UNIVERSITY OF TAMPERE
Faculty of Management
THESIS
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
IN DAK R’LAP DISTRICT
Supervisor: Doctor Harri Laihonen
Student: Pham Van Nam
17th, April, 2018
Dear Doctor Harri Laihonen,
I would like to declare that this thesis is done by myself funder the supervision of Doctor Harri
Laihonen. I hereby certify that the data source for the research is clearly defined. I am responsible
for the truthfulness and objectivity of the research.
Your sincerely
Pham Van Nam
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
During the time of joining the Master Program, specialization: Public Policy and Public Financial
Management by the University of Tampere in association with the National Academy of Public
Administration gave me new knowledge of public policy and financial management in the public
sector. I would like to send my gratitude to all professors, doctors, teachers and staff of Tampere
University who helped me through the topic and solved many important issues throughout the
course.
I express my gratitude to Dr. Harri Laihonen, my supervisor, for his devoted guidance during I carry
out this thesis. I would also like to thank Kirsi Hasanen, Ms Truong Thuy Van and the whole team –
who have cared for, supported all students to attend the course, found relevant materials, solved
problems for the trainees to complete the research.
I would like to thank the teachers, staff members of the Administrative Academy and you study the
master’s degree program, who helped each other, stood side by side to complete the course.
I would also like to thank the leaders of People’s Committee of Dak R’Lap District and leaders of
communes and towns in Dak R’Lap District, Dak Nong Province created favorable conditions for me
to perform this research.
Finally thanks my family for supporting me in the process of learning and research.
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CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ________________________________________________________________ 10
1 INTRODUCTION _________________________________________________________ 11
1. 1 Background of the research _______________________________________________ 11
1.2 Research questions ______________________________________________________ 14
1.3 Structure of the thesis ___________________________________________________ 14
2 LITERATUREREVIEW _____________________________________________________ 15
2.1 Developing high quality human resources in the public sector ____________________ 15
2.2 Human Resource Management in Local Government ___________________________ 17
2.3 Basic Policies in the Human Resources Development Policy of the Public Sector _____ 18
2.4 Human resources development in public organization in Vietnam _________________ 21
3 RESEARCH METHODS ____________________________________________________ 23
3.1 Research methods _______________________________________________________ 23
3.2 Data collecting and processing
______________________________________________ 23
3.3 Questionnaire survey
____________________________________________________ 24
4 RESEARCH RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ____________________________________ 27
4.1 Policy on human resource development in the public sector _____________________ 27
4.2 Overview on communal-level administrative human resources at Dak R’Lap District __ 28
4.3 Objectives and requirements of human resources in the public sector _______________ 31
4.3.1 Objectives __________________________________________________________ 31
4.3.2 Requirements _______________________________________________________ 32
4.4 Planning policy _________________________________________________________ 36
4.5 Recruitment policy ______________________________________________________ 39
4.6 Training Policy _________________________________________________________ 47
5
4.7 Evaluation policy________________________________________________________ 52
4.8 Policy on remuneration ___________________________________________________ 55
5 CONCLUSIONS ___________________________________________________________ 61
5. 1 Answers to the research questions __________________________________________ 61
5.2 Recommendations _______________________________________________________ 64
5.3 Limitations of research and research ideas in the future
__________________________ 65
REFERENCES ______________________________________________________________ 67
Appendix 1 _________________________________________________________________ 76
Appendix 2 _________________________________________________________________ 82
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LISTS OF TABLE
Table 1. The number of civil servants at Communal People’s Committees at Dak R’Lap District
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 28
Table 2. Requirements for human resources in the public sector at Dak R’Lap District ……. 32
Table 3. Criteria for recruiting human resources in the public sector in Dak R Lap District 40
Table 4. Recruited professions ……………………………………………………………………………………… 42
Table 5. Number and structure of professional qualifications of policy beneficiaries when
they are recruited to work in the commune-level administrative agencies in Dak R’Lap
District.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 43
Table 5. Subjects of training and developing staff at Dak R’Lap district………………………….. 47
Table 6. Assessment of policy beneficiaries of Dak R’Lap district’s policy on training and
development
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 48
Table 7. Training associated institutions based on the civil servant development policy of
