Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to explore the human resource development (HRD) practices of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) and Valley View University (VVU). The study was a descriptive survey and two sets of questionnaire with Cronbach's alpha of .91 for T & D officers and .61 for academic and non academic staff and interview guide were used to gather data. The study involved 491 participants comprising 397 from the UCC and 94 from VVU. The Mann Whitney U test was used to determine the differences and similarities between the two universities in terms of staff development practices. The study disclosed that both universities had almost the same set of driving forces informing their HRD practices, the differences exhibited only reflected the kind of premium placed on the individual drivers by each institution. Both universities also relied on a combination of on-the-job training methods and off-the-job training methods for its T & D programmes in order to cater for individual differences. Compared to VVU, more staff training was done in the UCC however, both universities did not maximize the full potential of benefits that accrue from T & D programmes due to the lack of career counselling. The study concluded that both universities were striving to achieve higher standards of productivity, quality, and effectiveness in order to survive in the new environment and subsequently, it was recommended that management in both universities must adopt the best practices from each other's HRD system
