Evaluating the impact of human resource management practices on the re-organisation and performance of the civil service in Nepal

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of Human Resources Management Practices on the re-organisation and performance of the civil service in Nepal. The entire study is focused on analysing the motivational tools needed to improve performance among civil servants in Nepal. It is a well-known fact that employees working in an organisation are considered as their most valuable resource and their lack of motivation can automatically lead to a decline in the performance of the business. Therefore, motivation as a tool has been adopted by every organisation so that management can effectively achieve organisational objectives. In a country like Nepal, employees working for government organisations have a low level of motivation and due to this basic reason, they are ineffective in rendering service for service users. The main purpose was to understand the reason why Nepalese civil service is failing and how effectively different motivation techniques and modern HRM can help to reorganise civil service on a results-oriented basis. The study starts from the premise that there was a need to re-organise the structure and performance of the civil service in Nepal especially after the country had achieved the status of a Republic in 2008. Nepal had been ruled by Monarchs until the Monarchs of King Gyanendra was abolished in April 2006. Nepal in history had suffered from political instability and the country’s civil service also suffered from poor organisation and inflexible working practices. After the duration of the Monarchy, the immediate priorities of the new government included addressing human resource management and the development of the civil service. The rationale behind doing this research is to try and understand how HRM practices can improve the performance of the Civil Service in Nepal. At the same time, it was important to discover how Civil Service reform and its re-organisation might bring about improved performance. The Researcher collected data from both primary and secondary sources. Survey Questionnaires were used to collect primary data. Secondary data and document analysis included reviewing literature such as policy documents and other semigovernment organisations. The questionnaire method enabled the researcher to review responses directly. The researcher concluded that several factors contributed towards civil service reform and its re-organisation in Nepal. These included monetary incentives as well as non-financial factors such as employee involvement in the decision-making process. In this thesis, the researcher had adopted a positivism research philosophy. Initially, Based on a review of the literature on the impact of employee motivation, reorganisation and the performance of civil service in Nepal. Interviewees and group discussions were conducted to get in-depth knowledge about the topic. After that questionnaire was prepared and distributed to 50 civil servants who had been working for civil service for a minimum of 2 years. Out of 50 respondents, 17 respondents were female, and 33 respondents were male. Analysis of the primary and secondary data demonstrated that the new government is seeing the importance of civil service and the importance of employee motivation to reorganise civil service on a resultoriented basis but it’s in the early stage and there are still gaps. Therefore, this study is designed to explore and critically analyse the main HRM practices that can bring about efficiency and improved performance of the Nepalese civil service. The researcher examined some motivational theories such as the incentive theory of motivation, to discover how the theory might contribute towards improved morale and performance of the Nepalese civil service. Some of the main research questions that this thesis had answered are: ways in which civil services in Nepal are structured, does Nepal civil services use modern HRM practices, practices adopted to motivate civil servants, influential factors that impact the performance of the Civil Service in Nepal, contributory HRM practices that support in the re-organisation of the Civil Service in Nepal, challenges in the Civil Service administration in Nepal, and pre-conditions for the success of the Civil Service in Nepal. The analysis of data and responses demonstrated that civil services can only be improved by planning appropriate civil service practices, which can be done by implementing an effective plan. It was further identified that it is extremely important to adopt appropriate employee motivation techniques to effectively reorganising civil services The result indicates that employee motivation plays a significant role in the development of any organisation. On this basis, it is recommended that in the context of Nepal civil service the implication of modern HRM practices, employee motivation and performance management could potentially be the key to success to reorganise of Nepalese civil service on a results-oriented basis.