The relevance of in service training in Kenya’s public sector the case of the department of National Registration Bureau
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Date
2015-02-10
Authors
Nang'ole, Leornard K.
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Abstract
The aim of this study was to analyze the relevance and impact of in- service training
programmes on the performance of employees of the department of National Registration
Bureau (NRB). The decision to carry out a study in this area was informed by incessant
desire and curiosity of stakeholders to ascertain if civil service in-service training
programmes added any value to services provided to members of the public. Induction,
skills and managerial training which are the main types of government in-service training
in Kenya are acknowledged by management experts to be critical to provision of
effective and efficient services. The government for example spent Kenya Shillings 28
million in the last three financial years to fund training of employees of the National
Registration Bureau. In spite of the trainings that were undertaken ,there were
persistent complaints by members of the public and public oversight agencies that there
weren delayed services, poor interpersonal skills, poor supervision of staff,
unresponsiveness, discrimination, lethargy, failure by some officers to grasp their basic
roles and making of wrong decisions. The existence of the above complaints made it
necessary for a study to be carried out to ascertain what may have gone wrong with
government in-service training programmes which are normally aimed at addressing
the issues complained of . The study specifically sought to find out the relevance of inservice
training on staff attitude and efficiency and the relationship between in-service
training and customer satisfaction in the department of National Registration Bureau. The
study was based on Donald Kirkpatrick's training and evaluation theory which focuses on
trainees' reaction, increase in knowledge, behaviour change and capacity building, and
results attributed to training. The study also reviewed literature on in-service training at
the local and intemationallevel to identify gaps that required to be filled. Questionnaires
and observation were used to collect primary data from respondents. Data was analyzed
with the help of Statistical package for Social Scientists (SPSS) and Microsoft Excel
software and interpreted and presented using frequency tables, percentages, bar graphs
and pie charts. The study was organized in five chapters, with chapter one dealing with
the introduction and background to the study and while chapter two dealt with literature
review. Chapter three dealt with research methodology which included the target group,
data collection and analysis. Chapter four presented the findings and interpretation of the
study which were organized according to the objectives of the study. Summaries of the
findings, conclusions and discussions and recommendations were presented in chapter
five. The highlights of the findings were that in-service training had led to performance
improvement and improvement in staff attitude, efficiency and customer satisfaction. The
study equally found that in-spite of the apparent ability of in-service training programmes
to transform the overall performance of the department, there were a myriad of
challenges that had hampered the full realization of the benefits of in-service training.
The key ones were inadequate funding, favouritism in selection of trainees and
inadequate training opportunities .The conclusion of the study was that in-service training
was relevant to staff attitude, efficiency and customer satisfaction. The study
recommended that provision of adequate funding, avoidance of favouritism and
provision of adequate training opportunities would go a long way in addressing the
challenges that the department was facing.
Description
Masters in Education-Department of Educational Management Policy & Curriculum Studies,77p. November 2014.