Effect of Training Needs Assessment on Employee Commitment in Public Universities: A Case Study of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology

During the past five years skilled and trained teaching and non-teaching staff at JKUAT left their jobs to seek employment and other opportunities in other upcoming universities. Despite the turbulent economic situation leading to declining financial support by the government and massive budgetary cuts, the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology and other Public Universities should explore ways and means to re-ignite and secure their employees’ loyalty and commitment to compete on equal footing with its rivals for sustained competitive advantage. The purpose of the study was to establish the effect of training needs assessment on employee commitment among employees of the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. This study adopted a descriptive survey case study design employing both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The target population was 1731 staff members of JKUAT and a sample size of 10%. Stratified random sampling technique was used to sample the 173 respondents. A questionnaire was used to gather data from respondents and the data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. The findings from the inferential statistics indicated that training had an effect on employee commitment. The study established that training needs assessment in JKUAT and other Public Universities was not being done effectively and thus led to lack of commitment by employees to their jobs. The study concluded that the most significant factor in regard to employee commitment is focusing on Training Needs Assessment.