The impact of training and development on performance of staff in organizations, within the audit sector in Kenya : a case of Deloitte and Touche, Kenya

Abstract

There is growing recognition that to develop skills is a lifelong process. Employees enter the labor force with the initial `stock' of human capital acquired primarily through their initial formal education. Over their working lives employees maintain and upgrade their education stock through a `flow' of training, reinforced by practical experience. In the same way that physical capital needs continuous investment to replace what has been depreciated and meet new production requirements, employees also need a continuous flow of training investment to maintain and upgrade their human capital. Little is actually known on basic empirical questions such as, what extent or nature of training is required and the impact they can have on performance. Therefore the reason for this study is to find out the impact that training and development has on performance of staff especially so for firms in the service industry. I intend to carry out my study at Deloitte and Touche a company that delivers services in four professional areas- audit, tax, consulting. and financial advisory services. The study was conducted using survey design with primary data to be collected using questionnaires from respondent working at the companies' premises in Westland's Nairobi. Secondary data was also collected from the companies past records. The completed questionnaires were edited for completeness and consistency. The data was then coded and checked for coding errors and omissions. It was then run through statistical package for social sciences (SPSS). Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data by way of percentages, proportions and mean scores for all variables in the questionnaire. From the findings, the researcher found out that there was a strong positive relationship between training and development and performance of staff in organizations.