TITLE:
Analysis of Employees’ Professional Development in a Forensic Science Laboratory as a Route towards Organizational Competitiveness
AUTHORS:
Samwel Victor Manyele, Nancy Osmund Nombo, Gloria Cuthbert Omari, George Mwaluko
KEYWORDS:
Professional Development, Forensic Science Laboratory, Employee Stagnation, Total Service Years, Leadership Competency Index, Professional Development Index, Succession Index, Staff-to-Line Ratio, Diversification Index
JOURNAL NAME:
Engineering,
Vol.9 No.12,
December
29,
2017
ABSTRACT: This study was conducted to analyze the competitiveness of a Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) based on employees’ professional development and diversification into different professions. The FSL is the sole Government Laboratoryin Tanzania which serves the police force, judiciary system and the publicprosecution. A sample of 88 current employees of different professions (53 chemists, 26 technologists and 9 accountants) was used. The data was collected from theyear 2000 to 2015. Mathematical expressions were developed to quantifystagnation and total service time at specific development levels based on whichnewindices (professional development index, PDI; leadership competency index, LCI; and succession index, SI) were developed. The number of employees for support cadres was observed to increase faster in the last 5 years from 34.3% in2009/2010 to 57.1% in 2014/2015, compared to chemists and technologists.Thestaff-to-line ratio (SLR) has been increasing since 2000, reaching above 0.8from 2013 to 2015 indicating that the FSL was undergoing diversification and division of labor. The FSL workforce comprised of mainly semi-skilled employees. Promotions have played a big role in employees’ professional development. In some cases employees were promoted to higher level before 3 years stipulatedby public service regulations, regarded as breach of procedures. However,highstagnation of employees at specific ranks was observed (up to 9 - 10 years) which causes frustrations, lost morale and engagement. Results indicated that mostof the service years are served in ranks A and B. Indices developed in thisstudyform a baseline data for strategic analysis of FSL competitiveness in the futureand allow for proper human resource planning. Highest values of LCI and PDI were observed for chemists. Technologists in the FSL show higher succession index compared to chemists and accountants. Employee diversification in theFSL has been increasing from 2003 to 2015. It was concluded that the FSLcompetitive advantage is continuously increasing.