Examination of the
strategic role in assessing workers’ training need in Niger Mills PLC and
United Cement Company, Calabar.
Business Management
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
Investing in human resources through training and management
development improves individual employee capabilities and organizational
performance. Training of workers is a very essential tool for human resource
development, but this can only become relevant after a workers’ training need
assessment has been conducted. Training needs assessment is define as an
ongoing process of gathering data to determine what training needs exist so that
training can be developed to help the organization accomplish its objectives.
The training needs assessment is a critical activity for the training and
development function.
Gent, and Gregory (1989) asserted that, conducting
training needs assessment is fundamental to the success of a training program.
Often, organizations will develop and implement training without firstconducting a needs
analysis. Goldstein (1991) noted that these organizations run the risk of
overdoing training, doing too little training or missing the point completely.
The purpose of a workers training needs assessment is to
identify areas that are deficient in performance within an organization in order to help
direct resources to the areas of greatest need, those that closely relate to
fulfilling the organizational goals and objectives, improving productivity and
providing quality products and services. The results of the needs assessment
allows the training manager to set the training objectives by answering two
very basic questions: who, if anyone, needs training and what training is
needed? Sometimes training is not the solution. Some performance gaps can be
reduced or eliminated through other management solutions such as communicating
expectations, providing a supportive work environment, arranging consequences,
removing obstacles and checking job fit.
Gupta,
(1999) opined that, designing a training and development program involves a
sequence of steps that can be grouped into five phases: needs assessment,
instructional objectives, design, implementation and evaluation. However,
Organizational analysis examines where training is needed in the organization
and under what conditions the training will be conducted. It identifies the
knowledge, skills, and abilities that employees will need for the future, as
the organization and their jobs evolves or changes.
In this context, Training Needs Assessment
(TNA) processes have a strategic role because they provide clear guidelines as
to which professional skill deficiencies must be remedied and what the profile
of future trainees should be. For Al-Khayyat, (1998). training needs come from
underdeveloped skills, insufficient knowledge or inappropriate worker
attitudes. Aguinis & Kraiger,
(2009). define training needs as identified differences between the
employees’ current performance and the performance that the organization
expects of them.
In view of this therefore, the study attempts to examined
the strategic role in assessing workers’ training needs in selected large scale
organizations in Cross River State with particular attention on Niger mills plc
and United Cement company (UNICEM) PLC, Calabar, as a case study.
1.2 Statement of the
problem
Investments in training and development of employees can
make organizations more productive or more effective. Gupta,(1999) Identified some
unresolved issues such as new workplace demands and requirements are causing
major changes in activities and operations within the organization which
requires a regular update of workers skills to meet up with the expectations of
this new workplace demands. Similarly, the
rapid pace of technological
changes in the information society, the increasing operational procedures
required for production, the reduction in the product life cycle, and rapidly
changing production processes are quite revealing issues which is seeking for
urgent response in the area of workers’ training and regular updating of
skills. Therefore, in response to these growing pressures in the workplace
there is need for workers’ to be fully equipped, but this can be achievable
through continuous training programs arising from training need assessment in
every organization that will want to succeed by attaining its set goals.
Rosner, (1999) noted that, despite the
strategic role of worker training need assessment, research shows that training
needs diagnoses have been done in an unsystematic manner in organizational
settings. There is still relatively little theoretical and empirical research
on training need assessment (Supino & Richardson 1999). Addressing and
resolving this issues has however, prompted the desire of the researcher to conduct an examination of the strategic
role of assessing workers’ training needs in selected large scale organizations
of Cross River State, Nigeria.
1.3 Objectives of the study
The
main objective of this study is to examine the strategic role in assessing
workers’ training need in Niger Mills PLC and United Cement Company, Calabar.
To achieve this broad objective, the following specific objectives have been
taken into consideration:
(i)
To examine the strategic
role of workers training need assessment on employee training in Niger Mills
PLC and United Cement Company, (UNICEM) Calabar
(ii)
To determine the impact of
training needs assessment on New workplace demands in Niger Mills PLC and
United Cement Company,(UNICEM) Calabar.
(iii)
To evaluate the strategic
role of training needs assessment on workers’ skills in Niger Mills PLC and United Cement Company,
(UNICEM) Calabar.
(iv) To
underscore the strategic role of training needs assessment on organizational success
in Niger Mills PLC and United Cement Company, (UNICEM) Calabar
1.4
Research questions
(i)
How does the strategic role
of training needs assessment influence organization goals in Niger Mills PLC
and United Cement Company, (UNICEM) Calabar?
(ii)
How does training needs
assessment impact on employee productivity in Niger Mills PLC and United Cement
Company, (UNICEM) Calabar?
(iii)
To what extent does workers
training need assessment impact on
organization effectiveness in Niger Mills PLC and United Cement Company,
(UNICEM) Calabar?
(iv)
To what extent does
training needs assessment impact on organizations performance in Niger Mills PLC and United Cement Company,
(UNICEM) Calabar?
