Administrative problem of human resource management (HRM) in government own establishment in Cameroon case of NASLA

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study  

In the last half of the twentieth century, and more even so at the beginning of the new millennium, Governments have been under pressure to respond to the demands from their citizens and to the increasing complexity and change in their global environments. The response to these demands has taken the form of programmes of administrative transformation, administrative reform or administrative development.  Movements towards reform in the area of public administration and governance systems and institutions have emerged in all corners of the globe (United Nations, 2005). Human resource practices have become a major concern in many organisations in recent years. Human resources are ever asked to provide a sustainable competitive advantage for organisations to ensure individual and team performance in organisation (Blackbank, 2016). Human resources management rose as a definite concept in the mid-1980s as a natural development of personnel management. Many writers have said that human resources are the most essential importance factor in development. Human Resources Management possesses the capacity to increase, maneuver, and manage another element (Gregg Brown, 2018).

The evolution of human resource management can be traced as far back around 1000 B.C. to 2000 B.C., this saw the development of more advanced HR functions. The Chinese are known to be the first to use employee screening techniques, way back in 1115 B.C. They were the Greek and Babylonian civilizations, ages before the medieval times (Udofia,2012). We can trace the origins of HRM all the way back to Frederick Taylor and Scientific Management. Taylor’s (1911) accounts for his experiments and ways of ensuring and increasing effectiveness are similar to what we now know as job analysis, selection, training, and motivation through compensation. From the early steps of Frederick Taylor, HRM came to be through influences from industrial psychology, industrial sociology and labour economics theory (Byremo,2015). Since the early 1980s, the field of human resources management has been in a state of rapid transition. As the world continues to experience profound changes, different sets of changes are revolving. Today, most managers are comfortable with the term “Human Resources” but a few still prefer to refer to “people”, “Employee” or “staff” and to use the term “personal management”. Cowling (1998;35) argues at one level that terminology ‘may be deemed to be less important, because it is practice that really counts.

Pynes (2009) noted, “The public sector is composed of a variety of government organizations. Government agencies are owned and controlled by the people. Government is used to maintain a system of law, justice, and social organization. It protects individual rights and freedoms, provides security and stability, and provides direction for the nation. Government provides public goods, regulates certain industries and activities, and corrects problems that the markets create or are unable to address (Kulla, 2017).

According to report of Specialised Institution for Personnel (2020) As one of the recommendations of the Major National Dialogue, the President of the Republic, Paul Biya in a decree on Monday March 2, 2020 has created a structure for the training of personnel in the domain of local governance called the National School of Local Administration and abbreviated NASLA. The decree of eight chapters and 78 Articles gives specificities on the creation, organisation and functioning of NASLA, with headquarters in Buea, South West Region. Placed under the technical control of the Ministry in charge of Decentralisation and financial authority of the Ministry in charge of Finance, NASLA, according to Article 2 of the decree shall be responsible for training personnel in ‘Local Administration.’ This implies the personnel will be schooled on the administrative management of councils, regions and other aspects of decentralised collectivities. The created institution replaces the Buea-based school that trained all staff of local governance in Cameroon popularly known by its French acronym CEFAM.

1.2 Problem Statement

Government own establishment are faced simple, complex, administrative problem of human resource to solve. Regardless of the nature of the problems, a fundamental part of every manager’s role is finding ways to solve them. At work, administrative problems are at the centre of what many people do every day, you are either solving a problem for a client, supporting those who are solving problems, or discovering new problems to solve. In Government own establishment Corruption affect all aspects of HR management processes, with favouritism and nepotism and abuse of authority in areas of recruitment, training, promotion and transfer identified as major risk areas. This is rendered possible by unchecked discretionary power, lack of integrity, accountability, checks and balances and transparency in the overall administration of HR services. Various constrains hinder the success of managing human resource capital from the organizational setting in Cameroon. These problems include building teams in an organization, building an organizational culture, people engagement and development, human resources effectiveness measurement, organizational effectiveness, compensation, staffing: recruitment and availability of skilled local labor, succession planning, learning and development.

Also, local authorities have the difficult task of managing difficult and complex issues of the local communities. The public authority ensures the management of financial resources, but their use is established on account of the electoral programs and surveys, so as to meet the strategic objectives to satisfy the immediate or future needs of the local communities. Managers feel their moral responsibility for maintaining high levels of employee job satisfaction, because of its impact on productivity. It has been recognized by different organizations that a satisfied. workforce contributes enormously towards organizational effectiveness and ultimate survival. (Alshaikhly, 2017).

In addition to the above, there is little research or literature on the administrative problem of human resource management (HRM) in government own establishment in Cameroon. Therefore, this study is dedicated to administrative problem of human resource management (HRM) in government own establishment in Cameroon case study of NASLA.  

1.3 Research Question

1. What is the effect of promotion and transfers on human resource management (HRM) in government own establishment in Cameroon case of NASLA?
2. How does recruitment influence human resource management (HRM) in government own establishment in Cameroon case of NASLA?
3. What is the relationship between compensation and human resource management (HRM) in government own establishment in Cameroon case of NASAL?
   • Research Objectives
   • General Research Objective

This study was aimed at investigating administrative problem of human resource management (HRM) in government own establishment in Cameroon case study of NASLA.

 Specific Research Objectives

• To identify the effect of promotion and transfers on human resource management (HRM) in government own establishment in Cameroon case of NASLA.
• To examine the influence of recruitment on human resource management (HRM) in government own establishment in Cameroon case of NASLA?
• To investigate the relationship between compensation and human resource management (HRM) in government own establishment in Cameroon case of NASLA?

1.5 Hypothesis

H01: Promotion and transfers has no effect on human resource management (HRM) in government own establishment in Cameroon case of NASLA.

H02: Recruitment has no influence on human resource management (HRM) in government own establishment in Cameroon case of NASLA.

H03: Compensation has no significant relationship with human resource management (HRM) in government own establishment in Cameroon case of NASLA.

FURTHER READING: PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION PROJECT TOPICS WITH MATERIALS