1 AFRICAN ASSOCIATION FOR PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT 30 TH AAPAM ANNUAL ROUNDTABLE CONFERENCE, ACCRA, GHANA 6 TH – 10 TH OCTOBER 2008 THEME: ENHANCING THE PERFORMANCE OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE IN A DEVELOPMENTAL STATE. TOPIC: THE APPLICABILITY OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT MODEL IN THE AFRICAN PUBLIC SERVICES: INHERENT CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES BY: DR. BENSON BANA DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, UNIVERSITY OF DAR ES SALAAM
Transcript
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AFRICAN ASSOCIATION FOR PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT
30TH AAPAM ANNUAL ROUNDTABLE CONFERENCE,
ACCRA, GHANA 6TH – 10TH OCTOBER 2008
THEME: ENHANCING THE PERFORMANCE OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE IN A DEVELOPMENTAL STATE.
TOPIC: THE APPLICABILITY OF HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT MODEL IN THE AFRICAN PUBLIC SERVICES: INHERENT CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
BY: DR. BENSON BANA DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION,
UNIVERSITY OF DAR ES SALAAM
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HRM is far more than a portfolio of policies, practices and prescriptions concerned with the management of the employment relationship. It is this but more. And because it is more, it’s loosely defined and difficult to pin down precisely, a basket of multiple, overlapping and shifting meanings, which users of the term do not always specify. Its ‘brilliant ambiguity’ derives from the context in which it is embedded, a context within which there are multiple and often competing perspectives upon the employment relationship, some ideological, others theoretical, some conceptual. HRM is inevitably a contested terrain, and the various definitions of it reflect this. (Collin, 1999: 32).
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Introduction
The preceding excerpt sets the scene for the paper and attests to the importance of
appropriate models and approaches to the management of human resources in
organizations such as the public services in Africa and elsewhere. Since its evolution the
management of employment relationship has undergone pervasive changes due a
number of influences. Its history has been a subject of continuous significant changes of
different forms and magnitude both in policy and practice. Over time different models,
paradigms and approaches have been initiated and used to inform the management of
employees in organizations, including the public services. Innovations which had direct or
indirect influence to both the evolution and development of employment management
function are numerous and diverse.
Practitioners and academics involved in the field of human resource management are
aware of the influence of the philosophical outlook of the early industrialists–cum-factory
owners1 regarding workers. We also know the contribution of technological and scientific
innovations especially in the behavioural dimensions, including the classical management
theories2; Administrative principles3; the behaviourist’4. We are also aware of the recent
past influences such as economic and political liberalism; evolution of information age
and corresponding developments in Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
Moreover, we know that the introduction of the New Public Management (NPM)
paradigm and related reform packages have paved the way for the introduction of new
ways of managing employees. Furthermore, globalization and new developments in
organizational theory, including a pressing need for creating and transforming existing
organizations into continuous learning organizations and knowledge-based organizations,
have significantly contributed to a rethinking of employee management approaches and
models. This has engendered innovative management approaches that are compatible to
the current organizational needs.
1 Some of these include Robert Owen and Lord Shaftesbury. They were critical against demeaning,
dehumanizing, hardships, exploitation and mistreatment of workers by factory owners. Their sociological and philosophical stances and outlook on workers informed the first cadre of staff employed to take care of employment relationships. Owen accused his colleagues for treating their equipment better that their employees. As well, the economic thoughts of Adam Smith (1776) in his seminal book, the Wealth of Nations, influenced the approaches to employee management.
2 Especially Frederick Taylor and his followers on scientific management principles; Henry Fayol’s administrative principles; Max Weber’s bureaucracy; and Chester Bernard.
3 See the works of Henry Fayol, Herbert Simon and their colleagues or followers 4 We have in mind the works of Abraham Maslow; Frederick Hezberg (on motivation); Dougles McGregor
(Theory ‘X’ and Y’); Elton Mayo, Hawthorne studies
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The last 20 years or so have seen the rise of what has been called the Human Resource
Management new orthodoxy (Guest, 1997) almost all over the world. In the 1990s to the
current era the term “HRM” has become fashionable and gradually it is replacing others
such as “Personnel Management” and Industrial Relations in African organizations,
including the public service entities. The practitioners of people management are no
longer personnel officers and trainers but are HR managers and human resource
developers. The 1990s and advent of the 21st century saw the rise of human resource
management model and the gradual withering away of the personnel management
approach to the management of employment relationship in African public services.
Moreover, the title for officers in the public services’ officers vested with the
responsibilities of people management changed from personnel officers, personnel
administrators and establishment officers to human resource management officers. The
office labels changed from personnel offices to HR offices. In addition we witnessed the
flourishing of HRM courses in African universities and tertiary institutions. Of course,
change is indispensable in organizations, including the African public service entities.
