Impact of Training on Employee Performance: The Case of New

Kabul Bank (NKB)

SYNOPSIS
Introduction

The success or failure of an organization generally depends on the quality of its human resources
and the human resource has played a significant role in economic development in most
developed countries and Human capital is one of the major assets for any organization; hence,
the role they play towards a company’s success cannot be underestimated. As a result, equipping
this unique asset through effective training becomes imperative to maximize job performance
(Nassazi, 2013). The main objective of every organization is to improve its performance, but it
can never be possible without the efficient performance of employees.

Training constitutes a basic concept in human resource development. It is concerned with

developing a particular skill to the desired standard by instruction and practice. Training is a
highly useful tool that can bring an employee into a position where they can do their job
correctly, effectively, and conscientiously. Training is the act of increasing the knowledge and
skill of an employee for doing a particular job. Thus training is designed to provide learners with
the knowledge and skills need for there their present job, since the formal educational system
does not adequately teach specific job skills for a position in a particular organization. Few
employees have the requisite skills, knowledge, abilities, and competencies needed to work. As a
result, this many require extensive training to acquire the necessary skills to be able to make a
substantive contribution towards the organization's growth (Armstrong, 2001).

Similarly, Job performance is the work-related activities expected of an employee and how well those
activities were executed. Job performance reaches a goal or set of goals within a job, role, or organization
but not the actual consequences of the acts performed within a job. Affirms that job performance is not a
single action, but rather a complex activity (Nassazi, 2013). Different managerial experts define
performance by using different definitions. Job performance is how well (or poorly) employees perform
their job duties compared to expectations for the job (Kennedy, 2009). Performance in a job is strictly a
behavior and a separate entity from the outcomes of a particular job which relate to success and
productivity. Many business personnel directors assess the job performance of each employee on an
annual or quarterly basis to help them identify suggested areas for improvement. The primary objective of
this study is to examine the impact of training on employee performance of New Kabul Bank
(NKB).
Background of the Organization:

New Kabul Bank is a bank in Afghanistan that has its main branch in the capital city of Kabul. It
was established in 2004 as the Kabul Bank, the first private bank in Afghanistan. After
corruption and scandals, it was re-established in 2011 as the New Kabul Bank.

It is the main bank used to pay the salaries of the national army and security police forces. The
bank provides facilities to maintain accounts in Current, Savings Bank, and Fixed deposits; and
offers its consumers branch and automated teller machine services. The bank is under the
supervision of the Central Bank of Afghanistan (Da Afghanistan Bank−DAB), the General
Directorate of Treasury, and the Afghanistan Ministry of Finance (MOF).

New Kabul Bank started its banking activities by having received its license as a commercial
bank as a result of high authorities’ decisions adhering to all prevailing banking rules and
regulations under the banking system of the country.

Ministry of Finance is the only shareholder of New Kabul Bank and it (NKB) has four kinds of
activity license:

 Banking license
 AISA License
 3131 Network License
 2266 Services License

New Kabul Bank is operating and providing services for valued citizens by covering a wide
network in more than 112 branches including a technical and supporting office in Dubai with a
professional and experienced cadre.

New Kabul Bank is equipped with professionally trained security forces and armored vehicles
that deliver your money safely and securely anywhere inside Afghanistan.

New Kabul bank is connected all over the Global SWIFT facility which enables fast funds
transfer for customers of the bank having a correspondent relationship with 7 international banks
such as:
  Aktif Bank Turkey
 Bank of China
 Alraji Bank United Emirate
 Crown Agent Bank London
 National Commercial Bank Jeddah
 KBC Bank Brussels
 HDFC Bank India

New Kabul Bank is the principal agent for western union Money transfer in Afghanistan
therefore it is authorized to transfer and receive money through western union company in all
over the world and vice versa.

New Kabul Bank is offering the following legal banking services equipped with the electronic
system.

New Kabul Bank Services:

 Account Opening
 Balance Confirmation
 Issue of Balance Confirmation
 Deposits Withdrawal and Payment( Banking Transactions)
 Money Transfer from one Account to another Account
 Issue of Cheque-book (10-25 page)
 Internet banking (to check statements, money transfer from one account to another
account, exchange rate, balance information), and so on.
 Mobile Phone Banking( coming soon)
 Mobile Phone Banking( coming soon)
 ATM Services - 24 hour
 3131 Services -24 hour
 Master Card( master and debit card)
 Salary Disbursement Services
  Electricity Bill Payment
 Islamic Banking Services along with Islamic terms and conditions

Mission
Our mission is to provide our customers personalized services!

