Enhancing Organisational Efficiency

Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1 Background Information

Personnel efficiency is a significant factor and highly contributes to organisational efficiency in that human resources are among the factors that promote the efficiency and sustainability of organisations and sectors (Justin, Kaitlynn, Bharat and Jitendra 2017). High productivity is a necessity for all organisations but unfortunately there comes times when these firms face a reduction in employee productivity. According to Bhalla and Giri (2014), when the output to input is low, time and resources are bound to be wasted and the operational costs are likely to rise, which leads to a decline in the organisational profit. This underscores the need to ensure an organisation has quality workers and for this to be accomplished, managers need to identify the organisational areas that need improvement as well as the actions that need to be implemented to help employees optimally perform. The growing influence of HRM within organisations is reflecting in the changing roles within the HR practitioners as we have seen the need to go beyond a simple administrative role to critical reflective activities to develop mechanism to provide people-added value (Wilton, 2016:16). For this reason, organisations are continually seeking ways they can nurture a creative behaviour in their employees, which has become necessary for a firms prosperity and competitiveness (Ahmed, Hussain, Ahmed and Akbar 2010). In agreement, Warokka, Gallato, Thamendren and Moorthy (2012) state that satisfactory staff performance does not happen automatically, which implies that organisations must be willing to invest in actions that enable their employees to be more productive. Among the actions that firms have taken to promote employee productivity are inspirational leadership, correct guidance, job satisfaction, a supportive environment, performance appraisal, goal-oriented approaches to work, and employee training among others (Deepa, Palaniswamy and Kuppusamy 2014). In the recent past, performance appraisal has been established a key contributor to quality organisational performance and therefore considered vital to the functions of any firm (Vasset, Marnburg and Furunes 2011). Today, many firms use performance appraisal systems to select higher performing workers that qualify for most of the merits available in the organisation. On the other hand, Kim (2016) writes that employees differ in aptitudes and abilities, which justifies the need for a performance appraisal system to help understand the abilities of an employee and the merits they can bring the firm. Performance appraisal helps organisations determine if their employees are improving as well as their situation in the workplace. Similarly, performance appraisal helps employees understand how well they are performing in their job. Therefore, performance appraisal is not only beneficial to an organisation but its employees as well. For employees to perform as expected they must have the right skills and knowledge and staff training seeks to equip them with the desired skills. Once an organisation has recruited, it is necessary to conduct a training session in which personal goals are set and individuals equipped with the right skills. Additionally, training is essential after performance appraisal: this is so because the low performing employees need skills that will help them match the abilities of the highly performing colleagues (Beier and Kanfer 2010). In agreement, Wilton (2016), Bashir and Long (2015) state that performance appraisal informs the need for developing workers in which training is included. This is so because performance appraisal designates the desired level of performance, the actual performance, and the gap between the two: for the gap to be closed, the employee needs to be equipped with some extra skills, which training serves to do. Therefore, we can say that performance appraisal and staff training go hand in hand. The aim of this study is to explore the influence of staff training and performance appraisal on employee performance.

1.2 Problem Statement

The problem that prompted this study is that performance management remains a major issue of concern for many organisations each seeking to prosper and maintain a competitive edge. Lack of employee productivity has been established as one of the factors hindering organisations from attaining their performance goals (Chandrasekar 2011; Guest and Conway 2011; and Justin et al. 2017). In such organisations, the input is higher than the output and the result is high operational cost, which lowers profitability. For firms to enjoy higher profits, the output input ratio should be high, which means that employees must be highly productive. Additionally, it is true that employees must have the right skills and knowledge for them to attain maximum performance expectations. This implies that for organisations to be productive, their employees must have the right skills, which increases their ability and aptitude. Therefore, struggling companies should make use of staff training to ensure their employees have the desirable skills. Performance appraisal helps establish the level of desired skills for individual employees and their actual performance (Azzone and Palermo 2011). Torrington et al ((2017) went on to say that performance appraisal is designed to assist line managers to evaluate staff performance and also to address problems. Here, a gap is identified that once bridged, the organisation will have the right skills to attain the aspired goals. Many firms use performance appraisal to identify and reward better performing employees, which ensured such are motivated to work harder. However, firms also need to use performance appraisal systems to determine what actions need to be taken to ensure all employees are optimally performing. This would be the most effective approach to human resource management in that it will help discover the talent of every employee and better utilisation of the talents, thus promoting organisational productivity. For most organisations, performance appraisal and training are treated separately when it comes to human resource management (Selden and Sowa 2011). This is so because such organisations pay attention to better performing employees and seek to further promote their productivity by making use of reward systems. Here, the low and struggling performing employees are left out, which implies they never discover their full potential thus lowers organisational productivity. If these firms realised the importance of using performance appraisal to identify the needs of the low performing employees, they would offer training to unlock their full potential. This would mean that every employee is optimally performance, which would be a real booster to the organisational performance.

1.3 Rationale of the Study

The ultimate aim of this study was to explore the influence of staff training and performance appraisal on employee productivity. Many researchers have established that with the growth in global trade, many organisations are struggling to remain competitive while increasing their productivity (Brown, Hyatt and Benson 2010). This underscores the need for studies investigating approaches that such organisations would take to promote their profitability. This study falls in such category hypothesising that staff training and performance appraisal are necessary for higher employee productivity. According to Rolle and Klingner (2012), organisations are always seeking to nurture their employees to be more creative. The current study hypothesises that performance appraisal helps employees to be more creative since it helps them realise the gap between their actual performance and the desired goal and as they strive to attain the desired outcomes, they get more creative. As such, this study is effective in determining if performance appraisal is essential in helping organisations remain competitive in this era. De Waal, Goedegebuure and Geradts (2011) state that the number of non-profit organisations has steadily increased over the recent past and as the non-profit sector continues to grow, there is need for their management to ensure they remain competitive. The primary function of non-profit organisations is responding to public needs that cannot be met by other business or the government (Arvidson and Lyon 2014). Given that the public is interested in organisations that are highly ranked at being effective at their work, there is need for non-profit organisations to increase their competitiveness. Additionally, performance increases public trust in a non-profit organisation as it helps agencies contribute to the welfare of the society (Hafiza, Shah, Jamsheed and Zaman 2011). Performance in non-profit organisations is majorly determined by the level of interaction between the firm, its clients, and the stakeholders. This implies that better performing employees in the non-profit organisations are good at maintaining relationships with their clients, which ensure the needs of the society, are well met. Additionally, a better performing non-profit organisation has effective and efficient use of resources including the human resources, which implies that performance appraisal and staff training and a necessity in the non-profit organisations. With an aim of analysing the effectiveness of staff training and performance appraisal on employee performance, this study will help Better Health Foundation increase its performance, which will play a pivotal role in helping the organisation attain a competitive edge. This will also play an essential role in helping the organisation attain a position that can attract more external funders, which will increase its efficiency. Further, the study provides lessons to other firms in the non-profit sector, which will help promote the performance of this sector.

