FACTORS TO BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT IN HOMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT, PLANNING, TRAINING AND DEPLOYMENT

CHAPTER ONE

1.0.0 INTRODUCTION The motive behind this long essay is to state what factors are to be taken into account in human resource development, planning, training and deployment in the public sectors. The essay also highlights the problems that are likely to be encountered in and also some practical solutions to those problems. According to Encarta dictionary, a resource is a source or supply from which benefits are produced. Typically, resources are materials or other asserts that can be transformed to produce benefits and in the process may be consumed or made unavailable. Human resources can therefore be defined as the people that staff and operate an organization. Over time, peoples demands for services from their governments have increased. In order to respond to such demands, the public sector must depend on the quality of its human resources. It is therefore essential to improve and upgrade the caliber of human resources in public sectors since this will determine the character and effectiveness of an administrative system. As a starting point, each component, such as human resource development, human resource planning, human resource training and human resource deployment will be defined and the factors to be taken into account, the problems that are likely to be encountered and their solutions will be under each component.
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CHAPTER TWO

2.0.0 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT Human resources development can be defined as the frame work for helping employees develop their personal and organizational skills, knowledge and abilities. It encompasses an array of activities that enhances the ability of all human beings to reach their highest potential.

2.1.0 FACTORS CONSIDERED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES. The development of any nation depends to a very large extent on the caliber, organization and motivation of its human resources. In the specific case of Zambia where diversity exerts tremendous influence on politics and administration, the capacity to increase the benefits and reduce the costs of this diversity constitutes a human resource development. Therefore, there are many factors which are taken into account in the development of these human resources. 2.1.1 The availability of institutions for training We can acknowledge the fact that education is one of the important sectors which plays a very vital role in any contemporary society for economical, technological, social and political development of an individual or the society. The availability of the institutions in any particular

country determines the caliber and the quality of the people being deployed in the public sectors to take up the positions in the vacancies. 2.1.2 The availability of resources in one particular area. It is the responsibility of the government to identify the activities taking place in each particular area so as to help the country develop the nation as a whole. People should be imparted with the necessary skills which are suitable for each particular area, for instance, for a place like the Copper belt, the government should train people on how to do mining to suit with the activities which take place in that area. This will help the government to do away with the issue of centralization. 2.1.3 The human resource development policy The policy will aim at building and maintaining the public service as an efficient, effective and professionally competent administrative machinery of government capable of originating and implementing the government programmes. The general policies can apply to both civil servants and the politicians. However, there are specific areas where different conditions can apply. For example, professional development and pre-retirement training may not apply to political leaders while these are a must for the civil servant. The duration of training for political leaders is limited to short duration while the civil servants may take long term training on full pay. This is because the politicians have a tight political agenda on policy direction and their absence for a long duration would seriously affect the government operations. 2.1.4 Education Zambia is committed to reaching Universal Education for All, which is one of the most important Millennium Development Goals. However, there is clearly a need to educate and train people at all levels: primary, secondary and tertiary, with special attention paid to the quality of

education. This has been declining due to a large part of low caliber teaching staff and therefore, the government will organize intensive teacher training programs.

2.1.5 Inadequacy of manpower The provision of goods and services are determined by the availability and effectiveness of the manpower in the country. If the country or the society does not have enough or competent people who can occupy vacancies, the human resource managers have to consider the number of people to be deployed into the public sectors. 2.1.6 Gender equality Women make up 53% of the population and participate in subsistence agriculture less than men. They usually feed and provide care for the children and ensure their fundamental education. But until recently, girls were the minority in secondary schools, women had little access to the opportunities available to men and they were poorly represented in decision making positions.

2.2.0 PROBLEMS LIKELY TO BE ENCOUNTERED IN THE DEVELOPMENT. 2.2.1 Unevenly distribution of manpower. The distribution of high level manpower is far from the desirable needs of the societies. It is concentrated in the cities, whereas the most critical needs, such as agricultural extension and community development, are often in the rural areas. 2.2.2 Job preferences. There is a preference for administrative jobs over technical jobs because the former are thought to carry more prestige and authority than the later. An educated local national is in a

