Strategic People Management Skill Dimensions in Building Sustainable Competitive Advantage of Christian Faith-Based Organisations in Nigeria: A Conceptual Review

Abstract

In order to build principles in the organisational workforce and environment, strategic people management skills include articulating the selection of skills, expertise, competencies and personal qualities. This paper aims to explore how the implementation of strategic people management skills serves as a driver to sustainable competitive advantage in the competitive religious environment by utilizing the Christian Faith-Based Organisations in Nigeria. Research MethodologyA conceptual approach based on the analysis of historical trends in the implementation of people management skills, especially among Christian Faith-based organisations in Nigeria, based on current literature. Key factors necessary for the satisfactory implementation of strategic people management skills were identified which include training and re-training, career development and motivational factors. Research FindingsFindings from extant literature show that beyond the operational strategic purview of Nigerian Christian Faith-Based Organisations, other critical factors such as environmental influence create a significant link between people management skills and the level of compliance from affected parties. This also partly determines the amount of resource requirement to support the implementation of people management projects. In terms of the aspirations of Christian Faith-Based Organisational leaders in Nigeria, environmental variables play a key role. Conclusion and RecommendationsBased on these findings, we recommend that leaders should endeavour to define directional policy that enhances people management skills and establish measurable goals to meet members of staff, members and followers' expectations and to improve on organisational competitive advantage. Future research could be focused on empirical studies of Christian faith-based organisation in this direction.

“This Is Where We Have Scored”: Exploring the Interface between Project and Institutional Sustainability Facilitated by a Faith-Based Development Organisation in Sierra Leone

“…However, organisations, including FBDOs, have their limits, and despite good intentions, these can be laid bare once there is a series of shocks. Changes in leadership following the Ebola outbreak did occur within the CMO in the study, and in the literature, the quality of leadership has often been raised as important in FBDOs [22]; however, what mattered most was a realisation that its resources had been spread far too thin following the end of the war and that what the CMO perceived as its core missions, namely education and health care, had been neglected. Given all the demands for regeneration that have emerged since the war, it would be far too simplistic to put this perceived 'failing' down to something as simple as poor leadership or training, as important as they undoubtedly are [5,[23][24][25], and the women's farm project is hardly to blame for this.…”

“…A further factor to consider is the competence of those involved in the FBDO and the ability of leaders to manage their resources, especially their people [22]. This itself may be linked to a lack of relevant training and experience in management [23,24], which often places emphasis on "theological and ethical issues to the exclusion of applied social and environmental studies" [25] (p. 158).…”