HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT AND EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE IN THE MINISTRY OF PUBLIC SERVICE

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to assess the role of human resource development on employee performance in the Ministry of Public Service. The specific objectives of the study were to establish the contribution of training on employee performance in the Ministry of Public Service, to establish the contribution of performance management on employee performance in the Ministry of Public Service and to establish the contribution of leadership development on employee performance in the Ministry of Public Service. A cross sectional study design was adopted. Both quantitative and qualitative techniques were used to analyse data collected. In this study, 122 respondents out the targeted sample of 151 respondents participated in responding to questions in the questionnaire and interview guide. Analysis involved descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages, and inferential statistics such as Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient, coefficient of determination and regression. Findings revealed a significant positive moderate correlation (rho = .409, p = .000) between training and employee performance whereby better training contributed to better employee performance and less training activity contributed to lesser employee performance. There was a significant positive moderate correlation (rho= .582, p = .000) between performance management and employee performance and a significant positive moderate correlation (rho = .597, p = .000) between leadership development and employee performance. It was concluded that human resource development measured in terms of training, performance management and leadership development had an important role in enhancing employee performance. Thus, it was recommended that these measures of human resource development have to be improved to help employees perform better at work.