commanding position; people prefer an administrative job in the city to a field assignment in some remote rural area. 2.2.3 Health and population. The prevailing issue of HIV/AIDS has really affected the workforce of the public servants. Addressing this situation is made more difficult by the prevalence of major diseases such as malaria together with malnutrition reduce the productivity of the population. 2.2.4 Low productivity. Low productivity can be as a result of the many challenges the department of an organization is facing, this can be as a result of little opportunities for personal development and lack of standard or standards which do not suit the situation at the particular time. 2.3.0 SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEMS THAT ARE ENCOUNTERED. 2.3.1 Production of high level manpower. The government officials and the planners will expect higher learning institutions to produce critically needed high level manpower for localization, enhancement of national prestige and the development of agriculture and natural resources. 2.3.2 Equally distribution of resources. The central government has got the mandate to provide resource to all parts of the country regardless of the geographical set up of any particular area. Hence, there is a need for the government to ensure that the national resources are distributed equally. 2.3.3 Improving the welfare of low income jobs. There is a need for the government to improve the low income jobs by increasing their salaries there by motivating them. This can also increase the output of the particular sector under consideration because the workers will be motivated to do the work.

CHAPTER THREE

3.0.0 HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING Human resource planning is a process by which an organization ensures that it has the right number and kinds of people, at the right place, at the right time, capable of effectively and efficiently completing tasks that will help the organization achieve its overall aims. It may also be defined as planning for the future personal needs of an organization, taking into account both internal and external activities. 3.1.0 FACTORS TO BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT IN HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING. As an ongoing and dynamic process, human resource planning is not as easy as we may think it is to run. It is therefore very important to take into account the following factors: 3.1.1 The length of the plan. It is very important to consider the length of the plan i.e. long term plan or short term plan. This will help the kind of human resource to put in place. The length of the plan depends on the required outcome of the project under consideration. In most cases, short term plans require employing people on contract basis.
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3.1.2 Generating the required human resources . When making a plan, it is very important to consider what kind of human resources and of what level (education level) will be required to carry out the required tasks. It is advisable for the public sector to employ graduates from recognized higher learning institutions. The employer must know the number of employees that are required in a public sector, for example, the ministry of education must know the number of teachers who are needed to meet the growing number of school going children. 3.1.3 Designing the human resource management system. When making a plan, it is very important to form a management body to look after the proceedings of the tasks. Here, there is also a need of putting the management in a hierarchical order, i.e. to have the top management which will take charge of the overall work place. 3.2.0 PROBLEMS THAT ARE LIKELY TO BE ENCOUNTERED. 3.2.1 Difficulties in ascertaining future manpower. It is very difficult to ascertain future manpower requirements of an organization, as future is always uncertain. For example, new technological equipments are being developed and it may be difficult to ascertain what kind of technology will be there after a certain period of time. 3.2.2 It is a time consuming and costlier process. In case of a long term plan, more time is required to have the plan completed and it may also be costly because as time moves the more the currency loses value. For example, you will find that

the company has planned on how much money they are supposed to spend on a certain project but due to its time consuming, the project may take not less than five years and by that time the currency might have lost its value, meaning that they will have to spend more than what they planned for. 3.2.3 Measurement of effective performance. Many organizations fail to effectively measure how well their different inputs affect performance. In particular, no measures may be in place for quantifying the contribution people make to organizational outcomes or, more important, for estimating how changes in policies and practices, systems, or processes will affect that contribution. 3.3.0 SOLUTOINS TO PROBLEMS THAT MAY BE ENCOUNTERED. 3.3.1 Implementation of certain measures. Some problems like problem number (2.2.3) may be solved by implementing clear quantifiable measures, identifying milestones in the achievement of specific organizational goals, and using concepts such as a "balanced scorecard" will articulate the results of the Human Resource Strategic Plan in measurable terms. Regular evaluation of the plan will also assist in fine-tuning the Human Resource Strategic Plan itself.

3.3.2 Introduction of a workforce plan. New recruitment practices may need to be adopted to increase the representation of designated groups, or securing essential skills in the organization. A comprehensive "leadership strategy" may assist in developing future workforce needs, identified either in terms of the organizations

workforce plan or required in terms of industry black economic empowerment charters (www.workinfo.com). 3.3.3 Identifying appropriate human resource plans, policies and practices needed to support organizational objectives. The organization must come up with appropriate human resource plans, policies and practices that can support the organizations objectives to the fullest. Identification of relevant human resource best practices can help the organization to succeed in its objectives.

