HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT SKILLS REQUIRED BY SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS FOR SUCCESSFUL OPERATION IN NASARAWA STATE

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT SKILLS REQUIRED BY SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS FOR SUCCESSFUL OPERATION IN NASARAWA STATE

ABSTRACT

This study surveyed the human resource management skills required by small business owners for successful operation in Nasarawa State.  The study surveyed 310 small business owners out of a population of 1,386 registered with Corporate Affairs Commission, Nasarawa State.  Four research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study.  Data were collected using a structured questionnaire.  The instrument was a five point scale questionnaire which was subjected to face validation and a reliability of 0.91 was obtained signifying that the instrument was reliable.  Data collected were analyzed using mean to answer the research questions while one-way-Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. It was found that small business owners in Nasarawa State require human resource management skills for successful operation of their businesses.  This study also revealed that experience and qualification were sources of differences in the mean ratings of the small business owners on human resource management skills required for successful operation.  It was, therefore, recommended among others that small business owners and potential entrepreneurs should adopt the use of human resource management skills in order to achieve success in their businesses.  Also, it was recommended that small business owners who do not have human resource management skills should embark on on-the-job training, workshop and seminars so as to acquire the required skills.