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1.4 Aim and Objectives

The purpose of this study is to establish the influence of staff training and performance appraisal on employee productivity with a special focus on the non-profit organisations. Given the time and resources constraint, the researcher limits the study to Better Health Foundation. To attain the purpose of the study, the following objectives serve as a guideline.

To identify the types of staff training conducted by Better Health Foundation To establish the performance appraisal system used by Better Health Foundation To explore the influence of staff training on employee productivity To analyse the effect of performance appraisal on employee productivity To determine the relationship between staff training and performance appraisal and their role in employee productivity

Chapter 2: Literature Review

2.1 Definition of key Terms

2.1.1 Staff Training

Staff training also termed as job training has been defined differently by various scholars. According to Ibrahim, Boerhannoeddin and Bakare (2017), staff training is the process of updating the knowledge and skills of employees, which brings behavioural and attitudinal changes thus enhancing the ability of the employee to perform his/her tasks. On the other hand, Zwick (2015) defines staff training as a formal procedure that an organisation uses to facilitate learning for is employees such that the resultant behaviour contributes to attainment of the organisational goals and objectives. Contrary, Budiningsih, Dinarjo and Ashari (2017) define staff training as the effort to enhance the capacity of employees through transfer of skills, understanding, and information on the objective of the organisation. In relation to this, Wu (2013) defines staff training as the process of increasing the ability of employees with an aim of helping the organisation attain its operational objectives. From the above definitions, we can infer that staff training has to do with the need to increase the ability of employees to help the organisation attain its operational objectives. Therefore, in this study, staff training will be defined as the process of concept, skill, and attitude acquisition that shapes the behaviour of employees helping them improve their work performance.

2.1.2 Performance Appraisal

Literature provides various definitions of performance appraisal. According to Nick Wilton (2016), Dusterhoff, Cunningham and MacGregor (2014), performance appraisal is the process through which the members of an organisation are evaluated. Contrary, Aggarwal and Thakur (2013) consider performance appraisal as a structure that helps a firm communicate it goals to its employees and increase their desire for better performance. Here, the authors also not that performance appraisal can be used as a means in which an organisation fairly distributes rewards to its employees based on their performance. On the other end, Ismail and Rishani (2018) define performance appraisal as the process through which an organisation acquires information on how well their employees are doing their job against the set standards. Further, Bernardin and Wiatrowski (2013) define performance appraisal as the process through which an organisation checks its progress towards the desired objectives and goals primarily focusing on the efforts on individual employees. From the above information, it is evident that performance appraisal has to do with an organisation evaluating the efforts of individual employees and motivating them to keep working to help the organisation achieve its objectives. Thus, this study defines performance appraisal as assessment that helps an organisation establish how the efforts of employees contributes to attainment of the organisation’s operational objectives. This implies that performance organisation helps map the effort of individual employees towards attainment of the organisational goals.

2.1.3 Employee productivity

Various definitions for employee productivity exist. Akhtar (2014) defines productivity as the outcome that an employee can generate with minimum effort. On the contrary, Yamoah (2013) terms employee productivity as the extent to which an individual contributes to helping the organisation attain its objectives. Here, efficiency and effectiveness are seen as the two concepts of employee productivity as they help an employee properly complete assigned tasks. Further, Nda and Fard (2013) define employee productivity as the measure of efficiency that a worker completes his/her tasks. Additionally, the authors note that employee productivity is the measure of an employee’s output over a given period, which is assessed relative to the average of the total number of employees doing similar work. Employee productivity can also be evaluated in terms of the number of units an employee produces over a given time period. Given the above information, employee productivity will be defined as the effectiveness and efficiency in which an employee completes the assigned tasks. Here, effectiveness will be associated with the extent to which an employee helps the organisation attain its aims while efficiency will be associated with the extent to which the employee contributes to proper use of resources in the organisation. This implies that a productive employee is one who does his/her work properly with two concepts of proper work: effectiveness and efficiency. Considering that employee productivity directly affects organisational performance, this study takes employee productivity to be an imperative necessity for firms seeking to enhance their competitiveness.

2.1.4 Non-Profit Organisations

Non-profit organisations make up the third sector of the economy and this sector is experiencing steady growth over the recent years (Shekhar Singh 2014). Non-profit organisations can be defined as firms that respond to public need, particularly welfare needs, that cannot be met by governments or other organisations (Carlos Pinho, Paula Rodrigues and Dibb 2014). Non-profit organisations are not profit maximising organisations and therefore depend on external funds to finance their operations. This implies that non-profit organisations do not measure their success based on economic terms in that they do not have a focus on profit maximisation (Shekhar Singh 2014). This study focuses on Better Health Foundation whose primary purpose is to assist with medically related expenses for people not covered or partially covered by insurance thus helping improve the quality of life for individuals.

