Implementation Challenges in the Management and Placement of Skilled Staff in a Civil Service Institution

Research has shown that strategic management of human resource is an enigma. Also, one of the enigmas is lack of translation of the strategic directions by people who are expected to execute it. To test this theory, a cross sectional study using a survey questionnaire was administered to 145 Division I and II officers in the Auditor General's office.

Executive Summary: The Auditor General's office in Zambia should have a strategic direction for managing qualified employees. In this case, the office has plans regarding staff orientation, training, and staff development. The office ensures that these strategic directions are adhered to but the most outstanding challenges relate to staff retention and the problem of patronage where staff have relationships with those in higher positions and are modeled to do the will of the appointing authorities. Data were collected and analysed and it showed that there was no association in deployment and management of staff between one's occupation or gender with regards to challenges affecting the implementation of strategic directions because the p values were more than the α error rate of 0.05. Staff that undertake auditing functions and who support audit functions are valuable, rare, inimitable. The study has provided room for readers to appreciate the manner the office of the Auditor General manages its staff - the most valuable resource for an organisation. The contribution to the scholarship on strategic planning in the public service is that facts should be allowed to speak for themselves- in essence qualitative research is advocated.