A research project submitted in partial fulfillment for the requirement for the Degree of

DECLARATION

I NICODEMUS MULAKU, hereby declare that this is my original work and has not been presented for degree ward in any other university or for any other award.

This project has been submitted for examination with our approval as University

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION.. i

LIST OF FIGURES. ii

LIST OF TABLES. iii

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS. iv

DEFINITIONS OF TERMS. v

ABSTRACT.. vi

CHAPTER ONE.. 1

INTRODUCTION.. 1

1.1: Background Information. 1

1.2: Problem Statement4

1.3: The purpose of the study. 6

1.4: Research Objectives. 6

1.4.1 General Objective. 6

1.4.2 Specific Objectives. 6

1.5 Research Questions. 6

1.6: The assumption of the study. 7

1.7: Justification of the study. 7

1.8: Limitations of the study. 7

1.9: Delimitation of the study. 8

CHAPTER TWO.. 9

LITERATURE REVIEW… 9

2.0: Overview of the Chapter. 9

2.1 Staff Training and Development9

2.2: Training Needs. 11

2.3: Individual Needs. 11

2.4: Performance Needs. 11

2.5: Training Needs Assessment12

2.5.1: Conducting Training Needs Assessment14

2.5.2: Areas in which a assessment should focus on. 15

2.5.3: Training Needs Categories. 16

2.5.4: Data Sources for Training Assessments. 18

2.5.5: Approaches to training. 18

2.6: Training Assessment Theoretical Model19

2.7: Training and Curriculum Design. 20

2.7.1: Characteristics of an Effective Curriculum.. 20

1.7.2: Components of an effective curriculum.. 21

2.7.3: Significance of curriculum on effective training. 21

2.8: Trainee Willingness to Train. 22

2.8.1: Instrumentality. 23

2.9: Management Support24

2.9.1: Management involvement in course design. 25

2.9.2: Conceptual framework. 25

CHAPTER THREE.. 27

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.. 27

3.0: Overview of the Chapter. 27

3.1: Research design. 27

3.2: Target Population. 27

3.3:Sample and Sampling Procedure. 28

3.4:Research Instrument28

3.4.1: Data collection procedures. 28

3.4.2: Instrument validity. 29

3.5: Data analysis and presentation of the findings. 29

CHAPTER FOUR.. 30

FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS. 30

4.1 Introduction. 30

4.2 Demographic characteristics of the data. 30

4.1 Training needs at KPUC.. 32

4.2 Training needs assessment34

4.3 Training Curriculum.. 36

4.4 Staff trainees readiness. 38

4.5 Management and Staff training. 39

4.6 Overcoming training challenges. 40

CHAPTER FIVE.. 42

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION.. 42

5.2 Conclusion of the study. 42

5.3 Recommendations. 43

5.4 Areas of Further Research. 44

REFERENCES. 45

Appendix 1 Introductory Letter. 48

APPENDIX 1: INTRODUCTION LETTER.. 48

Appendix 2 Questionnaire. 49

QUESTIONNAIRE.. 49

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1 Conceptual Framework………………………………………………………26

Figure 4.1 Respondents gender representation…………………………..………………30

Figure 4.2 Staff Age bracket…………………………………………………..…………31

Figure 4.3 Staff education level………………………………………………….………32

Figure 4.4 Staff Participation in training…………………………………………………32

Figure 4.5 Training responsiveness on training content…………………………………33

Figure 4.6 Training responsiveness on Duration…………………………………………34

Figure 4.7 Period of time with information prior to the training by the staff………………………….……34

Figure 4.8 Awareness of training need assesement………………………………………35

Figure 4.9 Staff awareness of the training curriculum before training ……………….…36

Figure 4.10 Training sufficiency………………………………………………………….37

Figure 4.11 Staff trainees motivating factors…………………………………………….39

Figure 4.12 Management support…………………………………………………..……40

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1 Sample Representation……………………………………………………..…27

