The human resource planning practices in local governments: a case of Songea municipal council

The study was conducted with the aim of assessing the Human Resource (HR) planning practices in Tanzania’s local governments. The study used a Survey conducted in Songea Municipality to identify the prevalent HR planning practices, how they fared and the factors that affect HR planning practices at this local government level. The study used both primary and secondary data to get what was required for the study. The results of the study show that there are various HR planning practices governing the recruitment, promotion, balance of supply and demand checks and employees’ replacement and transfers. Also, the study identified the factors which affect Human Resource Planning practices, as financial constraints, poor employee record keeping, and lack of facilities and lack of skills on HR planning. The study concluded that HR planning practices were not executed as required. This failure leads to shortages and imbalances of employees at the local government. On the basis of these findings it is recommended that changes like having autonomy in executing HR activities, having enough financial budget and cooperation among department should be instituted in local government to make sure that the HR problems are solved to ensure enough personnel is available at the council on sustainable basis.