The Perceived Relationship Between Ethical Leadership and Employee Performance at Kenya Ports Authority

Abstract

Ethical leadership is a critical component in ensuring that employees uphold ethical values, this shapes the motivation and effects of their performance. The study was set out to determine the perceived linkage between ethical leadership and performance of employees at Kenya Ports Authority. The study adopted a descriptive survey. The study was conducted in all the 32 departments of Kenya Ports Authority. The population for the study was 4800 which was 75% of the total population. The remaining employees (25%) were in leadership positions. The respondents consisted of 10 employees in each of the 32 departments which constituted a total population of 32 employees after taking a sample of 10%. The study used primary data which was collected using questionnaires. The data collected was analyzed by use of descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. It was concluded that leaders upheld principles of ethics and standards by setting good examples, setting-up a department to handle complaints in matters of ethics and integrity, interpreting codes of ethics, setting-up committees to continuously assess the employees conduct and behaviors and taking appropriate actions to those found capable of engaging in unethical behaviors. The correlation results found that ethical leadership influenced the performance of the employees in the work place. Fairness, justice and equal opportunities motivated employees; this encouraged them to work harder contributing to improved performance. On the contrary, employees were discouraged by unethical acts of their leaders, nepotism, discrimination and lack of equal opportunities. This discouraged them to work hard hence impacted negatively on employees‟ performance. It is recommended that the government should formulate policies that ensure that parastatals and public bodies comply and abide with ethical values and principles. This will improve the conduct and behaviors of employees that work sector and cultivate a culture of integrity, transparency and accountability. Cost and time limited this study at Kenya Ports Authority, this implies that the results in this study are only applicable to this institution and cannot be duplicated in the public sector. A replica of this study should be conducted in the private sector in Kenya to determine whether the results obtained in this study will hold. This will give more acumen to draw a conclusion that might be considered to be reliable and accurate for this study.