Workforce development : assessing the significance of employee training at Tshwane west district education office

Abstract

A multitude of training programmes are used on a continuous basis, but these programmes do not relate directly to strategic business needs. Training does not always tie in with the strategic business needs of an organization. These programmes come and go, and often there is no connection to the contribution they make to the organisation or the individual. Furthermore, there is a lack of follow-through, which means that the application of knowledge gained is not taken seriously. From my own opinion, experience and casual observation, Tshwane West district education is not an exception and not excluded. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the workforce development, which includes assessing the significance of employee training in an organisation, particularly at Tshwane West (TW) District Education office. It is believed that the effectiveness of training programmes at TW district must be measured so that there is a return on investment (ROI). This study used a combination of the constructive-interpretivist paradigm with the view of enabling the researcher to assess the employee development. This was done using mixed methods. TW District officials were purposely selected, that is, purposive sampling was used. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. The key findings from the study are twofold: firstly, the findings revealed the importance of workforce development as well as the significance of employee training at Tshwane West District Education office; secondly, the study reveals that, employees who receive some form of development have higher retention rates than those who do not, and higher retention rates directly relate to higher profits. These employees are also more productive, engaged and have a more favourable view of their employer than those who work for corporations that do little to no employee development. The research study does not only contribute to the literature on workforce development, but by also employing KIRKPATRICK’s framework and mixed methods research to the workforce development domain.