Impact of Training on Employee's Development and Performance in Hotel Industry of Lahore, Pakistan

Abstract

Training is a very important aspect nowadays in making the organization profitable. Most of the organization has, nowadays, a proper training section schedule on regular basis. The main purpose of the training is to develop the employee's skill which eventually makes the organization more profitable. The focus of the study is to find out whether the training programs which are been used by the HR departments of the hotels of Lahore are actually helping employees to develop the performance of their task.

Headnote

Abstract

Training is a very important aspect now days in making the organization profitable. Most of the organization has now days a proper training section schedule on regular basis. The main purpose of the training is to develop the employee's skill which eventually makes the organization more profitable. The focus of the study is to find out wither the training programs which are been used by the HR departments of the hotels of Lahore are actually helping employees to develop and performance of their task.

Keywords: Training, Pakistan, employee development.

Pakistan hotel industry is one of the services sectors which now days is in kind of down fall bemuses of the terrorism. But still this sector is goring not rapidly but it is growing on a slow passé. In last 10 years only in Lahore almost 3 new hotels are opened like Hotel One by PC group Savoey and Park Plaza. In which Hotel One is actually a chain of hotels around the Lahore. The reason of the research in Lahore Pakistan is to determine that dose training helps the hotel staff to improve and develop them.

Hotel sector which is actually the services business needs a lot of training for all the staff of the hotel. In my opinion the important of the training in this services sector is very important because most of the staff is actually are directly in contact with the customer and they are giving them the services. So the employees of the hotel have to be trained and they need a continuous training by which they can keep the customer satisfied. Another important thing in services business your services should be good otherwise you can't make the customer happy and to maintain the services up to the mark we need to train the employees.

By the help of this study we will get to know that training programs of the hotels of Lahore are actually helping the employees to develop and perform their task.

Theoretical Framework

TRAINING

It is a learning process that involves the acquisition of knowledge, sharpening of skills, concepts, rules, or changing of attitudes and behaviours to enhance the performance of employees. Training is a continuous process by which employee actually gets the knowledge and get to know how he or she can perform well in the organization. There are two basic type of training

1. On Job training

2. Off Job training

On Job training is actually done when an employee gets the training while performing his or her assigned task. Off Job training is a type of training when employees of the organization are been called for training session to learn a task.

LITRATURE REVIEW

Social support and access to training can also play a significant role into the level of commitment that is established. Employees are likely to place greater value on training programs that are highly respected by colleagues, supervisors, and managers. Organizations that is able to create an environment where training is supported and valued by employees will be able to achieve greater commitment outcomes (Bartlett, 2001). Mubashar Farooq (MS Scholar, Iqra University Islamabad) said that Training actually the ability of working in any sort of employee even non professional and it build up the abilities to get to the professional level. Taking training and feedback together or separately they both are very important and have a very important role to achieve the organizational goals and targets. In one of this study of ( Mohsin Nadeem 2007) he said point to the fact that equally important with the actual quality and "frequency" of the training programs offered to employees, is the perceived effectiveness of the training programs. Training perceived by the employees to be effective, will likely have a positive impact on job satisfaction, commitment and motivation. In (2008 Apospori) deduced that there is a considerable impact of training on organizational performance. Training and development increase the employee performance like the researcher said in his research that training & development is an important activity to increase the performance of health sector organization (Iftikhar Ahmad and Siraj-ud-din, 2009). The hard approach assumed the employees in the organizations as mere resources to achieve the objectives of the organization, where as the soft approach viewed the employees more as valued assets capable of development (Tyson and Fell 1986). Despite focusing on efficiency and cost control the spending on training should increase because organization get more efficiency , effectiveness out of the training and development (workforce special report, 2006). Training practices used by organizations may have an effect, direct or indirect on both employees Motivation and organizational commitment (Meyer and Allen, 1990). By the provision of appropriate training to all the workers the firms can get high productivity level. (Human capital theory by Becker, 1975). The actual performance of the firms employees are linked with the commitment of the organization and that can be improved by giving them training (Bartlettand Kang, 2004). To improve the performance of the employee the level of organizational commitment and to measure the level of commitment towards organization scales were made by "Meyer and Allen" (1997). They also said the employee performance can be more affective if he is trained in good (Meyer and Allen, 1990, p .1).

