Impact of training and development on employees' performance : a case study of Durban container terminal.
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Date
2014
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Abstract
The current economic environment for business is characterized by intense competition, globalisation and technological advances. The survival of an organisation entails having a sustainable competitive advantage. Training and development has become a key focus for organisations in their quest to nurture an innovative, knowledgeable, flexible and high quality workforce that can compete forcefully in the global arena. Whilst there is plenty of literature available on developed countries the same cannot be not be said on South Africa and other developing nations. The aim of the study was to determine the impact of training and development on employee performance at Transnet’s Durban Container Terminal. A close ended questionnaire acted as the primary tool which was used to collect data by distributing to Transnet Durban Container Terminal internal employees selected using the simple random sampling method. Questionnaires were sent to a sample of 132 employees from a total population of 200 operational employees. The data obtained from the respondents was analysed using an SPSS version 21.0 package. The response rate for the study was 80.3 %. The sample was composed of 80.2 % male and 19.8 % female. Of the sample 37.1% had at most a Matric certificate, whilst 5.7% had a university qualification (undergraduate or postgraduate). There were 34.3 % respondents who possessed a certificate qualification whilst 21 % were holders of a diploma qualification. The remainder of the respondents, 1.9 % had a qualification categorised as “Other”. Nearly 60 % of the respondents indicated that they were in employment for at least 5 years. Of this figure 45.3 % were in employment for 5 to 10 years, with 14.2 % having been employed at the Terminal for over 10 years. Statistical analysis revealed that training and development had a significant impact on the corresponding employee performance. There were also various benefits that were associated with training and development for various stakeholders, employees, unions, customers, communities, business entities and the government. It is recommended that organisations should spell out their strategic training and development objectives and policies and ensure that these are well understood by all employees in the organisation. Needs analysis must be conducted and identified through a formal performance appraisal mechanism and scheduled training programs must be in place for new entrants for each department.
Description
Master of Business Administration.
Keywords
Transnet (Firm : South Africa), Employees--Training of--South Africa--Durban., Performance -Employees., Career development--South Africa--Durban., Theses--Business administration.