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Human Resources Management in Southeastern Asia’s Local
Government Case Study: Indonesia, Philippine and Thailand
Aya Maher,
The German University in Cairo, Egypt.
E-mail: [email protected]
Randa El Bedawy,
Misr International University, Egypt.
E-mail: [email protected]
_______________________________________________________________________________
Abstract
The objective of this theoretical study is to diagnose and to analyze some of the positive and
negative experiences of the human resources management (HRM) specifically recruitment
and selection practices in southeastern Asia’s local governments in three countries,
Indonesia, Philippine and Thailand in order to derive some lessons learnt for the local
government in Egypt and on the international level. The methodology used was based on
analyzing and studying in depth the different literature reviews related to the contemporary
framework for HRM at the local government in the three countries. The significance of the
study lies in the attention given to the HR practices in the local governments to render a
better public service at the local level. _______________________________________________________________________________
Key Words: Public Administration, New Public Administration, Human Resource
Management, Local Government
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1. Introduction
New public management and other reforms converging on performance and accountability
have greatly affected the human capital role in public service provision as their increased
focus on results requires managers to have greater flexibility over their fiscal and human
resources (French, 2011). The HRM is a crucial pillar in the core of most nations’
development plans and a boosting growth icon for any country’s economic development.
Over the past two decades, scholars and practitioners in the field of public administration
have witnessed a number of reform initiatives aimed at enhancing the efficiency and
effectiveness of public management. Major changes have included increased focus on service
performance and outcomes in organizations at the local levels of government, and the
implications of these reform efforts for personnel policy have been significant. The HRM
approach requires both organizational and cultural changes for the public entity and its
managerial structure. Increased management discretion, increased flexibility and
responsiveness, enhanced performance, and utilization of private sector tools have fueled this
reinvention movement (Battaglio et al., 2009). As many public organizations shift toward a
performance-oriented approach to the delivery of public services, HRM personnel are
expected to provide valuable input into the decisions regarding staff management and core
objectives of the governmental entity. The changing nature of work in public sector
organizations requires a new emphasis on human capital management to support and improve
the public entities’ operational and strategic objectives (French, 2011; Goodman, 2012).
In spite of a growing interest of research on the role of HRM in organizations, local
government HRM has not received the attention it deserves in developing countries as in
Egypt. The purpose of this study is to explore, describe and understand the contemporary
Human Resource Management at the local government level as well as to explore the major
challenges in HR development capacity building which local governments may face based on
studying three cases studies reflecting some of the international experiences in Indonesia,
Philippine and Thailand. Many of the reinventing government ideas in public human
resource management have focused on bureaucratic rules and procedures, labor–management
cooperation, employee training and assistance, and hierarchical organization designs and
structures. This study evaluates the perceptions of human resource managers at the local
government level regarding the importance of several functions and activities related to
staffing and selection, compensation and benefits, performance appraisal, labor relations, and
job design and process to assess the impact of HR functions tied closely to recent reforms at
this level. Accordingly, this study intends to demonstrate how HR departmental processes can
contribute positively to the performance of local government and provides a good starting
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point for those concerned with HR policy within the local government arena in focusing
energy and attention on those HR processes that are considered to be of most benefit.
Therefore, the research question would focus on:
What are the lessons learnt from the experience of Indonesia, Philippine and Thailand in their
application of HRM at the local government? And how can it be of benefit to improve the
HRM at the local government in Egypt and internationally?
The research is divided into six parts. Part one to three covers the introduction, objective and
importance of the research and the research methodology. Whereas, part four to six covers the
positive and negative cases from Indonesia, Philippine and Thailand, the recommendations
and conclusion.
2. Objectives and Importance of the Study
The importance of this study arises from its contribution at both the academic and practical
levels as it tends to reflect the importance of the HRM at the local government as it is
urgently requested for the growth and the sustainability of the economic development of
Egypt especially after the Revolution 25thJanuary, 2011. This study tends to reflect the new
applications that can be used by the Egyptian Government to manage efficiently and
effectively the HR at the local government as well as the challenges that can face the
Egyptian government to manage efficiently and effectively the HR at the local government.
On the academic level, the importance of this study arises from the fact that there are few
studies within the Egyptian context that highlighted the new trends for improving the HRM at
the local government. On the practical level, this study tends to shed the light on some of the
international experiences in the three countries Indonesia, Philippine and Thailand as a
learning experience that can be applied successfully for the HRM at the local government
internationally.
