Human Resources Management Concepts and Challenges, Dr. Nsubuga Haroonah

Human Resources Management Concepts and Challenges
HUMAN RESOURCES
MANAGEMENT
CONCEPTS AND CHALLENGES
BY
NSUBUGA HAROONAH, Ph.D
FALAH PUBLISHING HOUSE
2
Nsubuga Haroonah 2013
Copyright 2013 by Dr. Nsubuga Haroonah

First Edition: 2013
First Print: 2013
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be

reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any
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hereafter invented, including copying and recording, or in
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Electronic version of this book produced by:

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P.O.Box 1596, Mnazi Mmoja, Zanzibar, Tanzania.
3
DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to my wife; Nakyanzi Fatuma,

my daughters; Tharwah and Husnayaan as well as my
sons; Tharut, Thamur, Humoud and Ramadhan who
exercised a great deal of perseverance by
accommodating the vacuum and loneliness I created
whenever and wherever I was busy researching and
working on the production of this book. May the
Almighty God reward you abundantly for the high
degree of patience you portrayed!
4
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
It is a naked fact that putting together ideas that

culminate into a production of a piece of work like this
one in most cases is the effort of the author. But, it may
have a lot of loophole and incomplete without the
support and input of other people. Therefore, the ideas
and production of this work has become a reality with
the upper hand of several people who accepted to share
their views and experiences with the author either
directly or indirectly. To all of them, I register my
sincere thanks and appreciation. Some of them
included:
The administration of the Zanzibar University for the

continued advise, encouragement and support to
whosoever is able to publish. Management accords
much attention to academic works whenever it is
considering appointment and promotion of staff.
Therefore, their support with the word of wisdom is
very much appreciated.
I would like to express my gratitude to a number of

people who extended to me a great deal of support and
whose wealth of knowledge and experience especially
in Human Resources Management were of tremendous
value to me in enriching this book.
5
In this connection, I am very much indebted to Dr.

Sowed Juma Mayanja; the Dean of Faculty of Law and
Shariah, Dr. Jamil Sserwanga; the Director of the
Institute of Postgraduate Studies and Research,
Zanzibar University and Mr. Muhsin Mohamed Said,
Coordinator, Zanzibar University - Pemba Campus for
accepting to share with me their wealth of experience in
research and publication. In fact, they played a crucial
role in editing and reviewing this manuscript. I would
like to re-affirm that I indeed owe them a lot.
Last but not the least, my sincere thanks and

appreciation go to Ms. Mwanahawa Jaku Haji; Office
Management Secretary, Institute of Continuing
Education, Zanzibar University and Mr. Abbas
Mohamed Omar of the Zanzibar University Library
Services whose unfailing secretarial and type setting
assistance made the speedy completion of the largest
portion of this manuscript pretty easy and possible.
Despite the fact that this book is of immense value to

many people who have become stakeholders in its
production, I am fully a ware of its weaknesses that are
often typical of authors, I bear the full responsibility
thereof a lone.
6
PREFACE
One may wonder and henceforth ask: Why Human

Resources Management: Concepts and Challenges? This
is so because a good many people are either
professionals or are practising managers or are not
professional, but they are adapting Human Resource
Management principles while executing their day today
duties in different settings, or are offering Human
Resources Management courses at Tertiary Institutions.
Whereas some are doing pretty well in their respective

institutions, others are heading organisations that are
engulfed in a vicious cycle of poor Human Resources
Management practices, yet many are in the pipeline of
becoming Human Resource Managers and have not yet
appreciated wholly the immense trouble ahead of them
in the organisations they will work for because of the
still challenges of managing human resources today.
In order for them to avoid encountering the stiff

challenges and not to be at crossroads due to the
demands and requirements of the human capital, they
need a reliable manuscript to refer to as a source of
inspiration, motivation, information and practical
guidelines and principles for effective execution of their
7
work as well as efficient utilisation of the competent

human capital.
This is why this book offers a detailed account of the

issues, concepts and challenges they are most likely to
encounter just to prepare them for smooth human
resource management as to propel the stability, growth
and development of their enterprises.
Each of the five parts in this book has been so much

simplified that the reader is effectively guided on how
to enhance his/her understanding and competencies
required of him/her for effective human resources
management in firms.
My interest in developing this guide stemmed from

practical experiences of managers who are really trying
to devise means and ways of enabling their enterprises
graduate from the vicious cycle of poor human
resources practices
This edition offers a menu of paradigms and a variety of

approaches aimed at facilitating effective human
resources management efforts, principles and insights
for the optimal utilisation of the workforce.
I am therefore optimistic that this edition is going to be

valued as an asset but not a liability to a wide array of
8
individual learners and managers who have much zeal,

enthusiasm and interest in managing the workforce for
the success story of their enterprises in this challenging
and competitive contemporary society.
Last but not the least, I am a ware that the dynamic field
of human resources management offers a great deal of
challenges and opportunities, my advice is that, the
reader, the practising and tomorrows managers should
endeavour as much as possible to exploit the
opportunities as they unfold in the firms.
I wish to thank in advance those who are willing and

ready to ignore the malaise and short comings in this
book, but endeavour to adapt and implement the
valuable ideas analysed therein. May I once again
express my sincere gratitude to those who have
encouraged, advised and supported my cause of
producing this manuscript!
9
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1.1 Depicting teacher-student ratio
Figure 1.2 Showing Doctor-Patient ratio
Figures 1.3 Showing number, level and qualification

of academicians required to handle
different academic study programs.
Figure 2.1 Depicting equality of all in terms of

employment
Figure 4.1 Depicting a cross section of graduands of

the Tenth Graduation Ceremony of the
Zanzibar University
Figure 4.2 Depicting cost of advertisement firms

incur.
Figure 4.3 Depicting different languages the work

force use the world over
Figure 4.4 Depicting different languages the work

force use worldwide
10
Figure 4.5 Showing Red Ribbon as related to

HIV/AIDS
Figure 4.6 Depicting violence against children
Figure 4.7 Showing a sample of Child Labour
Figure 4.8 Depicting another sample of child labour
Figure 4.9 Depicting scenes of political instability.
Figure 4.10 Depicting crime rate
Figure 4.11 Depicting family ties as a strong factor

that may curtain labour Mobility
Figure 5.1 Depicting an Islamic Attire
Figure 5.2 Depicting an attire of western civilization

that is opposed to the Islamic one
11
LIST OF ACRONYMS
Pound
ADEA Age Discrimination in Employment Act
AER Analysis of Existing Resources
AIDS Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
C&B Compensation and Benefit
CRA Civil Rights Act
DEHRG Determining Expected Human Resources
Gaps
DRC Democratic Republic of Congo
EEO Equal Employment Opportunity
EH&S Employee Health and Safety
EPA Equal Pay Act
ERISA Employee Retirement Income Security
Act
et.al., And others
FYDP Five Year Development Plan
HRM Human Resources Management
HRNA Human Resources Needs Analysis
HRNA Human Resources Needs Assessment
HRO Human Resources Officer
HRP Human Resources Planner
ILO International Labour Organisation
IMF International Monetary Fund
IUCEA Inter University Council of Eastern Africa
IUIU Islamic University in Uganda
MoU Memoranda of Understanding
12
MW Minimum Wage
NCHE National Council for Higher Education
NGO Non Governmental Organisation
NUDP National Union of People with
Disabilities
OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Act
PAYE Pay as You Earn
PAYEEPay as You Earn
Ph.D. Doctor of Philosophy
PRO Public Relations Officer
QA Quality Assurance
R&D Research and Development
SAP Structural Adjustment Program
SCI Save the Children International
SMART Specific, Measurable, Achievable,
Realistic and Time bound
SNA Staff Needs Assessment
SPA Staff Performance Appraisal
TCU Tanzania Commission for Universities
USA United States of America
USD United States Dollar
ZU Zanzibar University
13
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Dedication ........................................................................................... 4
Acknowledgement ............................................................................. 5
Preface ................................................................................................. 7
List of Figures ................................................................................... 10
List of Acronyms .............................................................................. 12
Table of Contents .............................................................................. 14
Sections .............................................................................................. 22
SECTION ONE ................................................................................. 23
HUMAN RESOURCES PLANNING .............................................. 23
Aims of Human Resources Planning .............................................. 26
Human Resources Planning Activities ........................................... 28
Demand Forecast for Labour ........................................................... 28
Methods Employed in the Demand Forecast for Labour .............. 29
Managerial Judgment....................................................................... 29
Ratio-trend Analysis......................................................................... 29
Skills Analysis ................................................................................... 33
Supply Forecast for Labour ............................................................. 35
14
Activities of Supply Forecast for Labour ........................................ 36

Analysis of Existing Resources (AER)............................................. 36
Analysis of Wastage, Scrappage, Loss and Destruction ................ 37
An Assessment of changes in conditions of work ......................... 37
Determining Expected Human Resources Gaps
(DEHRG) ........................................................................................... 37
Age Bracket (Retirement Age) ......................................................... 38
Political Instability ............................................................................ 38
Political/Government Interference ................................................. 39
Leave Entitlement ............................................................................. 40
Promotion or Transfer ...................................................................... 40
Reforms ............................................................................................. 40
Government Policy ........................................................................... 41
Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAP) .................................... 41
Brain Drain ........................................................................................ 42
Resignation or Abscondment .......................................................... 43
Technological Advancement ........................................................... 44
Social Context ................................................................................... 45
15
Firing ................................................................................................. 45
Interdiction........................................................................................ 46
Geographical Location ..................................................................... 47
Natural Calamities............................................................................ 47
Managerial Style ............................................................................... 48
Action Planning ................................................................................ 48
SECTION TWO................................................................................. 49
IMPORTANCE OF HUMAN RESOURCES
MANAGEMENT .............................................................................. 49
Strategic Importance ........................................................................ 51
Payment of Unemployment Compensation ................................... 51
Training Expenses ............................................................................ 52
Low morale of the Workforce .......................................................... 52
Employee Underutilization ............................................................. 53
Haphazard Compensation of Employees ....................................... 54
Legal Importance .............................................................................. 55
Subjective staff hiring Practices ....................................................... 55
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act ................................. 59
Compensation and Benefits ............................................................. 60
16
Equal Pay Act of 1963....................................................................... 61

The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) ............ 62
Sexual Harassment ........................................................................... 63
Affirmative Action ........................................................................... 64
SECTION THREE ............................................................................. 65
ROLES OF PERSONNEL MANAGERS.......................................... 65
Carrying out a Staff Needs Assessment (SNA) .............................. 66
Recruitment and Selection of Applicants ....................................... 67
Mobility or Stability of the Workforce ............................................ 67
Carrying out Training and Retraining Programs. .......................... 68
Carries out Staff Performance Appraisals (SPA)............................ 69
Designs Retirement Packages .......................................................... 70
Guides/counsels staff ...................................................................... 71
Addresses staff grievances and disputes ........................................ 72
Effects disciplinary action ................................................................ 72
Plays the roles of the Public Relations Officer (PRO) .................... 73
SECTION FOUR ............................................................................... 76
17
CHALLENGES OF STAFF RECRUITMENT IN A

GLOBAL CONTEXT ........................................................................ 76
Challenges of Managing Recruitment Exercise in a
Global Context .................................................................................. 78
Head-hunting of Specialized Personnel ......................................... 80
Cost Implications .............................................................................. 81
Corporate Cultures ........................................................................... 83
Core Values of an Organisation....................................................... 86
Organisational aims, objectives, mission, vision and
goals that are vague.......................................................................... 89
Legal restrictions .............................................................................. 90
Ethnic concerns ................................................................................. 94
Discrimination or corruption........................................................... 94
Political instability ............................................................................ 94
Government Interference ................................................................. 96
Qualification required ...................................................................... 96
Crime Rate......................................................................................... 96
Family Ties ........................................................................................ 98
SECTION FIVE ............................................................................... 100
18
STAFF SELECTION IN THE GLOBAL CONTEXT ..................... 100

