ABSTRACT
The research work investigated the extent to which human resource management practices contribute to the effective management of Universities in Anambra State. A descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. The population of the study consisted of 5,844 academic and non-academic personnel of the five Universities in Anambra State from which a sample of 292 staff were selected through simple random sampling technique. Five research questions and three hypotheses guided the study. A structured Human Resource Management Practices Questionnaire (HRMPQ) containing 39 items composed by the researcher was used for data collection. The questionnaire was structured on a 4-point rating scale and validated by two experts in Educational Administration and Planning and one in Measurement and Evaluation all in the Faculty of Education, University of Nigeria Nsukka. Using Cronbach Alpha, the reliability co-efficient of .75, .74, .89, .88, and .82 for clusters A, B, C, D and E were obtained respectively with an overall reliability co-efficient of .96. Mean () and standard deviation (SD) was used to answer the research questions. T-test was used to the test hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Results show that job description, personnel recruitment, orientation of new staff, staff development, and staff discipline contributes to the effective management of Universities in Anambra State to a large extent. The study revealed further that there is no significant difference in the mean ratings of academic and non-academic staff in the practice of job description for effective management of government and private Universities in Anambra State. The study also revealed that there is no significant difference in the mean ratings of academic and non-academic staff in the practice of personnel recruitment for effective management of government and private Universities in Anambra State. There is also no significant difference in the mean ratings of academic and non-academic staff in the practice of staff development for effective management of government and private Universities in Anambra State. Based on the findings of this study, recommendations were made.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
The University is the highest level of educational institution where study for degree and research is done, established with the aim of advancing the propagation and dissemination of knowledge for the benefit of humanity. It is established with a view of producing middle and high-level workforce for the rapid growth and development of nations (Nakpodia, 2010). Supportively, Baricua, (2008) maintained that the University should help students understand and develop the necessary skills to equip them for any chosen career for the growth of the nation. The specific national aims and objectives as specified in the National Policy on Education (FRN, 2004) are: the inculcation of national consciousness and national unity; the inculcation of the right type of values and attitudes for the survival of the individual and the Nigerian society; the training of the mind in the understanding of the world. Other objectives include the acquisition of appropriate skills, abilities and competencies, both mental and physical, as equipment for the individual to live in and contribute to the development of his society.
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Historically, the Nigerian University system has progressed from one generation to another, effecting positive changes and growth in the nation’s development. The first generation Universities were five in number, established between 1948 and 1965, following the recommendation of Ashby Commission set up by the British Colonial Government to study the need for University education for Nigeria. Because they were primarily established to meet the work force demands of Nigeria and set basic standards for University education in the country, it was fully funded by the Federal Government. Till date, these Universities have continued to play their roles of manpower development. Such Universities include University of Nigeria, Nsukka and University of Ibadan (Bello, 1999).
The second generation Universities came about due to the increasing population of qualified students for University education who had limited opportunities for admission into the few existing Universities. Between 1970 and 1985, 12 additional Universities were established and located in various parts of the country. The third generation Universities was, due to the need to address special areas of technology and agriculture, which prompted the setting up of 10 additional Universities between 1985 and 1999 (Okojie, 2010).
As a form of assistance to the Federal Government’s efforts towards providing education, and the rising pressure from qualified candidates who could not readily get admission into any of the Federal Universities, State Governments found it imperative and urgent to invest in the establishment of Universities. In the same light, the recognition of the need to encourage private participation in the provision of University education, the Federal Government established a law in 1993, allowing private sectors to establish Universities following guidelines prescribed by the Government. Today, Nigeria possesses the largest University system in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a total number of 41 Federal Universities, 36 State Universities, 41 private Universities and 4 Inter-University Campuses (IUC) (Okojie, 2010).
In this light, educational management cannot be over-emphasized in the historical growth and development of these Universities, especially in Nigeria. Tomllinson (2004) defined educational management as the theory of the organization and administration of existing educational establishments. Banjoko (2004) also viewed educational management as the planning, directing, co-ordinating and organizing of educational activities and facilities in an educational institution. Educational management is a dynamic aspect of education that concerns managing human and material resources. Some of these human and material resources include; financial management, facilities management, time management, communication management, students management, instructional management, services management, and human resource management, Onuka (2006).
The above features of educational management, most probably, are the pivotal factors that Universities like Harvard have adopted, and has worked for them. Of these factors, Human resource management is the most critical to manage. For the purpose of this study, Human Resource will be defined as the workforce of an organization working for the achievement of set goals. Scholars like Barney (1991) and, Lado & Wilson (1994), maintained that managing humans is more difficult than managing technology or capital.
Human Resource is the set of individuals who make up the workforce of an institution or organization (Banjoko, 2004). In other words, the management of human resources must be effective if goals must be achieved in the university. Banjoko further defined human resource management as the act of recruiting, managing and motivating the workforce of the University for the achievement of goals and objectives. It is made up of people, their abilities, knowledge and skills; and also the management system adopted for the actualization of the goals and objectives, (Aghenta, 2009). This implies that in an organization, its success is greatly determined by the type of people hired, their abilities to function effectively, and most importantly, the operational human resource management practices. Armstrong (2003), in this light, advocated for the creation of a very conducive and cordial environment in order to satisfy the needs of the workers to achieve organizational goals by defining human resource management practices as the practices of obtaining, organizing, directing and motivating the human resources needed in an organization to function effectively.
In the University, human resources include the teaching (lecturers) and non-teaching (administrative) staff. The duties involved in getting them to work towards achieving the set educational goals are referred to as human resource management practices. In this study, Human Resource Management will be seen as the directing and motivating skills adopted and engineered towards effective management of the workforce of an organization for achievement of goals. Panjak & Karunesh (2012) defined human resource management practices as the organizational activities directed at managing a pool of human resources and ensuring that the resources are employed towards the fulfilment of organizational goals. Supportively, Eric, Lam, Ramesh, Charles & Vimala (2012) maintained that employees are the backbone of every organization and recruiting and managing the qualified staff is essential. This is true because, an administrator can get everything else right – good buildings, laboratories, libraries, instructional materials, and etcetera and still fail by hiring the wrong people who will ensure the effective utilization of these available structures provided. In the University, human resource management practices are the function of the office of the Registrar. Such human resource management practices involve attracting the right staff and retaining them to work effectively to the success of the University and they include; Job description, Personnel recruitment, Orientation of new staff, Development of staff, and Staff discipline (Babalola & Ayeni, 2008).
Job description as human resource management practice comes first. It is a practice that has to do with carefully making available the vacant positions with detailed description of the positions to be given to prospective employees. Job description is a list of the duties, functions and responsibilities expected of the employee. It is a written statement of the work the employee will do and how he/she will do it. The benefit of a well-designed job description is that it sets the platform for attracting and identifying the right candidates who will perform the job. The implication, if not properly considered, is that when staff are newly employed, they will be confused on what specific job to perform. In other words, in order to avoid doubt, job description must be carried out.
Personnel recruitment deals with the careful employment of quality staff and their placements. Personnel recruitment is done after interviews have been carried out and the most suitable candidates are chosen. In recruitment, proper planning for attracting and employing the right candidates must follow the steps below as outlined by Emechebe (2009 – 341): decide what positions need to be filled; design application form; advertise the job; build a pool of candidates for the job through the completed application forms; select possible candidates through tests and interviews; decide who to employ.
