#The HR Function helps the career practitioners with good practices in the workplaces#The role of a HR person and how to deal with employees so that everybody is motivated to perform to their best ability

1. HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
By
Abraham Marangu Ncunge

2. OBJECTIVES OF THE SESSION
The session objective is to create awareness on:-
 The importance of human capital/human
resources in an organization
 Legal framework and various HR functions
 Skills necessary for attracting, retaining and
motivating human resources in County
Governments

3. HUMAN CAPITAL
 Human capital is defined as the collective stock of
skills, attributes, knowledge and expertise of
employees that contribute to the organization’s
productivity
 Employees are the lifeline of an organization, they
are like the building blocks and the success of the
organization depends on the collective efforts of
employees

4. WHAT IS HRM
 HRM is a specialty within the broader field of
management that focuses on managing
employees
 HRM is proactive, looking at people in
economic terms as assets and liabilities to be
actively managed
 HRM involves the process of acquisition,
development, motivation and maintenance of
labour at optimum levels most efficiently and
effectively

5. HRM CONT’D
 HRM is strategic, tying people management to business
objectives
 HRM is holistic - concerned with the overall people
requirements of an organization
 HRM ensures that an organization’s people are
considered as well as its financial and other resources,
hence the elevation of HRM Sections
 HRM has absorbed ideas and techniques from a
number of areas – it is a synthesis of themes and
concepts drawn from a century of management theory
and social science research

6. WHY EFFECTIVE HRM IS IMPORTANT
 The human resource is the most critical resource an
organization has
 Effective human resources management directly
contributes to organizational efficiency and reduces
rates of labour turnover
 Employees who are happy are more productive and
make great contributions to the organization and the
people they serve and are likely to stay longer hence
reducing recruitment and training costs

7. EFFECTIVE HRM
 Great leaders know that acquiring and keeping
good people is a leader’s most important task –
John Maxwell in “Equipping 101 What Every Leader
Needs to Know”
 An organization cannot increase its productivity-
it is the people who do
 The asset that truly appreciates within any
organization is people
 People can grow, develop and become more
effective

8. EFFECTIVE HRM CONT’D
 Employees give the best part of their life to
organizations and they expect feedback
 Unlike technology and capital, the human
resource has expectations and interests and these
are manifested in behavior which impacts
performance
 The Government recognizes that its employees are
the most critical resource for the attainment of its
vision, mission and goals at various levels

9. PURPOSE OF EFFECTIVE HRM
 To create meaningful jobs that link to the
organization’s vision and mission
 To maintain the right mix of people with the
knowledge, skills and abilities, deployed to
accomplish the work of the organization
 To provide a structure that helps employees to
be effective in their work
 To provide fair and consistent treatment of
employees

10. PURPOSE OF HRM CONT’D
 To provide employees with continuous feedback
about their performance
 To nurture an organizational culture that supports
and motivates staff
 To create a positive work environment
 To retain effective employees
 To help the employees and the organization
manage change
 To integrate people policies and practices

11. AIMS OF HRM
 HRM aims for a seamless link between
business policy and recruitment,
performance assessment , reward
management, development and exit
 Encourages employee attitudes and behavior
which are consistent with business goals
 It emphasizes the role of line managers in
overseeing their own staff

12. HRM FUNCTIONS
1. STAFFING
- Hiring the right people with the right skills at
the right time and in compliance with the existing
Human Rights Legislation and other Legal
provisions and guidelines
- The process involves:-
a) JOB ANALYSIS
- Collecting information and data to facilitate
description of the duties and responsibilities of a
given position as well as the skills, knowledge and
abilities required to do the job

13. FUNCTIONS CONT’D
b) JOB DESCRIPTION
- A statement that gives the purpose, scope, responsibilities
and tasks which make up a stated job
- used as a basis of selection, training, promotion and
performance management
c) RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION
- Involves finding and employing individuals to carry out
tasks that need to be done within an organization
- choosing suitable applicants for job vacancies following
established criteria eg set guidelines by the Constitution of
Kenya 2010

14. RECRUITMENT PROCESS
The process gives due consideration to:-
 Appropriate organizational structure
 Optimal staffing levels
 Schemes of service and career guidelines

15. GUIDING PRINCIPLES
 Article 232(1) (i) of the Constitution of
Kenya 2010 makes a provision for affording
equal opportunities for appointment,
training and advancement, at all levels of
the public service, of-
(i) men and women;
(ii) the members of all ethnic groups; and
(iii) persons with disabilities

16. ADVERTISEMENT OF VACANCIES
 Advertisement should be done openly and using media
that is accessible nationally eg newspapers, notices in
county offices and other public offices
 Must give enough time for interested candidates to apply
 Must contain information on;
- Title of post
- Terms of employment
- Required qualifications and other support documents
- How to apply
- Closing date for the applications

17. SELECTION
 Selection of successful candidates will be on
merit taking cognizance of the
Constitutional requirements
 The names of successful candidates should
be well documented
 All successful candidates must be issued
letters of offer of appointment

18. CHARACTERISTICS OF ORGANIZATIONS THAT VALUE
LEARNING
 Recognize that learning is part of everything that the
organization does
 Supports the expectation of learning with the necessary
resources
 Encourages learning at all levels
 Recognizes that mistakes are learning opportunities
 Have a policy on employee training and development such
as the Training Policy for the Public Service(2005)
 Provides time for learning
 Allows for practice of new skills on the job

