Answer

Introduction

Background of the Research

Any business whose objective is to prosper and survive in this contemporary regressed and diverse economy has found it important to invest in continuous development and training to better proficiencies in production and acquire the greatest ROI (return on investment) of human capital (Hallová et al., 2017). It is not to be doubted that organizations globally are striving to out compete their rivals and for success in their respective industries. To do so, organizations have to acquire and make the best and effective use of its human resources. In doing so, managers need to pay special attention upon all core functions of human resource management since the same plays a crucial role in various organizationally, economically, and socially related spheres, among others, that are influences to the realization of the organizational objectives (Detsimas et al., 2016).  With organizations encountering increased business rivalry as a result of technological changes, globalization, business knowledge growth, economic, and political environments, organizations are constantly getting prompted to train and educate their employees as a strategy to prepare them so that they can adjust to the above increase, and thus better their performance and productivity.  With the increase in business growth knowledge, organizations have the responsibility of enhancing their employees’ job performance and productivity, and without doubt implementation of development and training is among the main steps employed by companies to keep abreast the significant changes in the business landscape.

Employees are a vital resource in organizations’ journey towards success. Human resources are the organizations’ intellectual property (IP), proving to be good resources of establishing competitive advantage for organizations (Kabra, 2017). The only way through which such an important resource can be developed is through building the employees’ competencies. To succeed, organizations must acquire and make use of human resources effectively. Thus, organizations should design their human resources management systems in was fitting their organizations’ structures since that will help the organizations’ realize their objectives and goals. Similarly, it is vital for companies to help their employees obtain the needed skills and knowledge as that has the effect of bettering employees’ commitment. Managers should, therefore, make sure their organizations are well supplied with employees who are socially and technically capable and competent of career development into management positions and specialist departments.

Purpose of the Research

The purpose of this study was to find out the reason behind the termination of business contracts by your clients with your organization and why your organization’s future business dealings with your clients are unpromising. Following what I observed and experienced with your employees in the past months, I noted that there was poor and ineffective communication between your organization and your clients, resulting from the poor or incorrect use of modern techniques and tools by your employees to reach out to your clients. Detsimas et al. (2016) reasons that having credentials by an employee and demonstration of professional skills and knowledge are not sufficient for employees’ production, efficiency, and commitment to their work. There is a need for regular education and retraining to help them update their skills and knowledge to match what is required in the market by clients and other stakeholders. Attracting the best talents and retraining them for a long period of time is quite instrumental for business establishments since it enhances consistency, productivity, and maintenance of organizational cultures (Hallová et al., 2017). Similarly, workplace education is valuable to employees for their growth and success and for boosting the growth and success of our organization (Liu et al., 2020). By creating suitable education and retraining opportunities, business organizations can make sure that they possess the upgraded skills, knowledge, competencies, and capabilities to highlight their creative and innovative side while working for the entity.

Methodology

The qualitative research methodology was employed for this study. The qualitative research design assisted me obtaining the insights regarding the phenomenon under investigation since it is flexible, helping in identifying the missing part of the study as supported by Adil and Khan (2020). The research design was also relevant to this study since it would help me discover various issues associated with the exit of clients and why the employees were exhibiting low morale, productivity, and were not effectively attending to their clients as they should (Detsimas et al., 2016). Thus, I was able to have access to a huge bank of information regarding the various dynamics associated with the research question.

Various data collection techniques were employed to gather both secondary and primary data. The secondary data were gathered from journal articles, textbooks, political commentaries, dissertations, newspaper editorials, and literatures that discuss, analyze or comment on employees’ workplace performance with regard to their knowledge and skills sets. For purposes of ethical consideration, information from the sources were not copy pasted and the authors of the articles were duly acknowledged, and anonymity principle was upheld as stated by Hallová et al. (2017). 

