CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

This study is organized in a logical sequence of five related chapters. The content of each chapter is organized as follows; Chapter one presents the general introduction to the study. It comprises of the background to study, the statement of the problem, the research questions and objectives to guide the conduct of the study, significance of the study and definition of terms. Chapter two deals with a detailed review of literature which look at the works of other scholars to help and provide a framework for the conduct of the present study to finish. The chapter is divided into conceptual issues theoretical framework, empirical literature and knowledge gap

It lays emphasis on the definition of concepts, the review of related theories, and the findings of other scholars on the subject matter. Chapter three discusses the methodology adopted in this study. It state the methods employed in selecting an appropriate sample, collecting data and analyzing the data

Chapter four consist of a statistical presentation and analysis of the data obtained.it makes use of charts, tables, frequencies and parametric tools to display and analyses the data . Finally, chapter five focuses on summary of findings, conclusion from the research based on the research findings. In addition, there is area for further studies and references.

1.2 Background to the study

Organizations nowadays are looking forward to have a competitive advantage against the threats present in globalization. Due to the high competency requirements, most organization aim to generate the kind of performance that can bring more profit. In order to do that, the employees are required to perform well and improve their performance (Osman, 2013).

To comply with this, the organization needs to align organizational performance with human resource management practices, which would be shown by organizational output of financial variables (sales growth, goal achievement, good services, productivity) (Chand and Katou, 2015; ) and non-financial variables (management quality, long-term orientation, continuous improvement, workforce quality) (De Waal and Frijns, 2011; Dimba, 2010) and also other outcomes as commitment, quality and flexibility (Guest,2013). Once a business entity has analyzed its mission, identified all its stakeholders, and defined its goals, it needs a way to measure progress toward those goals (Kaplan and Norton, 2015).

Since the 1980s, human resource planning (HRP) strategy has become an important topic for the management area. HRP strategy has achieved its prominence because it provides competitiveness and promotes managerial efficiency in the business area. The rise of human resource management in the 1980s brought managerial scholars to the link between the management of people and performance.

A number of attempts were made to put empirical facts with the theoretical bones of the knowledge based firms and the specific HRP views concerning how the systems on Human Resource practices, which can make an increment on the organizational performance. The approach that focuses on individual Human Resource practices and the link with the performance continued since early 1990s (Hendry and Pettigrew, 2012).

The key objective of HRM is to increase employee performance and improve organisational performance through investment in HR (Craft, 2000). This is achieved through several key functions of HRM including Planning for the quantities and qualities of required employees acquiring services of employees developing them motivating them and making sure that they continue to maintain high performance standards he human resource planning HRP) thus becomes a very essential component of human resource practice (Dienemann, 2005).

HRP aims to ensure a suitable workforce is accessible to the organization to facilitate and improve organisational performance Mathias, 2003).Through HRP organisations are able to maintain a desirable human resource position whıle projecting future needs so as to have the correct quantities and qualıties of employees as needed. HRP 1s therefore a strategy for the organization to acquire utilıze development and retain its workforce by forecasting prospective workforce needs, reviewing current human resource needs and making plans to fill any anticipated manpower gaps (Green & Downes, 2005). Reilly (2003) argues that the HRP function enables an organization to approximate its need for labour, calculate the numbers and supply source that will satisfy the demand

Despite differences in terms of the strategies and practices, HRP is embraced in both the private and public sectors worldwide (Delaney. 2000). According to Seonghee (2005), since the mid-1990s there has been a rise in the use of HRP as a strategic function of HRM. HRP has been generally accepted as a critical funct1on because it enables organisations to attain their goals through the forecast of human resource needs Jacobson, 2010). Therefore, how to conduct HRP accurately and effectively has gained significant interest in the field of HRM over the years (Campbell, 2000).

Human resource planning from its origin enables workforce planning, or personnel planning, that anticipates and makes the provision of the movement of people into, within and out of the work group. Its primary purpose is to enable the work group maximize the utilization of its human resources by making sure that the right number of people, of the right capabilities, is available to do the task in correspondingly right job positions at the right time. Human resource planning helps work groups to implement their short and long- term organization plans. Due to the vital role of human resource to the performance of the company, human resources planning are very important part of the strategic plan of any work group (Gupta, 2009).

In a global context, human resource practices are such as recruitment, selection, and appraisal; it directs partially constrain development of specific practices; and overarching philosophies, which specify the values that inform an organization’s policies and practices (Gilley et.al., 2012). According to Bulla and Scott (1994), human resource planning is the process of ensuring that human resource requirements of an organization are identified and plans are made for satisfying those requirements. This view suggests several specific, interrelated activities that together constitute Human Resources planning which includes personnel inventory, human resource process, action plan, control and evaluation. An organization needs to adopt specific HR policies and practices for different strategies. Thus, it can elicit employee behaviors that are consistent with an organization’s strategy (Rose and Kumar, 2014).

Human Resource management practices should be an important part of the strategy of any large corporation (Gilley et.al., 2012).Yet researchers basing their views on a behavioral psychology perspective have argued that human resource management practices could contribute to competitive advantage as long as they reinforce the skills, attitudes and behaviors that result in lowering costs and enhancing product differentiation. Therefore, the important role of human resources practices in contributing to a firm’s competitive advantage overlaps with the concept of efficiency as a human resources strategy for effective performance (Ozcelik and Ferman, 2016).

