LEVERAGING TRAINING TO MAXIMIZING EMPLOYEES PERFORMANCE AND POTENTIAL BENEFITS

This paper examines the impact of training on employees' capabilities and performance level. A total of 93 employees from a public organization in Malaysia participated in this study. Of that total, 65.5% were male staff whilst the rest or 33.5% were females. A multi-stage approach was used where data were primarily collected using mail survey followed by telephone survey and personal face-to-face feedback. This was then supported by semi-structured interviews with selected identified individuals on the basis of purposive sampling. Analysis of findings suggested that on a general account a positive trend has emerged from this study indicating the effectiveness of the training programs although with a range of variations of benefits gained by the staff. A majority or 69.9% of the respondents claimed they have acquired 70% or more SKAs. Findings also revealed that 89.3% of the employees were able to apply and practice more than 50% of the SKAs back to their offices. Apart from that, results on the impact of training on employees on six major benefits studied demonstrated the followings (according to priority): (i) time savings (91.4%), (ii) increased in work quality (57%), (iii) increased networking (45%), (iv) cost reduction (43%), and finally (v) increased productivity (27%). Hence, it can be concluded that the contribution of the organization in providing training to the workers has been fruitful. As such, it can be said that those training provided to the workforce has not only helped them improve their individual capabilities (SKAs), but more important, boost their morale and motivation that consequently leads to job performance improvement.