For primary data, I heavily depended on virtual online interviews (via zoom, Google Meets, or Skype) and non-virtual interviews via audio-calls. Owing to the risks associated with the current global Corona virus pandemic, I conducted interviews remotely using Zoom, Google Meets, and Skype or using email, depending upon written responses. I sent out a survey via email for all the respondents who accepted to participate in the study. The respondents’ participation in the study was basically on voluntary terms. Alongside questionnaire (See appendix A) that I sent was the consent form that the respondents needed to sign, affirming their acceptance to participate in the study. Before their participation in the study, I also asked them if they would accept a virtual interview with them and assured them confidentiality of the information they would provide since I told them that the transcribed information would be anonymous, hiding their individual identities (Adil & Khan, 2020). Other that interviews, I also sought for information contained in recorded oral histories and speeches by your employees on their workplace and how they think the same can be bettered. I also gleaned more knowledge and information from government documents, research reports, and statistical data. Before obtaining information through the above sources, permission was sought from the respective authorities as spelt out by Liu et al. (2020).

Findings and Discussion

Survey of Employees’ Feelings towards their Organization

Various online libraries and government websites were effectively combed to gather all secondary information relevant to this study. Regarding primary data, fifteen of your employees were interviewed concerning their views about education or retraining of employees in the workplace with regard to their performance and motivation towards your organization’s success. Table 1 below shows a summary of the survey’s findings.

Table 1: Survey of employees’ feelings about their organization

Employee’s Education or Training

From the above table, it can be seen that averagely, employees are dissatisfied with a variety of things regarding the work in the company. During the interview sessions, an interviewee stated that “I would leave this organization immediately should I get an offer elsewhere,” reasoning that they “get poorly remunerated yet are required to work effectively and for long hours with no provisions of lunch breaks.” Another respondent said that they “have to gamble most of the times to deliver even on things that require the use of modern technologies and tools which we do not have.” Due to the way they are treated, the employees have a feeling that they are not valued since there are no offers for their career and professional developments despite significant changes in the market and technology. Additionally, some respondents indicated that instead of being trained the new skills and being empowered to acquire modern knowledge of how they do their work, sometimes the organization hires or subcontracts companies or individuals to do such jobs. “I remember that one of us had to leave us because she could not be allowed an unpaid leave for a period of time as she undertook a one year course that was really demanding.” A good proportion also indicated that they were not provided with the necessary equipment and tool to enable them perform their duties. When asked whether they had voiced their concerns to the management, seven affirmed, six were unaware, while two said “No.”  Among the individuals who affirmed that they had voiced their concerns to the management said that they had been given several unfulfilled promises, eventually demoralizing them (Paposa & Kumar, 2019). Despite “our requests for modern equipment and tools,” the respondents indicated, “we have often produced substandard goods and delivered the same to our clients, generating controversies with regard to our products’ quality.”

According to Liu et al. (2020), employee education and retraining shows that employers need to lay emphasis on the skills of the workers so that the employees can effectively contribute within their organizational setting. The prevailing organizational landscape is highly dynamic in nature. To operate in such an ever-changing work setting, employees need to possess the requisite set of skills and competencies so that they can effectively contribute to the work setting. A broad range of research have indicated that educating and retraining of employees acts as a long-term investment for an organization which constructively influences their performance and contribution. Additionally, by creating suitable education and retraining opportunities, business organizations can make sure that they possess the upgraded skills, knowledge, competencies, and capabilities to highlight their creative and innovative side while working for the entity (Hallová et al., 2017).

Management Impact on Educating and Retraining

During the interview sessions, the respondents were asked what they feel should be done to better their individual and organizational performance and productivity, some stated that they “need better remuneration, training and career development opportunities, and humane working conditions,” while other said they would appreciate if their organization “acquired new equipment and tools, trained us on how to use modern technologies, and sought for ways of bettering our satisfying our employees’ needs through better salaries, recognition, and motivation.”

