THE INFLUENCE OF CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES ON EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION: A CASE STUDY OF KCB BANK KENYA LIMITED, HEAD OFFICE
Deborah Kemunto Momanyi - Masters Student, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya
Dr. Dennis Juma - Lecturer, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya
ABSTRACT
Managing workplace conflict is one of the most difficult business challenges facing today’s managers. One of the major challenges being addressed by the researcher is the influence of conflict management strategies on employee satisfaction. The objectives of the study was to establish whether the conflict management strategies, (namely avoidance strategy, accommodating strategy, compromising strategy, collaborating strategy and co-operating strategy) influence employee satisfaction in commercial banks in Kenya. The study used qualitative and quantitative research design. The population of the study was the staff members of KCB Bank Kenya Limited (Head Office). The study used snowball sampling to select 10% of target population. Sample of the study was 200 respondents from a population of 2000 employees. Data was collected using structured questionnaire while data analysis was done using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. The representation of data was done by use of pie charts, bar graphs and frequency tables that aided the researcher in arriving at a descriptively meaningful analysis of the results. The study found that the organization faced the challenge of personal differences, challenge of different faith and culture, challenge of changing environment (globalization and technology), different ways of conflict management, challenge of critical skills associated with handling difficult people and situations, challenge of competition over scarce resources, the challenge of creating structural for consensus processes, challenge of cooperative discourse and the challenge of change. The study further found that the organization used the strategies of accommodating, compromising, competing, collaborating and avoiding at different extent. The study recommended that management of the KCB should take bold step on trainings on conflict management to have the knowledge of managing conflict. The management of the commercial banks in Kenya should also ensure that they are clear conflict management policies that govern the employees in the organization and have clear strategy that manage conflict. The study further recommended further research in another industry to check whether there is similarity on the influence of conflict management strategies on employee satisfaction.