African public bureaucracies welcomed change with vim and vigor.
However, the paradoxical question which this paper raises revolves around the extent to
which the new human resource management model is interpreted and practiced in the
contexts of African public services. This paper illuminates the contentious issues
surrounding the adoption of the new model and the interpretive criteria attached to the
model. It seeks to answer the question regarding whether the HRM model is appropriate
to African public services or not. Furthermore, it points out the challenges and problems
of implementing the new model in African public services as well as the way forward in
order to ensure that the valuable asset namely the human resources is managed
properly for the purpose of enhancing the performance of the Public service entities in
African states.
Genesis of Human Resource Management Model
It is a historical fact that models and approaches to the management of employment
relationship have been changed overtime. Literature on the evolution of employment
management function in countries other than those in the two sides of the Atlantic is
very little, scant and patchy. However, sources which are rich in the background history
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of the function are available but, mostly, they focus on Western Europe only, especially
Britain and the United States. It is also true that most of the approaches and models
which are used to manage staff in different countries are largely adopted, though may
be adapted to country specific contexts, from those countries. Ideas and innovations
which had indirect or direct influence on people management dates back in the 1780s
and through to the twentieth and twenty-first centuries as shown in Table 1.1 below.
Table 1. Chronology of Developments in Employment Management Function
Time Frame
Phases Roles and Responsibilities Job Titles
1780s Social Reformers’ None. The criticized dehumanizing labour management practices.
None (Utopian Social Reformist)
1840s -1902
Welfare or Caring phase First personnel office was created
Canteen services, sick visiting, hiring, handling grievances and clerical duties. Assisting employees and families to cope with personal problems housing medical, financial, etc.
Welfare Officer Welfare Secretary Welfare secretaries acted as a buffer between the organization and its personnel) (The Acolyte of Benevolence)
1910s -1920s
Employment Management First employment management department
Wage and salary administration Grievance handling Collective bargaining Hiring Control of workforce
Employment Manager Labour Manager (Humane Bureaucrat)
1920s -1940s
Personnel Management (Title change from employee management dept-personnel Management dept).
Recruitment and selection, job evaluation, training, collective bargaining
Recruitment and selection, performance evaluation, job evaluation and grading, training and development, career management, compensation and benefits management, personnel auditing; legalistic control of management relationships
Strategic management orientation Vertical and horizontal integration of HRM policies and practices. Emphasis on the HPWPs Performance management
Human Resource (HR) Officers Human Resource (HR) Managers (HR Architects)
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In the light of information in Table 1, it seems plausible to suggest that the management
of employment relationship function is dynamic. The approaches to staff management
have been changing overtime to respond to the prevailing circumstances as well as
changes due to new scientific innovations, socio-economic and political trends as well as
legal frameworks. As such the genesis of HRM model has to be understood and
conceptualized within the historical developments characterizing the management of
employment relationship.
Human Resource Management: Interpretive Criteria
The evolution of terminologies that describe the field of the management of employment
relationship in organizations has been a common phenomenon in the growth and
development history of the field. The term ‘Human Resource Management’ is the latest
to emerge, and today, seems to be used extensively by academicians and practitioners.
There is no shortage of definitions of HRM in the literature. Conversely, the discussion of
HRM has persistently been troubled by ‘definitional and ontological problems’ (Keenoy,
1997, p. 839). However, there is an emerging consensus among writers and
practitioners, as depicted in the literature, justifying the elusive, controversies and
ambiguities features of HRM in its conceptual dimensions (Keenoy, 1990, Storey, 1992,
1995; Collin, 1999; Hendry, 1995, Boxall, 1993; Sisson and Storey, 2000). This has
resulted in more confusion, tensions and contradictions, rather than clarity in the HRM
discourse. At some point scholars and practitioners were divided on the meaning they
attached to the concept human resource management. A critical analysis of the literature
points two contending camps. It is to these that we now turn.
HRM: Semantic or Re-titling the Past
The first camp argues that HRM does not suggest anything new but it is simply a
renaming of the orthodox personnel management function. They contend that HRM is
synonym or personnel management and that it is merely the ‘re-titling’ of the personnel
management function in organisations (Fowler, 1987; Blyton and Turnbull, 1992, Legge,
1995, Torrington and Hall, 1996).
Several expressions have been used to deliver this message. To some writers HRM is
‘traditional personnel administration dressed up’ (Sisson 1994, Hendry, 1995); and it is
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regarded as either the ‘old wine in new bottles’ or the ‘Emperor’s new clothes’
(Armstrong, 2007). To others it is ‘personnel management re-christened’ (Strauss,
1999); a ‘wolf in sheep’s skin’ and the ‘epitome of good personnel’ (Keenoy, 1990); as
well as denoting the ‘re-labelling’ or ‘repackaging’ of progressive personnel management
(Torrington and Hall, 1989; Bratton and Gold, 1999). In this line of thinking the concept
of HRM is, fundamentally, indistinguishable from personnel management on the grounds
that there is little, if any, substantive difference between HRM and its predecessors,
including Personnel management.
