Human Resource Capacity Building for Local Governance in Thailand: Current Challenges and Future Opportunities

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Abstract

The research investigates individual human resource capacity building for local governance within the context of decentralised human resource management in Thailand by profoundly examining its current implementation of recruitment, selection, training and development and performance management after the decentralisation policy was enacted. The human resource capacity building process in this research includes five stages of core capabilities building: committing and engaging, performing and accomplishing, building relationships and attracting resources, learning and adapting and managing trade-offs and dilemmas. The research firstly focuses on examining the consequences of decentralised human resource practices implementation in Thai local governance. Secondly, it aims to explore the ways in which human resource practices are supportive to individual human resource capacity building. Finally it proposes the prospective implications of effective capacity building through human resource practices for potential policy formulation. This research is based on three related theories: capacity building, human resource management and decentralisation. The research was conducted by using qualitative methodologies. The case study of Thailand was selected because of the uniqueness of its paradoxical decentralised-Unitarian state. Municipal officials were chosen as the unit of analysis. The first findings have illustrated that the decentralisation initiative has certainly affected the HRM at the local level of Thailand. However, this scheme has launched some degree of re-centralisation and partially confirms the pseudo-decentralisation in Thai public administration. Secondly, the research also found that HR practices can be supportive and compatible as a capacity building strategies. However, these HR practices must be designed, conducted and evaluated for the purposes of the local government only. The aim of capacitating individual staff must be taken into account as a part of policy to develop the human side of the organisation. Therefore, there have been both challenges and opportunities for human resource capacity building through HR practices. To conclude, this research has contributed to fill the theoretical gap by examining the capacity building processes through HR practices and it provides the practical suggestion that local context is decisive. The capacity building issue has never been investigated through human resource practices, especially recruitment and selection, training and development and performance management. Moreover, in practice, the research has focused on the development of the local government unit in a country of paradoxically decentralised-Unitarian state like Thailand.

Keyword(s)

Capacity Building; Decentralisation; Human Resource Capacity Building; Human Resource Management; Local Governance; Thailand

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