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EFFECT OF MANPOWER DEVELOPMENT AND EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Employers who have the intention to increase their productivity and output must enrich their workers in terms of development opportunities to fulfill the employees' ambitions. If these employees see that the organization provides room for them to realize their potentials, personal growth and career, they will be opted to remain and discharge their best performance, otherwise, these employees will likely leave to fulfill their aspiration elsewhere (Dale, 1970).

It is from the understanding of the foregoing that Stoner, (1984) defined training as a process of teaching new and present employees the skills they need to perform their jobs. According to him" training consists of those activities that are designed to improve individual's performance in currently held job or one related to it.

Fajana (1998) put it in a different way when he opted that employee and management development is an attempt to improve performance by impacting knowledge, 'changing attitudes, or increasing skills. It includes In-house programmers like courses, coaching, and rotational assignments; professional and university programmes.

Employee development can then be referred to as any attempt to improve current or future employee performance by increasing an employee's ability to perform (Greenhaus, Feldman and Hallreigal) (1987).

A major purpose of development is to eliminate performance deficiencies, whether current or anticipated. It improves the performance of organizations with stagnant or declining rates of productivity. Development is also important to organizations that are rapidly incorporating new technologies and consequently decreases the likelihood of employee’s obsolescence. Another purpose of development, especially relevant to organizations that are rapidly incorporating new technologies, is to make the current workforce more flexible and adaptable, if an organization can increase its own adaptability; it can enhance its chances for survival and profitability (Wright and Noe, 1996).

According to Pettman (1988), manpower development is considered as an economic resources, which represents the aggregate of skills and attitude resulting from education and training that equips the labour force with the capacity to plan, organize, carryout economic processes when properly allocated. In other words, Alo (1999) notes that manpower development is a key economic resource, which should demand the same attention from an organization that is planning for its performance, equipment, raw materials, production, sales, investments and profits. Consequently, the best result will be achieved when a company integrates its manpower planning with its overall corporate planning.

Manpower development, therefore, has to do with the art of identifying the lower needs of an organization with a view of setting in motion the machinery to meet up such manpower requirements for that organization to attain maximum efficiency. Hence, an organization will survive if it continues to provide its customers with the expected services.

Thus, development is expected to be a continuous exercise. It is not a basis for salary increment, rather to enhance effective performance that will help the organization to achieve its aims and objectives.

Through attending special development course either internally or externally organized within or outside the country, personalities like Omolayole who read in the University could rise to become the chairman chief executive of liver brothers of Nigeria and Mr Felix Oluwese who read geography could rise to become the chairman and chief executive of the Nigeria brewery Ltd, and Unilever etc. development is an integral part of enhancing personnel performance and competence. Though in Nigeria Public service there is no central body or agency that is solely responsible for determining or coordinating training rather each department is responsible for identifying training needs, selecting candidate and even organizing development programmes.

1.2       STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Many of the problems associated with development of employees in any business organization can be traced to poor selection of candidates. Other problems are non-competent personnel, lack of proper assessment and evaluation of employee's performance, low productivity and inefficiency.

Though, the above statement made about three decades ago in the United States of America seems accurately descriptive of the situation in Nigeria today particularly in the public enterprise, like Nigerian Ports Authority that lack professionalism. The selection of workers, for example, is mostly and haphazardly done rather than by merit and professionalism. In the course of doing this education and training acquirement may not necessarily be considered.

Similarly, the decrease of the quality of training and development offered in most of our organizations particularly in public enterprises, is another problem. For instance, product of existing training schemes may lack the essential skills for development or partly because they were trained in inappropriate clinical settings. The results of these training institutions are usually unable to provide the needed skills, as a result of constraints on their resources.

According to Thomason (1991) the objectives, which are established for the training must be clearly communicated to the trainees to provide them with the first piece of knowledge they need to carry out some self-evaluation. But it is not uncommon for the trainers themselves to have certain objectives for the training process but fail to communicate them to the trainees, assuming that the trainees have their own objectives which must coincide with those of the trainers. This makes training ineffective and irrelevant to the stated organizational goals.

Another noticeable factor is the fact that economic growth implies using a country's scarce resources such as labour, capital and national wealth efficiently.

