Rift Valley University

Gullelie Campus
Masters of Business Administration
Management Theories and Practices
Individual Assignment
Eden Gizaw
0071/22

Submitted to: Dr. Luba

Submission date: 19/2/2023
Contents
1. Staffing....................................................................................................................................1
1.1. Staffing Definitions...........................................................................................................1
1.2. Staffing concepts...............................................................................................................1
1.3. Legal environments that guide staffing private sectors of Ethiopia..................................1
2. The process of staffing and evaluation of the practice of staffing in Addis Ababa University3
2.1. Background of the study...................................................................................................3
2.2. Objectives..........................................................................................................................5
2.2.1. General objective.......................................................................................................5
2.2.2. Specific objectives.....................................................................................................5
2.3. Discussions........................................................................................................................5
2.4. Summary.........................................................................................................................12
2.5. Conclusions.....................................................................................................................13

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2
 1. Staffing

Staffing
The managerial function of
staffing involves manning the
organization structure through
proper
and effective selection,
appraisal and development of
the personnel’s to fill the roles
assigned to
the employers/workforce.
According to Theo Haimann,
“Staffing pertains to
recruitment, selection,
development and
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compensation of subordinates.
1.1. Staffing Definitions
The managerial function of staffing involves manning the organization structure through proper
and effective selection, appraisal and development of the personnel’s to fill the roles assigned to
the employers/workforce.

According to Theo Haimann, “Staffing pertains to recruitment, selection, development and

compensation of subordinates.

1.2. Staffing concepts

 Staffing is an important managerial function- Staffing function is the most important
managerial act along with planning, organizing, directing and controlling. The operations
of these four functions depend upon the manpower which is available through staffing
function.
 Staffing is a pervasive activity- As staffing function is carried out by all mangers and in
all types of concerns where business activities are carried out.
 Staffing is a continuous activity- This is because staffing function continues throughout
the life of an organization due to the transfers and promotions that take place.
 The basis of staffing function is efficient management of personnel’s- Human
resources can be efficiently managed by a system or proper procedure, that is,
recruitment, selection, placement, training and development, providing remuneration, etc.
 Staffing helps in placing right men at the right job- It can be done effectively through
proper recruitment procedures and then finally selecting the most suitable candidate as
per the job requirements.
 Staffing is performed by all managers depending upon the nature of business, size of
the company, qualifications and skills of managers, etc. In small companies, the top
management generally performs this function. In medium and small scale enterprise, it is
performed especially by the personnel department of that concern

1.3. Legal environments that guide staffing private sectors of Ethiopia

Legal framework that governs employment services in Ethiopia comprises international
conventions ratified by Ethiopia and domestic laws. Ethiopia ratified two ILO Conventions

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related to employment services (Convention No. 88 concerning the Organisation of the
Employment Service and the Private Employment Agencies Convention No. 181). Ethiopia has
also issued different proclamations in an effort to improve employment outcomes through
improving employment services and relations. The Employment Exchange Services
Proclamation No. 632/2009 and the new Ethiopia’s Overseas Employment Proclamation
923/2016 as well as associated regulations, directives and manuals/guidelines govern local and
overseas employment service provision.

While Ethiopia has the basic legal instruments in place to govern employment service provision,
the functions of specific public employment service is not clearly defined as it is defined from
the point of view of licensing and regulating private agencies and managing overseas
employment. Besides, the proclamations seem to recognize few types of employment services
such as job matching and overseas employment management related functions such as staffing.
Provision of labor market information and facilitation labor market adjustments are not at least
officially recognized as public as well as private employment service functions.

On July 5th, 2019, the House of People’s Representatives approved a draft Labour Proclamation
(“Proclamation”) that will repeal Labour Proclamation No. 377/2003 (“Labour Proclamation”)
together with its amendments. The Proclamation replaces a law that has been in place for the last
16 years. This has been a period where Ethiopia saw major shift in investment and business
environment as well as the overall labour market.  The new Proclamation acknowledges the key
role of a skilled and disciplined workforce to Ethiopia’s industrialization efforts and improve its
global competitiveness by expressly stating in its preamble the need to create a favorable
environment for investment.

