Effect of human resource development practices on employee performance at standard gauge railway Kenya

Abstract

The success or failure of a project today entirely depends on employee performance. Many projects require huge amount of funds to undertake and also adequate human capital in order to achieve performance. However, there has been poor employee performance in organizations as much as HRD has been mandated to ensure employee performance is enhanced. This study, therefore, investigated the effect of human resource development practices on employee performance at Standard Gauge Railway Kenya. The study objectives were to establish how employee training, career development, management development, performance appraisals influence employee performance at Standard Gauge Railway. The study was guided by Human Capital Theory, Resource Based Theory and Instructional Design Theory. The study employed an explanatory research design. The study target population was195 senior, middle and lower cadre staff from various departments selected at Standard Gauge Railway, Kenya. Slovin’s formula was employed to calculate the sample size where a sample size of 131was calculated. The study used primary data that was collected using questionnaires administered to senior management, middle and lower cadre staff at Standard Gauge Railway, Kenya and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The finding revealed that employee training development practices, career development practices, management development practice and performance appraisal practices jointly explain 65.5% of employee performance at Standard Gauge Railway Kenya. Specifically, the findings revealed that employee training practices and employee performance at Standard Gauge Railway Kenya had a positive and significant relationship (β=.243, p=0.003<0.05); career development practices and employee performance at Standard Gauge Railway Kenya had a positive and significant relationship (β=.264, p=0.000<0.05); management development practices and employee performance at Standard Gauge Railway Kenya had a positive and significant relationship (β=.237, p=0.002<0.05); performance appraisals practices and employee performance at Standard Gauge Railway Kenya had a positive and significant relationship (β=.278, p=0.000<0.05).The study concludes that employee training development practice, career development practice, management development practice influences employee performance at Standard Gauge Railway Kenya. The study therefore recommends that there should be structured periodic trainings for employees at Standard Gauge Railway Kenya to refresh their skills and competencies. The study also recommends that there is need to offer career advice and mentorship undertaken by experienced senior employees of the organization. The study recommends the need to periodically review the roles of employees, senior management and other stakeholders to ensure that they aligned with organizational goals and are geared towards organization strategic goals. The study recommends for periodic performance appraisals to enable identify the strengths and weaknesses among the employees of the organization. The study makes significant contribution to the Human resource theory by aligning to its postulation that that investment in staff training increases an individual’s skills and abilities obtained can potentially increase employee performance and performance of individuals’ work. There is need for future studies to include intervening and moderating variables.