Concept paper Presented by; Kennedy Muye

HUMAN RESOURCE BRANDING IN THE KENYAN CIVIL SERVICE AND THE PERFORMANCE OF PROVINCIAL ADMINISTARTORS CHAPTER ONE; INTRODUCTION
1.1.

Background of the Study Globalization has brought organizations, both profit making and non-profit making move closer to each other, with this, is the shared business environments and hence greater competition for resources as well as markets. The Human Capital are easily noticed and snatched up, in a bid for organizations to increase their competitive advantages. The scenario is no different in Kenya, where both Kenyan civil services as an employer is in the job market with other organizations both profit making and otherwise. Human resource branding refers to the attractiveness of the human resource departments policies and practices of an organization in the eyes of employees, prospective employees and general publics. The Human resource becomes an attractive brand when employees are pleased by the way the human resource department on behalf of the employers takes care of their welfare and other human resource needs. It is negative if the human resource department has policies that do not take care of employees welfare in an acceptable manner. Human resource branding also could note at the need of human resource department positioning itself in the organization echelons as a crucial and critical department placed strategically to enhance the realization of organizations goals. The Kenyan Civil service has experienced different phases of human resource brand. In the period before 2003, the human resource was de-motivated, poorly remunerated, inefficient as displayed by high rate of absenteeism and the loss of best talents was the order of the day. The recruitment process was flawed and corruption and nepotism defined who was recruited at the expense of merit.

Concept paper Presented by; Kennedy Muye

Provincial Administration as a cadre within the Civil service has been inexistence since the colonial days. It has undergone through all these phases. In the years before 2003, it was not acting professionally, de-motivated due to poor remuneration, display of impunity, corrupt and with a not pleasing public image. However, the crucial functions it was conducting in the civil service saved it from scrapping and thus necessitated a rebrand through various reform strategies. Among these were improved remuneration, training and development, merit recruitment strategy, training and development, working environment improvement as well as work facilitation and re-brand of its public image. The change in human resource practices has now brought a renewal of Provincial Administrators, which has enhanced the service delivery to the publics. The rich history of service delivery presents a viable research area with information for research that will contribute to the annals of knowledge into the contemporary area of human resource branding.

1.2.

Statement of the Problem According to Jonathan (2009) there is an increasing body of evidence that makes the case for solid employer brand management. From an organizations point of view, human resource brand encapsulates the key qualities current and prospective employees associate their employers with. Jonathan observes that these qualities could be economical or remuneration; functional or training and skills; or psychological or a sense of identity or status. Burke (2005) further observes that human resource branding, if fully utilized, enhances the growth and prosperity of an organization with the goal of gaining competitive advantage. However, Berry (2007) dismisses the current increased interest in human resource branding as another long line of passing fancies that excite the professional for a few years before being done away with and without yielding much in terms of companys growth.
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Concept paper Presented by; Kennedy Muye

The above arguments withstanding, coupled with the need to apply current human resource strategies in the civil service sector, this study is interested in establishing the effects of human resource branding in the Kenyan civil service on the performance of provincial administrators.
1.3.

Research Questions

1. Does HR Branding in the Kenyan civil service influence recruitment and retention of

Provincial Administrators?
2. Does HR Branding in the Kenyan civil service influence public image reforms for

Provincial Administrators?
3. Does HR Branding in the Kenyan civil service influence career mobility of Provincial

Administrators?
4. Does HR Branding in the Kenyan civil service influence remuneration of Provincial

Administrators?
5. Does HR Branding in the Kenyan civil service influence the training and development of

Provincial Administrators?

1.4. Conceptual Framework The research states that due to the need for the Kenyan civil service to have a favorable human resource brand it will improve on the human resource management strategies to its employees in the provincial administration that will ensure they are proud to be associated with the civil service hence lead to higher performance. Higher performance in this study is a function of, recruitment and retention; training and development; career mobility; remuneration and compensation, and public image reforms. The researcher recognizes that, the existence of both extraneous and intervening variables that will affect the association of the independent variable (human resource branding in the Kenyan civil service) and dependent variable (Performance of provincial administrators).
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Concept paper Presented by; Kennedy Muye

1.5.

Objectives 1.5.1. Main Objective To investigate the effects of Human Resource Branding in the Kenyan civil service on the performance of provincial administrators. 1.5.2. Specific Objectives 1. To find out whether HR Branding in the Kenyan civil service influences recruitment and retention of Provincial Administrators. 2. To find out whether HR Branding in the Kenyan civil service influences public image reforms Provincial Administrators. 3. To find out whether HR Branding in the Kenyan civil service influences career mobility of Provincial Administrators. 4. To find out whether HR Branding in the Kenyan civil service influences remuneration/compensation of Provincial Administrators 5. To find out whether HR Branding in the Kenyan civil service influences the training and development Provincial Administrators