Dak R’Lap District for the period 2007 – 2017 ………………………………………………………………. 49
Table 8. Criteria for assessment of commune cadres and civil servants in Dak R’Lap district
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 53
Table 9. Costs between training and remuneration to attract staff in the commune-level state
administrative organizations of Dak R’Lap district ………………………………………………………… 56
Table 10. Initial remuneration regime for policy beneficiaries in 2007
……………………………. 57
Table 11. Evaluation of policy beneficiaries on initial remuneration and salary regime ….. 57
Table 12. Evaluation of managers on initial remuneration and allowance according to salary
regimein Dak R’Lap district (Average point is 3 points)
…………………………………………………. 58
Table 13. Bonus rate of the District in 2007-2017 (unit: VND billion)
……………………………. 58
Table 14. Assessment of policy beneficiaries on promotion opportunities in Dak R’Lap
district policy ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 59
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LIST OF CHART
Chart 1: Qualifications of civil servants at communal-level people’s committees at Dak R’Lap
District…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 30
Chart 2: Age of administrative human resources in the public sector of Dak R’Lap District (unit
of calculation %) …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 30
Chart 3: Gender structure
……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 31
Chart 4: Assessmentsby HR managers of Dak R’Lap District and subjects in the development
policy on development of cadres and civil servants of Dak R’Lap District
……………………………. 34
Chart 5: Results of surveying the criteria of working capacity. …………………………………………… 35
Chart 6: Origin of policy beneficiaries when getting jobs in Dak R’Lap
………………………….. 40
Chart 7: Qualification of policy beneficiaries when recruited …………………………………………. 41
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LIST OF FIGURE
Figure 1: Assessments by the managers on human resource development plan in the public sector
at Dak R’Lap district ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 37
Figure 2: Evaluations by the policy beneficiaries on human resource development plan in the
public sector at Dak R’Lap District …………………………………………………………………………………. 38
Figure 3: Managers’ evaluation of policy beneficiaries working at the commune-level
agencies of Dak R’Lap district
………………………………………………………………………………………. 44
Figure 4: Evaluations by the policy beneficiaries on the development of officials and work
assignment and working conditions in the organizations
………………………………………………… 45
Figure 5: Evaluation for cadres and civil servants who were assigned to be trained and returned
to work ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 50
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ABBREVIATIONS
HRD: Human Resources
HRD: Human Resource Development
HRM: Human Resource Management
HRP: Human Resource Planning
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ABSTRACT
University of Tampere
Faculty of Management, Discipline
Author
PHAM VAN NAM
Title of Thesis
Human resource development in Dak R’Lap district
Master’s Thesis
87 pages including cover page, 2 appendices
Time
2018
Keywords
Planning, recruitment, training, evaluation, remuneration, civil
servant, human resource development
After over 10 years of implementing the human resource development policy in the public
sector, Dak R’Lap District has attracted many civil servants for its development cause. In
addition to the achieved results, this policy also reveals many limitations needed to be
overcome. And thus, Dak R’Lap District should evaluate scientifically the effectiveness of
the issued policy. This study has assessed each of the contents of the human resource
development policy in the communal-level administrative agencies of Dak R’Lap district.
The results of the review shall be the basis for recommendations to improve the policy in the
future. Quantitative research methods are employed to answer research questions. In this
study, data collection has been conducted in two phases: Phase 1: Collecting data on human
resource development in the public sector; Phase 2: Classifying data by each specific content
related to the items in the study to facilitate the data analysis. For the direct data collection in
Dak R’Lap district, a questionnaire survey has been prepared. The survey was conducted for
managers and policy beneficiaries of Dak R’Lap district. The results have shown the
strengths and weaknesses of the policy. The study has also assessed the suitability of policies
in the current period. The satisfaction level of the managers and the needs of policy
beneficiaries have been also surveyed. Based on that, the study has also made some
recommendations to improve the human resource management of Dak R’Lap district in the
future. Limitations of research and recommendations for further studies have also been
determined.
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1 INTRODUCTION
1. 1 Background of the research
Human Resource Development (HRD) refers to the ability of organizations to protect their
core competencies by investing in training and developing the competencies and skills of their
employees (Sambasivam & Kebede, 2013). HRD is a strategy for human development based
on strategy and resources to achieve organizational goals (Lepak & Snell, 1999). This allows
organizations to combine internal and external resources to ensure stable and continuous
competition (Davenport, 2003).
HRD can also be considered as a process that includes the development and implementation of
policies to monitor and direct the organization’s human resources (Dussault, 1999).
