Human Resources Management In Commercial Banks

HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN COMMERCIAL BANKS (A CASE STUDY OF UNION BANK OF NIGERIA PLC ENUGU)

Headings:

• The effect of lack of good relationship between supervisors and their subordinates on the overall performance of Union Bank.
• Effect of staff resignation on the bank services.
• Effect of staff involvement in fraudulent activities on banking sector.
• The impact of industrial relation on bank services.
• Summary of the over literature review.

• THE EFFECT OF LACK OF GOOD RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SUPERVISORS AND THEIR SUBORDINATES ON THE OVERALL PERFORMANCE OF UNION BANK.

Knoontz (1989:212) Opioned, managing involves achieving enterprise objectives.  Achieving result is important but the means must never violate the dignity of people.  That superior must work in harmony with the subordinates if the firm’s objectives should be achieved.  The concept of individual dignity means that people must be treated with respect, no matter what their position in the organization is:

The president, Vice President manager, all the first line supervisors and workers contribute to the aim of an enterprise each is unique with different abilities and aspirations, but all are human being and all deserve to be treated as such in the word of Heim 91991: 35) the human being is a total person influence by external factors.  People cannot divest themselves of the impact of these forces when they come to work.  Managers must recognize these facts and be prepared to deal with them through a good rapport with their subordinates.

Lyman (1996) noted that firms should have committed human relation department that cater for the welfare of the people in both the community and organization.  Generally the management of bank and other business organization need to have the interest of the workforce properly integrated into their mode of operation.  According to Trevor (1991: 201).  The participative approach to management is a highly moralistic approach, and it would be wonderful if all people, workers, departments and banks behave as the behavioralists assume.  Unfortunately not all do, and a major human problem which destroys participation and team work and seriously affects the production planning process is conflict between individuals and superiors.  It is unfortunately observed by Trevor (1991) that in many commercial banks:

1. The level of trust, mutual support, respect and open communication is generally low.
2. Team work except in small groups are rare
3. Hostility and even hate between individual and groups is not uncommon.
4. political maneuvering to achieve power exists.
5. Conflict between individuals and departments is widespread.

Harrison (1995: 165) maintained that the fact of life may be considered a joundised and cynical view of management but unfortunately they represent a true view of life in many organizations and the situation they describe is all too common.  It is now recognized that conflict and political maneuvering to achieve power occurs in almost every organization to a greater or lesser degree.  Whereas organization theory literature still mainly emphasizes participation and team work.  It has in recent fears somehow embarrassingly started to mention again conflict, power and politics.

Also Read: Problems of Human Resources Management

Harrison stated that this conflict leads to lack of respect and trust between individuals and departments, a lack of co-operation, each department will tend to reject ideas, opinioins and suggestion arising from the other departments, and feelings and emotions will run high with greater probability of mistakes being made by people under stress with clouded judgments.  Deparemtns will tend to have unspoken objectives different form those of the overall organization.  Such as to get the others ground, block anything they posses achieve dominance over them, and show them in a poor light to senior management organization objectives will be subordinated to the departments hidden objectives which concentric on achieving dominance over the other departments.  This causes breakdown communication between departments and creates a polarization into a ‘we/they’ attitude instead of ‘all’ decision making and problem solving will be slow and difficult, differences will not be worked through in an open and constructive manner.  There will be “Win/loose” situations leading to more conflict and hostility, lowest common dominator comprises or submission of disputes to higher level of management for arbitration.  In general, conflict is detrimental to overall performance and will make it almost impossible for a commitment to organizational objectives to develop.

Andrew (1998: 100) noted that conflict often result in extreme demonstration of self interest of the expenses of the entire organization or individual people will place their personal welfare over that of the rest of the organization or customers.  He also maintained that it is not disagreements over plan priorities etc. that cause conflict but it is the nature of the relationships between people and their subordinates.

In the words of Aldage 91994: 315) conflict whether in the form of open hostility or quick discretion has been with since the beginning of mankind.  Even the conflict between persons can be thought as a naturally occurring event, we are all well force.  Example conflict between a superior and subordinates can lead to one or both parties having their feelings hurt, the subordinate some how attempting to sabotage the plans of supervior.

2.1a   CASES OF CONFLICT

          Aldag (1994:317) deduce the following situational factors as some of the sources of conflict.

• Under jurisdictional boundaries
• Scarce resources
• Communication Barriers.
• Job interdependence
• Organizational differentiation
• Joint decision making
• Consensus decision rule
• Arbitrary regulations
• Unresolved prior conflict

According to Harrison (1993: 166) there are a large number of conflict in organization but they can be categorized under tow principal influences namely.

1. ORGANSATIONAL PROBLEM

• Problems arising form the nature of the department.
• Difference in department cultures
• Difficulties in integration
• Uncertain organizational responsibilities and authority structure

(B)     PEOPLE PROBLEMS

(i)           Motivation

• Competition
• Incompatible objectives
• Weak leadership
• Fact of interpersonal skills
• Difficult or problem people
• Rogues
• Management styles
• Insecurity and
• Stress

2.2     THE EFFECT OF STAFF RESIGNATION ON BANK SERVICES

Resignation, according to advanced learner’s dictionary of current English, is the act of giving up one’s job or position.

