Abstract

Banks and financial institutions of Bangladesh invest a large amount of money for training purposes in building and enhancing capacity of their human resources. But whether this investment is effective or not is a question often asked by the policymakers of these institutions. These institutions usually train their employees by using off-the-job training methods like seminars, workshops, lectures, etc. along with on-the-job training methods to improve the performance of the employees. A lion’s share of training budget is usually used for off-the-job training purposes that add value for the development of knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA) of the employees’. But the effectiveness of these training methods is often questioned due to traditional lecture-based training sessions. To make the employees more attractive to training programs, interactive and value adding training methods can increase the effectiveness of the training. Hence, this paper aims at identifying the factors that can improve the effectiveness of the off-the-job training methods in commercial banks of Bangladesh. This study used both qualitative and quantitative research methods. A survey was conducted among the bank officers who received off-the-job training with structured questionnaire. A total of 300 bank officers at different levels of the banks were interviewed. Eight leading private and public commercial banks were included in the survey. Factor Analysis was used to identify the factors related to the effectiveness of off-the-job training methods while Multiple Regression was used to identify the relationships between the overall effectiveness of the training and the effectiveness factors related to off-the-job training. Results show that the effectiveness of the off-the-job training methods depends on four significant factors such as, acquiring knowledge and skills, logistics support, invitation of comments by the trainers and participation of the trainees, and participation of the trainees in Training Needs Assessment (TNA). This study suggests that off-the-job training methods can be made more effective by ensuring effective delivery of knowledge, providing proper logistics supports, engaging trainees in training sessions, and ensuring participation of the trainees in training need assessment processes of the banks.

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