Addis Ababa University

School of Commerce

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF TRAINING PROGRAM IN THE

CASE OF ETHIO-TELECOM

BY: Meron Tesema

A thesis submitted to Addis Ababa University, School of

Commerce Department of Business Administration
Information System

June, 2015
Addis Ababa
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF TRAINING PROGRAM IN THE
CASE OF ETHIO-TELECOM

In partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Award of

Masters of Arts Degree in Human Resource Management

By: Meron Tesema

Advisor: Wubishet Bekalu,PhD

Research thesis submitted to Addis Ababa University,

School of Commerce Department of Administration
Information System

June, 2015
Addis Ababa
 Addis Ababa University
School of Commerce
Human Resource Management
The Effectiveness of Training Program in the case of Ethio-
Telecom

By: Meron Tesema

Approved by Board of examiners:

Advisor Signature Date

Internal Examiner Signature Date

External Examiner Signature Date

 Declaration
I, the undersigned, declare that the project work is my original work and has not
been resented for a degree award in another university and that all sources of
materials used for the study have been duly acknowledged.

Declared by:

Name Signature Date

Approved by:

Advisor Signature Date

 Acknowledgment
First and foremost, I am grateful to God for giving me grace, wisdom and strength in all my
endeavors.

My special thanks and gratitude is extended to Dr Wubeshet Bekalu, my thesis advisor, for his
constructive comments and guidance for this study.

I am also very grateful to my families and friends. Especially, I have no words for my dad, for
his moral encouragement and financial support in all my academic achievements.

I would like also to show gratitude to Ato Asechenake girma, Ato Haile Tekelehaminot , and
other staffs of ethio-telecom for their assistance while I distributed and collected the
questionnaire.

Finally I acknowledge all individuals that directly and indirectly have cooperated encouraged
and assisted me in the completion of this study.

i
 Abstract
Employees are major assets of any organization and the active role they play towards a
company’s success cannot be underestimated. To survive and grow organizations must be
constantly kept up to date through effective training and development programs. Employee
training and development is especially important for companies with rapidly changing
technology such as telecommunication. As a result, training must be given for employees to
update their knowledge, skill and ability through designing effective training programs which
helps to enhance employees’ performance and organizational effectiveness. The purpose of
this study was to assess the effectiveness of the training program in ethio-telecom head office
particularly in the network division. In order to conduct the research, descriptive research
design with mixed approach was employed The methodologies used to undertake the study
were both primary and secondary data collection. Besides to this, the numbers of
participants for this study were 125 employees. The major objective of this study is to assess
the effectiveness of the training program in ethio-telecom. The study also tried to see the
practice that are implemented to assess the need for the training, the methods used to deliver
the training, evaluation designs that are implemented, the effectiveness of the training
program and the challenges that are encountered during the training program are the
specific objective of the study. The finding of the study revealed that ethio- telecom have
some weakness in training practice such as lack of periodic and clear need assessment, lack
of consideration for personal analysis while assessing the need, , the company didn’t try to
investigate the readiness of trainees regarding their ability, attitude, beliefs and motivation
that are necessary to learn the program content and apply it on the job. on the effectiveness
of training methods, on the training period’s adequacy and training evaluation., clear
evidence to show how the training changed the performance of employees .The company has
strength on the allocation of sufficient budget to provide training for their employees to
accomplish strategic objective of the company , so it must give prior attention for training
design process in order to be more effective. Thus, ethio-telecom should keep up with its
strengths and should alleviate its weaknesses by analyzing employees training and
development needs periodically and by giving more emphasis to personal analysis while
conducting the need assessment to determine whether performance deficiencies result from
lack of knowledge, skill or other problems generally by applying appropriate training
designs and also by following appropriate training design process to become effective from
the training program.

ii
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents page
Acknowledgments …….................................................................................................................. i
Abstract ...........................................................................................................................................ii
Table of content…………………………………………………………………………….…….iii
List of tables…………………………………………………………………………………….....v
List of figures ...............................................................................................................................vii
List of acronyms...………………………………………………………………………..……..viii

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Back ground of the study ..........................................................................................................1
1.2 Statement of the problem ..........................................................................................................3
1.3 Research Questions………….…………………………………………………………...……5
1.4 Objective of the study................................................................................................................5
1.5 Significance of the study ...........................................................................................................6
1.6 Delimitations and limitations of the study ................................................................................6
1.7 Definition of terms………………………………………………………………………….....6
1.8 Organization of the paper ..........................................................................................................7

CHAPTER TWO: LITRATURE REVIEW

2.1 Human Resource Management………………………………………………………………..8
2.2 Training………………………………………………………………………………………..9
2.2.1 Benefits of training ……………………………………………………………………….9
2.2.2 Consequences in the absence of training and development……………………………...10
2.2.3 Training design processes……………………………………………………..…………11
2.3 The relationship between training and employee performance……………………………...25
2.4 The impact of training on organizational effectiveness…………………….………………..26
2.5 Empirical study……………………………………………………………………………....28
2.5 Theoretical Framework……………………………………………………………………...2.9
2.6 Summary and conclusion of the literature…………………………………………………...30
iii
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY
3.1 Research Design……………………………………………………………….……………..32
3.2 Population and Sampling technique …………………..………………………..……………33
3.3 Sources of data and collection method...…………………………………….………………34
3.4 Methods of data analysis……………………………………………………………………..35
3.5 Validity and Reliability………………………………………………………………………35
3.6 Ethical consideration…………………………………………………………………………36

CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS

4.1 Response rate of the participant……………………………………………………………...38
4.2 Demographic Characteristics of Respondents……………………………………………….39
4.3 Analysis on the general practices of training and its design in the company………………..41
4.4 Analysis on issues regarding training need assessment and other training design process….45
4.5 The Relationship of training with regard to employee performance and organizational……56
4.6 Interview analysis…………………………………………………………………………...63

CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Summary……………………………………………………………………………………..69
5.2 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................71
5.3 Recommendations……………………………………………………………..……………..73

References
Appendices

Appendix A
Appendix B

iv
 LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1 Steps of training design process--------------------------------------------------------------11

Table 2.2 Events that should take place in the training program and their implication------------16

Table 3.1 Sample size determination table-------------------------------------------------------------33

Table 4.1 Distributed, returned and unreturned questionnaires----------------------------------------37

Table 4.2 Profile data of respondent------------------------------------------------------------------38

Table 4.3 Training schedule-----------------------------------------------------------------------------41

Table 4.4 No of times employees have had training since they have joined the organization -41

Table 4.5 Criteria to select employees for the training---------------------------------------------42

Table 4.6 Type of need assessment method used redundantly------------------------------------44

Table 4.7 The design of the training program--------------------------------------------------------45

Table 4.8 Clarity and relevance of the need analysis-----------------------------------------------46

Table 4.9 Assistance of managers ---------------------------------------------------------------------47

Table 4.10 Clarity of the training objective-----------------------------------------------------------48

Table 4.11 Similarity of the training context with the working environment--------------------48

Table 4.12 Opportunity for practice-------------------------------------------------------------------50

Table 4.13 Coordination of the program--------------------------------------------------------------50

Table 4.14 Applicability of the training on the job-------------------------------------------------51

Table 4.15 Frequency of using training forms ------------------------------------------------------51

Table 4.16 Frequency of using different training delivery methods-----------------------------52

Table 4.17 Quality of the training program----------------------------------------------------------55

Table 4.18 Evaluation of the training by the company------------------------------------------- 56

v
Table 4.19 Employees’ level of agreement on their performance------------------------------57

Table 4.20 Improvement of knowledge, skill and ability-----------------------------------------57

Table 4.21 Facilitation of the training to do a job as required-----------------------------------58

Table 4.22 The importance of training to enhance motivation and commitment --------------58

Table 4.23 Improvement of performance and productivity by the training----------------------59

Table 4.24 Reduction of turnover and absenteeism by the training ------------------------------60

vi
 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1 The need assessment process------------------------------------------------------------------12

Figure 2.2: Training and development need assessment and other remedial measures------------14

Figure 2.3: Theoretical model between independent and dependent variables----------------------29

Figure 4.1 Availability of sufficient budget, time and expertise for the training--------------------41

Figure 4.2 Respondents participation in training--------------------------------------------------------42

Figure 4.3 Level of need assessment by the company--------------------------------------------------46

Figure 4.4 Readiness assessment of employee for the training----------------------------------------47

Figure 4.5 Effectiveness of the training method --------------------------------------------------------54

Figure 4.6 Level of evaluating the training program by the company -------------------------------55

Figure 4.7 Problems with regard of training on employee performance and on the effectiveness

of the company-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------62

vii
 List of Acronyms

HRD- Human Resource Development

HR- Human Resource
HRT- Human Resource Training
HRM- Human Resource Management
KSA- Knowledge, Skill and Ability

Viii
 Chapter One
Introduction

1.1 Background of the study

Organizations are facing increased competition due to some changes in technology, political and
economic environments. These changes have forced them to learn how to manage or confront the
changes quickly and successfully (Evans, Pucik & Barsoux 2002). Organizations are relying on
their human assets the knowledge, competence and capabilities of their workforce as a source of
success. One major area of the human resource management function of particular relevance to
the effective use of human resources is training. It is undeniable fact that an organization,
whether a production oriented or service rendering one, requires a well trained employee in order
to attain its specific and general objectives within rapidly changing environment (Weil &
Woodall, 2005).

In order for organizations to achieve optimum returns from their investment, there is imperative
need to effectively manage training and development programs. However, the most vital asset of
every organization under stiff and dynamic competition is its human capital. Training and
development is an instrument that aid human capital in exploring their dexterity. Therefore
training and development is vital to the productivity of organization’s workforce (Muhammad
Nda, M. & Yazdani Fard, R., 2013).

According to Gordon (1992) training is a planned and systematic modification of behavior

through learning events, activities and programs which result in the participants achieving the
levels of knowledge, skills, competencies and abilities to carry out their work effectively.
Therefore, to develop the desired knowledge, skills and abilities of the employees, to perform
well on the job, it requires effective training programs that may also affect employee motivation
and commitment.
In general, training refers to a planned effort by a company to facilitate employees’ learning of
job related competencies. These competencies include knowledge, skill and abilities that are
critical for successful job performance. The major goal of training for employees is it helps them
to master the KSAs emphasized in the training programs and apply it to their day-to-day
activities ( Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhanet & Wright, 2008).

Employee training also has a positive impact on company’s performance by changing the KSAs
of employees through the training. Training affects employees’ behavior and their working skills
which results into employees enhanced performance as well as constructive changes for the
organization (Satterfield & Hughes, 2007).

According to Konings & Vanormelingen (2009), Colombo & Stanca (2008) and Sepulveda
(2005) cited by Muhammad Nda, M. & Yazdani Fard, R.(2013) training is an instrument that
fundamentally affects the successful accomplishment of organizations’ goals and objectives by
the performance of its employees. However, the optimum goal of every organization is to
generate high revenue and maximize profit and a vital tool to realize this is an efficient and
effective workforce which can be addressed by through training. Thus, a workforce is only
efficient and effective if the appropriate training is provided for such and therefore leading to a
high employees’ performance and effective organization.

In the effectiveness of organizations, training plays a vital role by improving performance of

employees’ as well as increasing productivity and eventually putting companies in the best
position and stay at the top. This means that there is a significant difference between
organizations that train their employees and organizations that do not. Training generates
benefits for the employee as well as for the organization by positively influencing employee
performance through developing employees’ KSAs, competencies and behavior (April, 2010).

This study is conducted in case of ethio-telecom which is previously known as the Ethiopian
Telecommunication Corporation (ETC) and its’ operation head quarter is located at Churchill
road, in front of main post office. Ethio-telecom integrated telecommunication service provider
in Ethiopia providing internet and telephone services. It is owned by the Ethiopian government
and maintains a monopoly over all telecommunications in Ethiopia. Ethio-Telecom is managed
by France telecom which is required to comply with Ethiopian government orders. The
government said it is outsourced the management as ETC was not able to meet the demands of
the fast growing country.

Ethio-telecom provides training for its employees’ in different institutions. The main objective of
this study was to see the effectiveness of the training program that was provided in ethio-telecom
head office particularly in network division.

1.2 Statement of the problem

In developing countries most organizations tend to give less emphasis for employees’ needs in
HRD program which includes training to enhance employees’ competencies. Inadequate need
assessment, outdated training and development methods, unequal access to training
opportunities, insufficient opportunity to learn skills/knowledge that will improve employees
chance of promotion, inadequate opportunities for career growth and poor supervisors guidance
for employees’ development are some of the areas which results dissatisfaction with training
practices. (Hooi Lai Wan, 2007).

The benefits for implementing employee training have been widely recognized and practiced by
different organizations’. However, in some companies the training program is not cost efficient
or it will become valueless as a result of poorly designed training programs. According to Derek,
Laura and Stephen (2008), there is a general agreement that training and development is a good
practice which increases productivity of the company. Therefore, employee training and
development needs considerable attention and it should be designed carefully because it has an
impact on the performance of organization and individual.

For example, choosing training before need assessment or not ensuring employees readiness for
training increases the risk that the method chosen will not be the most effective one for meeting
training needs. If the training held before determining whether the training is needed or not, it
may result in a waste of time and money because the employees may have the knowledge skills
or behavior they need but simply not be motivated to use them. The other problem related to
training in many organizations is that the outcomes of training are not properly evaluated.
Examining the outcomes of a program helps in evaluating training effectiveness and to identify
the programs’ strengths and weakness. This includes determining whether the program is
meeting the learning objectives and whether the training transferred to the job occurring (Noe et
al , 2008).