Sources of Staff Selection ............................................................... 102
Internal/local or domestic Source of Staff Selection ................... 102
Merits of the Internal (domestic) Source of Staff
Selection .......................................................................................... 103
Cost effectiveness ........................................................................... 103
Skipping Interviews ....................................................................... 104
Motivating factor ............................................................................ 104
Staff are already known by the management............................... 105
Maximum utilisation of the human capital .................................. 106
Reduces redundancy ...................................................................... 106
No undue expectations .................................................................. 107
It reduces labour turn over ............................................................ 108
Good Public Relations .................................................................... 108
Enhancement of Succession Planning ........................................... 109
It is a training tool or strategy ....................................................... 110
Challenges of the Internal (Local/Domestic) Source of
Staff Selection .................................................................................. 110
19
Corruption and Nepotism ............................................................. 111

Rift and bad blood amongst staff .................................................. 112
Time wasting................................................................................... 114
Challenges in filling the Human Resources Gaps ........................ 114
Constructive Criticisms .................................................................. 115
Favoritism rather than competence............................................... 116
External or Foreign Source of Staff Selection ............................... 117
Merits of the External /Foreign Source of Staff Selection .......... 117
Importation of new ideas in the methods or operations
of work ............................................................................................ 117
Disputes and conflicts .................................................................... 120
Reduction in rates of corruption ................................................... 121
It is cost effective............................................................................. 122
It enhances competition ................................................................. 122
Grievances and Conflicts are minimized ...................................... 123
Encourages Labour Mobility ......................................................... 123
Easy Compliancy with stipulated policies and laws ................... 124
Challenges of Staff Selection from the External or Global
Labour Market ................................................................................ 124
20
Cost involved .................................................................................. 124

It demoralizes, frustrates and de-motivates ................................. 125
Time consuming ............................................................................. 127
Importation of bad cultures into a firm ........................................ 127
Takes long to build trust among staff ........................................... 129
Gives birth to increased levels of creeping false, positive
and negative errors. ........................................................................ 130
Staff performance ........................................................................... 130
Sub standard socio-economic and political facilities or
standards ......................................................................................... 131
Unemployment of local people ..................................................... 132
BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................. 134
21
SECTIONS
SECTION ONE: Human Resources Planning
SECTION TWO: Importance of Human

Resources Management
SECTION THREE: Roles of Personnel Managers
SECTION FOUR: Challenges of Staff

Recruitment in a Global
Context
SECTION FIVE: Staff Selection in the Global

Context
BIBILIOGRAPHY
22
SECTION ONE
HUMAN RESOURCES PLANNING
23
On the one hand, the concept Human Resources

Management is defined differently by different authors
and academics. For example, Gary (2004: 2) defines it as
referring to the practices and policies one needs to carry
out the personnel aspects of ones job in terms of
managing, acquiring, training, rewarding and providing
a safe, ethical and fair environment for ones companys
employees.
On the other hand, Human Resource Planning is

defined as the process by which an organization ensures
that it has the right number and kinds of people, at the
right place, at the right time, capable of effectively and
efficiently completing those tasks that will help the
organization achieve its overall objectives (DeCenzo and
Robbins 1997: 79.) Wendell (1994: 8) views the paradigm
Human Resources Planning as the process of assessing
the organisations human resources needs in light of
organizational goals and making plans to ensure that a
competent, stable work force is employed.
It is therefore very clear from these definitions that

Human Resources Planning is the first primary duty of
a Human Resources Manager in any organization
because all other roles the Personnel Manager plays
rotate around this very function. It is arguably true that
an organization that lacks sufficient staff may not
24
achieve the very objectives for which it was established.

Secondly, a firm that has the required number of staff
but who lack the technical expertise and competency to
execute their duties shall also fail to perform effectively.
That is why it is pertinent that at all times, a Personnel
Manager must be up todate pertaining to the right
quality and quantity of staff required by an
organisation.
Technically, Human Resources Planning comes after the

Personnel Manager carries out a Human Resources
Needs Assessment (HRNA) or Human Resources Needs
Analysis (HRNA) that guides such a manager to plan
and recommend recruitment of the right number of
personnel a Department, Unit, Section specifically or
generally the organization may be in need of at a time.
For purposes of efficiency at this level of planning for
the human capital, it is advisable that the manager
should do so throughout the year since staff come and
go and also because the organizations are always
growing and expanding in terms of activities, size and
service provision.
Nsubuga (2006: 102) argues that whosoever fails to

plan, plans to fail. This implies that a Human
Resources Planner or Manager ought to plan effectively
for the human capital required at any given time
25
because this enables the organization to survive the test

of time.
On the usefulness of effective Human Resources
Planning, Deb (2006: 77) argues that Human Resource
Planning seeks to estimate the adequate and suitable
number of employees required and determines the
action plan for performing all Human Resource
Management functions. Accordingly therefore, there is
no single moment a firm is expected to run short of staff
because some work may remain at a stand still without
being executed and this is indeed detrimental to such an
organization.
Aims of Human Resources Planning
Nickles (1990), Beardwell and Holden (2001), Raymond

et.at., (1999) provide a description of the aims of Human
Resource Planning as well as the Human Resources
Planning Activities. Human Resources Planning is
carried out to satisfy three prime aims notably to:-
(a) Obtain and retain the quality of staff required to

occupy the vacant portfolios in the various units or
sections at the right time. This is so because the
human capital is costly and a firm can not retain
more staff than it can afford to maintain. Therefore,
firms plan effectively and keep the right number of
staff since keeping more than the required staff
26
would translate into compulsory staff lay off as

time goes by. Yet, many employees the world over
hate such a thing.
(b) Obtain and retain few but highly qualified personnel

to carry out the maximum work. This presupposes
that firms must plan effectively their human
resources needs by recruiting and selecting the
most talented, most skilled and most competent
staff at a time. In this case therefore, there is no
room either for shortage or for surplus staff.
(c) Anticipate shortage or surplus of the human capital

on the labour market. In most economies, there are
times when specialized individuals are either
inadequate or they are in full supply. That is why,
there is no economy the world over that employs
only her nationals. There is stiff labour mobility
world wide. So, it is no longer acceptable to plan
haphazardly for personnel. Effective Human
Resources Planning requires of Personnel
Departments to be up todate, lest, either, non
performers (residues) may be recruited or a firm
may recruit more than staff required at a time!
Keith, Brumfitt et.al., (2001: 6) argue that Human

Resources Planning involves a strategy for the
27
recruitment, selection, utilization, improvement

and disposal of the human resources of a business.
Human Resources Planning Activities
Nickel (1990) argues that there are basically four

activities of Human Resources Planning any Human
Resources Planner must be concerned with. These are:-
Demand Forecast for Labour

Supply Forecast for Labour
Action Planning
Demand Forecast for Labour
This involves estimating the human resources needs in a

firm at a given time. Usually, attention is accorded to
size, rate of growth and development of a firm. Also, the
qualification of the labour required and the source
where they would be sourced from are considered when
forecasting the demand for labour.
28
Methods Employed in the Demand Forecast for

Labour
There are three methods employed by a Human
Resources Planner to effectively carry out the activity of
Demand Forecast for labour and these are:-
Managerial Judgment
This method is commonly used to forecast demand for

labour in firms. The firms top brass with the assistance
and advise of the Human Resources Planner or Human
Resources Manager while planning for the future
development of the firm, they analyse the work load of
each employee bearing in mind the number of hours for
each of them a day, a week and a month. Then, they
make informed decisions on whether;
more personnel should be recruited,

some staff should be retrenched, or
Whether the current size of staff should be
consolidated.
Ratio-trend Analysis
This is a more technical method. The existing trend

between the activity levels and number of staff required
29
is studied and analysed. Personnel Manager relates the

work load with the staff available and recommends
recruitment. It should be recalled that each organization
as an establishment should have various departments or
sections or units that must be adequately staffed
without any shortage or surplus of staff for their
effectiveness and with a view of avoiding staff
redundancy. Figure 1.1 is reflective of this argument on
the number of staff that may be recruited to satisfy the
number of clients.
During situation of staff shortage, the few staff are

always over burdened and they end up over working.
Many either develop stress due to unaccomplished tasks
or roles or do break-down due to much work on their
desks and either way, this is not very health for both the
organization and the labour. This is why it is pertinent
that a fair ratio between the staff and the work load has
to be maintained. For example, in a teaching learning
environment at upper primary level especially in the
developing world, the teacher student ratio of 1:60
would be reasonable as illustrated in Figure 1.1.
30
Background diagram adapted from

http://www.upstarthr.com-teaching-your-supervisor-
the basics-of-management
Figure 1.1: Depicting teacher-student ratio
Another example could be drawn from the health sector

whereby the number of patients per doctor is
established and it is an indicator of development if there
are few patients per doctor. Bottom line, a Human
Resources Planner must recommend appointment of
31
medical personnel after making the required staffing

plan. Figure 1.2 is depictive of the Doctor- Patient ratio
which is 1:100.
Background diagram adapted from

http://www.easyvectors.com/tags/Doctors
Figure 1.2: Showing Doctor-Patient ratio
Suitable illustration on effective Human Resources

Planning in relation to Ratio-Trend Analysis may be
drawn from the Higher Education Profession also. The
number of students per Resource Person may be based
upon to determine the number of doctors to be recruited
32
and hired as to ensure effective service provision and

delivery.
PROGRAMS STAFF
QUALIFICATIONS
DIPLOMA BACHELOR
BACHELOR MASTERS
MASTERS Ph. D
Ph. D PROFESSOR
Figure 1.3: Showing number, level and qualification of

academicians required to handle different academic
study programs.
Skills Analysis
Here, a careful analysis of the mix or ratio between the

future changes and current skills and competencies of
the staff is done. This is pegged to an organisations Five
33
Year Development Plan (FYDP) . It considers the quality

and quantity of work to be done by then. For example,
in East Africa, most Institutions of Higher Learning are
governed by the Regional Governing Body; the Inter
University Council of Eastern Africa that is emphatical
on quality assurance (QA). It demands that a Masters
Degree Holder may teach but can not supervise Masters
Degree Program students.
Therefore, Universities are duty bound to check their

human resource capacity before they mount graduate
study programs. Lists showing qualifications of both the
teaching staff and the supervisors of the graduate
programs must be available to secure approval of
specific study programs by the National Council for
Higher Education (NCHE) in the case of Uganda and
the Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU) in
Tanzanias scenario.
Skills Analysis may also be the very reason why some

study programs may be cancelled or postponed at many
Universities due to lack of enough teaching and/or
supervising staff. At a number of Universities such as
the Islamic University in Uganda and the Zanzibar
University in Tanzania, Ph.D. is the first point of entry
as a Lecturer. This is done to satisfy the need for the mix
between skills of staff and quality of educational
34
services provided. Figure 1.3 also best suits this issue of

skills analysis.
Supply Forecast for Labour
This measures the quantity and quality of the workers

most likely to be available for hiring within a specific
time frame, but, within a firm. Hence, it may be a re-
deployment or a transfer to other units of a firm. The
Human Resources Planner considers recommendation
for engaging more staff basing on the following critical
questions:-
Will the staff required in the near future be available

within the firm or not?
If yes, will they be willing to work using the existing
salary scale offered by the firm or not?
Will they be a dependable workforce or not?
Will the head of sections be willing to release them
for the transfer or promotion?
If not, what will be the most likely conditionalities
for their release?
What will be the next plan of action to be taken in
case such conditionalities are not fulfilled?
35
Activities of Supply Forecast for Labour
There are three main activities carried out by a Human

Resources Planner while effecting the Supply Forecast
for Labour. These are:-
Analysis of Existing Resources (AER)
At this level, the Human Resources Planner considers

details of the current occupation that among other
things focuses at:-
the length of service,

the level of skill,
the competency and
the area of specialization.
By analyzing the foregoing details, the workers are

appraised, their performance is rated and those who
obtain the highest scores are then recommended for
redeployment. The trend is that most organizations
prefer redeployment of their existing staff to bringing on
board new employees. This practice motivates staff as
redeployment is a sign of appreciation by management
for work the staff has done very well.
36
Analysis of Wastage, Scrappage, Loss and Destruction
Efficiency or effectiveness of a worker is usually based

upon by the Human Resources Planner to recommend
redeployment. The rate of staff turn over is also
considered. Careless employees who waste
organizational resources, who loose or destroy
organizational facilities and/or property, are a liability
and usually management plans to get rid of them. They
are usually easily replaced by new applicants.
An Assessment of changes in conditions of work
Here, the Human Resources Planner recommends staff

recruitment which is pegged unto future posts available
within the various departments. A merger of units or
restructuring leads to staff reduction. A firm may
change from full time to part time, or to casual
labourers, or piece-pay, or to reduced over time and the
like.

