Project PUSH (Personnel Upgrade and Skills Harmonization): Improving the work performance of the personnel unit of Schools Division Office of Paranaque city

Abstract

The fast-gearing and sudden changes in the work landscape brought by the pandemic have forced many organizations to undergo significant transformation and rethinking of the key elements of their processes and work systems including the migration of most office transactions to the digital platform. However, this also demands organizations to produce strategic personnel upgrades and skills harmonization programs to improve the work performance of the employees specifically tailored in the present work landscape. The purpose of this study was to prove the effectiveness of Project PUSH (Personnel Upgrade and Skills Harmonization) as a technical assistance model to improve the work performance of the employees in the Personnel Unit of SDO-Paranaque. This study was a mixed method experimental research design under the pre-experimental category which utilized one group pre-test-post-test. A total of 11 non-teaching personnel took part in the study and have been selected purposively. Initially, a survey questionnaire on personnel needs assessment was conducted as a basis for skills upgrade and harmonization. Then the midyear rating of the participants was collected as baseline data prior to the employment of the program. After the implementation of the program, the final rating was collected for comparison and interpretation. To determine whether there is a statistically significant difference on the mean scores on the skills categories before and after the intervention as well as the ratings for midyear and final rating, t-test was employed. The results revealed that for both computations, there was a statistically significant difference between the mean scores. The result of the qualitative analysis paralleled to the quantitative data presented which also indicated a positive impact to the participants in terms of communication, ICT, work, and social skills and manifested in their performance rating. Evidently, the intervention as a technical assistance model was effective. Research or Personnel implications were provided for future research directions.