The first chapter provides an insight to this research. It provides general information into the background of the study, problem statement, the purpose of research, research questions, the significance of the study, and furthermore the delimitations. Lastly this chapter provides definition of terms which is pertinent to this study.
Background of the Study
Organizations spend billions of dollars each year on formal training and development programs in order to facilitate employee‟s learning (Dolezalek, 2005; Noe, 2010). According to Training magazine industry report in 2010, 51.4 billion was budgeted for formal training and some 13.5 billion was spent in training products and services in US Companies, with the expectation that their training investments will lead to improvements in organizational performance or results criteria (Dolezalek, 2005; Salas & Cannon-Bowers, 1999). In today‟s rapidly changing business environment and continued advances in technology, markets become more competitive and therefore capable workers are crucial to organization‟s success in gaining competitive advantage (Manju & Suresh, 2011; Wagonhurst, 2002). Many companies are experiencing great change due to new technologies, rapid development of knowledge, globalization of business, and the
development of e-commerce. Therefore companies have to take steps to attract, retain, and
motivate their work forces. Training is not a luxury; it is a necessity if companies are to participate in the global and electronic market by offering high quality products and services (Noe, 2010).
Training prepares employees to use new technologies, function in new work systems and
communicate and cooperate with peers who may be from different background. Monson (2010) stated that good training is essential to a strong, successful business.
Training is defined as the acquisition of skills, concepts, or attitudes that results in improved performance in an on-the-job environment (Goldstein, 1980). Organizations effectively use employee skills, provide training and development (T&D) opportunities to improve those skills, and increase employees‟ satisfaction with their jobs and working conditions (Hooi, 2009).
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The research of this study will be focusing on one of Saint. Lucia‟s leading organization which is responsible for the air and seaports of the country, SLASPA. Saint Lucia is a small island country in the Eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary of the Atlantic Ocean and is part of the Lesser Antilles. It covers a land area of 617 km2 (238.23 sq mi) and has a population of 174,000 (2010). Its capital is Castries. SLASPA‟s headquarter is located in the capital city. SLASPA is the organization responsible for the island‟s ports of entry and generates millions of dollars to the revenue into the country. This organization like many others undergoes many training programs and spends thousands of dollars towards training programs within the organization. According to the voice newspaper, SLASPA has invested considerable amounts of time and money in
developing its human resources as part of their mandate to ensure the future success and growth of the organization. SLASPA has recognized the vital role it must play in developing its most
important asset, „the employees.‟ The training department embarks on a number of training programs to facilitate training for its employees. These training include firearms, global market outlook, customer service, mechanical technicians, supervisory management techniques etc.
The Saint Lucia Air and Sea Ports Authority (SLASPA) was established in 1983, and is responsible for running the island's two principal seaports which are located in Castries and Vieux Fort, the two airports namely the George FL Charles Airport and Hewanorra International Airport and the smaller points of entry into St. Lucia, namely Soufriere, Marigot and Rodney Bay Marina.
SLASPA also has one subsidiary company, St. Lucia Marine Terminals Ltd which was formed in 1994 and is responsible for the management of the port of Vieux Fort located in the south of the Island. Operating from modern headquarters in Castries, SLASPA was created out of the merger of the St Lucia Ports Authority with the Airports Division of the Ministry of Communications and Works. This merger has created a unique position for the island by providing avenues to generate initiatives to maximize the assets held in its name and offer value-added services to its clientele.
The organization is managed by a well-qualified team headed by a general manager who reports to a council appointed by the government. Its mandate is defined as the provision of coordinated and integrated systems of airports and seaports. Under the Shipping Act No. 11, 1994 SLASPA established and houses a Maritime Affairs Unit, for the purpose of the licensing of ships, matters relating to the safety of crew at sea and for matters incidental thereto.
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Consequently, it is charged with ensuring the highest quality of services at its air and sea gateways, and as a result continually seeks ways to enhance infrastructure and human resources to meet current and forecasted demands. SLASPA also works closely with the St Lucia Tourist Board and the St Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association to mount effective marketing campaigns for the island of St. Lucia. SLASPA‟s mission statement is to maximize air and sea-borne traffic and related services through safe and efficient operations, performed by a highly motivated work force contributing to the sustainable, social and economic development of Saint Lucia.
According to the voice newspaper, SLASPA has invested considerable amounts of time and money in developing its human resources as part of their mandate to ensure the future success and growth of the organization. SLASPA has recognized the vital role it must play in developing its most important asset, „the employees.‟ According to Ben Emmanuel, deputy chairman and part of the training committee at SLASPA, the organization prides itself in its sensitivity to the needs of staff which it sees as its most important asset. Therefore SLASPA spends thousands of dollars into the training and maintaining of employees.
This study will examine how training needs for employees at this organization are determined and what issues are related to meeting those needs, what are the training programs conducted and how these programs meet the needs of the employees.