Despite the increasing effects on training of organizational employees by organizations, there is

still limited literature on human resource development such as training issues in developing
countries (Debrah & Ofori, 2006) and increasing concerns from organizational customers
towards low quality services in the telecommunications sector of Ethiopia. Different
organizations like ethio-telecom in Ethiopia provide training for their employees in order to
achieve the desired missions and objectives.

Ethio-telecom is one of such organization that has been participating in training for a long period
of time but there is still a problem on the effectiveness of the training program which will lead to
employee dissatisfaction and which will risk the effectiveness of the telecom for the future in
accomplishing its missions and objectives. To obtain preliminary information about problems
with regard to effectiveness of the training program in ethio- telecom, .the researcher asked some
employees who are working in ethio-telecom head office in network division. The result of the
investigation shows that some staffs take trainings that are not significant for them, which means
that employees take trainings that are not related with their job. Assigning employees for
inappropriate trainings will be a waste of time and money. As a result this practice will not add
any value for employees as well as for the company.

The researcher also tried to observe that customers of the company complain about the network
systems that are provided by the ethio-telecom. The cause for this problem could be poor
performance of employees caused by different reasons like inadequate trainings, inappropriate
training designs and lack of manager assistant after attending the training program and so on. As
a result the main reason for this study was to assess the effectiveness of the training program.
1.3 Research Questions

Research questions give focus to a study. Therefore in order to give a direction to the study, the
following research questions were posed:

 How the company training need assessment is made?

 How does the company investigate the readiness of employees to learn the
program content?

 What methods are used to deliver the training?

 How does ethio-telecom evaluate the effectiveness of the training program?

 What were the challenges or problems encountered during the training

practices?

1.4 Objective of the study

1.4.1 General objective

The major objective of this study is to assess the effectiveness of the training program in ethio-
telecom.

1.4.2 Specific objectives

• To find out the practice of assessing the need for the training
• To assess whether the company investigates the readiness of trainees to learn the program
content.
• To analyze methods used to deliver the training.
• To determine the evaluation method used by the telecom. to identify the effectiveness of
the training program
• To identify the challenges that are encountered during the training
1.5 Significance of the Study

Importance of this study is that it provides possible suggestions for the weakness of the training
practices of ethio-telecom. And it includes the modification of the way in which the company
conducts the training activities. In addition, it helps the researcher to acquire knowledge and
practical experience, and also for the partial fulfillment of the requirements for masters degree in
Human Resource Management. Furthermore, it will help as a source document and as a stepping
stone for those researchers who want to make further study on the area afterwards.

1.6 Delimitation and limitation of the study

The scope of the study was delimited only in head office of ethio-telecom particularly in network
division by assessing the effectiveness the training program. Furthermore, it would be good if the
researcher studied all human resource practices such as the recruitment, performance
management, placement, performance appraisal and other activities of the organization.
However, the study only focuses on the training aspect of the organization’.

There was some limitations on the study such as lack of access to the right secondary data,
negligence of respondents to fill the questionnaire are among the various problems that
encountered the researcher during the study.

1.7 Definition of terms

Employee performance:- Is an achievement of specified task measured against predetermined

or identified standards of accuracy, completeness, cost and speed by the employees’.

HRD:- HRD has been defined as an organized learning experience, conducted in a definite time
period, to increase the possibility of improving job performance and growth.

HRM:- The staffing functions of the management process. Or the policies and practices needed
to carry out the “people” or human resource aspects of a management position, including
recruiting, screening, training, rewarding, and appraising etc.

Organizational effectiveness:- The measure of how successfully organizations achieve their

missions through their core strategies.
Training and development:- Training typically focuses on providing employees with
specific skills or helping them to correct deficiencies in their performance. In contrast,
development is an effort to provide employees with the abilities that the organization will need in
the future.

1.8 Organization of the Paper

The paper contains five chapters and organized as follows:

Chapter One:- Introduction: This chapter include background of the study, statement of the
problem, research question and objective of the study, significance of the study, delimitation and
limitation of the study, definition of terms and organization of the study.

Chapter Two:- Literature Review: This chapter consists different literatures on definition of
human resource management, definition and benefit of training, training design processes, the
relationship between training employee performance, the impact of training on organizational
effectiveness, theoretical framework of the study , summary and conclusion.

Chapter Three:- Research Methodology:- Under this chapter the type and design of research,
population and sampling techniques, source of data and collection method, methods of data
analysis and validity and reliability of the instrument are included.

Chapter Four: - Analysis and Interpretation: This chapter summarizes the result/findings of the
study and it also consists interpretation of the findings on the effectiveness of the training
program in ethio -telecom.

Chapter Five:- Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation: This chapter comprises the
summary on the findings, conclusions that were draw from the research findings and
recommendations to improve the effectiveness of the training program
 Chapter Two
Literature Review

2.1 Human Resource Management

Human resource management involves all management decisions and action that will affect the
nature of the relationship between the organization and its employees – its human resources
(Beer, Spector, Lawrence, Quinn and Walton 1984). The overall purpose of human resource
management is to ensure that the organization is able to achieve success through people. HRM
aims to increase organizational effectiveness and capability of an organization to achieve its
goals by making the best use of the resources available to it (Armstrong, 2006).

HRM includes different practices like analyzing and designing work, determining human
resource needs (HR planning), attracting potential employees(recruiting), choosing
employees(selection),teaching employees how to perform their jobs and preparing them for the
future(training and development), rewarding employees(compensation), evaluating their
performance(performance management), and creating a positive working environment(employee
relations). Effective HRM has been shown to enhance company performance by contributing to
employee and customer satisfaction, innovation, productivity and development of a favorable
reputation in the firm’s community (Noe et al, 2008)

According to Mathis and Jackson (2008) HRM includes human resource development which
focuses on increasing the capabilities of employees for continuing growth and advancement. It is
usually concerned with improving the intellectual emotional capabilities of employees’ at all
organizational level. The focus of Human Resource Development is on developing the most
superior workforce which helps the organization for successive growth. All human resource
development activities are meant to either improve performance on the present job of the
individual, train new skills for new job or new position in the future and general growth for both
individuals and organization so as to be able to meet organization’s current and future objectives.
Training is part of HRD but HR development is broader, less tangible concept than “training”.
(Nadler , 1984)
2.2 Training

As one of the major functions within HRM, training has for long been recognized and thus
attracted great research attention by academic writers. This has yielded into a variety of
definitions of training. For example, Gordon (1992) defines training as the planned and
systematic modification of behavior through learning events, activities and programs which
result in the participants achieving the levels of knowledge, skills, competencies and abilities to
carry out their work effectively. According to Armstrong (2006) training is the use of systematic
and planned instruction activities to promote learning. It involves the use of formal processes to
impart knowledge and help people to acquire the skills necessary for them to perform their jobs
satisfactorily.

The term ‘training’ indicates the process involved in improving the attitudes, skills and abilities
of the employees to perform specific jobs. It also helps in updating old talents and developing
new ones. ‘Successful candidates placed on the jobs need training to perform their duties
effectively’ (Aswathappa, K, 2000). Training programs not only develops employees but also
help an organization to make best use of their human resources in favor of gaining competitive
advantage. Therefore, it seems mandatory by the firm to plan for such a training program for its
employees to enhance their abilities and competencies that are needed at the workplace.

2.2.1 Benefits of training

Training is important and an imperative tool for the organization to revamp the performance of
all the personnel for organizational growth and success. It is beneficial to both employers and
employees of an organization. An employee will become more efficient and productive if he is
trained well. Firms can develop and enhance the quality of the current employees by providing
comprehensive training and development. According to Anonymous(1998) cited by Elnaga,A.
and Imran, A. training is essential not only to increase productivity but also to motivate and
inspire workers by letting them know how important their jobs are and giving them all the
information they need to perform those jobs .
The general benefits received from employee training are: increased job satisfaction and morale,
increased motivation, increased efficiencies in processes, resulting in financial gain, increased
capacity to adopt new technologies and methods, increased innovation in strategies or products
and reduced employee turnover. Training not only develops the capabilities of the employee but
sharpen their thinking ability and creativity in order to take better decision in time and in more
productive manner. Moreover it also enable employees to deal with the customer in an effective
way and respond to their complaints in timely manner (Elnaga,A. and Imran, A., 2013).

2.2.2 Consequences in the absence of training and development

Failure to conduct employee training and development can contribute to :

Constraints on business development;

Higher labor turnover;
Increased overtime working;
Higher rates of pay, overtime premiums and supplements;
Higher recruitment costs, including advertising, time and incentives;
Greater pressure and stress on staffs;
Pressure on job-evaluation schemes, grading structures, payment system and career
structure;
 2.2.3 Training design processes

Training design process refers to a systematic approach for developing training programs.
Instructional system design (ISD) and the ADDIE model (analysis, design, development,
implementation, evaluation) are two specific types of training design process. Table 2.1 presents
the six steps of this process

Table 2.1 Steps of training design process

Step 1 Needs assessment

• Organizational analysis
• Person analysis
• Task analysis
Step 2 Ensuring employee readiness for training
• Attitudes and motivation
• Basic skill

Step 3 Crating a learning environment

• Identification of learning objectives and training outcomes
• Meaningful material
• Practice, feedback and observation of others
• Administrating and coordinating program
Step 4 Ensuring transfer of training
• Peer and manager support
• Climate of learning

Step5 Selecting training methods

• Types and methods of training
Step 6 Evaluating training programs
• Identification of training out comes and evaluation
designs

Source: Noe et al , (2008)

Step 1:- Need Assessment

The first step in the instructional design process, need assessment, refers to the process used to
determine if training is necessary. Needs assessment, or needs analysis helps the organization’s
to determine training needs and seeks to answer the question of whether the organization’s
needs, objectives, and problems can be met or addressed by training. The dominant framework
for identifying organization's employee training needs has three category needs analysis
approach (Mathis and Jackson, 2008). Within this context, needs assessment is a three-step
process that consists of organizational analysis (e.g., Which organizational goals can be attained
through personnel training?), task analysis (e.g., What must the trainee learn in order to perform
the job effectively?, What will the training cover?), and person analysis (e.g., Which individuals
need training and for what?).

Conducting a systematic needs assessment is a crucial initial step to training design and
development and can substantially influence the overall effectiveness of training programs
(Goldstein & Ford, 2002; McGehee & Thayer, 1961; Sleezer,1993; Zemke, 1994). Specifically, a
systematic needs assessment can guide and serve as the basis for the design, development,
delivery, and evaluation of the training program; it can be used to specify a number of key
features for the implementation (input) and evaluation (outcomes) of training programs.

Figure 2.1 The need assessment process

Reasons What is the context? Outcome
Lack of basic skill Type of training?
Poor performance
Organizational What trainees need to learn?
analysis
New technology Who receives training?
New jobs Task In what do they need
Customer requests analysis training?

Person
analysis

Who needs training?

 A) Organizational analysis

Organizational analysis is the process of identifying job-related knowledge and skills that are
needed to support the organizations short-range and long-range goals (Miller & Osinski, 1996).It
involves determining the business appropriateness of training, given the company’s business
strategy, its resources available for training and support by managers and peers for training
activities.

This implies that organization's strategic goals and plans must carefully be examined in line with
the human resource planning. In this approach, information related to organizational structure,
size, growth, objectives and other factors is gathered to effectively determine where and how
training and development programs should be conducted. Organizational training needs analysis
also involves systematically assessing manager, peer, and technological support for transfer of
training to a workplace . According to McClelland (2002) essentially, there are questions
relevant to identify organizational needs:

• What human resource does the organization have?

• What training has these human resources had?
• What are the deficiencies or what skills are lucking?
• Are there an adequate number of people to fulfill organizational
objectives?

Managers need to consider three factors before choosing training as the solution to any pressure
point:

Support of managers and peers

Managers and peers must be willing to tell trainees how they can use their knowledge, skill and
abilities learned in training on the job more effectively. If peers’ and managers attitudes and
behavior are not supportive, employees are not likely to apply training content to their job.
 Company strategy
Company strategy must be identified to ensure that the company allocates enough of its budget
to training, that employees receive training on relevant topic, and that employee get the right
amount of training.

Training resources
It is necessary to identify whether the company has the budget, time expertise for training.

B) Person analysis

Another training and development need analysis approach is person analysis. Here the
concentration is on the individual employee. It is used to analyze the substantive knowledge and
skill possessed by the employee (Miller & Osinski, 1996). Person analysis involves:

1) Determining whether performance deficiencies result from a lack of knowledge, skill, or

ability or from a motivational or work -design problem.

2) Identifying who needs training

Performance
deficiency

Lack of skill and Other causes

knowledge

Training and Non-training and

development development
measures

Source: Haslinda and Mahyuddin , 2009

Figure 2.2: Training and development need assessment and other remedial measures (modified)
 C) Task analysis

This approach refers to the determination of skill and knowledge the job requires. Examines
tasks performed and the knowledge, skills, attitudes and other behavioral aspects required to
determine what employees must do to perform successfully. In collecting job information as
input into training decisions the job analysis must be included (McClelland, 2002):

• A detailed examination of each task component of the job;

• The performance standard of the job;
• The method and knowledge the employee must use in performing the job task;
• The way employee learns the method and acquires the needed knowledge.

