The Effects of Human Resource Management on Employees’ Performance at Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) BOTA PALMS ESTATE

• Abstract

The research intends to examine the effects of Human resource management (HRM) on employee performance at Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC). The objectives of the study are to evaluate the effects of HRM on employee’s performance in the organization that is, to assess the role of recruitment, selection, and compensation towards employee performance.

The research method involves primary and secondary sources as means of data collection and it also adopted both descriptive and analytical research designs base on questionnaires to gain an in-depth understanding of human resource management and employee performance.

Questionnaires were used and a sample size of 105 respondents was drawn from the staff using a simple random sampling technique. Findings revealed that recruitment, selection, and compensation of employees turn to influence their performance positively and this was based on the results obtained using the Pearson correlation coefficient, for which the relationship between HRM variables and employee performance proves that, there is a positive moderate relationship of 0.44. The researchers recommend that management can use the finding on the HRM practices to improve on the criteria for recruiting, selecting, and compensating workers so as to enable effective productivity.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

 1.1 Background Of The Study

In many ways, employees create an important source of competitive advantage for firms. Pfeffer (1994) in his study states that practices of human resources such as selection training and compensation are widely believed to improve the performance of an organization Thus the way an organization manages people can influence its performance. These human resource management practices are adopted to improve the growth of employee’s skills as well as motivate them to work harder towards achieving the set target.

Comprehensive training and development activities are some means by which organizations can improve the quality of current employees. Bartel (1994) and knoke and kalleberg (1994) independently suggest that investment in training procedures is beneficial to organizational outcomes. Human resource management can also help to set up a management secession planning program, a talent management program, a career development program/ development program. All these imply that adopting human resource practices enables firms to make optimum advantage of their employees.

Historically, the beginning of HRM is traced to Robert Owen and his large spinning mills in Scotland. Charles Babbage and Henry Towde are the other two names associated with HRM’s early beginnings. Its growth was particularly marked in the inter-war era which was also the heyday of human relations and its subsequent branching into the diagnostic, behavioral movement.

The latter being more applied and scientific in nature, has since then developed along highly specialized lines. It has branched out specifically along with the domains of applied psychology and sociology. The latter in turn has evolved around the concept of the ‘welfare state’ while the former has proceeded as the behavioral science movement. The art and science of personnel management are inclusive and incorporates the two trends. The diagram beneath illustrates the development or evolution of personnel management through recorded time.

The theory and practice of human resource management are based primarily on sociology and economics. For Keeney (1990), human resource management is the conceptual euphemism to describe all the apparently transformative changes in the management of employee relations in the 1980s. Blunt (1990) suggests that in the late 1970s and even into the early 1980s, the discipline concerned with the human side of the enterprise was largely regarded as covering moribund housekeeping operational activities.

Consequently, there was no status and influence of the discipline. Guest (1990) attributes the concern with status to the origins of personnel management “as an extension of scientific management or a form of welfare management.  Kamoche (1994) points it out as the contrast between the high aspirations of the normative model and of the failure to deliver as reflected in the behaviorist model.”

It was later developed in stages through consistent research in the area so much so that at present; it is a pioneering area in management. New dimensions continue to be added to it, lending it a unique dynamic character. It now covers diverse areas, as, mutual understanding at the workplace between employers and employees and the socio-technical school of thought emphasizing restructuring of work to match social and technical systems (Schein 1988). Organization Development (OD), Human Resources Accounting (HRA), and Quality of work-life (QWL) are the most recent precursors of HRM. HRA was popularized by Flamholitz (1985) which represented the ultimate quest for legitimacy through quantification. HRM’s financial implications are studied under ‘organizational imperatives’ (Kamoche, 1994).

Human resource management can be considered as a situation whereby a person is brought into the organization, his behavior at work is being taken note of, his interest and relationships both with his fellow workers and the organization are also being noted. The study of human management may be viewed from two different perspectives:

First, seen as a function or responsibility of every manager or supervisor who has people under him with the plans of achieving the desired goal.

Secondly, seen also as a group of functions in an organization that is being performed by a particular department, the personnel department.

The generally agreed phenomenon is that the job of a manager involves getting results through people. A manager is a person who guides, leads, encourages, and motivates the men who form his team in order to get the desired results. Therefore, for a person to get a job with a group of people working as a team, he must have an intimate relationship to be known and seen as the man that contributes to making the organization successful.

In a private organization in Cameroon such as the Cameroon Development Corporation which is a public establishment, there are a large number of employees among the number of departments found, who need to know the rules and regulations, job requirements,s, and expected outcomes. This study relates to the role played by the human resource department in the performance of employees since employees’ needs and satisfaction are highly interrelated.

It is common in Cameroon and other countries of the world to employ workers in the organization who are well trained to carry out specific functions in order to ease workflow within and out of the organization. While organizations in itself cannot do anything without humans and machines who are employed; while it is also widely known both in theory and practice that personnel or employees are the backbones of the success of every organization, be it public or private, it will therefore be very important to research and know what makes workers to achieve their goals and increase their performance.

1.2 Problem Statement

For many years, a lot of people think that if the human resource department in an organization handles employees properly, then the results or performance of the employees will be highly achieved, but as a result of cultural differences in our country, dealing with different groups of people may cause organizational goals difficult to attain.

Every organization has some objectives it wishes to achieve and therefore, it does everything possible to attain these objectives. When the human resource department is not independent of top management in terms of management of resources, then worker’s opinions may hardly be expressed and therefore the organization may fail to satisfy its workers, which may cause them to be found lacking in effort and ability, which will result to low productivity and poor performance.

Thus, the problem of this study is that there is no agreement among scholars and practitioners on the probable effects of HRM on employee performances.

1.3 Research Objectives      

1.3.1 Main Objective

The main objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of human resource management on employee performances in the Cameroon development corporation (CDC) bota palms.

1.3.2 Specific Objectives

Meanwhile incidental to the main objective are the following specific objectives:

To assess the role of recruitment on employee performance.

To assess the role of selection on employee performance.

To know if compensation has an impact on an employee’s performance.

1.4 Research Questions

1.4.1 Main Question

Does HRM have effects on the performance of employees in CDC?

1.4.2 Specific Questions

What role does recruitment play in employee performance?

What role does selection play in employee performance?

Does compensation have an impact on employee’s performance?

1.5 Significant Of The Study

The primary problem under investigation is to find out the various effects that human resource management (H.R.M) has on the employees of CDC

The study will suggest good management techniques that could be used by those in charge of HRM in CDC to enable the staff to perform their job better.

This study would help many human resource managers and leaders in most organizations to identify what it takes to select, recruit and motivate their employees so as to enable their employees to perform their best. It could also be used by executives of other companies who are experiencing problems with reaching high productivity

This study will improve employee’s performance at the workplace, provided the department in charge to implement the right procedures in selecting, recruiting, and compensating it employees, in doing so, it will retain its employees and enable the organization to establish a good image.

It will also be used to enlighten those who are not privileged to know what human resource is all about and the effects and impact it has on employees in attaining organizational goals and set objectives

It will also provide relevant literature for future studies that have H.R.M as an area of study.

Finally, the recommendations at the end of this study can serve as a guide not only to CDC on effective management of human resources but to other organizations be it public and private.

1.6 Scope Of The Study

To experience the reality of our study, the research will be limited to CDC Bota Palm Estates Limbe. As regards the study, it does not go beyond stating the principles of proper human resource management and also what it takes in selecting recruiting and compensating employees in an organization.