Secretes (1996: 716) says that a worker could be forced or induced to resign his appointment under the following circumstance.

• If an employer unilaterally changes an employee’s terms of employment in a major way.
• If a manager continually picks an employee singling him or her out for adverse treatment.
• If an employee is put under constant pressure to break the safety regulations.

Aldag (1994: 312) stated that conflict between superior and subordinate can lead to the subordinate quitting his or her jobs.  According to STALLION (The staff magazine of Union Bank of Nigeria). Union Bank in 1997 / 98 instituted a voluntary retirement scheme for any caliber of her staff that was willing to resign his or her appointment and go home with some monetary incentives.  To this end over 2500 staff of the big, strong, and reliable Banks, were very willing to leave the banking industry.

 FACTOR LEADING TO STAFF RESIGNATIONS.

• Lack of understanding the human needs.

Aldag  (1994: 208) affirmed that to satisfy or motivate employment employees, managers must first understand their needs.  failure to do this, will lead to hate for the job by the employee for lack of job satisfaction and motivation, this could further lead to resignation.

 ABRAHAM MASLOW’S NEED HIERARCHY THEORY

(i)      Physiological:  These basic bodily needs include food, water, sex, air are clothing.

• Social of affiliation: These would include the need for belonging, interaction with the others, friendship and love
• Esteem: This category contains need both for respect and recognition from others and for personal feelings of accomplishment and self worth.
• Self actualization: These are the needs to become all the one is capable of becoming.  To realize one’s potentials.  They are the desire growth, for creativity and for constrictive accomplishment.

(b)     Lack of Job Satisfaction        As Aldag (1994: 215) put it, because most people spend almost half of their lives at work.  Only the most callons employers would suggest that workers satisfaction is unimportant.  In fact, more and more emphasis is being place at attempt to satisfy workers needs.  He said that “They are at least two major reasons why organization might be concerned with employee job satisfaction.  First, high satisfaction is important in itself.   Second, it has often been argued that satisfaction is related to a variety of organizational by relevant outcomes.  For example most of us have heard it said that “a happy employee, is a productive employee” on the other hand, “an unhappy worker is an unproductive employee”.  He maintained that when a worker is unproductive as a result of lack of job satisfaction, the tendency is for the employee to quit the job.

(c)      Lack of Motivation

Knoontz (1989: 198) saw motivation as a gene4ral term applying to the entire class of drives, need wishes and similar forces.  To say that managers motivates their subordinates is to say that the do these things which they hope will satisfy there drives and desires and induce the subordinates to act in a desired manner.

To get people to do what the manage wants to accomplish through them, KOONTZ, said they must be motivated, motivation according him is a complex subject touching on several disciplines.  To understand motivation, one must first understand human nature itself and there lies the problem.  Human nature can be very simple, yet very complex too Knoontz said, an understanding and appreciation of this is a prerequisition to effective motivation and effective management.

Trevor (1991:   221) said motivation is the crux.  Manager should use all motivation techniques to ensure the retention of their workforce and tap their far reaching services.  He said, when managers fail to motivate, they create ripe grounds for staff resignation and poor customer services.

SPECIAL MOTIVATIONAL TECHNIQUES

• MONEY: Many people including Knoontz believe that money can never over looked as a motivator, it can be inform of wages or any other incentive pay, bonuses, stock options, company paid insurance or any of the other things that may be given to people for performance.
• PARTICIPATION: One techniques that has been given strong support as the result of motivation theory and research is the increased and use of participation.  There can be no doubt that only rarely are people not motivated by being consulted on action affecting them by being in on the act.  According to Trevor there is also doubt that most people in the center of an operation have knowledge both of problems and of solutions to them.  As a consequence, the right kind of participation yields both motivation and knowledge valuable for enterprises success.

• QUALITY OF WORKING LIFE (OWL)

Management have regarded it as promising means of dealing with stagnating productivity.  Workers and union representatives have also seen it as a means of improving working conditions and productivity and a means of justifying higher pay.  Government agencies have been attracted to QWL as a means of increasing productivity and reducing inflation and as a way obtaining industrial democracy and minimizing labour disputes.

• JOB ENRICHMENT: This has to do with making jobs challenging and meaningful.  Here factors such as challenge, achievement recognition and responsibility are seen as the real motivators.
• JOB ENLARGEMENT: This attempts to make job more viable by removing the dullness associated with performing repetitive operations.

• Poor Economy

Richardson (1991:90) noticed that ergonomic is an important aspect of human resources management, as it tend to study the worker and his working environment.  Ergonomics is often defined as the scientific study of the relationship between man and his working environment (Muriell 1995) Environment in this regard does not only include the physical environment in which the worker works and its demonstratable effects on the effectiveness of the worker such as temperature, relative humidity, and luminance it will include the tools the workers uses the nature of the task to be performed (repetitive non repetitive, short cycle, long cycle, (i.e using physical strength and manual dexterity) as well as the actual organizational structures and relationships associated with the work, (i.e. working alone or in groups within a bureaucratic structure or an organic one).

Trevor (1991: 225) opined, a well deranged working environment is a stepping stone for achieving enterprise goals but poor ergonomics could tend to chaos, hate for and resignation of staff.

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