Performance appraisal training of employees: A strategy to enhance employees’ performance in public teacher training colleges in Kenya

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INTRODUCTION
Human resource (HR) is considered to be significant and a critical area of management especially over the last few years.The effect of HR practices on employees" performance has attracted considerable attention globally in the past 25 years (Mohammad et al., 2017).In organizations which implement these HR practices, employees feel secure and comfortable which in turn enhances the level of employees" job performance (Nadarajah et al., 2012;Saleem and Khurshid, 2014).Human resource practices like training have been linked to almost all managerial functions.Implementation of these HR practices helps to maximize the competences of employees (Saleem and Khurshid, 2014).Training efforts seek to improve knowledge, skills, attitudes, or behaviour (Bell et al., 2017).
Organizations have utilized training to introduce new management skills such as employees" performance appraisal (PA) which is the systematic evaluation of the performance of employees to understand the abilities of a person for further growth and development (GoK, 2012).In the Education sector in Kenya, performance appraisal management reforms were introduced in Primary Teacher Training Colleges (PTTCs) in 2008 through the Ministry of Education, Education Strategic Plan (2008-2012).PTTCs are under the Directorate of Basic Education responsible for coordination and management of programmes and activities in the Early Childhood Development, Primary Education and Teachers Training Colleges for P1 where they supervise the management and service provision in the institutions.One aspect of the plan was to achieve optimal utilization of human resource in PTTCs by introducing a Performance Appraisal Training for their staff.The purpose of PA training in PTTCs was to review and improve teaching standards in basic education training through a systemic appraisal approach, with a view of evaluating tutor"s performance and promoting professional development.
To achieve this, PA is guided by various objectives; these include: to provide quality education to trainees in all public institutions, to give tutors opportunity to improve on their performance competencies, to analyse tutor"s performance gaps and provide support for professional development and to maintain cumulative records of teaching and learning performance for decision making.
Adoption and effective utilization of new or improved management innovations like employees" PA requires enabling HR practices like training to create awareness and clarify expectations (Singh and Kassa, 2016).In this Miriti et al. 11 regard, the PA training strategy is effective in providing awareness to senior managers and the training objectives should be linked to organizational strategic objectives (Kelli et al., 2015).Effective PA training culminates in senior managers creating training tools which involve designing the process, training employees on how to use the tools, training managers on how to provide feedback and set performance goals (Sujith, 2019).This should be done while adhering to legal guidelines, distributing resources and instructions as well as monitoring the whole process.Comprehensive PA training enables organizations to validate that employees have the right skills and knowledge to complete job tasks and produce quality products and services.Performance appraisal training activities designed to support an effective PA process involve establishing an on-going communication process between employees and managers.It helps in increasing the performance of employees both at individual and organizational level (Al-Mzary et al., 2015;Okechukwu, 2017).Researchers (Afsana et al., 2016;Singh, 2016) have found positive relationship between training and employees" job performance.However, most of these studies have been conducted in industrial organizational settings (Khan et al., 2016;Tahir et al., 2014) while less attention has been given to such relationships in the higher education sector (Al-Mzary et al., 2015).An effective PA process aids management in decisionmaking processes associated with promotion, discipline and salary administration activities.Dealing with performance problems promptly avoids long-term problems, including legal liabilities.Improved employees" performance reduces costly mistakes, increases productivity and motivates personnel to achieve strategic goals (Ikramullah et al., 2016).Top-down training strategy has been shown to be more effective by providing awareness training first to senior managers and teambuilding training later.It has been previously noted that a single training will not change employees" behaviour (Kelli et al. 2015).Therefore, it is vital that managers be aware of the possible bias among associates and conduct training on a continuous basis.Organizations should therefore perform training needs assessment and design the training programmes accordingly.In this regard, Roberson et al. (2003) suggested that when dealing with diverse workforce, human resources managers should carefully perform training needs assessment and offer training programmes which aid attainment of organizational goals.Performance appraisal also offers an opportunity for a supervisor and a *Corresponding author.E-mail: justine.majau@gmail.com.
Author(s) agree that this article remain permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License subordinate to recognize and agree upon individual training needs.Performance appraisal training should encourage employees to engage in career development in order take on more complex roles.Too often, it appears this fundamental view of staff development is unheeded or forgotten.The focus of development tends to be primarily on an organization"s future, manpower requirements and not on the growth needs of individuals in the workplace (Sujith, 2019).Staff development is considered a joint and collaborative effort of the organization and the employees to enrich employees" attitudes, experiences, knowledge, skills and abilities to improve their effectiveness (Noe et al., 2003).
Results of the empirical studies conducted by Hafeez and Akbar (2015), and Falola et al. (2014) demonstrated that PA training has a positive effect on employees" performance.Lim and Ling (2012) argued that when organizations follow the best PA processes, employees feel that the organization is committed to providing equal opportunities, which creates satisfaction amongst employees.Similarly, when organizations provide PA training opportunities, employees feel that the organization cares about their career development, which creates job satisfaction.Despite the global changes in HR practices, some organisations still do not have clearly defined training plans and policies.Although several studies have been done in human resource management, gaps still exist on the relationship of PA training and employees" performance, especially how this relates to employees" performance in academic institutions especially in the developing countries (Ongalo and Tari, 2015;Kamoche et al., 2004).In addition, literature on PA training is sketchy in the East African region, regardless of the effort put towards employee training (Afshan et al., 2012;Debrah and Ofori, 2006).In view of the above, the present study assessed the relationship between PA training practices and employees" performance in public teacher training colleges in Kenya.

