CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Organizations are facing increased competition due to globalization, changes in technology, political and economic environments (Evans, Pucik & Barsoux 2002,) and therefore prompting these organizations to train their employees as one of the ways to prepare them to adjust to the increases above and thus enhance their performance. It is important to not ignore the prevailing evidence on growth of knowledge in the business corporate world in the last decade. This growth has not only been brought about by improvements in technology nor a combination of factors of production but increased efforts towards development of organizational human resources. It is ,therefore , in every organizations responsibility to enhance the job performance of the employees and certainly implementation of training and development is one of the major steps that most companies need to achieve this. As is evident that employees are a crucial resource, it is important to optimize the contribution of employees to the company aims and goals as a means of sustaining effective performance. This therefore calls for managers to ensure an adequate supply of staff that is technically and socially competent and capable of career development into specialist departments or management positions (Afshan, Sobia, Kamran & Nasir 2012, 646).

The question that may arise in many instances is why human resources are important. Bearing in mind that human resources are the intellectual property of the firm, employees prove to be a good source of gaining competitive advantage (Houger 2006), and training is the only way of developing organizational intellectual property through building employees competencies. In order to succeed. Organizations have to obtain and utilize human resources effectively. Organizations ,therefore, need to design its human resource management in ways that fit into the organization’s structure as this it will make the organizations achieve their goals and objectives. Moreover, it is also important for organizations to assist their workforce in obtaining the necessary skills needed and, increase commitment. The management of human resources in Africa in general and Nigeria in particular is rather challenging as most organizations have difficulties finding proper human resources. This may partly be a result of the different kinds of problems, for example, political instability, corruption, bureaucracy, poor infrastructure, low levels of education and purchasing power, diseases and famine known to prevail in the African business context (Kamoche 2002, 994 – 995).

Problem Statement

Despite the increasing effects on training of organizational employees by organizations, there is still limited literature on human resource development issues in developing countries (Debrah & Ofori 2006, 440) and increasing concerns from organizational customers towards low quality services in the telecommunications sector. It is further worth noting that while much is known about the economics of training in the developed world, studies of issues associated with training in less-developed countries are rarely found. The existing studies in this relation (Harvey 2002; Harvey, Matt & Milord 2002; Jackson 2002; Kamoche 2002; Kamoche, Debrah, Hortwiz & Muuka 2004; Kraak 2005) have taken a general human resource management (HRM) focus creating a gap on issues such as the effect of training on employee performance. This study will contribute in minimizing this gap in the literature and thereby establish the basis to understanding of some aspects of human resource management in general and training in particular in Nigeria.

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