1.5
Research Hypothesis
(i)
There is no significant
relationship between training needs assessment and organizational success in
Niger Mills PLC and United Cement Company, (UNICEM) Calabar
(ii)
There is no significant relationship between workers’
training needs assessment and organization’s competitive advantage in Niger
Mills PLC and United Cement Company, (UNICEM) Calabar
(iii)
There is no significant
relationship between training needs assessment and employee job satisfaction in
Niger Mills PLC and United Cement Company, (UNICEM) Calabar
(iv) There
is no significant relationship between training needs assessment and
organization’s goals in Niger Mills PLC and United Cement Company, (UNICEM)
Calabar
1.6 Scope and Limitation of the Study
In
terms of coverage, this study focuses on examination of the strategic role in
assessing workers’ training need in Niger Mills PLC and United Cement Company,
Calabar. This means that issues relating to training needs assessment will be
explained. In view of the technicalities involved, it would be unrealistic to
assume that all necessary facts will be
gathered in the process of the study. Information is limited to those accesses
and made available by the respondents and also have gathered from end users. More so, since large scale organizations have
many forms, the study will only be limited to Niger Mills PLC and United Cement
Company, Calabar.
Some of the constraints are:-
i. Time
constraints
The researcher finds it difficult to go
round all the departments in Niger Mills PLC and United Cement Company, Calabar
due to limited time availability, as a result of this, the data were only
collected from few staff randomly.
ii. Inadequate
data
training need assessment is a recent
developed system in which not all large scale organizations have embraced,
those that have embraced it were able to give their information to the
researcher and those that have not fully embraced it were unable to give
accurate data to researcher.
iii. Lack
of funds
Due to the nature of this work, the researcher find it difficult to raise the
funds needed to carry out the research appropriately, as a result of this,
Niger Mills PLC and United Cement Company, were selected based on the available
finance to enable researcher get the needed information.
1.7 Significance of the Study
This study will be of immense benefits to public and private
organizations especially Niger Mills PLC and United Cement Company,
Calabar to understand the strategic role
of training needs assessment in organizational success. It will also help them
to understand the steps to follow in designing and implementing training need assessment programme. The research if
conducted will equally be significant to both state and federal government in
making policies that will encourage regular training need assessment to update
its worker with latest relevant skills that will enhance productivity. It will
also serve as a valuable tool for students, academician, institutions and
individuals that wants to know more about the strategic role of training needs
assessment.
1.8 Historical background
of the organizations studied
(i) United Cement Company (UNICEM)
The
United Cement Company of Nigeria Ltd (UNICEM) is formed as a private limited
liability company under Nigerian law with registered office in Nigeria by
Holcim Trading S.A. and Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc. In Nigeria, the name,
UNICEM stands for advanced technology, quality product and the leading supplier
of cement in the South-South and South-East regions. As the second largest
cement plant in Nigeria, their core activities are the manufacture and sale of
Ordinary Portland Cement.
UNICEM
has its head office based in Calabar and all cement manufacturing operations
have been consolidated at the 2.5million tons per annum Mfamosing plant,
north-east of Calabar.
Their
mission statement indicates a strive to be one of the most socially responsible
cement companies in Nigeria. In achieving this they operate on the basis of
best practices in accordance with shareholder, lender and local Nigerian legal
and regulatory requirements so far as corporate governance, good corporate
citizenship and sustainable practices.
UNICEM
acquired the assets of Calcemco, a state owned cement company sold by the
Nigerian Government after liquidation. The CALCEMCO plant was planned and
constructed by Salzgitter Industriebau GmbH (SEG); Germany in the 1970’s to
meet the high demand for cement in Nigeria (UNICEM Bulletin, 2006).
(ii) Niger Mills plc
Niger Mills Company Limited is a flour milling company
that has been managed by Flour Mills since the 70s. It is located in Calabar,
approximately 6 kilometers from the port and the mill has a total capacity of
approximately 750MT of wheat per day.
The company has recently completed a modernization
program by commissioning a new state-of-the-art PLC controlled flour mill which
accounts for over two-thirds of its total capacity. The new mill is currently
running 6 days per week and has achieved an operating efficiency of nearly 90%
which has led to a 40% growth in sales.
Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc (FMN) is one of the largest
and most successful industrial conglomerates in Nigeria.The Company’s
activities span flour milling, pasta manufacturing, port operations, cement
trade & manufacturing, fertilizer blending, bags & other packaging
materials manufacturing and agricultural business.
Since its incorporation in 1960, Flour Mills of Nigeria
Plc has not only survived all macroeconomic challenges but also grown into a
market leader with popular and highly recognizable brands, an extensive
distribution network, a turnover in excess of N90 billion (USD 700 million),
strong profitability, healthy Balance Sheet and a highly skilled workforce.
Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc has been listed on the
Nigerian Stock Exchange since 1978. With a broad ownership base of
approximately 67,000 shareholders, it is constantly ranked amongst the top 25
companies in terms of market capitalization. In 2005 the Company successfully
completed a N5.24 billion (US$40.7 million) rights issue which was
oversubscribed by 8%.
Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc group employs approximately
5,200 staff with diverse ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds who work
harmoniously together to deliver superior value to Nigerian consumers
nationwide
1.9 Definition
of terms
In
order for the researcher to achieve the objectives of the proposed research,
the following terminologies will be useful to guide the study:
Needs assessment:- This
is a systematic process for determining and addressing needs, or
“gaps” between current conditions and desired conditions or wants(Rosner,1999).
Training:- Referesto the
acquisition of knowledge,
skills,
and competencies as
a result of the teaching of vocational or
practical skills and knowledge that relate to specific useful competencies
(Storey ,1992).
Large scale organization:
Is a company which has large manufacturing plants around the world and attends
to a large amount of employees (Gupta,1999).
Organization:
Is an entity,
such as an institution
or an association, that has a collective
goal and is linked to an external environment (Schreuder, 2013).