Problem Statement

Nowadays, in this globalized world, the banking sector becomes more profitable, competitive
and plays a critical role in the economic advancement and development of the country. In our
country Ethiopia also the banking sector becomes competitive and a key for economic growth
and development. The success of the banking sector highly depends on its employees that
facilitate financial transactions to its customers locally as well as globally. Lack of necessary
skills competencies and qualities to perform banking transactions would result in poor
performance that creates customer dissatisfaction. They must have the necessary skills and
competencies required to do their jobs through training. Training and development are the tonic
employees need to enhance their performance and potentials that will in turn enhance
organization effectiveness.

Currently, many organizations in Afghanistan and indeed the banking sector are engaged in staff
training. However, for a certain condition staff training practice's effect on employee’s
performance appears little or negative. Hence, the main reason that the researcher wanted to
conduct this research was to investigate the effect of training practices on employee performance
in Commercial banks of Afghanistan specified to New Kabul Bank (NKB). Understanding the
effect of training practices on employee job performance primarily helps to create a competent
and well-performed workforce. It will also enable the organization to design an effective training
system that is fitted with the overall vision and mission. So far it also helps to minimize
unnecessary costs which can be incurred as a result of less important training and development.
The study, therefore, focused on how providing training for employees of NKB would improve
their performance for the provision of timely, efficient, effective, and quality of work life. Those
organizations which develop a good training design according to the need of the employees as
well as to the organization always get good results (Partlow, 1996; Tihanyi et.al., 2000;
Boudreau et al., 2001), as well a bad training design is nothing but the loss of time and money
(Tsaur et.al, 2004). It seems that training practices play a very vital role in the employee as well
as organizational performance in general. Effective training practices should be systematic and
continuous i.e. training must be viewed as a long-term process, not just an infrequent and/or
haphazard event (Tannenbaum et.al 1992; Wexley et.al, 1991). Hence, the study aims to identify
the impact of training on employee performance by considering different aspects of training
practices.

Research Questions
Main Question: The main question of the research is as follows:
 What is the impact of training on employee performance in the New Kabul Bank?
Sub-Questions: To analyze this central question researcher has developed the following sub-
questions.
 Is the training practices are relevant to the profile of employees at (NKB)
 What type of training delivery technique (on-the-job training or/and off-the-job training)
does the bank use?
 What are the major factors affecting Training practices at New Kabul Bank (NKB)
 How do training programs contribute to employees’ job performance, at the New Kabul
Bank (NKB)
 What are the challenges associated with training and development at the NKB

Objective of the study

General objective

The main objective of the study is to assess the effect of training on employee performance in
New Kabul Bank (NKB) Kabul, Afghanistan.
Specific objectives

 To assess the training process of the New Kabul Bank

 To identify training delivery techniques (on-the-job training or/and off-the-job training) that
the bank used.
 To identify the effect of the training practice on employee’s performance, at the NKB
 To identify factors affecting training practices in New Kabul Bank
 To determine the challenges associated with training practices at New Kabul Bank
 To explore the relationship between training and employee’s performance of New Kabul
Bank

Significance of the Study

This study has investigated the effect of training on employee performance at New Kabul Bank
(NKB). The investigation will help the bank to understand and identify the effect of training
practice on employees’ job performance and how training is related to job performance. Thus,
the study will help to develop and preserve a quality work-life, which will provide an
opportunity for employee’s job performance and self-confidence. Besides, it will aid the
management of New Kabul Bank to introduced modern schemes for training to meet the
challenges of globalization in the future. The findings of the study will also provide direction
either to improve or develop the training programs. It also enables the management to ensure an
appropriate process of training programs throughout the bank. Finally, the study will serve as a
reference for other researches which will be conducted in a similar topic area in the future.

Scope of the Study

To make the research manageable, the study was delimited to Kabul City branches of New Kabul
Bank based on the availability of time and resources. NKB is one of the most reputed and largest
financial institutes in Afghanistan. New Kabul Bank is operating and providing services for
valued citizens by covering a wide network in more than 112 branches including a technical and
supporting office in Dubai with a professional and experienced cadre. The New Kabul Bank has
more than 2000 employees.

Kabul province Comprise majority of NKB branches in comparison to other provinces. Kabul
the capital contains 14 branches of the Bank in different districts, plus its main branch in 10-42
Torbazkhan Watt Share Now Kabul.