Therefore, the objective of the study will be:
a. To demonstrate the current framework for the HRM at the local government.
b. To review the international experiences of some countries regarding the application
of the HRM at the local government level.
c. To provide a set of recommendations to improve the HRM at the local government in
Egypt and internationally.
3. The Research Methodology
This research is based on a descriptive analysis to review the literature review related to
the contemporary framework for HRM at the local government. Data collected for the
research was taken from secondary source from the different academic literature related to
that topic. Moreover, this research is also using the case study approach to review the
international experiences application of the HRM at local government in Indonesia,
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Philippine and Thailand, in order to reach a set of recommendations that can be applied at the
local government in Egypt. The researches’ choice for Indonesia, Philippine and Thailand
stems from the fact that in these countries there appears to be positive and negative HR
experiences in their local governments through which lessons learnt can be derived for the
Egyptian case and internationally.
4. Literature Review
4.1 The Current State of HRM in the Local Government
The HR functions in private and public organizations are challenged today by strategic or
more business and customer-oriented roles, especially in the public sector, along with
modernization and efforts to become more efficient and cost effective in delivering products
and services. There are increasing demands for the HR function to play a more strategic role.
The adoption of New Public Management (NPM) thinking in public organizations has
resulted in increasing pressure to pay more attention to the management of their HR and adopt
private sector processes and principles in themes such as performance management and
strategic orientation (Lindstro¨m et.al, 2011).
According to French (2011), HRM plays a very crucial role in the operations of
government at all levels since this function is charged with aligning personnel practices and
objectives with the mission and goals of the public organization. A shift from the more
traditional functions to strategic planning and performance measurement has occurred over
the past several decades as HRM embraced this strategic emphasis. However, the traditional
values and core administrative functions of HRM are still important. Moreover, many of the
HRM functions related to the flexibility and mobility of the workforce have also seen an
increase in importance over the past decade and are projected to remain relatively stable or
continue gaining in importance in the future. These functions and practices include training
and skill development, professional development, cross-training, managing diversity,
alternative dispute resolution, defined benefits, skill-based pay, and merit pay (French 2011).
In order for public managers and employees to execute a public sector vision, public sector
reformers have to be careful with regards to issues and processes related to the following
(Antwi et.al, 2008):
Selection and recruitment of suitable public managers and workforce
Career development and promotion opportunities for public employees
Provision of a motivating incentive system for public employees
Adequate interaction between the entire public workforce, managers and their
superiors
Team building, taking into consideration leadership, communication and control
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Since public organizations have a different focus and are more complex environments than
private companies, the applicability of HR as a strategic partner is perceived as an even
greater challenge in the public than in the private sector. The lack of executive authority held
by the function and the volume of routine work combined with a lack of resources in the local
government context has a negative impact on the strategic ambitions of the HR function.
Consequently, it is difficult for HR departments to adopt the strategic role often required by
the prevailing HR policies. It is seldom enough that an HR manager has the will to act
strategically or decides that the function will become ‘more strategic’. Actually, various
factors influence this objective. Organizational aspects such as public sector context, absence
of a shared meaning for strategic HRM and the large size of organizations complicate the
function’s strategic ambitions (Lindstro¨m et.al, 2011). The “experts” astutely anticipated the
increased importance of HRM as an innovative player in the strategic management of public
organizations; however, several changes they envisioned for HRM a decade later may not
have progressed as quickly as projected (French et.al, 2011).
Heads of HR felt that the involvement of a broad range of stakeholders was critical to
ensuring that the HR strategy was relevant to the organization. Equally, the heads of HR
noted that the HR strategy had to be responsive to the broader legislative environment and
changes within the public sector. Relations with senior line managers were also critical, since
their support was essential. The heads of HR also explained that relations with line managers
were vital to ensuring HR policies were successfully implemented (Truss, 2009).
Alongside the more strategic elements of the role, there was an expectation on the part of
the senior managers in particular that the HR function would focus on employee welfare,
ensuring a reputation for the council as ‘good’, ‘fair’ or ‘equitable’ employer. Equally, the
training and development of the workforce and organizational development were seen as core
strategic HR priorities. HR also had an important role to play in employee communication,
both to employees and upwards from employees to senior managers (Truss, 2009).
Moreover, the top management has a crucial role if HR issues are to have sufficient value
in the organization. The dependence on top management and the example it sets for the entire
organization is emphasized: It’s really difficult to follow through with matters in the
department if the top management team isn’t committed to them (Lindstro¨et.al, 2011).