(DEHRG)
This relates to the number of staff most likely to fall out

of the firm at a future date and if they fell out, how
would the gaps created be filled? (DEHRG) is a vital
37
role of a Personnel Manager, because if the Human

Capital is not thoroughly planned for in advance, a firm
may incur some missing gaps and it stagnates as a result
of exit of some staff. Staff often fall out due to the
following variables just among others:-
Age Bracket (Retirement Age)
The inventory should clearly depict this data. That is to

say,
When did a member of staff join the organization?

How old was the employee?
When will the employee attain retirement age? The
moment this data is not obtained in advance and a
member of staff leaves, the staff leaves a gap that
may be hard to fill instantly especially if the exiting
staff was highly specialized. This may explain why,
most organizations demand for ample time (say
three month notice) within which one to express
interest to renew ones contract or otherwise.
Political Instability
It is arguably true that during times of political chaos,

work stagnates as many staff leave the organization for
fear of their precious lives and this creates gaps in a
firm. The Human Resources Planner may be advised to
38
recommend payment of hardship allowance to be able

to seduce staff to stay in the challenging conditions of
instability.
Political/Government Interference
Gaps may also be created in a firm in case the political

system or the government in power interferes with the
smooth flow of the countrys civil service system. In
most developing countries, this may be in form of
inability to share the few portfolios existing in the
various departments. Some arguments behind this
interference may be advanced such as:-
Staff appointments based on technical know who

other than technical know how.
Some governments desiring to pay off their

supporters by appointing them in juicy state
portfolios. An argument goes winner of general
elections takes it all. Under such circumstances
therefore, the little known in government circles or
those in opposition may leave their jobs. Hence,
creating Human Resources gaps in a firm.
Government in power may refuse to honour

recommendation of appointment of a person who
39
may be having different political views, feelings and

sentiments. Therefore, creating gaps in a firm as
appointment is not effected.
Leave Entitlement
Organisations the world over do offer leave facilities to

their employees and in situations where such an
entitlement is offered, a gap may be created in a firm.
The following are good examples of leave entitlements
in firms; sick leave, or maternity leave, or annual leave,
or study leave, or compassionate leave.
Promotion or Transfer
A Human Resources gap may be created in case a

member of staff is either transferred to other branches of
the firm or promoted to other levels or areas of
management. The decision to transfer staff or to
promote staff usually is based upon ones past
performance. But, it creates a gap.
Reforms
Human Resources gaps may be created the moment

reforms are carried out and implemented in a firm.
Reforms may have a bearing on job redesigning or
merging of departments or due to degree of growth and
40
expansion of the organization. In most cases, staff

performance is found wanting as they fail to cope up
with the new demands of section after job redesigning
or departmental merger. In fact, many want to go for
refresher courses to fit in. If such opportunities are not
provided, the staff do resign and this creates gaps.
Government Policy
A government may decide to implement reforms such

as decentralization or re-centralisation that may be
agitated for with the view of ensuring efficiency and
effectiveness of the civil service or ensuring that services
are taken nearer to people. Such a move may create gaps
in an organization as the human capital change move
from the current to the new work stations.
Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAP)
Whenever and wherever Structural Adjustment

Programs are implemented, gaps within the firms are
expected. Among others, the programs that may be
implemented are liberalization, privatization as well as
retrenchment (downsizing).
These may be agitated for by international financial

organizations such as International Monetary Fund
41
(IMF) or World Bank (WB) whose policies may be

geared towards efficiency and effectiveness of the civil
service. Many developing countries such as Uganda,
Malawi and Indonesia have gone through this kind of
arrangement more especially of retrenchment at one
time or another.
Brain Drain
This is a scenario where the workforce look for greener

pastures due to unfavourable terms and conditions of
employment that either their organizations specifically
or their home civil service system in general do offer. In
most developing economies, many people especially
from the academia refer to brain drain as brain gain.
This is so because greener pastures do offer better terms
and conditions of work that enable the work force see
ends meeting!
At the moment, in the United States of America, the

minimum wage is 7.25 USD per hour. Yet, most people
in the developing world are living below poverty line.
This may explain why the argument connoting brain
drain as brain gain may be holding a lot of water.
42
Resignation or Abscondment
A human resource gap may occur in an organization if a

member of staff either resigns or absconds the job.
There are numerous factors that lead to staff resignation
and these among others include;
Job insecurity. This may arise from conflicts or

misunderstandings or disagreements among
departmental members or junior staff with their
immediate bosses. The organization becomes a
living hell and one may therefore leave for security
reasons.
One may also resign in case the terms and
conditions of payment are not favourable compared
to those offered by other competitive firms.
One resign if the terms and conditions offered before
are revised downward by management to the
disappointment of the employee. One does not
justify ones stay any longer!
Management style may also be another cause of
resignation. This is so because management may be
suppressive, oppressive and coercive which may be
resented by the staff.
43
On the other hand however, abscondment may be

caused by:-
laziness of an individual employee to measure up to

the demands and requirements of the job.
Lack of internal locus of control may also lead to
abscondment. This is so because an employee may
not be interested in working and therefore he/she
keeps on dodging work and responsibilities. He/she
fails to turn up for duty. As time goes-by, he/she
begins reporting late, then becomes a perpetual
absentee and eventually leaves the firm. Hence,
creating a gap!
Technological Advancement
Organisations always carry out benchmarking with

their counterparts. One of the areas benchmarked is
technological advancement. A firm that adopts and
operationalises benchmarking ends up replacing its
human capital with machines through automation or
computerization of the systems in a department. By so
doing, the manpower reduces and this may create gaps
in the firm.
It is arguably true that despite the advancement in

Science and Technology, machine can never replace
man a hundred percent because it is man is an active
44
factor of production who also puts into use all the other
factors of production including machinery used in
service or goods production. Man therefore stands out
to be the most important ingredient in the service
provision and goods production. Man must therefore be
handled with care as to continue supporting the high-
tech used in firms as not to create gaps.
Social Context
This is a situation where human resources gaps may be

created in a firm resulting from marriages or transfers of
the human capital. An employee effecting the institution
of marriage may change residence and goes with the
spouse. This is so because family ties create a stronger
bond than the workplace of the spouse. This
automatically creates a gap in a firm.
Firing
Whenever an employee changes colour and starts

misbehaving to the disappointment of the organization
that wants to protect corporate image and credibility,
the employee is fired and this creates human resources
gaps in such a firm. Misbehaviour may be in form of :-
Frequent late reporting for duty
45
Frequent absenteeism
Signs of mistrust
Neglect of work
Mischief
Disobedience
Naughtiness
Wickedness
Malicious propaganda against fellow
employees or the firm or management.
Interdiction
Due to gross misconduct, an employee may be

interdicted from work to pave way for effective
investigations about the employees misconduct. Results
of investigation may lead to imprisonment. During the
time of interdiction or imprisonment, automatically, a
firm experiences human resources gaps. Causes of
interdiction just among others may include:-
Mismanagement or misappropriation of
institutional resources
Embezzlement of institutional funds
Corruption
Bribery
Mischief
46
Geographical Location
An employee may be transferred to a new work station

which according to the individuals perception, may be
hostile or insecure to him or her. The employee may
refuse to go and this may be a serious cause of human
resource gap at the would be new work station.
Hostility anticipated may arise from:-
Whether conditions that may extremely be cold

or hot and may affect the life of the relocating
employee.
Nature of people who may not be social or
cooperative with the new employee. Many
people in many organizations want to work
with their own local people. They detest
outsiders or foreigners expressing interest to
join their firms as employees. The situation is
worse if the staff in the receiving organizations
lack international exposure or if they are
inward looking!
Natural Calamities
Natural disaster such as floods, earthquake, volcanic

eruptions, bushfire and epidemic may hit an area and
either people die in big numbers or are forced to vacate.
47
This creates human resources gaps in the organizations

in that disaster/calamity-hit-region. Those receiving
information about the aftermaths of the calamity may
not be willing to take up job opportunities available.
Hence, widening the human resources gap.
Managerial Style
When holding positions of power or authority in firms,

many people forget that they are servants of the led.
Therefore, they coerce, oppress and suppress their
subordinates who get fed up and resign. They seek
opportunities in better and well managed enterprises
that more over offer better terms and conditions of
service. Thus, this creating human resources gaps in the
firm.
Action Planning
This is the last of the four Human Resources Planning

activities. It basically implies managing effectively how
to prepare and implement strategies aimed at satisfying
future human resources needs in a firm. One does not
deviate from the agreed upon staffing plan as
strategically planned from time to time.
48
SECTION TWO
IMPORTANCE OF HUMAN RESOURCES

MANAGEMENT
49
Human Resources Management has several definitions

according to different academicians and authors. For
example, Gary (2004: 2) defines the concept as referring
to the practices and policies one needs to carry out the
personnel aspects of ones job management, specifically,
acquiring, training, rewarding and providing a safe,
ethical and fair environment for ones companys
employees.
Originally, Human Resources Management (HRM) was
not a critical issue in organisations. However, its fame
and status have been elevated due to legal complexities,
the value of the Human Capital as a means of increased
productivity and the costs associated with poor
management of the human resources in firms the world
over.
It is arguably true that of all the three factors of

production; capital, land and labour, the latter is the
most important factor because it taps and puts to use the
rest of the factors of production (Nsubuga 2006:93).
Therefore, it is pertinent that organizations accord the
human capital the attention and/or the value it deserves
due to its usefulness in the survival, growth and
development of the organizations. In principle, the
importance of the human capital in firms is of two
categories notably:-
50
Strategic Importance
Bottom-line performance immensely affects the

effectiveness of the personnel. Therefore, the human
capital has to be well managed to produce to their
fullest potential since their mistreatment may have far
reaching negative consequences to authorities
specifically and to the organization in general. Poor
human resource management is costly as it leads to:
Payment of Unemployment Compensation
The human capital being the most useful factor of

production plays a pivotal role in the production of
goods and services a firm is engaging in. This may
explain why firms usually spend a lot on recruiting and
hiring the most talented labour.
Therefore, when mishandled and they decide to vacate

or resign, the firm is going to bear the costs of paying
unemployment compensation to the staff matching
away. Today, the human capital is pretty aware of their
entitlement, benefits and rights. When they are
unjustifiably ejected out of the system, they sue the
firms that handle the court cases at their peril and cost
in form of compensation and damages caused to the
fleeing and dissatisfied employee.
51
Training Expenses
Due to stiff competition, organizations are striving to

keep in business. They do so by keeping their
employees updated on new developments in their midst
and in the environment. Therefore, they organize
refresher courses, workshops, seminars and symposia
aimed at keeping the staff posted with current
techniques and strategies of effective work execution.
It would therefore be erroneous to mistreat the staff and

finally let them go after investing in them heavily.
Therefore, due to their strategic importance, they ought
to be well managed and satisfied to continue rendering
services to their fullest potential as this also coils down
to the survival of the firm.
Low morale of the Workforce
The human capital is the fulcrum around which

production and service delivery hinge in an
organization. Therefore, for effective work execution, a
Human Resources Officer has to strategically keep the
workforce motivated as to keep their morale high. The
motivated staff will walk an extra mile trying to perform
to their fullest potential and this propels the firm to
higher horizons.
52
A motivated body of staff proves a self starter; it does

not require external motivation such as money to do the
work. It becomes self directing, it has all the potential to
be reckoned with. It is an asset, not a liability. Therefore,
strategically, a Human Resources Officer taps and
utilizes their individual capabilities to involve them
fully to the overall benefit of the organization.
Employee Underutilization
Under normal circumstances, employees in

organizations bring different skills to their jobs that
guide them to execute work efficiently and effectively.
There are those who attend to the routine work as
prescribed either in their job descriptions or job
specifications. But, some go beyond the call of duty to
render more service to the firm. Therefore, those who
can offer more, should be identified, motivated and
utilized to perform extra tasks for the overall benefit of
the organization.
Secondly, organizations especially the start-up firms

and those in poor economies depend on unbalanced
budget. Firms can not therefore afford to appoint very
many staff. So, the few that are appointed are given
extra responsibilities to execute and this enables the
53
firms to save resources they would have otherwise paid

the many staff they would have appointed. Thus,
ending up utilizing all staff to the maximum.
Haphazard Compensation of Employees
With planned, purposeful and strategic employee

motivation and compensation, the workforce is easily
motivated to render its services relentlessly. This is so
because they are satisfied and develop ardent love for
their organization. Their morale is kept high due to job
satisfaction. They end up making tremendous
contribution to the firm and this leads to goal
attainment.
Therefore, a well laid down compensation system as

opposed to a slapdash one will be a source of internal
motivation to staff and management should strategically
encourage it and implement it for the good of
everybody in the firm and the firm itself. Its effects are
indeed enormous. Short of this, management may pay a
lot in terms of employee compensation on being sued
for mismanagement such as unfair dismissal, poor
health care, careless management of the affairs of the
workforce and the like.
54
Legal Importance
This is the second area from which the usefulness of