This camp opines that the term Human resource management does not give a new
meaning to what has traditionally been called ‘personnel management’, but instead is
used to accommodate or capture the prevailing mood and contemporary fashion
(Redman and Wilkinson, 2001, Storey, 1989, 1992). This point is well echoed by Bratton
and Gold who posit that
The vocabulary of management, like language as a whole is not immune to fashion, with a growing awareness among practitioners and management scholars of using gender-neutral language, human resource management has been adopted by some to avoid gender-biased phrases such as manpower planning and manpower administration (1999, p.14)
This argument may hold much water in the pubic service of the developed countries. In
the developing countries such as African organizations, the terms ‘manpower
management’, ‘manpower administration’ and ‘personnel’ have been used predominantly
in the public sector, particularly in the public services for a long time. It is in the recent
past that the term HRM was adopted to describe the employee management function.
From the foregoing HRM, arguably, does not offer anything new; it is simply “good
personnel management described in a fashionable way” (Guest, 1989, p. 48). The
supporters of this viewpoint contend that proactive and dynamic personnel practitioners
have always applied concepts that are embodied in HRM (Cumming, 1993; Torrington, et
al, 2005). In the light of the first camp, HRM is more an attitude of mind than a new
approach (Armstrong, 2007). Moreover, supporters of this camp argue that it is used as
a way of “re-conceptualizing and reorganizing personnel roles and describing the work of
personnel departments (Guest, 1987; Storey, 1992). Others claim that that the HRM
model remains an elusive concept and contains contradictions and paradoxes.
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Detractors view HRM as a rhetoric to disguise the consequences of de-regulation and
down-sizing: a mask for the less acceptable face of organization culture. The impression
one obtains from this perspective is that HRM is not a new distinctive model to managing
the employment relationship. According to this outlook, the concept neither offers a
completely new management philosophical outlook, nor discards elements of the
previous approaches. It essentially builds on approaches that preceded its evolution such
as the welfare, scientific management, human relations, industrial relations and
manpower planning.
HRM: Distinctive Approach to Staff Management
The second camp of writers contend that HRM denotes a radically and qualitatively
different philosophy and approach to the management of employment relationship based
on premises quite distinct from those underpinning personnel management. HRM is
conceptualized as a more ‘sophisticated’ approach to the design and management of
employment policies and practices, which is quite different from other approaches
including personnel management. It is argued that HRM is underpinned by particular
philosophical stances not just any set of values. As such, it is regarded as not another
means of executing the personnel function but as both a stance and a prescription in its
own right with its own predictive and descriptive value (Beardwell and Holden, 2001,
p.5). From this perspective HRM is not viewed as a continuation of the previous values
and practices but as a disjunction of the past. The definition offered by Storey
represents this line of thinking well, as follows:
Human resource management is a distinctive approach to employment management which seeks to achieve competitive advantage through the strategic deployment of a highly committed and capable workforce using an integrated array of cultural, structural and personnel techniques (1995, p.5).
Advocates of this perspective argue that HRM denotes a ‘strategic approach’ which
entails the integration of human resource management policies and practices with each
other, as well as matching them to the overall organizational strategy (Sisson and
Storey, 2000). This is thought as an essential prerequisite in order to achieve
‘competitive advantage’ and organizational effectiveness. In the light of this perspective,
the manner and the extent to which employees are managed stems explicitly from the
organizational strategy.
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Beaumont (1993) claims that HRM philosophy rests on the premise that employees are
the ‘most valuable’ resources, which need to be ‘managed strategically’ rather than
administered’. Employees are viewed both as social capital capable of development and a
key resource to be nurtured and empowered rather than a variable cost to be minimized.
As such, they must be utilized efficiently in order to achieve the organizational goals and
‘excellence’. The philosophy of HRM emphasizes securing high levels of employees’
behavioural commitment, quality of staff, goods and services as well as flexibility in
structure and functions (Guest, 1989). These have to be achieved not only through the
integration of HRM policies with organizational strategy, but also by internal integration
and consistency of HRM policies themselves in order to build up a strong organizational
culture, which in turn increases organizational performance.
HRM: Synthesizing the Debate
Comprehensive, objective and in-depth analysis reveals that HRM is, fundamentally and
comparatively, a new approach in the management of employment relationship. Much as
the two approaches do not exhibit differences in the key practice areas (the major
activities that are carried out in the management of employees- i.e. the what); however,
the divergences between the two models are in the philosophies; the manner and extent
to which the key practice areas are implemented as well as in the degree of emphasis.
