TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT AS A TOOL FOR EFFECTIVE PERFORMANCE IN THE NIGERIAN CIVIL SERVICE

Abstract

This study was pertinent so as to give practical knowledge of “Training and Development as a tool for effective performance in the Nigerian civil service with emphasis on the federal ministry of education.” The main objective of this study is to examine the effectiveness of training and development as a tool for effective performance in the Nigerian civil service. The study was anchored on Fredrick Herzberg’s two- factor theory of motivation is also known as motivation-hygiene theory or motivation-maintenance theory.  A simple random sample was adopted in selecting 200 respondents from the ministry of education and responses obtained through administration of questionnaires. The data was analysed using tables and percentages and found that training and employee productivity is positively related, training is a necessity and tribalism, undue favouritism, Sectionalism, and costs of training are problems associated with training and development. Base on this, the researcher recommended that, organizations should understand that training and employee productivity have a positive relationship.

 

CHAPTER ONE

                                        INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

When newly appointed employees join the organization, it is necessary to impart training to them in order to make them competent for the jobs that they are supposed to handle. Also, in a global, complex and turbulent environment, knowledge is the only reliable source of competitive advantage. Organizational development is always conditioned by human knowledge and skills. Through the process of employee training and development, the management of human resources provides constant knowledge innovation, creates conditions for mutual knowledge and experience exchange and proactive behaviour, in this way contributing to competitive advantage. Therefore, training and development of manpower is indispensable to organisations, especially organisations that seek to be efficient and effective. This is because the efficiency and effectiveness of any organisation depends, among other things, on the performance of its manpower. Training, as Stahl (2012) observed, is so important that it is more efficient to improve the skills of existing employees to maximum through training than to rely solely on recruitment to provide the hypothetical highly skilled manpower needed. Arnoff (2011) observes that training and development foster the initiative and creativity of employees and help to prevent manpower obsolescence, which may be due to age, attitude or the inability of a person to adapt him or herself to technological changes. According to Obisi (2001), training is a process through which the skills, talent and knowledge of an employee is enhanced and increased. Training and development includes all attempts to improve productivity by increasing an employee’s ability to perform (Nickells 2002). Therefore, training and development should be seen as a tool for enhancing employee’s productivity. This is as rightly put by Hunter and Hunter, that among the identified personal factors, research shows that ability test scores correlate better than any other factor with job performance (Ogunbameru, 2004). This suggests that human resource department of any organisation should regularly assess and evaluate the training and development needs of their organisation for effective and efficient achievement of short, medium and long term objectives and goals of the organisation. This is because training and development makes an effective and efficient employee. Managers are therefore, advised to understand the correlation between training and employee productivity. The history of training development was as old as the history of man on earth. It can be traced back to when people begin to achieve goals (targets) through group efforts in which those involved needs to be trained and developed for effective and efficient goal realization. Frederick W. Taylor (1856-1915) whose basic ideas led to increased productivity and efficiency recognized the importance of training in his principles of management, that the best man to do the job must be scientifically selected and trained. As history evolved, various training techniques and methods were used in various periods depending on the dynamism of the business environment especially the technological environment. But then, there was no full time training of employees. Full scale training of civil servants began in many Western countries in the decades after World War II. The most important development was perhaps the findings in 1945 of the National School of Administration in Paris. Which serves as both professional school and recruitment agency for the French government’s administration and diplomatic services. Great Britain, India and other countries have developed their own civil servants. At the time, less-developed countries have unique problems of training, and therefore has to send their key personnel for training abroad. Chandan (2007) asserts that, “In the past training and development was primarily oriented towards functional, chnical and specific job related skills, in today’s business and managerial environment, the training and development programmes stressed a broad range of group interaction, skills, cross-functional issues, quality issues and diagnostic problem solving skills.” All the aforementioned trends in training and development techniques or methods are efforts towards making it (i.e training and development) an effective instrument for increased productivity. Unfortunately however, there are still those who feel that systematic training is costly or beyond their capabilities, while some hinders the effectiveness of training through corruption, tribalism and undue favouritism.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Training is a very important device in personnel management. In spite of the fact that no organization can improve its services without continuous training and re-training of its staff, most workers in Nigerian public sector may not have been adequately exposed to training programme. This probably affects employees’ efficiency adversely and thus, it is certain that the public needs are not always satisfied (Eze, 2012). Organisations often plan meticulously for their investment in physical and capital resources. These plans are reviewed with utmost attention to the minute details while rarely do such organizations pay attention to human resources that activate, operate and coordinate other resources of production. Not many organisations consider the necessity for a well-defined and sustainable training and development for their staff members in order to upgrade their performance. One of the difficulties of successful training programme is how to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of training and development activities in a systematic manner. It is certainly important for organizations to provide a quantitative assessment of how training programmes influence organizational success. However, it is challenging to figure out which metrics to use, and how to incorporate them into post training assessment, how and when to follow-up, and how to adjust future training based on the result. It is one thing to design and develop training programme that is closely aligned with the improvement of job performance of employees so as to realize return on training investment, it is quite another thing to develop a cost-effective training delivery medium that works well for target employees or trainees