Human Resources Management in an organization can
be derived. This is so because without a strategic,
conscious and purposeful human resource
management, an organization may be sued and it can
pay a lot in terms of law suits or compensation or
damages to the aggrieved employees. The following just
among others are some of the critical areas that show
the legal importance of good management of the human
capital in organisations.
Subjective staff hiring Practices
From the word go, a Human Resources Officer must

effect his or her roles systematically and consciously
because he or she is dealing with very intelligent
persons that not only know the law but also know their
rights and entitlement. At any step of recruitment
where the Human Resources Officer or the recruiting
organization misfires, the firm or the Human Resources
Officer may be sued in courts of law for discrimination.
Therefore, expensive and embarrassing discrimination
lawsuits can be avoided by avoiding subjective staff
hiring practices. For example, in some societies, it is
55
against the law at the time of interview to ask

interviewees about their;
Sex
Tribe
Religion
Colour
Age and
Marital status because they may be used as clear
areas of discrimination.
This is therefore the reason why Personnel Managers

are useful in firms to guide management on the best
recruitment practices in general and human resources
management specifically because bad recruitment
practices are minimized and organizational
performance is not jeopardized with.
This may also explain why most laws the world over
especially in the USA regulate the various aspects of
employee-employer relations. This view is also shared
with Nickles (1990) who elaborates much on the laws
governing employee-employer relations and some of
them are;
The Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO),

Compensation and Benefit (C and B),
56
Employee Health and Safety (EH and S).
Under the Equal Employment Opportunity

Legislation, several laws forbade employers to unfairly
treat their staff. Most vital is Title VII of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964 that stipulated that in all areas of
employment, be it hiring, separation, discharge,
discipline, compensation, access to training, promotion,
demotion, transfer, there shant be:-
Discrimination on the basis of sex

Discrimination on the basis of race
Discrimination on the basis of colour
Discrimination on the basis of religion
Discrimination on the basis of ethnicity concerns
Discrimination on the basis of national origin
Human Resources Personnel in the USA accord much

attention to even the less overt forms of discrimination
because they do not only lead to expensive
discrimination lawsuits, but also, they lead to
immediate disengagement from the job. In the
contemporary American society, where America is no
longer for Whites and Males only as the case used to be,
America is also for Blacks like Collin Powel, Eric H.
Holder; Attorney General of the United States, President
57
Barack H. Obama and for women like Suzan Rice,

Condoleezza Rice who served as the sixty sixth United
States Secretary of State, Madiline Albright, Mrs. Hillary
Clinton and many others. The American society is now
very wide open to the extent that the employment tests
that used to be highly passed by whites only are passed
by whoever has ability to sit them.
Secondly, the height or weight standards for Police

Officers and Fire Fighters that used to be for few people
are now open ended because females and other
minorities are no longer eliminated. This has become
possible because in the United States of America, the
EEO Commission exists and it ensures that Title VII is
enforced. Thus, elevating the usefulness of Human
Resources Management in the economies and/or
organizations. Figure 2.1 illustrates this point very
clearly!
58
Adapted from www.estuary.co.uk/ equality in

organization. Accessed on 21st April 2013.
Figure 2.1: Depicting equality of all in terms of

employment
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act
This has much significance on the legal importance of

Human Resource Management. It was passed in 1967
but amended in 1978; it banned discrimination against
persons between the ages of 40 to 69. The work force in
America may only be forced to retire before the age of
70 due to serious and well documented health and
performance-related variables.
59
Gary (2004: 29) argues that the Age Discrimination in

Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967, as amended, makes
it unlawful to discriminate against employees or
applicants for employment who are 40 years of age or
older, effectively ending most mandatory retirement.
In the face of this Act therefore, it is vividly clear that it

is not age that executes work; it is the individual
employee. Therefore, so long as one is capable of
delivering to the satisfaction of the job demands and
requirements, one can not be forced into retirement!
Around the world, there are so many youths who are

graduates, but, they are too lazy and they do not want
to work. They are too feeble to do anything
constructive. This shows the usefulness of Human
Resources Management in organizations today.
Compensation and Benefits
Under the Compensation and Benefits Regulation,

payment of wages, salaries and provision of benefits to
employees is regulated. The Fair Labour Standards Act
of 1938 did set the minimum wage. In the United
States, it is fixed at USD 7.25 and in the United
Kingdom, this was increased to 5.80 per hour by 2005.
It is taboo for organizations to pay below this amount
60
and Personnel Officers must strictly ensure that this

regulation is implemented. This also clearly depicts the
legal usefulness of Human Resources Management.
Equal Pay Act of 1963
Although this Act recognizes seniority at the workplace,

it requires that male and female employees that are
doing the same job that demands similar skills, effort,
competency and performed under same working
conditions should be paid the same rate. This too
reflects the usefulness of effective human resources
management in legal terms.
It is pertinent to note that the provision of benefits is

also regulated. Some benefits are mandatory such as;
Unemployment Compensation for laid off

employees,
Workers Compensation Insurance for workers
injured on the job. This is captured under the
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974
(ERISA)
61
Labour Relations
These link the employees to the employers. The

National Labour Relations Act (Wagner Act) of 1935
enabled workers to vote for or against the existence of
Trade Unions. It dealt with unfair labour practices,
aversion of strikes and the like. This also shows clearly
the usefulness of Human Resources Management in the
eyes of the law.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970

(OSHA)
It directly mandates provision of safe working

conditions to staff. Employers must ensure that the
work places are free of hazards that cause death or
serious physical harm to workers.
Occupational diseases emanating from long-term-

exposure to hazards including excessive noise and
carcinogenic, cotton dust and chemicals are also major
concerns of this Act. Organisations that fail to provide a
secure working environment can be sued at their own
peril and cost. This also shows clearly the legal
usefulness of Human Resources Management.
62
Sexual Harassment
In the contemporary work environment, there are

several legal concerns that relate to sexual harassment
on the job. Alcoholicism, drug addiction and HIV/AIDS
victims also fall under these legal concerns. Work
environment must be free of these vices. Organizations
where they are strictly forbidden, are just portraying
adherence to the legal usefulness of Human Resources
Management.
DeCenzo and Robbins (2005: 79) regard sexual

harassment as any unwanted activity of a sexual
nature that affects an individuals employment. It can
occur between members of the opposite or of the same
sex, between organization employees or employees and
non employees. .sexual harassment behaviour can
occur where verbal or physical conduct towards an
individual,
1. creates an intimidating, offensive, or hostile

environment
2. unreasonably interferes with an individuals
work; or
3. adversely affects an employees employment
opportunities.
63
Affirmative Action
In order to emphasize the legal importance of Human

Resources Management in organizations, it is advisable
that affirmative action should be enforced to cater for all
concerns that are not captured in the existing legal
instruments that govern personnel management in
firms. For example, if policies are quiet about hiring
qualified persons with disabilities (handicapped
persons), or where they are underutilized, or where they
are underrepresented, then, affirmative action should be
resorted to with the aim of elevating such peoples
status and position in society. After all, it is arguably
true that disability does not mean inability to perform or
to execute tasks in firms.
64
SECTION THREE
ROLES OF PERSONNEL MANAGERS
65
A Personnel Manager in an organization may also be

referred to as a Human Resources Manager or Officer.
The office bearer is in charge of the workforce by virtue
of this portfolio or establishment in an organisation.
Among others, the Human Resources Officer carries out
the following tasks:-
Carrying out a Staff Needs Assessment (SNA)
This role stems from Human Resources Planning. It is

also technically referred to as Staff Needs Analysis. It
involves finding out the number and type of employees
needed at a given time, the firms future human
resources needs. This may have a bearing on the sex of
potential employees required in the various
departments. The age of the employees to be hired may
also be critical. That is to say elderly or youths.
The qualification is also one of the parameters used

when carrying out the staff Needs Analysis. For
example, no under age because it conflicts with the
International Labour Laws that forbid child labour.
However, over age depends on the environment or
particular organization. In the American context, one
continues to be on the payroll of an organization until it
is proved beyond any reasonable doubt that ones age
may bar one from executing work effectively.
66
Recruitment and Selection of Applicants
After carrying out the staff needs assessment, then, the

Human Resources Officer embarks on the exercise of
recruitment and selection of the potential employees of
the firm.
Principally, recruitment implies attraction of applicants

to join the firm. This is done through advertisement in
the mass and electronic media. In some economies, door
to door job seekers are also considered without
necessarily waiting and referring to the advertisement.
Then, the Personnel Officer selects the potential staff

after taking them through an interview session. This is
aimed at screening out those with the required qualities
from those who do not have them. It is not true that
whoever applies is selected, some screening is effected
and some are short listed for interviews. The successful
interviewees are then selected.
Mobility or Stability of the Workforce
Human Resources Officers are charged with the noble

duty of ensuring that after staff have been recruited and
fixed or selected, then, they become stable in their
departments for effective work execution. Despite the
67
fact that there is labour mobility across organizations

and countries, most firms prefer to recruit staff on a
permanent basis to recruiting staff who are mobile and
unstable.
In this connection therefore, the Human Resources

Officer determines and recommends to appointing
authorities the most suitable applicant basing upon
region (decentralization), number of staff required (no
over/under staffing), age (experience) and the like.
Carrying out Training and Retraining Programs.
After selection, the Human Resources Officer carries out

an evaluation exercise aimed at identifying the strong
and weak points of the newly fixed staff. The evaluation
here is done either by hands-on, or on the job, or off the
station, or through refresher courses that may either be
short or mid or long term. The training or retraining
program helps the staff to improve their performance as
new skills are acquired.
It is however unfortunate to note that advantageous as

the training and retraining programs may be for the
firm and the individual employees, most organizations
operating in most developing economies do not have
internal and external training policies. The few that have
such facilities abuse them because training fora are not
68
attended by the right personnel. Instead, the incumbent

Managers/Directors do so but just to maximise the per
diem!
Carries out Staff Performance Appraisals (SPA)

This is yet another useful function effected by Human
Resources Officers in organizations. It is an exercise
though that enables Personnel Officers to determine the
degree of performance of each individual employee
against set performance standards. Then, the Personnel
Officer uses the evaluation or appraisal results to
recommend to management to take decision. The
decision normally is either to promote, or to demote, or
to retain or to transfer the evaluated staff.
It is however absurd to note that useful as its objectives

are to the appraisee specifically and to the appraising
firm in general, the exercise in most developing
countries and organizations is also abused in a number
of ways notably:-
The appraisers are biased, subjective and extremely

unfair in their dealings as they end up favouring
some staff at the expense of others.
The appraisers are so corrupt that they evaluate staff
and release evaluation results based on lines of
69
technical know who instead of technical know how!

