Human Resource Management Practices and Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises (Smes) in Uganda: A Case of Ntungamo Municipality

Abstract

The study examined how human resource management practices influenced the performance of small and medium enterprises in Ntungamo Municipality’s service and manufacturing industries. Specifically, the study examined the influence of employee resourcing on the performance of small-scale enterprises; explored the influence of employee rewards management practices on the performance of small-scale enterprises; and established the influence of employee training practices on the performance of small-scale enterprises. The study utilized a cross-sectional survey design based on questionnaires and interviews, and a mixed methods research approach. A sample of 169 was selected from 300 employees using simple random and purposive sampling techniques. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistical techniques of mean and standard deviations. Regression analysis was used to establish the influence of human resource practices on the performance of SMEs. The results showed that human resource practices significantly influence about 50% of the variations in performance of SMEs in Ntungamo district. Specifically, employee resourcing significantly influences 38.0%, reward management significantly influences about 19.7%, while employee training significantly influences about 25.5% of the variation in the performance of SMEs in Ntungamo district. Hence the study concluded that human resource management practices have a significant influence on the performance of SMEs. The significant findings make the applications of RBV Paradigm, Attraction Selection theories to solve performance challenges of small scale businesses from a human resource management perspective. The study recommends that small-scale businesses with few employees should set up human resource departments to handle human resources. Small-scale enterprise owners should extend their marketing to online channels to match the business competition and development. In future, a study on the influence of human resource management practices on the performance business organizations, comparing small and large-scale enterprises in Ntungamo district is necessary.

Description

A Dissertation Submitted to the Directorate of Postgraduate Training in partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the award of A Master of Arts in Human Resource Management of Kabale University

Keywords

Human Resource Management ,Human Resource Management , Small and Medium Enterprises

Citation