Human Resource Management and Organizational Behaviour in the University System: the Registry Experience

INTRODUCTIONthat human resources are utilized and managed
In every organization, there are three major resourceseffectively and efficiently to meet the university goals.
to be managed if the organization wants to achieve itsHUMAN RELATIONS APPROACH TO
objectives and goals. These resources are Humans,MANAGEMENT
materials and financial resources. And out of theseGood human relations in an organization, for it to
three, human resource management is the mostfunction effectively and efficiently cannot be
important and difficult to manage. The reason beingover-emphasized. It provides knowledge on how
that every human being is born unique and therefore ispeople interact and respond in different organizational
bound to have different characteristics-- that is, thesituations in an effort to satisfy their needs and in the
ways they think feel reason and act. Secondly, humanprocess meet organizational goals. The chief
beings control and coordinate the other resources.administrator's ability to understand his staff and their
They constitute the workforce of an organization andproblems, and his belief in and the practice of
are referred to as personnel. Since human naturedemocratic leadership will go a long way to make him
plays a very major part in the overall success of ansucceed in his supervisory and administrative task. The
organization, it is therefore important to have aneffective operation of any organization depends on
effective working relationship between the employeethe Human Resources in that organization. Unachukwu
and the manager as this is essential for the success(1997), implicitly states that Educational Administration is
of the organization.concerned with the mobilization of the efforts of
Human Resource Management, which involves thepeople for the achievement of educational objectives.
efficient and effective management within anIt is therefore imperative that the Registrar cultivates
organization, is one of the vital functions of Educationalthe habits of Human Relations in his odious
Administrators. This is because every administratoradministrative task. Edem (1987), observed that the
has a function to perform through his staff and hisdifference between the ideas of the Efficiency
own abilities. Every university like other formalmovement and those of the Human Relations
organizations needs human beings to execute itsmovement was that of the former emphasizing getting
programmes and achieve educational goals andmost out of the worker, even to the extent of requiring
objectives. To be able to achieve this, the Registrarhim to subordinate his interest and needs of those in
who is the 'chief of administration' has to ensure thatthe organization, while the latter emphasized the
personnel with whom he works knows what to do,humanitarian aspects which sought to satisfy the
when to do it and how to do it. Another name forneeds of the worker, minimize his frustrations and
human resource management is personnelincrease the level of job satisfaction.
management. No matter the name we chose to call it,According to Mary Follet,(1964), a prominent pioneer of
its basic function is to deal with people who make upthe Human Relations movement in the National Society
an organization. And these people have diverseFor The Study of Education, she stated that the real
interest, goals and values.service for business men is no t just the production
Akpakwu (2003), regards personnel management asand distribution of manufactured articles, but to give an
the proper utilization of the people in an organizationopportunity for individual development and
towards achieving their needs and organizational goals.self-actualization through better organization of human
To this extent, it involves understanding the nature ofrelationships. The process of production is as important
people in an organization, their needs and aspirationfor the welfare of society as the product of
and evolving the necessary strategies to accomplishproduction. Follet perceives administration as a shared
these needs and aspirations. It also involves identifyingresponsibility, asserting that organizational structures
the objectives of the organization and creating ashould permit a free interplay of ideas in order to
conducive atmosphere towards leading staff tominimize the rigidity of hierarchical structures; but
achieving the goals of the organization. Armstrong inwarned that shared responsibility should not be
Akpakwu (2003), sees personnel management as theconstrued as being synonymous with laissez-faire and
process of obtaining, organizing and motivating theabsence of focal points of reference.
human resources needed in by an organization. HeUnachukwu (1997), itemized the human relations
advocated for the creation of a very conducive andmovement stress as thus:
cordial environment in order to satisfy the needs of the1. Human relations focus on workers as human beings
workers and achieve organizational goals. Dengarather than asproducers.