This may explain why in most cases those who get
the job offers or those who are promoted fail to
measure up to the expectations of the management
and organization because their performance is
wanting since they never merited the job offers.
Designs Retirement Packages
Organisations fix staff who make a contribution that

propels an organization to its highest degree or horizon
of success. But, the staff tenure last. It is therefore
pertinent that the Human Resources Officers plan well
in advance the jobless life of the workforce. Firms
should therefore plan that ageing staff are accorded
some soft landing at the time of retirement.
This package is advantageous to the firm in a number of

ways namely:-
It attracts specialized employees to the firm

especially if such packages are not offered at their
current workplaces.
It helps the staff to stabilize at work instead of being

jumpy looking for greener pastures elsewhere. One
is on a sure deal that at retirement, one will land
softly.
70
However, in most poorly managed organizations, the

package is just in theory. It is not implemented. Some
times, it is too small that it is not enjoyed by the
recipients. Therefore, it fails to serve the purpose for
which it was established and quoted in the terms of
reference at the time of the job offer!
Guides/counsels staff
It is naked fact that work related problems are

everywhere and therefore, staff should not think of
resigning each time they are confronted with stiff
challenges. Thus, in order to avert rampant resignations
by the workforce, Human Resources Officers usually
guide and counsel staff to be patient and to bear with
the prevailing challenging situations at the work place.
Challenges may be temporary especially if an able
leader is focused and addresses the challenges through
the office of the Personnel Officer.
The staff are expected to prove tougher and get going

especially when the going gets tough. They are advised
not to loose focus, but to remember the bigger picture of
the organization because problems are not permanent
and they are everywhere.
71
By doing all this, the Human Resources Officers are

acting in full cognizant of the fact that rampant
resignations by staff members impact negatively the
image, status and credibility of the organization.
Addresses staff grievances and disputes
Naturally, whenever and wherever people interact,

some problems, disputes and grievances occur among
them. This at times disrupts and disorganizes the
system. Therefore, with the aim of ensuring stability in
the firm, Personnel Officers intervene to harmonize the
conflicting staff as work may not be attended to.
It is advisable that disputes are handled before

exploding as they have the potential to stagnate the
firm. Deadlines will not be met, staff will be nursing
their differences and disputes instead of attending to
their duties. Hence, work shall stall!
Effects disciplinary action
It is arguably true that when peace does not prevail in a

firm especially on failing to register staff stability
through the aforementioned steps, then, the authorities
have to employ an iron hand to register positive results
from the staff. The Human Resources Office demands
from the erring staff to explain as to why disciplinary
72
action should not be taken against them. It ranges from

verbal warning, written warning, interdiction, to
issuance of separation letters.
However, it ought to be recalled that when

administering the punishment, the Human Resources
Officer should be realistic and reasonable because
behind the decision he takes, there is a human face.
Evidence and research should be sought before
administering the punishment without basing upon
hearsay!
Plays the roles of the Public Relations Officer (PRO)
Under normal circumstances, organizations are

expected to have an established Public Relations Unit
that focuses at both the internal and external
environments of the firm. This is very useful because the
operations and implementation of an organisations
activities are dependant of other organizations.
Public Relations Officer work as the mouth, the ear and

the eye of a firm. This implies that they speak on behalf
of an organization, they provide useful response to what
they hear or they see out there that may have far
reaching negative consequences unto the organization.
They provide answers to the so many issues that society
73
raises about or against the organization with the aim of

maintaining the credibility and image of the firm.
Therefore, if an organization does not have such a useful

unit, then, the Human Resources Officer performs the
roles of the Public Relations Department on behalf of the
organisation. For purposes of cutting down operational
costs, some firms opt to have one of the two units and
not both at the same time.
Research and Development (R&D)
Today, organisations are operating in a challenging and

changing environment especially due to globalisation
that has made the whole world become a tiny village.
Therefore, whatever business the firm is engaging in, is
faced with stiff competition and challenges. Vigilance is
therefore required in terms of improving service
provision and delivery, lest, they may be out-competed
by other organisations in the same business.
Under these circumstances therefore, organisations need

to continuously improve their products and services
and this can not be an easy task without carrying out
research. Research enables the organisations to read the
environment as to be aware of the new services and
products on the market so as to adjust accordingly.
74
The quality and the quantity of goods and services have

to be checked almost on a daily basis, lest, a firm may
collapse for non adherence to the style, form and type of
services and goods needed by the changing
environment in which it is operating!
With research therefore, new brands of goods shall be

produced. New types of services that are demand
driven shall be provided. Services will be taken nearer
to people. Organisations shall move closer to the base of
the clientele. The traditional methods of operations shall
be discarded and new styles shall be adopted for the
benefit of the firm in general in terms of customer care,
customer satisfaction and customer service. Hence, the
need for a strong Personnel Department in an
organisation.
75
SECTION FOUR
CHALLENGES OF STAFF RECRUITMENT IN A

GLOBAL CONTEXT
76
Recruitment is defined differently by various

academicians and authors. For instance, Rao (2005: 124)
views it as the process of locating and encouraging
potential applicants to apply for existing or anticipated
job openings. Recruitment may be defined as the
process of luring the best of the very best applicants to
fill a vacant portfolio in a firm.
It may also be viewed as the part of the employment

process that aims at matching the successful applicants
with the requirements of the available openings at a
given time in a firm.
It is also viewed as a mechanism through which

individuals are matched with the relevant available
organisational tasks, projects, programs and duties that
may be deemed necessary by the management in place
at a time.
Recruitment is also seen as a legal mechanism of

obtaining the right number of resource persons needed
at a time to fill the right vacant posts at the right time
and in a right unit or section.
It is noted from the foregoing definitions that the very

best have to be searched for to avoid painful regrets by
sourcing regionally or globally if the home labour
77
market does not provide the required personnel. In fact,

it is expected that this ought to be the approach if the
recruiting organization has business engagements in the
domestic or local, regional, or international markets.
Normally, recruitment starts with running some adverts

in the mass or electronic media whereby the advertising
firm is expecting people to express interest to join a firm
on accessing the advertisement. Recruitment effected on
a global perspective has its challenges some of which
are analysed as follows:-
Challenges of Managing Recruitment Exercise in a

Global Context
In most firms especially in the developing economies,

the recruitment exercise is tedious particularly if it is a
re-deployment because the exercise may be marred by
corruption and inexperience of those in charge. They
fail to measure up to the challenge and this has led to
the closing down of very many firms as the recruitment
exercise fails to target the best of the very best
applicants. It is marred by numerous flaws and this
explains why performance of staff who are finally
recruited may be wanting.
One wonders why a handful of managers are still

developing headache of finding the right persons to
78
be recruited despite the availability of numerous

tertiary institutions that are passing out thousands
of graduates in various disciplines and moreover at
different levels as clearly depicted in Figure 4.1. A
number of factors behind this challenge are
advanced.
Figure 4.1: Depicting a cross section of graduands of the

Tenth Graduation Ceremony of the Zanzibar University
(photo taken on Tuesday 18th December, 2012)
79
Head-hunting of Specialized Personnel
Organisations search around the domestic larbour

market for highly specialized personnel who may be
recruited to fill vacant portfolios but more often than
not, they fail to get the right personnel. The only option
therefore is to search the regional, continental and
international labour markets for the required
candidates.
This move causes numerous challenges because of the

cost involved. For example, besides the resources that
will be paid in form of facilitation for movement of the
candidate from the home to the new labour market, a
firm may incur transfer costs. This often happens in the
world of football where players transferring from one
Club to another have proved very costly. This is the case
between Manchester United and Real Madrid in the case
of Christiano Ronaldo or even Real Madrids Jose
Morinho. The later was head-hunted from Inter Milan.
These examples may explain why in the world of

football still, scouts are always sent to watch big
competitions the world over with the target out
searching best players and best coaching personnel that
may be lured to new clubs.
80
The other variable that makes head-hunting very

laborious is that many people especially in the
developing world fail to market themselves unto the
international scene despite the fact that they may be
possessing the requisite and specialized skills. They are
unknown because they fail to upload their profiles on
the websites! So, despite the numerous advertisements
aimed at luring such specialists to the organization, the
effort does not bear any positive results.
Cost Implications
Headhunting proves laborious in terms of cost

involved and language used. As regard the language
problem, many people misinterpret things and things
become abstract. For example; when one says that James
went to bank but does not provide details, one may
remain wondering which bank because there is a river
bank and a Bank standing for a financial institution.
Secondly, the cost of the advertisements featuring in

international media may be prohibitive. They feature on
radio, television as well as in news papers. Some firms
may not be rich enough to run several of such vital
advertisements on the one hand and on the other hand,
some people may not be in position to access the adverts
81
in question. Hence, people fail to access the adverts and

the personnel required are not recruited.
Cost of recruitment may also be in terms of time spent

on searching for the personnel required. Skilled
personnel may not readily be available on the labour
market at the time of the search. Therefore, during
periods of the search, practically, work stalls and this is
to the detriment of the firm.
Further still, cost may be in terms of interview sessions

that may be conducted aimed at filling the vacant
portfolios. Some firms engage international recruiting
agencies whose services are payable at very high rates
as they are in form of consultancy.
In some organizations, inducting or orienting the new

staff into the firm is also a costly exercise. The incoming
staff need to know their new firm in and out as to be
able to operate within scope and expectations of the
management and the firm. Thus, making orientation
very useful but too costly to firms with small start up
capital.
82
Adapted from www.google.com/images/money/

Accessed on 22/03/2013
Figure 4.2: Depicting cost of advertisement firms incur.
Corporate Cultures
Recruitment for international business entities may also

be laborious due to corporate cultures. Issues like
language, norms, values, beliefs, institute cultures form
corporate cultures. Corporate cultures may be
repugnant to the incoming member of staff. For
83
example, in Tanzania, How are you? as a form of

greeting is given to different meanings within the same
country. For instance;
Wabesa?
Mwangaluka mwayo?
Kula mkuu?
Habari za unjuu?
Second example is still drawn from Tanzania Mainland
where the word or noun Mfereji is used to mean pipe
where sewage passes while in Zanzibar it means a tap
where clean water is obtainable!
There are also other very clear examples of languages

that are spoken in different areas of the globe but that
have the potential to make the work of recruiting
officers in firms very laborious. They are portrayed in
Figures 4.3 and 4.4.
84
Adapted from www.chiasunchong.com/many different

languages, accessed on 23rd April 2013
Figure 4.3: Depicting different languages the work force

use the world over
85
Adapted from www.tazzandmarsha.com/2 different

languages. Accessed on 23rd April 2013
Figure 4.4: Depicting different languages the work force

use worldwide
Core Values of an Organisation
A firm may also be uncompromising on some of its core

values. They are the very reasons for its establishment
and henceforth its very existence. Therefore, a firm may
advertise but does not get the target applicants required
86
since applicants values may not be suitable. For

example, some business entities take employment
medical tests as they fear taking on either sickly or
pregnant applicants.
They may end up either unfairly leaving out qualified

personnel or even stigmatizing them. To some
especially those which are agitating for workers
fundamental rights, this is unethical and therefore
unacceptable! Some of the organizations are
International Labour Organisation, Save the Children
International, UNICEF. Figure 4.5 illustrates such
organizations that are against discrimination of any
nature of those who may be infected with HIV/AIDS.
87
Adapted from
http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/file:Red_Ribbon.s
vg, accessed on 08.05.2013
Figure 4.5: Showing Red Ribbon as related to HIV/AIDS
Modern channels used for transmission of information

or advertisement may not be accessible in some areas
due to remoteness, lack of power and other reasons.
Therefore, however much a firm advertises, the target
applicant may not be accessed and therefore staff
required are not found!
88
Organisational aims, objectives, mission, vision and

goals that are vague
Objectives are supposed to be SMART; specific,

measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound. It is
arguably true that executing tasks and working with
organizations whose objectives are not SMART is an
acid test. An objective such as; We shall hire only Ph.D.
holders of 23 years and below by the year 2050 can not
be realistic and if a firm sticks to its guns, it may not get
the target applicants!
For purposes of effective work execution therefore, since

organizational aims and objectives are affected by time
and space, they ought to be periodically revisited and
revitalized. Lest, there could be scenarios where the
environment in which the firms are operating is
89
changing yet the firms are static which will be self-

defeating and detrimental to the firm.
Legal restrictions
Recruitment may prove a burden to the Personnel