Geographically, the study covered only Kabul city branches. This is because the findings are
applicable at every branch of New Kabul Bank (NKB) whether they are located in the Capital or
any other Province. But the study did not include all branches of the Bank due to time, financial
and informational constraints. Therefore, the sample survey carried out for this study is limited in
both size and coverage. The sample is limited to 87 respondents selected from 15 branches of the
banks which include middle-level managers (branch manager and deputy branch managers) and
clerical staff.

Limitation of the Study

The willingness of the respondents was the major limitation to the study as some of the
employees felt uncomfortable and others were simply not bothered, and the other limitation
includes the absence and inaccessibility of information during the gathering of the data.
Regarding the willingness of the respondents the researcher assured that the respondents’
confidentiality was maintained such information only used for the research purpose. And also
study of this magnitude requires a huge sum of money to source and analyze data. Due to time
and financial constraints, it’s difficult to cover all branches of the New Kabul Bank.
 Research Methodology

Introduction

The main purpose of the research is to explain the impact of training on employee performance.
Therefore, the research is an explanatory study in which data will be collected through simple
random sampling. Simple random sampling (sometimes called just random sampling) involves
selecting the sample at random from the sampling frame using random number tables, a
computer, or an online random number generator (Saunders et.al 2009). The units of analysis for
the study are branches of New Kabul Bank (NKB) located in Kabul city, for this purpose middle-
level managers (brand managers and deputy branch managers) and clerical employees of the
Kabul branches of NKB are randomly selected for the research purpose.

The research will be both qualitative and quantitative type. Questionnaires will be distributed to
the respondents to gather the primary data for the study. This will help to assess training
processes at New Kabul Bank, and also to check whether the processes of training are being
dully followed according to the need and requirements of the bank.

Population, Sample, and Sampling Techniques

The locale of this study is planned to be in Kabul city branches of New Kabul Bank. Population
refers to the elements in the targets of the study. The population of the study incorporates
middle-level managers (branch managers and deputy branch managers) and clerical staff of New
Kabul Bank located in Kabul that comprise approximately 850 of the bank staff out of total. A
sample is the subset of a population selected to be represented in the study. Simple random
sampling was applied for selecting respondents to the questionnaire.

The researcher determines the required sample size by deriving a formula from Yamane (1967).
Yamane, (1967) stated that in the case of the finite population the sample size determination
formula is as follows:

N
n¿
1+ N ¿ ¿
Where:

n = Sample Size

N = Total Population Size

e = Acceptable Level of Error (10%)

850
¿
1+ 850¿ ¿

Sample Size = 87

Sample size distribution

SR Designations Sample Size

1 Branch Managers 10
2 Deputy branch Managers 10
3 Clerical Staff 67
Total 87
87 questionnaires will be distributed.

Instrument of data collection

The sources of data for the study will be both primary and secondary. These primary data will be
collected using a questionnaire. The questionnaire is composed of Likert scale questions adopted
and modified from previous project reports that existed on the topic. The modified questionnaire
will be added after getting tested using various statistical tools. The secondary data will be
gathered from textbooks, newsletters, magazines, journals, official publications to support the
primary source.

Procedure for data collection

The form of a questionnaire that is used in the study is a structured close-ended type. The
questionnaires are going to be shared with employees who have been selected from the sample.
In this closed form of the questionnaire, the respondents choose one of the alternatives as
possible answers. The Likert scale had five scales ranging from 1 which represents “strongly
disagree”, 2 refers to “disagree”, 3 “neutral”, four represents “agree” and 5 represents “strongly
agree”. Due to the security restrictions of the bank, it’s impossible to distribute the questionnaire
to respondents directly. Therefore, the questionnaires will be shared with the respondent in
google form format through their branch managers.

Method of data analysis

After collecting data, the researcher will organize and prepare data using different statistical
techniques. Moreover, to ensure logical competence and consistency of responses, data editing
will be carried out each day. Once editing has done, data are will be analyzed qualitatively and
quantitatively. The quantitative data analysis will be done by the use of version 20-SPSS
software. The techniques for quantitative data analysis are frequency distribution and
percentages besides regression and correlation which are used to determine the proportion of
respondents choosing the various responses and to see the relationship between training and
performance. This will be done for each group of items relating to the research question and
objectives. Finally, the data will be analyzed and presented for further analysis. This study will
be a quantitative research method to answer the research questions and to achieve the objectives
of the study.