Training and Development, Employee Retention, and Employee Engagement in Banking sector of Sri Lanka

Impact of Training and Development on Employee Satisfaction and Performance

This chapter would deal with the results of the primary data collection as well as its analysis. It would form themes or hypotheses and analyze them to understand the link between the training and development, employee retention and employee engagement. It would also conduct a model testing for efficacy as well as present a summary of the results that was found through the analysis of the data.

The training and development opportunities that are provided to the employees generally communicates to the employees that the contribution of the employees is valued by the organization. According to Chaudhry et al., (2017), training and development is directly linked with the performance of the employees as well as that of the organization. On the other hand, the training and development is also associated with accruing value for the association of the employees with their roles and responsibilities of the job as well as satisfaction. The training and development lead to improved development and cultivation of new skills and abilities of the employees that positively generates employee job satisfaction as acquiring new skills makes dispensing the duties and responsibilities of the office much easier. This positively influences the employee engagement within the organizational framework. The notion of the engagement can also be regarded for higher valuation and regard for the support and services that are offered by the organization to their employees.

As stated by Afroz (2018), engagement of the employees of the banking sector also influences the intentions of the employees to continue. It means that the intentions of the employees to stay with the banking institution in Sri Lanka would be positively influenced by the employee engagement. Therefore, the banking institutions of the country would also be able to retain their skilled employees. According to Fallatah and Syed (2018), the fourth and fifth stages of the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs dictates esteem and self-actualization as the basic needs.

The training and development propagate the self-actualization ability of the employees as well as improve opportunities of esteem within the organizational framework. It should also be stated in this regard that the training and development opportunities at the disposal of the employees of the banking sector also helps in the upskilling and it enables the employees of the banking sector to garner more respect and achieve the desired professional goals. Hence, the employee engagement is indirectly influenced positively by the training and development and fosters employee retention in the process. 

Role of Training in Achieving Organizational Objectives

The training and development opportunities that are offered by the business organisations to their employees equipped with the necessary skills and abilities to dispense the responsibilities of the office effectively. According to Okechukwu (2017), the quality of the training and development opportunities that are available at the disposal of the employees positively influences the performance of the employees. It is also impactful for the overall performance of the business organisation as well. The banking industry is highly reliant on interpersonal skills and qualities as well as a decisive decision-making process to achieve organisational objectives. Therefore, a plethora of skills and abilities are necessary to be at the disposal of the employees to directly communicate and engage with the customers for effective customer satisfaction as well as employee satisfaction. As stated by Papa et al., (2018), the continuous change in the industry trends as well as shift in preferences of the customers also requires new skills to be developed and utilised by the employees of a business organisation. Therefore, the training and development opportunities that are offered by the business organisation make sure that the work force always have the necessary and required skills for performing to the best of their ability.

This is also responsible for generating employee satisfaction while improving the employee performance. It is inherently believed that a better performing employee will continue to serve their business organisation for a longer period. Hence, the training and development opportunities that are offered to the employees of the banking sectors in Sri Lanka will lead to better performance of the employees in their job roles as well as generation of job satisfaction that has a positive influence on the employee retention. According to Arasanmi and Krishna (2019), the availability of the training and development support that are offered by the business organisation is also perceived as organisational commitment for the individual development of the employees which positively influences job satisfaction and employee retention. Therefore, it can be stated that there is a positive relationship between the training and development opportunities, employee performance and employee retention for the banking sectors in Sri Lanka.

Training and development opportunities that are utilized by the employees of a business organisation is not only impactful for the acquisition of the requisite skills and abilities in the workforce but is also responsible for communicating broader context of commitment to the employees by the organisation. According to Kundu and Lata (2017), training and development system within an organisation serves as a support a work environment for employee retention as well as plays a mediating role for organisational engagement. The priority of the banking sector of Sri Lanka oestrogen rate employee satisfaction and job satisfaction for their employees to retain the top talents of the industry within the organisational framework. The personal aspirations and growth trajectory of individual employees of the banking sector may not be aligned with the organisational objectives and the training facilities that are provided to the employees may not be as effective. It would lead to ambiguous instructions being followed as well as curtail the ability of their employees to perform their jobs efficiently.

Influence of Employee Engagement on Job Retention

As stated by Cascio (2019), it is responsible for generating dissatisfaction among the employees as well as disengagement with the job roles due to the lack of association between the training particulars and the actual applicability of skills being utilised in the day-to-day activities of the organisation. It is also known that there is a rising value being given to the learning opportunities as well as developmental directions that are provided by business organizations for future opportunities (Sahar and Siddiqui, 2019). Thus, the value attributed to training and development opportunities offered by business organizations rises further to generate employee satisfaction, job engagement and others that have crucial roles to play in employee retention. Therefore, the quality of the employee training and development opportunities positively communicates the learning opportunities as well as fulfillment of the personal aspirations through it soon. Hence, there is a direct link between the quality of the employee training and development and employee retention in the banking sector of Sri Lanka. 

Osborne and Hammoud (2017) clearly stated that training and development improves employee engagement by influencing multiple factors of satisfaction and engagement. Survey also strongly agrees with this argument. In accordance with the ISA Engagement Scale, the engagement of the employee has three dimensions which are intellectual, social, and affective (Phuangthuean et al., 2018). The survey results also indicate 18 participants (38 %) agrees and 16 respondents (34 %) strongly agrees that they maintain the same values of work as their colleagues. This indicates that the engagement of the employees is comparatively higher in the banking sector of Sri Lanka.

On the other hand, 23 participants (49 %) agrees that they are enthusiastic to work in the company along with 12 respondents (26 %) strongly agreeing with the same. This indicates a strong engagement of the employees with their work as they are energetic and enthusiastic towards their jobs. 
 
The attention that is given by the employees to their work is also linked with the employee engagement. The survey results show that 13 respondents (28 %) strongly agrees that the employees of the banking sector of Sri Lanka pays a lot of attention to their work which is also agreed upon by 23 other respondents (49 %). It also shows that there is a positive work environment in the banking sector of the country in which the employees feel free to work and engage with their responsibilities.