Effects of Human Resources Training on Organizational Performance of United Nations Development Program (Undp) — Rwanda

Jean Bosco Harelimana^* and Marie Claire Diane Kalikesha
^*Correspondence: Jean Bosco Harelimana, Department of Economics, Kigali Independent University (Ulk), Rwanda P.O. BOX.2280, Rwanda, Email:

Keywords

Human resource • Training • Organizational performance

Introduction

According to the World Bank, employee training is a program aimed at helping employees gain specific skills and knowledge. Human resource managers come up with different training programs that aim at developing the skills, knowledge and capability of employee that they feel they need to go through so as to position them to be more productive. Trainings like these have the two benefits of educating employees about their roles and responsibilities while encouraging them to be more committed towards their work. Maintain that to match standards that have been laid down, employees induce and train staff accordingly. As the years go by, organizations create more and more different programs that create new skills through long-term planning. In this way, the companies empower themselves to adapt to any present or future uncertainties. They basically make sure that the performance of employees is guaranteed through superior levels of commitment and motivation [1,2].

Training is developed through organized programs that ensure employees are given skills that are essential in the job market. Before starting any kind of training, coaches and mentors must be aware of what employers are looking for. Training makes it easier for an organization to retain good talents that helps in the growth of profits. The brilliant staff helps the organization improve its problem-solving skills and successfully tackle the challenges of operation. Well trained employees have the ability to lay down well-developed strategies and in so doing improve performance [3].

Training as a motivation factor is an important element to be considered when searching for a highly effective workforce. Motivation comes from within us and affects how we think, what we believe and our goals and ambitions. Researchers who carry out motivation studies provide insights into why people perform at work as they do and in the process tell managers what they can do to motivate their employees so that they can perform better [4]. According to the National Capacity Building Secretariat (NCBS) Newsletter (April 2012); Rwanda made up the development aspirations protected in the MDGs; Vision 2020; Economic Development Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS 1 & 2) respectively 2008-2012 and 2013-2017 as a Five Year Government’s Strategic Plan. Therefore, there were still significant challenges related to inadequate capacity in various forms that delay the attainment of planned development goals. In this regard, the Government of Rwanda (GoR) established the National Capacity Building Secretariat former Public Sector Capacity Building Secretariat with a mandate to guide facilitate and coordinate the implementation of capacity building interventions in the country. The PSCBS was established under a Prime Minister’s Order N°56/03 of 14/8/2009, published in the Official Gazette N°35 of 31/08/2009.

According to Capacity Employment Service Board (CESB) website, in 2013 the Government of Rwanda (GoR) makes a Five Year Program for skills development to deliver EDPRS II (2013-2017), this program was developed and approved by Cabinet in April 2013 with mandate to address the critical and scarce skills gap in the following high priority sectors: Infrastructure, Agriculture, Natural Resources, Investment, Trade and Industry, Information Communication Technology, Health and Education. CESB, then NCBS is coordinating agency for this Program with close supervision from the Ministry of Public Service and Labour (MIFOTRA) and Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MINECOFIN). This is the reason why a researcher was inspired to conduct this study in UNDP-Rwanda in order to see the level on which Human Resource Training and induction Programs are conducted there.

Objectives

The general objective of the study is to establish the effects of Human Resource training on organizational performance of UNDP/Rwanda. The specific objectives are:

1. To assess the Human resources training programs quality within UNDP/RWANDA

2. To analyze the indicators of organization performance of UNDP/ RWANDA

3. To find out the relationship between Human resources trainings on organization performance of UNDP/RWANDA.

Literature Review

Organizations have their employees follow training programs so as to improve their skills, knowledge and capacities. They design trainings that have the ability to meet their employee’s needs. However, observed that some organizations take their employees to training programs established by another firm. Previous studies indicate that if well done, internal programs are more effective than the external ones. This is because internal programs are implemented in such a way that they cater to needs that have already been thought over by a company. The external programs are made for a diverse population from different organizations and therefore, they are seen to be less effective. Found out that the external programs are not always ineffective. Sometimes, they are even preferable to internal training programs because they provide new and important essential knowledge/skills that an organization may not have information about. Therefore, when designing training programs, firms work to provide workers with opportunities for the development of general and specific skills. Training is not only for the lower-level employees only, but also to administration and management. Some forms of training, such as sales training, are best for employees. Others, like management training, are offered for managers to enhance the skills needed for their roles. Also, supervisory training is provided to the supervisors explained that the management and supervisor training can be offered to workers that are being favored for promotion. Training programs are design keeping in mind what an organization most wishes employees to develop in, not that there are two key training methods, namely; behavioral and cognitive training. Therefore, a firm selects the most suitable method that should be implemented in the training program. Explain that both methods can be applied in the same program at the same time. The cognitive training provides theoretical training to employees and managers alike. The theoretical information is given to the trainees verbally or non-verbally or both [5].

Cognitive trainings are given through lectures, program instruction, computer-based training and discussions. On the other hand, the behavioral method uses practical approaches to provide training. These practical approaches help employees to change their behavior and be in line with what the organization requires of them. Examples of behavioral approaches are role-played in equipment stimulators, case studies, business games, behavioral modeling and games. Some of the approaches categorized under the cognitive method, such as computer-based training, have a tendency to facilitate skills development, in addition to the acquisition of knowledge. In the same way, some approaches classified under the behavioral method, such as case studies, provide knowledge as well as skills [6].

Huang & Jao (2016) identified two methods that are used during managerial and employee training, namely: off job training and on-the-job train. Off-thejob training is when employees or managers are trained at a site away from the premises of the organization and where the skills and knowledge gained are to be applied. In this strategy, trainees leave their work-responsibilities to go through the training process. For on-the-job training, the process is done in the workplace as the trainee goes through his or her day-to-day activities and responsibilities. In this kind of training, a more experienced employee or manager can act as the instructor. In other cases, the organization can bring a professional instructor to provide the training. Huang and Jao (2016) also noted that the formal training away from the workplace can be used to support the job training. As such, the two strategies can be applied together. Previous studies have shown that of late, most organizations have shown more and more increased preference to implement off job trainings. The change has been facilitated by limitations associated with the on-the-job training, such as lack of opportunities for group discussion, lack of adequate training facilities and the presence of hostile internal environment for training, more so, the training techniques vary depending on the strategy that is adopted. On-thejob training techniques include mentoring, coaching, demonstrations, job rotation and team building exercises. Examples of off job training techniques are brainstorming, discussions, case studies, behavior modeling, conferences and lectures. Some of the techniques such as demonstrations, however, can be applied in both the work settings and away from the work.

All in all, training programs should be created with the careful consideration of different factors that influence choices for training methods. In so doing, chances of getting the desired objective are tremendously increased. The choices for the suitable methods can be determined by human factors such as the presence or availability of a trainer. Other influential factors include subject area training objectives time and materials availability and principles of teach described four stages of implementation of training programs, namely, training needs assessment and development of training program design, implementation and evaluation [7].

Methodology

This study adopted a descriptive survey. Descriptive survey research design is a scientific method which involved observing and describing the behavior of a subject without influencing it in any way. It employed both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The population of this study is 63 staffs (Including 52 staffs in program department, 2 staffs in human resource department, 5 staffs in logistic, 2 staffs in procurement and 2 staffs in finance department.

Data was collected by using selected respondents from the study 63 population due to the reasons of necessary and convenience. Purposive sampling applied for choosing sample elements. A researcher got to UNDPRwanda and met staffs one by one.

Results and Discussion

There are the reasons for conducting the Human Resources training Program (HRTP) implementation in UNDP-Rwanda, to increase effectively the performance of the personnel for the Hospital being fully accredited through the Quality Improvement (QI) made up in order to achieve institution’s goals.

