Empreendedorismo e Gestão Organizacional

Enhancing the Training and Development of Technicians as a Tool for Effective Performance in a Selected Enterprise in the South West, Cameroon

Abstract

Mfondo M

This study had as objectives:

• To examine the training practices of the selected enterprises as concerns its technicians

• To assess the impact of training on the performance of technicians within these enterprises

• To investigate the factors hindering training and development of technicians within the same enterprises

The study used a multi-stage sampling techniques involving purposive, stratified and simple random sampling to identify participants from whom information had to be collected through the use of questionnaires, interviews and focus group discussions. The study limited respondents to include only technicians who handled heavy equipment repairs and out of a total of 245 technicians in the mechanic section of these enterprises, 120 of them were the target for this study. However, due to unavailability of some staff for reasons of other duties, the sample size dropped to 92 technicians which were still found significant enough to represent the study population. This work adopted a case study design in the sense that, it narrowed its focus to a particular sector within selected companies and tried to describe it deeply. Findings from the study showed that, training practices at these enterprises for its technicians is not very inclusive of most technicians with low level of education. However, further findings still revealed that, training provided to a few staff that had undergone the activity was very effective as it resulted to improved work performance for the trainees. Additional findings also divulged that, there are a lot of hindrances to the training and development of technicians within the selected enterprises because many of them had been trained throughout their period of work so far. Some of these hindrances include; inadequate budget, lack of management support for training, lack of equipment, fear of career development and favouritism. It was therefore recommended for management to fully support training and address the identified constraints to training so as to ensure many more technicians are involved in training and therefore make technicians very effective and more confident in work performance.