STRATEGIC SUCCESSION PLANNING STRATEGIES ON ORGANIZATIONAL PRODUCTIVITY: A CASE OF GITHUNGURI DAIRY COOPERATIVE SOCIETY
Susan Nyawira Kariuki - Master of Business Administration, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya
George Ochiri - Lecturer, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya
ABSTRACT
The dairy produce industry in Kenya has experienced several challenges following the acquisitions of small companies by Brookside Dairy Limited. The acquisitions changed the market dynamics as the number of players reduced and the market dynamics of determining prices were changed. The main objective of this study was to determine the strategic succession planning strategies and organizational productivity at Githunguri Dairy Cooperative Society. This study was guided by the following specific objectives: to analyze the effect of human resource planning on organizational productivity at Githunguri Dairy Farmers Cooperative Society; to assess the effect of mentoring programs on organizational productivity at Githunguri Dairy Farmers Cooperative Society, to anayze the effect of benchmarking programs on organizational productivity at Githunguri Dairy Farmers Cooperative Society and to establish the effect of strategic training programs on organizational productivity at Githunguri Dairy Farmers Cooperative Society. The study would benefit different stakeholders including: policy markers, future scholars and academicians, and the management team at Githunguri Dairy Cooperative Society and other SMEs. This study was anchored on the social cognitive model of career development because succession planning is about career planning of the staff. Other theories included: stakeholders’ theory, Baldwin and Ford’s transfer of training model, the human capital theory and the theory of Strategic balancing. The study will applied descriptive research design. The target population of this study was the senior and middle level managers at Githunguri Dairy Cooperative Society. The study undertook a census of all the 165 senior and middle level management staff at Githunguri Dairy Cooperative Society. The study used both primary and secondary data for analysis. Primary data was collected using a questionnaire that contains open and closed ended questions. The collected data was analyzed using mean, standard deviation, frequencies and percentages. The study also conducted a multiple regression analysis to help establish the relationship between strategic succession planning strategies and organizational productivity. The analyzed data was presented using tables and charts. The study found out that there was regular evaluation of job descriptions of employees which aligned to key performance indicators (KPI), employees were allocated to mentors within the organization who conduct mentoring in a structured manner which are tailored to the needs of Githunguri Dairy Co-operative Society, company benchmarks the knowledge of its senior management to those of best performing companies in the world and best performing companies in Kenya and learning programs are arranged to improve the knowledge level of staff to international standards and training policy supports learning among staff. The study concludes that human resource planning; mentoring programs, benchmarking programs and strategic training programs have a positive and significant effect on organization productivity. The study recommends that Githunguri Dairy Co-operative Society should implement human resource planning, mentoring programs, benchmarking programs and strategic training programs in order to have better organization productivity in case of management change.
