Examining the Relationship between Training and Development Practices and Employee Performance in Private Hospitals: The Mediating Role of Employee Engagement

Training and Development Practices; Employee Performance; Employee Engagement; Private Hospitals; Human Resource Management; PLS-SEM.

This study looks at how employee performance is related to training and development practices in private hospitals, mediated by employee engagement. The study was conducted on 450 employees of selected private hospitals in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) in Tamilnadu, India in the quantitative, cross sectional research design with a structured questionnaire. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was used for analyzing the collected data in SmartPLS 4. The findings suggest that training and development activities have positive significant impact on employee performance and employee engagement. Moreover, employee engagement has a positive effect on employee performance, and it acts as a partial mediation between the training and development practices and employee performance. The results indicated that investment in employee training can develop employee knowledge and skills, and consequently improve employee psychological engagement, which leads to better work performance. The study adds to the HRM body of knowledge, given that this literature lacks empirical evidence from the private healthcare industry and emphasises the importance of linking employee development programmes with engagement measures to boost organisational efficiency. The results have implications for hospital managers and HR practitioners in the design of training programs for their staff to enhance the quality of services and organizational performance through employee engagement.