Human Resource Management Practices in Nigeria

Abstract

The globalization of business is having a significant impact on human resource management practices; and it is has now become more imperative than ever for business organizations to engage in human resource management practices on an international standard. While the management of people is mostly associated with HRM, the definition, parameter and context are contested by different writers. Some authors such as Kane (1996) argued that HRM is in its infancy, while other authors such as Welbourne and Andrews (1996) dispute it. However, other writers have attempted to differentiate between personnel management and HRM (Sisson, 1990), by emphasizing on the strategic approach to managing people. Other writers such as Legge (1995) have focused on the soft and hard approach to managing human resources. All these distinctions have contributed to the fundamental differences in understanding and defining human resource management practices, and therefore, HRM should not be incorporated within a single model, but rather adequate emphasis should be on understanding human resource management issues, which will assists practitioners, authors, mangers and organizations in developing and implementing HRM policies and practices that will be productive and that can make businesses to gain and sustain a competitive advantage. This is paper is aimed at exploring HRM practices in Nigeria.