Thesis Abstract

Abstract
Human resource planning plays a critical role in shaping and optimizing employee performance within organizations. This research aimed to explore the impact of human resource planning on employee performance through a comprehensive literature review and analysis of existing studies. The study revealed that effective human resource planning is essential for aligning organizational goals with the skills, knowledge, and capabilities of employees. The findings suggest that organizations that prioritize human resource planning tend to experience higher levels of employee engagement, job satisfaction, and overall performance. By forecasting future workforce needs, identifying skill gaps, and implementing strategies to address these gaps, organizations can enhance employee productivity and retention. Furthermore, the research emphasized the importance of integrating human resource planning with overall business strategy to ensure a strategic approach to workforce management. This alignment enables organizations to proactively respond to changing market conditions, technological advancements, and other external factors that impact employee performance. The study also highlighted the role of HR professionals in driving effective human resource planning initiatives. HR professionals are instrumental in developing and implementing HR strategies that support organizational objectives and foster a culture of continuous learning and development among employees. Moreover, the research underscored the significance of communication and collaboration between HR departments and other organizational functions to ensure that human resource planning efforts are integrated into all aspects of the business. This cross-functional approach helps in maximizing the impact of human resource planning on employee performance and overall organizational success. In conclusion, the research findings indicate that human resource planning has a substantial influence on employee performance within organizations. By strategically managing workforce needs, aligning HR practices with business objectives, and fostering a culture of employee development, organizations can create a high-performing workforce that drives sustainable growth and competitive advantage. The implications of this research suggest that organizations should prioritize human resource planning as a strategic priority to enhance employee performance and achieve long-term success in a dynamic business environment.

Thesis Overview

1.2       Statement of Problem

Banks seem to fall desperately behind the learning culture because training and development of their human element seem to be perceived as ancillary activities, rather than as pragmatic catalysts to business results. They fail to see the payback of investments in their human assets. They tend to see human expenses as something which needs to be minimized. Lack of continuous learning opportunities is because the focus of banks appears to be devolved to bottom-line, short term payback. Leaders have not nurtured or developed people. They seem to have mistakenly highly paid their so called ‘all stars’ with the need to truly reward the qualities that provide for long term stability and resilience. They seem to ignore the fact that appropriate recruitment & selection, training and re-training of employees, adequate performance appraisal, compensation and job security influence employees’ performance.

One of the major problems facing banks seems to be the issues of recruitment and Selection which involve making decisions about people. Where there are several job applicants for the job, they appear to be unaware that they must decide which recruit is the most qualified. Selection is the process of identifying that those recruited individual will best be able to assist the firm in achieving organizational goals. However, most bank managers ignore it with the view of fixing their relations in the positions. This may send the firm to early grave.

In Nigeria banking industry, the training and retraining of employees is yet to receive the desired level of attention from all levels of management. There seem not to be enough systematic attention to update regularly the knowledge and skills of the staff in the light of the changes in the environment and the wider society. This neglect has in turn affected the quality of service in the banking system in Nigeria. Hence, this study seeks to assess the direct impact of human resources planning on employees’ performance within the Nigerian banking industry.

1.3       Objectives of the Study

The general objective of this study is to determine the impact of human resources planning on employees’ performance. Other specific objectives are to:

1. Determine the effect of recruitment & selection on employees’ performance.
2. Examine whether training and re-training programmes affects employees’ performance.
3. Find out the extent to which performance appraisal system affects employees’ performance.
4. Ascertain the impact of compensation system on employees’ performance.
5. Determine whether job security influence employees performance.

1.4       Research Question

This study shall be guided by the following research questions.

1. Does recruitment and selection policy affect employees’ performance?
2. Does training and re-training policy affect employees’ performance?
3. To what extent does performance appraisal policy affect employees’ performance?
4. What is the impact of compensation on employees’ performance?
5. Does job security influence employees performance?

1.5       Statement of Hypotheses

Based on the objectives and research questions, the following hypotheses were formulated to guide this study;

HO1:   There is no significant relationship between recruitment and selection and employees performance.

HO2:   There is no significant relationship between training and re-training and employees performance.

HO3:   There is no significant relationship between performance appraisal and employees performance.

HO4:   There is no significant relationship between compensation and employees performance.

HO5:   Job security does not influence employees performance.

1.6       Significance of the Study

In the body of knowledge, considerable research has been done linking employees performance to a set of determinants. The previous studies in the literature indicated a link between employees performance and recruitment and selection (Compton, Morrissy, and Nankervis, 2009; Sohail, Tanveer and Muneer, 2011) employees performance and training and re-training (Salami, et al, 2013; Saiyadain, 2009) employees performance and performance appraisal (Andrew, 2009; Sudin, 2011) employees performance and compensation system (Chow, Haddad and Wingender, 2001) and employees performance and job security (Boella and Turner, 2005; Reisel, et al 2007).

This study examines the impact of human resources planning on employees’ performance in the Nigerian banking industry. The study will have impact on the management of banks and also show the relevance of human resources planning on the performance of employees. Thus, the following will benefit from this study:

It will enable the Nigerian banks in to provide bases for reexamining the management of their staff with a view to identifying their areas of strength and weaknesses. This will provide an avenue to fashioning out unique employees’ management that will give the organizations a competitive edge. It will ultimately help in providing quality service which has been identified over time to have a positive relationship with staff.

The study will be of significance to the government because it will help it to recognize and regulate the activities of banks as they affect their employees. They will also use the information in this study to guide their thinking and actions.

Other business organizations in the country will also benefit from this study because it will help them to realize that employees’ management is a kind of tool and asset in the organization. As a result, they will do everything to increase this asset. When they do this, the employees will work in harmony and the organizational productivity will increase.

Bank regulators will benefit from this study because it will help them to understand the good staff relation that have been put in place by banks and support them through appropriate regulations to promote best practices that will guarantee staff value and satisfaction with the services provided by the banks.

In this area, researchers will also benefit from this study. As the study will be reference material, an addition to the existing literature on the subject matter.

More so, previous studies have highlighted the link between human resource planning and organizational performance. The generality of the existing studies focused on organizational performance, leaving a yarning gap on the course of their studies which this study attempts to fill by focusing on the linkage between human resource planning with emphasis on recruitment and selection, training, performance appraisal, compensation system and job security and how they affect employees’ performance.

1.7       Scope of the Study

This study examines the impact of human resources planning on employees’ performance in the Nigerian banking industry. It shall cover some selected new generation banks located in Oshimili South Local Government Area of Delta State. The banks were chosen because it was observed that they record high rate of staff turnover annually. Again, some of the staff seem to perform below customers’ expectations.

The sample to be employed for this study shall be limited to employees and customers of the selected banks. The adopted indicators shall include recruitment & selection, training and re-training, performance appraisal and compensation. It is presumed that these indicators would make for easy measurement of human resources planning and employees performance.