EXAMINATION OF SELECTED MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS AFFECTING EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE IN THE KENYAN CIVIL SERVICE

Abstract

Employee motivation plays a critical role in the overall performance and growth of organizations. It is considered to be a booster not only for employees‟ growth and development but also organizations‟ performance. As such, managers continue to establish different ways in which they can motivate their employees in order to enhance performance and that of their respective organizations. However, organizations are crowded by a number of issues which affect employee motivation including remuneration, poor working conditions, staff training and organizational culture issues. The general purpose of this study was to examine selected motivational factors affecting employee performance in the civil service in Kenya‟s context. The study was guided by the following specific research objectives: to establish the extent to which remuneration affects employee performance in the civil service in Kenya, to determine the effect of working conditions on the employee performance in the civil service in Kenya, to establish the effect of staff training on employee performance in the civil service in Kenya, and to examine the effect of organizational culture on the employee performance in the civil service in Kenya. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey research design. The study used a target population of 158,680 subjects from all the eighteen government Ministries in Kenya. The sample size included 225 respondents out of whom 191 took part in the study. Questionnaire and interview guide were used to collect data from the staff members and key informant from the selected seven government ministries. The collected data were analysed with the help of a Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 21.0. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the quantitative data. Analyzed data was presented in frequencies and percentages and summarized in tables and figures. Further, inferential statistics such as chi-square for independence, regression analysis and factor analysis was conducted. Content analysis was used to process the qualitative data. From the analysis, the study concluded that there is a statistically significant association between remuneration, working conditions, staff training, organizational culture and staff performance in civil service since the p value was smaller than the level of significance, p<.05. The study recommends sound mechanisms to be put in place, which ensure better remuneration terms, enhanced working conditions, an integral staff training and building of organizational culture in the civil service which is based on sound management systems for better employee performance in the civil service in Kenya.