| dc.description.abstract | The main purpose of this study is to determine how extension workers role orientation influences their effectiveness as agents of change interms of how it influences their relationship with clients* Two types of role orientations bureaucratic and client orientations were first identified empirically as well as more complex types derived from these two dimensions, Secondly concepts like extension workers* credibility9 empathy, persuasion ability and work performance were identified as being some of the crucial determinants of extension worker-client relationship* Thirdly organizational factors as well as the extension workers* personal attributes were examined on how they influence their role orientations and their effectiveness*
Such a study necessitates a research design whereby the extension workers provide information about their bureaucratic orientation, personal attributes and organizational factors while the clients provide information on the extension workers* degree of client orientation, credibility, empathy, persuation ability and work performance* Thus the study has two major units of study| the extension workers and the household heads who are the clients*
The study was carried in northern and western administrative
divisionsof Machakos District and was limited to the grass-root extension workers in the Ministry of Agriculture and in Community Development department of Ministry of Cooperatives and Social Services*
The major findings indicate that most of the
extension workers were relatively old, less educated
and had received very little initial training in their
fields and especially those in crop division. It was also
found that though the majority of the extension workers held high hopes of being promoted such ambitions were much frustrated because both the Ministry of Agriculture and Community Development had a large number of promotion bars* This frustration was further being aggravated by other poor working conditions which also tended to limit them from performing their duties more effectively such as lack of means of transport, large and densely populated work areas, high rates of transfer, low salaries etc
It was also found that extension workers credibility, empathetic ability, persuasiveness and work performance were not influenced or related to their bureaucratic orientation. However all these four) variables were strongly related or influenced by the extension workers client orientation* These findings were further supported or confirmed by the more complex role orientations derived from the bureaucratic and client role orientations* Thus indicating that client orientation is a more influential determinant of the extension workers degree of Credibility empathy, persuatlon ability and work performance than is their bureaucratic orientation
The findings also indicated that organizational factors such as the type of extension work, rate of transferring extension workers, the geographical area
in which they operate as well as their personal attributes such as ege9 level of formal education, length of training and length in the agency does influence their role orientations, credibility, empathy and work performance*
Thus this study has to some extent shown some
of the major problems facing the extension workers as well as some of the root causes of defective extension worker-client relationship most of which can be manipulated for increased effectiveness in the transfer of technology to rural areas | |
