CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

The recruitment of academically qualified employees is a necessary start for sustainable human capital development in all organizations. Human capacity has become a critical index of competition in the world of business to the extent that the development of such capacities through training has become top priority in designing the strategic plan of business organizations (Tim & Brinkerhoff, 2008)

Human Capital Development is essential for the growth and development of any nation. It is perhaps the most dynamic of all the resources of any organization. Over the years, the Financial Sector had been plagued with scarcity of trained personnel and financial experts, which has led to employment of half-baked workers who need further training to make them suitable for the banking jobs. Human Capital Development is the key to the development process of any country. It is the process of determining and assuring that a country will have adequate number of qualified persons, available for work at any time. Developing countries including Nigeria have tried to accelerate the pace of their socio-economic development and modernization since the end of the Second World War most especially after attaining political independence.

It should be mentioned that an important aspect of manpower is its quality and not its size but more importantly, the educational and skill content of a country’s labour force. Studies have shown that the success of an organization is highly dependent on the skills, knowledge and experience of its employees, which is a direct product of adequate human capital development capability of that particular organization (Rao, 2000; Bokeno, 2011). The success and progress of an organization depend on its ability to maximally explore the talent and potentials of its workforce. This is more likely to be achieved through the purposeful (HCD) capability of an organization, (Mohammed, 2006)

Human capital development is the process of enabling people to make things happen, (Rodrigues and Chincholkar 2005). This implies that without availability of capable employees (in terms of required skills, knowledge and experience) to make things happen in the area of quality products/service delivery and profit maximization, the enhanced goal attainment of that particular organization becomes a mirage. Researchers have shown that one of the major challenges facing modern organizations in the twenty-first century is on how to put in place strategies to motivate and encourage their employees to get committed to organizational ideals and aspirations; and also on how to translate these ideals and aspirations into enhanced productivity of the workforce and the organization (Olowu and Adamolekun, 2005; Gberevbie, 2010).

In this regard, no other factor is as important as human capital in maintaining corporate stability, development and profitability of an enterprise…”  Therefore, the successful mobilization of employees to get committed to the ideals and aspirations of an organization (organizational commitment) for the purpose of enhancing its growth and profitability is sine-qua-non to organizational survival, (Ejiofor and Mbachu 2001).

1.2 Statement of Problem

Most of the employers have reported the inefficiency of some staff in business organization in Nigeria, though this inefficiency could be attributed to their non possession of the requisite skills and competencies. The adverse effect of nepotism, god fatherism and favouritism during recruitment exercise has effect on productivity. The resultant effect of this is that such accountant employed without due employment procedures find it extremely difficult to cope with the ever improving technologically business environment (Iwuoha, 2009)

There is strong consensus that no individual can be a perfect fit at the time of employment no matter his professional skills and qualifications particularly where organisational methods and systems differ in an ever changing environment (Ubeku,1987) In view of this,   organization must therefore take the issue of human capital development very seriously since individuals have tremendous potentials for growth, both employees and their employing organizations ultimately gain from efforts at enhancing the staff’s knowledge, skills and abilities.

Over the years, the financial sector had been plagued with scarcity of trained bankers and financial experts in the country. This has led to the employment of half baked experts which need further training to make them suitable for the banking jobs. In order to enhance this process various institutions were established with specific functions of promoting human capital development in the Nigerian economy. The financial sector reforms had changed the legal framework, economic and technological environment of banks.

The deregulation of banks led to the proliferation of banks as many banks were set up to take advantage of the seemingly abnormal profit occasioned by the foreign exchange deregulation. This definitely increased the mobility of the staff in the banking industry as staff became very fluid within the industry. In addition, innovation and increased use of microcomputers has forced both old and new banks not only to employ a new flow of staff but also to give them necessary training and retraining. The structure of employment has thus undergone serious changes which make it inevitable to update obsolete skills and talents of the bank. Furthermore, as the old staffs appears to have become obsolete in skills as a result of the rapid changes within the environment, it is necessary to prepare employees for the new challenges introduced by the reforms. This is why human capital development programmes as well as retaining has to go together with new equipment.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The main objective of this study is to examine the effect of human capital development on employee’s productivity in Nigerian banks. However, in order to fulfil this goal, other specific objectives are to:

i. ascertain the extent to which training and development of human resource have improved productivity.

 ii. evaluate the relationship between human resource training, development and productivity.

iii. make recommendations that will improve sound manpower competitive ability

1.4 Research Questions

This research attempts to provide answers to the following questions:

i. What are the types of training schemes available to the employees of bank in Nigeria?

ii. What is the effect of an effective human capital development on productivity of employees of banks in Nigeria?

iii. What benefit do you think the organisation has derived from any development programme sponsored?

1.5 Research Hypothesis

Hypothesis is a tentative statement about the universe which may or may not be true. The hypothesis for this study is therefore formulated on the basis of the main objective of the research work as stated below:

H0: There is no significant impact between human capital development and employees productivity in Nigerian banks

H1: There is significant impact between human capital development and employees productivity in Nigerian banks

1.6 Significance of the Study

Training plays significant role in achieving organizational objectives by keeping in view the interest of employees and organization (Stone, 2002).The question is why are some employees lazy while some are very hardworking .Answers to this question is very essential at enhancing the productivity of workers in an organisation. . This research will take a conscious examination of this situation and make an appropriate recommendation to correct it against further occurrences.

Employee training and manpower development is very vital to job productivity and organization performance since the formal educational system does not adequately provide specific job skills for a position in a particular organization. While, few individuals may have the requisite skills, knowledge, abilities and competencies needed to fit into a specific job function, some others may require extensive training to acquire the   necessary skills to be able to fit in a specific job function and also make significant contribution to the organization’s performance. Moreover, numerous studies of human capital development cost on employee’s productivity in Nigeria banks have been conducted in various countries around the world. But this research is going to fill the vacuum created by the previous study by explaining the relationship between training schemes and employee’s performance. More so, the study will give a proper understanding of the key words of the research topic i.e. Human capital development and employees productivity in the literature review. The findings will also lead to additional knowledge for employers by identifying the impact level of human capital development cost towards productivity of banks

1.7 Scope of the Study

The scope of the study covers human capital development   and employees productivity. Five banks are to be used for the analysis namely:Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, First Bank Plc, Zenith bank, United bank for Africa and Diamond Bank.

1.8 Plan of the Study                           

The study consists of five chapters. Chapter one is about the introductory aspect of the study. The entire theme in the typical research proposal is synonymous to chapter one which includes: Background to the study, Statement of problem, Objective of the study, Research Questions, Research hypothesis, significance of the study, scope of study, plan of study.

 Chapter two is on literature review which comprises of theoretical frame work, and conceptual frame work. Chapter three will give an exposition of the methodology that will be used in the study. In chapter four, the study present the data analyzed and interprets the finding of the tests, result and its discussion. The last section which is chapter five will give the summary, conclusion and recommendations for the research.