The role of counseling in addressing work stress among chiefs in Tigania East District, Meru county, Kenya.

Abstract

Chiefs coordinate and implement government policies in their respective areas of jurisdiction. They maintain law and order, coordinate disaster management responses, act as intelligent agencies and coordinate conflict resolution and peace building activities for the government. As a result of this myriad of responsibility the chiefs are faced with the danger of getting work stress that if not well managed may affect their performance. The purpose of this study was to determine the role of counseling in addressing work stress among chiefs in Tigania East District, Kenya. The personal emotive behavioral theory, Conducive production model and person environment fit theory formed the theoretical framework in understanding the causes of work stress and the role of counseling as a suitable remedy. The population of the study was 72 chiefs and Assistant Chiefs working in Tigania East District. Since the population was small the entire population was used for the study. Structured questionnaires were used for data collection. Descriptive statistics were used as methods of analysis. The analyzed data was presented in percentages, means, frequency tables and graphs. The respondents strongly indicated that counseling can played a major role in addressing work stress among chiefs and assistants chiefs. Majority strongly believed that counseling had a major role in addressing work stress The study findings may be useful to the office of the president, ministry of state for provincial administration and internal security in developing policies and possible employee assistance programs (EAP) on the prevention or management of stress among chiefs. It is recommended that the government needs to employee and make available competent counselors for both preventive and curative interventions to chiefs and assistant chiefs. All legal and ethical issues were strictly observed and adhered to during the entire period of study.