METHODOLOGY
Stratified random sampling was used to select a sample of 330 respondents from a target population of 1881 employees.A crosssectional survey approach was used in which data were collected from 282 employees, comprising 185 appraisees and 97 appraisers in all the 27 Public Teacher Training Colleges in Kenya.To avoid the common method bias problem, two different questionnaires and interview schedules were developed and respondents (appraisers and appraisees) were asked to respond to a set of open and closed ended, and Likert scale questions.Positive and negative phrasing of questions was used to avoid tutors answering similarly to every question (de Winter and Dodou, 2010).To ensure validity and reliability, the questionnaires were verified and a pilot study was conducted.Internal consistencies were computed during the pilot study using Cronbach"s Alpha co-efficient.The coefficients for the variables under study ranged from 0.764 to 0.814 and according to George and Mallery (2003) coefficients greater than α >0.7 are acceptable while α >0.8 are good.
A total of 330 questionnaires were distributed to appraisers and appraisees and 282 questionnaires were returned after completion and were used for data analysis.Data analyses were conducted using SPSS, version 20 (IBM SPSS Inc., New York, USA).Pearson"s Chi-square test (Table 1) and Welch's two-sample t test (Table 2) were used to determine the distribution of proportions of independent variables among the appraisers and appraisees.Differences in appraisers and appraisees" responses were considered significant if the P-value was ≤0.05.Responses to questions structured as Likert scales were assigned a number between 1 and 5 (Boynton and Greenhalgh, 2004), to enable calculation of mean scores and their standard deviations, and subsequent statistical comparison of appraisers and appraisees responses.A hypothesis was formulated to establish the relationship between performance appraisal training and employees" performance in Public Teacher Training Colleges in Kenya.A regression model was used to test the hypothesis and an ANOVA was used to test the significance of the model (Tables 3  and 4).The conceptual framework is illustrated in Figure 1.