Revision of the labour law has gone through various drafts and discussions over the past years.
Since the enactment of the previous law in 2003, the Ethiopian labour force has dramatically
changed in the last 16 years, with new industries requiring new set of skills and a shift employer-
employee relations. A large majority of the provision of the Proclamation 377/2003 were directly
transplanted to the new law verbatim. Although the Proclamation attempts to address some
practical challenges encountered due to gaps in legislative drafting, the new law does not
introduce new conceptual framework or shift to create a more private sector/investment friendly
legal regime. Compared to the length of time it took to revise the law and the changes that were

5
seen on the ground, many of the revisions under the Proclamation are not fundamental in nature.
The new law does no exhibit any shift in policy, for example, in terms of relaxing some of the
more restrictive rules on the ability of the employer to terminate contracts. It does not offer
contractual freedom to the parties and flexibility to allow an employer and employee to on
agreed terms different from what is stipulated under the law.   Unless it is included in a collective
agreement, the law leaves little space for a worker and an employer to independently agree the
terms of an employment.

Secondly, the scope of the labour law is applicable to all employment relations and does not
offer industry specific exceptions. With the exception of managerial employees and the
diplomatic community, the Proclamation is applicable to all sectors across the board. This does
not take into account industry specific labour needs and requirements and the different labour
dynamics that should be subject to different regulatory considerations. 

Hence, looking at the currently active proclamations alone, it seems fair to conclude that the
existing legal instruments give due attention to overseas employment and private employment
service provision without giving due regard to specific private employment services.

2. The process of staffing and evaluation of the practice of

staffing in Addis Ababa University
2.1. Background of the study
Higher education institutions prime tasks are teaching, undertaking research and provision of
community services. To this end, having academic staffs with the necessary expertise are
inescapable. This requires a rigorous recruitment processes that is characterized by
institutional/national policy in place. When there is a clear policy, the process could be much
easier and more likely that better academics join the institutions

According to www.wikipedia, staffing is the process of hiring, positioning and overseeing

employees in an organization. According to Smriti Chand, (2002), it is related to the recruitment,
selection, development, training and compensation of the managerial personnel.

Teachers represent the most important personnel of the institutions and their role is matchless.
The success or failure of the institutions is highly dependent on the quality, skill and
effectiveness of these teachers.

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These teachers teach, undertake research and give community services. These tasks are huge that
they require not only knowledge and skills, they need intelligence, too. Teachers need to be
knowledgeable in the subjects they teach, relate what they teach in the classroom with learners’
real life situations so the students know the economic, social, cultural and political environments
of the society they come from. Teachers need to be intelligent, too. In their relation with their
students and workmates, they have to show social and emotional abilities as students depend
upon their guidance and teaching. Students’ acquisition of knowledge, development of skills and
attitudinal changes are greatly affected by their teachers. It is emotionally intelligent teachers that
activate educational processes well and inculcate that quality in students.

To this end, the universities need to have staffing policy which is clear, well versed, fair, merit–
based that provides equal employment opportunity regardless of one’s race, age, ethnicity,
impairment, sex, etc. Academics that undergo these processes and get hired may be the better
ones who help achieve the needs of the strategic direction of the universities.

So, this paper is earnestly keen to see what the staffing practices of Addis Ababa University look
like: the guidelines they have, the criteria they use and the challenges they face.

Staffing: in our case is the process that universities go through in order to recruit academic staff.
In preparing this paper, The Higher Education Institutions’ Legislation (2008) by the Ministry of
Education and the Harmonized Academic Policy of Ethiopian Public Higher Education
Institutions (2013), a document developed by four universities in unison and endorsed by the
ministry of education were assessed and analysed.

Taking from the previous empirical literatures, there are no guidelines and GPA. From this, one
can understand there are no clear guidelines at institution or national level to use. Besides, when
the two national documents, the higher education institutions legislation of 2008 and the
harmonized academic policy of higher education institutions of 2013, are assessed there is little
the documents offer the institution in this regard. The only area touched upon in the former
document is the personnel involved in the recruiting process.

This is meant the university has the mandate to develop its own. As a matter of fact, it doesn’t
have mandate to develop its own. The two national documents noted earlier are indicative of this.

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 2.2. Objectives
2.2.1. General objective
Investigate the staffing practices of Addis Ababa University.

