Pre-retirement Training Programme: Is it a Panacea for Essential Life Skills to Prospective Retirees?

Abstract

The paper assessed the effectiveness of pre-retirement training programme in imparting essential life skills to prospective retirees at TANROADS in Dar es Salaam -Tanzania. Guided by the Human Capital Theory, the article specifically examined the kind of life skills covered in the pre-retirement programme at TANROADS and the extent to which pre-retirement training programme at TANROADS enhanced essential life skills to prospective retirees. A descriptive research design using a qualitative approach was used to collect primary data by interviewing 30 TANROAD officers who participated in pre-retirement training, and a focus group discussion was held to prospective retires in order to solicit and triangulate information obtained from interviews. Thematic analysis was used for data analysis whereby the main themes and sub-themes were identified based on the objectives. The findings indicated that, TANROADS regularly offered pre-retirement training for prospective retirees. It was also revealed that participants in pre-retirement training programme received diverse life skills. These included self-assurance in managing retirement life, investment skills, business skills, and health maintenance skills as well. The study concludes that, regardless of TANROADS having no comprehensive guideline for preretirement training programme, the training programme is important for imparting essential skills to prospective retirees at TANROADS. The study recommends for TANROADS to devise a comprehensive guideline that addresses pre-retirement training programme and a framework on how it can be appropriately carried out. These include, but not limited to, outlining the duration and frequency of training sessions, monitoring and evaluation of the programme for tracking expected results, learning and accountability.