Aspects of employees' PA training in public teacher training colleges in Kenya
Based on the analysis, all employees had attended PA trainings in PTTCs (P=0.001).In addition, frequency of PA training varied in various colleges where appraisees preferred the quarterly appraisals trainings (P=0.0054)but appraisers preferred the appraisal trainings conducted twice a year (P=0.0025).Personal request (P=0.0086) was the basic selection criterion considered for appraisers to attend PA training whereas for appraisees the management considered individual qualification (P=0.0011).Moreover, PA training did not address employees" needs (P=0.0317).The PA training programme among appraisers mainly focussed on corruption prevention and service delivery (P=0.0031;P=0.0232 respectively); whereas for appraisees it focussed on conflict resolutions (P=0.0299).Appraisers found it necessary to undertake other courses apart from PA training conducted in PTTCs as compared to appraisees (P=0.0241).The extra courses besides PA training were purposed for enhancing employee"s personal development as opposed to PA training competency (P=0.0002).Appraisers opined that the relevance of PA training on employee"s personal development was not relevant at all (P=0.013);although    an equal number of them was not sure (P=0.0138) the appraisees opined that it was ineffective (P=0.0055).The other parameters like awareness, facilitation of regular training of employees and availability of a training programme as well as employees" drive to undertake PA training were not significant (Table 1).

Role of PA training on employees' performance in the PTTCs
Results indicate that majority (83.3%; 73.4%) of the appraisers and appraisees "agreed" and "strongly agreed" that PA training should be provided to key employees in the college before and during implementation process; whereas 11.3 and 17.9% "disagreed" and "strongly disagreed".Similarly, 78.7% and 84% "agreed" and "strongly agreed" that once employees understand what is to be done to improve their organization, then they need to be given all the skills and resources necessary to accomplish their tasks; while 14.9 and 7.7% "disagreed" and "strongly disagreed".In addition, 82.3% and 83.7% appraisers and appraisees "agreed" and "strongly agreed" that empowerment training is more remedial and it is prepared for collaboration and higher level of performance; whereas 12.1 and 7.5% "disagreed" and "strongly disagreed".Moreover, 76.7% appraisers and 81.4% appraisees felt that training and development of any kind should have as its objective the redirection or improvement of behaviour so that the performance of the trainee becomes more useful and productive for himself and the organization; while 12.6% and 7.8%) "disagreed" and "strongly disagreed".Majority (75.3% and 74.9%) "agreed" and "strongly agreed" that lack of trained personnel, development, advancement in technology, faulty methods, prevention of accidents and need for career development were drivers for training; whereas 14.8% and 14% "disagreed" and "strongly disagreed".The opinion of the employees on the effect of PA training on employees" performance is presented in Figure 2.
More varied opinion exists on the role of performance appraisal training among appraisers and appraisees on employees" performance (Table 2).
There was no significant difference in the opinion of appraisers and appraisees on the role of PA training in employees" performance (P>0.05).First, they concurred that PA training was a necessity to employees in the college before and during implementation of PA.Secondly, PA training was regarded as crucial for employees who have understood its needs since they need skills and resources to accomplish the required improvement.Similarly, appraisers and appraisees agreed that, PA training should focus on employees" empowerment remedies, to prepare them for higher level performance.Lastly, the employees concurred that PA training was key in improving employees" behaviour to make them more productive.They also concurred that  PA training alone was not a remedy to lack of trained personnel, advancement of technology, prevention of accidents and career development.
Consensus opinion exists among appraisers and appraisees on whether PA training influences employees" performance and the extent of its influence (Table 3).
There was no significant difference existing among appraisers and appraisees on the influence of PA training on employees" performance (P=0.734).Similarly, both appraisers and appraisees agreed that the PA training influence on employees" performance was low (mean 2.28 and 2.42, respectively).Additionally, the extent PA training influenced employees" performance was not significant among appraisers and appraisees (P=0.056).
The results of the regression model revealed that only 0.1% variation in employees" performance could be explained by performance appraisal training.This suggests that performance appraisal training contributed about 0.1% of employee"s performance in public teacher training colleges in Kenya (Table 4).
The R column value (r = 0.034) depicts that the correlation between performance appraisal training and employees" performance is insignificant.The R-Square (R 2 = 0.001) indicates the amount of variability in employees" performance accounted for by performance appraisal training.
The ANOVA results of F=0.163 with 1 and 94 degrees of freedom and F were not significant.This implies that performance appraisal training does not affect employee"s performance in public teachers training colleges in Kenya (P=0.687>0.05),as shown in Table 5.
The regression coefficient revealed that a unit (1) increase in performance appraisal training leads to decrease in employees" performance by -0.011.The results also indicate that there was a negative and statistically insignificant relationship (P>0.05) between employees" performance and performance appraisal training (Table 6).
Coefficient of determination shows the predictor variable (performance appraisal training) contributes to the model.The equation provides information about the change in the value of the dependent variable corresponding to the unit change in the independent variable.The data indicate the constant (31.49) represents the y-intercept with a slope of -0.011.Given regression equation Y=α+βx1, this output could be shown as: Where, Y is the estimated value of the dependent variable, and X is the value of the independent variable.