2.2.2. Specific objectives

• Assess guidelines institutions use in relation to academic staff recruitment.
• Study the criteria used by institutions to recruit academic staff.
• Look into the consistency of staff recruitment practices among universities.
• Identify the different challenges the institutions are facing in relation to staffing.

2.3. Discussions
Generally, despite the variability of respondents’ responses from various literatures and differing
practices of the institution in staffing academics, there are documents of legislation and academic
polices of higher education institutions developed by the ministry of education and Addis Ababa
University in unison endorsed by the ministry supposed to be used in this respect. However,
these documents are not in a level that serves their purpose. For example, the harmonized
guideline developed in 2013 at national level for the institutions to use is not a proper guideline.
A proper guideline, as in the different literatures reviewed, explicitly shows the processes the
institutions go through to recruit, indicate the personnel that involve in the process and clearly
put the criteria that applicants need to meet to get chosen and occupy a certain teaching position.
However, the harmonized academic policy of Ethiopian public higher education institutions of
2013 did say nothing in this regard. If at all and considered enough, it is the one on graduate
assistants that states:

A candidate with the qualification of a Bachelor’s Degree in three or four year’s program and
with at least the level of a cumulative grade point average of 2.75. However, minimum
cumulative grade point average of 2.5 and above may be considered under special circumstances
justified by an academic unit and approved by academic vice-president (p.20) Other than this, in
the document, for higher teaching positions, it simply defines what lecturer, assistant professor,
associate professor and professor is (pp.21-26). It doesn’t show how each category of academics
compared and the best picked. This is indefinite and open to different practices. As the
document, for a position there might be hundred applicants who meet the minimum requirement.

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On the other hand, when the higher education institutions legislation of the 2008 looked at, it
suffers the same problems as the document noted earlier: the directives on academic staff
recruitment are vague and indefinite. It simply indicates the need for applicants to attach their
experience, credentials and additional certificates of trainings during registration (p.7). As how
these applicants of same educational level with different experiences and additional trainings are
compared and contrasted, how the additional trainings and experiences valued and those given
priority, etc. are not clearly indicated. Bedsides, it indicates that either interview, written or
practical exams could be set by the concerned department and the committee which consists of
vice dean, department head, teachers’ representative and personnel administration head selects
(p.8). However, the minimum requirements expected of the applicants, the criteria hey are judged
against, additional trainings and experiences that privilege should have been included in the
documents.

From the data analysed, one thing is certain. If there are guidelines at national level, there is no
reason for institutions to use different criteria. Nor do the interviewees give different responses
to the same question. As long as there are no complete guidelines, the institutions have no
choice, but set their own criteria and undertake the staffing process. The same applies for Addis
Ababa University. However, the university has failed in this regard too. University’s department
heads gave different data on the issue. If there are guidelines at institution level, though minor
differences are expected on criteria used between departments, they couldn’t be totally different.

Such a scenario might not be in the best interest of job seekers and the institution either. With no
complete guidelines in place, the processes of staffing might not be effective and efficient to
achieve institutional objectives. According to the University of Sydney (2014), the recruitment
and selection practices will reflect the university’s strategic and operational objectives and its
commitment to equity and diversity in employment. According to University of Queensland
(2015:8), selection criteria are critical to the recruitment and selection process as they ensure that
short listing, interview assessment and reference checks are made on the same basis for all
applicants.

Organizational requirements of prospective staff members have a determining influence on the

recruitment program. If the requirements are abnormally high, they may impede the program.
Therefore, it is important that effective job analysis, job descriptions and job specifications be

9
used to lay down the requirements for the job incumbent, and for the smooth running of a
recruitment program (Gerber, Nel & van Dyk, 1995 in Jocelyn Molly Mokoditoa, 2011:29).

From the different literatures reviewed above, higher education institutions including Addis
Ababa University need to have clear guidelines to follow thoroughly with little space for
necessary amendments by those concerned as the situation warrants. Otherwise, the process
might be swayed to individual interests that damage the interests of the universities and the
education system in general. Employees, teachers of university in this case, are the most
important part of the organization. The success and failure of the institution highly depends on
them. Effective staffing plans, policies and procedures promote the achievement of both an
organization and employees ‘personal goals, for instance, effective staffing can retain the human
resource most likely to serve an organization’s needs (Carrell, et al 2000 in Jocelyn Molly
Mokoditoa, 2011:29).