The differences have been outlined by several authorities and scholars, including Storey5;
and Torrington, Hall and Taylor (2002, p. 10). However, some of them are worth of
note, and are as follows:
HRM advocates, respectively, for the strategic integration of HR policies and key
practice areas with the macro and micro level policies and programmes. At the
macro level, HRM policies must be derived from, and integrated with the
organizations’ strategic goals and objectives (vertical integration). In the African
public services context one would expect HR policies to be integrated with the
countries vision or national strategies for growth and reduction of poverty. At the
5 Storey points out Twenty-seven points of differences between Personnel management model and
Human Resource Management paradigm. The matrix he designed on this is quoted enormously almost in all texts of HRM in which the personnel-HRM debate is discussed. See J. Storey (1992). Developments in the Management of Human Resources: An Analytical Review, London: Blackwell. I have appended to this paper a copy of his matrix.
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micro level the key practice areas must cohere in such a way that they are
mutually supportive and reinforcing each other, hence achieving the desired
horizontal integration.
HR places more emphasis on winning the “hearts and minds” as well as the
commitment of employees (their hearts and mind) rather than striving for optimal
control and compliance through the “rule book” and rigid personnel management
procedures.
A devolved HR management function is more preferred to a centralized staff
management structures and systems. As such, HRM s advocates for devolution of
staff management authority to the line managers rather than concentrating
employee management power in the hands of personnel/HR specialists.
HRM stresses on the approaches to staff management which would cultivate
avenues for the creation of a healthy Psychological Contract6 on all parties
involved in the employment relationship. Workforce attitude surveys are
encouraged.
The employee relations philosophy which works well is one which stresses on
‘unitarist’ individualism and high trust values rather than pluralist and collective
approaches. In such a context, trade unions and the employers are encouraged to
work more as partners for the organization development, enhanced performance
and survival rather than as rivals. Thus, individual contracts are preferred to
collective bargaining contracts.
Recruitment and selection are not only based on merit, but they are targeting on
capturing talents with the desired competencies, i.e. “the high fliers.” The people
who can make a difference in the organization. The use of multiple selection
devices in a complimentary manner is encouraged in order to enable accurate
prediction of performance behaviour.
The HRM model suggests that in order to achieve high performance levels,
efficiency and effectiveness in organizations, specific “bundles” or set of HRM
practices should be implemented simultaneously. These are usually referred to as
High Performance Work Practices (HPWPs).7 Emphasis should not be placed on a
single practice area of HRM.
6 The concept psychological contract refers to the perceptions of both parties to the
employment relationship, of the reciprocal expectations, promises and obligations implied in the relationship. The contract is not generally written down and cannot be enforced in a court of law or tribunal.
7 The acronym HPWPs stands for, and denotes the High Performance Work Practices.
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The model stresses on effective ways of managing performance in organizations
through deliberate interventions for culture change. Moreover, preference is on
Performance Related Pay (PRP) to mundane job evaluation and fixed grades.
The drive for ‘value for money’ is also a key feature of human resource
management model. The key practice areas of HRM should be carried out in such
a way that they add value to organizations and the Returns on Investment (ROI)
are realized. As such, continuous auditing of the HR function and its key practice
areas is indispensable.
HRM places great emphasis on ethics and ethical standards in the execution of the
key practice areas of human resource management. It endeavours to ensure that
there is a continuous and sustainable match between employees’ values and
organizational values. Moreover, it advocates zero tolerance to employees who
cannot live the organizational values and code of ethics.
HRM encourages flexible work practices, including first, numerical flexibility which
entails alterations in work hours or the number of workers; second, functional
flexibility, which presuppose employees being empowered to perform a wide
variety of tasks; third, pay flexibility which centres on linking pay to performance;
and forth, out-sourcing or distancing which involves identification of core and non-
core employees and tasks8.
Downsizing, rightsizing and retrenchment processes which seem to be inevitable
processes in organizational reform interventions are incompatible with the spirit of
the HRM model which favours “separation.”
In totality, it seems plausible to argue that HRM model is by and large, in theory and
practice, compatible with the New Public Management (NPM) paradigm prescriptions
upon which the highly celebrated public services reforms in most African countries rest.
Adaptability of HRM in African Public Services: A Divergence View
The applicability of management models which are developed elsewhere9 in the African
context is always a contentious. There are strong views among management scholars
and practitioners who argue convincingly that alien models of HRM have very little
8 This entails sub-contracting, using part-timers and short-term contracts. In such a situation employment
contracts are replaced by contracts of service. 9 We mean outside the African continent.
