Human Resource Management Effectiveness and Administrative Performance Development among Public School Principals in Wadi Al-Seer District, Jordan
Abstract:
This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of human resource management (HRM) and its relationship with the development of administrative performance among public school principals in Wadi Al-Seer District, Jordan. The descriptive survey method was employed to achieve the objectives of the study. A questionnaire was used as the data collection instrument and consisted of two sections. The first section measured the effectiveness of human resource management from the perspective of public school principals and included 42 items distributed across six domains: human resource planning, training, salaries and incentives, recruitment and selection, performance evaluation, and appointment procedures. The second section measured administrative performance and included 28 items distributed across four domains: administrative planning, administrative organization, decision-making, and control and evaluation. The results indicated that the overall level of human resource management effectiveness, as perceived by public school principals in Wadi Al-Seer District, was high. The findings also revealed no statistically significant differences at the significance level (α = 0.05) in the effectiveness of human resource management attributed to gender, years of experience, or academic qualification. Furthermore, the level of administrative performance among public school principals was also found to be high, with no statistically significant differences related to the study variables (gender, years of experience, and academic qualification). The results also showed a positive and statistically significant correlation at the significance level (α = 0.05) between the effectiveness of human resource management and the level of administrative performance. Based on these findings, the study recommends strengthening the implementation of modern human resource management practices in public schools due to their significant role in enhancing administrative performance.
Introduction
Human resources are the main pillar in building societies and their development, as the human being is the most influential element in achieving comprehensive development in its various economic, social and educational dimensions. Contemporary institutions have realized that investing in the human element is a strategic long-term investment, because of the human's knowledge capabilities, skills and experience that can be used to achieve institutional goals efficiently and effectively.
Human resources management has emerged as one of the modern administrative approaches concerned with regulating the relationship between the institution and its employees. The concept of human resources management has witnessed a remarkable development through multiple historical stages, as this department began in its beginnings under traditional names such as "Personnel Management" or "personnel affairs", and its focus at that stage was on the procedural and organizational aspects related to the recruitment of employees and the organization of their career Affairs (Abdulkader, 2014). Human resources management is not the product of the moment, but it is a succession and obsolescence of multiple variables, events and transformations. With the development of events and the intervention of economic, social, cultural and administrative factors, it was the reason for changing its name and activities in enterprises. The importance of the individual within the enterprise was realized and considered the cornerstone in it, he has rights and duties, to develop later and become a major supplier and not a factor of production. This contributed to showing the urgent need for a special department that cares about personnel affairs, and the beginning of the emergence of this department dates back to before the Industrial Revolution. Recent literature has confirmed that an effective human resource is the real source of competitiveness of educational institutions, because of its role in converting available resources into added value (Al-Salami, 2023).
There have been many definitions of human resources management with different names, starting from people management or Personnel Management, the human resources management machine in its modern concept, as defined by Al-jerboa (2019) as "the optimal use of human resources to achieve the goals of the organization in a way that puts each person in the right place for him" (P.22). Tamimi (2017) defined it as "a set of practices carried out by Human Resources Management, which include (human resources planning, recruitment, training, recruitment, performance evaluation, compensation) and are interrelated and sequential practiced by human resources management for the purpose of obtaining and retaining human resources" (P.25).
The topic of school management has received great attention in educational thought since ancient times, as many thinkers and educators pointed out the importance of educational leadership in the success of educational institutions, and in this framework, Taylor points out that the manager is the cornerstone of any organizational activity, and the effectiveness of any educational system largely depends on the quality of the leaders who manage the work within educational institutions (Tarsh and Khaji, 2020). International organizations, such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and cultural organization (UNESCO), have paid great attention to the development of educational leadership, stressing that the success of educational reforms largely depends on the competence of school leaders and their ability to effectively manage human resources within educational institutions. These organizations also pointed out that the preparation and qualification of educational leaders is a prerequisite for achieving sustainable educational development.
In Jordan, the education sector has witnessed many reform efforts in recent decades aimed at developing the educational system and improving the quality of education. The Ministry of Education has adopted a set of policies and programs aimed at developing human resources management in educational institutions, such as developing recruitment and training systems, enhancing professional development programs for teachers and managers, and applying modern performance evaluation systems and linking performance with professional incentives (Ministry of Education, 2019).
