Bank Managers’ Attitude about Human Resources: A Univariate Study in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Little theoretical and empirical research done, contextual gap and intellectual curiosity caused to carry out a systematic study with regard to attitude about human resources (AHR) of managers which is critical in determining managers’ behaviour and performance management of their subordinates. Deriving from five research questions five objectives of the study were formulated and they had a focus on performing a conceptualization and an operationalization of AHR of managers, exploring and describing the degree and the specific nature of AHR of bank managers in the organization under study, investigating whether the average degree of the AHR of bank managers is lower significantly than the ideal degree of the AHR of managers prescribed by the general theory, and finding out the effect of gender on the degree of AHR of bank managers. As respondents, 129 senior and chief managers by title who are middle managers by level working in a large bank were utilized. The empirical findings revealed that majority of senior and chief managers in the bank under the study are individuals with positive AHR, managers’ responses on 10 attitudinal items were not congruent with the overall average response in case of the specific nature of AHR, degree of AHR of bank managers in the selected bank is lower than that of bank managers in general theory, and degree of AHR of male managers is not different from that of female managers. Possible reasons and implications of the findings were also discussed.

Key Words: Attitude, Bank Managers, Gender, Human Resources, Sri Lanka