EFFECTIVE RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION AS A TOOL FOR ACHIEVING HIGHER EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY IN AN ORGANIZATION

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1    BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

It is no doubt that the achievement of the corporate objectives largely depends on the caliber of human resources or personnel factors that make up such organization. Since, the survival of any ideal organization is a function of the nature and quality composition of such venture. This crucial fact influenced the recruitment and selection practices with special emphasis to first Banks Plc.

       

In many organizations, the reasonability for the choice of new employee is shared between line management and human resource department. The human resource department should be competent to advice on the most modern and best techniques and practices as well as provide a professional support and monitoring service, while line management is involved in the final decision as to who does or does not work in their department. It is therefore very glaring that line managements must be trained, and advised in selection matters especially interviewing.

   

The need for recruitment and selection in any organization depends upon the number of existing vacancies to be filled or new post to be created. Generally speaking, the conducts of recruitment and selection processes are cost involved and such could be advertising cost, testing cost, interviewing, placement and event employment cost. In view of these, there is much need for any ideal organization to exhibit the concept of seriousness, commitment, merit selection and organizational diplomacy in the conduct of recruitment and selection exercises. Once organizational yield to these facts, it would go along way to influence the velocity of the attainment of corporate objectives and also reduce the rate of labour turnover drastically, First Bank Plc would be not be exemption.

Recruitment according to “Thomas H. Stone” is a systematic and organized procedure where potential employees are obtained for selection and placement in the organization through a variety of sources.

The sources can be from the following:

1.    Institutions e.g. universities, polytechnics, colleges of education

2.    Recruitment agencies, such as Author Andrew, Omoloye and Associate etc.

3.    relative and friends

4.    labor exchange e.g. labour minisry i.e. ministry of labour and productivity.

5.    Internal labour market

After recruitment, selecton is the next step in the employment process. The main purpose of selection is to choose individuals that are most likely to succeed on the job from these that are available or responded to the advertisement or limitation to apply for the  job vacancies.

The human element has been considered the most crucial in the attainment of any organizations objectives. Therefore, selection procedure involve the screening of candidates according to the progressive series of steps designed to eliminate those who in some says are unsuitable. It involves submitting a comprehensive information or data on the applicant and conducting physical or medical examination, aptitude test, interview and reference checks on the applicant.

Once an individual has been deemed fit to be employed, the person is offered an appointment letter and given the conditions of his/her appointment and responsibilities. The individuals acceptance of the appointment is implicitly a contract to seal and accept the obligation of his/her appointment and perform his/her duties that assigned to him/her for a certain remuneration.

1.2    STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The recruitment and selection policies of first Bank Plc have been claimed to be inefficient and inefficient, hence the research intends to seek remedies to  this occurrence.

       

Crime such as fraud, human errors and time spend by customers in the bank before being attended to have become a major problem to the management. High labour turn-over as a result of the new generation banks has equally become a teething problem. Hence the following questions are designed.

-       What are the recruitment and selection problems in Nigeria particularly first bank Plc?

-       Can recruitment and selection procedure have and effect on organizational performance?

-       How can we achieve and selection process?

                                                       

1.3    AIMS AND OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY   

a.           to access the efficiency and effectiveness of first bank of Nigeria Plc recruitment and selection  policies as well as comparing them to the practices.

b.            To find out the effectiveness of recruitment and selection pressures used. And recommend possible improvement.

c.           To access and ensure the employment of competent and well  qualified  staff that  care able, willing and capable of  working with the best of their ability toward achieving greater productivity as well as organizational objective according to the required standard.                                       

d.           To access and ensure the total eradication of bias and favouritism and also to exhibit justice and fair play in terms of recruitment and selection exercise undertaking to fill in, the  vacant  spaces in an organization.

e.           To determine the judicious maintenance of both human and material resources in the organization.

1.4    STATEMENT OF THE HYPOTHESIS

This project is an attempt to find   out how a recruitment and selection procedure is conducted in first Bank Plc. In this regard, the researcher formulated hypothesis. These hypothesis are classified into null and alternative hypothesis.

Ho: Effective recruitment and selection procedures have no  effect on employees’ productivity.                                                                                               

 

Hi: Effective recruitment and selection procedures have  effect on employees’ productivity.                   

1.5    SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

The importance of this study stems from the fact that employment of workers involves first of all a deliberate process of manpower planning to determine the right kind of workers and right number of workers required for efficient and effective operation of the organization work.

It also provide further lectures to students and general public at large for a critical assessment of the importance and vital role of recruitment and selection of workforce and its impact on organization with particular reference to first bank of Nigeria Plc.

