Question

Based on the country Ethiopia, what is the likely orientation towards any two HR practices. In other words pick any two HR practices between selection, socialization, training, performance appraisal or rewards and briefly describe how (to what purpose), are companies in that country likely to carry out that particular HR function.

Answer 1

answer-

The two practice of HR in Ethiopia country would be recruitment/selection and performance appraisal. Ethiopia is the oldest East African nation that was never colonized with a population of 92 million. Agriculture has traditionally been the spine of the Ethiopian economy that accommodates 85 percent of the labor force. However, most recently, the growth and expansion of public and private organizations added to the flow of multinational companies in to the country has triggered, the need for strategic Human Resources Management practices .

Recruitment and selection

Recruitment and selection are also important HR practices that can be affected by cultural factors. Families have an important role in Ethiopia; many organizations are run similarly to large families. For example, new employees are often recruited through relatives and it is assumed that loyalty and trust can be maintained through hiring someone with a closer relationship. Moreover, ethnic, tribal and political affiliations are also other important factors that play major role in the selection process. This can be understood within the individualism-collectivism spectrum. More individualistic cultures rely more on individual compensation and recruitment aimed at selecting the single best candidate regardless of personal relationships. In contrast, Ethiopia is more collectivist, thus the majority of small companies recruit their employees based on personal relationships, and organizations are more informal. Although the country has a labor law that gives every one equal rights and opportunity for employment, it remains ineffective and most organizations do no face any legal consequences for hiring through nepotism. However, HR practice that is dominated by nepotism and favoritism may become counterproductive. For example, within the context of Ethiopian collectivist culture, managers will find it difficult to take disciplinary action against employees they are intimately related to. For example, firing relatives with whom managers have special relationships can be intimidating in Ethiopian society.

Performance appraisal

Performance appraisal is also another area of HRM practice that is affected by the collectivist culture of Ethiopia. Organizations usually use performance appraisal to make a decisions about promotion, rewards, and identifying training needs and making a correctional measure if necessary. Performance appraisal is rarely conducted in Ethiopian organizations. Those that do conduct performance appraisals do so annually while others do it semi-annually. In the Ethiopian context, evaluating and discussing a single individual performance is seen as inappropriate and in general there is a clear resistance for individual performance appraisal system. Consequently, a performance appraisal system that focuses at a larger level such as departments, groups or sections is more acceptable than individual performance appraisals. In organizations where individual performance is evaluated, the immediate supervisor is responsible to appraise employees. However, it is common that the one-way appraisal system leads to personal feuds and rejection of the evaluation results. Besides, the nature of the system, and the disconnect with the cultural norms, the way the results are communicated to employees contributes to the discontent and conflicts arise. As mentioned above, people in collectivist cultures do not discuss such issues transparently and want to avoid any performance related discussion even though they know that they performed well.