INFLUENCE OF EMPLOYEE TRAINING ON ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE: A CASE OF KISII COUNTY GOVERNMENT, KENYA

Mr. Joash omosa, prof. Maria onyango and Dr. Arvinlucy Onditi. School of Business and Economics, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology ...................................................................................................................... Manuscript Info Abstract ......................... ........................................................................ Manuscript History Received: 1 August 2018 Final Accepted: 3 September 2018 Published: October 2018

Employee training plays a crucial role in ensuring that staffs in organizations have the desired skills and knowledge for better discharge of the assigned duties: to attain desired organizational objectives. Employee training not only ensures better performance but also enhances individual satisfaction in terms of selfactualization: hence, reduces turnover rates. Past studies on influence employee training and organizational performance have majorly focused on private organizations that aim at making profit and leaving public organizations under researched: especially in developing countries that tend to invest heavily in capacity building of employees through regular training programs. This study focused on Kisii county government, which is part of the new devolved system of government in Kenya. The objective was to establish the influence of employee training on organizational performance. The study employed a descriptive research design. The target population was 5111 employees who work in the county government: A sample size of 357 employees used. The sample size got through use of Krejcie & Morgan (1970) table for cases of finite population sizes. The main data collection instrument used was questionnaire. Data analysis done using descriptive and inferential statistics and results presented using tables and figures. The findings indicated that there is a positive and significant influence of employee training on organizational performance Copy Right, IJAR, 2018,. All rights reserved.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….... Introduction:-
Sababu (2010) defines training as a process intended to improve mental and physical skills and abilities for better job performance, for a given job or task. Gilmore (2009) posits that training divided into two categories: on the job training and off the job training. In addition, Gilmore argues that training effectiveness relies on knowledge needed by workers and effectiveness of transmission of learning content of to learners. Nickson (2009), states that, on the job training is cheaper and highly effective in integrating employees into teams. Off the job, training is suitable for The turbulent business environment, whereby, everything is rapidly changing necessitates training (Nassazi, 2013). Employee training, therefore, ensures that employees are up to date with the current happenings in technological, social, political and economic environments. Laurie (2007) concurs that training is important as it ensures that organizations have people who are ready to technically and socially to undertake the current job duties and responsibilities well. However, it is still not clear on how training influences performance in the public sector hence this study seeks to unravel this.
Statement of the problem:-Employees are vital for any organization to meet its objectives and as well, thrive in this competitive environment. This calls for massive investment to improve their capabilities through training. Several researchers have tried to find out the influence of training on organizational performance but most of them have shown keen interest on private organizations that aim at making profit (Alshuwairekh, 2016, Nassazi, 2013and Sila, 2014. There is less research carried in government institutions especially in developing countries in Africa that are heavily investing in training to enhance capacity of their staff. Therefore, this study seeks to find out the influence of employee training on organizational performance focusing on Kisii county government that is a subset of the government of Kenya to fill the existing gap. Literature review:-Khan, Khan and Khan (2011) studied the impact of training and development on organizational performance. A study conducted in various organizations in Islamabad, Pakistan. The study relied on secondary data. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics. The study findings show that training design and delivery styles have a significant effect on organizational performance. Training design and delivery style have a positive effect on organizational performance. The study also found out that on the job training is efficient and cost effective and saves time. The study found that on the job training improves overall organizational performance. The study recommends that future studies should focus on different training and development programs. The study, however, used secondary data exclusively.
