Effects of Selected Human Resource Practices on Employee Performance in Public Universities in Kenya

Abstract

Human resource is a crucial asset to organizations. Effective human resource management practices are associated with the increased performance of employees. The study sought to establish the relationship between selected human resource practices and the performance of employees; using a survey of public universities in the Mt. Kenya region. The specific objectives of the study were to determine the effect of the hiring process on employee performance; to establish the effect of training on employee performance; to determine the effect of performance appraisal on employee performance and to establish the effects of compensation on employee performance. The study was guided by Ability-Motivation-Opportunity (AMO) theory and Expectancy Theory of Performance Management. The target population was Office Administration Officers in public universities in Mt. Kenya region. Due to the small population size, the entire population comprising of 201 Office Administration Officers was selected. A closed-ended questionnaire comprising a five-point Likert Scale was used to collect data. The questionnaire was administered online through the use of Qualtrics online survey software. The introduction letter was issued to the respondents informing them of the purpose of the research. A total of 176 responses were generated; which was a response rate of 88%. Descriptive statistics in form of tables, frequencies and percentages were used to present the analysed data. Cronbach alpha was used to assess the instrument reliability, while content validity was assessed through reviews of the items by the supervisors. Data was tested to ensure that it did not violate regression assumptions. The result of the study indicated that hiring (p<0.05), training (p<0.05) and performance appraisal (p<0.05) had a statistically significant effect on employee performance. The compensation practice had no statically significant effect on the employee performance (p>0.05). The research recommends that the management of public universities need to focus on the improvement of each practices through the establishment of relevant policies. There is also need for further research using public universities from other regions, private universities as well as use of additional variables such as satisfaction and motivation. The research also needs to focus on introduction of a moderator variable in order to establish its role on the relationship between HR practices and employee performance.