In one o f the study the wr iter found that commit ment of emplo yees can increase by letting them part icipate in developing the programs Mat hieu and Zajac(1990). Training increase the performance of the employees as the researcher said in there researches that training is an important activity to increase the performance of health sectors of organization (Iftikhar Ahmad and Siraj-ud-din, 2009). If an organization wants to develop the competitive edge then training help the organization to get the edge when employees are highly develop with the help of training in their work and it help the organisation to retain the core competencies (Prffer 1994). At the start of the twenty-first century Human Resource Managers have opined that one of the main challenges they are to confront had involved issues related to training and development (Stavrou, Brewster and Charalambous 2004). Papalexandirs (2008) has got to the conclusion and highlight that "Training and Development" works in cross-national context. Neo said in 2008 that training is a deliberate and preplanned attempt which is related to the job competencies so that employees' learning is being facilitated. The role and contr ibut ion o f Human Resource Development has gained more acceptabilit y and significance in the tenure of reforms and restructuring. One of the key funct ions o f Human Resource Development is addressing and indent ifying at work setting the demo nstrated behavior of individuals and their perceived attitude towards work (ibid). Lewis (1997) demonstrated and firmly argued that training and development is the vital and main reason behind the high performance of workers, organizations and nations. By the help of provision of adequate and appropriate training to the workers the organizations can have high productivity as per Human capital theory (Becker, 1975). Donovan et al (2001) had a research and finding of that research was that employees are more active and quick in responding and accepting changes, built their inner confidence stronger and develop understanding to the supportive to their peers, once they participate in different type of training programs. Comprehensive training and development program helps in deliberating on the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to achieve organizational goals and also to create competitive advantage (Peteraf 1993). To have effective, training and development of management programs need to take into account the employees are adults learners (Forrest &Peterson, 2006). Oribabor (2000) said that training and development aim is to developing competences such as technical, human, conceptual and managerial for the furtherance of individuals and organization growth. Pitfield (1982) has an opinion that the main objectives of training are to give skills, knowledge and aptitudes to do required job efficiently develop the workers so that he or she has potentials, he or she may progress increase efficiency by reducing spoilt work, misuse of machines and lessening physical risks. The customers in the study reported that overall service quality can be improved during the time of receptionist were receive social skills training (Garavan, 1997). Training has a direct relationship with the performance of the employees, training is a formal and systematic modification of behavior through learning that actually occurs result if education, instruction, development and planned experience (Michael Armstrong, 2000). Practical implication of training is important and effective training is important. Costly but an effective training can save money that is wasted in cheap but inefficient training (Ginsberg, 1997). In today's business world, employee's skills which are necessary to do their job are only possible through training. Most of the companies train their employees in such a manner that would help them to sustain throughout their careers. This kind of training can lead to high levels of motivation and commitment by the employees, who actually see the opportunity they are given. Training is defined in this study "as the planned intervention that is designed to enhance the determinants of individual job performance" (Chiaburu and Tekleab, 2005, p. 29). Training is related to the skills deemed necessary by the management of an organization that must be acquired by the members of that organization, in order to improve the probability of achievement of its goals. Training offered to employees, may help them reduce their anxiety or frustration, brought on by work demands, that they are not familiar with, and they are lacking the skills to handle effectively (Chen et al., 2004). Training has been an important variable in increasing organizational productivity. Most of researches including Colombo and Stanca (2008), Oguntimehin (2001) identified the functions of training as follow: increase productivity, improves the quality of work; improves skills, knowledge, understanding and attitude; enhance the use of tools and machine; reduces waste, accidents, turnover, lateness, absenteeism and other overhead costs, eliminates obsolesce in skills, technologies, methods, products, capital management etc. It brings incumbents to that level of performance which needs the performance for the job; enhance the implementation of new policies and regulations; prepares people for achievement, improves man-power development and ensures the survival and growth of the enterprise. Akinpeju (1999) postulated that the process of training and development is a continuous one. The need to perform one's job efficiently and the need to know how to lead others are sufficient reasons for training and development and the desire to meet organizations objectives of higher productivity, makes it absolutely compulsory. The employee performance is going to be more effective if he is trained in good manner and the affective commitment will lead to more emotional type of attachment which is going to improve the work efficiency and helps the organization in succeeding competitive edge in the market because of the training employees stick to the same organization which helps him to develop as commitment more of norm type to help organization (Meyer and Allen, 1990, P.1). Bartleet (2001) had a research which says t hat there is a close relat io n bet ween the percept io n of emplo ye es towards the training program and the organizat ional co mmit ment, emplo yee is posit ively linked wit h the perceived training ability of employees, willingness to participate, and training sup port from the senior staff and also the management of the organizat ion.