Human resource planning is surrounded by three basic level practices which can increase the organizational performance: To increase the knowledge, skills and abilities among employees, to enhance their empowerment like giving them employment security and organize some participation programs for employees and to give them motivation through both incentive means like giving them compensation and benefits, and also through internal promotion like promoting them with their job status. (Yongme et al., 2015).

Organizational performance can be measured through financial stability and productivity, but when we have to relate human resource planning with the organizational performance, then we consider some of other variables like efficiency and effectiveness, employee motivation, job satisfaction, trust on employees (Cho et al., 2015). To comply with this, the organization needs to align organizational performance with human resource management practices, which would be shown by organizational output of financial variables (sales growth, goal achievement, good services, productivity) (Osman et al., 2013; Chand and Katou, 2015;) and nonfinancial variables (management quality, long-term orientation, continuous improvement, workforce quality) .

Such planning also includes specifying who is going to do what, when, where, how and with what resources for what population group or individuals, so that the knowledge and skills important for adequate performance can be made available according to predetermined policies and time schedules. This planning must be ongoing and not a sporadic process, and it needs progressive monitoring and evaluation.

Therefore the problem or challenges that face the most present organization‘s performance are the results of human resources that are both inefficiently and ineffectively planned. Inefficient and ineffective human resource planning is associated with the lack of top management support, poor strategic planning poor budget, and absence of the of expertise to prepare good human resources planning for better performance of the organization, poor implementations of all human resources drafts, policies and poor human resources management information system (Gupta, 2009).

As an impact this results in general poor performance of particular organization (Gupta, 2009) therefore the major concern of this study is to find out the extent to which the human resources planning can help the organizational performance and then improve the applicability of its reports.

Human resources planning in most today‘s groups works does not concentrate on what skills will be needed in future and may do more than providing information of the right numbers required in a long term, although in some conditions it might involve making inadequate short forecasts when it is possible to predict activity levels and skills needed with reasonable accuracy.

This being the fact, there is an abrupt decrease of HRP at a decreasing rate of the organization‘s performance. This problem is serious to organizations having more branches and missing human resource information system. When they are at their planning process they need to make sure their plans and budgeting fall and reach the demand and needs of human resources. Such prediction will normally be based on the broad scenarios rather than on specific supply and demand forecasts. Thus performances tend to differ among organizations, as the problem is poor planning of human resources.

1.3 Statement of the Problem

Over sixty percent of businesses are estimated to fail each year in Cameroon, they are overwhelmed by the distinct threats they face that affect their performance, and in turn their continuance. Past statistics argue that three out of five businesses fail within few months of operation (Cameroon National Bureau of Statistics, 2007). The failure is also due to the lack of performance standard, this is the reason why they do not hire trained personnel or train their staff on the required skills, have meager compensation structures and poor employee involvement. Needless to say, the HR processes in place are poorly structured.

In Cameroon, research on human resource practices and their link to an organization’s performance in most circumstances does not acknowledge the issue of vertical and horizontal integration of HR functions. This is important to the HRM principle of a collaborative relationship among various functions. There is a need to measure the contribution of different functions collaborative relationship to the performance of a firm. Furthermore, their link to the complete business strategy and impact on performance should be focused on.

The way in which Human Resource Management (HRM) practices can influence the commitment of an individual employee to the aims and objectives of an organization has been the focus of much researches (Meyer and Amp, 2014; Allen, 2015). Some researchers have found that high involvement of HRM practices, such as regular appraisals, Human Resource Planning, bonus and compensation schemes, training and development opportunities, and regular constructive feedback, can significantly enhance the organizational commitment of employees and organizational knowledge and performance in developed nations (Smith, 2014).

The relationship between human resource practices and performance can be reviewed in a number of different ways. Vertical integration involves the contribution of independent HR practices to organizational performance can be reviewed. Horizontal integration focuses on the collaborative relationship among the HR functions and contribution to organizational performance should be investigated.

Usyal & Koca (2009) researched on HRM practices and organizational performance and from their results; they stated that HRM practices have a positive outcome on organizational performance but a weak relationship with market performance.  Uysal and Koca (2009) found that performance-based pay, training and recruitment have a strong positive relationship with organizational performance. Also Khan (2010) researched and from his results, there is a positive relationship between compensation, performance appraisals, training and development, and recruitment and selection by themselves and also on organizational performance.

Other researches focused on the impact of human resources practices on job satisfaction (Yousef, 2010; Eslami et al., 2012), on productivity (Osa et al., 2014), other focused on linkage between HR practices with employee commitments and innovation (Mathieus and Zajac, 2012), Corporate social responsibility (Ali et al, 2010) and Transformation leadership, (Srithongrung, 2011).

Despite a wealth of empirical works on the subject, still effects of human resources practices on organizational performance remain one of the greatest challenges that many organization faces. Nevertheless the study is aimed comprehensively to evaluate the link between adequate performance of an organization and overall planning of human resource.

1.4 Research Questions  .

1.4.1 Main Research Question 

• What is the impact of human resource planning on organizational Performance in Njeiforbi Buea?

1.4.2 Specific Research Questions 

1. What are the impacts of training and development on organizational performance in Njeiforbi Buea?
2. What are the influences of compensation management on organization performance in Njeiforbi Buea?
3. What are the impacts of the external recruitment on organizational performance in Njeiforbi Buea?

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