Alshuwairekh (2016) studied the effectiveness of employee training programs on performance of employees. This was an empirical study of private sector companies in Saudi Arabia. The study adopted an analytical research design. Random sampling technique, used due to large number of respondents; a questionnaire used for data collection from the respondents. To analyze data: percentages, frequencies and standard deviation used. Statistical package for social sciences used as a tool for analysis. Correlation coefficient used to interpret results and one way ANOVA used to test hypothesis. The study findings show that there is a positive relationship between training programs and employees performances in private sector in Saudi Arabia. Most of the respondents agreed that training improves skills and knowledge they posses and helps them to solve problems. The ability to solve problems is a catalyst for employee retention. The study was however limited to only private companies. Nassazi (2013) conducted a study on effects of employee training on organizational performance. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of training on employee performance using telecommunication industry in Uganda as a case study. The study used three case studies of biggest telecommunication companies operating in Uganda the companies chosen by use of purposive sampling. The study adopted a case study research approach. Primary data collection used of structured and non-structured questionnaires complimented by interviews. Data analysis used frequency and percentages. The findings reported that training and development has an impact on employee performance with regard to their jobs. The study was however limited to telecommunication companies whose main objective is to maximize profits.
Ndibe (2014) studied the effect of employee training on organizational performance. A survey design carried out in Nigerian bottling plants in Enugu, Nigeria. Sample size determined by Yamane (1964) formula. A sample size of 254 respondents selected from a population of 694 employees of two bottling plants. The study made use of both primary and secondary data. Primary data collected by use of questionnaires whereas secondary data got from personnel records and annual reports. SPSS as data analysis tool, hypothesis testing done by use of Pearson's product moment correlation coefficient. The study found out that the extent to which training affect employee performance is insignificant, but when variables like training design, delivery styles are put into consideration the 37 effect becomes significant. The study concludes that when desirable workers selection for training through a systematic procedure of identification of training needs, there will be an improvement on performance of employees. The study recommends for after training assessment of employees to identify those who require retraining. This study was limited to bottling plants whose major intention is to make profit. Tambwe (2015) conducted a study to investigate the impact of entrepreneurial training on micro and small enterprises performance in Ilala District Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The study used a combination of exploratory and experiential research design. Exploratory research design was to make the researcher understand entrepreneurship training using a case study approach and experimental or casual research design was to enable the researcher obtain relationship between variables that is training and performance of MSEs. A sample size of 60 food venders selected for the study this was before and after training. The process for selecting sample size is not scientific. Data collected by use of interviews, observation, questionnaires and document reviews. Quantitative data analyzed by use of SPSS and qualitative data analyzed by pattern matching technique: information arranged in groups of similar meaning. The findings show that there is a positive relationship and between entrepreneurship training and performance of SMEs in Ilala Dar Es Salaam.
Sila (2014) conducted a study with an intention to investigate the relationship training and performance. The study was a case study of Kenya Women Finance Trust. The target population was 120 employees of KWFT and a sample size of 36 employees used determined by sample size as per Mugenda (1999). Data collected by use of structured and unstructured questionnaires. Data analyzed by quantitative techniques. The study found out that training has a significant effect on employee performance. The study shows that employees when trained are effective in discharge of their duties; they are also loyal to the organization and will tend to work longer for the organization. The study concludes that trained employees ought to be placed in positions that allow upward mobility of employees within KWFT this will enhance retention and performance. The study is limited to a financial institution whose aim is to make profit.
Lung'ung'u (2011), conducted a study with an aim to find perception of employees on relationship between training and employee performance a survey of the ministry of Agriculture. The study employed a descriptive research design. Data collected by use of questionnaires. Data analysis done by use of descriptive statistics that is mean, standard deviation, range, frequencies and percentages to measure perception. The study established that there is a positive relationship between training and employee performance. Training enhanced motivation, enhance job performance and increase loyalty. The study recommends for publicity of training policy and assessment training needs before actual training. Relevancy of training programs basing on organizational objectives. The study is however limited to one aspect of organizational performance that is employee performance leaving out retention.