1.6    SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The geography of this research work is confirmed to the First Bank Plc Kaduna headquarter. But however as a financial institution that have live above board for many decades, it has several branches both within and outside  the state, but with its headquarters at Lagos. All branches are however answerable to

the headquarter as major managerial decisions are often initiated there. As such first hand information for this research for this research would have been readily available there.

In writing this research thus, one is bound to be confronted  by certain constraints  which often become a “clog in the wheel of progress”.  The study is not exempted from these obstacles. Time constraints, school schedules, financial handicap and all other culminates in dwarfing my effort. At the bank again, getting the attention of the top management, other staff and customers readiness divulge information often turn difficult as most  are completely engaged in their  ever demanding duties. Equally, the preparation and administering questionnaires all attracts cost which constituted to limit its spray.                             

1.7    HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF FIRST BANK PLC

For over a century now, first Bank Nigeria Plc has remain a distinctive banking institution and a major contributor to the economic advancement and development in Nigeria. A shipping Mogule sir Alfred Jones from Liverpool founded the bank. At infancy the bank commence as a small operation in the office of Elder Demster and company in Lagos. In March 31st 1894, it was incorporated as a limited liability company with head office in Liverpool.  Under the corporate name of the Bank of British west Africa (BBWA) to started business with a paid up capital of 12,000 pounds sterlin after absorbing its predecessors the African banking corporation which was established earlier in 1892. this giant step signaled the pre-eminent position which the bank was to occupy in the banking  industry in west Africa.

In its early years of operation, the bank recorded an impressive  growth and work abreast with the colonial government in performing the traditional function of a central bank. These functions includes among others. Issuance of spaces in the west Africa sub region to justify its west Africa coverage. A branch was opened in Accra (Gold coast) Ghana in1896, and in Freetown, sierra Lenone in 1898.

These heralded the genesis of the bank’s international operations. Progressively in Nigeria a branch was opened  in the old Calabar in 1900 and two years  later, service were extended to the northern Nigeria. With 336 branches spread throughout the federation, the bank maintains the largest network in the industry in Nigeria. To satisfy the needs of its customers, First Bank has diversified into a wide range of banking service and activities which include among others: corporate and retail banking registrar ship, trusteeship and insurance brokerage. In addition, as part of its strategy to progressive internalization in November 2002, the bank became the fist financial institution in Nigeria to establish a subsidiary bank in the UK. Over the year the bank has experience a blossoming growth. With a share capital of N55.6 million in 1980, the banks share capital grew to N813 million as at March 2001. The bank’s total assets – base was N212 billion while its deposit base stood at N148.3 billion as at March N41.55 billion i.e. N22.5K/share as at March 2001.

To reposition and take advantage of opposition in the changing environments, the bank embarked on several restructuring initiative in 1957, it changed name from bank of British West Africa to bank of West Africa. In 1969, the bank was incorporated locally as standard bank of Nigeria limited in line with the company’s decree of 1968. Changes in the names of the bank also occurred in 1979 and 1991, to first bank of Nigeria limited to first bank of Nigeria Plc respectively. In 1985, the introduced a decentralized structure with five regional administrations. This was reconfigured in 1992 to enhance the bank’s operational efficiency in 1996, the bank introduced the FBN Century II project to revolutionize its operations in line with the dynamics of the environment. FBN got listed on the Nigerian stock exchange NSE in March 1971 and has won the NSE president merit award nine times for the best financial report in the banking sector.

The bank has continued to be a leader in financing long-term development of the economy, which was demonstrated in 1947 when the long term loan was advanced to the then colonel government.

1.8    DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS                                         

To make a research  work such as this comprehensive to even an average reader, it became every  important to define some salient features involved in the theme. These  salient terms are defined as follows:

a.           MANAGEMENT:  The term management is defined as a process of planning, organizing, directing, coordinating and controlling material and non-material resource toward achieving organizational objectives.    

b.           RECRUITMENT: Is the process of searching for prospective employees stipulating them to apply for job in an organization.

c.           SELECTION: Is the process which involves series of activities aimed at identifying the best candidate for job or positions from the pool  of the recruits.

d.           MANPOWER: The number of workers needed or available to do a particular job.

e.           POLICY: A plan of action agreed or chosen.

f.            PRODUCTIVITY: Unit of output per work machine hour or total output/total input.

g.           EFFECTIVENESS: Is producing the result that is wanted or need in producing a successful result.

h.           ORGANIZATIONAL: Structure of relationship so as to get the work done.          

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