2.2 Review of Previous Related Literature

2.2.1 Training and employee productivity

Literature reveals employees’ skills and knowledge have become increasingly imperative to employee productivity as well as organisational performance. A study conducted by Elnaga and Imran (2013) sought to establish the relationship between training and organisational performance. The authors held that employee training and development affect the skills and ability of workers resulting to behavioural and attitudinal change, which is crucial for higher organisational performance. With a sample of 134 respondents, the study results revealed that training interventions seek to bridge the gap between the skills that employees have and the skills required to accomplish their set targets thus improves employee productivity. Here, bridging the performance gap included adopting specific training intervention that would change the skills and attitudes of employees as necessary. From this study, we can decipher there are various types of trainings that an organisation can offer its employees based on the required skills and attitudes. However, the study does not identify these types of training and development. This will be attained in the current study in that it seeks to identify various types of employee training conducted by Better Health Foundation and their impact on employee productivity. Another study conducted by Ibrahim, Boerhannoeddin and Bakare (2017) aspired to investigate the effect of soft skill acquisition and the method adopted in training on employee performance. The researchers held that soft skills training as well as the training methods adopted directly affects employee performance. A 55 items questionnaire was distributed to a sample of 260 persons that were all employees in the Malaysian private sector. The study results revealed there is a positive relationship between training and workplace performance. Additionally, the study results reveal that training adds to employees’ leadership skills, creativity, ability for teamwork, problem-solving skills, and communication skills, which are all necessary for improved employee performance. The study therefore concludes that an organisation can be able to predict its performance outcome through the training it offers its employees. In addition, the study concludes that time-spaced training is more effective in promoting employee performance in that it ensures the skills and abilities of employees are continually assessed and updated. Though consistent to its purpose, the study does not identify various types of trainings that organisations can offer to promote employee productivity, which the current study aspires to establish. Lakra (2016) sought to gain a deeper understanding of employee training. Among the objectives of this study were to establish when organisations give training, how the training preparations are done, the most helpful training methods, the opinions of employees towards trainers, implications of training of practice, and benefits of training on employees. The study studied data collected from a sample of 300 employees to make conclusions. The study results reveals that training is more effective if it is guided by specific intentions and goals, which implies that employees must be aware of the goals the organisation is seeking to attain through the training. The study also established that many organisations depend on seniors in giving training requirements rather than having employees speak up for themselves, which implies that employees do not receive the right training. Further, the study established that after the goals of a training session are set, an organisation should outsource a qualified trainer as this is more effective than having a person from the organisation conduct the training. Therefore, the study concludes that a systematic process have to be adopted for training to be effective. Additionally, the study concludes that organisations need to consider pre-determined trainings in their functions to ensure employees are prepared for the trainings and present their needs in advance. This study is every effective to its purpose. The current study finds no gap to bridge in this study and therefore the current study seeks to find out if Better Health Foundation follows a systematic procedure in conducting training and if the organisation considers the requirements of its employees while preparing training sessions. A study conducted by Tahir, Yousafzai, Jan and Hashim (2014) with an aim of exploring the effect of training and development of employee productivity suggested a positive relationship between these two variables. The study established that training is a motivational factor that enhances the knowledge of employees towards their job, which helps them become more productive. Additionally, the study established that training is seen as a way of equipping employees with coping strategies, which helps them handle challenges they encounter in their daily tasks, meaning they are not afraid of working in a challenging environment, which increased their productivity. Thus, the study concludes that training is a vital element from improved performance in that it increases individual and organisational competency. Further, the study concludes that training unlocks the full potential of employees, which in turn helps the organisation attain a competitive advantage. With training sessions, employees have updated skills, which enables them solve problems they encounter in the dynamic workplace thus increasing their productivity. Finally, the study concludes that training ensures employees are updating their knowledge to match the growing technology, which implies they remain vital to the organisation and productive. This study is effective at mapping the positive relationship between staff training and employee productivity. However, the study does not identify types of training or the requirements for effective training, which the current study seeks to accomplish. Al-Mzary, Al-rifai and Al-Momany (2015) sought to examine the attitudes of administrative leaders and employees concerning training courses provided and the impact training has on employee job performance. The focus of this study was limited to Yarmouk University in Jordan. The study collected data from 80 respondents: 40 deans and heads of departments and 40 administrative employees. The study results show a positive towards the identification of training needs through the training programmes developers, design of training programmes, and selection of employees. Here, the researcher note that the training programmes should be designed based on the needs of the employees. In essence, the researchers hold that the leaders should set the organisational goals and define the tasks of the employees, which should then be communicated to all employees. To follow, employees should evaluate their competency in performing the assigned tasks and the deficit in skills should inform the need for a training session. Thus, from this study it is clear that the training need should emanate from employees but not supervisors. The current study will identify the source of training needs decision at Better Health Foundation.

2.2.2 Performance Appraisal and Employee Productivity

Deepa, Palaniswamy and Kuppusamy (2014) explored the necessities for an effective performance appraisal system and its role in promoting employee productivity. The results established that an effective performance appraisal systems help in creating a committed and motivated workforce, which is more productive. In this study, the researchers point out that several supervisors may work with an individual employee but strong commitment from senior management determines the employee’s perception of the performance appraisal system, which affects productivity. Here, the researchers conclude that for any performance appraisal system to be effective, it must link employee performance to organisational goals. A study conducted by Semakula-Katende, Schmikl and Pelser (2013) investigated the attitudinal influences in performance appraisal. From a sample of 318 respondents, the researchers found out that the employees’ perception of the performance appraisal system affects their performance. Here, employees that viewed the appraisal system to be fair were more committed to their tasks, which promoted their performance contrary to employees that perceived the performance appraisal systems to be unjust. Additionally, employees who perceived the performance appraisal systems to be manipulated based on the personal intents of the ratter quitted their jobs and others performed poorly. This informed the conclusion that manipulation of ratings for motivational purposes lowers employee productivity. Therefore, the study concludes that organisations have a role in ensuring that ratings are honestly done and are fairly used within the organisation. Here, a fair performance appraisal system has a clear criteria, is not influenced by politics, and has a relative pay-performance relationship. The study recommends that one way to ensure this happens is by rewarding ratters for providing useful information on performance to employees. Another study conducted by Sharma and Sharma (2017) sought to investigate the influence of performance appraisal on staff performance in the Rajasthan tourism industry. Here, the researchers aspired to establish the methods managers in this industry use to evaluate the performance of employees and to establish how employee performance can be improved through ratings. With a sample of 150 respondents, the study established that employees in this sector are evaluated at frequent intervals and hence are able to judge the value of performance appraisal. Additionally, the study finds out that training must follow staff performance appraisal seeking to bridge the gap identified in skills. Another study conducted by Ismail and Rishani (2018) reveals that a properly function appraisal system should communicate the organisational goals to employees and as such motivate them to improve their performance. Here, a performance appraisal system is perceived to be a means through which an organisation distributes its rewards to employees aiming at improving their performance. The researchers develop various necessities of a fair and effective performance appraisal system. These include clear objectives, clear roles of the parties involved, competency of the supervisors to evaluate accurately, acceptance of the appraisal system by the employees, job-specific performance standards, performance improvement evaluation, and a positive relationship between employees and their supervisors. The study notes that such a performance appraisal system would be effective to helping employees remain more productive. Ciobanu and Ristea (2015) sought to examine the extent to which Romanian public managers use performance appraisal to distribute rewards in a fair way that would motivate employees to work harder. The researcher distributed a questionnaire to 120 civil servants in order to find out their opinion on how performance appraisal is conducted and how it affects employee performance. The study found out that if correctly conducted, performance appraisal generates positive and improved employee performance. The study results also revealed that there exist disparities in the way performance appraisal is conducted and in some cases it is not a fair representation of equitable distribution of rewards among employees, which hinders employee productivity. The study recommends that for effective use of performance appraisal systems managers should have the necessary abilities and skills to perform a correct and equitable performance appraisal and second, a well-defined procedure for conducting performance appraisal must be developed. Jafri (2017) studied the influence of performance appraisal errors on employee productivity. From a sample of 150 respondents, the researchers establish many employees are not happy and satisfied with the performance appraisal systems used across the world. The study identified a number of factors that tamper with accuracy of performance appraisal systems thus hindering employees from being more productive. Among such factors are the evaluator’s attitude, personal biases, values, and thinking. Here, employees are less willing to improve in their performance if ratings are based on the evaluator’s perception of the employee. Therefore, the study concludes that a fair and effective performance appraisal should be conducted by a third party who does not know the employee. Additionally, the study concludes that performance appraisals should be conducted by more than two persons, as this is likely to eliminate personal biases during the appraisal system. A study conducted by Iqbal et al. (2013) aspired to examine the impact of performance appraisal on employee’s performance. The researchers hypothesised there is a significant relationship between performance appraisal and employee performance. Data was collected from 150 participants. The findings confirm the hypothesis of the study, which stated that there is a significant relationship between performance appraisal and employee performance. However, the study defines two terms that need to be true for any performance appraisal system to effective. First, the system should contribute to motivating all employees, which requires regular effort in training and communicating with workers. Second, the appraisers need to be qualified, which involves having outstanding communication skills and the right attitude towards all employees.