Theoretical framework:-
The study was founded on Resource based view and Human capital theories. Resource based view theory asserts that for organizations to attain good performance they have to look at internal resources. Human resources are part of internal resources whose capability enhancement is through training for better performance. Human capital theory describes organizational performance in terms of investing in human ability. Employee training is one of the ways of enhancing employee ability to discharge their duties hence better organizational performance in relation to human resource utilization to attain objectives.

Research Methodology:-
The study used a descriptive research design. The target population of the study was 5,111 employees in Kisii county government. A sample size of 357 respondents, used arrived at by use of Krejcie & Morgan (1970) table for sample size determination. Stratified random sampling used to select respondents based on the nine departments. A questionnaire, used to collect data. To determine reliability a pilot study was conducted in Nyamira county through test and retest method. After the instrument found to be reliable with a correlation between the tests being 0.79, the researcher personally administered the questionnaire and picked it after one week. Data analyzed using descriptive statistics (percentages and frequencies) and inferential statistics (correlation and regression). Data presented in tables and figures.
The study sought to know if employee training serves as an inducement for them to longer in the county government, 153 (61.9%) were neutral, 51(20.6%) disagreed, 18(7.3%) strongly agreed, 17(6.9%) agreed, 08(3.2%) strongly disagreed. On whether training methods are based on the county policy, 115(46.6%) disagree, 66(26.7%) strongly disagree, 32(13%) were neutral, 15(6.1%) agreed, 10(4.0%) strongly agreed. On if when the county government trains employees, it increases the motivation of the employees and their commitment, 92(37.1%) were neutral, 68(27.4%) disagreed, 28(11.3%) strongly disagreed, 33(13.3%) strongly agreed 20(8.1%) agreed. On if selection criteria for those to be trained is fair and biased 79(31.9%) disagreed, 73(29.4%) agreed, 53(21.4%) were neutral, 23(9.3%) strongly agreed and 20(8.1%) strongly agreed. From the findings, it is implicit that in the past one year most of the employees have not had a chance to attend a training program. Trainers are not effective in transmission of skills and knowledge and training contents is always not relevant to the job. Most respondents were neutral on whether when the county government trains them they can work longer for it or motivate them. Training methods not based on the county policy, the criteria for choosing those trained is not fair. The findings disagree with Alshuwairekh (2016), who argues that training improves skills and knowledge employees possess and helps them to solve problems hence the ability to solve problems is a catalyst for employee retention.

Correlation between employee training and organizational performance:-
The study sought to establish the relationship between employee training and organizational performance. Table1 Presents correlation analysis.  (2-tailed) .000 N 248 Source: Field data (2017) From the correlation coefficient calculation, the relationship between employee training and organizational performance of Kisii county government showed that there is a positive correlation of 0.578 between employee training and organizational performance. The strength of correlation also indicated that the value of Pearson correlation range from -1.00 to +1.00. This value implied that the strength of the relationship between employee training and organizational performance is fairly strong positive correlation. The significance level of 0.000 that is statistically significant as p value is less than 0.05. The findings disagree with Ndibe (2014) who found that employee training had an insignificant effect on organizational performance. However, they agree with those of Tambwe (2015) who found out that entrepreneurial training had a positive relationship with organizational performance.

Regression Analysis:-
The study used regression analysis to investigate significance of the influence of employee training on organizational performance. From the model summary in table 2: R square is 0.592, which implies that employee training can explain 59.2% of organizational performance. R square and adjusted R square is 0.592 and 0.581 respectively: they are high and are relatively good in making predictions, as they are greater than 0.5.

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To test the goodness of fit, the study used ANOVA as presented in table 3.  Table 3 shows that the calculated F= 79.977, with P=0.000˂0.05, implying that this model is statistically significant in predicting the influence of employee training on organizational performance; Thus, there is as significant influence of employee training on organizational performance. The findings concurred with Sila (2014) who concluded that employee training had significant influence on organizational performance. The regression coefficient also used to establish the regression equation as presented in table 4

Conclusion and recommendation:-
The study reveals that the criterion for choosing trainees is not fair. In the past one year, the county had not trained most of the employees. The study also shows that trainers engaged by the county are not effective in delivery of the desired outcomes and training content is irrelevant to their jobs. Most of the respondents were neutral on if employee training by the county can motivate them to work harder and stay longer in the county government. The study concludes that employee training influences organizational performance. Based on the findings and conclusion on employee training, the county should ensure fairness process of selection of those to undergo training, employees ought to attend trainings more often to update their skills in the dynamic and turbulent environment. Finally, the county is to ensure that training content is relevant and trainers are qualified for efficient delivery of training content.