HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AT THE UGANDA BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Abstract

The study examined the relationship between human resource management practices and knowledge management in UBOS. The study was premised on the following research objectives: to examine the relationship between recruitment and knowledge management in UBOS, to establish the relationship between performance appraisal and knowledge management in UBOS and to assess the relationship between rewards and knowledge management in UBOS. The study adopted a descriptive cross sectional survey design where both quantitative and qualitative approaches were used. In this study, a total number of 105 respondents were expected but 102 respondents returned the survey instruments representing a response rate of 98%. The data was collected using questionnaires and interviews and analysis was done using regression analysis, correlation coefficients and one way analysis of variance for the quantitative findings. Qualitative analysis was done using content and thematic analysis. The findings revealed that there is a positive relationship between recruitment, performance appraisal and rewards and knowledge management in UBOS. The results on recruitment and knowledge management were r = .476**, p = 0.000 < 0.05, the results for performance appraisal and knowledge management indicated that r = 0.427**, p = 0.006 < 0.05 and the results for rewards that r = 0.033, p = 0.011 > 0.05. It was concluded that: Jobs are advertised both internally and externally although UBOS prefers to have top management position advertised externally because they attract a lot of people with varying skills. The employees felts that being paid on time was not a key factor but how much they were paid was more essential. They felt that they would be better motivated if the organization introduced other monetary and non-monetary benefits. Although performance appraisals are carried out in the organization, the employees felt that they have not helped to achieve the designated objectives. The appraisal mechanisms would be more effective if were being used as a basis for promotion and a means of rewarding employees in the organization. It was recommended that: Managers should be aware that in encouraging the use of external advertising, the organization can be opening up to getting a variety of applicants with diverse skills, therefore UBOS should rely more on external advertisement than internal recruitment. A system that rewards high performance and discourages low and mediocre performance should be put in place to include various rewards such as financial rewards, public acknowledgments and promotions. The performance appraisal programme in UBOS should be well thought out and tailored for the organisation. Mechanisms should be put in place to ensure the objectivity of performance ratings and judgments, and to reduce favoritism and bias. The performance appraisals should aim at promotions and rewarding employees.