Patrick (2006) ensures the vitality of an organizat ion and the core function of HRM are benefit s o f training and training itself. He also explored that there is link between training and various out comes of organizat ion such as job sat isfact ion, training, and organisat io nal co mmit ments exist a st rong relat ion.

Research Methodology

The methodology we are adopting for this specific research is that we are going to interview the managers in hotel and there would also be some of the employees are going to fill up some questioner for which we helped them to understand the core concept of the questions.

The interview will be conducted form the Managers of the Savoey hotel and the questioner will be filled by different supervisors of the hotel. There are total 6 question in an interview and 12 in questionnaire.

Sample size for the Questionnaire which I selected was20.

Research Approach

As I are doing interview from the managers and conducting a questioner from the supervisors of the different departments. The date of the interview from Managers was as fallow

Manager HR Madam Faiza Shakeel 13 August 2012

House Kipping Executive Mr Altaf Hussain 13 August 2012

The reason of getting interview form Altaf Hussain was this that as an house kipping executive the outcome of the training is immediate and we can know what are the results of a training is .

Questioners were also distributed on the same day. To help them understanding the actual concept of the question I was helping to get to the core concept of the questions. I am going to interpret the every question of interview and questioner one by one. So I can give the clear understanding of the topic of Training on the employee performance.

Interview Questions Results

Q1. What is the impact of HR training on the performance of employees?

Madam Faiza Shakeel

The major impact is to familiarize them with the new techniques, skills & knowledge development. This ensures their performance. When they are equipped with new methods and use of latest technologies the efficiency goes beyond the expectations.

Mr Altaf Hussain

Performance begins after the training as before training there was hard work only. Training polishes the skills of an individual.

Discussion

From the above mention two different responses it can be concluded that there is a positive impact of training on the employee's performance and there is a clear improvement o f employee in work efficiency at the work place.

Q2. What are the individual gains from the training program for the employees?

Madam Faiza Shakeel

Knowledge development

Skill Development

Personality & attitude Development

Mr Altaf Hussain

Skills

Confidence

The right way of doing things

Discussion

We can clearly understand that with the help of training program skills of an individual are improved and he or she gets more confidence when the skills are improved and know how to perform a job.

Q3. Is training p rogram helpful for the hotel industry to measure the actual performance of workers?

Madam Faiza Shakeel

Yes off course. In the hotel industry behavior of the staff with the customers is the key component. When the staff is courteous and will have the knowledge of dealing their actual performance enhanced.

Mr Altaf Hussain

As hotel industry it is all about services and we deal with human beings, training help the workers to improve their performance. Feedback shows trained staff is far better than UN trained staff.

Discussion

The feedback of the managers clearly shows that training is an important part of the hotel industry and without training the hotel industry is noting.

Q4. Does training always make employees show the positive attitude towards work?

Madam Faiza Shakeel

Yes trainings impact motivations in employees and a motivated employee always show positive attitude towards work.

Mr Altaf Hussain

Training makes an individual perfect in his skills. Trained person always enjoy his or her work, which is a positive attitude towards work.

Discussion

There is a clear answer that with the help of training there is always a positive attitude in the work and person gets more involved in it.

Q5. Does the employee's posit ive perception increase after pa rticip at i on in the t ra ining program?

Madam Faiza Shakeel

Yes off cores when employee is trained they get to solve their different problems while performing a task and after training the perception is been increased.

Mr Altaf Hussain

Yes it increases as training is all about the grooming of skills and behaviours.

Discussion

Training perception gets more with the help of training especially if the problems which occur during the work of the employee. They get more confidence and they are more active in their job.

Q6. Do the actual performances of employees improve due to th e development of skills required for job by means of training?

Madam Faiza Shakeel

Yes actual performance increases when a certain skill which requires completing a job can be delivered to the employee.

Mr Altaf Hussain

As training improves the work efficiency and reduces the time, it improves the performance of employees.