1.6. Operationalization of terms Human resource branding- refers to the process of creating an image of the human resource management policies and practices. This process is expected to lead to the practice of best human resource practices that will lead to the creation of a favorable image among provincial administrators. Kenyan civil service- Refers to the members of staff employed by the Kenyan government as a whole. The human resource branding initiative is targeted for the whole of these employees. Provincial administrators- refers to the members of staff in the Kenyan civil service who work in the ministry of state for provincial administration and internal security and
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Concept paper Presented by; Kennedy Muye

working within the provincial administration ministry as either, assistant chiefs, chiefs, district officers/ assistant secretaries, district commissioners/ under secretaries, regional commissioners/ deputy secretaries, provincial commissioners/ directors. They are supposed to reflect the impact of human resource branding process in the civil service through their performance. 1.7. Justification of the Study Evidence from previous research establishes that HR Branding is crucial for the growth of any organization that seeks to create a niche in the market place and maximize its profits (Burke, 2005). Mosley (2007) observes that many organizations have been investing their resources in various ways to gain competitive advantage without success because they have not fully recognized the superiority of human resource management. The Kenyan Civil service has been slow in the adoption of current human resource practices that would enhance quality of service delivery. The private sector has enjoyed superiority in their human resource practices because of their flexibility. Situations where the civil service has adopted modern human resource practices are like in performance contracting. The results have been fairly positive. In view of the significance of HR Branding in the growth of organizations, this research work will be of immense benefit, not only to the Kenyan Civil service in terms of the appreciations of the benefits of HR branding which may have been overlooked, but also to all other organizations that also aim to make profit. This study will also contribute to knowledge and enhanced practices in HR Branding in Kenya and enhance the competitiveness of various organizations. The study will further provide a base for further research for academia and students interested in the study.

CHAPTER TWO; LITERATURE REVIEW The resource-based view (RBV) or theory will inspire this study. The fundamental principle of the RBV is that the basis for a competitive advantage of a firm lies primarily in the application of
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Concept paper Presented by; Kennedy Muye

the bundle of valuable resources at the firm's disposal (Wernerfelt, 1984, p172; Rumelt, 1984, p557-558). To transform a short-run competitive advantage into a sustained competitive advantage requires that these resources are heterogeneous in nature and not perfectly mobile ([1]:p105-106; Peteraf, 1993, p180). Effectively, this translates into valuable resources that are neither perfectly imitable nor substitutable without great effort (Barney, 1991;[1]:p117). If these conditions hold, the firms bundle of resources can assist the firm sustaining above average returns.

CHAPTER THREE; METHODOLOGY 3.1. Research design The study will use the mixed methods/triangulation research design. This entails the use of both quantitative and qualitative methods of research. 3.1. Population and sampling 3.1.1. Population The population for this study will be all officers working in the provincial administration department. However the study will target the district officers, chiefs and assistant chiefs. A sample will also be made of some officers from the human resource department at the provincial administration head quarters. The other cadres will not be sampled. The major reason being lack of time and funds to sample the other cadres as well as analyze the data.

3.1.2. Sampling The study will use non-probability sampling techniques. More specifically, the study will use purposive and convenience sampling on the targeted population. 3.2. Data collection procedures

Concept paper Presented by; Kennedy Muye

The study will use questionnaires to collect relevant quantitative data. Interview schedule and observation method to collect the qualitative data. The questionnaires will have both open and closed questions in order to capture more details of the respondents opinions. 3.3. Data analysis and interpretation Data will be collected through questionnaires and interview schedules. Quantitative data collected will be analyzed by use of analytical tools such as SPSS and MS Excel. Qualitative data collected will be analyzed through creation of categories, themes and patterns and ranking methods approach.

CHAPTER FOUR; PRESENTATION OF THE RESULTS 4.1. Study findings The study will use descriptive statistical methods to present findings. Tables, graphs, charts and figures will be used. 4.2. Discussion of the results The study will interrogate the findings and compare them to the literature review conducted. This will assist to find areas of commonalities that prove other researchers findings and also be able to know new areas of knowledge in the field of human resource branding. This will also help in the growth of knowledge in the field of Human resource management.

CHAPTER FIVE; CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1. Conclusion The research will come up with conclusions on the hypothesized impact of human resource branding in the Kenyan civil service on the performance of the provincial administration.
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Concept paper Presented by; Kennedy Muye

5.2.

Recommendations Recommendations will be made as regards to the findings. Its expected that this will assist the civil service and provincial administration to be the ultimate employer of choice for both current and prospective employees.

5.3.

Limitation and delimitation 5.3.1. Limitations The study will be limited in the sampling of the population to only the district officers and chiefs and assistant chiefs only. This will be due to time and

financial expansively limited by collect the data

constraints. The researcher may not have enough time to collect data as well as analyze it comprehensively. Also, the research will be inadequate funding which will limit extensive travel required to from an expanded sample of the population.

1.3.2. Delimitation The research will therefore only sample the district officers, chiefs and assistant chiefs and may use the current populace of provincial administrators in the DPA 2011 class especially those in the field service as target population to overcome both the time and financial constraints.

References: Buciuniene, I. & Kazlauskaite, R. (2008). The role of human resources and their management in the establishment of sustainable competitive advantage, Engineering Economics, Vol. 5(60), p. 78-84. Burke, R. (2005). Reinventing human resource management: Challenges and new directions. Routledge, London. Jonathan, A. (2009). Why is an employer brand and why should you care? Retrieved 5th September 2011 from http://www.articlesbase.com/human-resources-articles/what-is-anemployer-brand-and-why-should-you-care-812286.html.
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Concept paper Presented by; Kennedy Muye

Lakshmi, M., Krishna,K., Venkata, R., Rao, C. (2009). Human resources branding in the present scenario. Retrieved 6th September 2011 from http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1260874457.html. Mosley, R.W. (2007). Customer experience, organizational culture and the employer Brand, Brand Management, Vol. 15 (2), p. 123-134. Talentnet (2009). HR Branding. Retrieved from 6th September 2011 from http://www.talentnet.vn/information-center/hr-articles/hr-branding.