A study conducted by Mwema and Gachunga (2014) sought to identify the effect of performance appraisal on employee productivity. The focus of this study was limited to a few World Health Organisations in East Africa. The study results show there is a positive correlation between performance appraisal and employee productivity. From the findings, the researchers conclude that for effectiveness, organisation should often appraise their employees using utilised targets, organisation goals, accomplishments, and time management as this would result in increased employee performance. The researchers also emphasise the need for organisations adopting performance appraisal systems to aid in identifying staff training needs. Here, it is also evident that the performance appraisal system should help employees meet their performance targets while offering the low performers a chance to improve. This implies that a performance appraisal system should not only be beneficial to the organisation and the high performing employees but also the low performing employees in that training and development programmes would be set to equip them with necessary skills. This way, every organisational input would be profitable, which would increase organisation performance giving the firm competitive advantage.

2.3 Establishing the Gap

From the reviewed literature, it is evident that staff training and performance appraisal have a significant role of promoting employee productivity. From the staff training studies reviewed, it is clear that organisations should conduct employee training informed by the needs of the workers. This implies that it is not supervisors that ought to define the requirements of training but the employees. Thus, organisations should conduct a need analysis to determine the type of training that is effective for the employees. This means there are various types of trainings though the reviewed studies do not identify these types. The current study will bridge this gap by finding out the types of employee training offered by Better Health Foundation and how they are effective at helping employees attain the organisational goals. From the reviewed literature, it is also evident that the person facilitating the training has an effect on employee performance. The review reveals that some employees perceive outsourced trainers more qualified and opposed to internal trainers. As a result, employees are more likely to consider insights from external trainers and neglect those offered by internal trainers, which means lessons offered by external trainers are more likely to help in promoting employee productivity. The current study will find out if the persons offering training (internal or external) affects performance. The review also reveals that the frequency in which trainings are held affect employee productivity. Here, time-spaced trainings are found to be more effective in helping improve employee productivity. However, the studies are not clear on the duration after which trainings should be held for them to be effective at serving their purpose of promoting employee performance. The current study will bridge this gap by establishing the frequency at which trainings are offered at Better Health Foundation and how effective employees perceive them to be. Performance appraisal is a major determinant of employee productivity and this is clear from the reviewed studies. However, the review establishes there are various factors that contribute to a negative relationship between performance appraisal and employee productivity. Among the factors are the evaluator’s competency and the procedure in which appraisals are conducted. The current study will examine if these factors affect performance appraisal at Better Health Foundation. Additionally, the review does not identify various types of performance appraisal systems common in organisations, which the current study will accomplish by identify performance appraisal systems used by Better Health Foundation.

Chapter 3: Better Health Foundation Case Study

Better Health Foundation was founded in 1839 and is based in Poole. The founders of this organisation were inspired by a story shared by a young woman in a conference. The woman had lost her son to Matt’s disease and was supporting her mother who was living with schizophrenia. Touched by her struggles, the founders decided to raise money to help the woman and other families in Poole dealing with struggles arising from diseases. The old woman living with schizophrenia ultimately passed away but Better Health Foundation has continued to grow and support families living in Poole meet their medical needs. The mission of Better Health Foundation is to improve the quality of life for people living with chronic diseases. Initially, the organisation supported families of people living with rare diseases but since 1902, the organisation has supported people living with chronic and long term illnesses. Since 1902, Better Health Foundation has supported families living with over 30 different chronic illnesses and about 120 undiagnosed conditions. The organisation has also been active in providing financial support to local school districts, local children’s hospitals, and other local charities that support families of people living with chronic illnesses. Better Health Foundation continues to support more families and to date; the organisation has supported over 10,000 families. The primary purpose of Better Health Foundation is to support families that are not covered or partially covered by insurance with medically-related expenses. Additionally, the organisation assists with non-medically necessary equipment, which has been established to be effective at improving the quality of life for people living with chronic illnesses. This is so because even with insurance cover, some families still struggle acquiring the aids required by their ill ones such as hearing aids, special beds, wheel chairs, special strollers, therapy spas, braces, air conditioning systems, and specialty bicycles among others. Other than the above, Better Health Foundation provides educational support by uniting local families and discussing issues related with proper management of diseases. Among the topics of interest in such meetings are health care, education, and future personal needs. The organisation makes the conferences affordable by assisting families with expenses related to travel and accommodation. Such conferences ensure people living with chronic illness have a chance to interact and share their experiences, which is therapeutically beneficial. It is also in such conferences that people living with chronic illness learn about the latest treatment interventions that help improve their wellbeing. Currently, Better Health Foundation is an employer of 506 workers. The organisation aims at being the best employer in the community and eventually around the world. The company also recognises the importance of human resource management and accepts that to be successful, it must have excellent staff. As such, the company has among its function recruiting, retaining, and motivating staff so they can realise their full potential and offer quality care to the organisation’s clients. Better Health Foundation also recognises staff training as a necessity for anyone who joins the organisation. Other than the training programme that recruited employee must undergo before working with the organisation, Better Health Foundation offers other types of training, which this study seeks to explore. In a year, Better Health Foundation trains its employees about 5 times.

