1.0 BACKGROUND/RATIONALE AND REASONS TO CONDUCT THIS STUDYThe early definition of training and development viewed it as a continuation of a subsyste

1.0 BACKGROUND/RATIONALE AND REASONS TO CONDUCT THIS STUDYThe early definition of training and development viewed it as a continuation of a subsystem that is predetermined to advance organizational efficiency by increasing routine and predictability of behaviour (Katz et al., 1978). Although this definition acknowledged that it improves organizational efficiency, the definition failed to mention the human capital that is trained. Training is the formal and structured modification of behaviour through learning which happens as a result of a planned experience. Development is improving individual achievement in a present role and preparing them for greater roles (Armstrong, 2006). Training and development can be referred to as a process of developing planned work-related knowledge and expertise in people for the motive of improving performance (Swanson & Holton, 2009). It can be seen from the definitions above that training and development should be planned with the purpose of improving employee performance to achieve organizational goals.

CIPD (2022) holds the view that employee performance is one of the most crucial outcomes in organizational life and management, a high performance shows individuals have done an outstanding job while a low performance suggests there is room for improvement. Shields (2016) argued against this point of view by stating that the importance of performance is not just about how high or low it is, but also how performance is measured, the person who measures it, and most importantly the purpose for which it is measured. Employee performance is important since human capital is seen as one of the most important parts of an organisation, hence the need to equip this paramount asset with effective training in order to enhance performance. The query here is if employee performance can be linked to training and development

Verlinden (2021) found in a study that 30% of workers in the United Kingdom (UK) have not received any form of training and development in the last five years and for those who have not been trained by their employers, the number is 11%. The question is if a high percentage of the study above work in the higher education sector or not. Although a number of studies have been carried out on employee training and development, there are still some gaps in the knowledge of crucial matters as to how much training and development takes place, who provides it, If the training is efficient, and if is a one cap fits all or tailored to the needs of employees. (Frazis et al., 2000)

Training and development not only benefit the organization but it also advantageous to the employees as it enhances their knowledge and understanding of the job. However, in the United Kingdom, there is little evidence of the impact of training and development on employee performance in the educational sector. The purpose of this study is to identify the impact and also the relationship between training and development and employee performance in the United Kingdom's higher education sector.

1.1 Research Aim:This study aims to examine the influence of training and development on employee performance and its implications in the UK higher education sector.

1.2 Research Objectives:To evaluate the impact of training and development on employee performance

To evaluate the relationship between training and development needs and employee performance

To recommend/propose solutions to improve employee performance through training and development in the UK education sector

1.3 Research Questions:What is the impact of training and development on employee performance?

What is the relationship between training and development needs and employee performance in the UK education sector?

How can employee performance be improved through training and development?

2.0 Literature Review:Theme 1: Training and development needs

A key factor in the drive to increase competitiveness among organisations is the growth of a positive training and development culture within the workplace (Schein ,1997). In a study of McDonalds, the evidence suggests that a little level of training and development of members of staff leads to high levels of turnover but the provision of sufficient and essential training shapes individual behaviour, employee productivity, employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction, and reduced staff turnover (Eaglen et al., 2000). This means the study found a positive relationship between training and development and the factors listed above. However, an example of web-based training, (Armstrong & Landers, 2018) explained that the program was found to be inefficient such that workplace safety performance is consistently poor before and after training was conducted. This shows that in this example, training had no relationship with workplace safety performance.

Academic staff training and development in British universities showed that the training done in the past three years was for new members of staff (Brown & Atkins, 1986). Although this research was done on higher education in the United Kingdom, it was done over 35 years ago. The question is if it is still relevant to the present-day dynamic workplace that has experienced many changes over the years. In a more recent study, where an evaluation of training and development was carried out (Robson & Mavin, 2014) hold the view that training programs can be effective if the skills learned are practiced and transferred to the workplace. However, there is a gap in the existing literature as there is little or no information on the effect of training and development on employee performance in the United Kingdom's higher education sector.

Theme 2: Antecedents of employee performance.

Employee performance is one of the major indicators of organizational success. Employee performance has become popular amongst scholars of management science, as it is important to both individuals and the organization, it contributes to the general process of organizational advancement in terms of productivity and efficiency (Abualoush et al., 2018). Authors have found different antecedents of employee performance. Employee relationship with the leader may lessen the negative behaviour of the employee and lead to an increase in employee performance, which eventually removes the barriers to achieving organizational objectives (Islam et al., 2020). However, this point of view does not consider employees emotions, (Meyer et al., 2002) argued that a leader that influences subordinates emotions is essential in developing quality relationships with them which will benefit the organization by increasing employee performance. Diamantidis & Chatzoglou (2019) hold the view that the factors that affect employee performance can be classified under three major factors which are organization/environmental-related factors and includes leadership, organizational trust, and human capital investment. Job-related factors such as job autonomy, communication, and job conditions. Employee-related factors such as turnover and absenteeism. All these factors may be found to be positively or negatively related to employee performance depending on the circumstances.

