Assessing the Effectiveness of Human Resource Policy Communication in Tertiary Institutions in Ghana: The Case of Africa University College of Communication

Abstract

The study examined how effective or otherwise are human resource policies communicated in tertiary institutions in Ghana using Africa University College of Communication as a case. Specifically, the study examined the awareness and satisfaction levels of HR policies among employees, effects of effective communication on employee performance, and the barriers to effective communication of HR policies. Relevant theories such as: Human-Relations Theory and Systems Theory were reviewed. A survey was done using questionnaires to gather information from respondents. Random sampling technique was used to gather the sample size of 72 respondents. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Chi-square (x2) and Regression analysis were used to test the stated hypotheses. The findings established that there is a high awareness level of human resource policies among employees in Africa University College of Communication. It also indicates that though, effective communication of human resource policies has significant and positive effect on employee performance, there are barriers including cultural, attitudinal, structural, emotional/ psychological, internal, and one-way communicational that hinder effective communication of human resource policies in the university. There is therefore the need for management to ensure that the roles and responsibilities of every staff member as enshrined in the human resource policies are clearly spelt out so that employees know exactly what is expected of them. This would therefore help to clear the hidden structural barriers as identified. There is the need also for management to institute annual leadership training programmes for all levels of personnel to understand and appreciate the dynamics governing effective communication of human resource policies and its ramification on employee performance.