The organisation also acknowledges the essence of performance appraisal, which informs the need for training. Regularly, the company conducts performance appraisals aiming at identify knowledge gaps that limit their employee from attaining their set targets. Once the gaps are established, the management plans for a training session. However, it is unclear who conducts the training as well as the performance appraisal system used, which this study seeks to find out. In an employee review, one worker mentions that Better Health Foundation is excellent at meeting the employees’ needs, which encourages employees to continue working with the organisation. According to Maslow, there are five hierarchies of needs that any organisation should fulfil in a given order for it to improve its employee retention power. First, the organisation should seek to satisfy employees’ basic needs and the secondary needs should come later. Better Health Foundation has mastered the need of prioritising its employees and according to one of the employees, the organisation perfectly meets her needs and therefor she is indebted to help the company achieve its needs/goals. As such, Better Health Foundation is known to be among the best organisations to work in Poole and in UK at large. Better Health Foundation is well known for its ability to retain its employees and surveys has shown that people working at this organisation are proud to be part of the company and desire to be of continued help to the organisation. Additionally, evidence shows that the organisation has had improved performance over the years and as a result has been able to attract more external funders. In an interview, the CEO or the company mentioned that its ability to have skilled and committed employees contributes to its success. It is in light with this information that the researcher chooses to conduct this study on Better Health Foundation as it has shown a clear and positive relationship between staff training, performance appraisal, and increased employee productivity.

Chapter 4: Methodology

4.1 Research Design

Miller and Cameron (2011) categorise research design into three, which are qualitative research, quantitative research, and mixed methods. The quantitative design is mostly used by researchers in social sciences and management using a positivist paradigm. The primary focus of quantitative research is on observable details while manipulation of variables is allowed when the researcher needs to test the assumptions. There are various approaches to research under this category including single subject experiment, experimental, survey, quasi-experimental, and correlation research. A researcher can choose from these approaches based on the purpose of the study and the nature of the problem to be solved. Qualitative research on the other hand aims at exploring and creating understanding through analysing the nature of the collected information. Particularly, the researcher collects the opinions of various persons and analyses these views seeking to decipher what is true about the variables under study. Qualitative research has become essential in marketing and development of new brands, as it helps organisations provide their clients with goods that meet their needs (Goldkuhl 2012). For this reason, qualitative research has been termed effective at helping gain a deeper understanding of the population or phenomenon under study. Mixed methods approach combines the feature of qualitative and quantitative research. As such, it has been termed as more effective in that it is able to overcome the deficiencies of each approach and yield more reliable results. The current study uses the mixed methods approach whose choice is informed by the reliability of results associated with this approach to research. The use of mixed methods research is also deemed to provide a deeper understanding of the problem under study as compared to the understanding attained with a single method approach. (Burian et al. 2010) state that with a better understanding of the research problem, a researcher is able to triangulate, which improves validity of the study results. Thus, with a mixed methods approach, the researcher will be able to provide more reliable results.

4.2 Study Population

A study population refers to the total number of subjects that meets the specifications of a research (Ritchie, Lewis, Nicholls and Ormston 2013). For example, in a study on consumer behaviour, the researcher would say any consumer qualifies to be part of the study. Thus, we can say that a study population refers to all subjects that share desirable characteristics. In this research, the study population is all employees in the non-profit organisations sector. This is so because any employee working in a non-profit organisation could give the information required to complete this study. However, the number of these persons is too huge for the researcher to collect and analyse information from all. This justifies the need for the researcher to select a manageable proportion out of the entire number. This subset is commonly known as a sample. A sample must be a fair representation of the entire population so the results can be generalised to the study population. In this study, the researcher limited the study participants to employees working in non-profit organisations based in UK. However, the number of these employees was too high and given time and financial constraints, the researcher chose to collect data from employees from Better Health Foundation.

4.3 Sampling Procedure

Sampling is the process that a researcher uses to identify a group of subjects from whom data is collected (Trotter II 2012). The selected group is used to test the hypothesis about the entire population. There are two strategies that a researcher can use to sample study participants including probability and non-probability sampling. Probability sampling gives each of the study population an equal chance to be selected in the sample while in non-probability sampling, the study population has unknown chance of been recruited for the study (Uprichard 2013). Informed by the need to uphold fairness, the researcher settled for the probability sampling for this study. According to Ritchie, Lewis and Elam (2013), there are several probability sampling procedures including simple random sampling, systematic random sampling, cluster sampling, and stratified random sampling. Of these procedures, the simple random sampling was selected for this study. This selection was informed by the fact that simple random sampling is entirely random, which implies every subject has a known chance of been recruited for the study. Additionally, simple random sampling is easy to conduct, which means it saves time thus more preferable for this study.

4.4 Sample

As earlier stated, a sample refers to a subset representative of the entire population. Various researchers have defined different measures that should be observed for the sample to be a fair representation of the entire population. In this study, the researcher was guided by Marshall et al. (2013) recommendation that a sample should be more than 10% of the entire population. Therefore, the researcher ensured that data was collected from more than 10% of the employees at Better Health Foundation. Better Health Foundation has 506 employees thus the researcher decided to collect data from 52 workers. The researcher obtained a list of all the employees from the management and then picked out 52 names at random. The contact details of these employees were acquired and contact made to seek their consent. Only those that consented were recruited for the study. In case a worker declined the request, the researcher had to randomly pick another name from the list.

4.5 Data Collection

Data is the information that a researcher obtains from the study participants to help fulfill the purpose of the study. There are various types of data collection techniques and the researcher can use any based on the purpose of the research and the type of data required to meet the study objectives. The various types of data collection techniques are observation, reviewing documents, questioning, measuring, and combination of various methods (Christensen et al. 2011). In this study, the researcher used questioning to generate data. Here, the researcher developed a questionnaire with both open and close ended questions to generate response. The choice for both open and close ended questions was informed by the fact that the researcher had settled for mixed research methods thus both qualitative and quantitative data was essential.

The questionnaire was structured and had three sections:

Section 1: Collected demographic information,

Section 2: Collected data on staff training and its impact on employee productivity

Section 3: Collected data on performance appraisal and its effect of employee productivity.

4.6 Validity and Reliability

Validity is the measure of truth and falsity assumed in the collected data while reliability is the measure of the extent to which the research measures what it was intended to measure (Noble and Smith 2015 and Csikszentmihalyi and Larson 2014). In promoting validity and reliability, the researcher observed the following. First, the sample was selected randomly, which ensured every subject had an equal chance of been recruited, second, the subjects were required to complete the questionnaire independently, and third, the responses were scored independently to check correlation.

