Effect Of Managerial Attributes, Employee Characteristics And Organizational Factors On The Relationship Between Employee Trust Of Top Management And Performance Of Savings And Credit Cooperative Societies In Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

The principal objective of this thesis was to determine the effect of managerial attributes, employee characteristics and organizational factors on the relationship between employee trust of top management and the performance of SACCOs in Nairobi County. The pertinent hypotheses were derived from the main objective. The study adopted a descriptive cross sectional survey to achieve the objective. The study population consisted of all the 1065 SACCOs in Nairobi County as at 31st December 2014. Two questionnaires, one to the CEOs of the SACCOs and the other to the employees were used to collect data. Data was analyzed through the use of descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. The results from the data analysis revealed that employee trust of top management significantly affected financial performance but its effect on non-financial performance was not significant. With regard to the second objective, the study found that managerial attributes did not significantly moderate the relationship between employee trust of top management and both financial and non-financial performance of SACCOs in Nairobi County. It was found from the test of hypothesis three, which was drawn from objective three, found that employee characteristics significantly moderated the relationship between employee trust of top management and financial performance. It was also found that employee characteristics significantly moderated the relationship between employee trust and non-financial performance. Test of the fourth hypothesis under the fourth objective revealed that organizational factors did not have significant effect on the relationship between employee trust of top management and financial and non-financial performance. As for the fifth hypothesis and objective the study found that the joint effect of employee trust of top management, managerial attributes, employee characteristics and organizational factors on financial and non-financial performance was significant and greater than that of individual predictor variables. The findings of the study led to several conclusions. One was that employee trust of top management significantly influences organizational performance and it is therefore an important behavioural attribute in organization. Managers can promote employee trust to enhance organizational performance. Another conclusion is that the degree of impact of employee trust on organizational performance depends on employee characteristics. The other conclusion was that managerial attributes and organizational factors which were found not to be moderators of the relationship between employee trust and organiational performance could possibly be mediators or may have direct impact on performance. The results of the study have implications for both policy and practice. The research findings further support the contingency theories that emphasize that the quality of managerial decisions depend on situations. One shortcoming of the study was the low response rate of 30%. The study recommends the use of Human Resource Management policies to promote employee trust of top management through recruitment of employees with appropriate characteristics that can enhance employee trust of top management, hence enhance organizational performance.