The effects of business education skills and staff job performance

The Effects of Business Education Skills and Staff Job Performance The main purpose of this research is to investigate the relationship between business Education Skill and Staff Job Performance in government establishment. The underlying philosophy is the need for management to acknowledge and openly accept that skills development is one of the commitment-based strategies that can be utilized to enhance organizational performance. Based on these, the study recommends that:

i. Employees should be encouraged to go for in-service training. This will brighten up their ideas and will enable them to know more about the recent developments in their careers.

ii. Different organizations should always determine the training need that would be most suitable for the achievement of organizational goals.

iii. Identification of skills needs should be done more professionally in conjunction with the line manager as well as the individuals involved together with the human resources personnel. Everyone involved should agree exactly to what the trainees are lacking, for instance what skill is needed, and what attitudes need to be changed toward work performance. iv. The skills identified should emanate from organization’s strategic plan, which also cover departmental/sectional/teams and individual plans. Organisation should see learning, training and development as well as training’s objectives, plan, implementation and evaluation as a continuous process for organizational development and survival.

v. Organizational career planning involves matching an individual’s career aspirations with the opportunities available in the organization. Career path is the sequencing of the specific jobs that are associated with these opportunities. For career management to be successful in an organisation, both the management and employees must assume equal share of the responsibility for it. Employees must identify their aspirations and abilities, and through counseling recognize what skills and development are required for a particular career information and training to its employees. Development and succession planning will also play a great role. Career progressions projection plans and training and development projections should be made available to each employee. vi. Motivation generally seeks to boost employees’ morale to work hard and thus increase productivity.

It is against this fact that the researcher wishes to recommend that in instituting proper training and development programs, modern organisation should initiate a policy for motivation attached to training. Motivation include both extrinsic, such as more pay, allowance, fringe benefits, and intrinsic such as recognition, appreciation, acceptance by fellow workers, opportunities for promotion, career development and consultation for important matters. Morale on the other hand increases productivity indirectly by reducing absenteeism, accidents, employee turnover and grievances. This means that the workforce can never develop in an organization where there is low morale and lack of motivation because motivation and morale leads to job satisfaction, which in turn leads to development.

vii. Most employee development occurs through job experiences. Development is most likely to occur when there is a mismatch between the employee’s skills and past experiences, and the skills required for the job. To be successful in their job, employees in organisation must stretch their skills. There are several ways that job experiences can be used for employee development in organisation and these include the enlargement of current job, transfers and promotion to positions with greater challenge.

viii. An interpersonal relationship is another way for employees to develop skills, increase knowledge about the organization and its clients by interacting with a more experienced member. Interpersonal relationships can develop as part of a planned effort to bring together successful senior employees of the organisation. Employability Skills

Employability skills are defined as skills required not only to gain employment, but also to progress within an enterprise so as to achieve one’s potential and contribute successfully to enterprise strategic directions.’ These skills were seen to have relevance to both entry-level and established employees. It was also recognized that the skills would be prioritized and adapted to suit various job-roles. The eight identified skills are: * Communication skills that contribute to productive and harmonious relations between employees and customers * Teamwork skills that contribute to productive working relationships and outcomes * Problem solving skills that contribute to productive outcomes * Self-management skills that contribute to employee satisfaction and growth * Planning and organizing skills that contributes to long-term and short-term strategic planning * Technology skills that contribute to effective execution of tasks * Life-long learning skills that contribute to ongoing improvement and expansion in employee and company operations and outcomes * Initiative and enterprise skills that contribute to innovative outcomes.

Employer Role in Skill Development Employers play an important role in developing the generic skills of graduates, and in many cases, undergraduates. In any given organisation many approaches are employed to ensure staff has the right skills for the job. As well as induction, training shadowing, vacation programs, mentoring and other development techniques, some companies are looking to actively grow the people they want by offering cadetships and programs where employment and tertiary education can happen concurrently. Developing employability skills is a continuum; students learn them through their academic work, paid employment, community and social connections on- and off-campus, and life experience.

Developing students’ employability skills requires teaching staff with suitable skills, resources and awareness of current industry practice. Students’ employability skills will also be strengthened where students have access to relevant work experience through quality work-integrated learning programs, cooperative learning or mentoring programs. Employers play an important part in developing undergraduates’ employability skills through their participation in work integrated learning programs, offering mentors, providing scholarships and cadetships, and engaging with universities’ careers services and academic programs.

Staff Training and Development as a Means of Skills Acquisition Manpower training and development play a major, if not decisive, role in promoting economic growth with equity; they benefit individuals, enterprises, and the economy and society at large; and they can make labour markets function better. Staff training and development has been identified by various scholars and anchors to be very crucial to an organization and its effectiveness.

In the light of the above, organizations are therefore encouraged to train and develop their staff to the maximum advantage in order to enhance their effectiveness. As training reduces the work of the manager in terms of close supervision it also improves the drive, initiative and quality of work of the employees thus assist them to be more committed to achieving the goals and objectives of the organization and this has the tendency of enhancing effectiveness among workers within the organization. However, for any organization to succeed, training and re- training of all staff in form of workshops, conferences and seminars should be vigorously pursued and made compulsory.

The relevance of training to workers performance and productivity, the acquisition of skill by trainees determines the present and future relevance of such staff in an organisation, pointing out that trained workers are assets to any organisation. Training will assist management to change their techniques and adopt the best training methods that will bring the best results. From this background, it is therefore important to conclude that training and manpower development as a concept and method should be able to take its rightful place as a tool for workers performance through the recognition of the fact that it is the most active and indispensable in the process of production even in the global age of the 21st century. Finally, training is a tool that can assist in building a more committed and productive workforce and can lead to greater commitment and less employee turnover.