Motivation of this Study
In Saint Lucia, SLASPA is one of the biggest organizations own by the government and is therefore charged with ensuring the highest quality of services at its air and sea gateways. As a result SLASPA continually seeks ways to enhance infrastructure and human resources to meet current and forecasted demands. Employees are the ones held accountable for both success and failure of businesses, programs and products. Training need is important because it helps
determine whether the training can correct or meet performance problem (Noe, 2010). SLASPA spends thousands of dollars on training and therefore by conducting training needs they can increase the motivation of employees, ensure that their time and money will be spent wisely, and align the training with the organizations strategic plan. It also serves as one of the ways to avoid the failure and performance of the employee‟s by addressing some of employees need.
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After doing some research, there are not many literature on training needs and training programs, however not many focus on how specific organization conduct their training needs.
They focus more on the theoretical aspect of training needs. Therefore this has motivated the researcher to examine this particular organization because no research has been done looking at the training programs or training needs of employees at this organization and it will aid in the
contribution of enhancing the training programs of that organization and by extension a small section of the Human Resource Department.
Also the researcher has interacted with a few employees at the organization and most of them have expressed dissatisfaction in the training that they receive claiming that they feel that the training programs are a waste of their time. Therefore it will be both interesting and informative to both the researcher and the organization to find out what the training needs issues are and how they can be addressed for conducting future training programs. Therefore, the motivation for this study is explore the issues that surround training needs at one of St. Lucia‟s leading organization. Also examining employee‟s views is a great source of motivation since employees are not always the ones being the center of research but the organization.
Statement of the Problem
Training for organization is an expensive undertaking, although the modern day management would like to refer to „Training‟ as investment rather than an expense. Training has long been an issue for organizations that exist. Time and expense are the main issues that consistently surface in any discussion of training. Nobody can deny the importance of development through training but designing and imparting effective training can add value to the knowledge base and skill inventory of the organization. This therefore must be done by skilled individuals and must be done to ensure that an organization continues to grow.
Significance of this Study
As mentioned earlier, SLASPA is the organization responsible for the island‟s ports of entry and generates millions of dollars to the revenue into the country. Therefore this research will contribute significantly to aiding the training department at SLASPA and giving some meaningful contributions towards their approach to training. SLASPA is a valuable company that undertakes
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many training programs on a yearly basis due to the different types of employees therefore invest heavily towards the training of these employees. The study into the training and training needs of employees would insure that training exercises are focused and appropriate and satisfactory. For certain, training cannot be done for the sake of training. That is a luxury that no organization can really afford. Therefore it will provide management with a more accurate and insightful
representation of what are some of the needs of employees at SLASPA and to aid them in the preparation of better and more beneficial training programs for employees. Some problems are often perceived as training problems when they are not. Identifying issues surrounding training needs and finding appropriate ways to doing so is critical for the success of the training and a very practical practice that can help the organization reach their goal and to strive to be the best that they can be.
Purposes of the Study
The aim of this study is to gain insight into the training and development practices that are carried out at SLASPA. The salient focus of the study is to examine the training practices used at SLASPA and to see whether these practices need to be improved and whether it meets the training needs of employees.
The purposes of the study are as follows:
1. To explore the training development processes of training programs at SLASPA.
2. To explore what training programs are used at SLASPA.
3. To establish whether demographic data such as employment level, gender, age, education, marital status and work experience have any difference on training.
4. To explore the training needs of employees at SLASPA and to find out whether training satisfactorily meet those needs.
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Research Questions
Based on the research background and motivation, the main purpose of this study is to explore training needs of employees at SLASPA. Research questions are listed below:
1. What is the training development processes used for training programs and how is the training conducted?
2. What are training programs conducted for employees at SLASPA?
3. What is the difference with demographic data such employment level, gender, age, education, marital status and work experience and training of employee‟s at SLASPA 4. Do training programs satisfactorily meet the training needs of employees?
Delimitations
The study focuses on the training programs conducted at SLASPA. As mentioned before SLASPA is a very important organization which The study participants were exclusively drawn from SLASPA and had to be full time employees with at least one year of working experience at this organization.
Lastly, due to lack of resources and time the study did not cover all employees at SLASPA.
As mentioned in the background, SLASPA is a very huge organization which encompasses the islands two principal seaports,Castries and Vieux Fort, the two airports namely the George FL Charles Airport and Hewanorra International Airport and the smaller points of entry into St. Lucia, namely Soufriere, Marigot and Rodney Bay Marina. Therefore the participants of the survey came from the islands smallest airport, George FL Charles Airport and the Castries Seaport.
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Definition of Key Terms
In this section the researcher will give the definition of the variables to be used in the research.
Training- According to Goldstein (1980), training is defined as the acquisition of skills, concepts, or attitudes that results in improved performance in an on-the-job environment.
Blanchard and Thacker (2010) also defined training as the organized and systematic process of providing an opportunity to learn KSAs for current and future jobs. Noe (2010) defines training as a planned effort by a company to facilitate employees‟ learning of job related competencies. These competencies include knowledge, skills and behaviors that are critical for successful job
performance. For the purpose of this study, the researcher will use Noe‟s definition of training.
Training need: is the gap between what employees are required to know to perform their job and what they actually know (Blanchard and Thacker, 2010). Training need is also defined as a learning or performance gap that exists between the current conditions and the desired condition (Grupta, 2007). For the purpose of this study Blanchard and Thacker‟s definition will be used.
Training Program: a program designed for training in specific skills Grupta ( 2007).
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