It is increasingly important for the local governments to take a team approach for HRM
and to ensure that team members consult with one another frequently. There are also newer
ideas that are taking hold within local government, one such idea is to conduct regular field
audits by having HR professionals and/or attorneys visit worksites to visually review
practices for compliance with rules and regulations. A second idea is to encourage the HR
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team to focus its attention on troublesome areas by conducting spot-checks in areas of the
organization suspected of non-compliance (McDowell et.al, 2011).
New approaches to increase managers’ ability to remove poorly performing employees
include empowering managers, removing constraints on their ability to manage, and
instituting performance management systems that connect employee efforts with results.
Approaches to improve managers’ ability to reward employees include increased reliance on
the performance appraisal process and pay-for-performance schemes (Brewer et.al, 2012).
Employees are more likely to be confronted with stress if their efforts are not sufficiently
rewarded or recognized either subjectively or objectively by their organization. Such an
expression of organizational gratitude can be given by means of provisioning material
rewards, such as pay rise or career advancement, or by means of intangible rewards, such as
promotion, training, and so on. In other words, a job that is too demanding is harmful when
tangible and intangible recognition for work is not commensurate with the efforts made by
employees (Giauque et.al, 2013). It was apparent that the expectation at all levels was that the
HR department should excel in the ‘nuts and bolts’ of HRM practice. This included the
renewal and modernization of HR policies in line with legislative changes and government
imperatives (Truss, 2009).
Moreover, there is a continuing tension between government imperatives on one hand, and
the experiences of local government HR departments on the other. In the prevailing climate
which privileges measurement and audit against national benchmarks over adaptation to local
contingencies. It was noticed that such reforms were not only are associated with the New
Public Management movement of the 1990s, which sought to improve the performance of
public agencies and bring business practices into government, but also persist today as
governments seek to implement serious programs and cutback management aimed at reducing
the huge public debt that was amassed during the recent global economic recession (Brewer
et.al, 2012).
Actually, effective human resource strategies should play a crucial role in navigating the
legislative, policy, and technological changes that are required by this increased emphasis on
performance and results-oriented government service. Reforms in work design, performance
appraisal, training, compensation, recruitment and selection, and labor–management relations
are ongoing and necessary to transcend the changing nature of public service. As a result,
these reinventing government initiatives have introduced several important concepts to the
management of employees in the public sector environment (French, 2011). Moreover, HR
professionals play multiple roles and should combine them to achieve professional and
organizational success as HR professionals should deliver competitive advantage and focus
more on adding value to their organizations (Lindstro¨m, 2011).
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Previous studies imply that, the role of HRM in public organizations has developed in a
direction similar to that of their private sector counterparts. On the contrary, a few studies
focusing specifically on the local government context suggest that the HR function is, in fact,
rarely involved in shaping the organization strategically. The HR function is instead
responsive to higher management’s policy initiatives and confined to the traditional
administrative functions of the personnel department (Lindstro¨m, 2011).
Moreover, it was apparent that decentralization has the potential to improve local public
service delivery and to ensure good governance. However, for this would require several
human resources initiatives, policy actions and interventions to be taken. As Antwi (2008)
noted, it might be useful to focus on the basic strategic initiative which is to improve the core
competencies of staff and management in decentralized local governments. This initiative
should be based on promoting an integrated approach to organizational learning and the
development of three inter-related HR capabilities: human capital (knowledge, skills and
competencies); social capital (network of reciprocal relationships and support); and corporate
capital (an embedded organizational culture with appropriate assets and management
information systems (Antwi, 2008).
After reviewing the current state of HRM in the local government, it was noticed that
many of the traditional HRM practices are still considered very essential by human resource
professionals at the local government level. Also, several anticipated changes have taken
place at this level of government at a much slower progression than anticipated. The second
part of the study below tends to review the HRM in the Southeastern Asia local government
(Case Study: Indonesia, Philippine and Thailand) revealing more of their positive and
negative experiences in handling HR practices at their local government.
5. Case Study: Indonesia, Philippine and Thailand
This section discusses the HRM practices in local government in Indonesia, Philippine and
Thailand3. The study discusses the proper HR practices in Indonesia, the negative experience
in “Case A” in Philippine and “Case C” in Thailand. Like many countries in Southeast Asia,
the Philippines and Thailand had experienced the transitional period of decentralization since
1990s, but its results were considered to be poor and associated with corruption (Ishii et.al,
2014).
