THE MEDIATING EFFECT OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EMPLOYEE REWARDS AND JOB PERFORMANCE OF NURSES IN KENYAN NATIONAL REFERRAL HOSPITALS
Abstract
The Kenya health sector has experienced myriad of challenges. From the nurse’s perspective reports indicate severe shortage of nurses, increase workload, rising out- migration, inadequate facilities and persistent industrial action undermining nurses’ ability to provide dignified and competent healthcare. Hospitals therefore are losing highly competent nurses who are replaced mostly by new graduates, thus it is important to establish the effects of rewards and competences on service delivery of the existing nurses. The extension of role boundaries and role blurring is likely to undermine job performance in respect to competences and job demands. The national referral hospitals are relatively large facilities that often operate beyond capacity and have critical patients that overstretched both human and physical resources. This study sought to examine the mediating effect of employee engagement on the relationship between employee rewards and job performance of nurses in Kenyan national referral hospitals. This study was guided by the positivist approach since it’s anchored on theory and, further because it intends to test hypothesis. This study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional survey research design. The study was carried out in all the four National Referral Hospital in Kenya namely Kenyatta National Hospital, Moi Teaching and referral Hospital Mathare Teaching and Referral Hospitals and National Spinal Injury. The target population for this study was 2,757 nurses in all the four national hospitals obtained through data query by the Human Resource department at the Ministry of Health and preliminary visit to HR departments of respective hospitals for data verification. A sample of 296 respondents was selected using Cochran formula (1963). Primary data was collected through semi structure questionnaires that were administered to the nurses. During data analysis, the study utilized both descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics provided percentages, mean, standard deviation and coefficient of variation of the demographic characteristics and inferential statistics illustrated the regression analysis. The study concluded that the influence of employee rewards on job performance was positive and significant. Employee rewards explained 74.1 percent change in job performance. The influence of employee rewards on employee engagement was also significant and employee rewards explained 59.4 percent change in employee engagement. The effect of employee engagement on job performance was equally significant as shown by 70.4 percent of the variance in job performance being explained by employee engagement. The study recommended that managers of organization take note that employee rewards only account for 35.3 percent level of engagement and employee engagement is responsible for 79.9% change in job performance. Therefore, managers need to ensure employee engagement enhancing activities are in place to sustain culture of excellent job performance.
Keywords: Employee Engagement, Employee Rewards, Job Performance, Nurses & Kenyan National Referral Hospitals.
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