Misalignment of training goals

1. Here you will bring together the work of the dissertation by showing how the initial research plan
   has been addressed in such a way that conclusions may be formed from the evidence of the

dissertation.

2. No new material or references should be placed here.
3. The conclusions should make a statement on the extent to which each of the aims and objectives

has been met.

4. You should bring back your research questions and state clearly your understanding of those

questions.

5. Be careful not to make claims that are not substantiated from the evidence you have presented in

earlier chapters.

6. If you are undertaking a company project based around a business issue do not confuse

recommendations for the company with conclusions.

7. If you want to include a list of recommendations then do so in a separate short chapter.
8. The conclusions address the wider understanding of the issue you have been studying.
9. You should include a short sub section on any suggestions for further research for colleagues who
   might wish to undertake research in this area in the future. There should also be a short statement of

the limitations of the research.

10. Often as a single case study or limited range of companies you can not really claim that your

research holds for all companies.

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11. However, by adopting a rigorous approach to your literature review and methods which have
    validity and can be repeated you can make a reasonable but limited claim that your conclusions

should be taken seriously.

Employee training and development plays a pivotal role in enhancing the performance
of organizations as established in this research. Based on the findings of the study which
involved 71 employees and 40 managers from different companies in Qatar, employee
training and development is not only beneficial for employees but it is also directly related to
an organization’s performance. This is associated with the enhanced skill set that an
organization possesses, thus ensuring that staff can effectively execute firm objectives and
increased employee motivation which plays an imperative role in enhancing employee
performance. The conclusion chapter presents a summary of the research, to further
demonstrate the relevance of training and development in organizations in Qatar.

In a world where competition among firms has increased considerably, there is need
for organizations to adopt strategies that ensure that they can compete effectively in the
sectors they operate. Previous researches have sought to understand the role of training and
development as a strategy for improving firm performance, with a positive correlation being
established in a majority of studies. This research aimed at establishing the role of training
and development on organizational performance among firms in Qatar. The main objectives
were to establish how training and development affected the overall performance of
organizations and the challenges that firms and employees encountered in relation to training

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and development. To accomplish this, the research used questionnaires and interviews for
data collection, where 71 employees in 10 selected companies from Qatar participated in an
online survey; while 40 interviews were conducted among managers from the same
companies.

In concluding its findings, the research seeks to answer two questions as follows:

1. How do training and development affect an organization’s overall performance?
2. What are the challenges encountered by both the firm and employees in training and
   development?

The first question is aimed at establishing whether training and development can impact an
organization’s performance and whether training needs influence individual performance.
The second question aims at determining factors that limit training and development as
encountered by both organizations and the employees. The aim is to establish possible
solutions for enhancing training and development effectiveness.

The research’s theoretical framework is based on the Action Theory, which seeks to
establish the processes that lead to human beings’ intentional movements, such that this can
be used to link behavior and performance. Based on this premise, employees are bound to
change behavior following training and development, such as in the desire to utilize skills and
capabilities acquired. Linking such behavior to performance, this theory can be used to
explain why employee performance directly influences the organization’s performance. In
essence, improved organizational performance can only be realized when employees’
performance is enhanced.

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The overall results from the research determine that training and development
enhances the performance of organizations to a significant extent. Based on this research, it
was established that employee performance increases as a result of training and development,
which consequently leads to enhanced performance for the organization. The results of this
research also indicate that training and development endeavors are often confronted by
various challenges that influence the ability of organizations to ensure that employees receive
the desired training and development. Findings of the research can be summarized as follows.

The correlation between training and development and organizational performance is
positive. This implies that when employees are provided with training and development
opportunities, they are more likely to perform better. Evidence from the research establish
that training and development enhances employees’ skills and capabilities, such that they can
effectively meet set objectives, complete complex assignments with ease and generally
perform better in their roles. Companies included in the study demonstrated enhanced
organizational performance through enhanced customer satisfaction, increased sales,
increased innovation, better teamwork, enhanced conflict resolution and improved
profitability. The findings of the research confirm what has been established by Elnaga &
Imran (2013), Dhar (2015) and Kennett (2013) in their studies, all which suggest that
enhanced organizational performance can be observed based on the above indicators; which
can be heightened through training and development.

Besides enhancing employee skills and capabilities, this research determines another
tenet on the impact of training and development, which is the influence of training and
development on job satisfaction and motivation (Bercu, 2017). It was established that
employees’ job satisfaction was enhanced when they received training and development. As a
result, their level of motivation was enhanced, thus ensuring that they performed better at

5

their work. Relating this to the works of Neyestani (2014), Costen & Salazar (2011) and
Khan, Khan & Khan (2012), it is apparent that the results of the research reflect what is
happening in today’s contemporary world; where organizations are increasingly investing in
training and development programs in a bid to enhance job satisfaction and increase
motivation. The result is enhanced performance by employees, which is reflected in the
overall performance of the organization, thus ensuring that it performs better (Wu, 2013).

The implications of this research are reflected in the form of the importance of
training and development programs for organizations that seek to promote performance, and
how organizations can work on challenges affecting training and development to enhance
their performance (Ognjenović, 2015). A major recommendation for organizations is that
they should offer equal training opportunities for employees in order to ensure that every
individual has a chance to contribute to the organization’s performance. Secondly,
organizations have an obligation to ensure that the content of training is aligned to the
organization’s objectives in order to ensure that it is effective in enhancing performance.

