Impact of training needs analysis and inter-organizational coordination on training effectiveness: a study case in Indonesian Customs and Excise Training Center

Human resource development is essential for improving organizational capacity and competency. In order to thrive as advanced nations, emerging countries should possess the adequate capacity to perform the government’s tasks appropriately. One vital area that should be equipped with sufficient capacity is national taxes collection, as it has crucial roles in financing development. In Indonesia, this mandate is delegated to two units under Ministry of Finance (MoF), namely Directorate General of Taxes (DGT) and Directorate General of Customs and Excise (DGCE). Perhaps, the later has more significant contribution as it also possesses reinforcement roles to prevent state loss by combating illegal smuggling. One of MoF’s unit established to provide human resource development for DGCE is Customs and Excise Education and Training Center (CETC). To date, education and training are still the most favourable instruments of capacity building in Indonesia public sector. Nevertheless, in order to deliver more targeted human resource development that in line with organizational needs and can contribute to organizational performance improvement, education and training should be organized effectively. Hence, regular evaluation needs to be conducted to measure the effectivity of training programs. Various elements might affect training effectiveness, especially in the context of CETC and DGCE in which training provider is organized separately from its user. This research focuses on two aspects influencing training effectiveness: Training Needs Analysis (TNA) in the training planning stage and Inter- organizational Coordination (IOC) between CETC and DGCE. In addition, this study measures the current CETC training effectiveness level. Three training indicators are used to measure training effectiveness, namely knowledge and skills utilization, materials relevance, and competency advancement. Based on primary and secondary data analysis derived from interviews and official reports, two primary findings are concluded in this paper. First, although DGCE has been adopting organizational, tasks, and individual analysis in running their TNA, in fact, the last aspect was incomprehensively and ineffectively conducted. Consequently, it was not uncommon that many employees attended unnecessary training, and in the end, training became less effective due to a mismatch between alumni’s new competencies and their post-training assignment. Second, in contrast, despite organized separately, it turned out that excellent quality of IOC existed between two units. There was evidence in which this solid IOC has been translated into relevant training materials contributing to competency improvement. In conclusion, to some extent, the CETC training programs have been quite effectively organized as they have been able to supply DGCE officers with relevant training materials that can improve their competency. Nonetheless, there is still a room for improvement, particularly regarding the knowledge and skills utilization in post-training environment.