Unveiling the Extent of Professional Skills Mismatch in Zambia's Civil Service

Maureen Mukuka; Felix Mumbi Chilufya; Francis Simui

doi:10.36948/ijfmr.2025.v07i05.57530

Unveiling the Extent of Professional Skills Mismatch in Zambia's Civil Service

Author(s)	Ms. Maureen Mukuka, Dr. Felix Mumbi Chilufya, Prof. Dr. Francis Simui
Country	Zambia
Abstract	Purpose - Evaluating the extent of staff position misplacement in selected institutions in the civil service of Zambia which has not been documented in existing literature. Aim - Determining the extent of employee skills mismatch in four selected government institutions through an adapted framework of measure. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative design utilizing the systematic procedures of Strauss and Corbin (1990) with analytical steps in phenomenology (Moustakas, 1994). Data was generated from a sample of 133 civil servants from four selected institutions stratified in cohorts of specializations. Findings – Data was analyzed through iterative coding to attain thematic saturation on the extent of phenomenon of skills mismatch in the Civil Service. Findings indicated that professional skills mismatch remained evident among Civil Service Employees manifesting in varying degrees and forms. Majority of the participants subjectively assessed their competencies often confusing academic qualifications or educational attainment with the specific skills required for their positions. The reconstitution of government institutions was cited as a factor in exacerbating skills mismatch as employees are often repositioned into newly created institutions without the requisite training or experience to manage their new mandates. This situation undermines the Civil Service’s ability to deliver specialized services effectively. Limitations of the study – Apprehension of participants owing to sensitivity of the topic in the civil service resulting in skepticism that deterred full disclosure. Future research should derive tools that prevent skill mismatch occurring in the first place among the civil service. Practical implications – Weakening public confidence in government performance. Recommendation is for government to undertake a scientifically designed professional skills audit objectively without prejudice or emotive biases and designing interventions that align employees with suitable positions thereby enhancing overall institutional performance. Originality/value – Generation of empirical data on skills mismatch in the civil service of Zambia that calls for developing a scientific framework to resolve the phenomenon and thus enhance government performance.
Keywords	Placement, Skills Mismatch, Civil Service, Employees, Measurement, Performance, Productivity
Published In	Volume 7, Issue 5, September-October 2025
Published On	2025-10-17
DOI	https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2025.v07i05.57530

View / Download PDF File

E-ISSN 2582-2160

doi

CrossRef DOI is assigned to each research paper published in our journal.

IJFMR DOI prefix is
10.36948/ijfmr

Downloads

Research Paper Format Copyright Permission Form and Undertaking Form Cover Page Vol 8 Isu 2 Cover Page Vol 8 Isu 1 Cover Page Vol 7 Isu 6

All research papers published on this website are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, and all rights belong to their respective authors/researchers.

CC-BY-SA

About IJFMR Fees & Payment Current Issue Publication Archive	Submit Research Paper Track Submission Status Publication Guidelines Publication Ethics Peer Review & Plagiarism	Join as a Reviewer Editors & Reviewers Reviewer Referral Program Get Reviewer Membership Certi.	Website/Journal Policies Usage Policy Content Policies Privacy Policy

Contact Us		+91-9687-828-838	editor@ijfmr.com

International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research

A Widely Indexed Open Access Peer Reviewed Multidisciplinary Bi-monthly Scholarly International Journal

Unveiling the Extent of Professional Skills Mismatch in Zambia's Civil Service

Share this