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CHAPTER FOUR

4.0.0 HUMAN RESORCE TRAINING. Training is the acquisition of skills i.e. the process of teaching and learning of skills. In other words, training is the upgrading of a persons skill or the addition of a new skill which in turn can bring about the desired change an organization is seeking for. Training is mostly done in higher learning institutions. Education is listed among the universal human rights; it is necessary for the full development of human personality and is grounded in respect for human rights and freedoms (Kelly, 1996:63). For example, the University of Zambia offers different kinds of trainings through different schools, i.e. the school of education trains teachers, the school of engineering trains engineers, etc. 4.1.0 FACTORS TO BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT IN HUMAN RESOURCE TRAINING. There are a number of factors to be taken into account in human resource training. The following are the factors that need to be considered in human resource training: 4.1.1 Training needs analysis . There are a number of ways in which can be used to determine the type of training the employee will need. Firstly, it is important to consider the current situation in terms of skills of current employees and new recruits. One should consider the training already provided to employees and what is required by the organization. The other way is considering the requests from employees. Employees are usually the first to recognize the need for additional training. This can result from the assignment of a new task, technological changes, or just a realization that additional training
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would result in a more efficient work product. Another way of determining training needs is through the change in agency vision or mission. Agency vision or mission can sometimes change due to state or federal legislation. Thus, employees may be assigned new duties and responsibilities, but before that, there is a need to decide if the employers are able to reach their goes there by attaining the required mission. 4.1.2 Organizational culture and values . It is important for employees to know the organization structure and the value of the services to be offered. The employees should be provided with a training content. This will help the employees to know what they will be required to be doing as they graduate. It is also important to provide training methodologies to the employees, for example, the employees should be provided with attachments so that they can have a deeper understanding of what they are being trained for. There is also a need to provide the training that is of values. The training provided to employees must be of value for both the employers and the employees to appreciate the services and their products. 4.1.3 Organizational capacity. This means considering things like training delivery. It is important as an institution to know whether the employees are available for group training and also to consider if some training can be done online. It is also important to consider the resource availability. One should consider the training budget and the training facilities available so as to conduct the training efficiently by ensuring that they plan in accordance with the budget. 4.1.4 Desired outcome from training . One must know the purpose of training. He/she must consider the kind of training as to whether it will be used to increase productivity or competitiveness or to improve customer satisfaction. It

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is also important to consider industrial conditions. One must know whether the training offered is there to help employees progress or just the employers or both. 4.1.5 Existing relationships . The training institutions must work in collaboration with other institutions that offer similar trainings so that they can share ideas on how they can improve their training programs. It is therefore important for training institution to know other institutions that provide similar trainings.

4.2.0 PROBLEMS THAT MAY BE ENCOUNTERED IN HUMAN RESOURCE TRAINING. There are a number of problems that may be encountered in human resource training. The following are some of the problems that may be faced in human resource training. 4.2.1 Discrimination in availing training opportunities to public officers. Most of the public workers are being discriminated by not giving them time to go for further studies so that they can improve on their work experience. 4.2.2 Lack of planning and professionalism. It is observed that most of the public higher learning institutions are lacking planning and professionalism. This is because most of the public workers are low paid, hence, they spend most of their times on planning their own businesses. It is also found that most of the qualified human resources are attracted to the private sectors were they are paid more as compared to the public sectors. 4.2.3 Poor coordination of training.

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Most of the public higher learning institutions are poorly coordinated because of a number of reasons. One of the reasons is that most of the coordinators do not even come for work because they concentrate on their own businesses. 4.2.4 Unclear responsibility centers for the management of the training. Some public training institutions do not have a clear understanding of what is required in specific public sectors. Hence, such institutions end up producing unqualified human resource. 4.2.5 Lack of right tools or equipments to be used for training. The other challenge that may be faced is lack of the right tools or equipments to be used for training. Some trainings requires a lot of practical work, for example, someone who is learning engineering requires a lot of practical work for them to learn how to do the work and also to become familiar with the tools. 4.2.6 Change of management. Another challenge that may be faced is that of change of management. Due to the fluctuating economy as well as local and global advancements, there are many changes occurring rapidly that affect human resource training. The introduction of new technology requires the lecturers or teachers to learn those techniques before presenting them to the students and this may be a challenge since technology is changing at a fast rate. 4.2.7 Limitation of oversees training. Given its high cost, overseas training has been limited to top, senior and middle level officers who need to learn from cross-country experience as a way of widening their horizon and those whose training requirements cannot be offered locally.

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4.3.0 PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS THAT MAY BE FACED IN HUMAN RESOURCE TRAINING.