Improving learning/training effectiveness is another concern for personnel management. Streamlining the training activities, designing a detailed curriculum for a training session, training delivery method, etc. are issues that learning organisations critically weigh in order to have a successful and solid skill development for trainees. It is a common knowledge that all jobs in organizations are done through people, yet over the years, most organizations have failed to attach the necessary attention to employee training and development (Mc Namara, 2008). The federal ministry of education has the mission to consistently provide the education sector with Professionals and other personnel through training and related services for the effective running of the education sector as it is an integral part of civilization.

1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The study has two objectives; the broad objective and the specific objective, the broad objective is to examine training and development as a tool for effective performance in the Nigerian civil service; the specific objective are;

1. i) To ascertain the effect of training and development as a tool for employee performance
2. ii) To examine if there is any significant relationship between training and development and organizational performance

iii) To examine the role of human resource management of staff training and development

1. iv) To ascertain the impact of training on employee efficiency in the Nigerian civil service

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION

The following research questions were formulated by the researcher to aid the completion of the study;

1. i) Does training and development has any effect as a tool for employee performance?
2. ii) Is there any significant relationship between training and development and organizational performance?

iii) Does human resource management play any role in staff training and development?

1. iv) Is there any impact of training on employee efficiency in the Nigerian civil service?

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The aim of every training and development programme is to add value to human resource. The study of manpower training and development becomes imperative as changes are inevitable in every sphere of life. New discoveries of better performance of tasks and invention or innovation of technology are common phenomena in the twenty first century. As such, for workers to be up-to-date and abreast of modern trends and development, there is need for constant training, retraining and development of the skills and performance of workers. Staff training and development is a vital tool used by personnel department to remedy the job performance deficiency of staff and ultimately facilitate the achievement of the corporate goal of an organisation. Though researches have been conducted to assess the contribution of training and development to the overall success of organisations, the last stage of a complete training cycle (training evaluation) has suffered relative neglect. That is, little attention has been given to the contribution of training evaluation. This research is significant as it seeks, as one of its objectives, to examine how training evaluation improves the effectiveness of training/learning. The research attempted to know whether evaluation of the job performance of trained employees facilitates training transfer (application of acquired skills and knowledge in workplace) or training evaluation merely serves as feedback to management. Thus, the contribution of this study to knowledge is the examination of the importance of training evaluation to the entire training process.

1.6 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

The following research hypotheses were formulated by the researcher to aid the completion of the study;

H₀: There is no significant relationship between training and development and organizational performance

H₁: There is a significant relationship between training and development and organizational performance

H₀: human resource management does not play any role in staff training and development

H₂: human resource management does play a role in staff training and development

1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The scope of the study covers training and development as a tool for effective performance in the Nigerian civil service with emphasis on federal ministry of education. The study explore staff training and development programs organized by the ministry, relevant literature on staff training and development were also reviewed by the author to give the study the relevant theoretical backing

1.8 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

In the course of the study, there are several factors that limit the scope of the study;

1. a) AVAILABILITY OF RESEARCH MATERIAL: The research material available to the researcher is insufficient, thereby limiting the study
2. b) TIME: The time frame allocated to the study does not enhance wider coverage as the researcher has to combine other academic activities and examinations with the study.
3. c) Organizational privacy: Limited Access to the to the human resource personnel of the ministry makes it difficult to get all the necessary and required information concerning staff training and development of the sector.

