Selected Internal Capabilities, Human Resource Orientations and Employee Outcomes of Kenya’s Civil Service

Abstract

Globally, employee outcomes, particularly in public sector organizations remain a key area of strategic focus for human resource management. This is due to its pivotal role in efficient service delivery to the general public of any nation. Kenya’s civil service has over the years endeavoured to continuously improve its capability for effective service delivery. The sector has undergone several reforms since independence to adapt to its changing customer needs, achieve citizen-centred public service and general service delivery excellence. This study sought to investigate the role of human resource management orientations in the relationship between selected internal capabilities and employee outcomes in Kenya’s civil service. The study was guided by five specific objectives: to evaluate the effect of organisational strategy on employee outcomes; to determine the relationship between organisational culture and employee outcomes; to examine the effect of organisational structure on employee outcomes; to establish the effect of organisational communication; and to determine the moderating effect of human resource management orientations on the relationship between organisational capabilities and employee outcomes. The study was anchored on several theories including the contingency theory, resource-based theory and social exchange theory. Additionally, the Herzberg’s two-factor theory, the human relations theory and the universalistic theory were also reviewed. A conceptual framework was drawn to illustrate the linkages between the independent variables, namely: organisational strategy, organisational culture, organisational structure, and organisational communication; the moderating variable, being human resource management orientations; and the dependent variable, being employee outcomes. The study population comprised 39 ministries and state departments with a total of 52,270 employees, headquartered in Nairobi. A sample of 384 was drawn using a formula by Zikmund using proportionate sampling. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data from civil servants at senior, middle, and technical levels in ministries and state departments based in Nairobi. Secondary data was obtained from documented employee satisfaction surveys on the websites of the ministries and state departments. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were conducted to examine the relationships between the predictor variables, the dependent variable, and the moderating variable's effect on the direct relationship between the dependent and independent variables. The study achieved a response rate of 195 respondents, representing 53% of the sample size. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software version 21 was used to facilitate the analysis. The descriptive results are presented using frequencies, measures of central tendency and dispersion. The inferential results are captured through correlation and regression tables. The study found that organisational strategy, structure, culture, and communication had significant positive influence on employee outcomes in Kenya’s civil service. Further, HRM orientations were found to have a significant positive moderating effect on the relationship between selected internal organisational capabilities and employee outcomes. The study concludes that the selected internal organisational capabilities influenced employee outcomes of Kenya’s civil service. The study recommends that the civil service should embrace the configuration of the three study variables to enhance employee outcomes in Kenya’s civil service. Future researchers may consider other methodological plans beyond the current study approach to further contribute to the existing body of human resource management knowledge.