Influence of Diversity Management Practices on Employee Commitment in the Banking Sector in Kenya

Abstract

Employee commitment in commercial banks in Kenya arising out of many cases of discrimination and exclusion has been reported in a number of research studies. Nonetheless, promoting diversity management practices which would address this anomaly in these institutions is still very low. On the other hand, most of the existing empirical studies in this area have been conducted in the western countries. Further, there is inadequate research about the relationship between diversity management practices and employee commitment and the moderating influence of organizational support on this relationship in Kenyan banks. Thus, the main objective of this study was to investigate the influence of diversity management practices on employee commitment in the banking sector in Kenya. Specific objectives were to: establish whether diversity training, diversity reward, building cultural awareness and diversity networking tend to influence employee commitment in the banking sector in Kenya; and to investigate the moderating influence of organizational support on the relationship between diversity management practices and employee commitment. The research study adopted descriptive survey research design, with a target population comprising 36,212 employees working in the 43 commercial banks in which a sample size of 384 respondents was drawn classified in three strata: top management, supervisory, and general staff. Sampling was done by stratified and simple random techniques. Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. The study also used descriptive and inferential statistics in the analysis of the data. Demographic data was analysed by using frequency distributions and Percentages with the results presented in charts and tables. Inferential statistics were obtained by carrying out correlations analysis, bivariate, multiple, hierarchical and step-wise regressions analyses, to test for the degree of association (correlations) between the variable pairs and their influence on employee commitment. The findings indicated that each of the diversity management practices had a significant influence on employee commitment. It was further revealed that organizational support has a significant moderating influence on the relationship between diversity management practices and employee commitment when the four predictor variables were measured jointly. From these findings, a conclusion was drawn that diversity management practices are closely associated with employee commitment and that organization support moderates the relationship between the two. Therefore, the study recommended that the management of banks should adopt policies that take into account issues of diversity in training, cultural awareness, equitable compensation and reward systems that articulate the principle of fairness and equity, allow employee participation and networking as they offer their own support to all employees without discrimination.