According to Anglia Ruskin University (2012), institutions policy must ensure that recruitment
and selection decisions are based on the ability of the applicants to meet the requirements of the
job description, person specification and any other relevant criteria. All applicants should be
treated fairly and on equality basis that show the institutions are committed to valuing diversity
and promoting equality. But, without clear guidelines, it is impossible to address. This conviction
values the multicultural nature of higher education institutions at present worldwide. In Ethiopia,
the situation of Addis Ababa University is no different. The classrooms are multicultural. So
need to be the academic staff which is achievable with clear and practical guidelines. Clear
guidelines promote justice, equality and equity which are features of a democratic institution and
society at large.

Criteria institution use to staffing

The criteria used to recruit academic staff, according the participants, are professional
competence, GPA, anything a department induces and sociability. The criteria indicated are not
comprehensive that they give the complete picture of the applicants in competition. Besides, are
vague and indefinite. How do those involve in the process of selecting measure sociality and
professional competence? What are measurements of sociability and professional competence?
What are the specific criteria that a department can induce? It is subjective and open to bias.

10
The criteria used, according to the literatures analysed in preparing this paper, are interview,
presentation (thesis or subject matter), and practical skills like lab experiment, publication, age,
experience, background, academic performance, research expertise, initiation and interest. They
seem diverse. They could meaningfully show the candidates’ knowledge, skill and attitude. The
problem, however, here is that no one can guarantee the proper application of these criteria. One
thing, there are no guidelines that show how these criteria are used in comparing and contrasting
applicants. With the absence of binding guidelines, there could be subjectivity in evaluating and
grading the applicants. Another problem is that the data show that, even within the university, the
criteria vary from college/department to college/department. No doubt the criteria used within a
university could, to some degree, vary among colleges/departments. But shouldn’t entirely
different. What we have witnessed from the study is, however, the latter.

So, apart from those mentioned above, the criteria used are research expertise, practical
experiences, field experiences, GIS and software skills, attitude, credentials, teaching skills,
interview(through which anything is assessed),putting those with 2.75 and above in order and
interview and make them to present their thesis or subject area content followed by question and
answer. The other means used are: transfer and application ;where a faculty head, department
head, and academic vice-president selects through interview; a faculty head selects in
consideration of the institutions’ goals, university vision and mission, quality assurance
strategies and subject matter mastery.

Again when we look in to the criteria used here, we believe they are good ones. They are varied,
too. But how are they used? To put the staffing criteria institutions use into perspective, transfer
and application come first. For different reasons individuals might ask transfer from one
institution to another or apply for a teaching position at universities without advertisement.
However, the teachers getting hired this way aren’t compared and contrasted with fellow
academics. No one can say that they are the best candidates available. Notably, only few succeed
this way. Apart from this, in special situations like when the applicants or those request transfer
are very rare in the market and the institutions are in demand of them, hiring the individuals is
sensible. Otherwise, staffing individuals with their request while their likes are available in
hundreds in the market is a disadvantage for all those concerned except the applicants.

11
According to the University of Sydney (2014:10), all candidates, including staff seeking
redeployment, will be assessed in relation to clearly defined position-related selection criteria.

Selecting applicants by university officials taking into account the vision and mission of their
university is another. Of course, the institution can set their criteria envisioning their institutions’
vision and mission as there are no clear and complete guidelines at national or institutional level
so far. From the very beginning, however, the vision and mission of organizations always need to
be benchmarks in planning, organizing and staffing processes of organizations. The problem here
is that, in the pretext of vision and mission of the institution and using their executive role as
shield, these officials may serve their individual interest. Second, except those officials of the
universities who set, no one knows the criteria they are using. And what they set at a time might
not be used the next time. As a process, it is not transparent and not institutionalized either. It
doesn’t involve all that should involve in the process. So much so that, the whole process
couldn’t be credible and trustworthy. According to European Commission for Education,
Traning, Culture and Youth (2008:10), in most European commission countries, the recruitment
process as a whole is based mainly on a joint effort between the institutions and the authorities at
central level. Only five countries enjoy particularly noteworthy institutional autonomy in terms
of recruitment. In such recruitment scenario, it is probable that the right criteria be set and the
right applicants be hired; the whole process could be transparent. This helps the institution to
maintain the principle of integrity and be trustworthy by the community.

