Significance of employee training in enhancing municipal employees’ performance: A case study of Bushbuckridge Local Municipality, under the Ehlanzeni District Municipality

Abstract

Most developing countries in the African continent have low literacy levels, with high leadership positions not based on academic merit as a basic requirement. Thus, municipalities continue to face challenges such as poor aptitude, a weak managerial system, and a lack of appropriate talent in planning and technical units. Due to policies such as the cadre deployment of the ruling party, the deployment of municipal councillors and employment of municipal officials with lower level of formal schooling nor possessing a National Senior Certificate. The Bushbuckridge Local Municipality is no exception as it was once placed under administration between the years 2013 and 2014, due to failures caused by its leadership and management which led to poor service delivery. Thus, the aim of this study is to determine the significance that employee training has in enhancing the municipal employees’ performance of the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality, under Ehlanzeni District in Mpumalanga Province. This study is underpinned by the Kirkpatrick Training Evaluation Model (KTEM), with the target population being the municipal employees of the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality. This study adopted the interpretivism paradigm as its research paradigm and a case study research design has been employed. A qualitative research methodology was employed to allow the participants to express their perceptions, attitudes and experiences. This study used a non-probability sampling technique, using purposive sampling as a subtype to select participants. Data was collected through face-to-face interviews and semi-structured questions were asked during the interviews. All the data gathered was analysed using narrative data analysis, and the ATLAS.ti software was used to transcribe data from audios into text and creating codes using the objectives of this research as codes which assisted the current researcher in identifying key insights and developing a deeper understanding of complex qualitative information. The major findings of this study confirm that employee training does have a significant impact in enhancing municipal employees’ performance, together with the training and development policy and other career development initiatives such as the internal bursaries issued by the municipality which have all helped the employees of the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality to overcome underperformance, to upskill themselves to perform in their daily duties and responsibilities, which in turn results in the municipality being productive.