According to Patel et al. (2017), the existing organizational climate is highly competitive and unpredictable in nature, giving rise to a broad range of challenges as well as complexities for employees. In such a situation, an organization could extend support and assistance to their workforce by taking care of their learning and training needs. According to Kabra (2017), employers should assess present situation within work settings to enable them locate bottlenecks that could hamper the training and educational initiative. For instance, poor support from supervisors or lack of proper communication could act as a major obstacle that could defeat the very purpose of the retraining or educational initiative. To avoid such challenges, employers need to locate barriers and enablers to training so that effective training initiatives can be introduced that can extend comprehensive support to the organizational personnel and positively influence employees’ performance within an organizational context (Paposa & Kumar, 2019). In addition, one of the key factors that lead to change in the prevailing organizational setting is the adoption of new kinds of technology (Adil & Khan, 2020). Technology gives rise to a plethora of opportunities for organizations to adapt and make a mark for themselves (Patel et al., 2017). However, this is only possible if the employees can adapt to the evolving technological landscape.

Impact of Job Satisfaction and Development on Employee Performance

The respondents were also asked what they considered a motivation for them to realize their individual goals and organizational objectives. Among the motivational factors that were identified by most of the interviewees are better salaries, recognition, better workplace conditions and atmosphere, opportunities for growth and development of employees, and good terms of references for employees. When asked how they feel their low motivation was associated with the clients’ exit, they stated that since their organization was adamant to acquire modern equipment and training them on how to use the same, their individual and/or corporate performance and productivity were negatively affected, causing them to deliver lower quality products than what is available in the market currently. Similarly, while the organization was adamant to acquire modern technologies, tools, and equipment, it sometimes hired individuals or groups to accomplish what “we would comfortably do with sufficient training, offering them better terms of engagement.”

Detsimas et al. (2016) posit that the failure or success of modern business establishments relies upon the quality of the organizations’ human resources, noting that highly developed and well trained employees are regarded as the corner stones for such success. As such, there is a need to ensure that employees are well trained and reasonably motivated by all means to give their best in terms of productivity and performance. Paposa and Kumar (2019) advance that employees’ satisfaction results in lower turnover, higher productivity, increased profits, and employees’ loyalty to their company. Similarly, Patel et al. (2017) point that employee education and training has the effect of increasing employees’ job satisfaction and morale, motivation, efficiencies in processes (resulting in monetary gains to an organization), ability to adopt new methods and technologies, innovativeness in products and strategies, and enhanced company image and better risk management techniques.

According to Kabra (2017), integration, training and development practices in work settings creates a solution where the employees and employers benefit mutually. As training and education opportunities enable workers to upgrade their skills and capabilities, their level of satisfaction in the work setting increases. Furthermore, integration, training, and development practices help create a learning environment throughout an organization that positively influences the overall performance of the personnel (Paposa & Kumar, 2019). Having occupational fulfillment can be demonstrated by work conducts or behaviours. Additionally, by creating suitable education and retraining opportunities, business organizations can make sure that they possess the upgraded skills, knowledge, competencies, and capabilities to display their creative and innovative side while working for the entity. Education and retraining techniques need to be designed so that the employees can have lifelong learning which can enhance their perspective and contribute towards the success of the organization (Liu et al., 2020).

Conclusion

To this end, literature and survey have shed light on the importance of retraining and education approaches in the work context. Most of the researchers have stated that in the ever-changing and dynamic work setting, organizations need to make sure that proper training learning and development opportunities are created for the organizational personnel so that they are able to strengthen their skills and capabilities. While designing the retraining and educational initiatives, it is necessary to consider the enablers and drivers that exist in the work setting so that effective initiatives and approaches can be introduced that can create value for the employees as well as for the entire organization. The result of this survey shows there is a need to really consider several of factors while hiring new employees to or organization. Similarly, having regular training sessions and reasonable motivational factors for the employees have significant effects in influencing the performance and productivity of employees, hence increased profits. Thus, while any other strategy can work for your organization, I strongly recommend to you the two mentioned options.

Recommendations

Based on the result from the survey, I hold the view that the following recommendations will help reduce the termination of your business contracts with your clients:

1. Provide regular training and development opportunities to your employees. This will bolster their confidence in employing modern technologies and equipment competitively and also enable them develop professionally.
2. Improve morals, terms of employee engagement, and job satisfaction of your employees since the employees are losing their assurance and inspiration when they cannot perform as per their necessities and desires.