(1990), on the other hand, regards Human management11. It focuses on the development of morale and
as an exercise in human engineering. People haveindividual.
needs, problems, feelings temperament etc which they111. Human relations emphasize paying attention to
come along with to these institutions. What ever nameworkers as humanbeings in an informal associations
it is called, human resource management is thewithin an organization.
responsibility of all those who manage people. The1V. Human Relations led to the policy of consultation of
administrative manager must therefore find ways ofparticipation by
satisfying these needs in such a way that the individual,Workers.
organization and society's objectives are achieved.V. Human Relations approach led to the diffusion of
FUNCTIONS OF HUMAN RESOURCEauthority which led toa wider participation in decision
MANAGEMENTmaking. It led to a decentralizedapproach to
The primary responsibility of a human resourceorganization rather than centralization. This explains
manager is to ensure that human resources arewhycommittees are used as tools for decision making.
utilized and managed as efficiently and effectively asMOTIVATION AND ORGANIZATIONAL
possible. To this end, the university chief administrator isBEHAVIOUR
required meet the following objectives:Without human resource, there can be no organization.
1. Recruitment and selection, developing the work placeThese human resources are in two categories:
required by the organization.Management and Subordinates.
2. Helping in creating a working environment that isOkonkwo (1997), is of the view that workers and their
conducive for his members of staff so as to promoteneeds should be uppermost in the minds of the
maximum contentment thereby motivating them.leadership of any organization. In other words, poor
3. Ensuring that the abilities and skills of the workforcemanagement of human resources in an organization
are used to the optimum in pursuance of thewill lead to ineffectiveness or collapse of the
university's mission and mandate.organization. Edem (1998), states that the
4. Ensuring a fair balance between the personal needsBarnard-Simon theory of motivation recognizes the
of staff and the needs of the Registry and therelationship between the satisfaction by organizations
university in general.of the needs of workers and the workers productivity.
The effectiveness and of any organization isThe theory assumes that workers will perform
dependent on the efficient use of its resourcessatisfactorily well if their needs are met. Nwankwo
particularly the human resource. Human resource(1982), opines that the more the needs of workers are
functions can be generally classified into three basicsatisfied within the organization, the more they are
functions namely:-motivated to work and thus satisfy the needs of the
1. Personal utilization to meet organizational needsorganization. To motivate a worker therefore is to
2. Motivation of employees to meet their needs andpropel, impel and energize him into action that will lead
organizational needseventually to the achievement of organizational goals.
3. Maintenance of human relationships.Thus motivation is primarily concerned with spending
Other human resource management functions includeeffort towards a goal. Leavitt (1972), provided
:-motivation model from three basic premises:-
1. Recruitment and Selection:- This involves searching(I) Behaviour is caused: The things we do, do not just
for a suitable person to fill the vacant position. In thehappen. Therealways underlying factors
registry department, the least qualification for an(11) Behaviour is directed: In the ultimate sense, there
administrative secretary is a bachelor's degree. Theaimless behaviour.
basic goal of staffing is to locate qualified applicant(111) Behaviour is motivated: Underlying what we do
who will stay with the organization.are motives anddrives which provide us with the
2. Training and Education:- This involves developingenergy to attain goals or at least tomove in the
staff to professional growth. In the Registrydirection of goals.
