Staff Training Programmes and Employees ’ Productivity at Lagos State Ministry of Education in Nigeria

This study investigated the relationship between staff training programmes and employees’ productivity in Lagos State Ministry of Education in Nigeria. Four hypotheses were formulated and tested at 5% significance level to guide the study. The descriptive survey research design, which is “ex-post facto” in nature was adopted; and a total of 200 randomly selected subjects participated in the study. Data were analyzed using Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient and Independent t-test. Findings from the study revealed a significantly moderate relationship between staff training programmes and employees’ productivity. Also, there is significant difference in employees’ productivity based on marital status and gender. Staff training programmes are, thus, “sine qua non” towards employees’ productivity in Lagos State Ministry of Education. Based on the findings, we recommend among others that the government intensify efforts on staff training programmes, married people, who appear to be more committed, should be recruited into Lagos State Ministry of Education; and gender bias in favour of men should not be emphasized in employees’ recruitment. KEY WORD: Staff Training; Employees; Productivity; Marital Status; Gender. ABSTRAKSI: “Program Pelatihan Staf dan Produktivitas Karyawan di Dinas Pendidikan Negara Bagian Lagos, Nigeria”. Penelitian ini mengkaji hubungan antara program pelatihan staf dan produktivitas karyawan di Dinas Pendidikan Negara Bagian Lagos, Nigeria. Empat hipotesis dirumuskan dan diuji pada tingkat signifikansi 5% untuk memandu penelitian. Desain penelitian survei deskriptif, yang pada dasarnya bersifat “ex-post facto” diadopsi; dan sejumlah 200 subjek yang dipilih secara acak berpartisipasi dalam studi ini. Data dianalisis dengan menggunakan Pearson Product-Momen Koefisien Korelasi dan Independent t-test. Temuan dari penelitian ini menunjukan hubungan yang cukup signifikan antara program pelatihan staf dan produktivitas karyawan. Selain itu, ada perbedaan yang signifikan dalam produktivitas kerja karyawan berdasarkan status perkawinan dan jenis kelamin. Program pelatihan staf, dengan demikian, bersifat “sine qua non” terhadap produktivitas karyawan di Dinas Pendidikan Negara Bagian Lagos. Berdasarkan temuan, kami merekomendasikan antara lain agar pemerintah meningkatkan upaya untuk program pelatihan staf, orang yang sudah menikah, yang tampak lebih berkomitmen, harus direkrut oleh Dinas Pendidikan; serta bias gender yang mengutamakan pria tidak harus ditekankan dalam perekrutan karyawan. KATA KUNCI: Pelatihan Staf; Para Karyawan; Produktivitas; Status Perkawinan; Jenis Kelamin About the Authors: Maruff Akinwale Oladejo, Ph.D. and Muhideen Adewale Oladejo, M.Ed. are the Lecturers at the Department of Educational Administration UNILAG (University of Lagos) in Akoka, Nigeria. For academic interests, the authors can be contacted via phone at: +2348128284836 or via e-mail at: maoladejo@unilag.edu.ng How to cite this article? Oladejo, Maruff Akinwale & Muhideen Adewale Oladejo. (2016). “Staff Training Programmes and Employees’ Productivity at Lagos State Ministry of Education in Nigeria” in MIMBAR PENDIDIKAN: Jurnal Indonesia untuk Kajian Pendidikan, Vol.1(2) September, pp.179-188. Bandung, Indonesia: UPI [Indonesia University of Education] Press, ISSN 2527-3868 (print) and 2503-457X (online). Chronicle of the article: Accepted (March 25, 2016); Revised (July 3, 2016); and Published (September 30, 2016). MARUFF AKINWALE OLADEJO & MUHIDEEN ADEWALE OLADEJO, Staff Training Programmes and Employees’ Productivity 180 © 2016 by UPI (Indonesia University of Education) Press in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia ISSN 2527-3868 (print), 2503-457X (online), and http://ejournal.upi.edu/index.php/mimbardik INTRODUCTION Human resources are the most valuable assets of any organization as nothing gets done without manpower, even when other resources are readily available. It is the human beings that plan, coordinate, organize, and harness all other resources towards the achievement of organizational goals. Human beings are the pivot of work in the productive venture. This explains why organization and nations take good steps to ensure the productivity of individual in any work organization. Until recently, there has been a general resistance to investment in training in the public service, because of the belief that employees hired under a merit system must be presumed to be qualified (Olomukoro & Oyitso, 2012). Many organizations have come to recognize that training offers a way of developing skills, enhancing productivity and quality of work, and building worker loyalty to the firm (Okotoni & Erero, 2005). For any organization to increase its productivity level, it relies on the level of competence of its workforce. A.S. Talabi (2012) also maintained that one of the potent factors militating against the good performance of employees is inadequate training. Hence, the need for training and retraining of workers to develop their abilities in order to function effectively and efficiently in the organization (Talabi, 2012). Training is, therefore, an indispensable tool for human and national development; and, hence, a worthwhile investment for greater productivity in the organization (Olomukoro & Oyitso, 2012). Also, T.S. Ojambati, B.F. Akinbile & J.O. AbiolaFalemu (2012) stated that training has been an important variable in increasing organizational productivity. It is a fundamental and effectual instrument in successful accomplishment of the firm’s goals and objectives, resulting in higher productivity (Ojambati, Akinbile & AbiolaFalemu, 2013). According to C.M.D. Onasanya (2006), training is a form of specialized education aimed at giving the trainee a particular or specialized knowledge, skill, and attitude which he must possess to perform in a given position effectively. It follows, therefore, that the employees in an organization to be able to perform their duties and make meaningful contributions to the success of the organizational goals need to acquire the much-needed relevant skills and knowledge (Onasanya, 2006). Thus, training programmes play an important role in the productivity of employees. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM AND RESEARCH HYPOTHESES Despite the importance of training in employee productivity and organizational performance, it appears training programmes are not sufficiently supported by public organizations in Nigeria. This is because these public organizations consider the money they will spend on their training programmes as waste rather than investment. Many employees have failed in organizations, because of lack of basic training. Consequently, it is imperative to provide further empirical evidence on the effect of training on employees’ productivity. This study, therefore, investigated the relationship between staff training programmes and employees’ productivity in Lagos State Ministry of Education. Four research hypotheses were formulated and tested at .05 level of significance with a view to piloting the study. These research hypotheses are as follows: (1) Staff training programmes and employees’ productivity in Lagos State Ministry of Education are not significantly correlated; (2) There is no significant difference in employees’ productivity in Lagos State Ministry of Education based on marital status; (3) Gender makes no significant difference in employees’ productivity in Lagos State Ministry of Education; and (4) There is no significant MIMBAR PENDIDIKAN: Jurnal Indonesia untuk Kajian Pendidikan, 1(2) September 2016 181 © 2016 by UPI (Indonesia University of Education) Press in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia ISSN 2527-3868 (print), 2503-457X (online), and http://ejournal.upi.edu/index.php/mimbardik difference in employees’ productivity in Lagos State Ministry of Education on the basis of age. LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Literature Review. K. Raja, A. Furqan & S. Khan (2011) stated that training is an important factor in the business world today, because training increases the productivity of employees (Raja, Furqan & Khan, 2011). Also, J. Nguyen (2009) stated that investments in training of employees can make them more productive or more effective on their jobs. He also observed that many organizations have over the years introduced good manpower training strategies in order to enhance better employee performance at work and increase their productivity (Nguyen, 2009). Employee productivity, however, is the measure of output per unit of input economically. In effect, productivity suggests effectiveness and efficiency of the employees (cf Singh, 2000; and Shaheen, Naqvi & Khan, 2013). Marital status was related to the job productivity levels of 4-H agents as indicated by C.F. Bowen, R.B. Radhakrishna & R. Keyser (1994), who found out in a study that married 4-H agents were more productive on their jobs than those who were single (Bowen, Radhakrishna & Keyser, 1994). R.J. Fetsch & M.S. Kennington (1997) also reported a relationship between marital status and job productivity levels. They found both divorced and married agents to be more productive on their jobs than agents who were never married, remarried, or widowed. Employers who were opposed to hiring women gave a variety of explanations, many of which focused on the transference of the married women’s allegiance from job and employer to home and husband (Fetsch & Kennington, 1997). Schauffler, as cited also by Trond Petersen (2006) and B. Hewitt, M. Western & J. Baxter (2007), in 1927 her study of three clerical occupations, reported about married women that employers say they are too independent in their attitude, they are apt frequently to be absent and late (Petersen, 2006; and Hewitt, Western & Baxter, 2007). These concerns about family responsibilities and their impact on productivity were important historically for many institutional barriers to women’s employment. Also, gender affects employees’ productivity,