Policymakers should define clear policy objectives based on an analysis of the internal and
external situation of the organization as well as on the forecasts regarding short, medium and
long-term changes. The purpose of the organization is to help HR managers develop policies
that are tailored to their specific conditions. HRD needs a combination of strategies to achieve
its goals (Anyim et al., 2012). In order to have a suitable personnel policy, stakeholders should
be involved at all stages of policymaking, from problem identification and needs assessment,
to identifying goals and objectives (Swanson & Holton, 2009). Thus, alignment with the
organization’s strategy is an important part of HRD.
Vietnam implemented the Human Resources Development Strategy for the period of 2011-
2020, which was issued in conjunction with the Prime Minister’s Decision in April 2011.
Central and local agencies also carry out many policy solutions to attract, recruit, train, foster
and develop high quality human resources for their units. Initial results have been substantial.
However, the development of human resources has not fully met the requirements and there is
still a need to operationalize the national strategy. At the moment, the basis for developing the
quality and effectiveness of human resource policies still underdeveloped. The shortage of
qualified human resources has become a major obstacle to Vietnam’s industrialization and
modernization in the process of international integration. One of the reasons for the
shortcomings is the lack of high quality human resource development policy.
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The empirical analysis of the HRD policies is carried out in Dak R’Lap District in Vietnam.
The district is located in the southwest of Dak Nong Province and was established in 1986. In
2007, it was split and established new district of Tuy Duc. Although the split posed some
difficulties for Dak R’Lap district, it has successfully implemented many policies to attract
human resources to serve socio-economic development. This includes the development of
administrative human resources at all levels. The comprehensive development of Dak R’Lap
district in the past years is an evidence of promoting the internal strength and success of the
district in attracting and employing talented people with high skills, having talent in the state
administrative apparatus to form a team of high quality administrative human resources for the
development of the district.
From the early days of splitting up it has been an important and difficult task for the Party,
authorities and people in the district to quickly build district will standardized new countryside
by 2020. The management is issued for district leaders immediately after the new district is
how to attract more talented people to form a high quality human resources team in the state
administration apparatus. Especially in People’s Committees of communes and towns in Dak
R’Lap to serve the cause of socio-economic development, improve the quality of
administrative public servants, contribute to improve quality service for people. To solve the
problem, the Party and authorities of Dak R’Lap district identified a need to develop strategies
and policies for human resources required by the high quality administration. Thus, the first
Party congress of the district (term 2007-2010) proposed the policy of active human resources
with high quality to meet the requirements of industrialization and modernization. The main
objective of this policy was to focus on the development of local scientific talents and to have
a policy of attracting high quality human resources for the public sector.
Subsequently, Dak R’Lap District Party Committee set out an action plan on developing a
personnel strategy. In particular, this strategy emphasized the objective of improving the
quality of civil servants, attracting many people with ethical and talented qualities for agencies
of the Party and district authorities to carry out public duties. This is the first public sector
human resource development strategy of Dak R’Lap district. Furthermore, the People’s
Committee also issued a decision to implement the initial treatment regime for voluntary
people for long-term work and incentive schemes for cadres, civil servants were working in
Dak R’Lap District. This was an important breakthrough policy for Dak R’Lap district in order
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to keep and attract talented people to work in the administrative organs of Dak R’Lap district.
In addition, the People’s Committee also developed a number of other policies to attract and
retain human resources, such as (1) Scheme for supporting higher education at local
educational institutions by district budget for pupils in upper secondary schools (2)
Employment policies for local children graduated from universities and colleges to work in
communes and towns.
By the end of 2017, Dak R’Lap district had received and arranged work for 164 people out of
which worked at the People’s Committees of communes and townships. They have graduated
from a good university or college and most of them are in a young age (Source: Dak R’Lap
District Office of Home Affairs). Thus, the HRD policy has succeeded in attracting young and
high level of workforce to the public sector contributing to rejuvenation and improvement of
the quality of civil servants for many years. However, the policy of developing cadres and
civil servants of Dak R’Lap district still had some limitations such as the lack of general
criteria for identifying the quality of human resources in administrative agencies. The policy
of developing administrative staff is not comprehensive. In fact, there were not many well-
qualified experts, scientists, managers, and strategic leaders in the district. In addition, the way
of Dak R’Lap district are still creating many opinions contrary to society, both support and not
support. This has created many challenges for district managers and policymakers in
continuing to build human resource development strategy in the public sector.
