The Effect of ‘Human Resource Development Professionals expertise’ on effectiveness of Management Development in the civil service of Kenya

Abstract

Several studies identified lack of leadership and management skills as key factors slowing down implementation of reforms in the civil service. This to some extent could be attributed to the way the service develops its staff especially the managers.Management development as an integral component of Human Resource Development is premised on organizational performance improvement mediated through human expertise and human effort. Effectiveness is therefore a factor of the HRD expertise and how it interacts with managers to identify and address their needs for effective performance. This study sought to identify managers’ perceptions of HRD professionals’ expertise with regard to capacity to facilitate their effective development.

The study used descriptive survey design targeting 205 managers drawn from all the 42 ministries in the civil service. Stratified random and simple random sampling was done using computer based methods. Data was collected using a questionnaire with open and Likert-scale questions and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS).

Majority of the managers did not think the HRD professionals were very skilful in implementation of HRD activities. Only 26.6% thought they had effective communication skills, only 15.7% thought them very proficient in designing and conducting training needs assessments and only 27.2% thought them very good in planning training and development targeted at identified needs. 31.5% rated HRD professionals very good in planning activities to foster development for effective performance but majority said they did not frequently use work-based development strategies like networking, dialogue, career counseling and internal benchmarking. Inferential statistics revealed a positive linear relationship between Effectiveness of management development and HRD expertise ( Pearson’s coefficient .421 at p<.001, F=37.7at p<.001, t=6.139 at P<.001).

The study concludes that managers had little confidence in the HRD professional’s capacity to help them develop effectively since they did not have the required skills and competences nor did they frequently use appropriate work based development strategies. The study recommends that the Government pay attention to recruitment and development of HRD professionals and the Professionals should pay attention to their personal development to enhance their capacity for facilitating management development in the civil service effectively.