Employee Training and Organizational Performance: A Systematic Review and Research Agenda for SMEs

ABSTRACT: This theoretical research paper explores how a lack of infrastructural facilities affects the organizational performance of manufacturing companies in Kano Metropolis. The case highlights the importance of the infrastructure such as power supply, transport systems, and technological facilities in determining the operational effectiveness and staff productivity. By adopting the conceptual research method, the study will be guided by a broad examination of empirical and theoretical literature applying Human Capital Theory, Resource-Based View (RBV), and Organizational Learning Theory to anatomize a thorough insight on how the combination of infrastructure and human resource practices contributes to organizational achievements. Conceptual framework considers infrastructural adequacy as one of the determinants of organizational performance and multidimensional employee training (including needs assessment and design, implementation, and evaluation) as the mediating variable that increases the use of available resources. The presence of evidence on global, African, West African, and Nigerian contexts illustrates the prevalence of the issues emerging in manufacturing firms because of the gulf in infrastructures, as well as the approaches implemented to eliminate the adverse impact of these issues. Among the most prominent ones, it can be noted that infrastructural shortcomings significantly lower the efficiency of operations, restrict the productivity of employees, and hinder the overall performance of the organization. The research suggests that managers and policymakers should have two-fold strategies, which are; first of all, they should enhance the infrastructural provision within manufacturing settings and second, they should invest in employee training and development to enable them achieve the best performance within a given infrastructural constraint. This research presents a guide on improving the competitiveness of manufacturing organizations in Kano Metropolis by connecting the theory, conceptual frameworks and practical findings and provides future studies on the infrastructure-performance relationships. KEYWORDS: Infrastructural Deficiencies, Organizational Performance, Manufacturing Firms, Employee Training, Kano Metropolis, Human Capital Theory, Resource-Based View, Organizational Learning Theory.