To address the above-described constraints, research on issues related to human resource
development in the public sector and in Dak R’Lap in particular is important. It will provide
additional information to help adjust the district’s public employment development policies.
However, over the past 10 years of implementing the policy of developing cadres and civil
servants, research on the topic are still scarce. Up to now, there is no specific study to evaluate
the effectiveness of the policy, especially the development of communal cadres and civil
servants in Dak R’Lap district. Therefore, there are few sources of scientific information to
provide Dak R’Lap district leaders with the further refinement of their local policies. This is
the research gap this study aims to fulfill.
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1.2 Research questions
Within the scope of the study, the author focuses on the following HRD processes: (1) Human
resource planning; (2) recruitment or selection policy; (3) evaluation policy; (4) training policy;
(5) Policy on remuneration. This scope is based on the literature review on human resource
development presented in the next section. The study aims to answer the following research
question:
Question 1: What are the strengths and weaknesses of process of implementing the commune-
level human resource development policy in Dak R’Lap district? What are the causes of these
strengths and weaknesses?
Question 2: What should leaders in Dak R’Lap District do to improve their commune-level
administrative human resources development policy?
The empirical part of the study was carried out in Dak R’Lap district in Vietnam. Empirical data
was gathered from eleven commune–level administrative units and agencies. These units and
agencies were Department of Home Affairs, Office of the People’s Council and People’s
Committee, Department of Finance – Planning, Bureau of Labor – Invalids and Social Affairs.
1.3 Structure of the thesis
The study consists of five parts. The first chapter introduces the background of the research.
In the second chapter, an overview of the literature on human resource development is
presented. It provides a more comprehensive view of human resource development in
general and the development of administrative human resources in particular. Chapter three
describes the used research methods. The fourth chapter studies and discusses the results of
the empirical research carried out in Dak R’Lap district. Finally, the fifth chapter will
answer the research questions, discusses the limitations the research and provides some
recommendations and ideas for further research.
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2 LITERATUREREVIEW
2.1 Developing high quality human resources in the public sector
Human Resource Development (HRD) is a continuous process in consistence with human
knowledge and skills of organizational objectives (Jacobs and Jones, 1995). HRD is a short-term
or a long-term activity to help employees develop their knowledge, expertise, productivity and
personal satisfaction with their organizations, communities and nations (McLean, 2001). At the
national level, HRD is understood to be a process where people in different groups continuously
acquire new knowledge and empower themselves (Singh, 2012).
HRD is a systematic and planned mission which shall be undertaken in a continuous manner in
which the organization provides employees with the basics to meet their short-term and long-
term goals (Harris et al., 2006). According to Bhupendra (2009), HRD is a systematic and
planned activity that includes training, development, occupational planning and performance
evaluation for the organizational development. Charls (2006) argues that HRD is the integrated
use of professional development and training efforts to improve individual and organizational
performance. Harris (2008) describes HRD as the organization of employee in learning to
improve the organizational performance. According to Werner and Desimone (2006), HRD
activities such as training and development, career development, organizational development
and performance evaluation are important for every organization. HRD is a sensitive issue that
needs attention in both developed and developing countries to achieve organizational growth
through the modernization of staff skills (Michael, 1995). Nations as well as organizations
should have appropriate HRD strategies to build their workforce appropriately for each stage.
Batt & Moynihanand (2006) provided important management tools for high quality human
resources in the organization. Managers should take steps such as planning and identifying
demand for high quality human resources, recruiting human resources, using human resources,
training and evaluating human resources (Batt & Moynihan, 2006, p.6). Other authors also
analyzed the specific contents of human resource processes and emphasized on the importance
of flexible and closed processes to achieve the goals of attracting and retaining high quality
human resources. Pudelko, Harzing & Cabri (2009) analyzed the human resource management
of African countries, Japan and other countries in the world and proposed conclusions about
16
factors affecting human resource management. Factors influencing the issuance of high quality
human resources policy include natural, socio-economic, political, legal, cultural and intellectual
conditions. In many African countries, the regimes are lacking of democracy; natural conditions
are harsh; socio-economic conditions are underdeveloped; the culture is backward, and
intellectual standards are low. Human resources are less appreciated in community life than in
other continents. These are the factors that hinder the attraction of human resources from all
over the world to this continent. Japan always attracts and maintains high quality human
resources because it has a strong political background. The freedom and equality of the
competition is promoted and exercised seriously and the legal awareness of the Japanese people
is high compared to many countries in the world (Pudelko & Harzing, 2009, p.112).
