IN-SERVICE TRAINING AND CATERING OFFICERS' PERFORMANCE: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF SERVICE INNOVATION IN GHANA

Abstract

Training is a cornerstone of service delivery excellence, yet the mechanisms through which in-service training influences employee performance in the hospitality and catering sector remain underexplored, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. This study examines the impact of in-service training on catering officers' performance in Greater Accra, Ghana, with service innovation performance as a mediating variable. Drawing on Social Exchange Theory and the Ability-Motivation-Opportunity (AMO) framework, a survey-based design was employed, yielding 284 usable responses from frontline hospitality and catering employees. Data were analysed using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM) with maximum-likelihood estimation in AMOS 23.0. The findings reveal significant positive relationships between employees' perceived access to training, perceived benefits of training, and perceived support for training and their overall job performance. Service innovation performance was found to partially mediate the relationships between access to training, benefits of training, and employee performance, while fully mediating the relationship between support for training and performance. These results carry important implications for human resource management practice and theory in the Ghanaian hospitality context, underlining the need for organisations to invest in structured, innovation-oriented training programmes.