Discussion

Respondent managers answer shows clearly that training is been giving to employees to improve their skills so they can perform well in the organization and they don't have any problem while performing their different task and at the end the performance is improved.

Questionnaire analysis:

Q1. Our organization conducts extensive training programs for its employees in all aspects of quality?

Interpretation:

The respondents answered the questions on the scale of 1 to 5. The 45% of employees opt to 1on scale which means they strongly agree in the hotel industry view that training program inside the organisation covers all aspect of quality. 25 % employees agree to quality of training program of company. 15% respondents disagreed with the quality of training program

Q2. Employees in each job will normally go through training programs every year?

Interpretation:

The sample size responded to every year training induct ion on scale 1 to 5 as 35% of the selected sample size strongly agreed while 25% just agreed to it . 15% respondents remaining different, 1.5% disagree that in each department every year training program is going on

Q3. Training needs are identified through a formal performance appraisal mechanism?

Interpretation:

65% respondents out of the 20 employees agree to some extent that training needs of these are being identified through the mechanism of performance appraisal. 30%strongly agrees and 35% agree that performance appraisal technique identify requirements for training. 15% emplo yees do not consider per for mance appraisal as training need ident ifier whereas 20% remain indifferent to it.

Q4. There are formal training programs to teach new employees the skills they need to perform their jobs?

Interpretation:

Most of the respondents firmly consider training program as the basic requirement to perform their routine jobs. 35% agree and 40% strongly agree, which means 75% of the respondents that formal training program as the tool to guide the employees learn their tasks in consistent manner, it assist them in teaching the basics about the jo bs t hat how t o perform it. 15%somewhat disagree to it while 10% remain neutral about it.

Q5. I believe social circle in the firm is expanding due to participation in the training program?

Interpretation:

13 Out of 20 employees agree that social circle of an employee keep on expanding when he participates in the training programs, this account to 65% employees, out of which 45% agree, a nd 2 0% st r o ng ly a gree but 15% r emain u nd ec id ed a bo ut it . 20% emplo yees altogether disagree that training program helps in the expansion of social circle.

Q6. I believe my promotion is a result of induction of the training program?

Interpretation:

The sample size o f 20 responded to this quest ion on different scales as 8 agree, 7 strongly agre e, 2 d is agree, 1 st ro ng ly d is agrees a nd 2 mar k ed i nd iffer e nt . This means t hat 70%employees feel that promotion is possible if they participate in the training program.

Q7. I believe that my set targets and objective are attained and identified by the firm through training program?

Interpretation:

The setting o f targets and attaining object ives are done through invo lving employees in the training program by firms are agreed by 7 emplo yees w hic h me a ns 35% agr ee t o it , 5 respondents strongly agree that firm use training program as a tool to attain targets which means 25%, altogether it is 60% of sample size that agree where as 15% do not agree to it.15% of sample size is undecided about it

Q8. I believe that my pay scale has increased as a result of participation in appropriate training program?

Interpretation:

7 out of 20 emplo yees targeted in survey questionnaire agree that training program help in increasing their salary, this means 35% respondents have experienced that after participation in the training program, their salary has increased. 5 view training program as t he strong mode to have increase in the pay scale which means 25% strongly agrees. Total 60% believe that training program help them in the increment in the salary package. On the other hand 3 disagree and 1strongly disagree, that makes 20% disagree or strongly disagree that salary increases after participation in the training program.

Q9. I believe that more career paths will emerge and more opportunities will come my way after participating in the training program?

Interpretation:

The respondents were asked that do they think that more opportunit ies will co me their way aft er participat ion in t he training program and 65% agree that career path is clearer when training program is undertaken. 25% strongly agree and 40% just agree but 5% disagree that after participation in the training program there are more chances of emerging opportunities. Furthermore, 10% strongly disagree with it but the majority agrees to it.

Q10. Training has helped me in improving my overall required skills for work?

Interpretation:

Most of the respondents agree t hat yes, training helps them in improving their skills for assigned task. 40% strongly agree and 35% simply agree which means 80% in total agree that overall skills that they are lacking are improved by the help of training program. 10% remaining different about it and only 10% do not agree that trainings help them in improving their overall skills.

Q11. In our organization, Training motivates employees to be more committed towards organizational goals?