Despite these development efforts, educational institutions are still facing a number of challenges related to the effectiveness of human resources management practices and the extent to which they reflect on the development of administrative performance within schools. Al-Saraira (2009) defines administrative performance as the role played by the school principal in order to achieve the highest degrees of effectiveness of the school, while Johnson (1998) define it as the activity that enables an individual to accomplish the task or goal assigned to him. It is through these definitions that it becomes clear that managerial performance is a direct reflection of the manager's ability to competently manage available resources and achieve the organizational goals of the educational institution. In the Jordanian context, the Wadi al-Sir Brigade in the Amman governorate is one of the educational districts that includes a large number of government schools that serve large segments of the local community. The schools in this brigade have witnessed a series of development efforts aimed at improving administrative performance and enhancing the quality of school work, such as the implementation of quality programs and self-assessment, and strengthening the partnership between the school and the local community through educational development councils (al-Aswad and Ali, 2024).
Research Problem and its questions
Some studies indicate that there is a disparity in the degree of effectiveness of Human Resources Management and administrative performance, such as the study of Abdulkader (2024), which showed that the degree of application of human resources management practices and the requirements for applying the quality of higher education was average. And the ANI study (2023), which showed a correlation between the dimensions of human resources management practices (recruitment, training, performance evaluation, wages and salaries) with sustainable development. Based on the researcher's work and her experience in the educational field, she sensed the importance of activating the role of Human Resources Management in the education sector because of its importance in developing administrative performance and motivating educational cadres, and its role in the development of the education sector and raising its ability to keep up with the latest developments.
Research questions
- RQ1: What is the degree of effectiveness of Human Resources Management from the point of view of the principals of Public Schools in Wadi Sir brigade?
- RQ2: What is the level of administrative performance of the principals of Public Schools in Wadi Sir brigade from their point of view?
- RQ3: Is there a statistically significant correlation at the level of significance (0.05=α) between the degree of effectiveness of Human Resources Management and the level of administrative performance of public school principals in Wadi Sir brigade?
Methodology
The current study used the descriptive design curriculum to suit the purposes of the study, as it investigated the degree of effectiveness of Human Resources Management and its relationship to the development of administrative performance of public school principals in Wadi Sir brigade from their point of view.
The study community and its sample
The study community consists of all 76 principals of government schools affiliated to the Directorate of education in the Wadi al Sir Brigade in the Amman Metropolitan governorate of the Ministry of education, during the first semester of the academic year 2024-2025. The method of comprehensive inventory has been adopted, as the study was applied to all members of the study community, and therefore there is no independent sample.
Table 1. The coefficients of the discriminatory significance of paragraphs
| No | Discriminatory Function | No | Discriminatory Function | No | Discriminatory Function | No | Discriminatory Function | No | Discriminatory Function | No | Discriminatory Function |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0.66 | 8 | 0.56 | 15 | 0.58 | 22 | 0.55 | 29 | 0.74 | 36 | 0.76 |
| 2 | 0.58 | 9 | 0.72 | 16 | 0.73 | 23 | 0.57 | 30 | 0.71 | 37 | 0.58 |
| 3 | 0.59 | 10 | 0.65 | 17 | 0.47 | 24 | 0.56 | 31 | 0.77 | 38 | 0.60 |
| 4 | 0.57 | 11 | 0.80 | 18 | 0.40 | 25 | 0.77 | 32 | 0.66 | 39 | 0.88 |
| 5 | 0.66 | 12 | 0.77 | 19 | 0.20 | 25 | 0.71 | 33 | 0.76 | 40 | 0.79 |
| 6 | 0.72 | 13 | 0.66 | 20 | 0.57 | 26 | 0.66 | 34 | 0.80 | 41 | 0.79 |
| 7 | 0.48 | 14 | 0.61 | 21 | 0.70 | 28 | 0.70 | 35 | 0.78 | 42 | 0.78 |
Table 2. Internal consistency values through Cronbach's Alpha for the human resources management effectiveness tool
| No. | Dimension | Internal consistency values | Number of paragraphs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Planning | 0.85 | 7 |
| 2 | Training | 0.87 | 7 |
| 3 | Salaries and incentives | 0.79 | 7 |
| 4 | Recruitment and selection | 0.87 | 7 |
| 5 | Performance evaluation | 0.92 | 7 |
| 6 | Attraction | 0.92 | 7 |
| Total potency | 0.97 | 42 | |
Results & Discussions
The study aimed to identify the degree of effectiveness of Human Resources Management and its relationship to the development of the administrative performance of public school principals in the Wadi Sir brigade.