19. HR FUNCTIONS CONT’D
3. COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS
- Ensures compensation plans are in place in
case of sickness or accident
- provides information on benefits that an
employee is entitled to enjoy such as salaries,
allowances and other fringe benefits
- retirement plans and retirement benefits
such as pensions and gratuities

20. HR FUNCTIONS CONT’D
4. PEOPLE MANAGEMENT( BUILDING EFFECTIVE
EMPLOYER/EMPLOYEE RELATIONSHIPS)
 Work Plans
 Recognition
 Conflict resolution
 Discipline
 Termination
 Counseling
 Day to day HR administration

21. HR FUNCTIONS CONT’D
5. WORKPLACE MANAGEMENT(creating a good
work environment)
 work life balance
 health and safety
 diversity to avoid monotony eg job rotation, job
enrichment or enlargement

22. ORGANIZATIONAL ENVIRONMENT
 Employees value working in environments
where:-
 they have a boss whom they can respect
 they have a good basic pay and other
incentives that meet their developmental
needs
 they have jobs that are challenging and are
not monotonous

23. ORGANIZATIONAL ENVIRONMENT
 There is good team spirit
 there are opportunities for training
 there are adequate resources to enable
them do their job
 they are involved in coming up with goals
and targets to be achieved
 there is good flow of information

24. HR FUNCTIONS
6. HR PLANNING:-
 The process of determining the current and future
human resources required by the organization to
achieve its strategic objectives
 Bulla and Scott (1994) define it as “the process of
ensuring that the human resource requirements of
an organization are identified and plans are made
for satisfying the requirements”
 Also looks at how people are employed and
developed

25. HR PLANNING
 Failure to plan is planning to fail
 Organizations must plan for the people to be entrusted
with the job of making the organization effective and
efficient
 HR Planning aims at achieving optimum use of an
organization’s most valuable asset – its human
resource
 It ensures the best fit between employees and jobs
while ensuring there are no shortages or surpluses-
ensuring prudent use of the human resources

26. HR PLANNING
 Assesses the current HR capacity based on their
numbers and their competencies against the capacity
needed to achieve the Vision, Mission and business
goals of the organization
 The planning process defines what is to be achieved
within a given time frame and the numbers and skills
needed to achieve the defined business goals
 It includes having a retention strategy, disciplinary
procedures, talent management and also recruitment
and selection
 It is a continuous process

27. EMPLOYMENT LEGISLATION
 The HR Manager is responsible for creation of
awareness and implementation of various laws and
policy guide lines such as:-
- the Kenya Constitution
- the employment Act,2007
- Ethics and Anti-corruption
Commission Act
- the County Government Act No. 17 of 2012
- Pensions Act Cap 189
- the Public Officers Ethics Act 2003
- the Code of Conduct etc.

28. APPOINTMENTS AND PROMOTIONS
 Article 232.(1) of the Constitution of Kenya 2010
provides for fair competition and merit as the
basis of appointments and promotions
 The Constitution further states the need for
affording adequate and equal opportunities for
appointment, training, and advancement at all
levels of the public service, of: –
i) men and women
ii) the members of all ethnic groups; and
iii) persons with disabilities

29. EMPLOYEE SEPARATIONS
 Involuntary/voluntary
 Terminating employees
 Downsizing
 Retirement
 Employee turnover
All these activities must be properly managed and
exit interviews carried out where necessary

30. BUILDING BETTER WORK TEAMS
 Employees want to have team leaders who:-
 give personal appreciation and are sincere
 have an open door policy and listen to the
employees
 provide regular feedback both positive and
negative

31. BUILDING BETTER TEAMS
 encourage new ideas and initiative
 involve employees in decision making
 recognize, reward and promote based on
performance
 celebrate success
 walk the talk

32. HANDLING GRIEVANCES
 Grievances can result from external circumstances such as
poor working conditions or from internal feelings of
unhappiness or frustration
 Employers can reduce grievances by improving work
conditions, improving terms and conditions of service and
providing counseling services
 Improved communication also helps in reducing
complaints
 Well-constructed grievance procedures enable
organizations to resolve complaints quickly, fairly and
without resorting to industrial action

33. LEADERSHIP CHARACTERISTICS
 Honest
 Forward – looking
 Inspiring
 Competent
 Fair minded
 Supportive
 Straightforward
 Courageous
 Dependable
 Co-operative
 Caring
 Mature
 Determined
 Loyal
 Ambitious

34. DISCUSSION
OUTLINE WHAT NEW ISSUES ARE EMERGING IN
EACH HRM FUNCTION AREA.
 MANPOWER PLANNING
 RECRUITMENT
 PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
 TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
 STAFF RELATIONS
 MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS

35. Public service
 An efficient, motivated and well trained public service-
a major foundation of the vision.
 A service that is citizen focused and result oriented.
Strategy:- Attitude Change
- Inculcating values of transparency and accountability
and fast tracking reforms for efficiency, enhanced
research and training for transformative leadership.

36. Emerging issues in HRM to focus on:-
 Changed employee expectations
 Outsourcing HRM activities
 Changing work-life dynamics
 Balancing work-life
 Making HRM activities ethical
 Organizational restructuring
 Managing diversity
 Attitude toward workers unions
 Control and measure of results.

37. HRM officers need to be conversant with:-
GHRIS- Government Human Resource Information
System .
 System that is being piloted and expected to interface
with other existing and future systems like IFMIS, G-
Pay, IRMIS and IPPD
IPPD- Integrated Payroll and Personnel Database
(IPPD),developed help address the challenges of
manual payroll administration.
EMS/EMST- Electronic Money service Transfer.
Developed for fast transfer of funds and partly address
corruption.