Table 4.1 Staff categories and their age brackets…………………………………….….31

Table 4.2 Effects of need assessments on training……………………………………….35

Table 4.3 Reasons for failure……………………………………………………………..36

Table 4.4 understanding of training activities ……………………………………..……37

Table 4.5 Areas to be emphasized in future trainings………………………………..…..37

Table 4.6 Motivation to attending the training………………………………………..…38

Table 4.7 Identification of trainees……………………………………………………….39

Table 4.8 Training Challenges……………………………………………………………40

Table 4.9 Factors that could improve training……………………………………………41

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

BCA – Benefit – Cost Analysis

CBA – Cost – Benefit Analysis

DPM – Directorate of Personnel Management

DQUAS – Directorate of Quality Assurance and Standards

ET AL. – and others (writers/authors of the reference)

HELB – Higher Education Loans Board

HND – Higher National Diploma

HR – Human Resource

HRD – Human Resource Development

ILO – International Labour Organization

KESI – Kenya Education Staff Institute

KPUC – Kenya Polytechnic University College

PhD -Doctor of Philosophy

SDV – Staff Development

SROI – Social Return on Investment

TIQET – Totally Integrated Quality Education Training

TSC – Teachers Service Commission

TVET – Technical and Vocational Education and Training.

DEFINITIONS OF TERMS

Curriculum All that is planned to enable the students acquire and develop the desired knowledge, skills and attitude.

Job Analysis A technique which generates basic information about the nature of tasks undertaken by employees.

Human Resource Management – The management of work and people towards desired ends. It comprises a set of policies designed to maximize organizational integration, employee commitment, flexibility and quality of work.

Technical Education A range of programmes that impart skills, knowledge and attitudes to individuals preparing to take middle level professional positions in the world of work particularly in engineering and scientific disciplines.

Training needs A gap between the requirements for skills and knowledge inherent in the job and those possessed by the current job holder.

Training Needs Assessment An assessment or a postmortem that seeks to determine areas of job performance in which an employee needs training.

Vocational Education Those programmes that impart specific occupational skills and knowledge required in the world of work particularly in engineering and scientific disciplines.

ABSTRACT

The need for training and development has become a necessity in organizations. It does effectively promote individual employees development which in turn means growth in the organization. Training is concerned with adopting the individual in the job, in the shortest possible time, consistent with good quality. Systematic training can bring effective quality, reduction in wastage, greater job-knowledge with a sense of purpose and achievement. Training should improve workers’ competences, equip them for higher level work, increase the quality of output or performance and enhance morale.

The proposed study aims to investigate the factors affecting effectiveness of training programs in university colleges. The need for the study is reinforced by the fact that the Kenyan universities recently underwent major reforms which brought about several constituent university colleges and campus which previously operated as tertiary institutions. The changes brought about the need for restructuring and trainings for the staff. The study focuses on the following components of training; training needs assessment, relevant training curriculum, trainee readiness and management support on the effectiveness of training.

To achieve the objectives of the study, descriptive survey design was employed where 80 questionnaires were administered amongst the University College’s 285 employees. These are both teaching and non-teaching staff from the 6 departments of the college. Out of the 80 questionnaire administered 67 were returned filled. This was then edited coded and analyzed using statistical package for Social Scientists (SPSS) and data presented using descriptive statistics.

The findings of the study gave an insight to the effectiveness of staff training programme offered at the University College. It was revealed that the collage caries out research on its training activities to determine areas to focus on staff training among other issues. The respondents agreed that the assessment had positive impact on the nature of training offered to staff. This was supported by more than 53.7% of the respondents rated as good. The training was accepted by 98.4% of the University College as in-line with the University’s training needs and that they were about new ideas which were a key motivating factor. The respondents’ interest in participation was evident with 67.7% of them indicating interest compared to 3.2% who were not interested in the trainings. Their interest was motivated majorly by the career prospects and competences at work.