INTRODUCTION
Human resources are the most valuable assets of any organization as nothing gets done without manpower, even when other resources are readily available.It is the human beings that plan, coordinate, organize, and harness all other resources towards the achievement of organizational goals.Human beings are the pivot of work in the productive venture.This explains why organization and nations take good steps to ensure the productivity of individual in any work organization.Until recently, there has been a general resistance to investment in training in the public service, because of the belief that employees hired under a merit system must be presumed to be qualified (Olomukoro & Oyitso, 2012).
Many organizations have come to recognize that training offers a way of developing skills, enhancing productivity and quality of work, and building worker loyalty to the firm (Okotoni & Erero, 2005).For any organization to increase its productivity level, it relies on the level of competence of its workforce.A.S. Talabi (2012) also maintained that one of the potent factors militating against the good performance of employees is inadequate training.Hence, the need for training and retraining of workers to develop their abilities in order to function effectively and efficiently in the organization (Talabi, 2012).
Training is, therefore, an indispensable tool for human and national development; and, hence, a worthwhile investment for greater productivity in the organization (Olomukoro & Oyitso, 2012).Also, T.S. Ojambati, B.F. Akinbile & J.O. Abiola-Falemu (2012) stated that training has been an important variable in increasing organizational productivity.It is a fundamental and effectual instrument in successful accomplishment of the firm's goals and objectives, resulting in higher productivity (Ojambati, Akinbile & Abiola-Falemu, 2013).
According to C.M.D. Onasanya (2006), training is a form of specialized education aimed at giving the trainee a particular or specialized knowledge, skill, and attitude which he must possess to perform in a given position effectively.It follows, therefore, that the employees in an organization to be able to perform their duties and make meaningful contributions to the success of the organizational goals need to acquire the much-needed relevant skills and knowledge (Onasanya, 2006).Thus, training programmes play an important role in the productivity of employees.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM AND RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
Despite the importance of training in employee productivity and organizational performance, it appears training programmes are not sufficiently supported by public organizations in Nigeria.This is because these public organizations consider the money they will spend on their training programmes as waste rather than investment.(Raja, Furqan & Khan, 2011).Also, J. Nguyen (2009) stated that investments in training of employees can make them more productive or more effective on their jobs.He also observed that many organizations have over the years introduced good manpower training strategies in order to enhance better employee performance at work and increase their productivity (Nguyen, 2009).Employee productivity, however, is the measure of output per unit of input economically.In effect, productivity suggests effectiveness and efficiency of the employees (cf Singh, 2000;and Shaheen, Naqvi & Khan, 2013).
Marital status was related to the job productivity levels of 4-H agents as indicated by C.F. Bowen, R.B. Radhakrishna & R. Keyser (1994), who found out in a study that married 4-H agents were more productive on their jobs than those who were single (Bowen, Radhakrishna & Keyser, 1994).R.J. Fetsch & M.S. Kennington (1997) also reported a relationship between marital status and job productivity levels.They found both divorced and married agents to be more productive on their jobs than agents who were never married, remarried, or widowed.Employers who were opposed to hiring women gave a variety of explanations, many of which focused on the transference of the married women's allegiance from job and employer to home and husband (Fetsch & Kennington, 1997).
