THE EFFECT OF MANPOWER PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT ON PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

Introduction

1.1 Background of the Study

In recent times, world attention is being focused on the importance of manpower planning and development as panacea to problems associated with economic growth of nations. This is due to the fact that the growth of tangible capital stock of a nation depends to a considerable degree on human capital development. Without adequate investment in developing human capital which is the process of increasing knowledge, skills and the capacities of people in the country, the possibility of the growth of that nation might be minimal (Gyang cited in Eleyowo, Salako, and Oketokun, 2015).

The success of any organization whether drawn from the public sector or private sector in the contemporary business world depends on the quality of human resources available to it to initiate and implement its policies and programmes. According to Solkhe and Chaudhary (2011) human resource is the most vital factor of production and labour productivity. They also maintained that a positive future-oriented human resource development is essential for the efficient and effective service delivery in the public.

In line with this, Appah, Coleman and Busine (2011) pointed out that the public sector especially in the developed world often invest several millions of money on training and development of their human capital for effective service delivery. This demonstrates the importance government attach to its human resource in the achievement of their national goals. However, in the developing world like Nigeria little or nothing is being done to plan and develop employees in many public corporations, employees often become obsolete like machines thereby hindering their ability to effectively and efficiently deliver the needed services to the people (Odumeru and Ilesanmi, 2013).

The development of indigenous manpower to serve as the propelling force for public service delivery in the public sector is no doubt a key to Nigeria’s socio-economic and political development. This is quite indispensable considering the argument of the concept of transfer of technology as a catalyzing tool for the development of the developing countries of which Nigeria is one (Ake cited in Agunyai, 2015).

The history of planning is as old as man himself. Planning started from the ancient era during the primitive period when there were no industries or firms. Planning is the process of setting goals, developing strategies, and outlining tasks and schedules to accomplish the goals of an organization. It includes the selection of objectives, policies, procedures and programmes from among alternatives. According to Terry (2002), planning is a continuous process and there is no end to it. It involves continuous collection, evaluation and selection of data, and scientific investigation and analysis of the possible alternative courses of action and the selection of the best alternative.

Manpower planning is a systematic analysis of human resource needs in order to ensure that right number of employees with necessary skills are available when they are required (Igbinomwanhia, 2010). An organization’s human resource department complete several tasks relevant to its workers including collecting of information, creating objectives, goals and making conclusion in order for the organisation to achieve its goals. The reason for using manpower planning in the public sector is to find out how many employees do the organization have, what kind of workers do the organization have, how an organization should use their available resources and how can the company stay and maintain its workers.

However, it is important to state that the lack of adequate emphasis on manpower planning and development as a tool for development in Nigeria on the part of government as well as the organized private sector could not be far-fetched from the lack of understanding of both the concept and methods for manpower planning and development in the post-colonial Nigerian State in which the process of human resource planning and development for national growth was distorted by colonialism with the attendant negative orientation that was injected into the public sector (Ekpo in Agunyai, 2015). Thus, manpower development became an elitist design that was geared to favour capitalist mode of production in which labour was relegated to the background among the factors of production (Monday, 2009).

Manpower planning and development helps to ensure that organisational members possess the knowledge and skills they need to perform their jobs effectively, take on new responsibilities, and adapt to changing conditions (Jones, George & Hill, 2000). It is further argued that manpower planning and development “helps improve quality, customer satisfaction, productivity, morale, management succession, business development and profitability.” Hence, this study seeks to investigate the effect of manpower planning and development on public service delivery in the public sector with specific reference to Badagry Local Government Area (LGA) of Lagos State.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The quality and quantity of service delivery by the public sector for two decades now have generated some serious national concerns. There have been sharp drop in effectiveness and efficiency with which the public sector discharge their constitutional responsibilities. This is justified by pathetic nature of the high rates of under development across the length and breadth of Nigeria. This is as a result of nonchalant attitude of the government and management of public sector over human resources planning and development which are essential for any nation that wants to remain relevant in the present dynamic society.

Regrettably in the Nigerian public sector emphasis has shifted from manpower planning and staff development to controlling and sharing of the national cake meant for public service delivery. Human resources planning and development are considered as luxury affairs and human resources supply is seen as an elastic item which can be expanded anywhere leading to acute neglect of manpower planning with its attendant effect on employees’ poor performance.

Furthermore, there is highly recognized inadequate manpower planning and development processes in various public organizations. There is growing evidence that inadequate development of employees contributed to poor service delivery with its associated long-run bankruptcy of the public sector in Nigeria. This is traceable to poor manpower planning. In view of the above, manpower planning, recruitment and selection, training and development, promotion and compensation which are the critical aspects of human resources management had been neglected and manipulated by incompetent personnel managers which in turn have hindered productivity, efficiency and performance of the Nigerian public sector (Omisore and Okofu, 2014). It is against this backdrop that this research study seeks to investigate theeffect of manpower planning and development on public service delivery in the public sector with specific reference to Badagry Local Government Area (LGA).

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The major objective of this study is to assess the effect of manpower planning and development on public service delivery in the public sector.

Other specific objectives are:

1. To examine the relationship between human resources planning and employee productivity in the public sector.
2. To determine the relationship between manpower training and development and efficiency in the Nigeria public sector.
3. To assess the roles of manpower planning in enhancing service delivery in the public sector.
4. To identify current challenges to manpower planning and development in the Nigerian public sector.

1.4 Research Questions

This research project will be guided by the following research questions;

1. What is the relationship between human resources planning and employee productivity in the public sector?
2. To what extent does manpower training and development promote efficiency in the Nigeria public sector?
3. What is the role of manpower planning in enhancing service delivery in the public sector?

1.5 Research Hypotheses

The under listed hypotheses will be tested at 5% level of significance:

1. Ho: There is no significant relationship between human resources planning andemployee productivity in the public sector.
   Hi: There is a significant relationship between human resources planning and employee productivity in the public sector.
2. Ho: Manpower training and development is not related to efficiency in the Nigeria public sector.
   Hi: Manpower training and development is significantly related to efficiency in the Nigeria public sector.
3. Ho: Manpower planning does not have a significant effect on service delivery in the public sector.
   Hi: Manpower planning has a significant effect on service delivery in the public sector.