IN-SERVICE TRAINING STRATEGY AND EMPLOYEE ADAPTABILITY OF MULTINATIONAL OIL COMPANIES IN RIVERS STATE.

Abstract

The study examined the relationship between in-service training strategy and employee adaptability of multinational oil companies in Rivers State. The work adopted the cross-sectional survey research design. The population of the study was 10,238 employees of the 5 multinational oil firms operating within Rivers State, comprising of Shell, Exxonmobil, Chevron Texaco, Agip, and Total Exploration Nig. Ltd. The sample size of the study was 384 employees, determined using Taro Yamen formula. After validation by the supervisors and two other experts in the Department of Employment Relations and Human Resource Management, Cronbach alpha was used to test the reliability of the instrument. Out of 383 copies of the questionnaire administered, a total of 350 copies were retrieved. Mean and standard deviation were used for the univariate analysis, Spearman Rank order Correlation Coefficient was used for the bivariate analysis. The findings revealed that a significant positive relationship exists between in-service training and measures of employee adaptability in multinational oil companies in Rivers State in terms of affective adaptability, behavioural adaptability, and cognitive adaptability. The study concluded that in-service training is a viable tool through which organizations can strengthen the adaptability of their employees, among others. Therefore, it was recommended amongst others that multinational oil companies in Rivers State should design training programmes that cover technical skills, leadership development, safety protocols, and industry-specific knowledge, thereby boosting their cognitive and affective adaptabilities, and as well as the overall performance of the organization.