Schauffler, as cited also by Trond Petersen (2006) andB. Hewitt, M. Western &J. Baxter (2007), in 1927 her study of three clerical occupations, reported about married women that employers say they are too independent in their attitude, they are apt frequently to be absent and late (Petersen, 2006;and Hewitt, Western & Baxter, 2007).These concerns about family responsibilities and their impact on productivity were important historically for many institutional barriers to women's employment.Also, gender affects employees' productivity, which explains strong association between gender and employee productivity.Women were plainly viewed to be less productive than men in most situations, which is largely due to the impact of family responsibilities.
In periods where women have extensive family obligations, such as caring for small children, they may on average be less productive than men in the same age groups Becker (cited in Trond, Vemund & Eva, 2006).In this context, P. Trond, S. Vemund & M.M. Eva ( 2006) explained that research evidences conducted by Henry Sanborn (1964) and Henry Phelps Brown (1977), who suggested a substantial sex differential in productivity was potentially justifying a major gender wage gap.They wrote that in many employments, there are objective reasons for the work of women being of lower net value than that of men (Sanborn, 1964;Brown, 1977;and Trond, Vemund & Eva, 2006).They reported a productivity gap of 10-13% in the USA (United States of America) footwear and furniture industries in the 1950s.Also, they further stated that another line of research using plant-level data on value added finds that women are about 15% less productive than men (Sanborn, 1964;Brown, 1977;and Trond, Vemund & Eva, 2006).
A common misconception is that people become less productive in the workplace as they age.For many years, this view has driven both employer and government policies towards the 50+ cohort.However, a growing evidence base increasingly proves this view as erroneous.Overall, the evidence comes down heavily against the argument that older workers are less productive than younger workers.Some research finds either a lack of relationship between productivity and age, or that older workers are at least, as productive as their younger colleagues.Even in physically demanding situations, for example on a factory production line, older workers are often found to be just as productive (Trond, Vemund & Eva, 2006;and Bӧrsch-Supan & Weiss, 2013).
Theoretical Framework.The present study was anchored on Human Capital Theory, considered relevant to this research work.This theory was proposed by T.W. Schultz (1961) and developed by G. Becker (1964).The theory contended that training is a financial investment that will be undertaken if the net present value of wage returns exceeds training costs.According to the theory, Human Capital Theory suggests that education or training raises the productivity of workers by imparting useful knowledge and skills; hence, raising workers' future income by increasing their lifetime earnings (cf Schultz, 1961;Becker, 1964;and Umar et al., 2013).
The human capital model suggests that an individual's decision to invest in training is based upon an examination of the net present value of the costs and benefits of such an investment.Individuals are assumed to invest in training during an initial period and receive returns to the investment in subsequent periods.Human capital is similar to physical means of production, e.g.factories and machines: one can invest in human capital (via education, training, medical treatment) and one's outputs depend partly on the rate of return on the human capital one owns.Thus, human capital is a means of production, into which additional investment yields additional output.Human capital is substitutable, but not transferable, like land, labour, or fixed capital (cf Shaheen, Naqvi & Khan, 2013;and Umar et al., 2013).

METHODS
The procedure adopted in carrying out this study is as discussed in this sub-sections: Design, Sample and Sampling Techniques, Instrumentation, and Methods of Data Analysis.Discussing about sub-section is as follows: Design.This study was carried out using the descriptive research design, which is ex-post facto in nature.The scholars have described descriptive research design that: [...] it is not just the description of what is, but the discovery of meaning.It does not aim at discovering new phenomena, but is concerned with conditions or relationship that exist, practices that prevail beliefs, points of view, or attitudes that are held, processes that are going on, effects that are been felt, or trends that are developing (Ogunjimi, Ajibola & Akah, 2009).Instrumentation.The research instrument used for this study is a self-constructed questionnaire titled "STPEPQ (Staff Training Programmes and Employee Productivity Questionnaire)".It was divided into three sections.Section A: contained items which sought personal information about the respondents.Section B: comprised items intended to elicit responses on staff training programmes.While Section C: sought responses on employees' productivity.