Step 2:- Ensuring employees’ readiness for training

The second step in the training design process is to evaluate whether (1) employees have
personal characteristics (ability, attitude, beliefs and motivation) necessary to learn program
content and apply it on the job and (2) the working environment will facilitate learning and not
interfere with performance (Noe et al, 2008)
.
Step 3:- Creating learning environment

Learning permanently changes behavior. For employees to acquire knowledge and skills in the
training program and apply this information in their jobs the training program must include
specific learning principles. According to Gagne,1996; Knowles, 1990; Bundra,1986;Loke and
Latham,1990;Mager, 1984;Smith and Delhaye, 1987; Smith-Jentsch, Payne and Salas, 1996
cited by Noe et al (2008) table 2.2 shows the events that should take place in the training
program and their implication for instruction.
Table 2.2 Events that should take place in the training program and their implication

CONDITIONS FOR LEARNING IMPORTANCE AND APPLICATION TO

TRAINING
Need to know why they should learn Employees need to understand the purpose or objectives
of the training program to help them understand why
they need training and what they are expected to
accomplish
Meaningful training content Motivation to learn is enhanced when training is related
to helping learner (such as related to current job tasks,
problems, enhancing skills or dealing with jobs or
company changes).The training context should be
similar to the work environment.
Opportunities for practice Trainees need to demonstrate what is learned to become
more comfortable using it and to commit it to memory.
Feedback Helps learner modify behavior, skill, or use knowledge
to met objectives
Good program coordination and Eliminate distractions that could interfere with learning,
administration such as cell-phone. Make sure the room is properly
organized, comfortable and appropriate for the training
method. Trainees should receive announcement of the
purpose of training, place, hour and any pertaining
materials such as cases or readings.
Commit training content to memory Facilitate recall of training content after training .Limit
instruction to manageable units that don’t exceed
memory limits, review and practice over multiple days.

Step 4:- Ensuring Transfer of Training

Transfer of training refers to on-the job-use of knowledge, skills and behaviors learned in
training. Transfer of training will be influenced by the climate for transfer, manager support, peer
support and opportunities to use learned capabilities (Noe et al, 2008).
 • Climate for Transfer
Trainees’ perceptions characteristics of the work environment that facilitates or inhabit use of
trained skills or behavior. These characteristics include manager and peer support, opportunities
to use skills and the consequences for using learned capabilities.

• Manager support
Manager support refers to the degree to which trainees’ managers (1) emphasize the importance
of attending training programs (2) stress the application of training content to the job.

• Peer support
According to Petrini (1990) cited by Noe et al (2008) transfer of training can also be enhanced
by creating a support network among the trainees. A support network is a group of two or more
trainees who agree to meet and discuss their progress in using learned capabilities on the job.

• Opportunities to use learned capabilities

Opportunities to use learned capabilities refers to the extent to which the trainees is provided
with or actively seeks experience with newly learned knowledge, skill and behavior from the
training program. Trainees given many opportunities to use training content on the job are more
likely to maintain learned capabilities than trainees given few opportunities (Ford et al, 1995/96).

Step 5:- Selecting training methods

Different organizations are motivated to take on different training methods for a number of
reasons for example; (1) depending on the organization’s strategy, goals and resources available,
(2) depending on the needs identified at the time, and (3) the target group to be trained which
may include among others individual workers, groups, teams, department or the entire
organization.

Training in organizations is offered in many different areas some of this training is conducted
primarily in-house, whereas other types of training make greater use of external training
resources. The various ways of organizing content and encouraging trainees to learn are referred
to as training methods. Training methods vary in terms of how active the learner is during
training (Stewart and Brown, 2009).

A. On-the-Job Training

The most widely used training methods take place on the job and they are less costly to operate.
On-the-job training places employees in actual work situations and makes them appear to be
immediately productive. For jobs that either are difficult to stimulate or can be learned quickly
by watching and doing, on-the-job training makes sense (DeCenzo and Robbins, 2007).

One of the draw backs of on-the-job training can be low productivity while the employees
develop their skills. Another draw backs can be the errors made by the trainees while they learn.
However, when the damage the trainees can do is minimal, where training facilitates and
personnel are limited or costly, and where it is desirable for the workers to learn the job under
normal working conditions, the benefits of on-the-job training frequently offset its drawbacks.

Examples of the on-the-job training are (De Cenzo and Robbins, 2007) ;

 Job rotation

According to McCourt, W. & Derek, E.( 2003) as a way of developing employee skills within
organization involves movements of employees from one official responsibility to another. For
example, taking on higher rank position within the organization and one branch of the
organization to another. Through job rotation, companies can create a flexible workforce capable
of performing a variety of tasks and working for multiple departments or teams if needed.
Furthermore, employees can cultivate a holistic understanding of a company through job rotation
and can learn and appreciate how each department operates.

Effective job rotation programs entail more than a couple of visits to different departments to
observe them. Rather, they involve actual participation and completion of actual duties
performed by these departments. In addition, job rotation duties encompass typical work
performed under the same conditions as the employees of the departments’ experience. Because
of the value some companies place on job rotation, they establish permanent training slots in
major departments, ensuring ongoing exposure of employees to new tasks and responsibilities.3
  Coaching

Coaching is aimed at the rapid improvement of skills, behavior and performance, usually for the
present job. A structured and purposeful dialogue is at the heart of coaching. The coach uses
feedback and brings an objective perspective. The need for coaching may arise from formal or
informal performance reviews but opportunities for coaching will emerge during normal day-to-
day activities. Coaching as part of the normal process of management consists of (Michael
Armstrong, 2006):

Making people aware of how well they are performing by, for example, asking them
questions to establish the extent to which they have thought through what they are doing;

Controlled delegation – ensuring that individuals not only know what is expected of them
but also understand what they need to know and be able to do to complete the task
satisfactorily; this gives managers an opportunity to provide guidance at the outset –
guidance at a later stage may be seen as interference;

Using whatever situations may arise as opportunities to promote learning;

Encouraging people to look at higher-level problems and how they would tackle them.

 Orientation

This is yet another training and development method. This involves getting new employees
familiarized and trained on the new job within an organization. During this process, they are
exposed to different undertakings for example the nature of their new work, how to take on their
identified tasks and responsibilities and what is generally expected of the employees by the
organization. They are further given a general overview of the organizational working
environment including for example working systems, technology, and office layout, briefed
about the existing organizational culture, health and safety issues, working conditions, processes
and procedures.
 B. Off-the-job Training

Off-the-job training covers a number of techniques and it involves taking employees away from
their usual work environments and therefore all concentration is left out to the training. The
facilities needed for each of these techniques vary from a small makeshift class room to an
elaborate development center with large lecture halls, supplemented by small conference rooms
with sophisticated audio-visual equipment, two-way mirrors, and all frills (DeCenzo and
Robbins, 2007). Examples for off-the-job training;

 Case study

Case analysis is an active training method in which trainees discuss, analyze and solve problems
based on real or hypothetical situations. Cases can be used to help teach basic principles and to
improve motivation and change attitudes. Generally, however, the primary objective is to
develop skill in analysis, communication and problem solving .

The danger of case studies is that they are often perceived by trainees to be irrelevant to their
needs, even if based on fact.

 Conference

It is a training and development method involves presentations by more than one person to a
wide audience it is said to be conference training. It is more cost effective as a group of
employees are trained on a particular topic all at the same time in large audiences. This method
is however disadvantageous because it is not easy to ensure that all individual trainees
understand the topic at hand as a whole; not all trainees follow at the same pace during the
training sessions; focus may go to particular trainees who may seem to understand faster than
others and thus leading tot under training other individuals.

 Discovery

According to Stewart and Brown (2009) discovery is an active method that involves presenting
trainees with a task that offers rich opportunities to learn new skills. This method may sound
more like learning by experimentation in control training environment.
Discovery can be highly motivating for trainees, but it has serious draw backs. Without any
guidance from instructor: it is highly inefficient and can result in people learning the wrong
things. A more efficient approach is discovery coupled with guidance, where the instructor is
more active in asking questions and providing hints that help learner while they explore.
Appropriate trainees and ensure that they learn the best way to perform the task.

 Role-playing

This active method offers an opportunity for trainees to practice new skills in the training
environment. It is most often used to help trainees acquire interpersonal and human relation
skills. Role playing allows employees to act out work scenarios. It involves the presentation of
problems and solutions for example in an organization setting for discussion.

This method is more effective when carried out under stress-free or alternatively minimal-stress
environments so as to facilitate easier learning. It is a very effective training method for a wide
range of employees for example those in sales or customer service area, management and
support employees.

 Simulation

Simulation is a training technique that combines case studies and role-playing to obtain the
maximum amount of realism in classroom training. The aim is to facilitate the transfer of what
has been learnt off the job to on-the-job behavior by reproducing, in the training room, situations
that are as close as possible to real life. Trainees are thus given the opportunity to practice
behavior in conditions identical to or at least very similar to those they will meet when they
complete the course.

Step 6:- Evaluating training programs

Examining the outcomes of a program helps in evaluating its effectiveness. These outcomes
should be related to the program objectives, which help trainees understand the purpose of the
program. Training outcomes can be categorized as cognitive outcomes, skill-based outcomes,
affective outcomes, results and return on investment (Kraiger, Ford and Salas, 1993; Kirkpatrick
1976).
Reasons for evaluating training (Noe et al, 2008) ;

 To identify the program’s strength and weaknesses .This includes determining whether
the program is meeting the learning objective, the quality of the learning environment and
whether transfer of training to the job is occurring.
 To assess whether the content, organization and administration of the program contribute
to learning and the use of training content on the job.
 To identify which trainees benefited most or least from the program
 To determine the financial benefits and costs of the program
 To compare the costs and benefits of training to non training investments
 To compare the costs and benefits of different training programs to choose the best
program

A) Evaluation designs

There are many ways to design and evaluate training programs to determine their effects. The
three most common are (Mathis and Jackson, 2008);

 Post Measure
 Pre/Post Measure
 Pre/Post Measure with control group

The most obvious way to evaluate training effectiveness is to determine after the training
whether the individuals can perform the way management wants them to perform. This
evaluation design is called post measure. In this design the training outcomes are measured only
at the end of training for the training group

Train
Post Measure
Measure
The other evaluation design is pre/post measure in this design manager will measure the
performance of employees before and after training, these will allow the manager to identify
whether the training made any difference.

Measure

Pre/ Post Measure

Train

Measure

The third evaluation design is called pre/post with control group and on this design managers
can test among employees who undergone the training and those who didn’t, this method is
applied to see the major difference among this groups of employees. There are some difficulties
associated with using this Pre/Post with control group design. First, having employees doing
similar jobs to be able to create two groups may not be feasible in many situations, even in larger
companies. Second, because one group is excluded from the training, there may be resentment or
increased motivation by those in the control group, which could lead to distorted results, either
positive or negative.

Experimental Control
Group Group

Pre/Post Measure Measure Measure

With a Control Group

Train

Measure Measure
Other designs also can be used, but these three are the most common ones. When possible, the
pre-/post-measure or pre-/post-measure with control group design should be used, because each
provides a much stronger measurement than the post-measure design alone.

B) Levels of Evaluation

It is best to consider how training is to be evaluated before it begins Kirkpatrick (1976)

identified four levels at which training can be evaluated.

 Reaction: - Organizations evaluate the reaction level of trainees by conducting

interviews or by administering questionnaires to the trainees. However, the immediate
reaction may measure only how much the people liked the training rather than how it
benefited them.
 How well did the trainees like the training?

 Learning :- organization evaluate learning level by measuring how well trainees have
learned measuring this can be evaluated by measuring how well trainees have learned
facts, ideas, concepts, theories, and attitudes. Tests on the training material are commonly
used for evaluating learning and can be given both before and after training to compare
scores.
 To what extent did the trainees learn the facts , principles and approaches
that were included in the training?

 Behavior:- Evaluating training at the behavioral level involves (1) measuring the effect
of training on job performance through interviews of trainees and their coworkers and (2)
observing job performance.

 To what extent did their job behavior change because of the program?

 Results:- Employers evaluate results by measuring the effect of training on the

achievement of organizational objectives. Because results such as productivity, turnover,
 quality, time, sales, and costs are relatively concrete, this type of evaluation can be done
by comparing records before and after training.

 What final results were achieved (reduction in cost reduction in turn over,
improvement in production, etc.)?

Training is designed to help the organization accomplish its objectives. Too often, unplanned,
uncoordinated and haphazard training efforts significantly reduce the learning that could have
been occurred , also without a well-designed systematic approach to training, what is learned
may not be what is best for the organization( Mathis and Jackson, 2008 ).

2.3 The Relationship between Training and Employee Performance

Employee performance can be defined as the achievement of specified task measured against
predetermined or identified standards of accuracy, completeness, cost and speed by the
employees’. Kenney (1992) stated that employee's performance is measured against the
performance standards set by the organization. Good performance means how well employees
performed on the assigned tasks. In every organization there are some expectations from the
employees with respect to their performance. And when they perform up to the set standards and
meet organizational expectations they are believed good performers while poor performance can
be occurred as a result of inadequate job training and both customers and employers will become
unsatisfied but trained employees will better satisfy the needs of their customers and employers.

According to Khawaja & Nadeem (2013) cited by Muhammad Nda, M. & Yazdani Fard, R.
(2013) training is viewed as a systematic approach of learning and development that improve
individual, group and organizations performance. Training is very essential at all employee
levels, due to the reason that skills erode and become obsolete over a period of time and has to be
replenished (Langer, N. and Mehra, A., 2010). Therefore, training affects employees’ behavior
and their working skills which results into employees enhanced performance as well as
constructive changes (Satterfield & Hughes, 2007).
According to Appiah, B. and April (2010) there is a positive relationship between training and
employees’ performance. Training generates benefits for the employee as well as the
organization by positively influencing employee performance through the development of
employee knowledge, skills, ability, competencies and behavior. Training as a process is one of
the most pervasive methods to enhance the productivity of individuals and to communicate
organizational goals to employees. According to Ekaterini & Constantinos- Vasilios (2009) cited
by Muhammad Nda, M. & Yazdani Fard, R.(2013) training does not only enhance employees
resourcefully, but also provides them with an opportunity to virtually learn their jobs and
perform more competently.