The following are some of the solutions that may be used to solve some of the problems that may be faced in human resource training. 4.3.1 Emphasis on effective Coordination. In order to avoid wastage of resources and duplication of effort, there is need to emphasize coordination both at the level of the Public Service and at the levels of the Ministry, Department and Local Government. At the level of the Public Service, the Ministry of Public Service, being overall in charge of human resource management function in the Public Service is the Coordinator. 4.3.2 Introduction of Training Committees. There is need of introducing training committees. Each Ministry, Department and Local Government has a training committee which approves training plans on behalf of the Chief Executive. 4.3.3 Emphasis on induction. Induction of new staff and those promoted is mandatory, so that they can know what is expected of them at an early stage to be able to serve with dignity, pride and joy. There have been significant improvements in inducting Public Officers on the basis of the guideline under the policy and induction manual. 4.3.4 Providing the right skills, knowledge and experience. Since it can be difficult for the higher learning institutions to know whether their graduates are competent and contributing to the fullest, they must make sure that they provide their students with the necessary skills, knowledge, and experience needed to match current job description.

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4.3.5 Assisting the students to achieve performance potential . The higher learning institutions must assist their students in achieving performance potential by assigning effective developmental opportunities, for example, those who are training to be teachers, they must be given opportunities to present some topics in front of their fellow pupils so that they can get used to talk and stand in front of a group of people. 4.3.6 Providing necessary tools or equipments to the students. It is also important for the higher learning institutions to have all the necessary tools or equipments required for the training of their students. For example, there must be enough laboratory equipments for those who are doing sciences to be able to carry out some experiments.

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CHAPTER FIVE
5.0.0 HUMAN RESOURCE DEPLOYMENT. When the organization needs clarity on the type of employees or competencies it needs and those it will need in the near future, it is advisable to have solid staffing policies which respond to these needs. For this reason the deploying process can take place. Deploying of human resource can be defined as the process of dispatching manpower in the public sectors for development of the nation. Here, as a human resource manager, we look at some of the factors that can be taken into consideration in the human resource deployment in the public sectors. 5.1.0 FACTORS CONSIDERED IN THE DEPLOYMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCE 5.1.1 RECRUITING POLICY The contribution of the human resource is likely to be determined largely by the caliber of people recruited or deployed into the public sector. In most cases, employers focus on the qualifications and experience of candidates being considered for the particular vacant positions. Even when we discount the possibility of forgeries and certificate racketeering, academic training by itself might not adequately prepare a person for a job (Balogun, 2003. P10). The same thing applies in the case of experience which might neither be cognate nor relevant. In fact, instead of focusing mainly on educational qualifications and experience, recruiting bodies would need to go further and probe deep into the aptitudes, attitudes, personal character of candidates for certain jobs. 5.1.2 TRAINING AND MANPOWER DEVELOPMENT Closely related to the problem of recruitment is, therefore, that of training and manpower development. Presumably, those to be recruited would first have to be trained. It is in realization of the importance of pre-entry training that priority is attached to the establishment of primary,
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secondary, vocational, and technical schools, and universities. For instant, secondary school graduate can, with little preparation, move straight to an office and carry out basic clerical or bookkeeping functions. With additional training, he/she would be ready to perform secretarial and ICT-related duties. As for the universities, they would need the support of the government and the private sector in aligning their academic research with the development needs of the country. 5.1.3 PROFESSIONAL CONSDERATION Certainly, jobs in the security and law enforcement agencies, financial institutions, customs, immigration and the postal service would, in view of the public attention have attracted benefit from a professional approach to staff selection. The need for federal character in the deployment of public personnel has generated a lot of controversy in recent years. There is nothing wrong with the principle. It is only the application that we have to watch. Federal character would be looking far and wide for the best and the most competent. However, in practice, the principle may be subverted, especially if it is interpreted as a crude form of ethnic balancing.

5.1.4 THE DEMAND OF MANPOWER The human resource management should consider the availability or the inadequacy of manpower in the sectors where the deployment of human resource can be effected. As the human resource manager, we have to ask ourselves questions why and where the particular service should be taken to one particular area. Is this service needed in that particular area or society? Different societies or public sectors have different needs, therefore, deploying of human resources to these sectors would depend on the type of services which can be offered by the

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employees and which are needed by the societies. The human resource manager ought to deploy the manpower which is required by the people in the society to meet their every day needs.

5.1.5

MERIT CONSIDERATION

The objective of the process of deployment of human resource in the public sector is to select, on the basis of merit, those employees who are to be deployed to carry out the services in the affected parts of the organization or the public sectors. Merit is met when the public service commission or the human resource manager is satisfied that the employee meets the merit criteria required for the work to be performed, which includes the essential qualifications, as well as the current and future asset qualifications, operational requirements and organizational needs. However, while the Public Service Commission must be satisfied that merit is met, the guiding values of fairness, transparency, access and representativeness guide managers in the process of selecting employees who are to be retained and those who are to be laid off. 5.1.6 SOCIAL FACTORS

In a diverse society like Zambia, the public service cannot avoid the issue of representation. When an agency is dominated by individuals from one ethnic group or from one sex group, the unrepresented groups are likely to cry foul, and for good reasons too. Therefore, gender equality should be observed in all aspect of the public services. It is only when the diversity of a nation is properly reflected in decision making structures that the fairness of decisions could be constantly tested. It goes without saying that the issue of diversity does not end with deployment. It extends to the day-to-day management of inter-personal and inter-group relations in public agencies.

