Human Resource Management Practices and Organizational Performance in Public Sector Organizations: with reference to Development Officers in the Colombo District in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Human resources management concerns how people are employed, utilized, and maintained effectively and efficiently in achieving organizational objectives.   The performance of any organization largely depends on its human resources. Among the human resources management practices, recruitment, and selection of the right pool of employees, proper training and development, performance appraisal, and compensation directly affect achieving organizational objectives. However, these Human Resource (HR) practices in the public sector, especially in relation to the position of Development Officers (DOs) of Sri Lanka have not been practiced in an effective manner. Recruitment of Graduates as Development Officers has been a major reason for increasing the growth of public service in the country. Since the 1990s, the government of Sri Lanka has practiced bulk recruitment of graduates without having a clear and formal duty list, service minutes, recruitment procedures, training and development programs, promotion policy, and salary scale. The main purpose of this study is to discuss the existing Human Resource Management (HRM) practices, identify strengths and weaknesses of the existing HRM practices, and examine how these weaknesses affect the performance of the public sector organizations in relation to Development Officers in the public sector in Sri Lanka. The study used a qualitative research method with the inductive approach. Data were collected through in-depth interviews from all 13 Divisional Secretaries in the Colombo District and the data were analyzed narratively. The study revealed that the existing recruiting, training, and performance appraisal practices negatively affect the performance of the public sector due to some weaknesses in these practices.  Finally, this study proposes policy recommendations for improving the effectiveness of these practices for enhancing the public sector performance in Sri Lanka.

Keywords: Human resource management practices, Development officers, Public sector, Sri Lanka