Regarding the role of high quality human resources, the overall of the research literature confirms
that high quality human resources are important for the development (prosperity or decline) of a
country. The advantages of high quality human resources are gaining competitive advantages and
development (Wood, 1993, p.8). High quality human resources are the essence of social human
resources and the most important indicator of the national development (Wilkinson, 1994, p.11).
High quality human resources include good leaders, good managers, talented business managers,
top industry scientists, professors, doctors, people with good skills and skilled personnel. Those
who directly or indirectly create the greatest benefits for the organizations and societies are the
symbols of the power of a nation (Juran, 1999, p.32).
To attract and retain high quality human resources, managers should identify the needs for high
quality human resources and the need for the sound human resource policy. In addition, it is
advised to know how to promote his advantages in implementing high quality human resource
policies. Human resource development should take into account factors such as the political
system, legal system; economic, cultural, social and intellectual standards of the people. These
factors can have positive or obstructive effects on the implementation process. These research
results provide managers with reliable information to serve the policy-making process. However,
the research has not been carried out in specific categories, especially in the public sector. Each
type of organization has different conditions and standards of knowledge and expertise for human
resource development of the organization. High-quality human resources in each governmental
agency also set out different requirements for the content organization and management. These are
the gaps of previous researches. This research was conducted in a public organization with the
17
intention of making up for the gap in previous studies.
2.2 Human Resource Management in Local Government
Human resource management plays a very important role in the operations of governments at all
levels, as this function is closely linked to the activities and goals of the staff with the mission
and goals of the organization (French et.al, 2011). The shift from traditional functions to
strategic planning and performance indicators has emerged in previous years. However, the
traditional values and core managerial functions of HRM are still important. Many human
resource management functions related to the flexibility of the workforce have also increased in
their importance over the years. These functions and activities include training and skill
development, career development, cross-training, diversity management, conflict resolution,
determined benefits and salary (French et.al, 2011). Public sector reformers should be cautious
about the involved issues and processes, including the selection and recruitment of appropriate
managers and employees; Opportunities of development and promoting employment; Providing
an incentive system for employees; Full interaction between the entire workforce, the managers
and the supervisors; Building the staff of leaders, communication and control (Antwi et.al,
2008).
Each organization has the environment and ability of applying different human resource
management. Human resource development strategies of public organizations are not significant
for private sector organizations and vice versa (Lindstro’m et.al, 2011). The administrative
decentralization, lack of human resources and financial resources, and heavy workload are key
weaknesses affecting the strategic objectives of human resource management at local
governmental agencies. Therefore, local governments often do not take the initiative in
developing strategies for human resource development in the public sector. Experts predict the
increasing high importance of HRM in the public sector, which is like a creative player in the
strategic management of public organizations. However, some of the changes that they
envisioned for HRM a decade later may not grow as fast as expected (French et.al, 2011).
Human resource managers realize that multi-stakeholder engagement is critical to ensure that
HR strategies focus on the organization’s overall goals. Human resource managers note that HR
strategies must accommodate broad legislative environments and changes in the public sector.
18
The relationships with senior managers are also important because their support is essential.
Human resource managers also explain that relationships with chain managers are important to
ensure that HR policies are implemented successfully (Truss, 2009). In addition to strategic
factors, managers hope that human resource management will focus on the safety of employees.
Equity must be ensured for employees in the same organization. Training and developing the
labor force and organizational development are considered as the priorities in human resource
management. HR also plays an important role in communication from employees to leaders
(Truss, 2009).
Local governments should adopt the group management methods for HRM and ensure that
members of the group regularly interact with each other. In addition, new ideas of employee
should be paid close attention and implemented by the managers. Such ideas are ones close to
reality and are consistent with the goals of the local governments. In addition, human resource
managers in the public sector should make employees understand and adhere to public sector
regulations. The second idea is to encourage the group to focus on complex areas by re-checking
in areas of public institutions suspected of violating the law (McDowell et al., 2011).
It is required to increase the role of management in promoting employee performance evaluation
(Brewer et.al, 2012). Employees are not satisfied if their efforts are not rewarded or objectively
recognized by their organizations. Organizational rewards can be granted with material rewards,
such as salary increases or career advancement, or with non-material bonuses such as training.
