Employee Engagement And Entrepreneurial Orientation Of Employees In Development Public Benefit Organisations In Kisumu County, Kenya

Abstract

Employers have recognized the need to engage employees in a manner that leads to maximum utilization of their potential for competitive advantage. Current research that relates to the concepts of employee engagement and entrepreneurial orientation has focused on the contribution of the variables to performance and success of organisations. This study sought to establish the influence of employee engagement on entrepreneurial orientation of employees in development PBOs in Kisumu County, Kenya. The study applied a cross sectional survey design to examine purposively selected category of employees in development PBOs. The study sampled 87 of the employees being 25% of the targeted population of 348 employees. Data was collected from 62 employees constituting 72.8% of the targeted employees. Descriptive analysis was employed to establish the levels of employee engagement and entrepreneurial orientation within the development PBOs. Correlation co-efficient was applied to establish the relationship between employee engagement and entrepreneurial orientation while regression analysis and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were applied to test the influence of employee engagement on entrepreneurial orientation with control variables respectively. The level of employee engagement was found to be considerably high at 84.28% compared to level of entrepreneurial orientation at 69.37% in development PBOs in Kisumu County. Correlation results revealed that employee engagement and entrepreneurial orientation are positively correlated reflecting a relationship of 83.1%. The result of regression analysis was significant at 0.000 level. Employee engagement explained 29% of the variance in entrepreneurial orientation (R²=0.292, Adjusted R²=0.262). The study concluded that employee engagement does influence entrepreneurial orientation. This implies that development PBOs have considerable opportunity to maximize employee engagement towards entrepreneurial orientation of employees as an avenue for income generation for sustainability of the non-profit making organisations. The study findings are limited to the context of this study due to possible differences with other types of organisations. The study recommended review of systemic policy and regulatory frameworks hindering entrepreneurial progress within public benefit organisations. The study recommended further research on other factors influencing entrepreneurial orientation in the work place and determination of how employee engagement correlates with entrepreneurial orientation in profit making organizations in Kenya.