Effects of Work Environment on Staff Training Transfer in Ghanaian Technology Universities and Polytechnics

Abstract

This study sought to determine the effect of post-training work environment on the transfer of middle-level staff competencies from 2 technical universities and 2 polytechnics in the northern sector of Ghana. The mixed study was sequential explanatory research. Respondents were drawn from the Netherlands Programme for Post-Secondary Education and Training Capacity (NPT/GHA) 45 leadership and management capacity building project for the middle-level technical universities and polytechnics staff. A 5-point Likert scale questionnaire and a semi-structured interview guide were used to gather data from respondents made up of 24 (58.5%) academic staff and 17 (41.5%) administrative staff totaling 41 respondents for the study. The closed-ended items were analysed using statistical product and service solutions version 19 and results reported using means and standard deviations. Open-ended items were thematically analysed to support results from the closed-ended item analysis. The results revealed that respondents found the relevance of staff training, learned new things and noticed an improvement in their competencies for their career prospects. However, the perception of the respondents pointed to the fact that there was little or no support from colleagues in transferring the competencies acquired from training. The study also revealed that respondents had low motivation to transfer training competencies. Since technical universities and polytechnics produce critical human resources for the industry, the post-training work environment was critical for staff training transfer with many implications for the management, leadership, growth and development of the institutions. The study recommended that training programmes should be aligned with the institutional vision, mission and goals. Again, resources committed to staff training should also budget for enhancements of the work environment to accommodate training transfer using modern technologies.