Perceived Factors Contributing to Employee Absenteeism at Kenya Ports Authority
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Date
2013-11Author
Karanja, Esther K
Type
ThesisLanguage
enMetadata
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Absenteeism is a major problem faced by almost all employers of today. It places
huge financial burdens on organizations and has a detrimental effect on productivity
and performance. Although researchers have attempted to identify the factors that
cause, or are related to absenteeism so that appropriate solutions can be developed,
little research has been done to determine the factors from the point of view of the
staff themselves. As a result, the purpose of the study was to determine the perceived
factors that contribute to employee absenteeism in Kenya Ports Authority.
A descriptive research design was adopted and survey method was used to solicit
information. Purposive sampling was first adopted as the study was interested in the
staff working in Kenya Ports Authority in Mombasa Offices. In addition, stratified
sampling was applied to establish the respondents of the study from every department.
The study relied on a sample size of 80 staff members of Kenya Ports Authority and
data was collected by the use of questionnaire. The data collected was analyzed using
descriptive statistics with assistance of statistical package for social scientist (SPSS)
and content analysis for qualitative data. The study found that 79% of the respondents
indicated that Absenteeism is a problem in the organization. The reasons perceived by
employees as contributing to absenteeism included drug abuse, family problems and
lack of motivation. Some other reasons cited include, poor management style, injury
and accident, organizational culture and lack or poor adherence to policy on absence.
Employees were then asked to rate the importance of some of the factors causing
absenteeism. The findings indicated that, under- promotion was perceived as fairly
high followed by employee attitude and drug and substance abuse. Finally, the
respondents were required to highlight changes they believed when implemented
would help to reduce absenteeism among staff. Some of the mostly cited reasons
included strict adherence to set down policies on absenteeism, counseling and
rehabilitation of staff who have drug and substance problems, improved supervision
of staff, fair treatment, motivation and recognition of staff and also rewarding of good
attendance. The recommendations were therefore to adopt the four approaches to
managing attendance as suggested by Bevan (2003) namely: management policy,
managing long-term absence, preventative measures and rewarding attendance
Citation
A Research Project Submitted In Partial Fulfilment Of The Requirements For The Award Of The Degree Of Master Of Business Administration (MBA), School Of Business, University Of Nairobi. (2013).Publisher
University of Nairobi School of Business