EMPLOYEE TRAINING AND PERFORMANCE IN THE TOURISM SECTOR: A STUDY OF SELECTED SMALL AND MEDUIM HOTELS IN GHANA

The paper aims to examine employee training and performance in small, medium and micro enterprises in selected regional capital of Ghana. The tourism sector is an important sector of the Ghanaian economy because of its potential to contribute significantly to foreign exchange earnings. Service quality, training and performance issues have been a subject of debate worldwide, especially in the hotel industry of Ghana. A survey instruments was developed consists of training factors like, off- the- job, on- the- job, and some specific hotel related training. A sample size of 500 employees from 19 hotels were selected through a combination of systematic and stratified random sampling techniques. Data was analysed using methods including descriptive statistics, inferential statistics and Pearson correlation. Results from regression to test the association among the variables and the interview responses shows that, there exists association between the amount of training received and employee performance. A significant association was found between the two variables; revealing that the employees who went through training were more capable in performing different tasks and vice versa. Numerous training variables also surfaced from the data, indicating existing training and performance model can be further refined. The paper recommends that the prevalent problems of service delivery and quality can be overcome by properly conducting needs assessment, development and delivery of training programs and evaluation to improve the situation especially in small hotels in Ghana. A new refined model in training and performance has been proposed for the hotel sector that extends human resource development theory in the area of training. This model can be examined using structural equation modeling. Implications of these findings are discussed and suggestions are offered for future study.