In other words, there are so many negative impacts when employees realize their working
performance is disproportionate to their efforts because of the subjective reasons caused by
managers (Giauque et.al, 2013). The expectations of success when implementing HR strategies
in changing conditions are very important. This includes the renovation and modernization of
HR policies in line with changes in the political system and the actual situations of each local
government.
2.3 Basic Policies in the Human Resources Development Policy of the Public Sector
There are two basic definitions of human resource planning (HRP). The first definition is the
right number of right people in the right job at the right time (Stokker & Hallam, 2009, p.562).
The second definition is to integrate an organization’s human resource strategies into a business
19
orientation. It is a process of analyzing the current workforce and identifying future needs
(Helton & Soubik, 2004).
There are two similarities between these two definitions. Firstly, both of them are interested in
finding and using systematic techniques to assess the extent to which an organization can meet
future labor requirements. Freyens (2010) asserted that the focus of HRP includes the
assessments of future human resource needs and the development of programs to meet those
needs. The forecast requirements related to the creation of quality and quantity of staff will be
necessary for the organization in the future. In addition, HRP can be considered a systematic
technique to assess the organization’s ability to meet future human resource needs. According to
Choudhury (2007), HRP helps a organization have a clear strategy in the area of human
resources. HRP also helps to keep employees motivated and helps the organization overcome
the failure of human resource management strategies. In addition, both definitions emphasize the
necessity for HRP to combine human resources with organizational planning to achieve the
targeted goals.
HRP plays a very important role in achieving the organization’s goals. It requires planning
potential human resources with the right skills at the right time and at the right cost. The
importance of HRP is based on identifying the needs of the organization in the present and in the
future (Randhawa, 2007). HRP can use various methods to address current and future human
needs such as demographic analysis method and future demand forecasting method (Meisinger,
2007). Organizations need HRP to ensure that organizations get the right jobs for each of their
employees (Freedman, 2009). HRP also aims to facilitate the organization. HRP is also
important to assist HR professionals in planning changes and minimizing unexpected events.
This can be achieved by applying HRP to have a clear view about their labor needs. Human
resource planning depends on a number of human resource management contents such as
employee recruitment planning and employee development of the organization (Sullivan, 2002).
HRP activities are the basis for making clear decisions about long-term organizational strategies.
It is very important to collect, develop and retain staff to achieve organizational goals
(Choudhury, 2007). HRP allows an organization to adjust and respond quickly to current and
future operational requirements. In terms of demand related to labor market trends in the future,
human resource managers must determine the recruitment method and recruited positions (Snell
20
& Bohlander, 2012).
There are many challenges associated with the implementation of HRP in the public sector.
Choudhury (2007) argued that these factors are lack of political power, lack of budget and lack
of technology. Jacobson (2010) proposed that many localities do not want to develop plans for
human resource development in the public sector. Barrett, Green and Sheldon (2014) argued that
the lack of public sector workforce planning is due to inadequate resources, including time,
staff, and expertise. These challenges show that the public sector is only beginning to consider
the human resources plan systematically.
Recruiting (or selecting) is the process of creating a group of people who are able to apply for a
job. Selecting is the process of using the tools to find a person (or people) from applicants.
These selected people have the knowledge and skills to accomplish the goals of the
organization. In the public sector, the selected persons are also required to meet the legal
requirements of each class and each regime (Bratton & Gold, 2003). Recruitment includes three
stages: identification of requirements, attraction of candidates and selection of candidates
(Armstrong, 2001).
Recruiting process is one of the most important human resource management functions. It is the
input point to accomplish the goals of the organization. It also reflects the organization’s
requirements and the competences of those selected in the job. Many methods are used in the
recruitment and selection process such as interviewing, verifying records, undertaking specific
works of the organization in a short time and other methods.
According to Armstrong (2001), training is a formal and systematic behavioral change through
learning that has been planned to improve the fitness between employee characteristics and job
placement requirements. In other words, training is the enhancement of knowledge to do a
particular job. After selecting staff, organizations in the public sector must provide training to
employees because organizations want to maintain a quality human resource serving the ever-
changing environment. Each organization will have different training methods and contents. For
the subject, training shall be conducted for new recruits and professional training for policy
beneficiaries.