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relevance to Africa, hence they cannot work. This line of thinking is commonly referred
to as the “divergence” thesis (Hofstede, 1983; Ralston, 1997; Anakwe, 2002). The thesis
holds that there are deep-seated differences between developed and developing
countries, but different writers see their character differently, whether culture (Webber;
1969, Ralston, et al., 1997) or economic and political ideology. The divergence
perspective rejects the diffusion of management technology including models of HRM
from the developed to the developing countries. It hinges on the notion that culture is
deeply-rooted and drives the values of any society beyond the economic ideology. This
means that the African culture does not permit the diffusion of the HRM model to the
African public services.
Furthermore, the divergence perspective leans on the presupposition that national and
regional cultures have profound influence in management including HRM. Consequently
general management, in its entirety as well as HRM are culture-dependent. Hofstede is
quite emphatic on this point, and he wrote
Managing and organizing do not consist of making or moving tangible objects, but of manipulating symbols, which have meaning to the people who are managed or organized. ... Management and organization are penetrated with culture from the beginning to the end (1983, p.38).
Generally, the divergence perspective highlights the influence of cultural factors in HRM
theories and practices. The perspective implies that differences in ‘national cultures’ call
for differences in HRM approaches. Thus, the transfer or adoption of models of HRM and
general management from one country, continent or region to another is undesirable
and impracticable due to cultural diversities. It is argued that people in organizations
retain their diverse culturally-determined values regardless of economic ideology (Cole
1973; Evans and Rauch 1999). This means that theories and models of HRM which are
developed in the Western countries and exported in “wholesale” terms into African public
services have doubtful utility (Blunt and Jones, 1997) and hence are prone to failure.
From the preceding account, HRM management model is said to be alien, hence
inapplicable in the African context. Thus, HRM in African public service could be akin or
equated to “Alice in Wonderland”.
Those who subscribe to the divergence perspective suggest the use of HRM models
which are continental-based or country-specific. We read books on the “Asian Human
Resource Management model”; “Caribbean Human Resource Management framework”;
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Chinese Human Resource Management models; etc. One is likely to question the
imperative of sheer generalization. The subscribers of the divergence thesis are correct,
in principle, for opposing the notions of “one-size-fits-all”; “the one-best-way”; “the best
practices” or “the best bundles” of key practice areas of HRM” for managing staff in the
African public services.
HRM Adaptability in African Public Service: A Convergence View
This thesis hinges on the premise that economic ideology drives values. It assumes that
managers in industrialized nations will embrace similar values with regard to work
organization and HRM models and practices (England and Lee, 1974). The convergence
thesis implies that as nations develop or industrialize, they undergo a significant shift in
management values toward managerial and organisational behaviour that embraces
free-market capitalism (Ralston, et al. 1997). One may also include liberal democratic
values such as economic liberalism and political pluralism. Much of the theoretical
underpinnings of this perspective could be equated to the premises of the modernisation
school in the development study discourse. The convergence thesis has some
resemblance to Rostow’s (1960) ‘stages of economic growth’ model. The theory, further,
posits that principles of management including those of HRM are universal. It assumes
that the universal principles are applicable in all organisational contexts regardless of
‘national cultural’ aspects (Hofstede, 1983) and geographical boundaries.
Furthermore, the convergence perspective suggests that the imperatives of modern
complex organization will prove so powerful and pervasive that managerial attitudes,
values and behaviour will become increasingly uniform around the world (Blunt and
Jones, 1992). It claims that the universal general management and HRM principles are a
solution to the management ills afflicting organizations, including the public service
entities in the developing countries.
From the preceding, it is clear that the New Public Management (NPM) paradigm and the
public sector reform initiatives, including Public Service Reform Programmes (PSRP); the
“best HRM practices” and other administrative reforms which are being implemented in
most of the developing countries are largely anchored on the convergence thesis.
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Table 2: A Matrix of “Best Practices” in Human Resource Management
Key HR Practice Areas Best Practices
Recruitment and selection
• Integrated with organization’s strategic objective as well as Vision, Mission and Values (VMV)*
• Integrated with other key levers of HRM • Objective selection criteria. • Identify the ‘high fliers’, core and non-core personnel • Internal recruitment policy and succession planning • Greater employment security • Individual contract • Trainability as major selection criteria
Training and Development
• Job-focused and results oriented • Internal career and development opportunities • Linked with career development and organisational
needs. • Depending on performance appraisal • Linked with other key practice areas • Structured for continuous improvement • Focus on core competences and key success factors
Remuneration
• Performance based pay • Flexible pay and work systems • Incentive pay schemes • Competitive pay policy • Linked with other key practice areas.
Performance Appraisal
• Based on preset SMART** objectives. • Results–orientated appraisal • Based on the state-of-the-art 360 degrees feedback • Appraiser and appraised mutual feedback • Linked with other key practice areas • Informs training and development function • Individual accountability
Organization Structure
• Flatter and leaner organizations • Horizontal and vertical communication • Self directed work teams • Line management ownership of HRM function • High commitment and involvement systems • Flexible work • Flexible time • Explicit organisational culture and values and VMV
* VMV = Vision, Mission and Values ** SMART = Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound.
