Factors influencing motivation of volunteer workers in street children rehabilitation projects in Nairobi county: a case of Undugu society of Kenya.
Abstract
Motivation refers to the process of stimulating constant energy, interest, and commitment
towards achieving a goal. It is a phenomenon that seeks to find out the driving force required to
encourage people to exhibit goal directed behaviour. The main purpose of this research was to
establish the factors influencing motivation of volunteer workers in street children rehabilitation
projects in Nairobi County with specific focus on Undugu Society of Kenya. Specifically, the
research sought to achieve the following objectives: to determine the influence of capacity
development on motivation of volunteer workers within the street children rehabilitation
programs in Nairobi County, to examine the influence of professional networks on motivation of
volunteer workers within the street children rehabilitation programs in Nairobi County; to assess
the influence of monetary incentives on motivation of volunteer workers within the street
children rehabilitation programs in Nairobi County and to establish the influence of recognition
on motivation of volunteer workers within the street children rehabilitation programs in Nairobi
County. A descriptive survey research design was adopted in this study so as to enable the
researcher to use quantitative techniques to measure and describe the factors affecting motivation
of volunteer workers. Both open-ended and close-ended questions were used. The study had a
total population of 140 elements. The researcher sampled out 103 volunteer workers out of the
target population using stratified random sampling. Primary data was collected using personally
administered questionnaires. The instruments were piloted in Kibera and the researcher
administered the questionnaires to volunteers from Laini Saba ward who were not part of the
main study. The researcher sought the assistance of the supervisors in reviewing the instruments
for validity and used the Cronbach Alpha test to confirm reliability. The Cronbach Alpha score
was generated from SPSS to give a score of 0.75 which was within the recommendable range.
The data was analysed using descriptive statistics like frequencies, percentages and mean aided
by SPSS. The data is presented in frequency and percentage distribution tables. The findings
revealed that 70% of the respondents strongly agreed that training programmes enhance their
motivation. 54% strongly agreed that work experience enhance their motivation. On the aspect of
professional networks, 53% agreed that exchange programmes promote motivation. On the
aspect of monetary incentives, 75% strongly agreed that perdiems enhance motivation and 53%
strongly agreed that community respect enhances motivation of volunteer workers. The study
recommends that society should create volunteer welfare department to handle all motivational
issues concerning volunteers. Central to this should be the regular provision of both material and
non-material incentives to boost the morale of volunteers and enhance their job performance.
That regular and adequate information concerning volunteerism and its challenges should be
availed for the benefit of both practicing and prospective volunteers. The study recommends that
the organizations working with volunteers should increase the capacity development
programmes to enhance motivation of the volunteers, they should provide more opportunities for
professional networking and increase the monetary incentives offered to volunteer workers. In
addition, recognition of the efforts put by volunteers both within the community and within the
organization should also be increased so as to motivate the volunteer workers. It is suggested that
further research may be done on related areas including the effectiveness of the training offered
to volunteers in terms of job performance and how socio-economic status affects the job
performance of volunteers.
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Description
Thesis
Collections
- Faculty of Education (FEd) [5963]