Factors determining the effectiveness of training in the financial industry : a study on a small EU island state

Abstract

Employees form part of a work society, whereby their performance reflects on the organisation’s reputation. Every company aspires to be successful and have that competitive advantage within the industry it operates in. Competitors may be able to reproduce a product or a service, but one cannot simply replicate an organisation’s important asset, being its human capital. The right investment in employee training is compensated with improved knowledge, skills and capabilities. With an enhanced employee performance, top management ensures that the service delivered by their employees promotes consumer protection.

This study explores key factors that have a significant impact towards training effectiveness within the Maltese financial industry. Research exhibited that training needs analysis, clear training objectives and expected outcomes, trainee characteristics, training design and work environment are the main factors of a strategic and effective employee training. In order to reach the aim of this study, training institutions and other financial organisations delivering training to employees working within the financial industry were contacted. The author used a mixture of methods, whereby observations and self-administered questionnaires assisted in the data collection for this study.

Findings show that that the Maltese financial industry is providing an effective training to its employees. The Training Effectiveness Model (TEM) developed from this study pertains towards the significance of training effectiveness supporting five factors as follows: “Training Design, Clear Training Objectives and its Expected Outcomes”, “Work Environment and Self efficacy” “Training Needs Analysis and Design”, “Top Management Support” and “Trainee Characteristics”. Given the different demographic characteristics, Age and Current Occupation resulted to be significantly contributing with the TEM. Such analysis concludes that mature trainees with a higher level of occupation found the training more effective than others. Furthermore, the proposed TEM leads to an improved employee performance, as it positively correlates with the Employee Performance Development Model (EPDM) established in this study.