3 Acknowledgments and special thanks to the authors: Ishii, Risako; Rohitarachoo,
Piyawadee; Hossain, Farhad (2014) for their study titled HRM Reform in decentralized local
government: Empirical perspectives on recruitment and selection in the Philippines and
Thailand as the mentioned authors study was one of the very reliable source used in this study
in the absence of reliable data on HRM in local government in Philippine and Thailand.
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5.1. Indonesia
Marbun(2011) in his study discussed the power relationship in Indonesia that has been
changing over time from a moderate decentralized stage named “old order” from 1945-1966,
to heavily centralized named the “new order” from 1967-1988 and finally decentralized
during the reforming stage in 2001 and onwards. According to Hofman and Kaiser (2002), the
World Bank considered Indonesia’s 2001 decentralization a “big bang” that affected the
service of the local government positively. It was mentioned that about two third of the
central government employees were transferred to the local government responsibility. The
World Bank (2010) reported that almost one third of the total state expenditures was
transferred to the local governments under the decentralization program. The local
government also managed half of the public investments.
5.1.1 Human Resource Management (HRM) in Indonesia’s Local Government
Adye Cahyat (2011) in his study discussed how the human resources and capacity building
are done in Indonesia’s local government. Both the regional “Public Servant Administration”
and “Public Servant Training” act like the central government entity that are responsible for
managing the HR in the local government. The regional public administration designs the
local government organizational structure, while the “Public Servant Training” recruits and
selects candidates to ensure competency criteria in the selection process. The regional public
administration does not refer to the local government strategic planning for HR needs but they
just do it based on the national guidance or taken as a copy of other regions. Training for
local government employees is also organized by the “Public Servant Training” without
referring to the local government training assessment as per the employees’ performance
appraisals. Although the central government in Indonesia is handling the management,
training and development of employees at the local government, it was mentioned that
coordination between the central and local government was very poor with regards to some
issues related to the local government employees, this is due to the fact that the central
government seniors are in a higher position on the organizational structure than the local
government executives (UNDP, 2009).
5.1.2 Recruitment and Selection
The role of the central government in determining the employees’ need at the local level is
quiet obvious. Although the local government is concerned with the recruitment plan, the
final decision for recruitment and selection lies in the hands of the central government. The
three central governmental administrations are composed of the “State Civil Service
Administration Agency”, “National Institute of Public Administration” and “Ministry for the
Empowerment of State”. These three central administration bodies have units working for it
and are responsible for designing the local government administration structure, filling the
position with the right public administration candidate at the local unit to ensure consistency
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of all local government employees. These units are also involved with public administration
researches to help with the reform process and keeping a database of public servant
employees built by the hundreds of local government (Turner et al., 2009).
5.1.3 Structure Position
Recruitment in Indonesia is of two kinds, the first time recruitment and also recruitment
for structural positions. The first time recruitment means when someone did not work as
public servant before and is being recruited. While the structural position recruitment is to fill
vacant public positions by public servants. These structural positions are usually filled from
within the local government for public servants who have been working for a minimum of
two years in the government. The criteria for selecting the internal candidates is based on the
candidates level of education, competency skills, annual appraisal results, leadership abilities
and completion of leadership training. The structural position recruitment is considered a
mean for promoting public servant employees. The decision for this kind of pubic servant
promotion is usually in the hands of the head of the local government, but only few local
government have the approval of the governor or the Ministry of Home Affairs. In order to
reduce the political bias of the head of local government, a promotion advisory board is
always organized whose members are from the central and local government. There are some
cases in senior positions in the local government where the structural positions where opened
to the public but still under supervision of the central government (Crouch, 2010).
5.1.4 First Time Recruitment
As for the first time recruitment, the local government is responsible for filling the position
by advertising for it publically. The “Public Service Administration” supports the local
government with analyzing the jobs and assessing their employees future needs. The first time
recruitment allows fresh graduates to apply for the position, selection will be based on some
criteria set by the local government like the level of education and skills. The first time
recruiters are appointed at the first level of governmental position with salary and full benefits
given to them. These first time recruiters are not considered in the structural recruitment
positions until they spend two years in public service, pass a training exam and are given a
good score in their annual performance by their supervisors (Crouch, 2010).
5.2 Philippine and Thailand
Several studies revealed that decentralization at an early stage at Philippine, Thailand and
Indonesia has succeeded to increase citizen participation and deliver public services at the
local level more efficiently. Brillantes, et.al (2014) revealed that around 56 percent of mayors
in Philippine belong to political families while around 56% are business owners. Both
Thailand and Indonesia took from the Philippine experience in their decentralization of local
government as the Philippine government had devolved several years earlier. In Indonesia,
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for the local government to bring revenue transfers from the central or national government
depends on political lobbying.