Table 7. Arithmetic averages and standard deviations of the responses of school principals on the scale of effectiveness of Human Resources Management
| Scope No. | Scope | Arithmetic mean | Standard deviation | Scope rank | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Human resources planning | 4.04 | 0.54 | 1 | High |
| 2 | Training | 3.38 | 0.64 | 6 | Medium |
| 3 | Salaries and incentives | 3.39 | 0.66 | 5 | Medium |
| 4 | Recruitment and selection | 3.83 | 0.63 | 2 | High |
| 5 | Performance evaluation | 3.69 | 0.70 | 3 | High |
| 6 | Attraction | 3.52 | 0.71 | 4 | Medium |
| The overall degree of effectiveness of human resources | 3.73 | 0.55 | High | ||
It can be seen from Table (7) that the first dimension: Human Resources Planning, received the highest response with an arithmetic mean of (4.04) and indicates a high degree of effectiveness of human resources planning among managers from their point of view. The results of the study showed that the degree of effectiveness of Human Resources Management from the point of view of public school principals in Wadi Sir brigade was generally high, where the field of human resources planning ranked first, followed by recruitment, selection and performance evaluation with high grades, while the areas of recruitment, salaries, incentives and training came with an average grade.
Table 8. Arithmetic averages and standard deviations of the responses on the scale of administrative performance
| Scope No. | Scope | Arithmetic mean | Standard deviation | Scope rank | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Administrative planning | 3.88 | 0.62 | 4 | High |
| 2 | Administrative organization | 4.00 | 0.58 | 3 | High |
| 3 | Administrative decision making | 4.07 | 0.51 | 2 | High |
| 4 | Administrative control and evaluation | 4.08 | 0.62 | 1 | High |
| The overall grade of the administrative performance measure | 4.01 | 0.52 | High | ||
Table 9. Pearson correlation coefficients to examine the relationship between the effectiveness of Human Resources Management and administrative performance
| No. | Scope | Overall mgmt performance | Admin planning | Admin organization | Admin decision making | Admin control/evaluation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Effectiveness of total HRM | Pearson | 0.79** | 0.76** | 0.68** | 0.70** | 0.66** |
| Sig. | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | ||
| 2 | HR planning | Pearson | 0.69** | 0.70** | 0.58** | 0.57** | 0.61** |
| Sig. | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | ||
| 3 | Training | Pearson | 0.75** | 0.72** | 0.61** | 0.67** | 0.67** |
| Sig. | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | ||
| 4 | Salaries/incentives | Pearson | 0.62** | 0.61** | 0.57** | 0.52** | 0.51** |
| Sig. | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
* Statistically significant function (α=0.05) ** statistically significant function (α=0.01)
The researcher attributes this to the fact that human resources management is one of the main pillars in the development of institutional performance, as it contributes to improving the efficiency of employees through effective planning, continuous training, and objective evaluation, which positively reflects on the quality of administrative performance.
Recommendations
- Promote the application of modern human resources management practices in public schools, because of their clear positive impact in raising the level of administrative performance.
- Raising the level of human resources planning through the adoption of modern scientific methods in predicting job needs, and linking them with school development plans.
- Developing continuous training programs based on the actual needs of school principals, which contributes to improving their management skills and decision-making.
References
- Abbas, A. (2011). Human resources management. Dar Al-Maseera.
- Abdelkader, A. (2014). The contribution of human resources management to improving the quality of higher education. Journal of Economics of Money and Business, 8(2), 235-248.
- Abu Karki, M. (2017). Human resource management in education (1st ed.). Dar Al-Fikr.
- Abu Samra, M. A., El-Tati, A., & Mohsen, A. (2016). The reality of the administrative performance of heads of academic departments at the Universities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem from the point of view of faculty members. Journal of the Association of Arab Universities for Research in Higher Education, 36(1), 39-56.
- Abu Shandi, S. (2015). Human resource management in educational institutions. Osama Publishing & Distribution.
- Ajami, K. T. (2017). Development of management performance in the light of excellence. Journal of Scientific Research in Education, 18(3), 337-373.
- Al-Ani, M. (2023). Human resources management and sustainable development. Al-Raya International Magazine, 5(1), 37-39.