1.9 THEORETICAL REVIEW

The study adopt Fredrick Herzberg’s two- factor theory of motivation as the anchor theory of the study;

Fredrick Herzberg’s two- factor theory of motivation is also known as motivation-hygiene theory or motivation-maintenance theory. Herzberg conducted a study on more than 200 accountants and engineers in the Pittsburgh area of U.S.A to find out factors that are responsible for motivation. Herzberg asked his respondents events they had experienced at work which either had resulted in marked improvement in their job satisfaction, or had led to marked reduction in job satisfaction (Laxmikanth 2011). Herzberg found that the set of factors involved in the job satisfaction events were entirely different from the set of factors involved in the job dissatisfaction events. He called the factors that lead to job satisfaction satisfiers (motivators, growth factors or intrinsic factors) while the factors that bring about job dissatisfaction he termed dissatisfiers i.e. hygiene factors, maintenance factors or extrinsic factors. The dissatifiers help to sustain the satisfaction level of employees as well as support the mental health of employee but do not provide motivation to employees as was traditionally thought by management (Sharm, et al 2011). The hygiene factors simply provide working environment to the workers. They are necessary to maintain a reasonable level of satisfaction among employees. On the other hand, the motivators describe employee’s relationship to what he does (his job content). In other words, they are related to the nature of work and are thus intrinsic to the job itself. They are effective in motivating the individual to superior performance and effort. The intrinsic factors or motivators lead to job satisfaction because of the need for growth and self-actualization and they bring about challenge and chance for personal growth. These intrinsic factors encourage employees’ autonomy, competence and achievement. Herzberg’s two-factor theory is relevant to the study of the training and development as a tool for effective performance in the Nigerian civil service with emphasis on federal ministry of education as training and manpower development is a vital tool used by personnel manager to motivate and integrate employees fully into an organization. Of the two factor-Herzberg’s theory, the intrinsic factors are more suitable to the study of training and manpower development. This is so as the motive of training employee or employees embark on training programme to achieve at least one of the motivation factors. Organizations train their employees so that they can assume more responsibility by and by. When organizations observe that there is a shortfall between the expected performance and actual performance of employees, and such performance deficiency can be remedied by training events, such employees are recommended or sent for training as recognition of the importance and contribution of the employees to the corporate success of the organization. Furthermore, for there to be achievement of the corporate goals of an organization as well as the fulfilment and sense of accomplishment on the part of employees, continuous training of employees is absolutely necessary. Training and manpower development fosters the advancement of the skills, knowledge and behaviour of employees. Training and development makes employees more proficient and competent so that they are qualified, suitable and fit for advancement (promotion) in their workplace. It is training and development of employees that guarantees psychological and emotional growth of employees. Training makes employees resilient and mature to tackle or resolve any difficulty or challenge that might arise in the course of discharging their responsibilities. Training of any organization’s labor force makes the employees to work effectively and efficiently while under pressure with little or no supervision. It makes workers use their discretion (where necessary) creditably. All these are manifestation of growth and maturity occasioned by training and manpower development.

LEARNING THEORIES

Armstrong (1996) emphasizes that training should be developed and operated within an organization by appreciating learning theories and approaches if the training is to be well understood. The success of a training program depends more on the organization’s ability to identify training needs. Training experts believe that if trainees do not learn, it is probably because some important learning principle had been overlooked. Sherman et al (1996) argues that the success or failure of a training program is frequently related to the recognition and application of basic psychological principles of learning. This assertion is not necessarily right. If the trainees do not learn anything, then of what benefit will they be for the organization. Laing (2009) argues that trainees could return empty, with nothing to contribute, even when the organization have done all that is necessary to ensure a successful training program. According to him, this could happen if a wrong candidate has been selected for the training program. McGhee et al (1996) posit that learning is a term used to describe the process by which behavioral changes result from experience. They assert further that the fact that learning has occurred could only be inferred from a comparison of an individual’s behavior prior to the experiences of specific kinds of task. However, if there is no explicit behavioral change, it could then be argued that learning principles have not been followed. Training therefore can be explained as a planned and systematic effort by management aimed at altering behavior of employees, in a direction that will achieve organizational goals. A formal training program is an effort by the employer to provide opportunities for the employee to acquire job-related skills, attitudes and knowledge (McGhee et al 1996).

 

1.10 OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS

Training:  This is a systematic process of altering the behaviour of employee to increase organizational goals.

Productivity:  A measurement of the efficiency of production ratio of output to input (10 units per one hour)

Organization:  An economic establishment put up with the aim of maximizing profit.

Manpower:  All employees in an organization from chief executive officer down

Development:   Deals with the activities undertaken to expose an employee to perform additional duties and resume position of importance in the organization hierarchy

Performance:  Perform to carrying an action that is carry out an action in its best

Tools: Instrument for work.

Enhancing: Ability to work well without watering time or resources.

Effective:  This is producing the mented result

 

 

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