رویکردهای نوین آموزشی (Aug 2023)
Developing and Validating a Training Package of Self-development and Evaluating its Effects on Job Performance and Human Capital Agility in Secondary School Principals
Abstract
The present research aimed to develop and validate self-development training package and evaluate its effect on job performance and human capital agility among secondary school principals. In terms of purpose, it was practical and in terms of method, it was of a mixed method (qualitative and quantitative) with an exploratory design. In the qualitative part, the self-development components of the present research were first identified using content analysis method and interview. Then, a training package was developed. The method in the quantitative part was semi-experimental with a pre-test, post-test design with a 3-month follow-up with a control group. The statistical population of the research was all the principals of secondary schools in Isfahan city in the academic year 2020-2021, among which, 50 people were selected as a sample using available sampling method, and randomly replaced in two experimental and control groups (25 people in each group). Data analysis was done by multivariate covariance analysis. The results showed that the implementation of the self-development training package in the experimental group had a significant effect on job performance and its dimensions, as well as human capital agility. The training package of the current research has increased job performance (52.33% in the post-test phase and 51.99% in the follow-up phase) and human capital agility (47.16% in the post-test phase and 47.32% in the follow-up phase). It is possible to increase the level of job performance and human capital agility among secondary school principals with the self-development training package.IntroductionSelf-development is a way for personal growth and development and an important source for learning and development that the employees of an organization voluntarily and informally perform a set of required activities to acquire and maintain the necessary knowledge and job skills (Annis, 2016). On the other hand, job performance is an effective factor in improving and increasing the efficiency of managers. Job performance is the expected collective value towards the organization and related to the various courses that an individual performs during a standard period of time (Motowidlo & Kell, 2012). Also, human capital agility as an organized and dynamic talent can provide the right knowledge and skills at the right time. An agile workforce is a flexible and well-trained force that can adapt to situations and current situations quickly and easily (Muduli, 2013). In this regard, researches have been conducted that have examined the relationship between self-development, job performance and human capital agility. Among others, we can refer to Mazari (2013) and Pourkrimi & Mazari (2017), Mazari and Zamani (2016), the Council of South African Culturalists (2016) and Thani et al. (2022). Therefore, with the aim of developing and validating the self-development training package and evaluating its effect on job performance and human capital agility in secondary school principals in Isfahan city, the present study has tried to answer the questions of the present research as follows:First question: What are the elements of the self-development training package?Second question: What is the validity of the educational package compiled from the eyes of experts?Third question: Is the compiled self-development training package effective on job performance and its dimensions?Fourth question: Is the self-development training package effective on the agility of human capital? Research methodologySince the current research deals with the formulation and validation of the self-development training package, it is practical in terms of its purpose and in terms of data collection, it is in the group of exploratory research (qualitative-quantitative).In the first phase, the researcher analyzed the theme by using semi-structured interviews with 15 people who are experts in self-development and education managers and using documents related to the research topic. After analyzing the content of all collected data, the training package for self-development of managers was compiled with three individual, group and organizational components.In the second phase of the research, the effectiveness of the self-development training package was tested using a pre-test-post-test semi-experimental design and follow-up with a control group on secondary school principals. Research findingsThe first research question: What are the elements of the self-development training package?In the final adjustment of the elements template, 16 basic components, 3 organizing components and only one comprehensive component (self-development) were obtained.The second question of the research: What is the validity of the compiled educational package from the experts' point of view?9 experts and management specialists were selected as panel members and they were given the research training package along with a questionnaire to assess validity.The third research question: Is the self-development training package effective on job performance and its dimensions?The fourth research question: Is the self-development training package effective on the agility of human capital?The educational package of the current research based on self-development components in the experimental group in T2 and T3 stages has been able to improve job performance (effect size 55.3% in T2 and 50.2% in T3), human capital agility (effect size 34.8% in T2 and 28.9% in T3), increased task performance (effect size 56.3% in T2 and 49.9% in T3) and contextual performance (effect size 21.7% in T2 and 22.6% in T3) to give. DiscustionThe aim of the current research was to compile and validate the self-development training package and determine its effectiveness on job performance and human capital agility among secondary school principals. In this research, three organizing themes including individual self-development, organizational self-development, and group self-development, and 16 basic themes were obtained for self-development.In order to answer the question, is the self-development training package effective on job performance and its dimensions? The results of multivariate variance analysis showed that the dimensions of task performance and background performance in the experimental group increased significantly. These findings are in line with the research of Gudarzi et al. (2019), Abili et al. (2014) .In this research, an attempt was made to investigate the effect of the educational package on the agility of human capital of secondary school principals. The result showed that the self-development training package has increased the agility of human capital in the experimental group. This finding is in line with the research of Thani et al. (2022) and Mazari (2013). In total, the findings of this research have shown evidence that by knowing the components of self-development and compiling it as a training package, it can have an impact on the job performance and agility of human capital among secondary school principals.
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