But the problems arise because those who allocate resources and enforce plans are not always the best and the brightest. Aluko (1990) supports this assertion, when he says, "Africa is a continent where the fool rules the' wise". This statement explains why situation in Nigerian organizations as regards selection and training of employee is necessary to see whether meritocracy and professionalism are given consideration. Today just anybody can work in the maritime sector irrespective of academic discipline, background or professional competence.

Similar to this problem, is inability of an organization to afford the cost of training for its staff as a result of socio-economic situation in the country. In line with this, recent studies have shown that organizations in the USA have spent nearly $1.7 Billion while nearly $1 Billion was also spent for the same purpose in United Kingdom each year on training (Daft, 1997). The question now is: can an average organization afford the cost of quality training programmes for its staff in Nigeria? The available statistics of the indigenous companies showed that an organization was only able to send 62 employees for training out of 1520 workforce throughout the year as a result of financial constraints. This is not good enough since training and development makes individual employees perform optimally for overall development of the organization.

1.3       OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main objective of this research work is to examine the effect of manpower development on employee performance. Below are specific objectives set for this study:

i.          To identify the role and the need for continuous development in acquiring new techniques, so as to respond to the changing needs.

ii.          To identify the impact of development programmes on effective performance of workers in an organization.

iii.          To identify major problems facing manpower development in organizations; and suggest possible solutions for solving the problems.

iv.          To evaluate and assess the cost, design and development methods available in organizations.

v.          To assess employee’s perception of gains on development, and its contributions to individuals and corporate organization.

1.4       RESEARCH QUESTION

       i.          What is the impact of effect of manpower development on employee performance?

     ii.          What is the role and the need for continuous development in acquiring new techniques, so as to respond to the changing needs?

   iii.          What is the impact of development programmes on effective performance of workers in an organization?

   iv.          What are the major problems facing manpower development in organizations; and suggest possible solutions for solving the problems?

     v.          What is the cost, design and development methods available in organizations?

   vi.          What is the employee’s perception of gains on development, and its contributions to individuals and corporate organization?

1.5       RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

Hypothesis

H0: There is no significant impact of manpower development on employee performance

H1: There is a significant impact of manpower development on employee performance

1.6       SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study will contribute to existing knowledge on manpower development for public and private sector organization.

The rationale of this research is set to help management who find the research useful to design and redesign effective manpower training and development programmes, for their staff, for higher work productivity through recommendations and suggestions offered by this study.

This study is also justified on the basis that it will provide relevant information on the relevance of training for organizational growth and development. Thus, individual managers, organizations, governments, multi-national corporations and other government agencies will find this study very useful, most especially in the area of policy formulation and programme implementation.

Another undeniable justification for this work is that it will serve as a novel attempt made to improve the growing body of knowledge In Industrial Relations and Personnel Management studies in organizations. This, therefore, implies that future researchers could depend on this research work as a source of relevant data.

1.7       SCOPE AND LIMITATION TO THE STUDY

The aim of this research is to assess the effect of manpower development on employee performance in Nigerian Organizations with special focus on middle management personnel of the organization. The study LS limited to both the personnel and administrative officers of the organization with great emphasis on those between salary grade levels 08 - 12. However, as a result of time, financial constraints, research materials, inaccessibility and unavailability of some vital' information and others, this led to narrowing the scope and intensity of the study. Irrespective of the aforementioned factors, all efforts will be made to carry out a quality study.

1.8       DEFINITION OF TERMS

MANPOWER: Manpower is considered as economic resources that represent the aggregate of skills and attitude resulting from education and training that equips a labour force with the capacity to plan, organize, carryout economic processes when properly allocated.

MOTIVATION: This is the desire within a person causing that person to act. It also implies a drive towards an outcome.

ORGANIZATION: A group of people who form a business, industry etc. together in order to achieve a particular aim. It also implies the productive sector.

PERSONNEL MGT: The management that deals with the human aspect of management.

The rate at which a worker, a company or a country produces goods and the amount produced compared with how much time, work and money is needed to produce them. In other words, productivity is the rate or efficiency of work done in industrial production measured by comparing the amount produced with the time taken or the resources used to produce it.

QUAYS: An artificially constructed wharfs lying parallel to or projecting into the water for loading and unloading of ship.

RESOURCES: it refers to collective means of supplying and satisfying needs and wants in an organization i.e, man, materials, machine and money. 

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