The HRM Function in Church and Faith Based Organisations in Zimbabwe: Interrogating the current Status and Practices?

The HRM function has been proven to play a critical role in most regulated social institutions as it provides stability, strategic direction for growth, relevant guidance on industrial relations and effective conflict resolution yet there exist deep and diverse entrenched sectoral opinions on the applicability, efficacy and usefulness of the of human resource function. The paper focuses on the need to understand the current status and practices of the Human Resource Management function in Faith Based organisations in Zimbabwe by highlighting the organisations’ stance and inclinations towards the application, efficacy and usefulness of the Human Resource Management function against the “biblical and spiritual†nature as observed and suggested by some scholars. In addition, the paper endeavours to establish the challenges faced by Faith based organisations as they adapt and adopt the Human Resource Function in their structures and operations. The paper adopts a qualitative paradigm, drawing on the general systems theoretical view point to offer deeper insight into the current status and prevailing practices in the implementation of the Human Resource Management Function in Faith Based or Church based organisations in Zimbabwe. The article provides a detailed description of the way in which the HRM function is utilised in Zimbabwean Faith based or Church organisations. The article also demonstrates how the general systems theory can contribute towards a deeper understanding of the current status and prevailing practices in so far as HRM practices are concerned. The findings of the paper show that the HR function is not given much attention neither is it being practised professionally within Faith based organisations in Zimbabwe. The paper among other recommendations largely recommends that the bible schools should include in the curriculum for the clergy who are the leaders in the church, human resource management modules among other administration courses so as to enlighten the church on the need for professional human resource management.