Evaluation is one of the important stages of human resource development. The assessment is
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conducted to check whether employees in the organization perform the assigned tasks or not?
Evaluation will examine the effectiveness of tasks in the organization (Bhupendra, 2009).
Evaluation is often done in determining the performance of an organization. Another objective is
that the assessment helps employees do better in meeting the goals of the organization
(Milkovich and Boudreau (1991)).
Preferential treatments and rewards: Remuneration is very important and it is a factor for
employees to compete in the organization. It refers to people who are able to fit into each job
position within the organization. Payments involve both financial and non-financial rewards.
Payroll and bonuses are based on production, skills, knowledge and basic salary payment
(Brown, 1989). Reward is also one of the focal components of human resource development
policy (Armstrong & Murlis 1991).
2.4 Human resources development in public organization in Vietnam
Establishing a high quality human resource policy is a difficult and complex task, requiring a
lot of theories and practices. In many documents of the Government of Vietnam, the human
resource development policy has been mentioned. But so far, the Government and localities
have not developed a suitable high quality human resource policy. To do this, the first thing is
to conduct scientific researches on issues related to high quality human resources and high
quality human resource policy. In fact, there have been a number of high quality human
resources research projects in the public sector. These works are important for Vietnamese
policymakers. They have used their overseas experiences to develop national and local
policies (Can, 2010). However, public policy makers still need independent researches on high
quality human resource policies of Vietnam. It is necessary to apply international experiences
to the conditions in Vietnam, but adaptations should be made to suit each locality. When the
Government mechanically adopts international experiences in human resource management in
the public sector, it will lead to the failure of human resource management of the local
governments (Can, 2010). It can be said that this is the limitation in researching human
resource development policy in Vietnam. At present, in the scientific forums, the high-quality
human resource research in Vietnam is often just the form of academic exchanging articles,
scientific journals and a number of research topics. These studies are not sufficient to provide
a scientific and practical basis for public policy makers to develop high-quality human
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resources policies for talented people in the field.
The study analyzed the policy for talented people to attract and retain high quality human
resources in governmental agencies. The results of the study have clarified a number of issues
such as the concept of talent, the standards of exploring talented people; the attraction,
training, use and evaluation of talented people in the region. Public policy oriented to talented
people in the public sector has not been established (Cu, 2008). The policy of attracting and
rewarding talents has not been implemented by the Government and local authorities.
Therefore, public organizations have not attracted many talented people. In addition, brain
drain is still ongoing. The author has proposed the six fundamental issues for human resource
development in the organization (Nam & Ngan, 2011). Firstly, it is required to make public
the attraction of high quality human resources so that talented people know and register to
participate. Secondly, collecting information about talented people will be the basis for the
development of high quality human resources. Thirdly, it is required to determine how to
attract talented people to suit the conditions of each organization. Fourthly, it is required to
renovate the recruitment of talented people towards the diversification of recruitment methods.
Fifthly, it is necessary to assess the importance of talented people for the organization. Finally,
it is advised to ensure the conditions for implementing policies for talented people. These are
issues that the Government of Vietnam is interested in the process of renovating the country.
However, governmental agencies and local governments have different requirements for high
quality human resources. It is important for the managers to determine the specific
requirements for quality human resources for each type of organization that are appropriate for
the organization’s purposes. With the above-mentioned research gaps, the main content of this
study is the assessment of human resource development policy in the public sector of Dak
R’Lap District with the hope that the results of this study shall supplement experiences to the
above research gap.
The literature overview is of the important significance to the author in conducting the study.
At various levels, the review recommends the author with the research orientations, avoiding
the shortcomings of previous studies. By reviewing domestic and international studies, the
author has grasped the strengths and limitations of previous researches. In addition to selecting
strengths, the author has identified research gaps from the limitations of researches to build a
research framework and conduct the research in accordance with the structure of the thesis.
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3 RESEARCH METHODS
3.1 Research methods
With a small amount of material on the topic of human resource development in the country,
this study is both explorative and descriptive. Stebbins (2001) identifies explorations in the
social sciences as broad, purposeful, systematic commitment arrangements designed to
maximize the discovery of generalizations that lead to description and understanding. On the
other hand, studying descriptive research objectives, they should aim to understand a common
or non-conventional social phenomenon by looking at the details of the factors that make it a
phenomenal phenomenon (Hart, 1998).
