ABSTRACT

This study analysed the influence of Training and Development Policy and Organizational Performance in the Nigerian Ports Authority. The specific objective was to assess the extent of influence that job rotation policy, coaching policy, off the job training policy and mentoring policy had on organisational performance. A survey research design was adopted and the questionnaire was used as the major instrument for data collection. The target population was 1380 and Taro Yamane formula was adopted to determine the sample size of 310 respondents. Data collected were analysed using simple regression analysis to validate the hypothesis. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 20 was used to carry out the analysis. The results from revealed that there is significant influence between job rotation policy, coaching policy, off-the-job training policy and mentoring policy and organizational performance in Nigerian Ports Authority; where job rotation seems to have the highest influence .877 while coaching has the least influence of .652, although it’s still positive. It is concluded that there is a significant influence between training and development policy and organizational performance. Consequently, it was recommended that training and development should be a continuous activity in Nigerian Ports Authority and should be done in line with extant organizational policies governing training and development. 

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       Background to the Study

Every business has a set of objectives which it sets out to achieve.  These objectives are stated or defined in their policy or mission statements.  In order to achieve the set objectives, management ensures that all operations, transactions and activities of the business conform to established policies (Jackson, 2009). These policies give direction to the organization. A policy is a guide for making decisions in an organization (Ewurum and Unanka, 2015). It guides the actions of all persons involved or connected with the organisation as it affects any area of activity in which the organisation has jurisdiction. Some policies are mandatory while others serve only as guidelines (advisory). Contravention of mandatory policies attracts prescribed penalties (McDonald, 2013).

Administratively, the manager cannot be everywhere all the time to ensure staff carry out their tasks correctly and responsibly. Instead the manager develops and communicates policies, and direct staff to read and adhere to them. Therefore policies help to decrease the amount of direct supervision by the manager, and at the same time increase the efficiency of work processes. Also, policies are mechanisms for controlling the behaviour of an organisation by directing the people who work within that organisation. They exist to ensure, in a given situation, that people will behave in a way that is predictable, advisable and in the best interests of the organisation and the person.

It is fundamentally important for organizations to develop policies. An organization without a policy is an organization without control. If there were no formal documented policies, then organization personnel at any level would have no guidance on how to make decisions. As such, policies are formulated by organizations across functional areas such as human resource, finance, marketing, production, etc. These policies guide organizational actions in these functional areas.

Human Resource (HR) policies, for example, are guides that encompass those guidelines which constitute a sound basis for efficient and effective human resource management in the organization. They are continuing guidelines on the approach the organization intends to adopt in managing its people and define the attitude, expectations and values of the organization concerning how individuals are treated (Armstrong, 2009). Human Resource (HR) policies state the intent of the organization about different aspects of Human Resource Management such as recruitment, training and development, promotion, compensation, selections etc.

Training and development among other HR functions, is a major human resource management activity in any organization. This is so because when organizations embark on recruitment and new employees are appointed into the organization; for the corporate goals to be achieved they need to be trained, by way of induction, in the ways things are done in the organization. Gordon (2012) define training as the planned and systematic modification of behavior through learning events, activities and programs which result in the participants achieving the levels of knowledge, skills, competencies and abilities to carry out their work effectively. Training plays an important role in reshaping the reformation of new employees so that within a short period of time, they too, may be fully functional and productive.  Again, the fact that organizations will have future human resource needs indicates a necessity for ensuring an appropriate supply of employees. One means of achieving this is through employee training and development. By Manpower development, focus of the training is not on one`s current job, but on a future position within the organization that requires additional competencies. That is, a fully-trained employee may be an expert on his or her current job, but for him or her to accept positions of greater responsibility in the future which may require different set of skills, organizations must have a means to foster personal growth and development to enhance organizational performance.

