Effect of project employees’ soft skills on performance of public energy sector projects in Kenya

Abstract

The purpose for this study was to investigate the effect of employees’ soft skills on project performance in the Kenyan energy sector. The objectives, on the other hand, were to establish the effect of employees’ leadership skills on performance of projects in the Kenyan public energy sector; to determine the effect of employees’ communication skills on performance of projects in the sector; to ascertain the upshot of stakeholder management skills on performance of projects; to establish the effect of the employees’ problem solving skills on performance of projects in the energy sector; and to find out the moderating effect of the organizational environment on the bond between employees’ soft skills and project performance. In line with these objectives, five hypotheses were developed and pragmatic paradigm adopted to support a mixed method research design. In particular the study employed both cross-sectional and correlation design. Purposive sampling technique was employed to select the projects that were studied. The unit of analysis was the public energy sector projects in Kenya. The population comprised 94 ongoing projects in the energy sector ending between January2016 to December 2018 while the units of observation were the project supervisors in charge of the projects. In particular the study focused on the transmission projects, the generation projects, nuclear projects and the distribution projects. 76 projects were chosen for the study. Two questionnaires were formulated. A Questionnaire that comprised of closed and open-ended research questions taking the format of five point Likert-type interval scale was used to assemble primary data from project supervisors. A second questionnaire that required information on the projects was formulated for the project managers. The statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) program version 23 was utilized to conduct regression analysis, its results used to determine coefficients of multiple regression models, test hypotheses, evaluate reliability of estimated relationship and establish sample regression model. The study established that employees’ leadership skills positively affect project performance in the energy sector in Kenya. The study also ascertained that communication skills positively affect project performance in the energy sector in Kenya. The research further found out that employees’ stakeholder management skills positively affects project performance in the energy sector in Kenya. The employees’ problem solving skills also have a significant effect on performance of energy sector projects in Kenya. The study also revealed that the organizational environment lacks a noteworthy moderating effect on the bond between employees’ soft skills and project performance in the energy sector in Kenya. On the basis of these findings, the study recommends that project managers should coach and mentor, empower and inspire the project team employees. It also advocates for information shared to be largely shaped by preferences of the communities served by the project and for information concerning project activities to be widely availed to the public. The research also recommends stakeholder involvement at every stage of the project life cycle. Furthermore, it suggests that a conducive environment should be created for stakeholders to interact with each other and support one another by sharing resources and intellectual property. In addition, the study recommends that to solve problems in projects, a problem solving strategy and problem solving tools are required. On the organizational environment, the study advises on the need for a favourable internal and external organizational environments for projects to perform well.