The study report contains five chapters. These are Chapter one which introduces the project, literature review, research methodology, Data analysis then conclusions and recommendations in the order.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1: Background Information

Training and development is an issue that has to be embraced by every organization. Cole (1997), states that the amount and quality of training carried out varies enormously from one organization to another. On the other hand, Flippo (2004) notes that after an employee has been recruited, selected and inducted, he or she must be developed to better fit the job and the organization. He notes that no one is a perfect fit at the time of hiring and some training and education must take place. No organization has a choice of whether to develop employees or not; the only choice is that of the method to be used. Moreover a lot of in job training is necessary to keep up with the changing needs and technology.

The success and effectiveness of training and its transfer depends majorly on the institutional needs for the training, curriculum and training design, top management support and trainee readiness.

A Training need assessment is a review of learning and development needs for staff within an organization. It considers the skills, knowledge and behaviors that the people need, and how to develop them effectively. According to Gould (2004), Training Needs Assessment is the initial step in a cyclical process which contributes to the overall training and educational strategy of staff in an organization or a professional group. The assessment is therefore not simply about identifying whether there is an actual need or not, but rather about really understanding the nature of the need and gathering clues on how to address it. Well planned training programs will return value to the organization in terms of increased productivity, heightened morale, reduced costs as well as create greater organizational stability and flexibility to adapt to changing external requirements. Cole (1997) notes that in the U.S.A. one of the earlier legislative attempts in this regard was the Manpower Development and Retraining Act of 1962, which was designed to assist in the conversion to new skills of those persons thrown out of work by changing job requirements. He asserts that Human Resources are the most dynamic of all the organization’s resources. They need considerable attention from the organizations management, if they are to realize their full potential in their work. He notes that majority of organizations do have a positive policy on training and development. Graham and Bennet (1998) noted that under favorable circumstances, training has the important dual function of utilization and motivation. By improving employees ability to perform the tasks required by the company, training allows better use to be made of human resources, by giving employees a feeling of mastery over work and of recognition by management.

When circumstances are unfavorable, these results may not be obtained, for example when the trainee sees no purpose of training, when it’s regarded as a punishment or a sign of displeasure or when the training seems irrelevant to the trainees’ needs.

The training curriculum which is all the learning which is planned and guided by the school should be developed in line with the needs of the institution and the job market. This will equip the trainee with a practical knowledge base that they can effectively transfer to others and also develop the skills, tools, attitudes, and processes on trainees to become increasingly independent as learners (Tomlinson, 2002).To achieve this the trainers must develop competencies and a basic understanding of teaching excellence. This enables them to the trainees receive the right messages that are imparted in ways that would benefit them and the institutions they serve.

Top management support is another important factor before training, during training and after training. It has more to do with the behavior of managers that reinforce training. Trainee readiness is also of utmost significance and it entails the more personal individual characteristics and commitments towards effective training(Church and Waclawski, 2001).

In Kenya, policy guidelines exist regarding importance of in-service training ineducational institutions. Koech Report (1999) recommends to the Ministry of Education to regularly organize in-service programs for teachers to improve their pedagogical skills and that all head teachers undergo school management and administration training to enable them to be front-line quality managers in their own schools. The report does not, however, outline the need for identification of training needs prior to the training programs.

Cole (1997) asserts that in assessing training in terms of merit and worth, evaluators are interested in the processes and outcome of training. He notes that if a trainer is assessing the ultimate outcome of the training, that is, enquiring “did we do the right thing in the first place” then he is attempting to evaluate the worth of the activity. This then must imply that a training programs is set to address a specific need found to be lacking in the staff. According to Mugwe (1999), training can be very wasteful if it is not carefully planned and supervised. It should provide opportunities for the development of individual talent and personality. A systematic approach would be required if training within organizations is to be effective both in costs and results. Over the last four decades, the social demands with respect to higher education in Kenya have clearly intensified. This has been exemplified by the rise in enrolments in public and private universities, the proliferation of more private universities and the establishment of private wings (self -sponsored programs) in the public universities. Student enrolment in public universities in Kenya increased very rapidly between 1964 to date. With the additional students in the parallel degree programs, the numbers are now much higher.

