Among the seven principles of cooperatives, principle number five talks about Education training and information to members and general public. It encourages that member, stakeholders and the public need to be taught, trained and given information on the operations of the cooperatives.
This principle has been adopted and exercised in almost all cooperatives over a period of time now. It gives the Co-operatives a duty to provide education and training to members, elected representatives, managers and employees so they can contribute to the development of their co-operatives and ensure they are run professionally.
This principle having been practiced in our cooperatives, the question that comes to mind is, are the staff that is in charge of the daily operations of the Saccos trained adequately?
If any Sacco wants to achieve its set goal, training must be considered as an important strategy. The staff needs to be trained and equipped to handle daily operations of the Sacco especially due to the uniqueness nature of cooperatives.
It happens the staff hired in our Saccos has studied totally different professional courses and could have no idea of what a Sacco is. It is the responsibility of the Sacco management to ensure that their staff are trained and are competent in the roles they are hired to undertake. It is very important to train the staff in the initial stages after recruitment. This is to enable them understand the unique nature of the cooperatives in general. They will also get to learn the unique structures, principle and unique values that Saccos are formed on.
There are different departments in our Sacco and each staff needs to understand their duties thoroughly through guidance from professionals who understands the Sacco set up. Even the staff who could have taken a different profession line will learn and become very productive in their departments.
The basic reason why every Sacco would wish to train their staff is to improve knowledge and the knowhow. Offering this knowledge is important because it enables them to do their jobs effectively and have equal access to the information they need to do their jobs.
Training the staff can help build their confident in their abilities. Technology is improving on daily basis and our Saccos have to keep up with the pace. They need to be equipped to build confidence and be at per with the global competition.
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Training staff increases job satisfaction. When the staff is satisfied there is less staff turnover and it goes without saying that the staff understands the duties they are performing. There is less absenteeism for the staff is happy at work and they look forward to coming to work in every day.
Educating and training will motivate the staff which in turn they will put greater efforts to their performance. In other words, a motivated staff’s effort and commitment are crucial for the successfulness of the Sacco. Trained staff will always offer quality and improved customer service. The staff is able set goals and achieves those personal goals without any supervision.
Frequent trainings improve the staff abilities of problem solving and reasoning. This promotes professionalism in our Sacco and improved decision making in the management level of our Saccos.
Once a Sacco commit to training its staff, the retention level will be high. Retaining staff in any organization will be best thing to invest on. Retention improves customer relationships and the members will always want to be served by staffs they know and they are used to. They will feel secure to stick in a Sacco that retains their staff. Staff retention reduces operational costs that range from recruitment, and training costs.
When a Sacco invests in staff training the Sacco is able to retain its top talent. The Sacco has a defined work culture that builds better work environment and members’ relationships. Members of staff who serve long happen to be the best advocates of the Sacco.
A culture of excellence is created in a Sacco where staff and leaders are trained regularly. Iincreased productivity can translate to higher wages the staff themselves, high returns on deposits and high dividends.
Facilitating training to Sacco staff boost their morale towards work. When the staff have positive morale can lead to improved teamwork, greater commitment to their duties as well as a sense of belongingness to the Sacco. They will feel part and parcel of the Sacco core values, objectives and own the Sacco mission.
Trainings in our Saccos ensure there is Consistent work processes as they are trained of the flow of activities. Consistency gives the staff track on the how to get to the goal. Every staff wants to feel they are productive, they want to know that they are doing a good job and that they have added value to the Sacco.
Process consistency help the Sacco react positively to changes in the competitive cooperative movement.
Consistency at work is important because it helps create a predictable workplace. When the staff can predict what will happen at work, they are more likely to be able to maintain consistency in their own behavior. Trainings should be frequent to helps our Sacco run smoothly
When the staff knows what they are meant to do they need very minimal supervision? This means they do not need to be guided or reminded constantly of their tasks. Employees learn to become responsible in their scope of work and accountable for the outcome of what they do. When their problem-solving and decision-making skills developed they are good to go to operate on their own
When a Sacco invest in training, it will have ended the problem of hiring from outside. It will engage internal promotions that is less expensive from hiring from outside. The Sacco grows as it develops individuals which are a great contribution to the community at large.
Let our Saccos invest in training their staff and sit back to see the magic it can have in their overall performance. As the saying goes ‘The only thing worse than training employees and losing them is to not train them and keep them.’
By CCOP DORCAS NYAMBURA NDEGWA
dornamvua@gmail.com
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