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Adapting HRM: Harmonizing Divergence and Convergence Theses
The arguments embodied in both the divergence and convergence theses have elements
of truth. However, approaches to the management of employment relationships in
organizations such as public services should take into consideration the culture, including
the values, norms and customs of a specific country. The endeavours to address the
cultural patterns should also be implemented in tandem with deliberate strategies aimed
at weeding out the old- valued customs, beliefs and norms impinging on the smooth-
running of the HRM function in the public services.
Management, including HRM models are essentially a product of rigorous research work.
This requires heavy investments in research and development function. Unfortunately,
most of the African countries do not allocate sufficient budget for research.
Consequently, the African countries will continue to rely heavily on models developed
from outside the continent for a long time unless they develop capacity to carry out basic
empirical research projects and ability to translate the research findings into actionable
programmes.
Best practice models are of dubious relevance, but they are all we have. The assumption
held by the convergence theorists that there are common principles of sound
management or universal ‘best practice’ bundles of HRM that are applicable regardless of
geographical boundaries and national culture is indisputable. The HPWPs and the best
practice or HRM bundles shown in Table 2 are instructive. There is convincing empirical
evidence from the industrialized countries which demonstrates a positive correlation
between organisational performance and the bundles of the HPWPs or the ‘best
practices’ of HRM (Huseild 1993, 1995; Truss, 2001; Mylon, 2002).
The divergence perspective is also a useful tool for understanding the importance of
cultural influences in HRM and management in general. Cultural differences have
profound effects in the management of employment relationship. This is underscored in
the following observation:
Introduction of modern technology and industrialization into Japan produced factories and machines very like Great Britain. Nonetheless life within the plants has not been identical (Webber, 1969, p.80).
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However, the impact of cultural factors in HRM is still not adequately empirically tested
as observed by some researchers, who reveal that:
There is indeed a growing body of literature concerning questions of socio-cultural influence on HRM and organizational behaviour in general. But much of it is of poor quality, consisting of anecdotes, prescriptions and based on western experience and fantasies. Research methodologies are often questionable, which is not altogether surprising in view of the problems of defining ‘culture’ and devising useful categories for investigation (Blunt and Jones, 1992, p. 11).
Whilst there has been an attempt to measure the impact of ‘best practices’ of HRM to
organisational performance, so far it seems there has been less attempt to substantiate
empirically the influence of cultural factors on organisational performance and
effectiveness. Most of the arguments that support the culture-bound factors are largely
based on individual value judgements. This does not lead to viable and empirically
informed conclusions. The reconciliation of the divergence and convergence can be
achieved by adopting the so-called “crossvergence” thesis.
Adapting HRM in African Public Services: A Crossvergence Approach
The “crossvergence” concept is a brain-child of Raltson (1997) and it attempts to
reconcile the divergence and convergence theses. It adopts what one can refer to as the
Aristotelian golden mean. Advocates of this thesis posit that:
Crossvergence results when an individual incorporates both national culture influences and economic ideology influences synergistically to form a unique value system that is different from the value set supported by either national culture or economic ideology (Raltson et al, 1997).
The crossvergence thesis recognizes the significance of economic factors and the
national culture and the interaction between the two (Anakwe, 2002). This is important
for the diffusion and integration of Western HRM models in developing countries. Hence,
it supports the idea that HRM models can be ‘exported’, ‘transplanted’ and adopted from
one country to another. However, the thesis implicitly suggests that adoption of western
management approaches should be followed by adaptation to the local contexts.
Thus, HRM models and approaches developed elsewhere should be attuned to the socio-
cultural, economic, legislative and political contexts and realities of recipient countries.
The notion of “hybridization” of HRM practices has roots in the crossvergence
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perspective. Likewise the principles of the contingency approach to management are
congruent with the theoretical underpinnings of this perspective. The crossvergence
perspective offers a correct explanation that Western models of HRM should not be
copied or transplanted and/or grafted to organizations in developing countries in
‘wholesale terms’. Instead they must be adopted and adapted in the most culturally
appropriate manner.
HRM in African Public Service Entities: Lessons of Experience
The advent of the New Public Management (NPM) paradigm in the African public services
has, undoubtedly, paved the way for the adoption of the HRM model. There is a
consensus on the fact that NPM sits down well with HRM model, whereas personnel
management approach to the management of employment relationship corresponds with
the traditional public administration framework (Bana, 2006; Taylor, 2002). Anecdotal
evidence reveals some gaps in the manner the HRM is implemented in African public
services.