Interpretation:

To establish a link between training and the organizat ional co mmit ment, this question was asked and the respo nses show that 55% workers be lieve that training is a motivator for employees to be more committed towards the organizational goals and targets. As the figure suggests that 35% agree and 20% strongly agree so the majority of respondents agree to it.

Q12. My career path is more in shape due to my participation in the training program?

Interpretation:

7 employees marked strongly agree and 9 marked agree so this indicates that 80% employees vie w t r a in ing pro gra m a s a w a y t o shape t he ir c ar eer pat h. I n o t her wo r ds to ha ve mo r e precise idea about your career path, training program is essential requirement but 10% do not view it as the way to shape your career path.

Summary

There are two methods which are been used interview and questioner. From both methods it is clear that there is a strong relationship between training and employee performance. It is also clear that in hotel industry of Lahore managers and employees they are both very much interested in conducting and being trained. Feedback indicates that emplo yees are ver y much sat isfied by training. Organizat ion emplo yees improve the jo b relat ed skills and they are more co mpetent when they are trained. Outcome of the research shows that 70% hotel employee feel that the training program actually helps them to develop more and they can work more efficiently and has an interest in the work. Hotel organization which is selected for the study 75% respondents said that training programs improve the actual performance and the basic need of the training program is actually been notice by the performance appraisal. Training actually is a very helpful and survey shows 78% are agreed. Furthermore 75% employee thinks that there promotion is just because of the training. 65% of the survey people think that there path is clearer after getting trained. 65% of the candidate says that there social interaction gets better by attending the training sessions. The respondent of this survey says 60% that there pay scale is improved because of training.

Conclusion

Research clearly shows that training has direct influence on the employee's performance and it tends to increase the overall actual performance of employee. Training improves working efficiency of employees as advance level performance due to the training of the programs.

Research findings are very clear that indicates that the actual performance of an employee is being affected by the training sessions. So the correlation between the variables Training & Employee Performance is positive.

Employee perception towards the organization work and the performance is clearly affected to a level by HR training practices in which one of the most significant factor is training which affects the actual employee performance in positive way. Previous researches also say that the performance of the employee has a direct impact on the performance of the employee. Employee performance and Hr training has a very close and positive relation with each other.

Training of the HR is an investment by the organization to get improvement in the service quality and by which the organization can get competitive advantage in the market. Some thinks that training is expensive by any means but personally I think that as a long term investment by which we can get increase in the efficiency of business. With the help of training the employees of the organization can improve their skills and the gap of missing skills which are new to them.

The performance of the employees has a strong link with the HR training and there for it is important study for the business world to learn about the relationship between the training and the employee performance.

The research is been done in the hotel sector of the Lahore where it is been clearly shows that training is a very important part of the industry and without training employee cannot achieve the task in a good and efficient manner which at the end of the day benefits for the organization. As hotel industry is services business and there is a direct interaction with the customer and in an interview House Keeping Executive Altaf Hussain also said training is a very important part for this industry.

Q1. Our organization conducts extensive training programs for its employees in all aspects of quality?

Q2. Employees in each job will normally go through training programs every year?

Q3. Training needs are identified through a formal performance appraisal

mechanism? Q4. There are formal training programs to teach new employees the skills they need to perform

their jobs? Q5. I believe social circle in the firm is expanding due to participation in the

training program? Q6. I believe my promotion is a result of induction of the

training program? Q7. I believe that my set targets and objective are attained and identified by the firm through

training program? Q8. I believe that my pay scale has increased as a result of participation in appropriate

training program? Q9. I believe that more career paths will emerge and more opportunities will come my way after participating in the

Sidebar

Interview Questions:

Q1. What is the impact of HR training on the performance of employees?

Q2. What are the individual gains from the training program for the employees?

Q3. Is training program helpful for the hotel industry to measure the actual performance of workers?

Q4. Does training always make employees show the positive attitude towards work?

Q5. Does the emplo yee's positive perception increase after participation in t he training program?

Q6. Do the actual performances of emplo yees improve due to the development of skills required for job by means of training?

Questions for Employees:

Q10. Training has helped me in improving my overall required skills for work?

Q11. In our organization, Training motivates employees to be more committed towards organisational goals?

Q12. My career path is more in shape due to my participation in the training program?

References

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