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ABSTRACT
In many West African Public Services, the human resource was not treated as a valuable asset but a cost center and human resources managers were, and in many respects continue, to be marginalized. Human Resource Management (HRM) is an area that has suffered much neglect for over five decades of reforming the public service in the post-colonial West Africa. West African countries did not recognize the strategic position of the human resource manager in the formulation and implementation of organizational strategies. The role of staff responsible for managing people in work places was confined to routine functions about staff entitlements, pay increments, maintaining discipline and the like. This neglect has had disastrous consequences on various public sector reform interventions that West African countries have been embarking on
Keywords: Human resource Management, West Africa, Government Role, Development, Challenges, Skills, Organizations and cooperation on ethnicity
1.INTRODUCTION
Human Resource Management is complex and problematic because the individuals as workers hardly adapt or voluntarily embrace the objectives of the organization. As individuals, the employees have needs, aspirations, motivations, desires and interests which influence their behaviour at work but unfortunately these objectives are sometimes in conflict with the corporate objectives of the enterprise. In reconciling these conflicting interests Human Resources Management and Planning are useful tools employed in harmonizing the needs of the employees with the goals and objectives Human resources are the life blood of an organization. Despite the application of technology in modern business management, human resources are still relevant and most adaptive resources of the organization. The strategic values of HR stem from the fact that apart from other resources employed in the course of production (land, capital, technology etc) which are passive, human resources are endowed with discretionary decision-making power and thus have competitive advantage over the other resources. Besides, HR combines other resources in the right mix to formulate appropriate strategies for the accomplishment of the desired objectives of the enterprise. This essential attribute of HR assist the enterprise to make rightful decisions and respond effectively to the threats and opportunities within the environment of the organization. Thus the enterprise depends highly on its HR for success and survival. This dependence continuously is increasing considering the complex and turbulent nature of the business...