IMPACT OF TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT ON BUSINESS PERFORMANCE: WITH REFERENCE TO SMEs IN GAMPAHA DISTRICT

W.A.S. Weerakkody; A.N. Ediriweera

Authors

W.A.S. Weerakkody Department of Human Resource Management Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies,University of Kelaniya
A.N. Ediriweera Department of Human Resource Management Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies,University of Kelaniya

Abstract

To remain competitive and for survival of Small and Medium Businesses (SME) it is suggested to gain higher and broader skills and competencies. In order to achieve this purpose, it is necessary to use training and development as a function of Human Resource management. In Sri Lankan context, there is a need to investigate that how does training and development affect on business performance of SMEs. Therefore the objective of this study is to identify the impact of Training and Development on Business Performance. The independent variable was Training and Development and dependent variable was Business Performance. Intervening variable was competencies of employees working in SMEs. The validity and the reliability of the instruments were tested against the survey data. The type of this study is hypothesis testing and it was conducted in the natural setting with less interference of the researchers (non-contrived). The study is a crosssectional in time and the primary data were collected by using convenient, judgmental and quota sampling methods and sample size was 200 managers working in SMEs located at Gampaha district. The unit of analysis was at organizational level. A questionnaire developed by the researchers was used to collect the data for the study. To test the hypotheses, correlation analysis was performed. Findings of the study reveal that there is a positive relationship between training and development and competencies of employees. And another positive relationship is there between competencies of employees and business performance. And ultimately there is a positive relationship between training and development and business performance. Though there is a significant mediation effect comes from competencies of employees, it‘s not much strong. Based on that, it can be concluded unskilled employees who are recruited by SMEs enhance their competencies through on the job training. As a result of enhancing competencies, business performance is increased.

Key Words: Training and Development. Business Performance, Competencies, Small and Medium Businesses

For full paper: fmscresearch@sjp.ac.lk

Author Biographies

W.A.S. Weerakkody, Department of Human Resource Management Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies,University of Kelaniya

Department of Human Resource Management
Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies,University of Kelaniya

A.N. Ediriweera, Department of Human Resource Management Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies,University of Kelaniya