Chapter 5: Findings and Analysis

5.1 Employee Demographic Factors

From the information in the above table, 21.2% of the study participants were in the 18 to 24 age bracket, 50% were in the 25 to 34 age bracket, 17.3% were in the 35 to 44 age bracket, and the remaining 3.8% were 55 years old and above. The table also shows that 28.8% of the study respondents were male while the remaining 71.2% were female. Further, the table contains information about the education background of the study respondents where 17.3% were at the undergraduate level, 59.6% were holders of a master’s degree, while the remaining 23.1% had attained the PhD education level. Finally, the table contains information on how long the study respondents had worked with the organisation. The results indicate that 5.8% had stayed in the organisation for a time period of 0 to 6 months, 11.5% had served the organisation for a time period of 7 to 12 months, 19.2% had worked with the organisation between 1 and 3 years, 23.1% had been in the organisation for 3 to 4 years, while the remaining 40.4% has worked with the organisation for five years and above. From the above information, it is evident that Better Health Foundation has employees with varied demographic factors. This is so because from table 1, the study respondents cut across various demographic parameters such as age, gender, education, and work duration. When it comes to age, the results show that majority (50%) of the study respondents are aged between 25 and 34 years. This implies that most of the employees at Better Health Foundation are youth. And very few of the employee are elderly given that only 3.8% are 55 years and above. It is also evident that most of the employees at Better health Foundation are female given that from a sample of 52 respondents, 71.2% were female. We can also decipher that most of the employees at Better Health Foundation have attained master’s degree given that majority (59.5%) are in the post graduate category. Finally, the results indicate that most (40.4%) of the study respondents have been with the organisation for over 5 years. This may suggest that Better Health Foundation is good at retaining employees. The findings of this study under the demographic factors of employees at Better Health Foundation are consistent to those of other results. According to Yadav and Katiyar (2017), workplace diversity is a common feature in not only firms in the third sector but also in other sectors of the economy. In agreement, Sabharwal (2014) states that demographic diversity variables such as gender, age, education, organisational tenure, and functional background are inevitable in any organisation and they are what inform organisational outcomes based on how well they are managed. Additionally, Muchiri and Ayoko (2013) posit that personal demographics, which include age, gender, educational level, job experience, and salary among others, are expected to vary in various organisations since workers are all different.

5.2 Staff Training and Employee Productivity

The first objective of this study was to explore the types of staff training that Better Health offers its employees. To attain this objective, the researcher had an open ended question on the types of training the organisation offered its employees. The respondents were also asked to give a brief description of each type of training they received from the organisation. The table below summarises the responses acquired.

5.2.1 Types of Training offered by Better Health Foundation

From the above table, it is evident that Better Health Foundation offers four types of training, which are reception and integration of staff, technical workstation skill, corporate training, and tailor-made training. Each of these types of training serve a specific purpose but are all aimed at helping the organisation attain its operational objectives. The reception and integration of staff is aimed at helping employees understand how the organisation operates and therefore majorly given to new staff. The same type of training is given after job rotation to make sure employees understand their new roles and assume them in a way that helps the organisation attain its goals. Therefore, we can conclude that the reception and integration of staff training is aligned with the organisational mission and goals, which is one of the characteristics of effective training. According to Milhem, Abushamsieh and Pérez Aróstegui (2014), aligning training with mission goals ensure employees understand the ultimate objective and the role they are supposed to play to help the organisation attain its goals: this makes sure the employee continually work in line with the mission of the organisation. Thus, aligning training with organisational mission and goals helps promote organisational performance. On the other hand, Budiningsih, Dinarjo and Ashari (2017) posit that for training to be effective, the leaders must communicate the objectives related to performance and the required functions for the goals to be met. The author’s state that this should be done early enough before employees assume their tasks to ensure their efforts is aligned to the organisational goals, which promotes performance. Therefore, we can conclude that Better Health Foundation understands the need to have employees doing the right thing and in the right way, which is why the conduct reception and integration training. From table 2, it is clear that Better Health Foundation offers the technical workstation skills to help employees acquire new skills for better performance. Literature reveals it is necessary for organisations to provide their employees with new and technical skills to help them handle more tasks in an effective way. According to Liang, Kao, Tu, Chin and Chung (2014), training should be offered to improve employees’ performance. Here, the authors state that the trainer transfer skills and employees improve through learning and taking action. This implies that for employees to be more productive, the trainer must assign them related tasks to help them put into practice their newly acquired skills. From table 2, it is also evident that Better Health Foundation gives personalised training, which is normally attained by allocating employees mentors. According to Chaubey, Kapoor and Negi (2017), this type of training is known as apprenticeship training and it allows an employee to learn by practically observing the mentor complete a task or by directly receiving instructions from the mentor. This type of training is said to be effective in that it allows the mentee to apply the acquired lessons, which results to an ingrained change.

5.2.2 Who conducts training?

This question was aimed at determining whether Better Health Foundation offers staff training with the help of internal persons or even with the help of external persons. The figure below summarises the responses.

From the above figure, 94% of the respondents indicated that staff training at Better Health Foundation are is facilitated by internal trainers while 6% indicated staff training is facilitated by external trainers. Therefore, we can conclude that Better Health Foundation offers staff training with the help of internal trainers. According to Mohrenweiser (2016), an organisation should consider internal versus external options when it comes to staff training. Here, the authors state that the advantages and disadvantages of each training option should be considered as well as the experience of each option. However, the authors conclude that using internal trainers is more cost effective in most cases, and therefore preferred by many organisations. Therefore, we could say that cost effectiveness is one of the reasons favouring the use of internal trainers at Better health foundation.

5.2.3 How often are training sessions offered?

The aim of this question was to establish the frequency Better Health Foundation provides training to its employees. The responses are summarised in the figure below.

From the figure above, none of the respondents indicated that training is offered every month, 6% of the respondents indicated training is offered on a monthly basis, 33% indicated training sessions are organised once in every three months, 21% indicated the organisation offers training once in 6 months, while the remaining 40% the organisation does not have a defined duration after which it offers staff training. Therefore, we can conclude that Better Health Foundation offers employee training based on need. The findings of this study under this question is consistent with those of a study conducted by Md (2015), which concluded there are various types of training and methods of delivery when it comes to staff training some of which the employees may not notice. This is so because organisations have diverse training methods such as team training, simulation, mentoring, field trips, and seminars among others where some employees refer field trips and seminars as the only time training is offered (Renta-Davids, Jiménez-González, Fandos-Garrido and González-Soto 2014). Therefore, there is a possibility that Better Health Foundation offers trainings more regularly but some go unnoticed based on the method of training used.

5.2.4 How effective do you find staff training in promoting employee productivity?

The aim of this question was to establish how effective the training sessions were in promoting employee productivity. The participants’ responses are scored in the figure below.