While training and development is considered highly effective in enhancing
organizational performance, this research determines various challenges that affect its
execution. Some of the challenges identified are summarized as follows:

Timing and time management: Given the busy schedules in most organizations, finding
adequate time for training is often challenging. In addition, it is difficult to find common time
when all employees are available for training. Other challenges related to time include poor
time management which limits ability to conduct effective training and development, conflict
between work and personal schedules, and time lost in travelling and differences in time
zones in the case of external training.

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Resource limitations: In a majority of cases, respondents indicated that they did not get
enough opportunities for training as they would have liked. In addition, managers also
indicated that it was challenging to provide training opportunities for everyone in their
organizations each year. This demonstrates a higher demand for training and development
compared to the financial capacity of the organizations, given that training and development
programs are significantly expensive.

Training quality: In order for training and development programs to be effective, they must
be of high quality. Some organizations are however challenged by training quality as
evidenced in the research, where some respondents indicated that they encountered outdated
trainings, lack of necessary resources for training and inexperienced trainers. These may
affect the effectiveness of training and development and thus lead to wastage of resources
(Su, Lu & Chiu, S 2015).

Misalignment of training goals and job functions: This happens where training programs are
not well planned, such that individuals end up taking part in trainings that do not align with
their professional roles (Tarique, 2014). As a result, training opportunities are wasted and the
organization does not gain from the training offered. Smith (2011) notes that the first
consideration in planning for training and development is to determine the objectives of the
program, which seems to have been overlooked in some organizations.

Employee attitudes: The attitude of employees towards training and development can have
significant impact on the performance of established programs (Ryburn, Brown & Meier,
2011). In this research, it was established that in some of the organizations, employees were
either uninterested in some trainings or considered them irrelevant to them. In addition,

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attitudes related to availability of opportunities and the requirement to undertake courses with
junior employees were also noted as factors in employee attitudes.

Lack of effective mechanisms for selecting trainees: This was recognized as a major
challenge, with a considerable number of employees indicating that they either did not
understand the procedure involved in selecting employees for training or did not get an
opportunity for training in the last one year. This could be an indication that trainee selection
is not a transparent process in some of the organizations.

This paper gives special emphasis to employee involvement as way of improving
training and development effectiveness. This is based on modern literature which places great
importance in employee involvement, with employees being regarded as the most important
asset in the organization. As a result, catering for the employee needs is considered highly
effective in enhancing job satisfaction and motivation. By involving employees in
determining training needs and developing training curriculums, organizations ensure that
training and development efforts are successful in enhancing its impact on organizational
performance.

In conclusion, this research is highly impactful for organizations that seek to enjoy the
benefits of training and development. This research illustrates that by investing in training
and development, an organization opens opportunities for development among employees,
thus enhancing their performance. This is evidenced through the acquisition of better skills
and enhanced motivation and job satisfaction; which enable them to perform their work more
effectively, thus increasing their level of productivity (David, 2011). Another major finding
of this research is that enhanced organizational performance is to a great extent affected by
employee willingness to enhance their performance following training and development.

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Based on the Action theory, the link between behavior and outcomes is established in the
process of training and development, such that by improving their performance, employees
ensure organizational performance is enhanced and this depicts the outcome of their
behavior. It is clear from the research that there is a direct relationship between training and
development and organizational performance. According to the research, organizations noted
a significant improvement in their performance as a result of training and development in the
form of increased expertise, enhanced productivity, greater commitment to work, enhanced
professionalism and enhanced problem-solving skills (Afshan, 2012; Elnaga & Imran, 2013;
Garavan, et al, 2016). Therefore, the results of this research lead to the recommendation that
organizations that seek to enhance their competitive advantage through enhanced
performance should invest in training and development. Further, in ensuring that training and
development objectives are met, organizations must ensure that the objectives of the trainings
are consistent with the goals of the organization in order to ensure efficiency.

Limitations of the study included difficulty in finding survey respondents which
delayed the research process, as well as some incomplete questionnaires, which limited the
data collection process.

RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE RESEARCH

Based on the above challenges, this paper offers recommendations for organizations
to deal with challenges associated with training and development in order to enhance its
impact. These are based on literature as well as some of the solutions identified by the
respondents in the research. The first recommendation is to involve employees in the training
and development program development, such that it is possible to identify the needs of
employees (Armstrong & Taylor, 2012). Secondly, organizations in Qatar need to provide

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equal training opportunities for all employees in order to ensure that each employee has an
opportunity to contribute to the development of the organization. The third recommendation
is the need to identify training needs within the organization before providing training
opportunities. This will ensure that training objectives are aligned to job tasks and thus
enhance the effectiveness of training. It will also ensure that trainings are in line with the
labor markets and thus enhance competitiveness. Organizations must also consider increased
use of technology in enhancing training and development. Online training programs are
suggested because they offer great convenience and they not only enhance time flexibility but
they are also cost efficient. This means that individuals can create their own time for training
based on their schedule, and learn from the comfort of their desk or home. Online programs
are gaining popularity in the modern world, given the advancements in technology and this
solution is therefore highly applicable in promoting training and development.

Recommendations for further research

Further research is needed to establish the role of employee attitudes in influencing
the impact of training and development on organizational performance. This unique issue is
consistently identified by managers as a limiting factor to the outcomes of training and
development and warrants further research in order to determine how to deal effectively with
the effects of employee attitudes on the outcomes of training and development.

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