Manager because of the legal arm of either government
or international institutions. For example, a firm by law
may be required or barred to recruit certain categories of
people such that however much it advertises, it may fail
to obtain the personnel required. In this case, the Civil
Rights Acts that are emphatical on the recruitment of
the minorities, women and the disadvantaged groups
may serve as appropriate examples.
In Uganda, the National Union of People with
Disabilities (NUDP) argues that disability is not
inability. Therefore, it demands that employers must
engage people with disabilities. International Labour
Organisation (ILO) forbids the recruitment of the under-
age persons (Child labour). UNICEF and Save the
Children International forbid child neglect, abuse,
exploitation and the like. Vividly, this is exemplified in
Figures 4.6, 4.7 and 4.8.
90
Adapted from www.unicef.org/search/search.php? Q =

violence against children, posted May 25th 2012,
accessed 08.05.2013
Figure 4.6: Depicting violence against children
91
Adapted from
www.unicef.org/protection/drcongo_35096.htm posted
26 July, 2006, accessed 08.05.2013
Figure 4.7: Showing a sample of Child Labour
92
Adapted from www.unicef.org/search/search.php? Q =

violence against children, posted May 25th 2012,
accessed 08.05.2013
Figure 4.8: Depicting another sample of child labour
93
Ethnic concerns
Many Personnel Managers hire staff basing on technical

know who other than technical know how. There is
corruption (TKK, Brown envelop), nepotism, collision in
firms. In such situations therefore, recruitment may not
be easy in some organizations.
Discrimination or corruption
Discrimination due to colour, sex, creed, political

affiliation (winner takes it all) is also at play.
Applications from Blacks are not entertained here is
common in many parts of the globe! Therefore, in places
where such a social vice has taken strong root, it may be
too hard for people to secure employment. Thus, a
puzzle to the recruiting officer.
Political instability
Whereas it is true that working abroad may be lucrative,

some areas are hazardous to life unless hardship
allowance is provided. For example Mali, Afghanistan,
Iraq, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Somalia,
Palestine and the like.
On political insecurity, Gomez-Mejia et.al (2004: 620)

argue that Corporations tend to rely on expatriates for
94
top management positions when the risk of government

intervention in the business is high, when actual or
potential turmoil within the country is serious, when the
threat of terrorism exists and when there has been a
recent history of social upheaval in the country
Most Western ventures in the republics of Eastern
Europe and the former Soviet Union are run by
expatriates. The same is true in the few remaining
communist countries where political instability remains
potentially high.
95
Adapted from
http://mustafa20.deviantart.com/art/Lack-of-Safety-
366943504/accessed on 20/03/2013
Figure 4.9: Depicting scenes of political instability.
Government Interference
This may be due to vested interests in some government

officials and end up throwing their weight behind a
candidate/an applicant. Some posts are accorded to
only political party supporters. This may explain why,
buying off voters is the order of the day especially in the
developing economies. Thus, making recruitment very
challenging to recruiters.
Qualification required
This is a problem of either over or under qualification.

The labour market may have either too many qualified
or too few qualified personnel and it becomes an uphill
task to make a head way at the time of recruitment.
Crime Rate
In areas where the crime rate is the order of the day,

international recruitment may be a nightmare. For
example in Mexico, rape, murder, drug abuse are
96
rampant! One may not dare to respond to a job advert

that may feature in the mass and electronic media in
such dangerous places. Hence, making recruitment from
the international scene very challenging.
Adapted from k3325713 www.fotosearch.com
Figure 4.10: Depicting crime rate
97
Weather Conditions
Very extreme hot, cold, stormy weather conditions may

be a stumbling block for people to apply for
international jobs. People just get scared of such extreme
weather conditions and they shun a way. This could
either be too hot or too cold to be accommodated by
potential employees. More often than not, flights the
world over are cancelled due to such extreme weather
conditions.
There is no way therefore one would travel to either to

look for a jot or to attend a job interview or even to
report to duty under such unfriendly circumstances.
Hence, making it laborious for a Human Resources
Officer to recommend recruitment of people in
organisations.
Family Ties
Separation of families may also curtail mobility of

potential employees worldwide. Potential applicants
may not want to risk leaving their spouses, children and
other close relatives to go to take up foreign
assignments. Separation is such a stressful phenomenon
to both the staff and the family members especially to
the newly wed couples.
98
Adapted from
http://www.crushable.com/entertainment/david-
beckham-kids/23/03/2013
Figure 4.11: Depicting family ties as a strong factor that

may curtain labour mobility
99
SECTION FIVE
STAFF SELECTION IN THE GLOBAL

CONTEXT
100
Staff Selection is defined as the process of picking

individuals who have relevant qualifications to fill jobs
in an organization, Rao (2005: 144). It may also fixing the
right number of resource persons that have been lured
to the firm in the right portfolios, in the right unit and at
the right time. It is an activity or task a Human
Resources Officer effects immediately after the
recruitment exercise is over.
These definitions mean that the Human Resources

Officer must be conscious when recommending fixing
staff because on misfiring/failing to measure up to the
demands of the job offered by producing shoddy work,
the firm may collapse! Hence, the Personnel Officer is
not duty bound to recommend for appointment
anybody who applies for the vacant portfolio in the
firm, but, should be so selective that the best applicant
out of the very best is the only one who is recommended
to be considered for appointment.
This view is also supported by Gary (2004: 2) who

argues that managers ought to be selective while
managing human resources because they would not
want to:-
(i) hire wrong persons,

(ii) experience high turnover,
101
(iii) find employees not doing their best .
This may therefore explain why the paradigm of

Person-Job-Fit which also has much bearing on
specialisation is a handy element of job offers and job
design in organisations. The hired employees are
expected to apply their skills, abilities and competences
unto the job offered for its effective execution.
Sources of Staff Selection
There are two sources from which staff are obtained in

organizations and these are the;
Internal Source (local or domestic) and the

External Source (foreign or global)
Internal/local or domestic Source of Staff Selection
As regards internal source, the employee is selected to

fill the existing vacant portfolio in the organisation. The
local staff are strongly encouraged to express interest of
applying for the advertised vacant post. For whosoever
is selected, this works as a motivating factor for him or
her to work extra hard to convince the management that
he or she is the most suitable staff for that post. The
102
hard work portrayed may lead the staff to be promoted

to new and greener positions in the firm.
Internal source of staff selection is a kind of re-

deployment from one unit or department to another
within a firm. It can be from one area or level of
management to another. In most cases and in most
organizations, most people climb the ladder from first
line to the top level of administration.
Merits of the Internal (domestic) Source of Staff

Selection
Selecting resourceful persons from within or from the

domestic labour market is advantageous in the
following ways:-
Cost effectiveness
This is because vigorous advertisement of the existing

openings in the firm is not carried out. Hence, at times,
an internal memo or advert pinned on the notice board
may be adequate to bring the knowledge of the existing
gap to the attention of the staff with the view of asking
them to apply.
103
Skipping Interviews
Interviews may not be conducted because those who

may express interest in applying for the vacant post are
already known in and out by management. In fact, some
of them may have wealth of experience already on the
operationalisation of the tasks of the portfolio
advertised. This may explain why there may be no need
also for induction and these help to cut down costs of
staff selection.
Time Saving
The process is faster as there are no complications

involved. No meticulous preparations carried out in
terms of interviews, advertisements, short listing of
most suitable personnel to be interviewed and selected.
It is therefore not practically laborious and this may
explain why managers prefer internal or local staff
selection mechanisms to external approaches.
Motivating factor
Internal staff selection motivates the staff who has

internally been selected or re-deployed to a greener
position of the firm to work extra hard to assure
management that he or she was indeed the right choice
104
or the most suitable for the portfolio as to be considered

again for promotion when another opportunity prevails.
Meanwhile, even those who have missed the chance this

time around, they remain optimistic that there is green
light for them to be promoted when another opening
unfolds. This in a way motivates almost all staff of the
organization to triple their effort and work zealously
anticipating promotion and along the way their hard
work leads to organizational success story.
Staff are already known by the management
Management re-deploys staff from one area or level of

management to another basing upon their previous
performance. All their strong and weak points are
already known to management and therefore, there is
less need for induction of the staff in their new
portfolios. This is an advantage to management because
they do not spend resources on induction.
On the other hand, staff also know those in authority in

and out and therefore, they already know what
management wants or expects of them in terms of work
execution. They know how much they may be willing to
offer in terms of remuneration. So, undue expectations
are curbed in the organization.
105
Maximum utilisation of the human capital
Many firms the world over are experiencing economic

down turn and for this matter, they are running deficit
budgets. In such circumstances therefore, it may be hard
for them to hire new staff. The easiest and cheapest way
to fill the vacant posts is either promoting or re-
deploying the existing staff to the vacant posts.
The promoted staff are charged with the responsibility

of executing the tasks in the organization without
necessarily adding extra staff. Thus, resources are saved
for other very important assignments and tasks of the
firm. However, in practice, most firms accord the
promoted staff a responsibility allowance whose aims
are double-faced namely:-
As a motivating factor
As a facility to enable the staff execute tasks with
ease. But, it is not full salary.
Reduces redundancy
Redundancy with all its effects are reduced at the

workplace as it becomes peaceful with minimum degree
of conflict, dispute and disturbance. In fact, even others
vices such as roomer mongering and gossiping are
106
tremendously reduced if not curbed in a firm. Staff are

so busy that they have no extra time left for engaging in
issues irrelevant to their work.
The only language people are speaking is relating to

work, results, meeting deadlines and the like. Hence,
leading to organizational goal attainment as Staff are
busy attending to their duties or are minding about their
responsibilities and business!
No undue expectations
This is so because staff know the firms revenue and

expenditure patterns, weaknesses and strength. The re-
deployed or promoted staff continues to earn salary
falling within or slightly above the original salary
bracket. In most cases, staff joining from competing
firms come with varying expectations including and not
limited to fat salary, fat allowance, promotion to the
greener portfolios of the organization.
During times of financial quagmire, staff are patient and

expectant that the situation will improve or normalize
so that they are paid their dues in full. A fresh staff who
has just joined may not have that degree of patience.
The fat salary enables the staff to enjoy some good
standard of living culminating into purchase and
107
command very expensive family vehicles like Hammer

as well as putting up nice looking bungalows for the
family. On failure to get all these at times within a short
spell of time, the staff begins to agitate for higher pay
and the situation may worsen when the staff mobilizes
colleagues to strike against management due to
miserable pay!
It reduces labour turn over
This is possible because staff get access to the greener

positions of the firm. Naturally, man is always over
demanding and man is never satisfied with whatever
man has. Man always wants to get more and more.
Therefore, on serving the firm, man expects promotion,
fat salary and allowances. On failing to satisfy mans
ego, man changes behaviour that culminates into bad
workplace behaviours including but not limited to late
reporting to duty, absenteeism and labour turn over.
This is always avoided if staff were selected from within
the firm.
Good Public Relations
Mutual trust amongst management and support staff

becomes a reality. This is because staff believe that each
one of them has the potential to be re-deployed to
greener portfolios of the firm. Thus, their relationship is
108
cemented. There is full cooperation amongst them. They

promote the organization by working hard and
endeavouring to market their firm far and wide. Hence,
enhancing its credibility and image to the external
world! Such a strong working relationship might not be
enjoyed in case those in administration joined the firm
from the external source!
Enhancement of Succession Planning
Leaders in firms occupy administrative portfolios for

only a short period of time. They normally come and go
because the positions they occupy are public offices (not
personalized and they are not permanently held. The
beauty therefore with internal source of staff selection is
that the senior staff groom the junior employees who
may take over from them as effective successors either
at the end of the tenure or any time there is a vacant
post in the firm.
This is indeed a good sign of good governance if a

manager trains people who can replace the manager
when need arises. So, nobody develops headachy or
panics looking for a successor since many have been
groomed and can easily be picked up or recommended
for re-deployment.
109
It is a training tool or strategy
It is a good training tool for Line or Middle Managers.