From the above scores, 54% of the respondents indicated staff training plays a very effective role in promoting employee productivity, 21% indicated staff training is somewhat effective to promoting employee productivity, 13% were not sure of the effectiveness of staff training in promoting employee productivity, 10% found staff training somewhat not effective in promoting employee productivity, while the remaining 2% found staff training very ineffective at promoting employee productivity. From the above results, we can say that staff training is effective at promoting employee productivity at Better Health Foundation. This finding is consistent with that of a study conducted by Alazzaz and Whyte (2015), which concluded that staff training equips employees with new skills, which helps them complete their assigned tasks. In agreement, Bhalla and Giri (2014) conclude that staff training if aligned to the organisational goals is very effective at promoting employee productivity as it increases employees’ understanding of the firm’s goals and their personal roles. Additionally, Kaur (2016) posits that staff training is very effective in promoting employee productivity when done after need analysis as it bridges a gap in skills helping employees realise their full potential.

5.3 Performance Appraisal and Employee Productivity

Exploring the relationship between performance appraisal and employee productivity was among the objectives of this study. Several questions were asked and this section summarises the responses of the respondents under each question.

5.3.1 Types of performance appraisal systems used by BHF

The aim of this question was to identify the methods of performance appraisal implemented in Better Health Foundation. The figure below summarises the obtained responses.

From the above figure, it is evident that Better Health Foundation uses five methods of performance appraisal including rating system, graded method, BARS system, performance-based point allocation, and report-making system. Out of the 52 respondents, 54% indicated that the organisation uses the rating system, 25% indicated the organisation uses the graded method, 2% indicated the company uses BARS system, and 13% indicated that the organisation uses performance-based point allocation, while the remaining 6% indicated the organisation uses the report making performance appraisal system. Given that the respondents were selected from different departments in the organisation, the above information suggests that different departments have different systems of performance appraisal. However, the results reveal that the rating system is the most popular method of performance appraisal at Better Health Foundation. These findings are consistent to those of a study conducted by Sharma and Sharma (2017) that concluded that the rating system of performance appraisal is commonly used in the tourism industry. In agreement, Longenecker, Fink and Caldwell (2014) state that the rating system is widely used in performance appraisals, which is associated with its ease of use; that is, the supervisors rate the employee and no additional information is required.

5.3.2 Purpose of performance appraisal

The aim of this question was to establish the opinions of the respondent on why the organisation conducted performance appraisals. The responses are summarised in the figure below.

From the above figure, 10% of the respondents indicated that the company conducts performance appraisal in order to evaluate its employees, 44% of the respondents indicated that the company conducts performance appraisal in order to promote employee, 4% felt that the company conducts performance appraisal in order to check how well employees were satisfied with their jobs, 27% indicated the company conducted performance appraisal to motivate their employees, while the remaining 15% indicated the organisation performs performance appraisal in order to improve the relationship between employees and managers. From the above information, we can infer that most of the employees at Better health Foundation feel that the company conducts performance appraisals in order to promote their employees. According to Kozica and Brandl (2015), there are various reasons companies conduct performance appraisals but for the process to be deemed fair, the organisation has to communicate the reason for the performance appraisal. This could be true to Better Hand Foundation in that every employee has a view of why performance appraisals are conducted. Nonetheless, it is not clear that the organisation informs its employees the reason why every performance appraisal is conducted since the respondents had varied opinions on how the organisation appraises their performance.

5.3.3 What follows performance appraisal?

This question was aimed at confirming the employees were sure of the motivations of the organisation when conducting performance appraisals. Here, the respondents were expected to check one of the options they felt follows performance appraisal. The figure below summarises their responses. Antecedent

From the above figure, 60% of the respondents indicated that performance appraisal is followed by promotion, 4% indicated that performance appraisal is followed by training, 11% of the respondents indicated that employees are assigned new roles once performance appraisal is conducted, 6% of the respondents indicated that after performance appraisal there is an improvement in the relationship between employees and managers while the remaining 19% indicated there is an increase in employees’ desire to attain organisational gals after the company conducts performance appraisal. The above results are consistent with those of figure 5 in that the employees felt that the organisation conducts performance appraisal for promotion purposes. This was followed by the need to motivate employees, which in this case is also evident as a good number of the respondents (19%) felt the employees are more motivated to pursue organisational goals after performance appraisal. Therefore, we can infer that performance appraisal at Better Health Foundation seeks to identify employees that should be promoted as well as motivate employees to worker harder at helping the organisation attain its objectives. The findings of this study concur with those of a study conducted by Gigliotti (2015), which concluded that most performance appraisals are developmental and evaluative in nature. Here, the author writes that developmental appraisals are aimed at increasing the desire of the employees to attain their set targets, which helps the organisation achieve its objectives. On the other hand, evaluative appraisals help organisations identify the better performing employees and reward them, which increase their commitment to the firm and the need to help attain personal and organisational objectives.

5.3.4 Performance Appraisal helps employees set and achieve goals

This question was aimed at collecting the respondents views on the role of performance appraisal in setting and attaining both personal and organisational goals. The figure below scores the generated responses.

From the figure above, 84% of the respondents indicated that performance appraisal helps employees and an organisation set achievable goals, 13% indicated that performance appraisal does not help employees and organisations set and attain goals, while the remaining 3% were not sure of the role performance appraisal plays in setting and achieving goals. From the above information, we can infer that performance appraisal helps in setting and attaining goals. This is consistent to Ayers (2015) opinion, who states that through performance appraisal, employees are more aware of their abilities and aptitudes, which help them, set goals they can attain. Additionally, performance appraisal helps an organisation understand its abilities and limitations through computing the average of the abilities of its employees: this enables the organisation set goals that its employees are capable of attaining. Therefore, we can conclude that performance appraisal increases the ability of a firm and employees to set goals they can achieve.

5.3.6 Rating consistency

The aim of this question was to establish whether rating was consistent among ratters at Better Health Foundation. The responses of the employees are contained in the figure below.

From the above figure, 79% of the respondents strongly agreed that rating is not consistent among ratters, 9% agreed that rating is not consistent among ratters, 6% did not agree or disagree with the statement that rating is inconsistent, 4% disagreed that rating is inconsistent among ratters, while the remaining 2% strongly disagreed that rating is not consistent among ratters. From the above information, we can infer that rating is not consistent among ratters. This is consistent to the findings of a study conducted by Tanya and Annelize (2017), who pointed out that inconsistency, is a common error in rating and performance appraisals. Here, the authors hold that inconsistency is influenced by several factors such as ratters’ personal values, attitudes, cultures, personal biases, and prejudice among other vices. To overcome the inconsistencies in rating employees, these authors recommend that rating should be done by a group of people or using different methods such that the weaknesses in one method can be offset by the other method.

5.3.7 Role of performance appraisal in promoting employees productivity

This question was aimed at exploring the view of the respondents on the role of performance appraisal in promoting employee productivity. The figure below scores the responses.

