Impact of staff development programmes on productivity: The case of Tamale campus of University for Development Studies

Abstract

This study presents the importance of staff development programmes on productivity
among the staff of the University for Development Studies on the Tamale campus.
The Human Capital Theory was the tool adapted to serve as a theoretical
foundation for this study. A convenient sampling technique was employed in
selecting respondents for the study. Primary data was collected through the
administration of semi-structured questionnaires. The study population was senior
members and senior staff of the Tamale campus. Findings from the study show that
in-service training was the most predominant staff development programme among
respondents, while short courses were the least programme. On the relevance and
quality of the staff development programmes, the findings indicated that the
programmes were very relevant with no record of the programmes not being
relevant. Focusing on the quality of the staff development programmes, the majority
of the respondents indicated the programmes were very good in developing their
careers with a few of them indicating the quality of the programmes was on average.
Challenges faced by respondents in accessing staff development programmes
included infrequent training programmes; biases in the selection of applicants;
short notification of opportunities; short duration of programmes; inadequate
information on programmes; long application and selection process; inadequate
sponsorship; unskilled facilitators; and poor planning. Among the recorded
challenges, inadequate sponsorship was the major challenge while poor planning of
programmes constituted the least of the challenges. It was therefore recommended
that the University should establish a Fund or Scholarship Scheme to support staff
in the various development programmes since inadequate sponsorship was a major
challenge for respondents.