In organizational culture and development, most people
climb ladders of administration humbly from first level
of management, then to the middle level of management
to the top level of management (Barney and Griffin,
(1997) and Nsubuga (2006).
People acquire leadership skills and experience through

this approach. Therefore, Internal source of employee
selection proves a handy strategy for grooming and
training future leaders. It is advisable that firms adopt it
so that they avoid leadership vacuum that normally
occurs when they have to be forced to search for people
with leadership potential and competencies to fill
existing human resources gaps!
Challenges of the Internal (Local/Domestic) Source of

Staff Selection
Advantageous as it is, the Internal Source of Staff

Selection has a multiple of shortfalls that discredit it as a
tool of staff selection. Some of the weaknesses are:-
110
Corruption and Nepotism
Selecting staff from a domestic or local scene may be

flawed by tendencies of corruption and nepotism. There
is always a very high degree of in-house or internal
lobbying and people end up occupying posts basing on
lines of technical know who other than technical know
how. Teams gang up against others to contest for the
vacant posts. This procedure more often than not
produces residues who can not deliver. The more
talented, skilled, forward looking, creative and
visionary leaders are left out. The resultant effect is
decline of the organization due to employees whose
performance is wanting because they got the job
opening through the ventilation or backdoors!
Dependence on Only domestic or local expertise
Internal source of employee selection is so bad that fresh

ideas and strategies such as transfer of technology that
would have been shared and enjoyed from the external
or international staff are missed. Usually, employees are
expected to bring to their job with them a lot of skills,
competencies and abilities and experiences. All these are
missed as internal or local staff have little to offer! A
saying goes; although an old broom knows all
corners, a new broom sweeps better.
111
Rift and bad blood amongst staff
Selecting staff from within or from the local labour

market is disadvantageous because it causes rift or bad
blood amongst those who have succeeded with their
counterparts who have missed the chance. This may
explain why many people do neither congratulate nor
come to pay allegiance to the newly appointed staff.
There is hatred and antagonism amongst staff and this is
very unhealthy to the firm (people do not work together
for the common good and goal).
There are accusations and counter accusations as staff

are always quarrelling, fighting and there is no cohesion
amongst all of them. Due to the existing poor working
relationship amongst staff, work is not executed.
Strained working relationships lead to work stagnation
and poor productivity.
This problem also affects those who loose power during

political elections. There are those who refuse to accept
defeat and decide to declare a war against the elected
personnel. Besides failure to recognise/congratulate
them, they even skip the swearing in ceremonies. The
action of Kenyas Prime Minister; Raila Omollo Odinga
and his running mate; the former Vice President;
Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka who dodged Uhuru
Kenyattas Swearing in Ceremony on Tuesday 9th April,
112
2013 as the Fourth President of the Republic of Kenya by

taking leave to South Africa (to rest as the duo argued)
is clear testimony of rift and bad blood among those
who win and those who loose posts of leadership in
organisations and governments as the case may be!
Breeds industrial action by disgruntled staff
On failing to clinch greener posts in a firm, staff show

their discontent by behaving negatively to the dismay of
the management. Some change their pattern of work by
refusing to play an active role in the activities of the firm
and others completely resign. There are those who
organize sit down strikes aimed at paralyzing the
organization as well as making management feel the
pinch! During the time of industrial action, work
remains at a standstill and this is detrimental to the
organization and the entire management.
Creates human resources gaps
This is always the case in case re-deployment is effected

in a firm. By moving from one level or area of
management to another as a result of internal staff
selection, Human Resources Gaps are created in an
organization. This means that tasks in some units may
not be carried out as there are no staff to execute the
113
tasks. Just like industrial action, this also creates gaps in

an organization. This justifies the argument that internal
or domestic selection of staff is indeed disastrous to the
steady growth and development of an organisation.
Time wasting
Time is usually wasted when trying to identify new staff

to fill the existing Human Resources gaps. Identification
of the right person to fill the right portfolio at the right
time is not an easy task for the Personnel Officer of a
focused and well managed organization. The person
required is one with proven record of experience, is one
who is visionary, outward looking with technical skills.
Such individuals are rear species to be found in firms
more especially in the developing economies.
Challenges in filling the Human Resources Gaps
Filling the gaps created by promoted staff is indeed a

big challenge because it bears financial implications.
Despite the fact that organisations in most cases survive
on squeezed budgets and to avoid such they must
minimize expenditure as much as possible, on adopting
the internal staff selection strategy, they incur some
unnecessary expenditure which they would have
avoided since filling Human Resources Gaps has
financial implications.
114
For example, they may be forced to run some

advertisements in the mass and electronic media to
attract the best and most suitable applicants expressing
interest in filling the existing human resources gaps. At
times, organisations may be forced to organise and
therefore spend on interview sessions because
management may be interested in committing its vacant
portfolio with the right personnel at the right time.
Constructive Criticisms
Internal source of employee selection is

disadvantageous because it takes on local or domestic
staff who might be less likely to make constructive
criticisms that may be vital for the betterment of the firm
through change. The most absurd thing is that, at times
they keep quiet even if they see things are not going on
well in the organization. This is so because they are;
benefiting a lot from the system or

just protecting themselves from the leadership or
just defending the status quo at the expense of the
firm. Somebody new in the system is not expected
to behave in this manner!
115
Favoritism rather than competence
In poorly managed organizations especially in the

developing economies, Internal Staff Selection
mechanism may be a prophet of doom to the recruiting
firm because some people may be picked and promoted
to greener portfolios of the firm not basing on
competence, rather, they are selected as a favour!
Sometimes those in authorities prefer selecting staff
from the local scene or are targeting insiders because
they may not be able to criticize management.
This is because they are a soft sport that may end up

becoming very effective spectators of whatever
management is doing without pointing out the errors
the authorities are committing! Above all, there are just
a handful of leaders who genuinely accept and
accommodate criticisms despite the fact that not all
criticism are negative in nature.
Tendencies of unit raiding within the firm
This is a scenario where either different departments

and/or units may compete for the same resource
persons or the same staff may compete for portfolios
existing in the same units. Normally, there are more
people than administrative portfolios in organizations
but some people are greedy and they keep vying for
116
similar posts. This cripples the departments specifically

and the firm in general. Thus, justifying the argument
that internal staff selection is a disappointment in most
firms and in most cases!
External or Foreign Source of Staff Selection
This is a scenario where the potential staff come from

without the firm or the country. They are selected from
the external or foreign labour markets. More often than
not, they come as a result of recommendations, referrals,
adverts, or appointments. Just like the Internal Source of
Staff Selection, this approach also has a number of
strong and weak points. These are analysed as follows:-
Merits of the External /Foreign Source of Staff

Selection
This is basically a scenario where staff are not selected

from within the organisation. They are picked from the
external environment. The strategy bears a lot of
benefits to both the workforce and the selecting firm.
Some of them are:-
Importation of new ideas in the methods or operations

of work
117
It should be recalled that at the time of appointment, it

is a vital expectation of the selecting organizations to
expect a lot from the incoming employee because the
firm must deliver in order to survive the test of time. So,
if the domestic labour market has little to offer, the
external or the international labour market is resorted to
in order to salvage the situation.
This is where staff are selected and they bring their

competencies unto the job. They are supposed to be
creative, innovative and forward looking. They must
execute tasks beyond the call of duty by suggesting and
implementing new ideas, techniques and methods of
work operation. Such staff open up subsidiaries or
branches of the organization in other parts of the
economy and/or continent.
Examples to this effect are quite numerous. In academic

institutions for instance, parallel programs are
established in terms of:-
(i) Day
(ii) Evening
(iii) Weekend
(iv) Long Distance Learning
(v) Sand witch
Similarly, several campuses are started, several study
modes are initiated such as
118
(i) Term System

(ii) Quarter System
(iii) Tri-semester and the like.
These provide opportunity to all types of clientele to

take part as they are so user friendly. The working class
benefits most as people continue working in order to
earn a living as well as being in position to finance their
study programs if they fail to access financial support
from their employers specifically or from other general
sources.
Easy transfer of technology
Incoming staff bring their experiences from home firms.

External staff selection is so beneficial to the firm hiring
the new applicants because of the possibility of the re-
birth of knowledge, skills, competencies in work
execution and service delivery that are introduced in the
firm. Their new workplaces stand to benefit a lot from
their past experiences if all staff adjust and adopt the
new approach of work execution. Both staff and the firm
become more efficient, effective and prove to be multi-
goal-directed.
Best potential applicant selected
119
This is possible because of the stiff global competition

from applicants from all over the globe. A firm picks the
best of the very best and this enables the firm to survive
the test of time. Here, the selecting firm does not take on
non performing staff. It grabs those few with proven
knowledge and record of effective performance, hence,
avoiding non starters or residues. Joining on merit and
in such kind of competitive environment leads to
organizational success because the new staff bring new
skills and competencies to their portfolios which are
boosted a long the way. This propels the success story of
the firm in question.
Disputes and conflicts
The staff who have been nursing ill feelings and attitude
towards others are checked. Therefore, rift among them
is brought to an end. With the coming in of the new staff
from the external labour market, a new chapter is
opened virtually in all aspects of organizational life
span such as service delivery, work execution, customer
care, team work spirit and the like. These lead to
organizational success because the staff become more
focused and prove to be mono-goal directed. Petty
issues behind their conflict do not feature anymore as
they are all expected to work in unison and deliver to
their level best in respect to the expectation of the
120
management. No work is at a standstill as a result of the

disputes or conflict among staff.
Reduction in rates of corruption
This is more especially among some members of the

recruiting and selection panels. In most cases, these two
aspects are marred with vices such as bribery,
corruption, nepotism and conspiracy such that potential
staff do not join according to technical know how, but
rather, according to technical know who. This impacts
negatively both the management and the firm because
poor output is registered because input was also wrong!
The external staff selection procedure brings to an end

the degree of corruption going on in firms because
people get jobs after submitting brown envelopes or
after shaking hands below the tables with those in
charge of recruitment and selection exercises. In
Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, some parts of Rwanda,
Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo, this is
referred to as toa kitu kidogo or TKK.
Many organizations around the globe are avoiding

selecting non performing individuals by entrusting the
recruitment, selection or placement exercises to re-
known and reputable firms like Charity Jobs, Total Jobs
121
and School Jobs of the United Kingdom Firms are

therefore assured of good output in terms of service
delivery resulting from good input in terms of staff
selected to offer quality service.
It is cost effective
In spite of the fact that the selecting firm incurs some

expenditure in terms of advertisement and planning
interview sessions, it is arguably true that the exercise
produces the right personnel with the competence and
charisma required to execute the work efficiently have
been obtained, thus, being worthy the firms
expenditure. Since the incoming staff are highly skilled
and talented, the cost-benefit analysis depicts that the
expenditure is justifiable.
It enhances competition
Competition is enhanced among the old staff and the

new staff that have been selected from global labour
market and old (domestic) staff. Non performers are
checked and hard working persons may be picked! Both
staff work hard enough to justify their appointment.
They keep the sprit of hard work very high and the sky
is the only limit to attract the attention of management
that may consider promoting them again when another
golden opportunities unfolds.
122
Grievances and Conflicts are minimized
Before effort to select staff from without the firm, in

most cases and in most firms, there are
misunderstandings among some staff in the various
establishments. But, on selecting applicants from
outside the firm, such misunderstandings are
minimized or even come to an end. Mutual trust and
respect amongst the staff set in with time and staff learn
to work and live amicably with one another.
Encourages Labour Mobility
By selecting staff from without the organization, labour

mobility with all its advantages is encouraged. New
staff normally come with some special benefits. For
example, technical support from the mother country or
financial support from the former employer may be
accorded to the new employer or workplace. In most
cases, such support is obtained as the two firms forge
official working relationships after officially signing
memoranda of understanding (MoU) that bind the two
firms together.
In the world of business, firms benefit a lot in situations

where staff have been exchanged. In the academic
123
world, opportunities for higher degrees are also shared

among Institutions of Higher Learning where staff have
been exchanged or recruited.
Easy Compliancy with stipulated policies and laws
Staff selection from the external labour market is

advantageous to the recruiting government or economy
because the foreign staff may be subjected to payment of
taxes such as Pay as You Earn (PAYE), Residence
Permits, Work Permits and Visas. More often than not,
foreign firms and staff do avoid violating the law by
easily complying by the laws of the land. The host
country utilizes the revenue collected from foreign firms
or staff for national building.
Challenges of Staff Selection from the External or