The reasons which motivated employees to work at UNDP-Rwanda

The results show the employee’s point of view on the main reason motivated them to work with UNDP-Rwanda. Most of employee with 54.3% of respondent said that they have been motivated by training offered by UNDPRwanda, 16.9% of respondents said that they are motivated by better working condition available at UNDP-Rwanda, 15% of respondents affirm that they are motivated to work with UNDP-Rwanda following the facilities available there; lastly 13.5% of respondents said that they are motivated by job security.

The type of training attended at UNDP-Rwanda

The training conducted at UNDP-Rwanda essentially are divided into three parts as follow; training related to program services is the main conducted training made by UNDP-Rwanda. The majority of staff working in program department, therefore 46 respondents equal to 74.5% attended the training related to clinical services. Secondary 10 respondents equal to 15.2% have attended the Financial Management training then lastly 7 respondents equal to 10.1% have been followed the training on other field for example procurement process, data manager, logistics.

The training Method used by UNDP-Rwanda

The results show the employees points of views on methods used by UNDP-Rwanda, 64.4% of employees’ respondent said that they received the on the job training. It means that. On-the-job training is delivered to employees while they perform their regular jobs, 32.2% of respondents said that UNDPRwanda used the off the-job training, then the staff responsible of departments among them, 3.3% give the responses that they attended the other training like senior management meeting at the top level to have the instruction from the central level to UNDP-Rwanda. Other methods of training are Face to face training, Online courses - self-paced or synchronistic, Online courses – instructor lead or synchronistic, Simulation or scenario based training, Virtual reality training, Coaching and Blended Learning. There is the strategy that the Human Resource training Program used by UNDP-Rwanda to attain the institutional goals through its employee’s performance.

Expected results of training

The results show the employees’ point of views on the main expected results after the human resource training program at UNDP-Rwanda. The majority of employees with 39% of employees respondents said that they expected results after training offered by UNDP-Rwanda, is to enhance the skills, capabilities and knowledge of employees; 27.1% of respondents they expect in training offered by UNDP-Rwanda to increase business effectiveness and efficiency, 25.4% of respondents they expected to lead to quality performance of employees and 8.5% of respondents they expected to improve morale of employees.

Employee’s appreciation of the Frequency of training at UNDP-Rwanda

The results indicate that UNDP-Rwanda employee’s appreciations of the frequency of the Human resource training program, 48 respondents (78%) their point of views to the frequency of the training is satisfactory, 8 respondents (11.8%) confirm that frequency is very satisfactory while 7 respondents (10.2%) affirm that it is unsatisfactory. Therefore, we conclude that the frequency is satisfactory because the majority respondents affirmatively confirm that the HRT at UNDP-Rwanda is on 78%.

Performance measurement after inducting and trainings conducted at UNDP-Rwanda

After the HRTP conducted at UNDP-Rwanda, shows that 48 respondents equal to 81.4%, employees earned between 90-100 marks during the performance evaluation, then 11 respondents equal to 18.6% obtained between 80-90%. It means that the performance of UNDP-Rwanda employees is greater than before due to the Human resource training program strategy conducted by the institution. Therefore, when the staff is performed the institution’s goals are also achieved. UNDP-Rwanda provides the trainings to its employees for increasing their performance that enhance the achievement of its goals even if there are some challenges.

Human resource training program at UNDP-Rwanda

After being trained, they are same kind of indicators it may be show that UNDP-Rwanda has made success is more than before the training. The 36 respondents equal to 57.6% said that after the HRT at UNDP-Rwanda the Quality Improvement of service delivery is highly attained and 18 respondents equal to 28.8% of respondents said that customers are satisfied then the accreditation process were be aware, this responded by 9 respondents which is equal to 13.6% of respondents.

Challenges faced by UNDP-Rwanda in human resource training PROGRAM

The maim challenge faced by the UNDP-Rwanda is the lack of time to attend off Job training due to the low number of staff available at UNDP-Rwanda, it is responded by 48 respondents equal to 78.0%. Therefore, the main training method used in UNDP-Rwanda is on Job training. Second challenge is the lack of training budget allocated to HRTP by central government the number of respondents on this is 10 equal to 15.3%, last challenge is responded by 5 people equal to 6.7% of respondents according the data collected on the field. The main challenges to overcome including lack of time for staff that requires more availing time for staff to follow off-Job training even if UNDP-Rwanda doesn’t have sufficient staff.

