HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE NIGERIAN BANKING INDUSTRY (PROSPECTS AND PROBLEMS)

CHAPTER ONE

2.0  BACKGROUND OF STUDY

Human capital refers to investment in education and training. Recent surveys reveal that although business executives firmly believes that people are the most important asset that the organization can use to meet its goal, they are at a loss to prove that investment in people lead to improved business results.

However, common metrics like Economic Value Added (EVA) and Return on Investment (ROI) shed little light on how organizations human assets are performing.

Among the 4M’s namely: Money, Materials, Machines, and Man, what actually makes the organization thick is Man. The Nigerian Banking Industry is very vibrant and the most active in the economy. The sector is presently what makes the economy buoyant, active hence the human capital development needs to be adequate and consists of people’s skills. The right people should occupy the right places at the right time within the organization/industry. A peep into what constitutes the human capital requirement reveals that people with core competences are what most banks employ. The number of workers employed by banks are usually small in nature but of high quality. For efficient human capital development to take place in the banking industry, the members must evolve the learning and development processes. What this means in essence is that the organization must find ways of developing and mobilizing the intelligence, knowledge and creative potential of human beings at every level of organization and become increasingly skilled in placing quality people in key places and developing their full potentials. It will also become increasingly important to recruit people who enjoy learning and relish change and to motivate employees to be intelligent, flexible and adaptive.

Kauter (1992) expresses this as the need to develop people as a key lever in human resource management and makes the correction between the learning of organizational member and the survival and effectiveness of the organization.

2.1   STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

As earlier mentioned, human capital development hold the key to success of any organization. For this to happen the Nigerian banking industry must be able to train and retrain their staff. To do this will amount to paying huge sums of money to conduct Seminars (in-house or outside). Remember that even when the fund for training is available, the employees must develop the right mental attitude for the training. The organization must also create the right environment for its employees. Human resources environment can either be internal or external in nature. The internal environment consists of those sets of controllable factors or variables and forces within the confines of the organization e.g. the value of top management and the technology in use in the organization, for example, if the top management values people and sees them as critical Success Factor (CSF) and adequately rewards them when the need arises, the employees will be at their optimum and the banking industry will continue to grow. Another to consider if the banking industry and its human resource capital development will grow is the technology in use. During this era of I.T. and globalization, banks should stand up to the challenge. For instance the use of ATM machine has shapen the future of human capital development in most banks who can afford it. Human Capital Development in the Nigerian banking industry is as important as the sector itself. However, there are some problems envisaged such as:

1. Will human capital development solve the problems of banking in Nigeria?

2. How does Human Capital Development assist government and monetary authorities?

3. Which positive effect does it have on the shareholder, inventors and the general public?

4. How best will organization prevent labour unrest turnover irrespective of development of it human resources.

5. Does time and money spent on human capital development correlate with output and returns from the employees?

6. Is human capital development a panacea to performance by employees?

7. Does human capital development reflect in the organization (banks) profitability?

8. What measures should be taking by banks in terms of human capital development to usher in more profits?

9. What prospects does human capital development have for the banking industry?

10. It is right for the employees to be over used just in the name of making more profits?

2.2  SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The scope of the study is on human capital development in banking industry in Nigeria.

Human capital refers to investment in education which in embedded in the workers. Some of the training “general” or “transferable” skills which can be used equally productively across different organization. Others provide organization specific skills which enhance the workers productivity within the training organization only. These latter skills tend to be those which are best learned or can be learnt on the job. Workers having organization specific skill will only be able to obtain a wage premium in respect of that skill within the organization where they were trained, to leave would mean to seek job in a place where they will be less productive and hence less paid. Two things follow from this, firstly there is an incentive for such workers to remain with the organization in which they acquired their skills. This give the employers a measure of monopoly power over the workers. Secondly however, the loss of specific skills would involve the organization in costly training of new workers. This study has been designed and organized to include a comprehensive evaluation of human capital development with a case study of Intercontinental Bank Plc and Union Bank, Bank PHB, Guaranty Trust Bank and Access Bank Plc. It will highlight the problems and prospects inherent in the industry as a whole.

2.3  OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The research work is expected to contribute to knowledge, that is existing knowledge will be of great benefit to the following categories:

a. Government

b. Investors

c. Bank, etc.

Hence the purpose of the study is:

1. To ascertain the problems of human capital development in the banking sector in Nigeria.

2. To evaluate and measure how human capital development will contribute and to increased productivity in the Nigerian banking sector.

3. To evaluate the ability of the present human capital development to fit into the global market and face global competition.

4. To proffer solutions to the problems of human capital development in the banking industry (filling the existing gap).

5. To recognize the importance of human capital as panacea to success and continuous growth in the banking industry in Nigeria.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

1. To the Banking sector, this research human capital development will contribute immensely and impressively to the growth of Nigerian banking industry.

2. It will play an important role and aid management to realize adequate returns on investment.

3. To the employees human capital development serves as a veritable tools in equipping themselves in terms of skill for the present and future challenges.

4. With adequate investment in human capital development in the banking industry, the investors will be double sure of their investment being in safe hands because no matter how robust the other factors of production are without labour (human capital) will yield negative result.

5. It will serve as reference to future researchers who may wish to carry out research work on problems and prospects of human capital development.

6. To make recommendations based on the forging study.

2.4   RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

A hypothesis is an assertion, assumption or a statement of facts which has not been proved. However, for our research project, the following hypothesis will be tested:

Ho  = shall be used for Null hypothesis

H1 = shall be used for Alternative hypothesis

Hypothesis 1

Ho:   Human capital development will not solve the problems of the Nigerian banking industry.

H1:   Human capital development will solve the problems of the Nigerian banking industry.

Hypothesis 2

Ho:   Human capital development is not a panacea to efficiency in the Nigerian Banking industry.

H1:   Human capital development is a panacea to efficiency in the Nigerian Banking industry.

Hypothesis 3

Ho:   Human capital development does not aid management in measuring performance.

H1:   Human capital development will aid management in measuring performance.

2.5  RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

For our research to be complete and reliable, we must collect data. In this case we can source for information through primary and secondary sources. Primary data can be collected using Questionnaire and through personal interview and physical observation. Questionnaire can be administered to the members of staff of any intending organization but in this case banks.

Secondary data can also be of use to our study. These can be got from textbooks, annual accounts, and reports of organization. Since we are dealing with Nigerian banking industry, we can obtain their data from their annual reports.

More essential is the use of online facilities such as the Internet. Computers have made work through research easy hence it continued usage by accountants, scientist etc.

2.6   DEFINITION OF TERMS

a. ATM = Automatic Teller Machine: A machine that automatically pays when withdrawal is made.

b. Controllable Factors: Factors operating within an organization, that is within the confines of an organization such as size of the organization, value of the top management and technology in use etc.

c. IT = Information Technology: The use of computer within the organization.

d. Human Capital: Investment in education and training.