The large enrolment of university students was a key corollary to the establishment of more public universities (Sifuna, 1998) the avenue used was that of transforming the existing middle level colleges into universities. For instance, in late 1988, parliament made Jomo Kenyatta College of Agriculture and Technology a constituent college of Kenyatta University. It became an independent university through the Jomo Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology of Agriculture and Technology Act of 1994. National polytechnics are the highest TVET institutions of learning. The expansion of Polytechnics and departments have been carefully controlled to ensure that their programmes have the necessary support mechanisms to ensure that their ability to deliver, sustain and provide quality training (Koech Report,1999). The Report stresses that due to the reduced number of qualified and experienced teaching staff, the polytechnics have not attained their objective.

The Report recommends that the polytechnics work in collaboration with the Universities to offer joint TVET programs for higher qualifications such as Bachelor of Technology, and in carrying out research that aims at providing problem solving data in the industry and work place. More recently, Nairobi and Mombasa polytechnics were elevated to constituent colleges of public universities as a first step towards making them fully fledged universities. Such transformation calls for a significant investment in physical and more importantly the human resources so as to meet the standards of a university. The human resources here include the lecturers and the Managerial Personnel. In institutions being transformed into university colleges, employee training is becoming increasingly important because of the pressure to reduce costs and increase productivity. There is need to boost productivity and invest in a higher – trained and skilled workforce. There is also need to upgrade the skills of the retained staff (Mungwere, 2002). The challenges at hand are to find out what kind of preparation is made before training programmes are implemented to ensure participants receive the most relevant training. Hence, a study has to be conducted to assess the extent to which trainings are carried out by agents of in-service training as a first step to implementing training programmes.

1.2: Problem Statement

A lot of resources are being spent on training of staff in university colleges with an intention of increasing efficiency of workers. Unfortunately even after this training, the workers’ performance does not improve. This leads to a question on why the training is not as effective as is supposed to be.

Careful, logical and rational approach is essential to obtain the best possible balance between the human effort and the work to be done, keeping in view the quality of work required and the cost. Resources are scarce, and ultimately, training budgets are tied with constraints. Thus, organizations should only offer training to employees who need the training that will help in their work and improve their performance in relation to the organizations objectives (Mugwe, 1999).

Training is as old as mankind, and the ways and means of training have changed and continue changing with the times (Mugwe, 1999). An assessment is the first step in the training and educational strategy of an organization. A thorough analysis starts with an attempt to assess total organizational training needs in the context of: Management’s plans for the future of the organizations; the current organization structure and current expectations about the use of employees. Training assessment must be carefully planned, conducted and have clear outcome to ensure that training interventions are implemented effectively and leading to meaningful changes in service delivery (Attwood, 1995). Lately, a number of middle level colleges have been transformed into university colleges. They include Mombasa Polytechnic, Kimathi Institute, Kagumo and Narok Teachers’ Colleges. It means they are offering degree programmes. They are retaining a considerable proportion of their staff, redeployment and recruiting a few others. Some of those retained are first degree holders who are pursuing masters degree programmes and a few have registered for Ph.D programmmes. There is need to upgrade the skills of the retained staff. The institutions have to come up with HRD plan which will show among others the number of existing staff who need training or retraining and the training programmes required. There is need to adopt to rapid technological changes, improve product and service quality and boost productivity to stay competitive (Mungwere, 2002). There is scanty information currently in the body of knowledge with regard to KPUC leave alone other recently upgraded institutions. This marks the starting point for this study in attempt to highlight what is happening in our institutions which are supposed to be custodians of knowledge and benchmarks along other institutions measure.