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5.2.0 PROBLEMS THAT ARE LIKELY TO BE ENCOUNTERED IN HUMAN RESOURCE DEPLOYMENT IN THE PUBLIC SECTORS. The process of recruiting or deploying of the human resources in the public sectors is a sensitive part for the people given the mandate to carry out this process in the sense that there are a lot of things which come out due to people with different perception on how to take this process. Some of the factors which have been mentioned above in the deploying of human resources can bring along side with them some problems which can adversely affect the services to be provided to the public by the employees. Let us look at some of the problems brought about by the factors considered in the human resource deployment which we have already stated. 5.2.1 LACK OF REPRESENTATIVENESS When the process of deploying human resource is lacking proper representation, the appointment processes are conducted with bias and do create systemic barriers that can fail to help achieve a public service that reflects the Zambian population it serves. 5.2.2 EMPLOYMENT POLICY AND CONDITIONS The other problem that can highly influence the performance of the human resource is the employment policy, and particularly, the impact of the policy on employment conditions, and on morale and motivation of the employees. The assumption by the employers that the stock of human resources is limitless has led to the total disregard of the most elementary principle of motivation (Balogun 2003. p12). The on-going socioeconomic crisis has worsened the situation by throwing many able-bodied persons out of their jobs. 5.2.3 LACK OF TRANSPARENCY

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Transparency is important for every organization and, in particular, for governmental organization such as the custom administrations and other public sectors. Transparency means that information about decisions, policies and practices is communicated in an open and timely manner. Its been observed that people in authorities or those in the managerial positions use their positions to deploy people they know or relatives for vacancies on an expense of those who are competency for that particular job. This compromises the quality of services to be provided to the public. 5.2.4 DIFFICULT TO ACCESS INFORMATION This means that persons from across the country have a reasonable opportunity to apply, to do so in the official languages of their choice, and to be considered for public service employment. Affected employees must be given every reasonable opportunity to continue their careers as public service employees. 5.3.0 SOME PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS TO THE ABOVE PROBLEMS It is the mandate of the government or the senior managers to ensure that people with good morals, values, attitudes and heart for the services are deployed in the public sectors in order to provide good services to the society and help to develop the nation in many challenges it is facing. 5.3.1 Improving employees attitudes. The human resource commission should ensure radical change in attitudes of the employees is improved. The attitudes of people to carrying out services determine the quantity and quality of work to be put in the workplace. Therefore, employees should have objectives in place when they are serving the public for national development. 5.3.2 Solving gender issues.

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In order to achieve gender equality and equity, Zambia can continuously update and adapt its laws on gender. It will support education for all, eradicate all forms of discrimination, fight against poverty and practice a positive discrimination policy in favour of women. Gender can be integrated as a cross-cutting issue in all development policies and strategies. 5.3.3 Having well qualified human resource commissioners. It is therefore imperative that senior managers be exposed to the appropriate sensitivity trainings so that the networks of relations would be properly and adequately managed. 6.0.0 CONCLUSION In conclusion, the work proved to be successful in determining and identifying the factors that are to be taken into account in the human resource development, planning, training and deployment in the public sectors. Therefore, for the majority of organizations human resource development is an important aspect of all organizations and the way in which staffs are managed, maintained and motivated will be the major influence on how successful an organization becomes. And the main resource involved in achieving the purpose of organization and providing quality goods and services to the well being of the country are its people. The manpower development institutions should place an increasing role in the dissemination of development-oriented values. For a start, they should be more open and less timid in discussing the ethical basis of our traditional values. In addition, adequate time should be set aside to enable the program participants to brainstorm approaches to the articulation of a work ethic emphasizing excellence/constant search for perfection, discipline, loyalty to the nation, and the rejection of neoptic and corrupt tendencies

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REFERENCS Balogun. M. J (2003). Nigerias Public Service Reform Process : Human Resource Issues Report. Frederick. H & Charles A. (1964). Education, Manpower, and Economic Growth : McGrawHill book company New York. Kigali. D (2000). The Republic of Rwanda Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning : Rwanda Vision 2020 Report. Wabe J. Stuart. (1974). Problems in Manpower forecasting: Saxon House; Lexington Books.

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