Stakeholders’ satisfaction on the performance of employees graduated from private higher education institutions: the case of Paradise Valley College

Abstract

Besides the rapid expansion of higher education institutions in Ethiopia, serious concerns have been expressed about an increasingly wide gap between the skills and capabilities of graduates, and the requirements and demands of the work environment in an increasingly mobile and globalized society. The objective of the present research was to examine employers’ satisfaction on the performance of employees trained by and graduated from Paradise Valley College. A cross-sectional descriptive and analytical survey research designs were used in which a structured questionnaire was distributed to 200 employers and/or managers using both convenience and snowball sampling techniques. Quantitative data were collected from 130 respondents who properly completed the questionnaire. Data were entered in to SPSS version 20 for further analysis. The aggregate mean of employers’ satisfaction on employees’ overall qualities was found to be 4.08. Moreover, from 130 respondents who participated in the survey, 106 (81.5%) replied that they are satisfied with the overall performances or qualities of employees graduated from the college. In addition, 76.9% of respondents agreed that graduates of Paradise Valley College are significantly contributing to the goal of the organizations in which they are currently employed. Above all, 73.1% of employers said that they anticipate hiring more graduates of the college on the basis of the performance of employees currently serving in their organization. Results of bivariate correlation statistics showed that employers’ overall satisfaction on the graduates of the college is associated to the sex (0.034, 95CI) of employers. Employers and/or managers are satisfied with the performance and overall qualities of employees trained by and graduated from Paradise Valley College. Nevertheless, employers showed dissatisfactions on employees’ general skills. Therefore, the college should strengthen its laboratories to fill the gaps of trainees in general skills related to the use of equipment.