Development of Human Resource Guidelines for Ethiopian Industrial Parks – Ethiopian Investment Commission

Commissioned by the Ethiopian Investment Commission and Enterprise Partners, R&D Group and Sustainability Agents SUSA GmbH have developed a comprehensive HR guideline to help factories in Ethiopian industrial parks deal with their most pressing HR challenges effectively. The guidelines are based on the Ethiopian labour proclamation, international best practices and provides contextual recommendations for the management of the workforce.

Having this HR guideline as a bench mark, factories are encouraged and guided to develop effective HR structures and policies in order to:

• Achieve high levels of retention, motivation and productivity
• Comply with country laws and industry standards
• Prevent conflict, absenteeism and tardiness
• Enhance competitiveness and meet the expectations of international clients
• Create a positive image of the factories and IPs among the community The HR Guidelines include legal requirements, international standards, instructions and recommendations developed for key areas of the HR function, including:
• Developing and enforcing of an HR manual that establishes a uniform system to manage all HR matters
• Setting up a fair, transparent, ethical and effective recruitment and selection practice that allows to find and hire the best candidates aligned to production needs
• Establishing a complete onboarding program that properly integrates employees to their new role and work environment, sets up clear expectations and responsibilities and, in cases of new hires from rural areas, also helps them transition to their new living conditions
• Settling a comprehensive training program for all staff that allows the appropriate development of the workforce in both technical and soft skills
• Creating a performance-based culture that helps factories to align employees and resources with their strategic objectives
• Setting up adequate and competitive compensation schemes -including wages, allowances, bonuses and other benefits- taking a holistic approach to provide benefits that considers workers’ living conditions and contributes to boost productivity.
• Developing effective, legitimate, transparent and safe grievance handling procedures, to address employee concerns before they lead to more serious employee relations issues
• Creating and enforcing a clear, transparent, fair and well communicated disciplinary procedure in the factory that guides supervisors and managers in the discipline of employees promoting certainty and consistency in dealing with misconduct.
• Setting up strategies for internal and external communication to disseminate the right information to all stakeholders including employees, governments, clients and the overall community in which the IP is set.

Download and read the HR guideline here: IP_HR_Guidelines.pdf (investethiopia.gov.et)