2.4 The Impact of Training on Organizational Effectiveness

Organization is a composition of people which formulate independent business identity for some
specific purpose and getting desired outcome within defined resources is treated as effectiveness
(Malik,M., Ghafoor,M. and Naseer S. , 2011). Organizational effectiveness is the measure of
how successfully organizations achieve their missions through their core strategies and the
measure was adopted from Gold (2001). Dimensions of organizational effectiveness measure
include: improved ability to innovate, improved coordination of efforts, and rapid commerciali-
zation of new products. Other contributions may include: the ability to anticipate surprises,
responsiveness to market change, and reduced redundancy of information/knowledge.

Organizations rely on training to enhance the productivity and performance of their employees.
Training is important to a company to maintain its employees' skills and competence to meet the
future challenges as well as achieve a better performance. According to Swieringa J. and
Wierdsma, A. (1992) training is said to be one of the most important interventions to nurture the
learning process. For a company to cope with the rapid changing environment, it is necessary to
invest in training, upgrading, updating and converting the skills of the existing workforce.

Any training or development implemented in an organization must be cost effective or the

benefits gained by such programs must outweigh the costs associated with providing the learning
experience. Only by analyzing such programs can effectiveness be determined. It’s not enough to
mealy assume that any training and development an organization offers is effective; the
organization must develop substantive data to determine whether the training and development
effort is achieving its goals- that is , if its correcting the deficiencies and skills, knowledge, or
attitudes that were assessed as needing attention and can lead to organizational effectiveness

Ziarnik, J.P. and Bernstein, G.S. (1982) have argued that the staff training alone is insufficient
to achieve enduring change. This is because not all knowledge obtained from the training is
properly transferred and applied to the organization. According to Singh (2006) cited by Abd
Rahman et al (2013) have claimed that the cornerstone to the long‐term survival of a firm is
recognizing the value of the knowledge that is a key to innovative thinking and investment.
Hence, if there is no application of the learned knowledge on the job, then there will be little or
no impact on the organization performance.

According to Tharenou (2006) cited by Mathis and Jackson (1991)when training is designed it
must be designed and delivered properly and it will improve the overall effectiveness of an
organization in three ways . First, it can boost employees’ commitment and motivation.
Organizations that offer opportunities to learn and grow are seen as havening employees’ interest
at heart, and as a result, employees feel more committed to the organizations. Second, training
helps employees to perform more effectively and efficiently, so the organization is able to
function better on a day-to-day basis (Arthur, W., Bennett, W., Eden,P. and Bell, S., 2003) The
third way in which training benefits organizations is by helping the organization to meet their
strategic objectives. It does so by providing employees with the specific knowledge, skills and
attitudes necessary to make strategic initiatives a reality (Stewart and Brown , 2009)

Training alone is not sufficient to enhance organizational effectiveness to a greater level because
not all the knowledge obtained from the training is properly transferred and applied to the
organization. In other words, transfer of knowledge (productive use of acquired knowledge and
skills) acquired during the training must take place effectively to realize the full benefits (Dirani,
2012).
2.5 Empirical studies

A study conducted by Aidah Nassazi(2013) empirically examined the training practices besides
he also tried to see the effectiveness of the training program, using the telecommunication
industry in Uganda as case study. In order to understand the study aim, the researcher developed
four goals and these focused particularly on identifying the training programs’ existing in the
industry, the objective of the training offered, the methods employed and finally the effects
of training and development on employee performance. The results from the questions on
employee participation in training and selection for training indicate that these companies
have good and perhaps clear policies regarding training and development as most of the
respondents indicated that they have participated in training and that most of them were
provided with opportunities to train under the compulsory practice of the company for all
employees and/or on joining the company. In examining the question relating to the
training program quality, the results indicate that the programs undertaken by the sample
companies are relevant as considered by the respondents` opinions.

Another study made by Kinferufael Ayalewu (2013) also empirically examined the training
practices in ethio-telecom. The study concluded that the organization doesn’t have an interesting
need assessment practice and it also used different indicators to assess training needs such as line
management/supervisors recommendations and direct observation. The researcher also tried to
assess the different indicators like introduction of new work methods, change in working process
and when employees need close supervision were used as indicator to assess the need for the
training. With regard to training method the researcher found that half of the respondents get the
training method effective where as the other half didn’t get the method helpful. The study also
reveals that there are some problems which hinder the effective delivery and implementation of
the training program such as assigning inappropriate trainees to the training programs. The
researcher recommended that the company should give more emphasis to solve the different
problems to attain strategic objective.
2.6 Theoretical Framework

Based on the literature review, the relationship between effective training programs, employee
performance and organizational effectiveness were conceptualized and it has been observed
training has a great relation with the performance of employee and on the organizational
effectiveness as well.

According to Guest (1997) cited by Elnaga,A.,Imran, A. (2013) mentioned in their study that
training and development programs , as one of the vital human resource management practice,
positively affects the quality of the workers knowledge, skills and capability and thus results in
higher employee performance on job. According to Wright and Geroy (2001) another authors
cited by Elnaga,A., Imran, A. (2013) also mentioned that employee competencies changes
through effective training programs. It not only improves the overall performance of the
employees to effectively perform the current job but also enhance the knowledge, skills an
attitude of the workers necessary for the future job, thus contributing to superior organizational
performance.

Figure 2.3 shows the relationship between training, employee performance and organizational
effectiveness. Training is the independent variable because it is the presumed cause for higher or
lower performance of employee and the organization. Both the performance of employee and the
organization will depend on the effectiveness of the training program so they are called
dependent variables.

Effective Training • Employee performance

program • Organizational effectiveness

Independent Variable Dependent variable

Figure 2.3: Theoretical model representing relationship between independent and dependent
variable.
2.6 Summary and conclusion

Human resource management (HRM) is a strategic, integrated and coherent approach to the
employment, development and well-being of the people working in organizations. Employees
are the most valuable asset of every company as they can make or break a company’s reputation
and can adversely affect profitability. Employees often are responsible for the great bulk of
necessary work to be done as well as customer satisfaction and the quality of products and
events. Without proper training, employees both new and current do not receive the information
and develop the skill sets necessary for accomplishing their tasks at their maximum potential.
Employees who undergo proper training tend to keep their jobs longer than those who do not.

Due to fast pace global and technological development the firms are now facing new changes as
well as challenges. Technological advancements have mould the need of capabilities and
competencies required to perform a particular tasks. Thus, to cope with these challenges, more
improved and effective training programs are required by all corporate. Effective training
programs helps in constructing a more conducive learning environment for the workforce
and train them to cope with the upcoming challenges more easily and in time .

According to Noe et al (2008) there are six steps to design a training program effectively:
 Need assessment
 Ensuring employee readiness for training
 Creating a learning environment
 Ensuring transfer of training
 Selecting training methods
 Evaluating training programs

Effective training and development programs aimed at improving the employees’ performance.
Training refers to bridging the gap between the current performance and the standard desired
performance. It is also an imperative tool for the organization to revamp the performance of all
the personnel for organizational growth and success.
Training could be given through different methods such as on-the job and off-the-job depending
on the organization’s strategy, goals and resource available and depending the needs identified at
the time. On-the- job training is given to employees to show them the result of their action
immediately and to guide them what they are learning without leaving their working
environment and examples of this training methods are Job rotation, coaching, orientation and so
on. Off-the-job training is provided to avoid distractions which will help the trainees to become
concentrated while they are taking the training. Examples of off-the-job training are; case study,
conference, discovery, role playing and stimulation.

There are different evaluation designs to examine the effectiveness of the training program and
the three well known are post measure, pre/post measure and pre/post with control group. The
post or pre/post measure with control group design should be used rather than other evaluation
designs such as post measures because each provides a much stronger measurement than post
measure design alone.

To sum up, training programs should be designed carefully starting from need assessment
process up to evaluation. In order to improve employee’s performance and organizational
effectiveness, companies should give attention while they are designing training programs to
meet their strategic objectives. Strategic initiatives will become a reality by providing (updating)
employees with a specific knowledge, skills and attitudes that will help them to perform more
effectively and efficiently on their day-to-day basis.
 Chapter Three
Research Methodology

According to C.R. Kothari research methodology is a way to systematically solve the research
problem and it may be understood as a science of studying how research is done scientifically. In
it we study the various steps that are generally adopted by a researcher in studying the research
problem along with the logic behind them. It is necessary for the researcher to know not only the
research methods/techniques but also the methodology.

Therefore this chapter holds research design, population and sampling technique, source of data
and data collection, method of data analysis, instrument validity and reliability of the study.

3.1 Research Design

This study was conducted on the head office of ethio-telecom particularly on network division.
In order to conduct the research, descriptive type of research design with a mixed approach was
employed. The method of the study was descriptive in nature because, the researcher tried to get
an answer for WH questions that was raised in the research question through assessing the
effectiveness of the training program in the company.

Regarding the time span of the research was cross-sectional because this research studied groups
of people at one time meaning that it won’t continue studying the stability of the data over time.

There are different types of research methods that could be used when doing research. The
methods include: qualitative research, quantitative research, and a mixture of both qualitative and
quantitative research. The difference between qualitative and quantitative research arise from
their procedures and the method for data collection. For the purpose of this study the researcher
applied mixed research approach. This approach is vital because it capitalizes the strength of
quantitative and qualitative approach and it will also remove any biases that exist in any single
research method.
3.2 Population and Sampling technique

The population size of this study consisted of employees in ethio-telecom head office
particularly in network divisions which are 1173. The researcher selected this department for the
purpose of this study for the following reasons. First, there are other studies conducted under this
research topic but they only focused on customer division and other departments. Second,
employees in this division mostly undergo through training and they also have separate training
programs comparing from other department as a result they are well experienced about the
training practices which was very helpful for this study. According to this reasons the researcher
initiated to conduct this study on network department because this division has a greater role for
the survival of the company

Table 3.1 Sample size determination table

Sample Size
Population Size Low Medium High

51-90 5 13 20
91-150 8 20 32
151-280 13 32 50
281-500 20 50 80
501-1200 32 80 125
1201-3200 50 125 200
3201-10000 80 200 315
10001-35000 125 315 500
35001-150000 200 500 800

Source: J. Carvalho, “Archival application of mathematical sampling technique”, Records

Management quareterly18:63 (1984)
For the purpose of this study the researcher used a sample size determination table to determine
the appropriate sample size for the population of the telecom. This method is selected because it
enables the researcher to identify the sample easily in a manageable way. In light of this, the
researcher used 125 as a sample from the total population

The researcher also used two types of sampling techniques. The first one is probability sampling
technique and it is a sampling procedure in which each element of the population has a fixed
probabilistic chance of being selected for the sample. There are different types of probability
sampling techniques but the researcher used simple random sampling by taking a name list from
the HR department to distribute the questionnaire for employees.

The second type of sampling technique was non-probability sampling technique and these
techniques do not use the chance selection procedure rather; they rely on the personal judgment
of the researcher. There are different types of non-probability sampling technique among this
purposive sampling technique was applied in order to conduct the interview with human capacity
builder and two other HR experts, this interviewees was chosen because they are responsible for
the training and development activities of the company.

3.3 Sources of data and collection method

The sources of data for this study were both primary and secondary sources. Primary data can be
obtained by conducting a survey; a survey can be described simply as a means of gathering
information, usually through self-report using questionnaires or interviews. In this study a survey
has been conducted on employees in ethio-telecom head office mainly on network division.

Therefore, through this strategy the researcher recognized the effectiveness of the training
program which has been collected through different survey strategies like questionnaires and
interviews.

The questions both in questionnaire and in the interview were kept as concise as possible with
care taken to the actual wording and phrasing of the questions. The reason for the appearance
and layout of the questionnaire are of great importance in any survey where the questionnaire is
to be completed by the respondent (John A. et al., 2007). The literature in the study was used as a
guideline for the development of the questions in the questionnaire as well as in the interview.
Besides, some questions in the questionnaire were adopted from other .The questions that were
included in the questionnaire consists closed-ended and five-point Likert scale type questions.
The type of scales used to measure the items on the instrument is continuous scales which his
ordinal type of measurement and the nominal type of measurement also applied.

For the purpose of interview with the manager of human capacity builder and HR experts’ semi-
structured interview was designed based on the literature part of this study.

3.4 Methods of data analysis

The data analysis has been done after the completion of relevant data collection and for this
study to analyze the collected data descriptive data analysis method was employed. Data
collected through interviews was analyzed by using description of facts. Those data collected
through questionnaires were analyzed using SPSS version 20. The results are presented by using
tables, charts and figures to bring easy and clear understanding on the findings.

3.5 Instrument Validity and Reliability

3.5.1 Instrument Validity

The questionnaire was developed by the researcher and some questions were adopted from other
researches. The consistency of the questionnaire has been checked against previously made
studies and they are constructed to assess the effectiveness of the training program in case of
ethio-telecom’.

The other method to check the validity of the questionnaire has been conducted by using pilot
test. The researcher tested the questionnaire to see if it obtains the result that is required for the
study. During pilot testing 10 employees were selected and based on the result the questionnaires
was redesigned and the finalized questionnaires was distributed to other employees which didn’t
participated in the pilot study.

During the pilot testing the participants was asked;

 To read it through and see if there are any ambiguities which they have not noticed.
 To comment about the length, structure and wording of the questionnaire

3.5.2 Instrument Reliability

The reliability of instruments measures the consistency of instruments. Creswell (2003)

considers the reliability of the instruments as the degree of consistency that the instruments or
procedure demonstrates.

To check the reliability of the questionnaire the researcher also used reliability test by using
Cronbach alpha to check the consistency of the questions with the topic of the study. An alpha
value of 0.80 or higher is taken as a good indication of reliability, although others suggest that it
is acceptable if it is 0.67 or above (Cohen Manion and Morrison , 2007). As a result the
reliability test of this study shows that the Cronbach alpha which is .884 exceeds the expected
value that was stated by different scholar so the instrument were developed based on research
questions and objectives; it is possible to collect necessary data from respondents. Then,
instruments are consistent with the objectives of the study.

