CHAPTER ONE

1.1  INTRODUCTION

In recent times the ability to adopt change is very important to many organization in the hope of survive achieve this every manager should be responsible for increasing the effectiveness of the employee which comes mainly through staff development programmes. This shows that systematic development in staff is a sound investment.

According to Biller (1999) staff development is all about making sure that employees are happy in their job, working to their full potential, and their talent and skill that could be of benefits to the company are developed this can mean encouraging staff totake on different responsibilities moving department or being promoted with a more senior role.

Staff development refer to all the policies, practices and procedure used to develop the knowledge, skills and competencies of staff to improve the effectiveness and efficiency both of the individuals and the organization.

Effective and comprehensive staff development practice must attend to staff and organization improvement, derive from a development plans including attention to both process and product, be anchored and ever changing work, be multifaceted and ever changing and recognize maturation and growth staff.

Staff development practice have a dual focus that they must attend to individual staff and to organization development. To successful, both goals must be achieved that is, they must be mutually supportive. This commitment requires creativity and flexibility in plans for staff development (Holmes, 1998) knowledge and skills development is vital to the health of an organization. Organization is routine valued not in their physical but on their intellectual capital.

Bukley and Caple (1989), defined development as “the general enhancement and growth of an individual skills and abilities through and unconscious learning. Ajuogu (1955­), say that development is a “process to assist employees in attaining a level of performance and unity of personal and social behavior that meets their needs and those of the organization. Development helps the employees to learn their job quickly and effectively, thereby minimizing cost during subsequent operations. The ability of an employed to handle complex and higher responsibilities is an advantage of development to employee performance.

Management must not forget that at a time of employment, no person is perfectly fit except they undergone good staff that inadequate result in poor decision. Making and planning which ultimately lead to poor business performance and reduced productivity. It is a leaning activity aimed at most future needs rather than current performance. It is concerned with employee carrier growth and satisfaction of future organization’s man power requirement. Development deals with activities undertaken to expose an employee to perform additional duties and assume position of important in the organizational hierarchy.

The goal of staff development is improvement in staff and organization effectiveness; this is a process that affects interpretations of job requirements, relationships with colleagues, and perfectiveness on the methods of education. Staff development occurs in a social context and emphasizes teamwork, built on a foundation of collaboration staff development is a process that demonstrates the commonness of purpose of all staff and the crucial nature of individual knowledge and skills perform assign duties in relation to the achievement of these larger goals (Bixion 2001).

1.2  STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Every researcher embark upon by a researcher emanate from where there is a problem. The same problem was identified by the researcher in the Ministry of Youth and Sport, Akwa Ibom State. The identified problems are as follows.

1. Lack of employees incompetence in handing their job result to low productivity.
2. The organization set it as a waste of time and resources employee’s performance and effectiveness in the job due to the absence of staff development.
3. Lack of employees tanning in the organization.
4. Lack of acquired skill and knowledge in the development will decrease performance

1.3  OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

This research is intending to achieve the following objectives

1. To determine how staff development affect the growth and productivity of staff of ministry of youth and sport, Akwa Ibom State.
2. To determine the extent at which staff development affects productivity in Ministry of Youth Sports. Akwa-Ibom State.
3. To suggest ways in which staff development can be carry out in Ministry of Youth and Sports, Akwa-Ibom State which will go a long way to help not only Ministry of Youth Sports, Akwa-Ibom State.

1.4  RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. Does staff development have any impact on staff performance in Ministry of Youth Sports, Akwa Ibom State?
2. Does effective development of staff improve workers initiative in decision making to Ministry of Youth Sports, Akwa Ibom State?