Global Labour Market
The exercise of selecting staff from the external or

international labour market has numerous challenges.
Some of them are analysed hereunder:-
Cost involved
Unlike the internal source of staff selection which is so

easy and cheap, the opposite is directly true. Selecting
124
staff from foreign labour markets is so challenging

because most potential employees express interest in
joining the firm on accessing advertisements. The advert
itself in mass or electronic media is very costly and some
firms may not afford the cost. Hence, making external
staff selection a very big and contentious issue.
More over, the cost of maintaining staff selected from

the external labour market will go up because the
foreign staff are entitled to receiving expatriate or
experience allowances. In fact, some of them even
qualify and are paid hardship allowances. These show
how costly and challenging staff selection from without
is.
It demoralizes, frustrates and de-motivates
The long serving employees of the firm are most

affected by the strategy of selecting staff from the
external labour market. In Organisational Psychology
and under Psychological Contract, staff do contribute a
lot towards the growth and development of the firm in
terms of effort, loyalty or love, time, commitment or
diligence, being organisational citizens, respect, sense of
humour, cooperation, hard work, being ethical,
courtesy, honest, modesty, humility and working
beyond the call of duty all of which help firms to
125
survive the test of time. But, they are expectant of

positive response from the management to continue
contributing effectively.
The response expected is in form of tangible/intangible

rewards whereby pay rise and carrier opportunities are
examples of the tangible rewards. Yet job security and
status are examples of intangible rewards or
promotional inducement. Therefore, whereas an
employee has been working so hard expecting some
fortunes but misses them because a new staff from the
external labour market is preferred and henceforth
selected to fill a gap, the employee gets demoralized, de-
motivated and frustrated. This clearly depicts the
weaknesses of the staff selection exercise from the
external labour market!
126
Time consuming
This is so because the processes of recruitment and

selection of staff are wearisome and very sensitive that
must be effected with a lot of care as to avoid recruiting
and selecting staff whose performance may be found
wanting. So, the exercises must not be effected
hurriedly. A great deal of care and consciousness are
expected from the selection panel.
So, advertising, short listing, interviewing and taking

final decision to hire the very best of the most successful
candidates indeed consume much time. Otherwise, the
firm may end up not being selective but taking on
anybody who has expressed interest in working for the
firm. This is why this type of staff selection exercise is
challenging.
Importation of bad cultures into a firm
Organisations receive application and select staff of

various or different background in terms of sex,
education, religion, tribe and nationality. They may not
be known to management. So, they may join the
selecting firm with uncivilized behaviours and cultures
that end up abusing the cherished local culture
including but not limited to sex abuse, religious as well
127
as cultural distortion. Many people have fought, others

have abused fellow staff, many have quarreled and a
handful of staff have committed murder. These have the
potential to destabilize the firm. Hence, failing to
achieve the objectives and goals for which it was
established.
Adapted from www.jabry.wordpress.com/the abaya

syndrome, accessed on 23rd April 2013
Figure 5.1: Depicting an Islamic Attire
128
Adapted from www.dlcetfashion.com/short skirt,

accessed on 23rd April 2013
Figure 5.2: Depicting an attire of western civilization

that is opposed to the Islamic one
Takes long to build trust among staff
Unlike a scenario where staff were selected through the

internal or domestic approach and they are expected to
be closer and known to one another, the external source
of staff selection is quite different. Staff selected may be
meeting and therefore working together for the first
129
time. Being new and therefore not familiar with one

another may bring about mistrust amongst the staff.
Some staff may either fail to associate or to cooperate

with their colleagues and their attitude or action may be
detrimental to the firm. Trust among them may come
with time though after working together and knowing
each ones strength and weaknesses as well as likes and
dislikes. It is then that they may start delegating their
work or unit to one another whenever such is called for!
Gives birth to increased levels of creeping false,

positive and negative errors
As a result of mistrust and lack of cooperation amongst

the staff, both the staff from the internal and external
sources of selection begin to develop negative attitude
towards one another. There may arise accusations and
counter accusations for wrong doing and as time goes
by, this may lead to total resentment, peddling of lies
against one another, roomer mongering may become the
order of the day and this may send negative signal
towards the very staff specifically and the organization
in general. Thus, affecting staff and organizational
reputation, credibility and image.
Staff performance
130
The output of staff is affected as a result of compliancy.

Unlike staff selected from the local or domestic labour
market, those selected from the external or foreign
labour market may fail to execute their tasks due to
pressure from the host organization or government that
may demand that in order to work, one must be ready
to conform and/or to abide by the rules, regulations and
principles in force. For example, payment of taxes such
as Pay as You Earn (PAYE), payment of contributions to
specific national social security fund system, receiving
salary and other allowances in local currency as hard
currency may promote inflation in the host economy.
All these may be viewed negatively by the staff from the
foreign labour market and may jeopardize the staffs
performance as the staff has to abide by the existing
policies!
Sub standard socio-economic and political facilities or

standards
Staff, spouses and children specifically and families of

staff selected from the global labour market may be
subjected to sub standard socio-economic as well as
political amenities especially if the host employer or
government develops a negative attitude towards such
staff. Internal labour may receive poor or sub standard
131
services in terms of health care, educational facilities,

poor political support and the like.
These may have far reaching negative repercussions to

the performance and endurance of the foreign staff. The
staff may feel oppressed, suppressed, undervalued,
ignored and underrated. Thus, may end up resigning.
Over exploitation or siphoning of resources
Staff from the global market may prove extremely costly

to the recruiting or selecting firm or government to
maintain. For example, demanding executive housing,
luxurious transport system, costly medical cover and the
like. In this case therefore, such staff are maintained on
tax payers money despite the fact that firms have
meager resources and run budgets that are in deficit.
Unemployment of local people
This is automatically a resultant effect of the selection of

expatriates. The tendency to select staff from the
international labour market may be a disadvantage to
the people in the local labour market because the later
may loose job opportunities as the available slots go to
foreign staff. This may explain why there is always a rift
among local and foreign staff either in organizations or
some societies. This may lead to cases of murder
132
engineered by local people. The social and cultural

horror that hit South Africa in the recent years where
the local hunted and killed foreign workers may be
sighted as a strong evidence to support this argument.
133
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Jones (2001) Human Resources for Vocational
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Deb, Tapomoy (2006) Strategic Approach to Human

Resource Management: Concepts, Tools and
Applications, Atlantic Publishers and Distributors,
Nice Printing Press, New Delhi
DeCenzo A. David and Robbins P. Stephen (2005)

Fundamentals of Human Resource Management,
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DeCenzo A. David and Robbins P. Stephen (1997)

Personnel/Human Resource Management, 3rd Ed.,
Prentice-Hall, Inc., New Jersey.
Dessler, Gary (2004) A Framework for Human Resource

Management, 3rd Ed., Pearson Education, Inc.,
Delhi.
http://www.upstarthr.com-teaching-your-supervisor-
the basics-of-management
http://www.easyvectors.com/tags/Doctors
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vg, accessed on 08.05.2013
cessed 08.05.2013
http://www.crushable.com/entertainment/david-
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366943504/accessed on 20/03/2013
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Management: A Contemporary Approach, 3rd Ed.,
Prentice Hall
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Hollebeck (1999), Human Resource Management-
Gaining Competitive Advantage, 3rd Ed., Irwin
McGraw Hill
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Robert (2004) Managing Human Resources, 4th Ed.
Pearson Education, Inc. and Dorling Kindersley
Publishing Inc., New Delhi
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Nickles, William (1990), Understanding Business, 2nd

Edi., Richard Irwin, Boston.
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Resource Mobilization Strategies in Organizations:
Ugandas Scenario, New Era publishers House
Ltd., Kampala
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and cases, 2nd Ed., Excel Books, New Delhi
Schuster and Fredrick E. (1987) Human Resource

Management, 2nd Ed., Reston Publishing
Company.
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Management, 3rd Ed., Houghton Mifflin Company,
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against children, posted May 25th 2012, ac
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April 2013
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on 23rd April, 2013
www.chiasunchong.com/many different languages,

137
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nsubuga Haroonah, Ph.D. is currently a

Senior Lecturer at the Department of
Public Administration, Faculty of Arts
and Social Sciences and the Director,
Institute of Continuing Education,
Zanzibar University. These are positions
he has held since 2008. Together with Dr.
Sudibyakto M.S., authored an article
Disaster Mitigation and Management in
Indonesia published in the Indonesian Journal of Geography, Faculty of
Geography, Gadjah Mada University Press, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. He
also published a book entitled A Practical Guide for Resource
Mobilization Strategies in Organizations: Ugandas Scenario, New Era
publishers House Ltd., Kampala, 2006.
He served in a number of capacities. For example, he worked as the

Head of the Department of Public Administration, Faculty of
Management Studies, Islamic University In Uganda from 1999 to 2005.
Then, Dean, Faculty of Management Studies at the same University from
1999 2007.
He taught at Gombe Senior Secondary School, Mpigi District, from

where he was appointed as Pioneer Head-teacher of Taibah High School
in Kawempe Division, Kampala District. He also served as a Visiting
Tutor at the National Teachers College Mubende. He worked as a
Research Assistant at the Centre for Disaster Studies at the Gadjah Mada
University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. He also served as an External
Examiner at the Uganda Management Institute before being appointed
an Associate Consultant by the same Institute.
He is currently working on the production of four text books. The first

one on disaster management particularly on the management of land
slides in Sironko and Mbale Districts, the second on the emerging issues
in Human Resources Management in the contemporary society, the third
one on the International Face of Human Resources Management and the
fourth one on Public Administration in Tanzania.
ISBN: 978-9987-499-32-8

Human Resources Management Concepts and Challenges, Dr. Nsubuga Haroonah

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Human Resources Management Concepts and Challenges

NSUBUGA HAROONAH, Ph.D

FALAH PUBLISHING HOUSE

Copyright 2013 by Dr. Nsubuga Haroonah

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be

Electronic version of this book produced by:

This book is dedicated to my wife; Nakyanzi Fatuma,

It is a naked fact that putting together ideas that

The administration of the Zanzibar University for the

I would like to express my gratitude to a number of

In this connection, I am very much indebted to Dr.

Last but not the least, my sincere thanks and

Despite the fact that this book is of immense value to

One may wonder and henceforth ask: Why Human

Whereas some are doing pretty well in their respective

In order for them to avoid encountering the stiff

work as well as efficient utilisation of the competent

This is why this book offers a detailed account of the

Each of the five parts in this book has been so much

My interest in developing this guide stemmed from

This edition offers a menu of paradigms and a variety of

I am therefore optimistic that this edition is going to be

individual learners and managers who have much zeal,

I wish to thank in advance those who are willing and

Figure 1.1 Depicting teacher-student ratio

Figure 1.2 Showing Doctor-Patient ratio

Figures 1.3 Showing number, level and qualification

Figure 2.1 Depicting equality of all in terms of

Figure 4.1 Depicting a cross section of graduands of

Figure 4.2 Depicting cost of advertisement firms

Figure 4.3 Depicting different languages the work

Figure 4.4 Depicting different languages the work

Figure 4.5 Showing Red Ribbon as related to

Figure 4.6 Depicting violence against children

Figure 4.7 Showing a sample of Child Labour

Figure 4.8 Depicting another sample of child labour

Figure 4.9 Depicting scenes of political instability.

Figure 4.10 Depicting crime rate

Figure 4.11 Depicting family ties as a strong factor

Figure 5.1 Depicting an Islamic Attire

Figure 5.2 Depicting an attire of western civilization

Activities of Supply Forecast for Labour ........................................ 36

Equal Pay Act of 1963....................................................................... 61

CHALLENGES OF STAFF RECRUITMENT IN A

STAFF SELECTION IN THE GLOBAL CONTEXT ..................... 100

Corruption and Nepotism ............................................................. 111

Cost involved .................................................................................. 124

SECTION ONE: Human Resources Planning

SECTION TWO: Importance of Human

SECTION THREE: Roles of Personnel Managers

SECTION FOUR: Challenges of Staff

SECTION FIVE: Staff Selection in the Global

HUMAN RESOURCES PLANNING

On the one hand, the concept Human Resources

On the other hand, Human Resource Planning is

It is therefore very clear from these definitions that

achieve the very objectives for which it was established.

Technically, Human Resources Planning comes after the

Nsubuga (2006: 102) argues that whosoever fails to

because this enables the organization to survive the test

Aims of Human Resources Planning

Nickles (1990), Beardwell and Holden (2001), Raymond

(a) Obtain and retain the quality of staff required to

would translate into compulsory staff lay off as