Employers’ perception of tertiary training and its relevance to the labour market:A case of the Kenya Polytechnic

Abstract

Dynamic changes in the way businesses are managed have taken place in the past decades that have forced organizations to evolve strategic options that give them a competitive edge against their competitors. One of the strategic options adopted by organizations in their business strategy is the human resource strategy that has been developed through a strategic human resource approach, a major component of strategic human resource development. Human resources must be viewed as a long term fixed capital that must continuously be developed in their roles for an organization / business to achieve its objectives hence the need to incorporate a strategic human resource development policy. This policy ensures that strategies of developing the human resource of an organization are in place within the overall strategy framework of the business / organization. Training is one of the major elements of Strategic human resource Development (SHRD) as identified by Armstrong (2003) among others like learning, education and development. Training encompasses impartation of knowledge, skills and competencies in carrying out work through training systems such as technical training among others. Technical training aims at imparting hands on skills that are of a technical nature, also referred to as vocational training or tertiary training. Focus on this form of training has largely resulted from the grim picture of unemployment and under employment in Kenya especially among the youth who form 60% of the working population , yet not, in employment as reported by the United Nations Development Programme Deputy Representative, Nardos Thomas (“ Youth to benefit from poly fund,” 2007) and a lot of efforts in enhancing this training is currently a priority of the government.