Influence of in-service training on job performance: Perspectives of management and operative ICT staff of universities in Rivers State

Abstract

The importance of training in every organization cannot be overemphasized. However, how management views training plays an important role in the attainment of organizational goals. This study aimed at investigating the influence of in-service training on job performance from the perspectives of management and operative ICT staff of universities in Rivers State. The population of the study comprised all the seventy-three (73) management and operative staff in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) departments in three universities in Rivers State namely University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State University, and Ignatius Ajuru University of Education. The sample of the study included all the 73 management and operative staff of the ICT departments in the three universities. Thus, the sample is a census because the authors used the entire population for the study. The study made use of a questionnaire designed by the authors titled: Perception of In-service Training Questionnaire (PITQ), which was in two sections. A four point rating scale-was used to rate and score the responses, as follows: Strongly Agree-4, Agree - 3, Disagree-2, and Strongly disagree-1.The research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation while t-test was used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. Findings reveal that operative and management staff differ significantly in their perception on the influence in-service training has on job performance and 50% of the management staff hold the opinion that in-service training contributes to the achievement of organizational goal. Based on the findings, it was recommended that Management should conduct a training need assessment for individual employees and the organization at large to ensure relevancy for the training as it relates to staff performance.