Other ways staff training affects employees' performance in the college
When probed further, appraisers and appraisees felt that staff training in teacher training colleges was envisaged to raise employees" level of morale, help them to understand the purpose of the appraisal and respond positively to appraisal system.In addition, it enables employees to understand the benefit of appraisal and help them work hard by boosting level of performance of task and it improves social interaction and creativity among the employees.Lastly, it reveals the goals and the way forward/ intervention, and raises their self-esteem or positive change of attitude among the employees and thinking in performance of duty.
However, this is largely not achieved as employees indicated that they still remained demotivated, some were not able to set clear target, monitor their achievement and carry out set evaluation.Employees attributed this to selective staff training (where college trains friends, relatives, tribesmen/women, college clerks and cartels with no fruit of employees" performance).Those who are not given preference in training felt demoralized and therefore had negative attitude towards the appraisal system.Employees noted that the training programmes did not take into account the core business of the college which was to influence learner outcomes but focused on preparing employees for retirement, achievement of personal goals together with organizational goals.They recommended that the capacity building seminars outside the college should be fairly distributed so that any member of a department can attend and not the usual ""suspects"" only.

DISCUSSION
The present study determined that the PA training programmes in PTTCs in Kenya were not well developed and in some instances were not precisely executed.This is indicated by the diverse opinion of appraisers and appraisees regarding the attendance of the PA trainings despite largely being facilitated by the respective colleges.Although employees" performance appraisals were conducted in PTTCs on quarterly and annual basis as per the TPA system (www.tsc.go.ke), most PTTCs had adopted diverse short-term appraisal sessions to serve various college needs.Performance appraisal training guidelines were not developed in PTTCs as envisaged in the Code of Regulations for Teachers (TSC, 2015), hence various colleges had introduced a wide range of training schedules.The trainings were geared towards addressing the college and employee performance requirements.This resulted in conflicting information among appraisers and appraisees on the activities that were meant for training, internal evaluation and those that were conducted for management decision making as per the Teachers Service Commission Code of Regulations for Teachers.The quarterly PA training was more recognised by appraisees as compared to appraisers who recognised the PA trainings conducted twice a year.Cappelli and Conyon (2018) noted that increasingly, corporate organizations are phasing out transactional models of performance appraisal and about 70% of multinational firms were replacing their transactional appraisal model such as annual reviews with a summative appraisal model.
The present study suggests that although employees were trained on PA, the criteria for selection varied.Appraisers were trained upon their request while PA training for appraisees was based on their individual performance as evaluated and recommended by the appraisers.Moreover, the study revealed that PA training conducted in PTTCs did not address employee needs, but it mostly focussed on the institutional needs identified by management.Appraisers PA training in PTTCs mainly focussed on corruption prevention and service delivery while for appraisees it conflicts resolutions.This indicates lack of a well-designed employee PA training programme that is policy guided to address individual employee needs like personal development and the college management needs like enhanced employee performance.Takeuchi et al. (2007) noted that the possible reason for the absence of a training programme to support PA training and employee performance relationship might be that the relationship is contingent not on all but specific organizational factors or environmental factors.Similarly, in this regard, Holck et al. (2016) suggested that management in PTTCs should re-evaluate PA training programme and activities to effectively deal with new challenges and make effective use of diversity among employees.Furthermore, past studies have confirmed that effectively prepared and guided PA training programme enhances employees and organizational performance (Hye et al., 2015;Madera et al., 2016).
Although most employees had not enrolled in other performance related courses, the key drive for enrolment among employees in PTTCs was personal development related and not PA competency related.In addition, appraisers opined that the relevance of PA training on employees" personal development was not relevant at all and the appraisees described it as ineffective.This indicates that although employees were undertaking PA training, they felt that it was designed to address the performance needs of the PTTCs and not their personal development.There is negative relationship between PA training and employees" performance though insignificant.This is in agreement with the study by Chadwick et al. (2015) which indicated that HR practices can be destructive or helpful because failure or success of HR practices depends on some internal and external boundary conditions.In some contexts, some HR practices could be detrimental or have an insignificance role to enhanced performance.Data from the current study indicate that sole utilization of selected HR practices such asPA training could be a negative driver of employees" performance.This result solidifies the findings of the extant literature which includes among others Saleem andKhurshid (2014), andFalola et al. (2014).Performance appraisal training is found in the current study to have non-significant effect on employees" performance.This finding signifies that the findings of the extant literature on PA training-performance nexus are inconclusive.Ariely et al. (2009) indicated negative nexus between PA training and employees" performance.The introduction of the training programme in the organization should be characterized with high level of trust, sufficient information on accrued benefits and effective performance appraisals (Ismail et al., 2015a).

