Human Resource Management Practices: A Biblical Perspective

Copyright © 2017 by MONICA SIFUNA-EVELIA.

ISBN:       Softcover       978-1-5437-4228-2

                 eBook           978-1-5437-4229-9

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Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. [Biblica]

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CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

1.0 RECRUITMENT

1.1 Manpower planning

1.2 Recruitment process

1.3 Induction

1.4 Terms of service

1.4.1 Hours of work

1.4.2 Job Description

1.4.3 Compensation and benefits

1.4.4 Employee code of conduct

2.0 TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

3.0 PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

4.0 REWARD AND COMPENSATION

5.0 INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

6.0 EMPLOYEE SEPARATION

7.0 EMPLOYEE RETENTION STRATEGIES

CONCLUSION

Human Resources is not a thing we do. It’s the thing that runs our business.

Steve Wynn

DEDICATION

To my husband Paul and son Jabari

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I want to thank God Almighty for seeing me through this and keeping me motivated. In addition, I wish to thank my family; my husband, Mr. Paul Evelia, for supporting me in my quest for writing a book; my dad, Mr. Peter Musumba Sifuna for always telling me that I can achieve anything that I put my mind to do; my mum, Ms. Mwanahawa Sarah Shisia for always believing in me; Reverend Fr. Fredrick Mukabana of the Roman Catholic Church for proof-reading the book and giving me guidance in the writing process; Senior Pastor John Wesley Nguuh of CITAM Eldoret for giving me the drive I needed to take the leap; and Mr. Godfrey Ombogo for editing the book.

1.0 RECRUITMENT

Recruitment refers to the overall process of attracting, selecting and appointing suitable candidates for jobs (either permanent or temporary) within an organization. The recruitment process highlighted here is in relation to the Employment Act 2007.

1.1 Manpower planning

Manpower planning is about forecasting staff requirements versus availability of staff. It is prudent to plan for staff needs at the beginning of the year. When a human resource practitioner plans for staff requirements he/she will be able to enjoy benefits such as identifying shortages and surpluses and taking quick action; base all recruitment and selection on the manpower planning; reduce labor costs; identify available talent among staff; and initiate growth and diversification of business. The book of Proverbs 21:5 states The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.

The Gospel of Luke emphasizes the importance of being prepared and steadfast at all times. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place and to stand before the Son of Man. (Luke 21:36).

A cost-benefit analysis example is given by Jesus when he tells his disciples of one having to sit down and do a cost-benefit analysis before building a tower. Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’(Luke 14:28-30). While projecting staffing needs, a human resource practitioner is expected to look at the economic viability of the projection. There is need to know how to get the revenue that will go to the staffing costs. A human resource practitioner, therefore, will look at options such as having staff on casual basis who can perform tasks on a wage rate to help cut down the cost of other benefits such as medical cover, annual leave, among others. In my experience in the security and health industries, we have explored the use of casual staff to cut staffing costs.

In one of my experiences at the health facility, I earned myself a seat at the implementation of a strategic plan for the period 2015-2019. In the strategic plan, different activities were slotted to be achieved in different years. We had activities that had to be done in 2015, others 2017 and so on and so forth. At the end of every year, we would sit down as management team and go through the activities for the year, looking at those we were able to accomplish and those we were not. Challenges in this implementation would also be highlighted and recommendations for better results obtained.

A human resource practitioner is expected to forecast the need for staffing and prepare for the same, considering the revision of wage rate and the market rate for similar positions in the industry. In another experience at the health facility, we set aside a budget for miscellaneous just in case the government implemented the Collective Bargaining Agreement that the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union had been asking for. Doctors in Kenya had been on strike from December 2016 to February 2017 over their salaries. We knew as management that should the government implement the Collective Bargaining Agreement then we would have to adjust our doctors’ salaries to enhance employee retention. In the Gospel of Mathew, disciples asked Jesus on the Mount of Olives about the sign of his coming in reference to preparedness. As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?"(Matthew 24:3).

In the same Gospel, we are advised on the importance of staying awake as we await the coming of our Lord. Therefore, stay awake; for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. (Matthew 24:42).

A Human Resource Plan needs to be in place, one has to forecast the manpower needs and to compare it with the current supply of manpower in order to determine the next course of action. This plan has to be in line with the overall strategic plan of the organization. The human resource practitioner will look at where the organization is aiming to be in the next financial year, and see if these needs will be met by the current manpower or there will be need to recruit. If an organization for instance is introducing a new product, there might be need to source for staff with particular skills to suit the needs of the new business.

In my experience, I have always prepared a human resource management plan at the beginning of every year. Management would hold a meeting at the beginning of every year where all managers would present the plans in their respective functions in the institution.

When the demand for manpower is higher than the supply the human resource practitioner can explore options like recruitment; multitasking, job rotation and job enhancement. On the other hand, when the supply of manpower is higher than the demand he/she can explore options like retrenchment; freezing recruitment, early retirement and redundancy.

In the security company, at one point we got a big contract to provide security services to a cement manufacturing site in Mombasa. We therefore recruited over 200 security officers for this client. When I was in the media industry, we did a restructuring and laid off a number of staff. The staff who remained were mandated to multitask such that one would be a television show host and a producer concurrently.

In the health facility, we performed job rotation for our nurses after every six months. The nurses would rotate in the various departments in the hospital such as Outpatient, Maternity Ward, Pediatric Ward, Medical Ward, Surgical Ward, Child Welfare Clinic and Antenatal Clinic.

1.2 Recruitment process

The process starts from the time a position is declared vacant up to when it is filled. When a position falls vacant, it is the responsibility of the line manager to identify the need to recruit based on increased workload; organizational change; staff movement; technological changes and positions falling vacant due to resignation, termination, dismissal, transfer or promotion. The process described below is as I have experienced in the various industries that I have worked in.

The human resource practitioner will raise the staff requisition form, attaching a job description, and forward it to the Chief Executive Officer for appropriate authorization. The Chief Executive Officer will review and approve the staff requisition. Upon approval, the human resource practitioner will prepare a job advertisement for either internally or externally using appropriate means. The human resource practitioner will receive applications; do initial shortlist and forward to respective line managers for further shortlisting whilst acknowledging applications at the earliest opportunity. Once the shortlist is done, interview invites are done at least two days before the interview date. The human resource practitioner prepares interview questions and organizes for the interviews. The interview panel encompasses the human resource practitioner and the relevant line manager.

The interview feedback is then given. Regret is sent to the unsuccessful candidates and the successful ones are informed of the documentation that they are supposed to bring when reporting. (2 recent color passport