Clearly understanding the philosophy of research is important to determine the appropriate
research methodology of the thesis. The most appropriate method of research will help the
researcher collect relevant data to solve the research objectives easily. According to Creswell
(2008), there are three main research philosophies including positivism, constructivism, and
pragmatism. Researchers should fully consider the factors before determining their
methodologies.
In this study, quantitative research methods have been used to achieve research objectives and
answer research questions. The reason for choosing this method is that the research topic is
narrow, the relevant documents are limited and the author can easily use the questionnaire to
collect information. The overall assessment about literature was also used in this study.
Petticrew & Roberts (2006) argued that systematic reviews of the literature can highlight the
lack of data and limit the actual research on a particular topic. In addition, systematic reviews of
research literature help identify gaps and information for future research efforts. Cooper (1998)
argued that document evaluations can focus on research results, research methods, theories,
applications, or all of these.
3.2 Data collecting and processing
Data collection and analysis have been carried out in two phases. In Phase 1, the author
collected data on human resource development in the public sector. This data includes
international studies on human resource development in the public sector. The documents of
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Vienam Government, ministries and Dak R’lap District on human resource development in
the private and public sectors. Domestic and international scientific articles are also a
reliable source of information. A review of the literature gives the author an overview of the
basic contents, objectives and determinants of human resources in the public sector. The
experience of human resource management in the world is also an important channel for
making recommendations for the development of high quality human resources in the public
sector. The requirements of data summarization should be clear and comprehensive (Fink,
2005). In Phase 2, the collected data was categorized by specific content related to the items
in the study to facilitate the data analysis. The used methods of data analysis are to make
data consistent, to classify data and identify the samples in a systematic way (Cooper, 1998).
When performing the content analysis, the data is grouped into meaningful groups for each
topic in each phase. Research topics are oriented to the data collection, but the formal
analysis takes place after the data collection is completed (Fink, 2005).
.
Diagram 1: Research Process
3.3 Questionnaire survey
To directly collect the data, the author used a questionnaire to conduct the survey. The survey
was conducted for managers and policy beneficiaries of Dak R’Lap District (11 communes and
Kien Duc town). The contents of the questionnaire consists of two parts: Introducing the author
Research documents
A survey for managers, policy
beneficiaries in Dak R Lap
District
Analyze and assess the
current situation of HRD
policies in Dak R’Lap district
Literature review:
Setting out the
research framework
Suggest solutions to
improve HRD policy of
development in Dak
R’Lap district
25
and the questionnaire for the respondent. The author’s introduction to the research topic is
designed to ensure reliable and transparent information of the survey. Answers include closed
questions designed with specific contents for the author-driven information for the two different
target groups. Based on the purposes of the study, the author set out the questionnaire and then
collected opinions from some experienced people in the field of human resource management.
The author then completed the format and contents of the questionnaire before putting it into
practice.
The Questionnaire No.1 is used to survey policy beneficiaries. The contents of the questionnaire
shows the personal information of each respondent. The review of the contents of human
resource development policy for Dak R’Lap district for policy beneficiaries is also provided in
this questionnaire. The purpose is to assess the suitability of human resource development
policy in Dak R’Lap District in the current period. At the same time, the questionnaire also tells
the author about the training needs, promotion opportunities of policy beneficiaries. After
analyzing the data, the strengths and weaknesses of each content in the human resource
development policy in the public sector at Dak R’Lap district were also shown. By 2017, 164
people have joined the policy. The author selected 110/164 policy beneficiaries (each
Communal People’s Committee selected 10 people). The results of the survey demonstrated that
105 out of 110 questionnaire-provided people are respondents (95.45%). The rate of
participation in this survey is consistent with the study.
In order to obtain two-dimensional information, the author used a second questionnaire to
survey the human resource managers of Dak R’Lap District. The author used a 5-level
questionnaire to assess the satisfaction of managerial agencies on job capacity and quality
and comments on the working conditions and environment of policy beneficiaries. The
author also employed other questions to gather more information. The author surveyed 15
human resource managers in the public sector at Dak R’Lap District. As a result, 12 people
(80%) responded to the questionnaire.
The Likert scale was used to assess attitudes and views of policy beneficiaries and human
resource managers in the public sector at Dak R Lap District. In this thesis, the Likert scale
is from 1 to 5 scores. The use of the Likert scale makes the data collection easier to
understand. Being combined with quantitative data makes it easy to draw conclusions from
