| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between employee procurement (recruitment and selection) and training policy guidelines and diversity management in universities of Uganda. The study was based on the observation that diversity was not well-managed in the universities. Many employees and would-be employees were discontented because of being discriminated against whenever the universities trained and procured staff members, respectively. The objectives of the study were thus to examine the relationship between the enacted (1) employee recruitment policy guidelines and their observance, (2) employee selection policy guidelines and their observance, and (3) employee training policy guidelines and their observance, and the level of diversity management in the universities. The study was designed as a cross sectional survey. Data were collected using semi-structured questionnaires administered to 50 purposively selected university administrators and 400 employees selected using convenience sampling. The data was analyzed using descriptive analysis, ANOVA, factor analysis, and multivariate regression analysis aided by the SPSS.
Results revealed that the enacted content and observance of employee recruitment policy guidelines related positively, significantly but weakly with the level of diversity management in the universities. There was also a positive, significant but weak relationship between the enacted content and observance of the employee selection policy guidelines and the level at which diversity was managed in the universities. The enacted content and observance of the employee training guidelines related positively and significantly with the level at which diversity was managed in the universities. The relationship was, however, weak. The weak relationships meant that the enacted content and observance of employee recruitment, selection and employee policy guidelines did not have a strong effect on diversity management in the universities. As a result, diversity was not well-managed in all the universities. That is why the universities’ workforce was imbalanced in terms of gender, ethnicity, nationality, race, political affiliation, religion, age, marital status, and academic qualifications. The content of the employee recruitment, selection and training policy guidelines was ideal (except in denominational universities) but it failed to promote proper diversity management because its observance was constrained by the negative influences of the universities’ top managers, owners, culture, and bribery and corruption that marred the procurement and training of employees.
From the above findings, it was concluded that the relationships between the employee recruitment, selection and training policy guidelines and diversity management needed to be strengthened by addressing the negative influences that constrained the observance of the guidelines’ content. It was thus recommended that the management of the universities should boost diversity management by improving the observance of the enacted employee recruitment, selection and training policy guidelines through minimizing the aforementioned negative influences. The management should focus on minimising administrative weaknesses witnessed in employee recruitment, selection and training processes. It should also align the institutions’ cultures to the rationale of the diversity theory of inclusion, while enlightening and encouraging the universities’ stakeholders, particularly the owners to embrace this rationale as the best guide to their influence on employee recruitment, selection and training. Further research was also recommended into why the influences of the universities’ top managers, owners, and culture were negative on diversity management, yet it is each of these influences that should emphasize promotion of a diverse workforce for the sake of tapping its numerous benefits. | en_US |