In an organization undergoing transformation such as KPUC, training is crucial to meeting the professional development needs of the workforce in service. KPUC was recently upgraded to a status of University College. Upon middle level training institutions such as KPCU being taken up by Public universities, training programs are often put in place in attempts to empower the staff to match work demands of the new upgraded status. On attainment of new status in 2008, such a program was established with the aim to empower and highlight new organizational structures and create an insight of the staff new roles to be fit the University college status. The success of the training programs was not clear and this study intends to investigate.

1.3: The purpose of the study

This study sort to establish the effectiveness of training in institutions of higher learning.

1.4: Research Objectives

1.4.1 General Objective

To investigate the factors affecting effectiveness of training programs in university colleges

1.4.2 Specific Objectives

The specific objectives of the study were:

To determine the effect of conducting needs assessment before training on effectiveness of training.
To determine the suitability of training content on effectiveness of training.
To investigate the effects of trainee interest on effectiveness of training.
To find out the contribution of management support on the effectiveness of training.

1.5 Research Questions

The study was guided by the following research questions: –

How does conducting needs assessment before training affect effectiveness of training?
How does relevance of training curriculum affect its effectiveness on trainig?
What are the effects of trainee readiness in training effectiveness?
What are effects of the management support on the effectiveness of the training?
1.6: The assumption of the study

It was assumed that the respondents were honest and accurate in giving information regarding their level of education, period of service and other areas that may be key to this study. In addition, it was also assumed that the questionnaires used were fair and thus free from interviewers and environmentally introduced biases.

1.7: Justification of the study

Although the study focused on only one institution, KPUC, the outcome is likely to have some bearing on other institutions faced with such a transition. The study shed light on challenges that such institutions face in as far as training is concerned. This study is expected to assist the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology, public and private universities, polytechnics, middle level colleges, parastatals, HELB, donors, policy makers and other stakeholders to come up with solutions to problems of in-service training to make it more effective. The findings and recommendations of the study will provide insight into the best approach of training for not only KPUC but also other institutions faced with similar trends. The study is anticipated to be of significant use to researchers as literature thereby helping in construction and shaping of the problem statement when other studies on the area are being done for both academic and policy formulation purposes.

1.8: Limitations of the study

The study covered only KPUC based in Nairobi. This study can not therefore be used to generalize the results of the study for the whole other institutions in the country as it may not be representative. Due to limited resources, the sample size was limited to 30% of the target population. On the institutional level, there were classified information which the researcher could not access because of authorization procedures. This include; official documents from relevant departments. The accuracy of the results depended on the willingness of the respondents to complete questionnaires. Some information was not readily given due to its sensitivity.

1.9: Delimitation of the study

The study covered the nature of Training at the Kenya Polytechnic University College in Nairobi. The content centered at any kind of preparation made before staff training programmes are designed or while selecting the staff to be recommended for training.

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0: Overview of the Chapter

This section outlines literature review on staff training needs assessment including; staff training and development, training needs, performance needs, training needs analysis, areas in which training is not the answer to organizational problems, training’s theoretical model and conceptual framework. It also outlines the literature on training and curriculum design, top management support and trainee readiness as factors affecting effectiveness of training and its transfer.