Still, another way of recruiting is by a committee of vice dean, department head, and experienced
teachers in the department set the criteria. First and foremost, there has to be an organ
responsible for this particular task at institution level with clear guidelines in hand. According to
the higher education institutions legislation of 2008, these are not the organs given the mandate
to recruit. The one doing the task of recruiting, at some of the institutions under discussion, is not
a legitimate organ for the task. In this regard, the higher education institutions legislation of
2008, (p.7) clearly shows the members of the recruiting committee are vice-dean, teachers’
representative, personnel administrative head and the head of the department in demand.
However, what is happening is that the individuals mentioned above come together, when
necessary, set their own criteria and select among applicants. Again the next time when there is
need, the individuals come together and do the same. If committee members leave their post or
the institutions, the committee members change, and the criteria for staffing might change, too.
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The whole process doesn’t seem to have been institutionalized. Nevertheless, the whole process
and staffing guidelines in particular are not ones set up at the time of staffing by an ad hoc
committee and dropped the time after. It is an ever
present institutional document that could be developed by delegated organ at national level or
institutional level and be revised and contextualized as the situation warrants. This is
incompetence on the part of the institution. Recruitments in such environments lack credibility.
According to European commission for education, training, culture, and youth (2008:10), in most
European commission countries, most of the recruitment process is the responsibility of one of
the existing institutional level bodies (senate or board of governors). Certain steps in the
recruitment process, however, are defined largely either at central or institutional level.
Categories of staff and their respective eligibility criteria are defined by official regulations in the
vast majority of countries.

Equally important is those who involve in the process of staffing. In the institutions those who
are responsible to staffing differ from institution to institution and within institutions from time
to time, too. This changing of personnel makes it difficult for those who are assigned to
understand their roles and responsibilities and to be effective and efficient in what they do.
Second, there has to be a specific organ tasked to do it. According to University of Regina
(2008:1), successful recruitment depends on many factors including timeliness, efficiency and
rigorous organization, clarity, and transparency of process. Above all, it depends on all those
engaged in the search process understanding how their roles interact with and support the roles
of others. It is crucial that search committee members have a detailed knowledge of procedures
and regulations at the university and faculty levels. According to the University of Queensland
(2015), the selection committee for all academic appointments should include the following:
dean, head of school, academic board/nominee representative, senior academic staff member,
student representative and academic staff from relevant school. Such clarity, apart from bringing
efficiency and effectiveness to the whole process, it installs the culture of accountability and
transparency in the institution under study.

The subjective nature of the criteria used is the other problem. A case in point is interview. When
interview is used as criterion, ad hoc committee at college level is set-up, applicants are short-
listed and interviewed on any issues interviewers are interested in turn and then all the committee

13
members give scores. The scores add up and the results posted. To this end, interviewees are
usually asked to talk about (in the pretext of knowing the applicants’ language proficiency,
reasoning and communication skills) is their background: the place where they come from and
were educated, etc. So much so that most interviewers get the ‘’most important’’ information
they need: the ethnic background and the locality of the applicants. So, often many members of
committees are believed to grade the applicants on the basis of this personal information of the
applicants rather than their merit. This violates the rights of employment, the principle of non-
discrimination on the basis of sex, race, age, sex, etc which is inconsistent to other institutions
practices in the developed world. According to University of Queensland (2015:28), the
candidates shortlisted are eligible to compete, there is no need to ask any candidate personal
questions. Not only this, members of selection committees must take care not to ask questions or
make comments to applicants or others that may discriminate, unless related to a genuine
occupational requirement. They claim that it is illegal to discriminate in employment, including
recruitment and selection processes, based on: sex, age, race, religion and impairment.

According to Milos Milutinovic and Raihan Mahmood Kadery(2013: 4),University of Glasgow

believes in equal employment opportunity where all individuals are treated based on their merits
and abilities. Throughout the recruitment process, no academic or non-academic staff will be
discriminated on any unfair or unlawful grounds i.e. sex, race, disability, marital status, religion
and/or belief. By so doing, the university wants to ensure that in all cases the best candidate for
the position is appointed.

