Lean Human Resource Initiatives and Employee Performance of Selected Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Nigeria

Abstract

Small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in terms of growth and development of an economy. Despite this ostensible relevance of small and medium scale enterprises, it is observed that employee performance level especially in Nigeria is low compared to that of other nations. This is evident in declining workforce productivity, inefficiency, and decreased commitment. These challenges have been attributed to a variety of factors, including poor hiring approach, irregular improvement, and poor teamwork. The impact of lean human resource initiatives on employee performance in selected SMEs in Lagos State, Nigeria, was explored in this research. The survey research design was used in this study. In Lagos State, Nigeria, there were 8,396 small and medium-sized businesses. Sample size of 481 was ascertained using the Research Advisory Table. The participants were identified using a simple random sampling approach. Data was collected from the participants using an adapted and validated questionnaire. Construct ranged from 0.74 to 0.89 for Cronbach’s Alpha reliability coefficients and study found that 85% of participants responded. The data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics (multiple regression). According to the findings, lean human resource initiatives had a significant impact on employee performance in Lagos, Nigeria.. Employee performance was significantly affected by lean human resource initiatives (Adj.R2 = 0.095; F (5,401) = 9.509, p 0.05). The study concludes that lean human resource initiatives had significant effect on employee performance of SMEs in Lagos Nigeria. The study recommends that small and medium scale enterprise owner/managers should embrace Lean Human Resource initiatives such as selective hiring, continuous improvement, mentoring, cross-functional team, and flexible information system which is geared towards human capital development to improve employee performance and boost their contribution to the organization. Keywords: Continuous Improvement, Employee Performance, Lean Human resource initiative, Mentoring, Selective Hiring.