Abstract:
The purpose of the study was to examine the influence of human resource management practices on employee satisfaction in sugar manufacturing firms in Western Kenya. The study was guided by the following objectives: to assess the influence of performance appraisal practices on employee satisfaction, to determine the influence of recruitment practices on employee satisfaction, to establish the role of training practices on employee satisfaction, to determine the influence of reward management practices on employee satisfaction, and to assess the influence of talent management practices on employee satisfaction in sugar manufacturing firms in Western Kenya. This study was informed by Universalist Theory, Resource-Based View (RBV) Theory and Harvard Theory, Michigan and Guest Model theories of HRM. The research design employed in the study was the Mixed Research Design. The study was carried out in 6 sugar firms from western Kenya. The target population comprised 8859 employees and 58 managers drawn from the 6 sugar firms. Simple random sampling procedure was used to pick the sample size of 219 employees. This study used questionnaires and interview schedule to collect data. The Content Validity Index (CVI) was used to test validity of the research instruments. The research instruments were also tested for reliability by computing the Cronbach Alpha Statistical Tests. Quantitative data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistical techniques which were frequencies, mean, standard deviation, whereas inferential statistics, Pearson Correlation and the Multiple Regression Analysis Model, were employed to test the hypothesis. The findings showed that performance appraisal, recruitment practices, training practices, rewarding management and talent management impact highly on employee satisfaction. Findings showed that training practices, rewarding management practices and talent management practices have a positive and significant influence on employee satisfaction. This infers that talent management, recruitment and selection practices result to a high level of employee satisfaction. However, findings indicated that performance appraisal and recruitment practices have a negative and significant influence on employee satisfaction. It is recommended that firms institute processes for integrating different sources and types of knowledge in order to strengthen organizational capability as well as mobilize talented people for the best opportunities. Further, firms need to ensure that performance appraisal activities contribute to employee development in order to
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induce higher employee satisfaction to the organization. In addition, new employees need to be appraised and developed so that they are well versed with new trends and challenges in the industry. It is also recommended that the training programmes should be practical and related to the actual challenges at work. It is also recommended that firms give employees opportunities for career advancement. Lastly, there is need for the organizations to improve pay and benefits so as to motivate employees to remain committed to the organization.
