The Influence of Employee Wellness Programs on Employee Commitment at KCB Bank Kenya

Abstract

In these modern times, organizations are more focused on attaining a competitive advantage and maximizing favorable outcomes for the organization due to the existing dynamic business environment. Employees are fundamental in achieving an organization's objective and goals. Their well-being particularly is of concern as it directly affects a company's effectiveness and efficiency in achieving its goals. This necessitates the existence of a healthy balance between work, life and one's well-being. The prime objective of the study is to ascertain the influence of employee wellness programs on employee commitment at KCB Bank Kenya. This study research used a descriptive cross-sectional design of research and targeted respondents who have been working in the company on contractual or permanent terms and the researcher gave them close ended questionnaires through Google forms, sending the link on WhatsApp. The study used the census approach and target population was all the 154 employees at KCB Bank Moi Avenue branch in Nairobi County. The choice of variables to explain employee wellness programs were Health and Nutrition, Employee Support programs, Mental and Physical Health and Workplace conditions. The analysis found that the first two were not statistically significant to explain the relationship while the last two were statistically significant in explaining the relationship at the 10% significance level. Additionally, the study found that KCB Bank had certain areas they had to improve on should they aim to improve the employee commitment at the organization. One such initiative based on the analysis is that they need to improve their communication regarding healthy living through their various communication channels and also participate more in health initiatives. Furthermore, the analysis showed that the employees did not feel that they had realistic workloads and the stress from work affected their personal relationships with family and friends. These responses reinforced the behavioral decision-making theory where the satisfaction and commitment of the employees is dependent on how well the organization cares for the needs of the employees both physically and psychologically. Based on the findings of the study regarding workplace conditions further established that the implementing wellness programs broadly helps in enhancing workers’ job satisfaction and commitment to the organization.