HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES AND EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE IN THE MINISTRY OF INTERIOR AND COORDINATION OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT IN NAIROBI, KENYA
Catherine Lesororo - Masters of Business Administration Degree, Kenyatta University, Kenya
Dr. Jedidah Muli - Department of Human Resource Management, Kenyatta University, Kenya
ABSTRACT
Human resource strategies are the primary means by which firms can influence and shape the skills, attitudes, and behavior of individuals to do their work and thus achieve employee performance. They are designed to improve the knowledge, skills and abilities of employees; boost their motivation, minimize or eliminate loitering on the job and enhance the retention of valuable employees. Human resource strategies are essentially plans and programmes that address and solve fundamental issues related to the management of human resources in an organisation. Their focus is on alignment of the organization’s HR strategies, policies and programmes with corporate and strategic business unit plans. Human resources are the key for keeping the organization in the market so competitive. These human resources need to be managed effectively to achieve the required performance of the organization. It is necessary to manage strategically the human resources and to adapt at its strategy with organizational strategy. Human resource management strategies involve attracting, developing, rewarding, and retaining employees for the benefit of both the employees as individuals and the organization as a whole. The general objective of the study was to establish the influence of human resource management practices on employee performance at the Ministry of Interior, and coordination of the national government in Nairobi, Kenya. The specific objectives were; to investigate the effect of human resource planning, recruitment and selection, performance management and training and development on performance of employees at the Ministry. The study was guided by Hetzberg two factor theories, contingency theory and resource based view theory. The research used a descriptive cross-sectional survey research design. The population involved 600 employees at the ministry headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. The study used a stratified random sampling technique to develop a sample of 60 respondents who were 10% of the target population. A semi-structured self-administered questionnaire was used to collected data. The completed questionnaires were coded, entered into the computer, organized and analyzed with a Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Descriptive statistics (percentages, frequencies and means) are used to convey the essential characteristics of the data for interpretation. Regression and correlation analyzes were used to indicate whether a relation exists between these strategies and performance. The findings of the study showed that human resource management strategies have a positive significant on employee performance. The study recommended that further research on the analysis of the effect of employee compensation on performance in the public sector in Kenya.
