RECRUITMENT PROCESS: A CATALYST FOR EMPLOYEES’ PERFORMANCE IN THE NIGERIAN PUBLIC SERVICE. AN EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM THE LAGOS STATE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE

Abstract

The Nigerian public service as a machinery of government is empowered to deliver public service to its citizenry. For the public service to achieve its activities geared towards the attainment of its pre-targeted goals, emphasis is therefore, being laid on the calibre of its work force. The process of having calibre workforce in the public service does happen through effective recruitment and selection process which determines the type of employees that exists in the public service thereby determining the job performance of the public service. This study examined the impact of the recruitment and selection process on performance in the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service. This study adopted a descriptive survey research design. This study involved an in-depth inquiry involving a structured questionnaire to collect data from the respondents. The findings revealed that a good recruitment and selection process helps employees in identifying problems in the organization; makes employees arrive early to meetings; helps employees in taking appropriate actions on problems as necessary; promotes prompt arrival to work and takes appropriate actions on issues. This study concluded that all qualified candidates should therefore of necessity be treated with fairness and equity and as much as possible, the elements of nepotism, tribalism, favouritism, gender discrimination, ethnicity, godfatherism and corruption must be eroded thereby giving equal opportunities to all qualified applicants. This study recommended that public services should upgrade their recruitment and selection procedures to meet up with the rising demands of the competitive labour forces.