Impact of Work-Related Continuing Education and Training on Job Performance in Selected Ghanaian Companies: Postgraduate education

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Table of Contents

EXERCISE 11

1.1 The Research Topic1

1.2 Background to the study1

1.2a why research problem was chosen1

1.2b Suitability of Research Problem2

EXERCISE 23

2. Structure and Timeline for Study3

EXERCISE 34

3. Outline Review of Literature4

EXERCISE 47

4. Methodological Considerations7

EXERCISE 511

5. Sampling Strategy11

EXERCISE 613

EXERCISE 715

7. Research Strategy15

7.1 Research techniques chosen15

7.2 Rationale for choice16

7.3 Pros and cons of methods chosen17

7.4 Review of relevant literature on methods used18

7.5 Analysing findings20

EXERCISE 1

1.1 The Research Topic

Impact of Work-Related Continuing Education and Training on Job Performance in Selected Ghanaian Companies: Postgraduate education versus professional job training.

1.2 Background to the study

1.2a why research problem was chosen

A new development in the Ghanaian workplace is the acknowledgement of the need for employees to pursue work-related continuing education and training (WRCET). The development is also of a global nature, and together with its dimensions and outcomes, has been acknowledged by a number of writers (e.g. Gravan, 1997, Eraut, 1999). However the factors that underlie the need to acquire formal self-sponsored postgraduate education or job-related training are as many as they are complex. They are driven by an acknowledgement of obvious outcomes such as greater recognition in the workplace, increased managerial responsibilities and increased remuneration; in some cases, and in more recent contexts, they are also driven by latent factors such as a kneejerk response to pressures of an increasingly competitive labour market or the need to fulfil some self-esteem or self-actualisation needs within the socio-cultural context of the labour market. In accordance with the research purpose this research will attempt to investigate the following phenomenon:

a)What is the relationship between job performance and job-related training/education?

b)What is the importance of work-related education and training on the job performance?

c)To what extent work-related education impact the job performance?

d)To what extent work-related training impact the job performance?

e)Whether work-related education or work-related training aid in enhancing and improving the job performance of the employees of Ghanaian companies? A comparison of both elements.

In short, there are as many altruistic motivations as there are self-indulgent ones for pursuing WRCET; importantly too, there are as many demand-driven factors as there are supply-driven ones. The research problem underlying this study is that if there is no uni-directional objective for undertaking WRCET, especially from the demand side, it becomes more difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of the training programmes that are 'consumed' by employees and the output from the training thereof is difficult to measure. Integral to this problem is the bigger question of which formal training option ensures that learning is effective. Working with the assumption that most workers in Ghana now enter clerical, administrative and professional jobs with a minimum of an undergraduate degree, the study pitches postgraduate education to professional job training programmes. This taps into existing theoretical discourse on the differences between formal education and formal training, but explores this within a specific scope: that is, where the education or training is sponsored by the employee himself or herself; and two, where the education or training is ...