department, training involves induction of newThese three premises help a lot in understanding the
employees, formal training of staff which may includebehaviour of workers in an organization. When Adam
on the job training.Smith conceptualized the economic basis of human
3. Wages and salary Administration:- This refers to themotivation, it was his opinion that people work primarily
financial benefits that are given to staff for the jobsfor money and are unconcerned about social feelings,
they have performed. In the university administration,and are motivated to do only that which provides them
fixing of salaries is a continuous exercise as positionwith them with the greatest reward. This approach
and posts keep changing due to growth and functionalhas been criticized because its view of man is
advancement.dehumanizing. Money may not be the only primary
4. Staff Appraisals:- This is the continuous process ofsource of rewarding behaviour in an organization as
feed back to subordinates about how well they havethere is limit to which money can be used in motivating
performed on their jobs. In the registry department,workers. According to Argyle (1972), People can
members of staff are formally appraised annually bybecome committed to the goals of the organization as
their immediate supervisors and the evaluation ratifieda result of participating in decision making in their work
by the Appointments and promotions committee.place or co-partnership schemes or through their
5. Welfare:- In University administration, the mainrelationships with groups or supervisors. Commitment
purpose of welfare is to provide assistance tocould also come through the job itself. For example
members of staff and also encourage a positivethrough ones achievements, recognition, responsibility
relationship between staff and the university byand professional growth. All these are motivators that
providing extra security comforts.would energize human resources to meet
6. Trade Union Relations: - According to Akpakwuorganizational goals and objectives. The ability of the
(2003), trade unions are "sounding boards" for policieseducational manager to therefore plan and organize
and decisions affecting staff. In university administration,human resources effectively, motivate and control the
joint committees comprising management team andstaff is crucial to the effective and efficient
trade unions have proved to be effective in resolvingmanagement of the university. This is because good
conflicts. Trade Unions champion the problems andhuman resource management practice not only helps
grievances of their members with the view ofin attracting and retaining the best of staff, but also
improving the welfare of their members.motivating them to outstanding work performance.
The functions of chief administrative officer in theLack of motivation in work situations has serious
university are many. Generally though, he is to plan,effect on job satisfaction and when job satisfaction is
organize, coordinate, direct and report activities inabsent, the worker might soon leave the organization.
relation to staff under him.Saiyadanin (1999), supporting states that advancement
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOURor changing one's status reflects when this growth is
All organizations including educational institutions arenot experienced, the staff member becomes
made up of people who chose to work in it primarilyfrustrated and dissatisfied.
because it enables them to satisfy at least some ofCONCLUSION
their personal needs. Virtually everybody works, playsBasically, the Registrar who is the Chief Administrative
or is educated in an organization. Attempt must beManager deals with human beings at various levels.
made to define what an organization is. Ede (2000),Administration at all levels involves effective planning,
defines organization as a system of consciouslyorganizing, supervising, controlling and evaluating. It is
coordinated activities which are deliberately structuredtherefore his duty too co-ordinate all activities in the
for the purpose of realizing specific goals. Dale (1978),registry to meet the university's mission and mandate.
views organization thus: "Whenever several peopleAttempt has been made to understand the meaning
are working together for a common end, there mustof human resource management as the understanding
be some form of organization: that is the task must beof human behaviours, their needs, aspiration in an
divided among them and the work of the group mustorganization and developing strategies to accomplish
be coordinated. Dividing the work and arranging forthese needs and aspirations. Knowing that if these
coordination make up the process of organization andneeds are neglected, it could lead to failure in achieving
once that is completed, the group may be describedset goals for the university system. This paper has
as an organization."also shown that organizational behaviour is not just the
According to Unachukwu (1997), the more complex anstudy of the systems, processes, and structures in an
organization is, the more difficult it is to coordinateorganization. But also the systematic study of
activities, predict events or phenomena and attain setindividuals' behaviour in an organization. It should be
objectives maximally. We can therefore viewunderstood that these individuals work with external
organizational behaviour as the systematic study ofand internal environments which are psychological and
the nature of organizations; how they begin, how theysociological in nature. University administrators should
develop and their effects on individual members. It istherefore deal with staff individually and collectively
also a systematic attempt to understand the behaviourwith a view of understanding them deeply. To this end,
of people in an organization; not just human behaviourit has therefore becomes necessary for university
but structural behaviour, elements behaviour, systemsregistrars to advocate the use of good human
behaviour and even policy behaviour. Thus for staff inrelations so as to ensure effective and efficient
the registry department of the university to functionadministration in universities. This paper has also traced
efficiently and effectively, the Registrar mustthe need to motivate workers not only through
understand the nature of people he is working withmonetary means but also to recognize the individual's
and be able to interpret their behaviours. Organizationalworth and enhance their feeling of responsibility and
behaviour follows the principle of human behaviour:achievements
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