CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF STUDY

The development of any nation depends to a very large extent on the caliber, organization and motivation of its human resources. In the specific case of Nigeria where diversity exerts tremendous influence on politics and administration, the capacity to increase the benefits and reduce the costs of this diversity constitutes a human resource management challenge of epic proportion in its public sector organizations. Human Resource Management (HRM) is the function within an organization that focuses on recruitment of, management of, and providing direction for the people who work in the organization. Human Resource Management can also be performed by line managers.

Human Resource Management is the organizational function that deals with issues related to people such as compensation, hiring, performance management, organization development, safety, wellness, benefits, employee motivation, communication, administration, and training. Human Resource Management is also a strategic and comprehensive approach to managing people and the workplace culture and environment. Effective HRM enables employees to contribute effectively and productively to the overall company direction and the accomplishment of the organization’s goals and objectives. Human Resource Management is moving away from traditional personnel, administration, and transactional roles, which are increasingly outsourced. HRM is now expected to add value to the strategic utilization of employees and that employee programs impact the business in measurable ways. The new role of HRM involves strategic direction and HRM metrics and measurements to demonstrate.

HRM covers a wide range of activities. The main area of study we will focus on will be incentives and work organization. Incentives include remuneration systems (e.g. individuals or group incentive/contingent pay) and also the system of appraisal, promotion and career advancement. By work organization we mean the distribution of decision rights (autonomy/decentralization) between managers and workers, job design (e.g. flexibility of working, job rotation), team-working (e.g. who works with whom) and information provision.

Civil servants have a reputation for being lazy. However, people’s personal experiences with civil servants frequently run counter to this stereotype. We develop a model of an economy in which workers differ in laziness and in public service motivation, and characterise optimal incentive contracts for public sector workers under different informational assumptions. When civil servants. Effort is invariable, lazy workers and working in the public sector highly attractive and may crowd out dedicated workers. When effort is variable, the government optimally attracts dedicated workers as well as the economy’s laziest workers by offering separating contracts, which are both distorted. Even though contract distortions reduce aggregate welfare, a majority of society may be better off as public goods come at a lower cost. Where we depart from several of the existing surveys in the field is to put HRM more broadly in the context of the economics of management. To do this we also look in detail at the literature on productivity dispersion.

Human resource management encompasses the traditional personnel functions of recruitment, selection, training, motivation, compensation, evaluation, discipline, and termination of employees. Each of those tasks demands particular skills. Increasingly, human resource management is being recognized for its strategic importance to organizations and jurisdictions, and is moving beyond its traditional position as a monitor of compliance. This course is designed to provide you with an understanding of the evolution of human resource management policies and practices, and how changes over time reflect shifting societal values and environmental circumstances. Our emphasis is on improving understanding of the historical context and current conditions of public sector HRM and developing basic skills necessary to be an effectively manage human resources.

Human relation at work can be a factor of human resource problems in an organization, which according to Fillopo (1971:57) is a formal relationship that exists among personnel and employees in working place. The timely and positive effort in handling human problems at the executive level will make for good human relations or reconciliation of the organizational and employee goals. Poor communication network, abuse of the principles of line and staff relation, blind recruitment and selection process, incompetent employees and personnel, and indifference attitudes to work are major human problems in managing human relation at work in an organization.

The result of this poor attitude to work in the public sector organization is the reason for constant dwindling of management in public sector organization (Onodugo, 2008). It is sad to note that the typical work attitude of an average Nigerian worker is largely anything near what will turn around the public sector organization. Research findings Nwachukwu (1985), Korman (1977) have shown that the productivity of an employee is determined by three major factors:

1)         the ability of the employee

2)         the will to work, and 3) situational factors.

The public sector organization is a government sector responsible for providing the public with essential services. The public sector is referred to the government sector, whether Federal, State, or Local Government. Public sector organizations are organizations which emerged as a result of government acting in the capacity of an entrepreneur (Obikeze and Anthony 2004:248).

 

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Public sector organizations in Nigeria faced problems which often hampers the attainment of set goals. The productivity of any public organization sector depends largely on the performance of its people (i.e. the management and subordinates) for this success to be achieved, the human resource management in the organization needs to be addressed and managed.

To that effect, this research is being proposed to address the following issues;

1. Work motivation and compensation
2. Ethics and Values

iii.        Work Attitude

1. Recruitment and Selection Process

 

OBJECTIVES OF STUDY

Deplorably however, most of these objectives listed above have not been achieved due to human problems facing the sector. Therefore, the objective of this study includes;

1. To determine the effects of work motivation and compensation on the productivity of public sector organization.
2. To determine the effects of Ethics and Values on the productivity of public sector.
3. To examine the effects of work attitude of workers on the productivity of public sector organizations.
4. To examine the effects of recruitment and selection process of workers on productivity of public sector organization

 

SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

Human Resource Management is the backbone of any economy production of any nation. HRM plays a vital role in the productivity of the Nigeria public sector organizations. It is therefore important to identify the significances of the research work which are subdivided as:

1. The findings of this research will serve as a guide in the productivity of other public sector through their human resource.
2. The findings of this study will enable for proper management of human resource which will lead to effective customer value and productivity in public sector organization management.
3. It will also enhance government, private sector and general public participation contribution in addressing these human resource management in public sector organization.
4. The study will enable me to contribute my own views and ideas on managing human resource and productivity in the public sector organization of Nigeria.
5. The study will be of immense help to other people and students who might wish to carry out other researches in the field.