The Institute of Human Resources Management (IHRM) has studied the implementation of devolution and in particular, the health sector. An overview of the study indicates that the uptake, utilisation and retention of the human resource has faced several challenges which must be addressed for better management of the sector.
On the onset, it is evident that there are insufficient competent and licensed human resource specialists to manage and guide the county governments in proper management of the health sector's workforce. This has resulted in constant grumbling and dissatisfaction among the sector's human resource, leading to numerous industrial unrests which have destabilised the important sector.
IHRM as mandated by the Human Resource Professionals Act No. 52 of 2012 has a duty of ensuring that those who manage human resource in the health sector are trained, qualified and licensed professionals and IHRM is working closely with the county governments to provide the necessary support. In partnership with IntraHealth IHRM reviewed and designed the curriculum for HR professionals in the health sector under the HRH programme that ran across counties. In addition, IHRM contributed to the mentorship programme for the HRH Programme.
Lack of clear policies on people management within the counties, coupled with lack of implementation of existing policies is another challenge which needs to be addressed urgently. Those counties which received templates from the Public Service Commission have either failed to domesticate them or lack HR specialists who can interpret them and ensure compliance.
For the few HR specialists available in some counties, their capacity needs to be enhanced through continuous professional development to improve their skills and ensure they are equipped with current HR trends which will enable them operate in the modern and dynamic environment of the 21st century employee. IHRM provides for Continuous Professional Development Programmes which county governments ought to utilise and build the capabilities of their HR teams.
For proper and uniform operations within and among counties, IHRM is ready and willing to partner with county governments to develop various standard operating manuals for different functions. A written manual goes a long way in assisting staff understand standards and procedures required in performing a given task.
Besides lack of clear operations manuals, there is disharmony in salaries and remuneration of the different categories of health workers. Doctors and nurses have strong unions which champion for their welfare while other cadres experience an even wider variance of their salaries and other benefits, begging the question of how sustainable the push for salary adjustment through unions is.
IHRM, through its depository of proposals can indeed carry out a survey and pass out advisory to the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) with a view of harmonising salaries of all the Health Workers in the country. There are no known current and modern schemes of service which spell out entry and promotion criteria of health workers in county governments. The existing schemes of service have been in existence for the last 20 years and are therefore obsolete. IHRM, if considered by county governments, will develop more current and modern schemes of service which can be used in administration of county employees.
Poor industrial relations have caused county governments losses in terms of man hours, money and other resources. Industrial strikes in the public sector have not only caused the country monetary loss but led to deaths. It is high time county governments worked closely with industrial relations experts who can advise and guide on how to handle a discontented workforce. Some leaders are guilty of disregarding advice from their technical teams especially in the HR department when it comes to industrial relations.
Political solutions to a professional issue will not yield answers. In its own initiative together with AMREF, IHRM has started a programme of having community health workers (CHW) recognised as a cadre in the health sector. We have held a series of meetings and would appeal to the county governments to join our efforts in formulating a structure of accommodating CHW as part of the health workforce.
Dorcas Wainaina, is Executive Director, Institute of Human Resource Management
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