TRAINING CORRELATES OF JOB SATISFACTION AND PERFORMANCE AMONG COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT OFFICERS IN IBADAN, OYO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Job satisfaction is a critical dimension of the well-being of community development officers (CDOs) and of organizational effectiveness. Whilst prior research has examined various determinants of job satisfaction and performance in the public sector, there remains a paucity of empirical studies investigating the specific impact of training on CDOs in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. This study adopted a descriptive survey design and employed a purposive multi-stage sampling technique to select 100 CDOs from five local government areas: Ibadan North, Ibadan North East, Ibadan North West, Akinyele, and Ibadan South East. Data were collected using a self-designed instrument, the Questionnaire on Training as Correlate of Job Satisfaction among Community Development Officers (QTCJSCDO). Reliability was established using the Spearman-Brown split-half coefficient (r = 0.79). Descriptive statistics, frequency counts, percentages, means, and standard deviations were employed to analyse the data. Findings revealed a strong positive relationship between training, job satisfaction, and performance among CDOs, with an overall weighted mean of 3.26 on a four-point scale. Training was found to enhance decision-making, work efficiency, personal growth, and professional confidence. Conversely, most respondents did not perceive funding constraints, workload, or training irregularity as severe barriers to access. The study highlights that training is a critical correlate of job satisfaction and performance. Based on these findings, it was recommended that training programmes for CDOs be made more frequent, practically oriented, and tailored to the specific demands of community development work in Nigeria.