Table 3.2 Reliability test

Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's Alpha N of Items

.884 41
3.6 Ethical consideration
The following work has been done to keep the ethicality of the study;

 Proper preparation was made and the participants were informed about the purpose of the
study.

 Participants were voluntarily consented to the research participation.

 Since the questions are easy and clear to understand it avoided mental suffering or stress.

 Even if the researcher identifies a person’s responses but it was held confidentially by the
research.
 Chapter Four
Data Presentation and Analysis

This chapter presents analyze and interpret the data obtained from the primary source. The
primary data was obtained from the questionnaire which is designed to collect the necessary data
to answer the research questions. The questionnaire was administered for one hundred twenty
five employees working in network division in ethio- telecom, situated in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The data collected mainly through questionnaire and semi-structure interview. After collecting
the data from the sample taken it will be described, analyzed and synthesized in tables, graphs,
pie-charts with the help of SPSS.

4.1 Response rate of the participants

To assess the effectiveness of the training program of ethio-telecom questionnaires were

prepared and distributed to 125 staffs of ethio-telecom. Of these, 115 were kindly enough to fill
and return the questionnaire and the rest 10 failed to return the questionnaire distributed to them.
In summary the following table shows the total number of distributed, returned and unreturned
questionnaire.

Table 4.1 Distributed, returned and unreturned questionnaires

Questionnaires Number Percent

Returned 115 92.0
Unreturned 10 8.0
Total 125 100

The other data collection method was interview; the response rate of the interview is 100 because
the interviewees were willing to give information to the researcher. The researcher intended to
conduct interview with the Human Capacity Builder and two experts from human resource
department.
4.2 Demographic Characteristics of Respondents
The first part of the questionnaire solicited the respondents in terms of gender, age, educational
background and level of tenure. Accordingly the response of the respondents is depicted on the
table 4.2 below.

Table 4.2 Profile data of respondent

Sex of the respondent

Valid Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative Percent
Percent

Male 92 80.0 80.0 100.0

Female 23 20.0 20.0 20.0
Total 115 100.0 100.0
Age of the respondent
18-25 7 6.1 6.1 6.1
26-35 52 45.2 45.2 51.3
36-45 46 40.0 40.0 91.3
46-55 10 8.7 8.7 100.0
Total 115 100.0 100.0
Educational background of the respondent
Masters degree 14 12.2 12.2 12.2
First degree 81 70.4 70.4 82.6
College diploma 20 17.4 17.4 100.0
Total 115 100.0 100.0
Year of service in ethio-telecom
1-5 yrs 18 15.7 15.7 15.7
6-10 yrs 36 31.3 31.3 47.0
11-20 yrs 48 41.7 41.7 88.7
21-30 yrs 11 9.6 9.6 98.3
>30 yrs 2 1.7 1.7 100.0
Total 115 100.0 100.0

Source: Own survey, 2015

Among 115 respondents 92 of them were male and 23 were female. As shown in table 4.1 the
majority of the respondents (80%) to the study were male, indicating that the majority of the
participants of this study are male as compared to females (20%).

Regarding the age range, the data obtained from the questionnaire reveals that 7(6.1%),
52(45.2%), 46(40%) and 10(8.7%) of the total respondents were in the age group 18-25, 26-35,
36-45 and 46-55 respectively. The results reveal that most employees are between 26-35 years
old this implies that majority of the participants are between this age group.

The respondents level of education, 14(12.2%) of the respondents have masters degree,
81(70.4%) were first degree graduates and 20(12.2%) were diploma holders. From this one can
understand that most of the respondents are degree holders, it also implies that most probably the
participants of the study easily understood the questions while they fill the questionnaires. This
will be very valuable for the findings of the study.

Regarding the respondents work experience, according to the gathered data 18(15.7%) of the
respondents have worked for the company for 1 to 5 years, 36 (31.3%) of the entire population
have worked for the company for 6 to 10 years of age, 48(41.7%) have worked for 11 to 20 years
of age, 11(9.6%) have worked for 21 to 30 years in the company and the remaining 2(1.7%)
have worked for ethio-telecom for over 31 years.

As the above paragraph explains about the data gathered from the respondents it indicates that
most of the respondents have worked several years in ethio- telecom and they are well
experienced about the training that is provided by the company. According to Richard Steers
(1977) hypothesized and found true that the more committed an employee is the less of a desire
they have to terminate from the organization. From Richard point of view we can also
understand that most participant of this study are committed to their job since they have worked
several years in the company. This implies that this respondents need to have constant training
programs to update their skills and knowledge because technology is changing at a fast pace so
they must learn new techniques to make use of advanced technologies. Thus training should be
treated as a continuous process to update the employees in the new methods and procedures.
4.3 Analysis on the general practices of training

Figure 4.1 Availability of sufficient budget, time and expertise for the training

Source: Own survey, 2015

As the above chart shows from all respondents majority of the respondents which are 39.13%
agreed that the company has adequate budget, time and expertise to provide training for its
employees whereas 8.70% of the respondents stated that the company lacks sufficient budget,
time and qualified expertise to give. 23.48% of the respondents strongly agreed that the company
has adequate budget, time and expertise to provide training for its employees while 8.70%
strongly disagreed. The remaining 24.35% remained neutral about the availability of sufficient
budget, time and expertise within the company. As per to the response ethio-telecom has
adequate budget, time and expertise to provide the training for its employees.
Figure 4.2 Respondents participation in training

Source: Own survey, 2015

In case of ethio- telecom as the above pie chart illustrates 108 (93.9%) undergone training and
the remaining 7(6.1%) of the respondents didn’t get any sort of training by the company for
which they work for. This indicates that most respondents participated in the training program
and this will be vital for the study because most employees are aware about the general practices
of the training within the company. Employees who receive training are confident and
motivated, they have the ability to make better and economic use of material and equipment
there by reducing and avoiding waste, they are also capable to manage change because they
have aware about the change process and they will gain the skills and abilities needed to adjust
to new situations (Cole, 2001). In this study the majority of the respondents are beneficial from
the training than those who didn’t undergo the training.
Table 4.3 Schedule of the training program

Question Valid Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

Percent Percent
Quarterly 5 4.3 4.5 4.5
Every 6 month 5 4.3 4.5 8.9
How often does Once a year 9 7.8 8.0 17.0
your company Every 2 years 2 1.7 1.8 18.8
provide training More than 2 years 10 8.7 8.9 27.7
program? No specific schedule 81 70.4 72.3 100.0
Total 112 97.4 100.0
Missing 3 2.6 - -
every two years
Total 115 100.0 - -

Source: Own survey, 2015

The schedule of the training program in ethio – telecom as reported in the results above
indicates that the majority of respondents represented by 72.3% didn’t know the specific training
schedule of ethio –telecom. 5(4.5%), 9(8.0%), 2(1.8%), and 10(8.9%) said that etho-telecom
provides training on the following basis respectively; quarterly(every 6 month), once in a year ,
every two years and above two years This implies that ethio-telecom has no particular training
schedule and the company will provide the training for its employees as required.

Table 4.4 No of times employees have had training since they have joined the organization

Question No of times Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

Percent Percent
1- 3 54 47.0 48.2 48.2
How many times have 4-6 31 27.0 27.7 75.9
you taken the training 7-9 7 6.1 6.3 82.1
program? >=10 13 11.3 11.6 93.8
Missing 10 8.7 6.3 100.0
Total 115 100.0 - -
Source: Own survey, 2015

As the above table shows from the 54(48.2%), 31(27.7%), 7(6.3%) and 13(11.6%) of the
respondents have taken the training program from 1to3, 4 to 6 , 7 to 9 and 10 times and above
respectively since they have joined the organization. 10(6.3%) of the respondents from the total
population didn’t respond to the question, it’s may be because they didn’t take any form of
training provided by the organization or there may be other reasons. In general this data indicates
that most of the respondents taken trainings for at least 1 to 3 number of times.

Table 4.5 Criteria to select trainees for the training

Question Criteria for selection Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

Percent Percent
On joining the company 37 32.2 32.7 32.7
Compulsory for all 21 18.3 18.6 51.3
employees
Based on what criteria performance appraisal 19 16.5 16.8 68.1
were you selected for Supervisors 21 18.3 18.6 86.7
the training? recommendation
up on your request 3 2.6 2.7 89.4
Don’t know 12 10.4 10.6 100.0
Total 113 98.3 100.0
Missing 2 1.7 - -
Total 115 100.0 - -
Source: Own survey, 2015

Table 4.5 above illustrates the results from the question about how the respondents were selected
for the training in ethio-telecom. The results indicate surprisingly that a large number of
respondents were selected to participate and thus, receive training on joining the company. This
proportion of respondents is represented by 37 (32.7%) of respondents from the total of sample
size.

21 respondents were selected for training under the criteria of all employees going through the
training and this is represents by 18.6%. 19(16.8%) were selected for the training based on the
information on performance appraisal. Other employees were selected based on their supervisors
recommendation (21 respondents representing 18.6%), upon their own request to receive training
(3 respondents representing 2.7%) and others were not aware of how they were selected for the
training (12 respondents representing 10.6%). The remaining didn’t respond for the question (2
respondents representing 1.7%). This table illustrate that most of the respondents took the
training when they join the company.
 4.4 Analysis on issues regarding training need
assessment and other training design process
Figure 4.3 Level of need assessment by the company

Level of assessment

Source: Own survey, 2015

As the graph shows from a total of 115 respondents 17(14.8%) said that that the company
never tried to review the need for the training , 31(27%) replied that ethio- telecom rarely assess
the need for the training , 51(44.3%) respondents agreed that the company sometimes conducts
need assessment before providing the program , 9(7.8%) from the total respondents replied that
the company mostly assess the need for the training and 5(4.3%) of the respondents responded
that need assessment is always done by the company before providing the training. The
remaining respondents failed to fill the questions.

This data shows that the company sometimes tries to assess the need for the training before
providing any type of training program in the company. Conducting a systematic needs
assessment is a crucial initial step to training design and can substantially influence the overall
effectiveness of training programs (Goldstein & Ford, 2002; McGehee & Thayer, 1961;
Sleezer,1993; Zemke, 1994). The assessment begins with a need which can be identified in
several ways but it is generally described as a gap between what is currently in place and what is
needed, now and in the future. Therefore, assessing the need for the training will guide and serve
ethio- telecom to identify the training needs of the organization, the job requirements and to see
who needs training and the kind of training to be delivered.

Table 4.6 Type of need assessment method used redundantly by the company

Question Items Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

Percent Percent
Questionnaire 30 26.1 28.0 28.0
Direct observation 31 27.0 29.0 57.0
What type of need Interview 6 5.2 5.6 62.6
assessment method is Performance 26 22.6 24.3 86.9
used mostly? appraisal
Complaints from 14 12.2 13.1 100.0
customers
Total 107 93.0 100.0
Missing 8 7.0 - -
Total 115 100.0 - -
Source: Own survey, 2015

As indicated in the above table majority of the respondents which are 30 respondents
representing 28.0% and 31 respondents representing 29% of entire sample responded that mostly
the need for the training will be investigated by using questionnaires and observing the
performance of employees respectively. 6(5.6%) , 26(24.3%) and 14(13.1%) participants of this
study replied that interview , information from performance appraisal and compliments from
customers has been used in order to identify the purpose for providing the training
correspondingly. The remaining and 8(7%) failed to reply for the questions. In general we can
summarize that questionnaires and direct observations are used more often than other methods to
assess the need for the training program.
 Figure 4.4 Readiness assessment of employee for the training

Source: Own survey, 2015

As figure 4.4 illustrate among the total of 115 respondents 36 (32.14%) said that ethio - telecom
assess their readiness before assigning them to undergo the training but 75(65.86%) of the
respondents believed that the company didn’t try to review whether employees have personal
characteristics such as ability, attitude, beliefs and motivation that are necessary to learn the
program content and whether the working environment facilitate learning to apply what is
learned from the training. According to the respondents the company didn’t make an effort to
assess whether employees have the ability and the motivation to learn the program content and
apply it on their job before they join the training program.

Table 4.7 The design of the training program

Question Scale Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

percent percent
Strongly agree 11 9.6 9.6 9.6
The training program is Agree 53 46.1 46.1 55.7
designed based on Neutral 28 24.3 24.3 80.0
requirement of the job or Disagree 19 16.5 16.5 96.5
employee deficiency to
Strongly disagree 4 3.5 3.5 100.0
do the job
Total 115 100.0
Source: Own survey, 2015
Training is designed to help the organization accomplish its objectives. Before providing training
it is necessary to know the job requirements of the organization and the performance of
employees (Armstrong, 2010). Table 4.7 shows whether the design of the training program is
based on requirement of the job or employee deficiency that will have a great impact on trainees
to perform their job. From all respondents11(9.6%), 53(46.1%), 28(24.3%), 19(16.5%) and
4(3.5%) of the respondent were strongly agreed, agreed, neutral, disagreed and strongly
disagreed that the training program in the organization was designed based on the requirements
of the job and employee deficiency to perform the job, respectively. As per to the respondents
response majority of them agreed that the training program in ethio- telecom designed basically
on the requirement of trainees’ job or for those trainees who lack the necessary knowledge, skill
and ability to perform their task in order to fill the performance gap.

