**2. HRM in Nigeria: an overview**

HRM is rooted in the idea that 'people' are a valuable asset that when managed effectively can contribute to the strategic goals of an organisation. Indeed, it is argued that organisations can leverage people-focused management practices to achieve competitive advantage over their counterparts, especially when other sources of competitive advantage (e.g. technology) can be easily replicated [31]. However, there is a lack of consensus on what constitutes the human resource practices among management scholars. For this review, I will focus on the five traditional HR practices and evaluate the contextual factors that affect the application of each of them in Nigeria.

#### **2.1 Recruitment and selection**

In a study that examined HRM practices in Nigeria and Ghana, Arthur et al. [32] reported that newspaper advertisements dominated recruitment strategy for most organisations, followed by written notices in and around the organisations, employment agencies, announcements in professional/trade publications and visits to university and college campuses. HR managers also receive unsolicited applications because of the high employment rate in the country.

In terms of selection, the centralised HR department is responsible for designing and administering this process while a smaller percentage of the organisation relies on external agencies [32]. The selection interview is given much preference, followed by academic qualification, and a letter of recommendation. The decision to hire employees is normally made by the HR manager while the decision to hire a managerial-level employee is made by top management with the consultation of the HR manager [33].

However, due to poor institutional regulations, organisations sometimes rely on informal HRM practices such as recruitment based on social networks, and ethnic and personal affiliations [26]. This is prevalent in public sector organisations where the state of origin, hometown, and ethnic group of job applicants are considered of equal relevance with competency, qualification, and talent [27]. Even the entrenchment of the quota system of employment based on principles of inclusion (i.e. an expression of federal character) to resolve this skewed employment system has been poorly implemented. Hence, this has caused disharmony and infighting among workers and poor performance standards [27].

#### **2.2 Performance appraisal**

There is wide use of the formal system in evaluating employee performance in Nigeria. According to Arthur, et al. [32], most organisations in Nigeria use performance appraisal information for personnel decisions such as for promotion and transfer. Some organisations use it for employee feedback while few organisations use it for personnel research. Supervisors' ratings of employee performance and personnel-based data (absenteeism and commendation) are largely used by organisations while some use objective performance data such as sales data [32]. Only a few organisations use selfrating, customer rating, subordinate rating, and peer rating. However, Nigeria is a high power distance [34], a cultural orientation that emphasises a top-down relationship between an employer and employees, and a collectivist culture, a cultural orientation that emphasises the value of utilising work groups to complete tasks and an expression of a communitarian spirit both in the workplace and in communities. Based on these cultural orientations, most performance appraisal processes in Nigeria assumed a topdown pattern and team-based systems [35]. Moreover, the traditional values of communitarianism make it difficult for line managers to give negative feedback or conduct a face-to-face appraisal as it may be considered an attempt to ruin someone's career [36]. As such, some organisations like commercial banks use ranking methods, with a specific focus on employee financial performance in an attempt to maintain objectivity [35].
