Relational Rewards and Employee Engagement in the Public Health Sector in Kenya

Abstract

This research aimed to study Relational Rewards (RR) and Employee Engagement (EE) in the Public Health Sector (PHS) in Kenya. In addition, the research concentrated on exploring the moderating function in the relationship between relational rewards and employee engagement of organizational culture (OC). The study's theoretical framework drew from social exchange theory, Super's career development theory, burnout theory of engagement, Job demand-resource model, and Job characteristics model. The study was guided by pragmatism philosophy, descriptive research design and the deductive method and survey were used as research techniques. 3,092 respondents were the target population. Stratified and basic random sampling methods were used to choose the sample population. The sample size was 342 respondents, drawn from two different cohorts of 35 doctors and 307 nurses. A questionnaire was used as a method for data collection to obtain both quantitative and qualitative data types. The questionnaire was pilot tested on 30 respondents from Kakamega County national government public servants. Content validity was realized by adopting tested questionnaires and supervisors' views, whereas construct validity was ensured through confirmatory factor analysis. The reliability of the questionnaire was ensured using the Cronbach alpha coefficient of internal consistency, which was 0.773. The response rate was 97.7% (334 respondents). A mixed method approach was used, and data analysis was realized using both quantitative and qualitative analysis. Demographic data were analyzed using frequency distributions and Percentages with the results presented in charts and tables. Thematic content analysis was used to analyze qualitative data. Using descriptive and inferential statistical methods, quantitative information was edited, coded, and analyzed. Frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations were given by descriptive analysis. Correlation, basic and multiple linear, hierarchical and step-wise regression analyses were used to base inferential statistics. Pearson Correlation Coefficient and ANOVA were the inferential tools used to evaluate the power, direction, and relationship between the study variables with the help of IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBM SPSS) version 24. The relationships among the variables were tested using a t-test at 5% significance and an F test. The study found out that career development (r=0.670p<0.000, R2= 0.449), job design (r=0.721p<0.000, R2=0.519), work environment (r=0.699p<0.000, R2=0.488) and work-life integration (r=0.748, p<0.000, R2=0.559), each had a significant direct influence on employee engagement. Work life integration was ranked with the highest statistical power indicating the most significant factor predicting and influencing employee engagement in the public health sector in Kenya. Organizational culture was found to have a significant but moderate moderating relationship between relational rewards and employee engagement. From these findings, a conclusion was drawn that relational rewards are closely associated with employee engagement and that organizational culture weakly moderates the relationship between the two variables. The study recommends the Public Health Sector to adopt career management policies, management support strategies, provide job characteristics and health and safety standards, and promote flexible work timings and job sharing to enhance employee engagement. The recommendations made by this study offer insightful guidance for the policy makers to prioritize developing relational reward strategies in order to increased employee engagement which shall lead to improved service delivery.