In todays dynamic workplace, where organisations that aim to compete globally are placing more emphasis on the training and development of staff to improve staff performance and that is the reason there has been an increase in the amount invested in the training and development of different sectors of the economy in the United Kingdom. A study (Belitski et al., 2019) found that training expenditure in the computer and electronic industry is higher by 45-53%. This is not to say that the percentage is the same in the education industry, the query here is if there is also an increase in the training expenditure in the education sector. Jain & Sharma (2019) examined the impact of training and development on employee performance in the retail sector and found that training and development increase employee performance and gives the organization an edge over competitors. However, to date, there is little literature on the impact of training and development needs on employee performance specifically in the UK higher educational sector

Theme 3: Theoretical Background

Vrooms expectancy theory also known as Vrooms theory for work and motivation was hypothesized during the golden age of motivation theories in the 1960s. It is an important framework that will guide this study to understand the relationship between training and development needs and employee performance. Vroom argued that the connection between peoples behaviour at work and their goals is not as simple as it was perceived by some writers (Miner, 2005). This theory suggests that an employees behaviour which influences performance is based upon the belief (expectation), that a specific act will yield a desired reward (valence) once the act is finished (instrumentality). Vroom expressed this theory of motivation as a mathematical formula: Motivation = Valence x Expectancy x Instrumentality (McGrath & Bates,2017).

Training and development needs are associated with expectancy and according to Vrooms expectancy theory, it refers to a persons belief that working hard will result in a desired level of task performance. Hardworking employees are seen as assets to the organisation and they tend to be enlisted for training and development programs which are a reward (instrumentality) that will ensure the achievement of valence such as the certificate or qualification issued after a training program is completed. (Hiriyappa, 2009). Based on this argument, this study claims that training and development can be an added motivation that will enhance performance. Although the theory was criticized based on the fact that the model and the components are abstract and may not be adequately measured (Van Eerde & Thierry, 1996) present-day researchers still find the theory relevant to todays workplace. There exist some debates about this theory, and whether the model can logically predict workplace motivation and behaviour. Despite these debates, the theory laboriously impacts modern-day thinking on motivation. Training and development are the factors that can motivate employees and this can impact their performance.

Theme 4: Implications to Human Resources

The implication of Vrooms expectancy theory to human resources is that human resource managers need to find out the training and development courses that motivate employees while planning performance management since the theory explained that an employees performance is based on individual factors such as skills, abilities, experience, and personality. The training and development of employees should be tailored to individual needs which might be different due to their job role. CIPD (2022a) suggested that organisations should focus their efforts on investing significant work and growth opportunities in employees as part of human capital management. This can be done by planning such programs with employees rather than offering a blanket approach to them all. Torrington et al., (2017) argued that a badly executed scheme such as coaching and mentoring or training and development is worse than no action at all. Hence, the more an employee values an outcome, the more motivated they will be to achieve it.

Human Resources needs to ensure that none of the three factors or variables is ignored since they are necessary to achieve the connection between efforts, motivation, and performance. If any of the three factors is zero, the overall score will be zero which means employees will not have any form of motivation to work which will be equal to a zero level of performance (McGrath & Bates,2017). According to the theory, the employee must believe the task is achievable, Hence, employees should not be forced into training programs, they should be interested in it. This leads to the need for Human resource managers to communicate effectively with employees, and ascertain their training and development needs which will contribute positively to the development of the organisation and growth in the career paths of the employees. CIPD (2022b) refers to this involvement as employee voice, which can help improve the efficacy and performance of an organisation.

3.0 Methodology

The epistemological stand for this research is interpretivism, which is a qualitative approach that supports beliefs and opinions. This point of view is fundamentally concerned with understanding human behaviour. To better understand it (Bell et al., 2022) explained that interpretivism is the subject matter of social sciences, and the approach reasons that reality is constituted by human action rather than existing objectively and externally. Therefore, conclusions will be derived from a subjective approach which gives room for the researcher to accommodate human feelings and emotions. This research will therefore take into account the multiple and varied perceptions of what may be real since reality is a concept that one may not be able to measure every time.

3.1 Research design and reasonsThe reason why a qualitative approach was chosen for this study is due to the benefits, semi-structured interviews enable the interviewer to have a casual conversation with the participants. According to (Brinkmann & Kvale, 2018) The purpose of the semi-structured interview is to collect descriptions of the life-world of the interviewee with regards to the interpretation of the meaning of the described phenomena. While supporting the view above (King et al., 2019) explained that a qualitative interview enables one to see the research topic from the perspective of the participants and understand the reason they have their peculiar perspective. Although (Knudsen & Tsoukas, 2013) argued that one of the problems with finding out the best approach is that business and management researchers do not agree about one best philosophy.