Sample and Sampling
Scoring was done on a modified four-point Likert scale of: Strongly Agree (SA), Agree (A), Disagree (D), and Strongly Disagree (SD) with weights of 4, 3, 2, and 1 respectively.Its reliability value of .85 was estimated through Cronback Alpha in a pilot study, made up of 85 participants from the Ministry of Information, Lagos State in Nigeria.
Methods of Data Analysis.Inferential statistics, specifically Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient, was used to test hypothesis one; while Independent t-test was used to test hypotheses two, three and four at 5% significance level.In terms of the hypotheses testing, finding from hypothesis one which states that "there is no significant relationship between staff training programmes and employees' productivity in Lagos State Ministry of Education" revealed that the r value of 0.457 was significant at 0.000.This shows that there is a positive, moderate, and significant relationship between staff training programmes and employees' productivity in Lagos State Ministry of Education.Therefore, the null hypothesis was rejected.

Testing of Hypotheses. Ho
This finding corroborates Galanou Ekaterini & Priporas Constantinos-Vasilios (2009), who reported that training increases not only organizations' productivity but also employees' productivity (Ekaterini & Constantinos-Vasilios, 2009).Similarly, the finding of this hypothesis is in agreement to the outcome of research study undertaken by other several researchers, such as S. Batt (2004) and S. Adam (2013), who had established that training has significant positive effect on productivity (Batt, 2004;and Adam, 2013).
However, the present finding contradicts the finding of the research work carried out by F. Harbison (1973), and as cited also by V.A. Malaolu & J.E. Ogbuabor (2013), who argued that the link between training and productivity is a complex one, and there may be many external variables which interplay to determine the nature of the impact that training has on productivity (Harbison, 1973;and Malaolu & Ogbuabor, 2013).F. Harbison, therefore, concluded that there is an inverse relationship between training and employee productivity (Harbison, 1973).
From the foregoing, the positive relationship of training and employees' productivity in Lagos State Ministry of Education may be due to government's commitment to regular training of employees, increased budgetary allocation to attend conferences and workshops, and the opportunity given to employees to settle down after training to utilize knowledge acquired in the discharge of their duties.
Furthermore, result from the analysis of the second hypothesis result which stated that marital status makes no significant difference  2007) that married men are more productive than unmarried men.Similarly, it is in agreement with the findings of S. Korenman & D. Neumark (2005), where they established that marriage makes workers more productive.
However, the finding of this study contradicts previous studies by M. Grinstein-Weiss, M. Zhan & M. Sherraden ( 2006) that marital status does not make significant difference in the productivity of employees.The finding of this study, which revealed that married employees are more productive than employees that are single in Lagos State Ministry of Education, may be due to the fact that married employees appear more responsible, committed, and look after their children and spouses which lead to split over effect of improved performance at work.The single employees, who take care of their own needs without commitment to any other individual, may exhibit attitude of self-centeredness without total commitment to work schedules which, may in turn, affect their overall productivity (Grinstein-Weiss, Zhan & Sherraden, 2006).
The result from the analysis of data related to hypothesis three, which states that gender makes no significant difference in employees' productivity revealed that both female and male employees are almost equally productive.The null hypothesis was, therefore, accepted.
The finding of this research hypothesis disagrees to the finding of the study carried out by Nathan, in 2000s, who observed that female by nature are consistently committed and their ratio of work productivity is greater than men, whose desire for concentration at work is often less (cited in Fry, Ketteridge & Marshall eds., 2009).K.K. Ndawula (2002) and P. Trond, S. Vemund & M.M. Eva (2006) also established significant gender difference in employees' productivity.They reported that men have higher productivity than women.This finding could be due to the fact that men's mindsets are usually geared towards achieving results no matter the cost involved (Ndawula, 2002;and Trond, Vemund & Eva, 2006).
