CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the study

The concept of training can be traced back in history when the output of many companies was not significant despite the availability of raw material to be used. It was not still appreciated till after the Second World War when it was largely appreciated in Europe and later in Africa.

After the Second World War, organizations have come to realized that without training they cannot succeed, this made them to start emphasizing on training. First organizations in United State started giving training to their employee. In the 1910s, some corporations (General Electric, Westinghouse, and International Harvester) came up with factory schools to train their employees in order to develop their technical skills as they realized the importance of training and development. Although few researchers disagree about the importance of training and development on the success of organization because it involves huge cost that may affect prioritization.

The main object of every organization is to improve its performance but it can never be possible without the efficient performance of employees. Therefore, the performance management system came into effect as a management reform to address and redress concerns organizations had on it performance (Sharif, 2002). In organizations, a wide range of reforms that focus on the performance have also been implemented (Downs, Chadbourn, & Hogan, 2000; Gleeson & Husbands, 2001).

Performance refers to the accomplishment of something or mere working effectively. In an organization, performance is realized at the levels of organization process and individuals and the interrelationships among these will define the vantage points of the organization. In contributing to the overall goal of the organization, training and development processes are implemented as this benefits not just the organization but also the employees of the organization. For organization, training and development leads to improved profitability while cultivating more positive attitudes toward profit orientation while for individuals, training and development improve job, knowledge while also helping in identifying with the goals of the organization. Training and development is defined as the planned learning experiences that teach employees how to perform current and future jobs.

At its core is the improvement in the performance of individuals participating in training and development activities. Learning is achieved through training and development which therefore means to be translated as an organizational resource by which employees acquire, infer and are utilized. As such, performance contributes to the growth of the organization specifically since they can implement in combination competences and expertise acquired through training and development. The issue of civil servants performance in organizations arises from poor management practices such as failure to reward performance and inability to deal with performance problems (Pakdel, 2013).

Training plays an important role in the achievement of an organizational goal by incorporating the interests of organization and the workforce (Stone R J. 2002). Nowadays training is the most important factor in the business world because training increases the efficiency and the effectiveness of both employees and the organization. The employee performance depends on various factors. Training is important to enhance the capabilities of employees. The employees who have more on-the-job experience have better performance because there is an increase in both skills and competencies because of more on the job experience (Anwar Khan, 2011).

Since administering involves the creation and maintenance of an environment for performance, working closely or in isolation towards the accomplishment of common goals, it is obvious that administrators cannot be successful without well skilled and well trained people. The importance of incorporating training into organizational or institutional roles the staffing of these roles and the entire process of direction and leading people must be premises on knowledge and skills. The need for improved productivity in organization has become universally accepted and that it depends on efficient and effective training. It has further become necessary in view of advancement in modern world to invest in training. Thus, the role played by staff training and development can no longer be over-emphasized.

However, the need for organizations to embark on staff development programme for employees has become obvious. Absence of these programmes often manifest tripartite problems of incompetence, inefficiency and ineffectiveness (Arnoff, 1997).  Oribabor (2000), submitted that training and development aim at developing competences such as technical, human, conceptual and managerial for the furtherance of individual and organization growth. Also Isyaku (2000), postulated that the process of training and development is a continuous one. Man is dynamic in nature, the need to be current and relevant in all spheres of human endeavour’s make staff development a necessity, to keep track with current event and methods. Griffin (1978), has drawn the attention of the entire sundry to the inestimable value of training and development. It is an avenue to acquire more and new knowledge and develop further the skills and techniques to function effectively.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Training is a very important device in personnel management. It is a well-known fact that training and development enhances worker’s performance and productivity in organization, in spite of the fact that no organization can improve its services without continuous training and re-training of its staff, most workers in Cameroonian public sector may not have been adequately exposed to training programme.

Due to the poor outcome of institutions training and development is of importance because it helps organizations retain and gain top talent, increase job satisfaction and morale to improve on the productivity of the organization. However, for some years now it appears training in Cameroon is haphazard, unplanned and unsystematic, and several employees have not qualified for any form of training nor is there a systematic process of staff development in place, which has led to a high labor turnover in the organization. This probably affects employees’ efficiency adversely and thus, it is certain that the public needs are not always satisfied (Eze, 2012).

Organizations 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 organizations 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. The concern here is to investigate whether training and development has any effect on the Regional delegation of public service.

1.3 Research questions

1. What is the effect of training and development on effective performance of employees?
2. What is the role of human resource management in staff training and development?
3. What is the impact of training and development on employee efficiency in the Cameroon civil service?

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