Table 4.8 Clarity and relevance of the need analysis

Question Scale Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

percent percent
Strongly agree 7 6.1 6.1 6.1
The need analysis Agree 27 23.5 23.7 29.8
method used by the Neutral 37 32.2 32.5 62.3
organization produce Disagree 39 33.9 34.2 96.5
clear, relevant and
Strongly disagree 4 3.5 3.5 100.0
specific findings on
performance gaps Total 114 99.1 100.0
Missing 1 .9
Total 115 100.0
Source: Own survey, 2015

From the above table 27(23.7%) respondents agreed that the need analysis method produced
clear, relevant and that it also helps to bridge the performance gap while 39(34.2%) disagreed
about the clarity and relevance of the need analysis in filling the performance gap. 37(32.2%)
were not taking sides and the remaining 7(6.1%) and 4(3.5%) respondents strongly agreed and
strongly disagreed that the methods that are used to analyze the need of the training by the
company produce clear, relevant and its importance to minimize the performance gaps,
respectively. According to Swart et al (2005) , bridging the performance gap refers to
implementing a relevant training intervention for the sake of developing particular skills and
abilities of the workers and enhancing employee performance. According to the majority of the
respondents, the different methods used by ethio-telecom to analyze the need for the training
didn’t produced clear, relevant and specific findings to fill the performance gap. Need analysis
will help to close an existing gap by identifying how far the company come toward reaching its
goals or aspects in the performance of an employee and how far it still needs to go to attain its
goals.

Table 4.9 Assistance of managers

Question Scale Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

percent percent
Strongly agree 9 7.8 7.9 7.9
Agree 29 25.2 25.4 33.3
Managers assists to Neutral 33 28.7 28.9 62.3
apply the knowledge, skill Disagree 36 31.3 31.6 93.9
and ability learned in the Strongly disagree 7 6.1 6.1 100.00
training
Total 114 99.1 100.0
Missing 1 .9
Total 115 100.0

Source: Own survey, 2015

As displayed in the table above 25.4% of the respondents agreed that managers in ethio- telecom
helps them to apply the knowledge, skill and ability (KSA) learned in the training while the
majority of the respondents representing 31.6% disagreed that managers doesn’t support
employees to apply the knowledge, skill and ability learned in the training . 7.9% and 6.1% of
the respondents strongly agreed and strongly disagreed about managers’ assistance in applying
KSA. The remaining 28.7% were neutral. This implies that manager doesn’t support employees
in the company to apply the training content to the job.
Table 4.10 Clarity of the training objective

Question Scale Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

percent percent
Strongly agree 20 17.4 17.5 17.5
Agree 41 35.7 36.0 53.5
Neutral 36 31.3 31.6 85.1
The objective of the Disagree 15 13.0 13.2 98.2
training was clear Strongly disagree 2 1.7 1.8 100.0

Total 114 99.1 100.0

Missing 1 .9
Total 115 100.0
Source: Own survey, 2015
As table 4.10 clearly illustrates out of 115 respondents 41(36.0%) of them agreed that the
objective of the training was clear. Whereas 15(13.2%) of the respondents stated that the
objective of the training was ambiguous. The remaining respondents 20(17.5%), 36(31.6%) and
2(1.8%) were strongly agreed, neutral and strongly disagreed about the clarity of the training
objective, respectively. The response implies that the objective of the training was generally
understandable by most of the respondents.

Table 4.11 Similarity of the training context with the working environment

Question Scale Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

percent percent
Strongly agree 19 16.5 16.5 16.5
The training context Agree 53 46.1 46.1 62.6
was similar to the work Neutral 28 24.3 24.3 87.0
environment Disagree 15 13.0 13.0 100.0
Strongly disagree - - -
Total 115 100.0
Source: Own survey, 2015
Regarding to the context of training with the working environment, 46.1% of the respondents
agreed that the context of the training was similar to their working environment while the 13.0%
disagreed about the similarity of their working environment with the context of the training. This
data indicates that the majority of the respondents agreed that ethio - telecom provide training by
considering the working situation of its employees with the training context.
Table 4.12 Opportunity for practice

Question Scale Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

percent percent
Strongly agree 9 7.8 7.9 8.0
Agree 42 36.5 36.8 44.7
Trainees have the Neutral 30 26.1 26.3 71.1
opportunity for Disagree 30 26.1 26.3 97.4
practice in order to Strongly disagree 3 2.6 2.6 100.00
demonstrate what is
learned Total 114 99.1 100.0
Missing 1 .9
Total 115 100.0
Source: Own survey, 2015
As table 4.12 indicates from total respondents 36.8% stated that there is an opportunity to
practice the different knowledge, skill and ability (KSA) that were acquired from the training
whereas 26.3% said that ethio - telecom didn’t give an opportunity for trainees to demonstrate
the new skills or knowledge that was gained from the training. This implies that majority of the
respondents got an opportunity to apply the acquired KSA after taking the training.

Table 4.13 Coordination of the program

Question Scale Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

percent percent
Strongly agree 18 15.7 15.7 15.7
There was good Agree 48 41.7 41.7 57.4
program coordination Neutral 35 30.4 30.4 87.8
and administration Disagree 13 11.3 11.3 99.1
Strongly disagree 1 .9 .9 100.0
Total 115 100.0
Source: Own survey, 2015

As table 4.13 depicts a cumulative of 57.4% of respondents are satisfied with the overall
administration and program coordination of the training while a cumulative of 12.2%
respondents agreed that the training that was provided by ethio- telecom lacks good program
coordination and administration. This indicates that majority of the respondents were satisfied
about the coordination and administration of the training program they undergone.
Table 4.14 Applicability of the training on the job
Question Scale Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative
percent percent
Strongly agree 19 16.5 16.5 16.5
The training is Agree 50 43.5 43.5 60.0
applicable for the job Neutral 35 30.4 30.4 90.4
Disagree 11 9.6 9.6 100.0
Strongly disagree - - -
Total 115 100.0
Source: Own survey, 2015

If training is not linked to that which an organization uses, does, and delivers, the investment is
better made elsewhere .The respondents were asked to rank the applicability of the training that
they have taken at the end of a program. As the above table portrays from total employees 43.5%
of the respondents agreed that the training they took was applicable to their job while 9.6%
replied that the training they have taken didn’t match to their job. In this respect majority of the
respondent responded that the training that the employees attended in the company was
applicable to their job.

Table 4.15 Frequency of using training methods

Never Rarely Some- Mostly Always

Training forms times
F % F % F % F % F %
On-the-job training 9 7.8 23 20.0 46 40.0 31 27.0 6 5.2
Off-the-job training 10 8.7 16 13.9 47 40.9 42 36.5 3 2.6
External training 30 26.1 28 24.3 43 37.4 12 10.4 2 1.7
(outside the
company)
Source: Own survey, 2015
As displayed in the table above, shows that 7.8%, of the respondents stated that ethio-telecom
never used on-the-job training to give training for employees, 20.0% replied that on- the -job
training is rarely used by the company, 40.0% agreed that the company sometimes uses on-the-
job training, 27% of the respondents said that most of the time ethio-telecom uses on -the - job
training and 5.2% stated that the company always uses on-the-job training to develop the skill
and ability of employees . Most respondents said that ethio-telecom provide on-the-job training
at times which takes place on the work place.

As indicated in table 4.15 8.7% of the respondents agreed that ethio-telecom didn’t provide off-
the-job training for employees, 13.9%of the respondents stated that off-the-job form of training
is provided rarely by the company. The majority of the respondents which are 40.9% agreed that
this type of training is offered at times while 36.5% of the respondents agreed upon that most of
the time the company provide off-the-job training for its employees and the rest 2.6% of
employees said that ethio-telecom always uses off-the-job training to enhance the capability of
employees. As per to the respondents majority of them indicated that the company sometimes
provide off- the job training which is conducted outside the job to develop the skills and abilities
of employees.

According to the data regarding to external form of training, 26.1% respondents replied that they
never had external training outside the company, 24.3% of the respondents agreed that ethio
telecom rarely provide external training outside the company. Majority of the respondents
(37.4%) believed that the company sometimes provides external trainings and others
representing 10.4% of the respondents said that the company mostly uses external training and
the remaining representing 1.7% of the respondents said that the company always provides
external trainings outside the company for employees.

Table 4.16 Frequency of using different training techniques

Training Never Rarely Sometimes Mostly Always

methods/techniques F % F % F % F % F %
Lecture 4 3.5 11 9.6 34 29.6 54 47.0 12 10.4
Seminars/Conferences 12 10.4 29 25.2 53 46.1 14 12.2 7 6.1
Group work 19 16.5 30 26.1 43 37.4 13 11.3 10 8.7
Individual Projects 53 46.1 26 22.6 26 22.6 4 3.5 6 5.2
Role playing 45 39.1 35 30.4 21 18.3 7 6.1 7 6.1
Demonstration 29 25.2 20 17.4 46 40.0 15 13.0 5 4.3
Case studies 35 30.5 32 27.8 27 23.5 3 2.6 18 15.7
Computer based 18 15.7 22 19.1 32 27.8 31 27.0 12 10.4
training
Coaching 29 25.2 33 28.7 37 32.2 12 10.4 4 3.5
Job rotation 55 47.8 28 24.3 23 20.0 6 5.2 3 2.6
Source: Own survey, 2015
Respondent were also requested to give responses on the training techniques employed by the
company. As the above table portrays 46.1%, 39.1%, 25.2%, 30.5% and 47.28% respondents
sated that the company never used individual projects, role playing, demonstration (coaching),
job rotation and case studies to deliver the training, respectively. As table 4.16 indicates 30.4%,
28.7%, 27.8%, 26.1% and 25.2% responded that ethio-telecom rarely uses the following training
techniques such as role playing, coaching, case studies, group work and seminars/conferences,
respectively. According to the data gathered 46.1%, 40.0%, 37.4%,32.2% and 29.6% said that
the company sometimes uses seminars/conferences, demonstration, group work, coaching and
lecture, correspondingly. As portrayed in the above table 47.0%, 27.0%, 13.0%, 12.2% and
11.3% of the study participants replied that ethio-telecom mostly delivers the training by using
the following methods such as lecture, computer based training, demonstration,
seminars/conferences and group work, respectively. Lastly from the total respondents 15.7%,
10.4%, 8.7%, 6.1% and 5.2% responded that the company always uses case studies, lectures and
computer based training, group work, seminars and individual projects , respectively.

Figure 4.5 Effectiveness of the training method

Source: Own survey, 2015

To develop the desired knowledge, skills and abilities of the employees, to perform well on the
job, requires effective training programs that may also affect employee motivation and
commitment (Meyer and Allen, 1991).As figure 4.5 presents the responses given by the
respondents on the effectiveness of the training method for which they participated. The findings
indicate that 43.36% agreed about the effectiveness of the training method while the majority of
the respondents (66 respondents representing a 56.64%) said that the training method was not
effective for which they participated. This result indicates that the training method that is used by
the company was not effective so ethio -telecom should try to use other methods to deliver the
training for its’ employees’ effectively to accomplish the objective of the training.

Figure 4.6 Level of evaluating the training program by the company

Source: Own survey, 2015

Evaluating a training program helps to determine the effectiveness of the program in relation to
its objective (Bologun, 2011). As it has been listed in the literature part of this study there are
different reasons to evaluate the training program. As figure 4.6 depicts the response from
respondents on whether the company evaluates the training program. From total respondents
20(17.4%) said that the company never evaluated the training program, 27(23.5%) stated that
ethio-telecom rarely evaluates the training, 14(12.2%) replied that the company mostly evaluates
the program and 9(7.8%) of the respondents stated that the company always evaluate the training
program while majority of the respondents 45(39.1%) replied that ethio-telecom sometimes
evaluate the training program. This implies that the training program is evaluated by the
company. Evaluating the program will help to identify the program’s strength and weaknesses
 .This includes determining whether the program is meeting the learning objective, the quality of
the learning environment and whether transfer of training to the job is occurring.

Table 4.17 Evaluation method used by the company

Question Methods of evaluation Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

Percent Percent
After the training 8 7.0 7.1 7.1
Before and after the 37 32.2 33.0 40.2
How does training
your company Comparing performance of 5 4.3 4.5 44.6
evaluate the trained employees with
training? untrained
Don't know 62 53.9 55.4 100.0
Total 112 97.2 100.0
Missing 3 2.6
Total 115 100.0
Source: Own survey, 2015

There are many ways to design and evaluate training programs to determine their effects. The
three most common are post measure, pre/post measure and pre/post measure with control group
(Mathis and Jackson , 2008). The above table shows the responses given by the respondents on the
evaluation of the training practiced by the company. The findings indicate that 53.9% of the
respondent didn’t know how the company evaluates the training. 32.2% believed that the company
evaluates the training before and after the training taken place but 7.0% stated that ethio-telecom
only evaluates employees after the training is provided. The remaining of the respondents which are
4.3% said that the company evaluates the training by comparing the performance of trained
employee with those who didn’t take the training. This data indicates that most of the
respondents are not aware of how the training outcome will be measured after taking the training
program.
Table 4.18 Quality of the training program

Question Items Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

Percent Percent
Excellent 7 6.1 6.4 6.4
Very good 29 25.2 26.6 33.0
How would you Good 33 28.7 30.3 63.3
rate the quality Average 29 25.2 26.6 89.9
of the training Very poor 5 4.3 4.6 94.5
program? Poor 6 5.2 5.5 100.0
Total 109 94.8 100.0
Missing 6 5.2
Total 115 100.0
Source: Own survey, 2015

As illustrated in the above table represents responses given by the respondents on the quality of
the training programs for which they participated. The findings indicate that the majority of the
respondents (33 respondents representing a 30.3%) said that the training quality of the training
program was good for which they participated. This result indicates clear deliverance of training
content and/or substance to the trainees during the training program. On the other hand, 5.5 % of
the respondents replied that the training program was poor.