From the discussion above, the reason for higher productivity of female employees over their male counterparts in Lagos State Ministry of Education may be due to their home management skills, which tend to challenge them to be dedicated to whatever duty they handle.Similarly, the male employees are usually bold and over confident, which may lead to procrastination that causes delay in the discharge of duties or inability to meet up with work deadlines or work schedules; and this may in turn affect their productivity at work.
Finally, on hypotheses testing, the last hypothesis which states that there is no significant difference in employees' productivity based on age was accepted, because there is no significant difference in employees' productivity in Lagos State Ministry of Education based on age (t-Cal = 1.192; df = 198; P > .05).
The finding of this research work is in agreement to the work of J.K. Hellerstein, D. Neumark & K. Troske (1999), and also as cited by P. Aubert & B. Crepon (2007), that productivity differences across age groups are not statistically significant.However, the finding of this hypothesis negates the findings of researchers, such as G.I. Skirbekk (2003) and C. Göbel & T. Zwick (2009), who reported that younger employees are more productive than older employees; and that productivity of older employees decline ISSN 2527-3868 (print), 2503-457X (online), and http://ejournal.upi.edu/index.php/mimbardikdrastically from the age of 50 (Skirbekk, 2003;and Göbel & Zwick, 2009).
From the foregoing discussion, we can deduce that the reason for absence of differences in employees' productivity in Lagos State Ministry of Education based on age may be due to a lot of variation in capability as most jobs do not require working at full capacity, and ageing has a different effect on everyone.Similarly, older workers may not be able to compensate for any declines or shortcomings that might occur in the discharge of their duties.The younger employees in Lagos State Ministry of Education may also be on the search for greener pastures and as such, exhibit such attitude as poor concentration at work, lateness to work, poor discharge of work related duties among others which may lead to their poor productivity.

CONCLUSION
From the findings of this study, it can be concluded that staff training programmes have been of immense contribution to the employees and organizations in terms of improved productivity.Finally, fifth, government should device methods of making single employees more committed to their job in other to increase their productivity.This is because married employees appear better productive than the single ones.1 Techniques.The sample size for the study was a total of 200 simple randomly selected respondents in some selected Departments in Lagos State Ministry of Education.Simple random sampling technique was also used to select five Directorates (20 Divisions) out of the eight Directorates (36 divisions) in Lagos State Ministry of Education.The Directorates that were randomly selected are Finance and Administration (3 Divisions); Policy, Planning, Research, and Statistics (4 Divisions); Quality Assurance (5 Divisions); Basic Education (5 Divisions); and Higher Education, Science, and Technology (3 Divisions).

Table 1 :
Significant Relationship between Staff Training Programmes and Employees' Productivity in Lagos State Ministry of Education

Table 3 :
Significant Difference in Employee Productivity Based on Gender

Table 4 :
Significant Difference in Employee Productivity Based on Age However, despite the importance of training in employees' productivity and organizational performance, it appears training programmes are not sufficiently supported by public organizations in Nigeria.In other words, staff training programmes have positive, moderate, and significant relationship with employees' productivity in Lagos State Ministry of Education.Similarly, certain moderator variables like age, gender, and marital status were used to determine any significant difference in employees' productivity in Lagos State Ministry of Education.Based on the findings from the present study, we hereby recommend the followings: First, government should design policies that will ensure continuous and regular training of employees in Lagos State Ministry of Education to ensure that they are conversant with modern developments in their official work schedule.Second, there should be increased budgetary allocation to training of employees in Lagos State Ministry of Education.This will create opportunity for regular and prompt attendance at conferences, workshops, and seminars.Third, employees who contribute positively towards the development of Lagos State Ministry of Education, after exposure to training, should be rewarded in order to encourage others concentrate at training programmes as well as develop the desire to transfer such knowledge and ideas to the improvement of the Lagos State Ministry of Education.Fourth, age should not be made criteria for employing people into Lagos State Ministry of Education, because the study found no difference in the productivity of employees based on age.