Director of Corporate Affairs of the Scheme, Armstrong Esaah
The National Service Scheme (NSS) has urged prospective national service personnel to leverage the opportunity the Scheme provides to industries to get experience and sharpen their skills to enter the job market.
The Director of Corporate Affairs of the Scheme, Armstrong Esaah, made the call at the University of Ghana City Campus over the weekend.
Elaborating on the new mission of the Scheme's “Deployment for Employment”, Mr. Essah said it is designed to place service personnel in an advantageous position in the world of work to reduce unemployment that had characterised graduates over time.
He emphasised that the zeal and dedication with which the Executive Director, Osei Assibey Antwi, and his team had put these thoughtfully designed and implemented modules into practice were aimed at repositioning the Scheme to meet the employment expectations of graduates.
“Skill development is key, and the Scheme has been positioned as another mill that will produce astute business executives, captains of industries, and a pool of well-baked experienced graduates prepared to take up positions when offered employment at established organizations,” he stated.
New vision
Mr. Esaah further indicated that the development mechanism within the Scheme’s new vision is not only deploying the personnel but ensuring that they either become self-employed, offer employment for others, and also be ready for employment.
“The Scheme has redefined its mission and is now ‘Deployment for Employment’. Those days, it used to be ‘mobilisation for deployment’, but it has been redefined with NSPs and industries in mind. NSS wants to deploy service personnel with employment in our minds."
“…and you would appreciate it very much the objective for the national service programme. Moving the Scheme from its traditional mission of ‘mobilisation for deployment’ to a new strategic direction of ‘deployment for employment, to complement the government’s efforts at reducing graduate unemployment and its attendant implications on national security, is the way to go,” he stressed.
He assured that the new strategic direction comes with providing an environment for all personnel to acquire the relevant skills to venture into entrepreneurship and meet industry demands.
Research
Mr. Esaah challenged participants to be proactive, and make a holistic study on their respective place of postings in order to familiarise themselves with what organisations require of them.
This, according to him, will broaden the knowledge of personnel in respective companies and the need to work assiduously in making sure they fit in the job environment.
“It is not prudent for any service personnel deployed to be unaware of the company he is going to serve and that it is imperative for all national service personnel to do a comprehensive research about their given place,” he stated.
This, he said, will distinguish them from their contemporaries and open more opportunities in the event where the company is required to retain some personnel.
Errands /accommodation
On the issue of service personnel often turning into errand boys and girls, Mr. Esaah noted that it is appropriate for them to know their working environment and exercise humility at all times.
“Every great leader today once served, and that service to humanity isn’t entirely bad. However, I am particular about instances where this errand expedition passes the threshold, adding it could affect the NSPs' overall productivity.”
To this end, he advised user agencies to put in mechanisms that could check this trend for the general well-being of their companies as well as the service personnel.
“Going on errands for your bosses is not entirely bad because through this, majority of the key players of the Ghanaian economy were made. Your case cannot be an exception, but we must know where to draw the line so that it doesn’t conflict with your wellbeing, productivity, and safety,” he noted.
On accommodation challenges, Mr. Esaah said in instances where service personnel are confronted with such problems, some companies offer accommodation.