Besides, in institutions of the developed world there are mechanisms to control subjectivity when
they apply criteria which are prone to the problem. According to the University of Sydney
(2014:9),the selection committee decides which applicants are recommended and their ranking
based on the criteria: the application, referee reports, qualifications, the interview(s), seminar
presentations and the opinions of the school members consulted (if applicable);and other
assessment information.

However, when these criteria put into practice in the institution under study (AAU), they fall
short of credibility. A case in point is presentation. Applicants made to make presentations of
their theses or on any contents of their specialty so that committee members evaluate and grade
them. In the proceedings, there are no specific criteria which the competitors are judged against.

14
They are simply judged. Given scores add up and determine their fate. These practices are far
from being objective, and there is no accountability either. Individuals could value the same
thing differently. There could a tendency of favouring one and disfavouring another intentionally
or unintentionally unless there are specific criteria against which the individual applicant is
judged. So, presentations with no specific criteria to judge against and discriminate among
competitors look unreasonable. Another is credentials and certificates of trainings. Certificates of
participations and involvement of a certain nature might help teachers in what they do on daily-
basis as they are forums that could develop one’s professional practice. But, the required
expected ones from applicants are not specified beforehand. It is when they are presented that
they are labelled worthwhile or unnecessary. In such circumstances, it is difficult to trust the
process. People knowingly or unknowingly may overlook those additional credentials which are
relevant or vice-versa. Those who deserve the positions may not be selected. This is against the
interest of citizens and the institutions in general. On top of that, the quality of education the
universities offer is compromised

Successful recruitment depends on many factors as timeliness, efficiency and rigorous

organization, clarity, and transparency of process. Above all, it depends on all those engaged in
the search process understanding how their roles interact with and support the roles of others,
University of Regina (2008). However, in the institution under study the staffing process is not
getting the necessary attention it deserves. This doesn’t help the university to achieve their goals.
Recruitment and selection practice will reflect the university’s strategic and operational
objectives and its commitment to equity and diversity in employment practices, the University of
Sydney (2014)

In spite of the necessity and indispensability of staffing and its guidelines, the recently developed
harmonized academic policy of Ethiopian public higher education institutions of 2013 document
has failed to address the issue. This shows how the institution is incompetent and the little
attention they pay to the matter. However, in institutions of the developed world, staffing is one
of the most important tasks of the institutions that due emphasis is paid to.

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 2.4. Summary
The study was aimed to investigate the staffing practices of public higher education institutions
in general, the guidelines that these institutions have in relation to staffing, the criteria the
institutions use and the challenges these institutions face in this respect.

As to the prevalence of guidelines, according to the study, though there are documents like the
higher education institutions legislation of 2008 by ministry of education and Harmonized
Academic Policy of Ethiopian Public Higher Education Institutions (2013) developed and
harmonized at national level for institution to use, they are not complete enough to guide the
staffing process properly. They lack to indicate the procedures that the institution go through to
recruitment, fails to include the specific criteria of recruitment, devoid of the job description of
each teaching position, with the exception of indicating the responsible organ for staffing
(former.)

Another is the criteria the institution employ to staffing .As there are no proper guidelines to
follow, it is imperative for the institutions to set their own criteria and recruit. As a result, the
procedures these institutions go through and the criteria they use differ from institutions to
institutions. These criteria range from making applicants make presentation of their theses or on
any content from their specialty to interviewing, using informal informants about the discipline
and personality of the applicants to comparing them in their grade point average, accepting
through transfer, choosing the candidates taking into account the vision and mission of the
respective institution by officials of the institutions, physical appearance, credentials,
impairment, etc. Not only this, the personnel involving in the recruitment process, too, differs
from institution to institutions and within institutions too from time- to –time

2.5. Conclusions
From the findings of the investigation, the following conclusions are made.
 There are no clear and comprehensive guidelines that guide the staffing processes of the
institutions.
 The staffing procedures and/or criteria used are not consistent in the institution.

The challenges the institution face are:

 Though in the legislation clearly put who the responsible body are, there are no specific
organs responsible of staffing at institution level. In some universities the human resource

16
 department, for some the ministry of education, for others institutions’ higher officials,
still in others ad hoc committees of the dean, the department head, etc. do the business.
 The criteria used by the institutions vary from institution to institution and change from
time to time with in institutions depending on the interest of individuals involving in the
process with in universities

17