Ishii et.al (2014) in their empirical study came up with a comparative study for the HRM
in local government in two cities in Philippine and two cities in Thailand. They addressed the
problem of the local government in these two countries through the HRM practices and in
particular their recruitment and selection process. Findings of their studies in two cities in
Philippine and two cities in Thailand showed differences in the HRM of their local
government especially the recruitment and selection in “City A” of Philippine and” City C” of
Thailand which were characterized by poor HR practices, corruption, favoritism and
nepotism. On the other hand, Ishii et al. (2014) study showed proper management practices
in recruitment and selection at the local government at “City B” in Philippine and “City D” in
Thailand.
5.2.1 HRM Practices in Local Government in Philippines
Decentralization in Philippine was part of president Cory Aquino political agenda during
her reign from 1986-1992. The constitution of the Republic of Philippine in 1987 supported
the autonomy of local government and participation of people (Constitution of the Republic
of Philippine of 1987, Article X as cited by Ishii et.al, 2014). Many of the national services
that used to be provided by their central government and its offices were devolved to the local
government units like health, social services, environment, agriculture and others. The local
government which was developed became responsible for generating income, like collection
of taxes, local fees and charges. The share of these local government units in the national
taxes was raised from 11% to 40% (Local Government Commission (LGC), Sec.284 as cited
by Ishii et. al, 2014).
5.2.2 Weak Local Government HR Practices
“City A” in Philippine
The chief executive in the local government unit has been appointed the responsibility of
the human resource management and its development under the civil service body or so called
“Civil Service Commission (CSC)” within the boundaries of the civil service laws, rules and
regulations (Local Government Commission (LGC), Sec.77 as cited by Ishii et al., 2014).
The recruitment and selection process is governed by the “Civil Service Commission”
(CSC) as applicants for the local government are required to pass a competitive exam by the
CSC. The selection exam is designed to measure the candidate intelligence or mental abilities
more than his/her skills. The vacancy is usually posted in three different public organizations
for a period of 15 days. A personnel recruitment and selection board is organized to proceed;
the board is usually headed by the so called “local chief executive” or head of the local unit in
the presence of a representative from the “Civil Service Commission.” The role of the
recruitment and selection board is to assist the local chief executive in ensuring objective
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criteria in candidates selection and promotion of employees. On the other hand, the local chief
executive has the right to recruit and select temporary or contingent staff without referring to
the CSC as long as the duration of these temporary employees do not exceed six months. The
technical staffs who have been working long as civil servants in the local units are not
necessarily appointed on a political basis by the local chief executive like the administration
staff that takes care of the daily operation in the local government unit (LGU). Thus, it is
obvious by the decentralization reform that the local chief executive became very powerful
and has abused his power to his benefit in the absence of weak central government (Local
Government Commission (LGC), Sec.80 as cited by Ishii, et.al, 2014).
Therefore, from the above as came in the literature, it is obvious that “City A” is one of the
four major provinces in Philippines. Although the recruitment and selection process appears
to be very proper on paper but there is no actual compliance with any the HR rules and
regulations. The personnel selection board is formed but all what they do is to sign for
approval for the reports presented by the chief executive. It is also obvious that the decision
for recruitment and selection were usually politicized rather than based on objective criteria.
The recruitment of non regular staff is also done by the Mayor for political affiliation. A large
number of young employees are usually hired without announcing these positions publically.
They are offered very little money and are only hired to support the mayor. Therefore, it was
obvious that nepotism and favoritism were the moving factor in the recruitment and selection
process in “City A”, there were no plans for filling jobs but it all depends on the local chief
executive.
“City C” in Thailand
Haque (2010) discussed in his study Thailand decentralization which started by People’s
Constitution in 1997, followed by the “Decentralization Act of 1999” and the “Local Public
Personnel Act of 1999”. According to Green (2005), Thailand’s local government was
responsible for serving the local citizens’ needs. The local government was working but with
some supervision from the central government. Ishii et al. (2014) mentioned in his study that
the local chief executive or mayor was responsible for the HRM, administration and
budgeting of his local area. Applicants seeking jobs at the local government should pass an
entry exam. The central government may set the local government entry exam if the later can
not manage it, or they might refer to a third party like a university. The selection of candidates
in the local government depends mainly on the candidates’ success in the entry exam which is
based on specific criteria. The local government still has to abide by the rules and regulations
of the central government policies for managing the exams like the advertising duration for
the position, the criteria for candidate selection and formation of the committee. Similar to the
Philippine, the local government executive has the full authority to recruit contract workers
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who serve at non administrative positions. In 2010, the local officers requested that the central
government takes responsibility of the detailed procedure for recruitment and selection,
promotion and rotation to guarantee a fair practice for all candidates.
