Human resource development training for the Nigerian Foreign Public Service.

Abstract

The findings indicated a need for a change from traditional administration to a scientific management approach and from a passive-reactive foreign service to result-oriented coordinations; and for an increased use of human resource development centers to train embassy personnel.

The investigator of the study explored four main skill areas, viz: (1) employee orientation, (2) cultural change needs, (3) administrative organization, and (4) administrative skills. Analyses of the data indicated that administrators and employees perceived similar needs in the major four skill areas. The needs-discrepancy index, computed using mean scores for "ideal" and "actual", perceived needs indicated the following rank order of the major skill areas: (1) embassy administrative skills, (2) employee job orientation, (3) cultural change needs, and (4) administrative organization. It was also found that specific skill development was needed in public relations, internal office communication, job performance evaluation, employee job orientation, and quality of work.

A questionnaire was developed by the investigator to obtain the data for the study. The questionnaire items were designed to achieve demographic information and information related to the perceptions of the respondents concerning the management procedures and practices of the two United States embassies. The data were analyzed using averages and rank-order analyses. Tables were developed as appropriate to aid in the interpretation of the analyses.

The study was conducted to assess human resource development programs needs and skills for the Nigerian Foreign Service in the United States. A sample of two hundred employees was drawn from a population of four hundred embassy workers. Thirty-eight administrators and 110 employees participated in the study.