CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background Information

Training has become an accepted phenomenon in organizations. This is due to its objectivity; strategic positioning and it direct contribution towards organizational goals and objectives. Training and development refers to the process of obtaining KSA (knowledge, skills and abilities) needed to carry out a specific activity or task to improve performance. Therefore, benefits of training and development are both for employer and employees. 

The term training has been defined by different scholars from different perspectives. Flippo (1971) defined training as an act through which employee’s skills are developed to perform a specified task. Beach (1980) observed that, training is a predesigned structured process of imparting skills and knowledge that will facilitate the transfer of training to the workplace. Training is therefore, a prearranged education deliberately planned to enhance knowledge, skill, and attitude that will facilitate employees’ accomplishment of tasks (Burke, & Hutchins, 2007). 

In another word, Wayne (2015) and Salas (2012) defined training as a process and method of designing the training content and delivering it in a manner to improve employee’s skills to perform their task efficiently. Thus, training is perceived as a method of acquiring a programmed knowledge to shape employees behavior in the desired manner toward accomplishing a specific activity. Falola, Osibanjo, and Ojo (2014) considered training as an aspect of human resource intervention which improves employee’s competency to perform productively. 

Employee training is a planned activity which focuses on increasing and enlarging the capabilities, improving the technical and conceptual skills of employees so that they can possess the necessary abilities to handle complex situations and better perform their job. The central idea underlying training in any sector is how best to keep employees current, vibrant and versatile so that they can continuously perform their roles effectively in this age of rapid socio-economic, political, scientific and technological changes and globalization. 

Through regular training activities the employees will avoid becoming rustic. The need for employees to improve their knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviors while on the job is even more critical now in developing nations than ever before. This situation implies that employees need to be kept abreast of the time and the trends of knowledge development in their discipline so as not to become obsolete and made redundant. The ultimate goal of self-development is the enhancement of individual’s job satisfaction and the optimization of skills, talent and task accomplishment.  

Ali, Muzaffar, and Salamat (2012) stressed that manpower development of employees is geared towards acquiring or sharpening the capabilities of employees required in performing various obligations, and functions associated with their present or future expected roles. 

Similarly, training and development of employees increase knowledge, skills and the development of positive attitude to work, increased their personal and organizational quality services and higher productivity. It can bring about improvement in morale, inculcate sense of belongingness, reduce absenteeism and turnover rate among employees, and importantly lead to better coordination of both human and material resources within organizations. Therefore, employees become an indispensable instrument for increased productivity in an organization. This implies that training equips the employee with the wherewithal for effective performance of duties and routine assignments (Al-Ghazawi, 2012). 

Armstrong (2014) affirmed that training is a process or strategy of upgrading and expanding the abilities, talent and knowledge of employees. As such, a fruitful training programme must add to the development and improvement of workers at all levels. Training influences employee development such that the workers’ state of mind is improved with a view to eliciting their commitment to duties and organizational effectiveness. Adeniji (2011) further posits that training is possibly regarded among the reliable strategies for manpower improvement. It implies the orientation of an employee for achieving the goals of the organization, for realizing a maximum output and accomplishment of the organizational aims and objectives. The aim of training is to motivate employee to accumulate greater skills to operate at the most acceptable standard on the present job and to broaden their knowledge towards future opportunities in the organization. This indicates that whatever the level of technological advancement of an organization, the ideal efficiency and optimum productivity rest upon the expertise of the employees. 

Training is a deliberate activity of management to impart skills and proficiency on the employees with training needs. The employees are selected and sent for training depending on their needs for training. This implies that employees need to be sent for training that is relevant to their needs, that has a direct bearing with the organization’s goals and objectives. Considering the fundamental roles human capital training and development plays in all fields human endeavor, this paper intends to examine the effects of training on employees’ performance in an organization.

1.2. Problem Statement

The recognition of the importance of training in recent years has been heavily influenced by the intensification of competitive and relative success of organizations where investment in employee development is considerably emphasized (Sultana, Irum, Ahmed and Mehmood, 2012). There is a continual need for the process of staff development, and training as it fulfills an important part of this process (Sultana et al. 2012). Despite the strong assumptions that workplace training influences employee outcomes (e.g, motivation, commitment, withdrawal, behavior and work performance). There is a limited number of studies in field settings addressing these issues empirically (Dysvik and Kuvas, 2008). These sentiments are supported by Bugard and Gorlitz (2011) who argued that non-monetary returns to training are less often examined in the empirical literature. Furthermore, most studies on the subject of training and how it impacts on employee and organizational performance are majorly confined to the developed world within the context of individual countries and organizations raising the question on whether their findings can be generalized to other sectors, countries and the developing world.

More explicitly, Dysvik and Kuvas (2008) based their study which explored alternative relationships between training opportunities and employee outcomes in the Norwegian service organization. The study showed that the relationship between perceived training opportunities and both task performance and citizenship behaviors were fully mediated, and that the relationship between perceived training and opportunities and turnover attention was partially mediated by employee intrinsic motivation. In these studies reviewed, the estimation framework does not allow taking time variant and unobserved factors into account. Though their findings might matter in a crucial way since the findings may apply in some situations. It is not clear whether these results would uniformly persist for other countries and sectors as well as all classes of employees which presents a knowledge gap. Hence, the motivation to explore the effects of employee training to the performance of employees in higher institutions in Bamenda, Cameroon.

1.3. Research Question

1.3.1. Main Research Question

The main research question for this study is;

What is the effect of employee Training to the Performance of Employees in Higher Institutions in Bamenda?

In line with the main question above, the following sub research questions will contribute in the exhaustion of this study.

1.3.2. Specific Research Question

• What is the effect of On-the-Job training to the performance of employees in higher institutions in Bamenda?
• What is the effect of Off-the-Job training to the Performance of Employee in Higher Institutions in Bamenda?
• What is the effect of Coaching to the Performance of Employees in Higher Institutions in Bamenda?
• What is the effects of job rotation on the performance of employees in higher institutions in Bamenda

1.4. Objectives of Study

1.4.1. Main Objective

The main objective of this study is;

To investigate the effects of employee training to the Performance of Employees in Higher

Institutions in Bamenda

1.4.2. Specific Objective

• To determine the effects of On-the-Job Training to the Performance of Employee in Higher Institutions in Bamenda.
• To assess the effects of Off-the-Job Training to the Performance of Employees in Higher Institutions in Bamenda.
• To examine the effects of Coaching to the Performance of Employees in Higher Institutions in Bamenda.
• To explore the effects of Job rotation on the performance of employees in higher institutions in Bamenda.