In most public service entities in Africa there have been changes in the titles of offices,
positions and professional titles. Personnel offices are today labeled HR offices and
personnel administrators are addressed as HR managers; and the personnel function is
referred to as HR function. Reformers in the public service entities are talking ‘the HR
talk’ but practitioners are not doing enough to ‘walk the HR talk’. Changing titles in order
to accommodate the emerging fad without implementing the corresponding people
management practices is not good enough to paving the way for institutionalizing
progressive HRM policies and practices in the public services.
In the academic milieu, institutions and departments in Universities in African countries
have changed titles of their courses from Personnel management/administration to
human resource management. This has also applied to the names of faculties and
departments. However, the contents of the courses have not been reviewed or changed
to match the requirements of HRM model and philosophy. Moreover, there has not been
serious effort to re-orient and disseminate HRM knowledge and competencies of the
teaching staff.
18
Studies carried out in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Botswana and Zambia reveal that most
public service officers continue to rely more on the personnel management approach
than the HRM model in the management of employment relationship. For instance, staff
members in charge of people management were more involved with routine
administrative works than HR-related activities (Taylor, 2002; Therkildsen et al 2006).
They were more of the “clerk of works” and “contract managers” rather than
“architects”10. The United Nations (2005) and Bana (2006) report that within the public
service in developing countries most activities of the HR offices go little beyond routine
administrative tasks of record keeping, drafting personnel procedures, pay roll, protocol
and staff welfare.
Kiggudu’s (2002) study showed that less than 40 percent of organizations in developing
countries had HRM specialists. Implicitly the remainder employs the generalists or
amateurs. Additionally, his study showed that HRM in most organizations is accorded a
peripheral status. The under-performers in other departments were usually transferred
to the HR departments. In such a situation the HR function becomes a ‘jack of all trades’.
Consequently, the requirement for mastery of specialized HR knowledge and
competencies in executing the critical HRM levers is acutely disregarded in developing
countries.
Researchers have demonstrated strategic human resource management was disregarded
in the Mauritian, Tanzanian and Ugandan public services. McCourt and Ramgutty-wong
(2003) studied the applicability of Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) in the
Mauritian civil service. They revealed that HRM in the civil service was fragmented and
the SHRM model was unfamiliar in the service. The study also highlighted myriad pitfalls
that hindered the applicability of the SHRM model in Mauritius. These include non-
transparent staffing procedures, over centralization of HRM in the service, lack of
autonomy in the Public Service Commission, ministries, and line managers on staff
management. Similar findings were revealed by Bana and McCourt (2007) study in
Tanzania and Uganda. Their study demonstrated that while each country had a vision
and a national strategy for economic growth and reduction of poverty, the government
ministries, agencies and departments did not have HRM policies which were either
10 These metaphors borrowed from the civil engineering by Tyson and Fell (1986) explain the roles of officers engaged in personnel work. The “clerk of works” and “contract managers” correspond with the personnel management approach whilst the “architects” sits down well with the HRM model.
19
derived from or integrated to the macro level policy frameworks. As such, the vertical
and horizontal integration which are essential pre-requisites of the HRM model was
acutely missing.
The HRM model, among other things, requires the use of rational models in designing
and implementing pay policies. The rational pay policies include Performance Related Pay
system; merit-based pay scheme; and competence-market competitiveness model. A
comprehensive study on the dynamics of by public service pay in Africa by Kiragu and
Mukandala (2005:308-311) in the public services of four Francophone countries (Benin,
Burkina Faso and Senegal) and five Anglophone countries (Botswana, Ghana, Tanzania,
Uganda and Zambia) revealed that the political imperatives (political models, including
the egalitarian frameworks) outweighed the rational requirements (rational models) for
pay determination. They conclude that attempts to introduce and implement the rational
models in determining pay levels in public services in those countries had no meaningful
success.
Human resource management requires that the execution of the key practice areas in
public services be delegated (by devolution) to the line managers in the public service
(i.e. in government ministries, agencies and departments). Experience shows that the
power and authority for making major HR decisions in African public services are not
decentralized. The major decisions are made at central levels by the ministries
responsible for public service management. This does not create a healthy environment
for the institutionalization of the HRM model in public service entities. In most countries,
for example, ministries do not have their “own” specific HR policies which are aligned or
integrated with the macro government human resource management policies.
HRM model calls for the integration of the key practice areas. For instance, training and
development must support recruitment and selection; performance appraisal must aid
compensation management and vice versa; etc. This integration is referred to as
“horizontal integration”. In such a situation, the key practice areas and policies of HRM
cohere and reinforce each other, hence become mutually supportive and, consequently
create the desired synergy in human resource management. Experience and anecdotal
evidence show that in most African public services the key practice areas are
implemented in isolation, hence they are not linked. For instance, pay reforms are
carried out as a stand alone HR function as if it has no relationship with performance.