Organizational performance refers to how well an organization is doing to reach its vision, mission and goals. Odhiambo (2016) identified three approaches to performance in an organization which are the goal approach, which states that an organization pursues definite identifiable goals. This approach describes performance in terms of the attainment of these goals. The second approach is the systems resource approach which defines performance as a relationship between an organization and its environment. This concept defines performance according to an organization’s ability to secure the limited and valued resources in the environment. The third approach is the process perspective which defines performance in terms of the behaviour of the human resource of an organization (Waiganjo, 2012).

In the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), there are policies covering functional human resource areas. These areas include recruitment, training, safety management, compensation and rewards. Specifically, the authority’s training and development policy covers funding for learning and development activities for all employees appointed into the services of NPA. The policy statement supports the core policy objective that the “NPA is a versatile workforce made up of a crop of professionals that have the knowledge, skills and abilities to achieve current and future objectives and can adapt to meet changing needs” (Ogunjobi & Ogunjobi, 2016).  The HR department is responsible for developing and maintaining a strategy for training and development that ensures available funding is strategically invested in the areas of greatest need. The policy statement on training cover job-related training, mandatory training, and developmental training and specifies that the HR department is responsible for: developing organization-specific training programmes; ensuring that organization-specific training programmes do not duplicate training programmes available through other public service agencies; and ensuring that workforce plans identify key training needs (Ogunjobi & Ogunjobi, 2016). These training programmes which are discussed in the review of literature find expressions in methods like job rotation, off-the-job training, mentoring and coaching. For the training programmes to be effective and acceptable, the organization policies spelt out the rules, regulations and procedures, including the content that must be followed. This study therefore is aimed at investigating the effect training and development has on the overall performance of NPA.

1.2       Statement of the Problem

Employee training and development is an integral part of the pursuit of improved organizational growth and performance. Studies have shown that attracting, developing and retaining motivated, skilled and satisfied employees is essential for organizations that wish to improve their performance. As an approach towards achieving enhanced performance, NPA has adopted the basic elements of training and development which include: job rotation, coaching, off the job training and mentoring. But it appears the expected results are far-fetched.

From the researcher observation it appears the management NPA have inadvertently indulged in practices that are inimical to effective organisational performance. These lapses are evident in the inability of the management of NPA to identify who needs training; bias in the selection process of trainees, improper rotation of employees to task not relevant to the trainees’ area of interest and specialisation. At times, employees on off the job training divert their attention from the organizational focus area of need.

Despite year’s adoption of these policies, there seems to be virtually no documentation on the relative impacts of these policies. It is virtually unknown or uncertain or how this training and development policy have influence the organizational deliveries. It is generally asserted that training and development improves organizational performance but which of these training and development policy has the highest influence towards the optimization of the organizational performance. Therefore this study seeks to analyse the extent of influence between training and development policy and organizational performance in Nigerian Port Authority.

1.3       Objectives of the Study

The General objective of this study will be to analyse the influence of training and development policy and organisational performance in the Nigerian Ports Authority. Specific objectives are to:

  i.                  assess the extent of influence between job rotation policy and organisational performance in Nigerian Ports Authority;

ii.                  assess the extent of influence between coaching policy and organisational performance in Nigerian Ports Authority;

iii.                  assess the extent of influence between off- the- job training  policy and organisational performance in Nigerian Ports Authority;

iv.                  evaluate the extent of influence between mentoring policy and organisational performance in Nigerian Ports Authority.

1.4       Research Questions

The following research questions will be formulated to guide the study:

  i.                  What is the extent of influence between job rotation policy and organisational performance in Nigerian Ports Authority?

ii.                  To what extent does coaching policy relate with organisational performance in Nigerian Ports Authority?

iii.                  What is the extent of influence between off-the-job training policy and organisational performance in Nigerian Ports Authority?

iv.                  What is the extent of influence between mentoring policy and organisational performance in Nigerian Ports Authority?

1.5        Research Hypotheses

The following Null hypotheses will be formulated to guide the study

  i.                  There is no significant influence between job rotation policy and organizational performance in Nigerian Ports Authority.

ii.                  There is no significant influence between coaching policy and organizational performance in Nigerian Ports Authority.

iii.             &nbsp

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