ASSESSING DETERMINANTS OF EFFECTIVE HUMAN RESOURCE FUNCTIONS DEVOLUTION IN COUNTY GOVERNMENT OF WEST POKOT, KENYA

Abstract

With the implementation of the new constitution in Kenya, a lot of functions have been devolved from the national government to the county government. These functions cut across the entire government system and have led to realignment of how human resource issues are handled. However, several human resource challenges have cropped up that impedes the successful devolution of this functions. This study aimed at assessing the determinants of effective human resource functions devolution in the County Government of West Pokot, Kenya. In particular it sought to assess the influence of selection; to determine the influence of reward systems; to establish the influence of training and to find out the influence of human resource planning on effective human resource functions devolution in County Government of West Pokot, Kenya. The study utilized three theories namely human capital theory, equity theory and cybernetic theory. This study adopted a descriptive research design using quantitative approaches. The target populations for this study were the employees of county government of West Pokot who are 1,020 in number. Data was collected by use of close-ended questionnaires. Pilot testing was done on 12 employees of County Government of Trans-Nzoia, Kenya. The data was analyzed using the Statistical Packages for Social Scientist Version 23. Both descriptive analysis such as mean, frequencies and standard deviation were used to describe the independent and dependent variable while inferential analysis (regression analysis) was used to test the relationships between the independent variable and the dependent variables. The result was presented using tables. The R2 value of 0.6877 implies that 68.77% of the variations in effective human resource devolution can be explained by the variations in independent variables. It was established that both reward systems and training had the most influence while human resource planning had the least influence on effective human resource devolution. The study will be important to various stakeholders because it will enumerate the influence of various human resource functions on effective human resource devolution which is prerequisite for enhancing service delivery.