Employee Empowerment, Outcome. Competence, Management of Workforce Diversity and Performance of Civil Service Ministries in Kenya Thumbnail

Abstract

Employee empowerment and organizational performance is one of the top priority topics in the current global environment. Researchers and practitioners have long been attempting to establish the relationship between employee empowerment and organizational performance Some studies tend to indicate that employee empowerment directly leads to organizational performance, whereas other studies found no direct relationship. Consequently, in attempting to provide through empirical evidence some insights into what is involved in this area, this study focused on employee empowerment and performance of Civil Service Ministries in Kenya as mediated by employee outcomes and moderated b} management of workforce diversity and employee competence. Previous studies certainly, did not consider the role of other variables such as employee outcomes, management of workforce diversity and employee competence in the relationship between employee empowerment and organizational performance. The objectives of this study were to: I. Establish the relationship between employee empowerment and performance of Civil Service Ministries:, in Kenya; 2. Determine the mediation of employee outcomes in the relationship between employee empowerment and performance of Civil Service Ministries in Kenya; 3. Establish the moderating effect of management of workforce diversity on the relationship between employee empowerment and performance of Civil Service Ministries in Kenya; 4 Establish the moderating effect of employee competence on the relationship between employee empowerment and performance of Civil Service Ministries in Kenya; 5. Determine whether the joint effect of employee empowerment, outcomes, competence and management of workforce diversity on performance of Civil Service Ministries in Kenya is greater than the individual effect of employee empowerment. The study was anchored on resource based theory. Three other theories, which also provide explanation on the role of employees in performance of organizations namely, knowledge based v1ew, human capital theory, and empowerment theory are also discussed. The conceptual framework was drawn depicting the linkages among the study variables. In the conceptual framework, employee empowerment is the independent variable while performance of Civil Service Ministries in Kenya is the dependent variable. Employee outcomes are the mediating variables while management of workforce diversity and employee competence, are the moderating variables. Five hypotheses were tested H1 There is a relationship between employee empowerment and performance of Civil Service Ministries in Kenya; H2 Relationship between employee empowerment and performance of Civil Service Ministries in Kenya is mediated by employee outcomes; II} Relationship between employee empowerment and performance of Civil Service Ministries in Kenya is moderated by management of workforce diversity; I4 Relationship between employee empowerment and performance of Civil Service Ministries in Kenya is moderated by employee competence, Hs: The joint effect of employee empowerment, outcomes, management of workforce diversity and employee competence is greater than the individual effect of employee empowerment on performance of Civil Service Ministries m Kenya. The study was cross sectional in design and covered 16 Government Ministries. The study focused on Civil Servants from job group J to job group V stationed in the Ministries' Headquarters in Nairobi. Correlation and regression analyses were used to assess the effect of predictor variables on the dependent variable. Data were gathered through questionnaire. Out of 384 persons to whom the questionnaire were issued, 275 responded thus, registering 71.6% response rate. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used m this study to analyze the data. From the findings, hypotheses 1, 3, 4 and 5 were supported, whereas hypothe:;is 2 was not supported. This study has enhanced the understanding of the role of employee empowerment. employee outcomes, management of workforce diversity and employee competence in performance of organiz.at:ions. The study may be useful to the Public Sei'\'JCe Commission of Kenya. other Service Commissions, and Government Ministries 10 formulating employment policies, strategies and procedures. Based on the objectives and the findings of this study, it is concluded that there is a moderate relationship between employee empowerment and performance of Civil Service Mini stries in Kenya. Thus, if empowerment is taken seriously alo ng with proper management of diversity and retention of competent workers, C ivil Service can attain superior performance. It is therefore, recommended that organizations should take empowerment initiatives serious ly, Kenyan Civil Service Ministries inclusive, for superi or organizational performance. Further, it is suggested that more studies should be conducted in this area Previous studies had not considered the role of employee outcomes, competence and management of workforce diversity in performance of organizations.