Human Resource Practices in the Informal Sector in Cape Coast, Ghana

Abstract

The human resource is of all resources the most productive, the most versatile, and the most resourceful. Thus an enterprise’s wealth does not depend on the financial and material resources available but rather on the people who make things work. It is therefore important for owners and managers of firms to understand how best to manage this most resourceful – human resource – of the firm. This study examined the human resource practices in the informal sector in Ghana, using the situation in the Cape Coast Metropolis as a case study. The main objective of the study was to find out how the human resources within the informal economy were being managed. Six major informal sector operators were randomly selected. A combination of cluster sampling and quota sampling techniques were applied to generate the sample for the study. The total sample for the study was one hundred and seventy. The results of the study show that human resource management practices within the informal sector enterprises are inadequate and therefore impede the development of the workforce which invariably affects the growth of the enterprises. The findings suggest that assistance programmes that encourage the efficient and effective human resource management practices in the informal sector should be provided. The main limitation of the study is that it could not cover all informal sector enterprises within the Metropolis due to time and financial constraints. In this respect, the interpretation of the results of the study should not be over-generalised.