According to the response the majority of the respondents implied that the quality of the training
program provided by the telecom was good and this can be crucial factor in the effective
development of skills, knowledge and attitudes of employees
4.5 The Relationship of training with regard to employee
performance and organizational effectiveness

Table 4.19 Employees’ level of agreement on their performance

Question Scale Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

percent percent
Strongly agree 13 11.3 11.4 11.4
Agree 59 51.3 51.8 63.5
The helped me to improve Neutral 23 20.0 20.2 83.3
my performance Disagree 19 16.5 16.7 100.0
Strongly disagree -
Total 114 99.1 100.0
Missing 1 .9
Total 115 100.0
Source: Own survey, 2015
Training and development are necessary to overcome deficiencies in the employees work
performance. Lack of necessary skills competencies and qualities to perform a job would result
into poor performance. In order to improve performance, employees must know how to do their
jobs and they must have necessary skills and competencies required to do their jobs. For
improvement in the employees performance training and development are needed (Muhammad,
2009). In case of ethio-telecom the above table clearly reveals that 59(51.8%) of the respondents
agreed that the training they took improved their performance level while 19(16.7 %) replied that
their performance didn’t improve even after they undergo through the training. The response
implies that the training provided by the company helped the respondents to improve their
activities on their job performance.

Table 4.20 Improvement of knowledge, skill and ability

Question Scale Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

percent percent
Strongly agree 13 11.3 11.3 11.3
Agree 58 50.4 50.4 61.7
The training improved my
Neutral 27 23.5 23.5 85.2
knowledge, skill and
Disagree 16 13.9 13.9 99.1
ability
Strongly disagree 1 .9 .9 100.0
Total 115 100.0
Source: Own survey, 2015
With regard to the knowledge, skill and ability (KSA) table 20 depicts that 50.4% of the
respondents believed that the training enhanced their KSA and 13.9% stated that the training
didn’t improve their knowledge, skill and ability to perform their job. This implies that the
training helped the respondents to update their knowledge, skill and ability to perform their job
successfully and this also helps them to improve their performance level to become more
productive.

4.21 Facilitation of the training to do a job as required

Question Scale Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

percent percent
Strongly agree 12 10.4 10.4 10.4
I had a training that enable Agree 53 46.1 46.1 56.5
me to do my job as required Neutral 28 24.3 24.3 80.9
Disagree 21 18.3 18.3 99.1
Strongly disagree 1 .9 .9 100.
Total 115 100.0
Source: Own survey, 2015

As illustrated in the above table a cumulative percent of 56.5% agreed and strongly agreed that
the training they took enabled them to perform their job as required by the company while 19.2%
respondents agreed that the training they undergo didn’t permit them to perform their task as
intended. This implies that majority of the respondents are capable of doing their job as required
after they have taken the training that was provided by ethio-telecom.
Table 4.22 The importance of training to enhance motivation and commitment

Question Scale Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

percent percent
Strongly agree 18 15.7 15.7 16.5
The training increase Agree 48 41.7 41.7 62.6
my motivation and Neutral 28 24.3 24.3 87.0
commitment for my Disagree 18 15.7 15.7 97.4
job Strongly disagree 3 2.6 2.6 100.0
Total 115 100.0
Source: Own survey, 2015

Training is essential not only to increase productivity but also to motivate and inspire workers by
letting them know how important their jobs are and giving them all the information they need to
perform those jobs. As can be observed from the above table out of the total respondents
48(41.7%) believed that the training they took increases their motivation and commitment for
their job while 18(15.7%) agreed that even if they took the training their motivation level and
commitment didn’t show any sort of increment. This indicate that majority of the respondents
became more motivated and committed for their job after they took the training.

Table 4.23 Improvement of performance and productivity by the training

Question Scale Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

percent percent
Strongly agree 16 13.9 13.9 13.9
The delivered training Agree 49 42.6 42.6 56.5
improved the organization Neutral 31 27.0 27.0 83.5
performance and productivity Disagree 17 14.8 14.8 98.3
Strongly disagree 2 1.7 1.7 100.0

Total 115 100.0 100.0

Source: Own survey, 2015

As it can be seen from the above table, 42.6% of the respondents responded that the delivered
training improved the both the performance of employee and organizations’ productivity level.
However, 14.8% replied that the performance level and productivity of ethio – telecom didn’t
show any improvement after the training took place. The remaining 13.9%, 1.7% and 27.0%
strongly agreed, strongly disagreed and remained neutral, respectively. Organizations will be
benefited from training by providing employees with the specific knowledge, skills and attitudes
necessary to make strategic initiatives a reality (Stewart, G., Brown, K. , 2009). The respondent
implied that the company became more productive as a result of the change in the performance
of the workforce after they undergo the training.

Table 4.24 Reduction of turnover and absenteeism by the training

Question Scale Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

percent percent

Strongly agree 10 8.7 8.8 8.8

Agree 37 32.2 32.5 41.2
Neutral 38 33.0 33.3 74.6
Because of the training
Disagree 25 21.7 21.9 96.5
turnover and absenteeism
Strongly disagree 4 3.5 3.5 100.0
are reduced
Total 114 99.1 100.0
Missing 1 .9
Total 115 100.0
Source: Own survey, 2015
As can be depicted from the above table, out of the total participants 10(8.8%) of the
respondents strongly agreed that the training provided in the company reduced the number of
employees who leave the company while 21.9% of the respondents disagreed about the
diminution level of turnover and absenteeism of employees after the training is provided ,
37(32.5%) believed that the number of employees who leave the company decrease because of
the training while 4(3.5%) strongly disagreed about the decline of the turnover and absenteeism.
The remaining 38(33.0%) remained neutral.

According to Cole (2002) training brings a sense of security at the workplace which in turn
reduces labor turnover and absenteeism. This implies that majority of the respondents stated that
the training provided by ethio- telecom helped employees to become more secure about their job
which in return reduces the rate of turn over or absenteeism .
Figure 4.7 Problems with regard to training on employee performance and on the
effectiveness of the company

Source: Own survey, 2015

As displayed in the above bar chart 63.96% of the respondents said that there are different
problems with regard to the training on the performance of employees and on the effectiveness
of the company while 36.04% of the respondents disagreed about the existence of problems on
training with regard to both employee performance and on the organizational effectiveness. The
above data shows that there are problems on training with regard to employee performance and
on organizational effectiveness. Majority of the respondents implied that there are several
problems such as lack of frequent and relevant trainings, constraint of time and inadequate
training facilities.

Training is important for both employees and organizations. An employee will become more
efficient and productive if they undergone a well-designed training .Companies can also develop
and enhance the quality of their current employees by providing comprehensive training and
development in order to accomplish their business objective. Therefore, ethio-telecom should try
to assess the different training obstacles to find a solution for the problems with regard to
employee performance in order to become more effective from the training.
4.6 Interview analysis

Under this section the data obtained through interview with the human capacity builder (a person
who is responsible for human resource development activity of the organization) and other
human resource expertise were interviewed regarding the effectiveness of the training program
as follows:

Purpose and frequency of the training: The Company doesn’t have any specific
schedule to deliver training for employees. One of the interviewee indicated that
trainings will be provided to employees anytime if the need exists without any regular
time frame.

With regard to the training purpose almost all of the respondents gave similar reasons
why they provide training for their employees. According to their response the major
purpose to provide the training was to accomplish strategic objective of the company, to
upgrade the skills, knowledge, capabilities, and attitude of the employees in the area in
which the employees had deficiency, in order to improve the employees’ performance in
a given task or job that was assigned for him/her, to introduce employees with new
technologies and to improve work efficiency. By keeping in view the above general
objective of respondents they have different reasons that initiated them to provide
training for their employees.

Allocation of sufficient budget, time and expertise to carry out training

programs effectively: The manager who is responsible for human capacity building
replied that the company allocates over half a billion birr for the training programs, as a
result all the interviewee agreed with the availability of sufficient budget to carry out the
training program.

One of the HR expert mentioned that even if the company believes it sets adequate time
for the training to cover all the training contents, some employees complained about the
constraint of time to complete the content of the training especially when the training is
provided externally. As a result the company is trying to assess the problem to find out a
solution in order to satisfy employees and improve the quality of the training.

The other question is related to the availability of qualified expertise within the company.
According to the interviewees there are qualified and well experienced expertise’s
especially for in-house trainings but when the company adopts new technologies the
company face challenges to find a qualified expertise to provide the training.

Criteria for selecting trainers (institution): As per to the interview the

respondents stated that the company will choose appropriate trainers with regard to their
relevance to the training content and year of experience. The company also tries to assess
whether the trainers are able to communicate their knowledge clearly, whether they have
good interpersonal skill and their ability to motivate others to learn. If the training is
given externally in other institutions, first the company will announce an auction and then
the telecom will choose the best after comparing the cost, quality, year of experience,
methodology to deliver the training, content that will be covered during the training and
the objective of the training in general submitted by the bidders.

Objective of the training: The respondents said that most of the time they will be
aware about the training objectives during the training program. This means that the
company won’t make any effort to communicate the training objective with the trainees
before the training began. But if training is provided by institution which is found abroad
the trainees will receive an invitation template consisting different information about the
training program.

Procedures to design the training program: As per to the interview the company
has a training policy which states the training design processes as shown below.

Need Design Implementation Evaluation

Assessment
According to the interview the first step in designing the training process is assessing the
need for the training which includes organizational analysis, personal analysis and task
analysis. One of the respondents implies that the company gives more emphasis to
organizational and task analysis while conducting the need assessment. The company
implements organizational analysis in order to check the appropriateness of the training
to the business. They also use task analysis to identify the tasks, knowledge, skills and
behaviors that need more emphases during the training rather than conducting personal
analysis which helps to determine whether employees need training, who needs training
and whether employees are ready for the training.

The second step consists the following activities such as defining the objective of the
training (which is the outcome that the training program is intended to achieve) ,
developing lesson plans to identify the training content, selecting the different methods or
techniques and selecting trainers or institutions to provide the training .

The third stage involves the implementation of all the selected practices to achieve the
objective of the training. And the final step which is the forth one is evaluating the
training program but in this case not all trainings will be evaluated.

Types and techniques of training used by the telecom: According to the

response ethio-telecom uses both on-the-job and off the job training approaches as
required for furthering the abilities or in filling the performance gap of employees to
become more effective.

On-the-job training will be given mainly to employees to provide instant entry in to the
trainees’ job to clearly show the result of their action and to supervise them while they
are learning .Off-the-job training is also provided to allow concentration for trainees on
learning the new job without any distraction which will occur if the training is provided
on-the-job. Ethio-telecom also provides external training for its employees by sending
trainees abroad to get new experience or methodology of work which will enhance the
effectiveness of the company.
The respondents mentioned some of the training delivery techniques used by the trainers.
For example, employees who perform technical tasks usually undergo on-the-job training
through different techniques like coaching or apprenticeship while employees in the
managerial levels mostly undertake off-the-job training by different form of off-the job
trainings like case studies, group assignments and management games. As per to the
interviewee the telecom mostly uses management games for managers at the top to
stimulate their thinking and to develop their skills by explaining different situation and
requesting them to give decision on the given situation. The interviewees said that this
method of training helps employees on the managerial level to enhance the ability for
decision making.

Investigation between employees who lacks knowledge, skill and ability

(KSA) and employees who have all the KSA but who are unmotivated
before assigning them for the training: According to the interview there are
numerous employees under network division within the head office as a result it’s hard to
identify among employees who lacks the knowledge, skill and ability from those who
have all this competencies but unmotivated to perform the job.

Assessment of trainees’ readiness for the training: Almost all the respondents
replied that the company in general doesn’t consider the readiness of employees such as
their ability, attitudes, beliefs and motivation to learn the program content and apply it on
their job.

Opportunity for trainees to demonstrate what is learned: The interviewees

implied that most of the time trainees have an opportunity to demonstrate what they have
learned from the training but it will differ according to the training that is provided. One
of the interviewee said that these opportunities will be given for the trainees so that they
will capable to bear in mind the training content and become more comfortable while
they use it in their actual job.
Similarity of the training context with the working environment: According
to the data gathered from the interview it implies that mostly the training context is
similar to the working environment. The interviewees said that since employees in
network division need to have a training which is similar to their working environment
the company tries to make the training context comparable to their work area.

The program coordination and administration: As per to the response the

company has a separate division which will be responsible for human resource training.
In this division there are HR experts who will facilitate the coordination and
administration of the training program.

According to the response from the interview as far as now the coordination and
administration of the program was above the average because the company has its own
training centers that are well designed but the old ones are not properly organized,
comfortable and appropriate for the training method. For example one of the HR expert
mentioned that whenever there is a group exercise (assignments) there are no movable
seats that would be helpful for the discussion rather it will cause a distraction which will
interfere with the learning process and time will be loss while organizing the seating
arrangement.

Assistance of the management in applying the knowledge, skill and ability

learned from the training: As per to the response from the interview the respective
managers of trainees will assist them to apply the acquired knowledge, skills and abilities
learned from the training by observing their activities without any action plans . After
observing the performance of the trainees they will give feedback for employees about
their appliance of the learned outcomes on their job in order to improve the work
efficiency.

Evaluation of the training and its design: The interviewees said that the company
sometimes evaluates the training program before and after the training took place. Before
the trainees undergo the training they will be given written or oral tests to review their
knowledge, skill or abilities they possess related to their job especially when the training
is provided by external trainers. Trainees will also be examined after they undergo the
training to make sure that they have learned/acquired the content of the program.

As per to the response this evaluation design has been chosen to check whether the
program accomplished its objectives, to identify the changes brought in participants’
capability and to assist training developers in gathering data to make future decisions in
order to improve future programs.