The findings reveal that three variables had a p –value of less than 0.05 (i.e. p <0.05). These included Reasons which motivated you to work in UNDPRwanda, type of training, training methods used and appreciation of the frequency of the training at UNDP-Rwanda. Thus, these are the variables that were considered to have a statistical significance to the variance in achieving institution’s goals. In addition, considering the values shown under the column labeled β, the variable with the highest influence on achieving institution’s goals were reasons which motivated you to work in UNDP-Rwanda, type of training, training methods used in training and appreciation of the frequency of the training at UNDP-Rwanda. The values provided under column β are used to construct the simple regression equation for the model.

This gave a value of -0.984. This implies that 98.4% of the variance in achieving institution’s goals can be affected by HRT Strategy in UNDP-Rwanda. It ascertains that there is a positive relationship between HRT Strategy and the performance of an organization. Therefore, except that any organization undertakes Human Resource Training Program strategy, the process will help the institution to have some benefits than suffering for some challenges related to applicability process. After analysis of the finding from respondents we find that the hypothesizes are to be accepted to be true where the reason for HMRIT is gaining access to other resources, profit motive and large competitiveness. We conform that HRT helped institutions to be performed due to the mind set of trained and skilled employees, quick service delivery, quality improved of service delivery, then if there are competitors or not it’s possible to apply innovation on new opportunities that exist.

Recommendations

It was recommend that managers have to continue attracting employees and retain them basing on equitably selection of employees to attend the training, because it is most important for organizational performance and goals achievement. The existence of HRTP for Rwandan Public institutions leads to the performance and achievement of Institution’s goals. Therefore, UNDPRwanda as it has an indicator that shows the capacity of skilled staff helped the institution to become competitive and productive. Due to skills acquired, it contributes to the cost reduction of service delivery in terms of waiting time for patients, increasing of amounts receivable, reducing customer’s queues.

Conclusion

After the HRT conducted at UNDP-Rwanda, shows that 48 respondents equal to 81.4%, employees earned between 90-100 marks during the performance evaluation, then 11 respondents equal to 18.6% obtained between 80-90%. It means that the performance of UNDP-Rwanda employees is greater than before due to the Human resource training program strategy conducted by the institution. Therefore, when the staff is performed the institution’s goals are also achieved.

The 36 respondents equal to 57.6% said that after the HRT at UNDPRwanda the Quality Improvement of service delivery is highly attained and 18 respondents equal to 28.8 respondents said that customers are satisfied then the accreditation process were be aware, this responded by 9 respondents which is equal to 13.6% of respondents. The findings reveal that three variables had a p–value of less than 0.05 (i.e. p <0.05). These included Reasons which motivated you to work in UNDP-Rwanda, type of training, training methods used and appreciation of the frequency of the training at UNDP-Rwanda. Thus, these are the variables that were considered to have a statistical significance to the variance in achieving institution’s goals.

In order to determine the overall influence of HRT Strategy for performance of UNDP-Rwanda, the researcher obtained the sum total of the adjusted R Square values so far obtained. This gave a value of -0.984. This implies that 98.4% of the variance in achieving institution’s goals can be affected by HRT Strategy in UNDP-Rwanda. It ascertains that there is a positive relationship between HRT Strategy and the performance of an organization. Therefore, except that any organization undertakes Human Resource Training Program strategy, the process will help the institution to have some benefits than suffering for some challenges related to applicability process. After analysis of the finding from respondents we find that the hypothesizes are to be accepted to be true where the reason for HMRIT is gaining access to other resources, profit motive and large competitiveness. We conform that HRT helped institutions to be performed due to the mind set of trained and skilled employees, quick service delivery, quality improved of service delivery, then if there are competitors or not it’s possible to apply innovation on new opportunities that exist.

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