The relationship between the quality of employee training and development on service delivery: a case study of buffalo city municipality, Eastern Cape.

Abstract

Service delivery, by local municipal authorities, has proved to be a significant problem. One of the main problems affecting the efficient provision of basic services by municipalities has proven to be the poor performance of municipal employees. Municipalities are faced with the problem of how best to improve the provision of basic services within their communities. One way of improving the efficient and effective provision of basic services is through improved employee performance, which can be achieved through quality employee training and development programmes. This study seeks to investigate the relationship between the quality of employee training and development and service delivery in the Buffalo City Municipality. Thus the perceptions and opinions of both employees and residents of Buffalo City Municipality were investigated, in relation to service delivery issues and the quality and effect of training and development programmes on those who are employed by the Buffalo City Municipality. Using a quantitative design, structured questionnaires were distributed to a sample of respondents, which was comprised of residents and employees of Buffalo City Municipality. Stratified random sampling was used to select the sample through the organization of the population into homogenous subsets. The data was subjected to a number of statistical analyses, including the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) tests, to determine the differences in perceptions of the groups under study. Findings from this study reveal that quality employee training and development leads to improved employee performance. This, in turn, leads to improvements in the provision of basic services to communities. The findings also indicate that residents have an important role to play in the efficient and effective provision of basic services by municipalities in their communities.