Conclusion
The current study determined that PA training does not influence employees" performance in PTTCs in Kenya.Performance appraisal training in PTTCs should be guided by an established policy framework to enhance clarification to employees on matters concerning frequency of training, criteria for selection of trainees and objectives for training among appraisers and appraisees.
Management in PTTCs should develop PA training programmes derived from the established framework carefully by considering the needs of each employee to realise the college needs.Performance appraisal training that is perceived to be biased in selection of trainees does not guarantee employees" personal development but focuses barely on PA competency and college need demotivates employees.Overall, the investigation regarding the relationship between PA trainings and employee performance reveals that PTTCs in Kenya lack well designed and properly implemented PA training programmes guided by PA policy framework which is a key factor to enhance employees" performance.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Performance appraisal training and evaluation criteria and its effect on employee performance.

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. Opinions of appraisers and appraisees on the role of performance appraisal training on employee Performance in public teacher training colleges in Kenya.

Table 1 .
Aspects of employee training and development in public teacher training colleges in Kenya.

Table 2 .
Sample t-test analysis on the role of PA training among appraisers and appraisees onemployee performance in public teacher Training Colleges in Kenya.

Table 3 .
Sample t-test analysis on whether performance appraisal training influences employee performance and its extent in public Teacher training colleges in Kenya

Table 4 .
Regression model summary for relationship between performance appraisal training and employee performancein Public Teacher Training Colleges in Kenya.
a. Predictors: (Constant), Employee training on performance appraisal.b.Dependent Variable: Employees performance.

Table 5 .
ANOVA for relationship between performance appraisal training and employee"s performance in public teacher training colleges in Kenya.
a. Dependent Variable: Employees performance.b .Predictors: (Constant), Employee training on performance appraisal.

Table 6 .
Regression coefficient for the relationship between performance appraisal training and employee"s performance in public teacher training colleges in Kenya.
a. Dependent Variable: Employees performance.
and development on employee"s performance and productivity, a case study of United Bank Limited Peshawar City, KPK, Pakistan.International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences 4(4).Takeuchi R, Lepak DP, Wang H, Takeuchi K (2007).An empirical examination of the mechanisms mediating between highperformance work systems and the performance of Japanese organizations.Journal of Applied Psychology 92(4):1069-1083.Training and development of any kind should have, as its objective the redirection or improvement of behavior so that the performance of the trainee becomes more useful and productive for himself and the organization which he is part of How else does staff training affect employees" performance in the College that is not mentioned above?