thirty-six percent of the heads of HR report to the managing director, twelve percent report to the general manager, and two percent report to the chief operating officer.
7). Fifty percent of the participants said the major challenge they are facing in managing the HR department is reducing labour costs, twenty-five percent said enhancing operational efficiencies, twenty-five percent said streamlining operations.
8). Most of the employees under the HR department are under the payroll department, followed by those in the generalist department.
The above statistics can be handy when you are restructuring so that you do not come up with structures that are completely out of line with industry practices.
***Memory Nguwi is an Occupational Psychologist, Data Scientist, Speaker, & Managing Consultant- Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd, a management and human resources consulting firm. https://www.thehumancapitalhub.com email: mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com or visit our website at www.ipcconsultants.com