2.1 Staff Training and Development

Training commands a sizeable portion of organizations budgets including trainer’s salaries, expenditures, facilities and other overheads. Classic human capital theory states that firms should pay only for the development of skills and knowledge that directly benefit the organization. The implications of human capital should be that expenditures on training should be investments in the sense that someone will earn a return on them. In the case of general training, the employee will earn the returns; consequently it is an investment for the trainee(Mwiria and Wamahiu, 1995). Returns from specific training may accrue mainly to the employer; consequently it is an investment of the employer. Any general training provided free to the employees might be viewed as a direct transfer payment to the employee. Such expenditures will provide little or no future benefit to the employer and should not be viewed as an investment that will yield direct returns. Designing and implementing effective training and development systems is challenging to many organizations because it involves costs that are borne in the present but whose benefits accruein the future.
Organizations generally show a bias in clear and growing dedication to building human capital through organization sponsored- training. They give more prominence to structured training either on the job or at schools and technical institutes. Yet through informal learning, individuals learn from their peers. These informal programs include rotational assignments, periodic consultations with senior managers, team working, and mentoring relationships with other employees. The trainers could practice ethnography by possibly moving in, cohabiting and observing the trainees so that they can identify knowledge and skills that could help other workers do things even better (Goldstein, 2002).
The Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development (1998) Report points out that, training policy and practices are governed by the existing arrangement structures and institution involved in the public sector pre-serve and in-service training. According to the report, training policies for all public servants are formulated and implemented at the following levels: Office of the President (in the Directorate of Personnel Management- DPM); Ministerial Training Committees; Staff Development and Human Resource Development Units (SDV’s / HRD’s). The following agencies were listed by the report as agencies to lead in in-service training: Kenya Education Staff Institute (KESI); Teachers Service Commission (TSC); the Inspectorate (currently DQUAS, Ministry of Education); Teachers Education Institutions; and Development partners and agencies.

The Report recommended that the in-service courses be carried out in: Guidance
and counseling schemes on financial prudence, discipline and integrity; stress management; time management courses; handling drug and alcohol abuse, preventive, promotion and curative services; improvement of interpersonal and community relations;

skills in handling projects; improving negotiation skills to meet requirements of diverse interests; conflict resolution and management. Many of the above courses were not offered by any of the agencies that conduct in-service training in Kenya. The report is silent on the criteria for selecting the staff to be trained and neither does it recommend TRAINING to be carried out prior to implementation of the training activities.

2.2: Training Needs

As one assesses the performance for any needed interventions, he/she needs to look at the Job/Performer requirements, that is, what the performer needs to know in order for the performance intervention to be successful. In addition, one needs to look at how he/she is going to evaluate any learning requirements. It is one thing to determine the learning needs, but it is quite another thing to ensure that those requirements actually take place (Phillips, 2002). Key to effective training is to truly understand employees and institution’s training needs (Mugwe, 1999).

2.3: Individual Needs

The Individual Needs take into consideration the identification of the target population. While this is closely related to the Training Need above, in that they both look at the Job/Performer Level, Individual needs go a little bit deeper. It ensures that the performance intervention actually conforms to the individual requirements. For example, in the Training Needs analysis, it might be determined that the job holders need to learn a new process. In this need analysis, the target population is looked at more closely to determine the actual content, context, and delivery method of the performance intervention (Kendra, 2001).

In the Training Needs analysis, trainers look at learners as a whole, while in this need analysis they look at learners as individually as possible to determine Job/Performer levels. In addition, you want to determine how well this analysis was carried out by using a ‘Reaction’ assessment. Throughout the training industry this evaluation is also known as smiley sheets — how well did the learners like the performance intervention. This is entirely the wrong thing to measure as it does not matter if the learners like it or not. What matters the most is, “does it actually help them to improve their performance?” Thus, it needs to go beyond smiley sheets and actually measure their self-system (Kendra, 2001).

2.4: Performance Needs

A performance analysis is generally called for when an organization wants to improve a part of it or to fix a problem what someone has brought forth. Both are generally fixed in the same manner.

There are four performance improvement needs: Business, Job Performance, Training, and Individual (Phillips, 2002). When performing an analysis, it is best to take a long term approach to ensure that the performance improvement initiative ties in with the organization’s vision, mission, and values. This connects each need with a metric to ensure that it actually does what it is supposed to do. This is best accomplished by linking performance analysis needs with Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels of Evaluations (Phillips, 2002): Business Needs are linked to Results or Impact (level 4), Job Performance Needs are linked to Behavior (level 3), Training Needs are linked to learning (level 2), and Individual Needs are linked to Reaction (level 1)

Analysis is performed to determine what is needed, thus it begins with a gap analysis: The “needs” of the organization minus the present performance level equals the gap.

At this time, the person doing the TRAINING should not worry about how he/she is going to bridge the gap (creating content and context). Rather, the goal is to discover the presen