Training needs assessment practices among the large Commercial banks in Kenya

Abstract

Development of human resources continues to be of great importance to the well being of contemporary organizations, companies seem to realize that a well-trained workforce is the key to competitiveness. The more organizations seek excellence, the more employees' training and education becomes imminent. The role of training needs analysis is a critical one since it governs the potential effectiveness of the training programme and even the mechanisms that can be applied to measure that effectiveness. There are a wide variety of approaches to the assessment of training needs, ranging from employee initiatives to employer-dominated approaches. This study sought to find out to what extent the training needs analysis practices are applied in the banking industry in Kenya and challenges encountered. The project reveals that large commercial banks undertake training needs analysis and the approach focuses on individual employees current responsibilities and future work expectations with the performance appraisal and management audit reports as the basis for training. '.. The main challenges faced by these organizations in conducting training needs analysis are lack of interest and awareness among staff due to training needs assessment been dominated by senior management decision and supervisors' opinion, and conflict of opinion between line management and human resource management unit and adequate resources to support comprehensive training needs analysis.