It is obvious that “City C” which is located in Songkhlaa area south Thailand share
common things with “City A” of Philippine in corruption of its local government HRM
system. Both are characterized by unfair recruitment and selection practices The mayor is
given more power through allocation of budget and decision making by central government.
It is quiet obvious that recruitment and selection in “City C” is completely politicized based
on connections of the politicians with the mayor who appoints their relatives or friends in
return for more benefits and budget. The mayor was given the full authority and right to rotate
or transfer people without returning back to the central government which affected
employees’ motivation negatively.
5.2.3 Proper Local Government HR Practices
“City B” of Philippine
It was mentioned that “City B” is one of the oldest cities in Philippines that is headed by a
mayor. The number of local employees in “City B” is about 900 employees between regular
and non regular staff. The recruitment and selection for “City B” was fairly strict as it was
organized by the personnel selection board. Staff recruitment was based on some major
criteria that assess the candidate educational background, previous work experience,
achievements, personality traits and potential to develop himself or her self. The board
members have to fill a personnel form and assess applicants based on some criteria. The
board decides on the candidate first then receives the Mayor’s approval. The HR program
named “PIP” was introduced in “City B” to help employees move away from the traditional
system to the new reform system. Both the Mayor and personnel director encouraged staff
motivation tool and development. The ‘PIP” program was taken by a “customer orientation
program” that received foreign currency.
“City D” of Thailand
“City D” is located in Nakhon province in central Thailand. The HRM system in “City D”
is run with transparency by the mayor. Jobs are advertised at the city center by the mayor with
known criteria for recruitment and selection. Applicants who only pass the exams are the ones
selected, which means selection is merit based. Existing staff who would like to be promoted
were also offered the opportunity to apply in the advertised vacant positions at the local
government. The mayor gained the confidence of the politicians and central government for
his reputation in his proper management style and his accomplished of most proposed projects
(Ishii, 2014).
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6. Conclusion & Recommendations
To sum up, this study revealed the most obvious difference in the HRM policy
arrangements in the local government in Indonesia, Philippine and Thailand. It also revealed
the HRM practices in some of the local governments in the three countries that are carried by
the local government but with supervision, assistance and support by the central government.
The central government supervision in both City A” in Philippine and “City C” in Thailand
are very weak. The central government in these countries only sign and approve the reports
they receive from the local government executives. On the contrary, in “City B” in Philippine,
“City D” in Thailand and Indonesia the government role was clear in monitoring and
supervising the HR practices to avoid bias and corruption. Recruitment and Selection in” City
A” and “City C” in Thailand were characterized by favoritism and nepotism and were done to
serve the mayor’s interest or the chief executive. On the other hand, the chief executives in
“City B” in Philippine and “City D” in Thailand handled the recruitment and selection in a
transparent manner, the central government role was supportive to ensure only a fair and
equitable HRM system. The same applies in Indonesia also, the central government role is
played in supporting the local government executive in assessing the job needs, setting
criteria for candidate examination and approving the selection of candidates by the local
government. To conclude, the study of human resources management especially recruitment
and selection in the local government in the three countries Indonesia, Philippine and
Thailand triggers further comparative studies to the HRM strategies in the rest of the eleven
South Eastern Asia countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Brunei, Cambodia and
others which will be a real addition to the field of local government.
The lessons learnt from this study on the local level (Egypt) and also on the international
level, calls for governments to work on improving the HRM at the Local Government level to
improve their employees’ performance in rendering a better public service for the citizens at
the local level. It is crucial for governments to work on improving the core competencies of
HR management in their decentralized local level; to focus on the importance of the intrinsic
motivations of the public employees; to develop appropriate HR management strategies and
policies; to ensure a good communication system; and to establish a system for continuous
HR training and development for supporting the organizational development initiatives. Most
important, it is also recommended that the central government should ensure that the local
government HR practices in recruitment and selection should be based on objective criteria,
fair and transparent system and not on political favoritism and nepotism.
International Journal of Recent Advances in Organizational Behaviour and Decision Sciences (IJRAOB)
An Online International Research Journal (ISSN: 2311-3197)
2014 Vol: 1 Issue 2
146 www.globalbizresearch.org
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