20
In Commonwealth African countries the public servants are regarded as “servants of the
crown” hence they serve at the pleasure of heads of states or governments. The fulcrum
of the legal framework and institutional arrangement that govern human resource
management function in the public services is the head of government and/ or state. In
most African countries, heads of state or government have and, indeed, exercise
excessive powers over human resource management in the public service. The
presidents have enormous powers, including the mandate to “hire and fire”; discipline,
appoint, promote and transfer staff in the public service. They have almost absolute
powers over the management of staff in the public service. They are alpha and omega
on matters pertaining to HRM in the public services. This situation undermines the
institutionalization of HRM model which, inter alia, calls for the devolution of people
management issues to line managers.
They Way Forward and Concluding Remarks
The public services in Africa should not only adopt the HRM model in the management of
employment relationship but also they must carefully adapt the model to their country-
specific conditions and needs. There should be initiatives to ensure continuous
improvements in executing the key practice areas of HRM, and the development of new
models for staff management. It is important to recognize the fact that knowledge is not
obsolete and static. New models for managing staff will continue to emerge so long as
knowledge generation and dissemination processes in societies do not reach the terminal
end.
It is not at all impossible to institute and nurture the HRM model in the African public
services. However, it may be difficult to implement it if bold decisions are not made and
implemented. The African public service managers should not only change labels of their
offices and job titles to include HRM, at the face value. They should, as a matter of
necessity, enhance their competencies in order to acquire in-depth and broad knowledge
on the “nuts and bolts” as well as the employee management philosophy, policy and
practices which are associated with the HRM model.
Human resource management is a professional function. The function has a code of
practices and conduct. It is a professional analogous to engineering, accountancy and
21
medicine. It is too important in the African public services; hence it should not be left in
the hands of amateurs and non-professionals. Human resource management
practitioners in the public service should be accredited, certified and qualified beyond
any shadow of doubt in order to be able to carry out the HR work competently and
professionally. Anecdotal evidence reveals that HR specialists are insufficient in most
African public service entities. Consequently, the HR work is in the hands of the
generalists. African governments should consider the possibility of creating professional
authorities which should be tasked to accredit and regulate HR professionals and
practitioners.
HRM policies and practices aim at inculcating and promoting the values which generate
proactive, accountable and committed work force. African public service managers need
to ensure that the pieces of legislation enacted to govern human resource management
in the public services focus more on creating commitment rather than maximizing
compliance and control of staff. HRM model places more emphasis on winning the
“hearts and minds” rather than striving for optimal control and compliance through the
“rule-book” and rigid personnel management procedures. The HR legal regime should
also create room for flexible work practices. The HRM model, among other things,
requires prefers flexibility to rigid job descriptions.
African governments should empower their public service colleges in order to ensure that
they have an appropriate HRM dosage in their learning packages or curricular. The
colleges should ensure that they have a knowledgeable teaching staff with adequate
theoretical and practical knowledge on the HRM model. This will ensure that HR
practitioners in the public service entities are appropriately re-oriented and trained
properly by competent staff in the HRM milieu. Consequently, the forces impeding the
institutionalization of HRM model in public services will be gradually removed.
Deliberate measures must be put into place in order to ensure that HRM in the African
public services is devolved to the line managers. Employee management powers should
not reside in the hands of HR specialists or practitioners in the public services. Instead,
the specialists should provide guidance, technical and professional guidance to non-HR
managers and supervisors, including heads of departments and sections in the public
services.
22
HRM stresses on the approaches to staff management which would cultivate avenues for
the creation of a healthy psychological contract11 among all parties involved in the
employment relationship. Workforce attitude surveys are encouraged in the African
public services. This would enable public service managers to devise effective strategies
aimed at arresting unbecoming behaviours which may adversely affect performance
because “a stitch in time saves nine.”
All in all, public services in Africa are not rigid entities. They should be responsive and
flexible enough to accommodate new management approaches, including the HRM
model. They must strive to transform themselves into learning organizations by
becoming responsive and accommodating new innovations in the management of the
employment relationship. The HRM model is here to stay. It has replaced the orthodoxy
personnel management model, and seems to be gaining ground in both private and
public organizations, including the public service entities. Enemies which are undermining
the institutionalization of the HRM model into the African public services must be
defeated. It is imperative to recognize that the HRM as model for the management of
employment relationship in organizations, including the African public service entities has
its inherent “dos and don’ts”. It has principles which are universal, and these must be
respected if public services in Africa are to enhance their performance through their
“valuable assets”, namely the human resource.
11 The concept psychological contract refers to the perceptions of both parties to the employment
relationship, of the reciprocal expectations, promises and obligations implied in the relationship. The contract is not generally written down and cannot be enforced in a court of law or tribunal.
23
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