The above figure indicates that 60% of the respondents showed that performance appraisal is very effective at promoting employee productivity, 17% indicate that performance appraisal is effective and promoting employee productivity, 11 % are neutral of the role played by performance appraisal in promoting employee performance, 8% state that performance appraisal is ineffective in promoting employee productivity while the remaining 4% indicate that performance appraisal is very ineffective in promoting the productivity of employees. From the above information, we can infer that performance appraisal is very effective in promoting employee productivity. This implies there is a positive relationship between performance appraisal and employee productivity. This is consistent to the findings of a study conducted by Deepa, Palaniswamy and Kuppusamy (2014). These authors state that performance appraisal has a crucial role in enhancing the performance of employees in that is helps in increasing employees’ commitment to the firm and its objectives. Similarly, a study conducted by Ismail and Rishani in 2018 concluded that performance appraisal when conducted properly helps communicate the goals of the organisation to the employee and with more informed employees, productivity increases. Also, the findings of this stud concur to those Ciobanu and Ristea (2015) who state that performance appraisal help in rewarding employees, which increases their desire to continue achieving and as such increasing their productivity.

5.4 The Relationship between Staff Training and Performance Appraisal

The last objective of this study was to find out if there is a relationship between staff training and performance approval and if observed, how the two would help promote employee productivity. Under this objective, the researcher formulated one question that sought to establish the respondents view on conducting performance appraisal prior to staff training. The figure below scores the responses.

From the above figure, 34% of the respondents indicated that performance appraisal should precede staff training, 41% indicated that performance appraisal should not precede staff training, while the remaining 25% was not sure of the order in which staff training and performance appraisal should be conducted in any organisation. From the above information, we can surmise that employees at Better Health Foundation believe that staff training should not be conducted after performance appraisal. This is also evident from figure 6, which shows only 4% of the study respondents witnessed training follow performance appraisal at the organisation. Therefore, we can conclude that Better Health Foundation does not use performance appraisal to identify training needs among its employees. This is contrary to the views of Ahmadreza (2017) that hold performance appraisal should help communicate the organisational goals to employees and evaluate their ability to attain these goals. Here, the author also state that the management should be keep to note skills deficiency and thereafter conduct a staff training to equip employees with skills and knowledge that will helps them accomplish the organisational goals. Also contrary to the study findings, Zondi (2017) posits that performance appraisal is a tool that organisations should use to identify gaps in knowledge and skills among employees: once the gap is identified, a training and development session should follow to ensure employees have the required skills to help the organisation attain its objectives.

Chapter 6: Conclusion and Recommendations

6.1 Staff Training and Employee Productivity

The first objective of this study was to establish the role played by staff training in promoting employee productivity. The study established there are four types of training that Better Health Foundation offers its employees, which are reception and integration staff training, technical workstation skills, corporate training, and tailor-made training. Through reception and integration training, the organisation seeks to equip new employees with skills they need to perform their tasks. The same training is conducted following job rotation to ensure employees are competent to handle their new roles. Technical workstation training is offered to equip employees with skills they need to handle new tasks following a technical change implemented by the organisation. Corporate training is offered by the executive management after analysing customer satisfaction to ensure the clients are more satisfied. Tailor made training is informed by needs of individual employees and offered at a personal level through mentorship. The study also established that staff training at Better Health Foundation is conducted as informed by needs. This implies the organisation does not have a definite schedule of staff training. According to Narasimhan and Ramanarayanan (2014), effective training is a result identifying employees’ needs and preparing them for training. Therefore, it is recommendable that Better Health Foundation develops a timetable with a defined timeframe after which staff training should be conducted. The study also finds out that in some cases, the need for staff training is identified by leaders in pursuit of better satisfying the needs of the clients. According to Liang et al. (2014) staff training should stem from employee needs, as they better understand the abilities and limitations in meeting the organisational goals. Therefore, it is recommendable that Better Health Foundation conducts need analysis among the employees to inform the need and skills to be transferred during their staff training and development sessions. The study also establishes that most of the staff trainings done at Better Health Foundation are facilitated by internal trainers. According to Curado and Susana (2014), staff training facilitated by internal trainers may not always be effective since the employees are likely to feel they have the same capacity with the trainer thus not take seriously the lessons delivered. Therefore, it is recommendable that Better Health Foundation makes use of external trainers as well. Finally, the study established that staff training is very effective at promoting employee productivity. Therefore, we would recommend that Better Health Foundation continue offering staff training is order to help employees realise their full potential.

6.2 Performance Appraisal and Employee Productivity

The second objective of this study was to explore the role played by performance appraisal in promoting staff performance at Better Health Foundation. The study found out that the organisation uses various types of performance appraisal including rating system, grading method BARS system, performance-based point allocation, and report-making systems. Of the five, the study established that Better Health Foundation commonly makes use of the rating system. The study also established that most of the employees at Better Health Foundation find ratters different, which implies that rating system is inconsistent among ratters. Among the errors associated with the rating method are the ratter’s personal biases, attitudes, values and prejudices. For increase the accuracy of the rating system, it is recommendable that Better Health Foundation makes use of various persons in the rating or also considers results from other appraisal systems. Additionally, we could recommend that Better Health Foundation makes use of external ratters who do not have an existing relationship with the employees. The study also establishes that the major reason performance appraisal is conducted at Better Health Foundation is to promote employee followed by to motivate employees. According to Longenecker, Fink and Caldwell (2014), an effective rating system goes beyond rewarding employees to evaluating their ability to attain the set goals, which implies that a performance appraisal system should check if employees are capable of attaining the set goals and equip them with necessary skills. It is therefore recommendable that Better Health Foundation organises training sessions after performance appraisals to empower their employees attain organisational goals.

The study also established there is a positive relationship between performance appraisal and employee productivity. The employees at Better Health Foundation are positive that performance appraisal helps improve employee productivity. Therefore, it is recommendable that Better Health Foundation continues appraising its employees using the fairest systems.

6.3 The Relationship between Staff Training and Performance Appraisal

This was the last objective of the study. The study results indicate that promotion majorly follows performance appraisal at Better Health Foundation. This implies that the major reason the organisation conducts performance appraisal is to identify employees that qualify for promotion and other rewards. This is contrary to other studies that conclude that performance appraisal should be used to evaluate employees with an aim of identifying a gap in skills. Thus, staff training should follow performance appraisal so that employees are equipped with the necessary skills. Hence, it is recommendable that Better Health Foundation start conducting performance appraisals with an aim of identifying skills gaps that training should bridge.

6.4 Costed Action Plan

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