- Al-Diri, Z. (2011). Human resources management. Dar Al-Thaqafa for Publishing and Distribution.
- Al-Harthi, M., & Al-Anzi, L. (2023). Human resource management in general education schools from the point of view of school principals. Arab Journal of Educational and Psychological Sciences, 7(53), 624-678.
- Al-Hawari, S., & Shdefat, F. (2016). Impact of human resources management practices on employees' satisfaction: A field study on the Rajhi Factory. International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, 6(4), 274-286.
- Al-Jassar, A. S. A. (2024). Human resources management in the Directorate of Education of Jerash Governorate from the point of view of public school principals (Master's thesis, University of Jerash).
- Al-Qahtani, M. D. (2008). Human resources management toward a strategic approach. Obeikan Library.
- Al-Qaryuti, M. (2010). Brief on human resources management. Dar Wael.
- Alsalmi, A. (2023). Human resources management (3rd ed.). Dar Ghareeb.
- Alsayed, R. (2024). Training needs between theory and practice. The United Arab Company.
- Alshahiya, H. (2023). Managerial performance and its relationship to job satisfaction (Master's thesis, University of Nizwa).
- Alaswad, M., & Ali, L. (2024). E-learning in the higher education sector and its impact on ensuring the quality of education. Journal of Knowledge University of Humanities and Applied Sciences, 3(3), 331-364.
- Altinay, F., Altinay, Z., Dagli, G., & Cifci, M. (2018). Evaluation of administrative and supervisory performance of the directors of special education institutions according to teachers. Quality & Quantity, 52, 1275-1286. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-017-0503-4
- Amer, S. (2011). Human resource management strategies. Dar Al-Fikr.
- Bazurin, F., & Belmahdi, A. W. (2016). The impact of human resource management practices on building the competitive advantages of Algerian medium-sized enterprises. Journal of Human Resource Development, 7(2), 91-116.
- Balkra, Z. (2017). Human resource management. Arab Foundation for Scientific Consulting and Human Resources Development, 18(58), 1-26.
- Boalak, N. (2019). Human resources strategy (1st ed.). Wael Publishing.
- Cobanoglu, F., Sertel, G., & Sarkaya, S. S. (2018). Human resource management practices in the Turkish education system. European Journal of Educational Research, 7(4), 833-847. https://doi.org/10.12973/eu-jer.7.4.833
- Daresh, J. C., & Male, T. (2001, November). Pluses and minuses of British headteacher reform: Toward a vision of instructional leadership. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the University Council for Educational Administration, Cincinnati, OH, United States.
- Emily, L., Mulongo, L. S., & Yano, L. K. (2015). The challenges facing secondary principals as human resource managers in line duty: A case of Nandi County, Kenya. International Journal of Business and Management Review, 3(4), 119-132.
- Hamouda, R. (2011). Modern concepts in pedagogical and educational functions. Osama Publishing.
- Hammou, A. (2013). The importance of human resources in the development of public administration. Dar Al-Raha.
- Hassouna, I. D. A. (2018). The effectiveness of human resources management among UNRWA school principals in Gaza governorates and its relationship with teachers' performance level (Master's thesis, Islamic University of Gaza).
- Hussain, R. (2019). The use of a balanced scorecard in measuring and evaluating institutional performance. Scientific Journal of Business and Environmental Studies, 10(4), 28-76.
- Johnson, P., & Short, P. (1998). Principals' leader power, teacher empowerment, teacher compliance, and conflict. Educational Management & Administration, 26(2), 147-159. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263211X98262005
- Jouda, S. (2014). The role of human resources performance evaluation in improving service quality in major municipalities of the Gaza Strip (Master's thesis, Academy of Management and Politics for Postgraduate Studies).
- Kharchi, F. (2019). Effective functioning of the human resources department. Al-Bayda University Journal, 7(1), 1112-1121.
- Maaita, H. (2013). Human resources management. Dar Konooz Almarifah.
- Martin, J. B., & Peter, V. (2009). Using school performance feedback: Perceptions of primary school principals. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 20(2), 251-270. https://doi.org/10.1080/09243450902883918
- Metwally, O. A. (2018). Development of administrative performance of school principals. Fayoum University Journal, 4(10), 291-322.
- Mubarake, S. (2014). The role of human performance management in achieving job satisfaction (Master's thesis, Mohamed Khider University).