The Impact of Training and Development on Employee Performance and Productivity: A Case Study of the Youth Enterprise Development Fund Board

Abstract

The Youth Enterprise Development Fund Board (YEDFB) is a state corporation established by the Government of Kenya (GoK) with the core mandate of economically empowering Kenyan youth through enterprise development. The enterprise development mandate / the provision of Business Development Services (BDS), involves the provision of training services to Kenyan youth. This therefore means that training of trainers within the organization who serve as the Enterprise Development Agents (EDA's) is vital in actualizing the organization's mandate. In addition, training provision is crucial to all employees as it moulds their thinking thereby leading to quality performance and productivity. The problem studied was the fact that various training interventions have been put in place by YEDFB to ensure that its staff is developed through training but the impact of these trainings has not been made visible in the staff performance. The objectives of this study were; to examine the impact of training on employee performance at the Youth Enterprise Development Fund Board and to analyze the relevance of the training program offered to employees of the YEDFB. In this study, data was collected once across the population through purposive sampling. Five departments within the organization were used based on the relative number of departments at the YEDFB. Twenty five employees were selected using the purposive sampling technique and questionnaires were administered to them. An interview guide was also used to solicit information from the senior management of the YEDFB. The purpose of the interview was to ascertain the management's view on how YEDFB traditionally dealt with issues pertaining to training and development within the organization. The researcher also examined various internal documents provided by the Human Resources Manager such as the training policy document in order to determine whether indeed YEDFB has a training policy document in place and whether the processes outlined in the document is being duly followed. The study established that most of the employees within the organization have not had the opportunity to be involved in any training in spite of the fact that majority of them are aware of the training program outlined. In addition, most employees self-sponsored themselves to acquire higher qualifications and this has resulted to lack of motivation. Further, there was also an expression of a lack of awareness of any career development projections prepared for them by the organization. As a result, this study concludes that in spite of the fact that YEDFB has a well established Human Resource Policy to guide the training and development of its employees, its members of staff have to be acquainted with the document so as to know what it has to offer them. Further, in as much as the organization plans to train its staff, it should be consistent in training its employees so as to update their knowledge and skills and ensure maximum efficiency in their work. It is therefore recommended that the organization adopts a training program that focuses on both training and development in order to benefit both the organization and the staff within the organization, as it will lead to motivation of staff and calumniate their performance and productivity. Career planning and development for the employees is also recommended as it will lead to better performance and retention of employees. The organization should also consider embracing Information Technology in training through e-learning and evaluation of the training provided for effectiveness.