An Assessment of Devolving Human Resource Function in Kenya: A Case Study of Nakuru County

Devolution of human resource function is both a growing and global trend. Kenyans have been advocating for this type of devolution with the aim of trickling resources to the county governments. A number of authors have suggested that there are positive as well as negative consequences of devolution. The presence of challenges suggests that HR devolution is not without its own shortcomings. The aim of this paper therefore, was to identify the challenges of devolving HR function in Kenya. Nakuru County was selected as the unit of study. The study adopted a descriptive design using a questionnaire survey approach. The instruments used in this study were closed interview questions which involved interviews of randomly sampled 20 HR practitioners in the county. Data was analyzed using SPPSS and presented in tables. The researchers found evidence of all the major challenges reported in the literature, including, lack of line managers’ HR skills, their apathy towards HR, complaints about increasing workload, HR inconsistency, and line manager short-termism. Of great concern was the new dimension of ethnicity; where respondents rated it as the major challenge. The study reports a clear mismatch between the challenges faced and measures undertaken in response to those challenges. The study was conducted in only one county in Kenya and with a limited number of respondents. The overall implication from the study is that the challenges of devolution reported in the literature are found in Kenya with positive and negative outcomes. However, if the challenges and issues associated with devolution could be properly addressed, counties could expect to reap more benefits from implementing this HR strategy. It was therefore recommended that the central government provide frameworks for creating awareness and information related to the significance of devolved HR function.