Changes occurred after taking the training on employee performance:

According to the response, even if the company designs the training programs for
different purposes, one of the main reason is to improve the employees’ performance in a
given task or job that is assigned for him/her to accomplish strategic objective of the
company. The interviewees said that the company considers that the performance of
employee’s shows some improvement but there is no clear evidence that proves the major
changes that are occurred after the training. In order to identify this the company is in a
process to apply impact analysis which will be soon applicable, this will help the ethio-
telecom to figure out the major changes that will occur after the company provide the
training.

Effectiveness of the company from training: As per to the response the company
is effective from the training. One of the interviewee said that the company is especially
effective from external trainings which are provided by institutions that are found abroad.
The training will update trainees’ competencies to perform their job, they will be
familiarized with new technologies and they will also bring international experience.
 Chapter Five
Summary, Conclusion and
Recommendation
This chapter is based on the data presented and analyzed in chapter four of this study and the
following summaries, conclusions and recommendations are remarked by the researcher as per to
the results.

5.1 Summary

The study has been conducted in ethio-telecom head office particularly in network division to
assess the effectiveness of the training program. The methodologies used to undertake the study
were both primary and secondary data collection. Based on this the researcher has found out the
major findings.

 Among 115 respondents majority of the respondents which are 39.13% agreed that the
company has adequate budget, time and expertise to provide training for its employees
whereas 8.70% of the respondents stated that the company lacks sufficient budget, time and
qualified expertise.

 As per to the finding 108 (93.9%) of the respondents undergone training and the remaining
7(6.1%) of the respondents didn’t get any sort of training.

 Among of the total respondents 54(48.2%), 31(27.7%), 7(6.3%) and 13(11.6%) of the
respondents have taken the training program for 1to3, 4 to 6 , 7 to 9 and 10 or above number
of times since they have joined the organization.

 As per to the questionnaire from the total respondents 51(44.3%) replied that the company
occasionally conducts need assessment. Ethio-telecom uses different need assessment
methods such as questionnaires, by directly observing the performance of employees,
through interview and from different complaints that comes from the customers.
 Among the total of 115 respondents 36 (32.14%) said that ethio - telecom assess their
readiness before assigning them to undergo the training but 75(65.86%) of the respondents
believed that the company didn’t try to review their willingness to attend the program
]

 From the total respondents 27(23.7%) agreed that the need analysis method produced clear,
relevant and that it also helps to bridge the performance gap while 39(34.2%) disagreed
about the clarity and relevance of the need analysis in filling the performance gap.

 As per to the finding 25.4% of the respondents agreed that managers in ethio- telecom helps
them to apply the knowledge, skill and ability (KSA) learned in the training while the
majority of the respondents representing 31.6% said that they didn’t get any support from the
managers.

 Among 115 respondents 41(36.0%) of them agreed that the objective of the training was
clear. Whereas 15(13.2%) of the respondents stated that the objective of the training was
ambiguous.

 As per to the finding 46.1% of the respondents agreed that the context of the training was
similar to their working environment while the 13.0% disagreed about the similarity of their
working environment with the context of the training.

 From total respondents 36.8% stated that there is an opportunity to practice the different
knowledge, skill and ability (KSA) that were acquired from the training whereas 26.3% said
that ethio - telecom didn’t give an opportunity for trainees to demonstrate the new skills or
knowledge that was gained from the training.

 The interview response shows that the company is effective particularly from external
training which was provided by institutions found abroad because the trainees will bring
international experience which will be applied in the company to become international
competitor in the telecom market.
5.2 Conclusions

 From the observation of the researcher there exists a separate department for manpower
training that enhances employee’s skills, attitudes, and performance which will lead to
organizational effectiveness.

 Based on the data obtained from the questionnaire as well as the interview it can be
concluded that ethio-telecom allocates sufficient budget to provide training for employees to
accomplish strategic objective of the company. But the finding of this study indicates that
there is constraint of time to complete the contents of the training program.

 According to the response obtained from the interview the major purpose of the training was
to accomplish the strategic objective of the company, to upgrade the skills, knowledge,
capabilities, and attitude of the employees in the area in which they had deficiency, in order
to improve the employees’ performance in a given task or job that assigned for him/her, to
introduce employees with new technologies and to improve work efficiency.

 As per the findings the company doesn’t always assess the need for the training before
providing the training program. Even though the company sometimes analyzes the need for
the training, the method used to analyze the need didn’t produce clear, relevant and specific
findings on performance gaps that exist in the company.

 As per the interview it can be concluded that the company doesn’t investigate lack of
individual competencies such as knowledge, skill and ability (KSA) from those employees
who have all the KSA but who are only unmotivated to perform their job.

 From the data collected the company rarely tries to identify the readiness of employees
regarding their ability, attitude, beliefs and motivation that are necessary to learn the program
content.

 As per the findings the organization gives more attention for organizational and task analysis
rather than personal analysis in identifying training needs.
 The finding reveals that the company uses on-the job, off-the job and external trainings
outside the company. On-the-job training is given to employees to immediately show the
result of their training and off-the-job training is provided to avoid distractions which will
help the trainees to become concentrated while they are taking the training.

 The finding indicates that the coordination and administration of the training is good but
some rooms in the training centers owned by the company are not properly organized,
comfortable and appropriate to deliver the training.

 The interviewees said that the company provides the opportunity to demonstrate what is
acquired from the training but majority of the respondents believed that there is no
opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned through the training.

 On the issue of supervision of managers there is a slight difference between those

respondents who agreed and disagreed on the assistance of the manager in applying the
acquired competencies from the training program.

 According to the finding the company does not evaluate the training program in a regular
basis but when they evaluate pre/post evaluation design is mostly used.

 We can conclude that there are some problems regarding the training program such as; lack
of frequent and relevant trainings, lack of clear criteria for selection of employees for
training, mismatch of the training with the trainees job, time constraints to finish the training
content and so on..
5.3 Recommendation

 The company’s training design process is highly centralized in human resource management
department which is found in the head office. The other HR department found in corporate
divisions should be aware of the training design and participate on the process.

 According to the findings the company has sufficient budget to provide the training but there
is a time constraint to finish the training contents so the time duration for the training should
be considered while the training is designed.

 Ethio-telecom must be engaged in analyzing employees training and development needs

periodically. Need assessment will help the company to determine the organization training
needs by identifying the gap between what is currently in place and what is needed, now and
in the future.

 Ethio-telecom should assess the readiness of the trainees. Trainee’s personal characteristics
such as ability, attitude, beliefs and motivation are very crucial to learn the program. As a
result the company must give full attention to assess employee’s characteristics to see how
much employees are ready to attend the training rather than assigning them compulsorily.

 The company should take time to distinguish employees who lack competencies from those
who possess all this but are unmotivated. The company should give more attention for this
process because employees who have these competencies may be assigned to undergo the
training which will be useless since they need especial types of trainings to motivate them.

 The company should give more emphasis to personal analysis while conducting the need
assessment to determine whether performance deficiencies result from lack of knowledge,
skill or other problems.

 Majority of the respondents from the questionnaire didn’t get the training method effective,
so the company should apply different training effectively to reach the training objective.

 Ethio- telecom has its own training institutions. However, the company should rebuild the
old centers to make it suitable for the training process
 The company should provide a probation period to trainees so that they will be able to
commit it to their memory and apply it on their job.

 Managers in ethio-telecom should tell trainees how they can use their knowledge, skill and
abilities to help trainees to identify why and how the training contents are implemented by
using different strategies to achieve the objective of the training.

 The company should always evaluate the training to identify its strengths and weakness to
determine whether the program is meted the learning objective and whether the transfer of
training to the job has been occurred.

 The company should quickly implement impact analysis to identify the major changes
occurred on employee performance to identify if further improvement is needed.

 To the end, majority of the respondents agreed with the existence of several problems with
regard to the training practices within the company such as mismatch between the training
and their job, lack of frequent and relevant trainings, and constraint of time to finish the
training content and others. Ethio-telecom should give prior attention to solve these problems
in order to coup-up with the present technological advancements by designing effective
training programs to meet the business objectives.
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Appendix A

Dear Participants

My name is Meron Tesema. I am studying Masters of Human Resource Management in Addis

Ababa University School of Commerce. Now I am conducting a research under a title of “Effect
of training on employee performance and Organizational Effectiveness”. I kindly request you
assistance to complete a questionnaire which I am using to collect data for my research work.

This study will be conducted on ethio - telecom head office with aim of examining how much
the training improved the performance of employees’ and how much the organization is effective
from the training. Therefore, your answers are very important and valuable for the successful
completion of the study.

Please fill out all of the questions to the best of your knowledge accordingly the questions
require. The information you provide will be kept confidential and will be used for this research
purpose only.

Please note that:

1. You don’t need to write your name

2. The student researcher has scheduled to get the filled questionnaire back within two days.
3. Please give more attention and return the completed questionnaire as much as possible.
SECTION I: BASIC DEMOGRAPHIC DATA (PLEASE PUT “” IN SIDE THE BOX)

1.Age:- 18 -25 46 - 55

26 – 35 56 - 59

36 – 45 above 60

2. Sex:- Male Female

3. Educational background of the respondent;

PhD and above College diploma

Second degree Grade 12 complete

First degree

4. How long have you been working in ethio - telecom?

1 - 5 years 21-30

6 - 10 years Above 30 years

11 – 20 years

SECTION II: GENERAL PRACTICES OF TRAINING AND ITS DESIGN IN THE

COMPANY(PLEASE PUT “” IN SIDE THE BOX)

1.Have you had any form of training since you have joined the organization?

Yes No

2. How often does your company provide training program for employees?

Quarterly Every two years

Every 6 month More than two years

Once a year Don’t know

3. If your answer is yes for question # 1, how many times have you taken the training provided
by ethio - telecom?

1 –3 7-9 Don’t know

4–6 10 and more than

4. Based on what criteria were you selected for the training?

On joining the company Supervisors recommendation

Compulsory for all employees Up on your request

Performance appraisal don’t know

PART ONE – Questions related to Need Assessment and Designs of the

Training

1. Does the company conduct need assessment for the training?

Never Rarely Sometimes Mostly Always

2. What type of need assessment method is used?

Questionnaire Direct observation Interview

Information from performance appraisal other methods

If your answer is other method, please specify

3. Does the company assess your readiness for the training?

Yes No
 4. The following set of statements describes your general opinion towards the training design
process: Please Tick() on the appropriate box

Questions Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

agree disagree

The training program is designed based on the

requirements of the job or employee deficiency of
ability for the job.

The need analysis methods used by your

organization produce clear, relevant and specific
findings on performance gaps.

Managers tell you how you can use the knowledge,

skill and ability learned in the training
Ethio- telecom has the budget, time and expertise
for training
The objective/purpose of the training was clear
The training context was similar to the work
environment
Trainees have the opportunities for practice in order
to demonstrate what is learned
There was good program coordination and
administration such as properly organized,
comfortable and appropriate room for the training
method
The training is applicable for the job after the
training
 PART TWO- Implementation of the Training Methods

1. Which of the following forms of training does telecom use?

Training forms Never Rarely Sometimes Mostly Always

On-the-job training
Off-the-job training (in the
company)
External training (Outside the
company)

2. Which one of the following training methods is used?

Training Never Rarely Sometimes Mostly Always

methods/techniques
Lecture
Seminars/Conferences
Group work
Individual Projects
Role playing
Demonstration
Case studies
Computer based training
Coaching
Job rotation

If other method is used., Please specify

3. Do you think the training method were effective?

Yes No

If “yes” to the question above, please give your reason

PART THREE- Evaluation of the training
1. Does the company evaluate the training program?

Never Rarely Sometimes Mostly Always

2. How does your company evaluate the training?

Before the training Comparing performance of trained employees

with untrained
Before and after the training Don’t know

3. How will you rate the quality of the training program in which you have participated?

Excellent Average

Very good Very poor

Good Poor

SECTION III: QUESTIONS RELATED TO THE EFFECTS OF TRAINING ON

EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE AND ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS (PLEASE
PUT “” IN SIDE THE BOX

1. How did you rate the level of training perception on employee performance?

Questions Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

agree disagree
The training I received was relevant to
my job
The training helped me improve my
performance
The training improved my skill,
knowledge and attitude
I had a training that enable me to do my
job as required
The training increased my motivation
and commitment for my job
Delivered training improved the
organizations’ performance and
productivity
Because of the training turnover and
absenteeism are reduced
 2. There are problems with regard of training on employees’ performance and organization
effectiveness in the company?

Yes No

If is yes, please specify

3. Do you have any other comment about the training practice of the company that you
think should be improved?.

A
 Appendix B

1. What are the major purposes of the training that the organization is aiming to attain?

2. How often does the organization provide training?

3. What criteria do you apply in selecting the trainers (institution) that will be responsible for
the training?

4. What procedures do you follow while you design the training process?

5. Do you investigate which employee lacks KSA (knowledge, skill, ability) or which
employees have all this KSA but unmotivated to perform the job while you are assessing the
need?

6. In presenting the training;

• What types of training do you provide?(on-the-job, off-the-job, etc..)

• What methods are used? Do you think it was appropriate?

7. Do you think your company allocates enough budget, time and expertise?

8. Do you make sure that employees have personal characteristics (ability, attitude, beliefs and
motivation) necessary to learn program content and apply it on the job?

9. Do you think the training context is similar to the working environment?

10. Do you make sure that the trainees are aware of the objective/purpose of the training?

11. Do you give an opportunity for trainees to demonstrate what is learned from the training?
12. Do you think there was good program coordination and administration?

13. Does the management support trainees to apply KSAs that are gained through the training
programs to increase the performance level? Is action plan applicable?

14. What type of evaluation design do you apply?

15. Do you think the training changed the performance level of employees? If yes, what are the
major changes on employees’ performance that has occurred after the training?

16. Do you think that ethio- telecom has achieved organizational effectiveness because of the
training? If yes, how?

Thank You!!