The effect of educational qualification on job performance: The case of Social Security Commission in Namibia (SSC)
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Date
2015
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Abstract
The extent to which organisations perform or achieve set objectives is a function of
competencies of staff. As such employers hire and place people in various positions based on educational qualifications required by the job and expect good performance. However, this has not been the case, raising concerns over the ability of employees with educational qualifications to perform on the job. The problem in this case is that if employees with educational qualifications contribute only marginally more to job performance than less educated workers do, then higher costs of staffing with highly educated workers are unlikely to be recouped. This
situation creates uncertainty on whether organizations such as Social Security Commission should continue to subsidize current employees to acquire bachelors or advanced degrees hence the need to rigorously assess the short-term returns (e.g., improved performance) and long-term returns (e.g., heightened occupational commitment) on those investments. The main objective of the study is to identify and examine the relationship between job performances of employees against academic qualifications in order to provide recommendations to the sse management on how best educational qualifications can contribute to improved job performance. This study used a mixed approach of quantitative and qualitative methods mainly descriptive statistics (i.e. frequencies) to determine the extent to which employees performance reflects the educational qualifications attained. The aim is to ensure that there is synergy between educational qualifications and competencies of employees to ultimately improve job performance. Overall, the findings of the study confirmed that educational qualifications have a significant
bearing on job performance. The higher the education level. the more are the effects of education and skill on job performance. As such peoples ability to understand and use advanced technology is determined by the level of their education. The educated workers tend to be more responsive in receiving instructions and doing new tasks and easily adopt new technology. which
increases their ability to innovate and improve job performance. However. the main factors considered to limit the positive effect of educational qualifications on
job performance at the workplace include the quality of the work environment, organisational structure and processes, the assignment of employees in posts which did not match their qualifications and the lack of incentive systems. The findings have important policy implications in that they suggest the need for measures that can enhance the positive effect of educational qualifications on job performance. Respondents suggested several measures that could be used to
address these problems and enhance the positive effect of education on productivity at the workplace. Most referred to the need for changes in the organisation's approval structure and processes while the importance of providing work related incentives to employees with educational qualifications through an effective performance management system was also acknowledged.
Description
A mini - thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Business Administration
Keywords
Educational qualification, Job performance, Social Security Commission, Namibia