This subjective approach was chosen in order to provide an adequate framework for data collection and analysis. This was done because the researcher has chosen the best approach to answer the research questions listed at the beginning of this proposal, (Saunders et al., 2016) believe that this philosophy embraces the different interpretations as humans and their social worlds cannot be studied in the same way.

There are several reasons why this study is gathering information about the educational sector. This sector has made a huge economic contribution to the United Kingdom. Most especially universities which support many jobs. Furthermore, the united kingdoms higher education contributes more to the economy than primary and secondary. Hence the need to gather information about the training and development needs on employee performance in a lucrative tertiary education sector of the economy.

3.2 Sample and sample sizeThe sample size for this study will be 20 lecturers, including 5 senior lecturers from 5 different universities in South Yorkshire in the United Kingdom. Hence, the sample will come from universities which is the higher education sector since this research is about this particular sector. The participants will be full-time employees, the specific characteristic of the participants is their age range which is from 40 to 50 but their ethnicity will not be considered. This sampling will not be looking for statistical accuracy like the positivist where counting and measurement are done but for a representative group of subjects. This sample size was chosen to generate adequate data for this study. There are some misconceptions about the sample size in qualitative data, it is perceived that the numbers are unimportant. Sandelowski (1995) argued that sample size using this approach must be sufficient to generate quality data that will provide a rich understanding of the occurrence. Hence the need for the sample size chosen for this study.

3.3 Data CollectionOne-on-one semi-structured interviews will be conducted with lecturers from public sector universities. The data collection will be face-to-face, interviews. A face-to-face Interview gives the researcher the ability to read the body language of the participants, voice, and intonation which gives some extra information that can be added to the verbal answers the participant has given. (Opdenakker,2006). While supported by the view above, (Saunders et al., 2016) suggested many situations in which data collection using semi-structured interviews is advantageous, most especially in an explanatory study. Semi-structured interviews are used to understand the relationship between variables and it provides the opportunity to probe the answers given by interviewees and ask them to give more explanation about their responses.

Therefore, a face-to-face semi-structured interview will help this study to establish the relationship between training and development needs and employee performance.

The opportunity sampling method will be used for the collection of data, which means whoever is available will be interviewed.

3.4 Data AnalysisThe analysis of this study will be done using Thematic Analysis. According to (Braun & Clarke, 2006) it is a fundamental method for qualitative analysis. The basic purpose of this approach is to search for themes or patterns that occur across a series of interviews and identify them for further analysis This will be done by explaining the meaning that people give to various teams that emerge from the subject, (Gill & Johnson, 2010) hold the view that the analysis of qualitative data is a complex and cumbersome task while (Saunders et al., 2016) argued that the nature and flexibility of Thematic Analysis show that it is reasonably straightforward to use when compared to some other techniques.

3.5 Ethical IssuesEthical concerns should be prioritized when research involves human participants, most especially in a face-to-face interview. The level of ethical scrutiny that researchers are subjected to and the burden of responsibility has increased in recent years (Bell et al., 2018). Most universities and some organisations require researchers to obtain a formal research ethics committee approval prior to granting permission to commence the project (Saunders et al., 2016). Hence this study intends to observe all the ethical principles required to ensure successful completion.

The interviews are voluntary participation and data will be collected anonymously to prevent any form to harm to participants in terms of jeopardizing the security of participants' employment and this will ensure their privacy. Ethics committee approval will be obtained at each university before obtaining informed consent. Since this research will be conducted in the United Kingdom, it is important to follow the recommendations of (GOV.UK, 2018). Participants will be informed about the purpose of the research, and how data will be collected and managed. It will be clearly written in a language the participants can easily understand to minimize the possibility of undue influence or coercion. This will be done by printing out a well-informed consent form and obtaining it physically. Sensitive data will not be collected.

4.0 Research Plan

The research plan below was plotted on Microsoft Excel (See Appendix 1) for the full draft.

5.0 Research limitations

According to (Ross & Bibler Zaidi, 2019) research limitations represent the weaknesses within a research design that may impact the outcomes and conclusion of the study, and as an obligation to the academic community, a researcher is expected to honestly present the limitations of their study. This research was conducted only in the higher education sector and it cannot be generalized to primary and secondary education or other sectors of the economy. The sample size of this study is limited to 20 participants when compared to the population of the academic staff in each of the universities, hence the results cannot be generalized based on only 20 participants. The study was conducted in the United Kingdom; therefore, the results cannot be seen as the same for other countries. The participants involved in this study are only the academic members of staff of universities and the non-academic staff were not considered. 80% of the participants in this study are women and only 20% are men, therefore there is an unequal representation of gender. While most authors include the limitations of their study due to the requirement and necessity, (Theofanidis & Fountouki, 2018) argued that authors should publicly and significantly report their research limitations, assumptions, and delimitations. This will improve the quality of their findings and provide a clear interpretation of the evidence presented.

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