Factors that influence the perception of realistic job preview among management staff in large Commercial Banks in Kenya

Abstract

Organizations view a realistic job preview as a recruiting approach that is designed to communicate both the desirable and undesirable aspects of a job before an applicant has accepted a job offer. Research has demonstrated that many applicants know little about the jobs for which they are applying or worse yet have certain expectations and/or perceptions about the job which are totally inaccurate. This study aimed at establishing the factors that influence the perception of realistic job preview by management staff of large Commercial Banks in Kenya. A sample of twelve (12) banks was selected out of which one hundred and twenty (120) respondents were randomly sampled. Questionnaires were administered using the drop and pick method. Data analysis was done using both descriptive and inferential statistics and presented using frequency tables and percentages.

From the findings, it is evident that realistic job preview is used in the hiring of the management staff of Commercial banks in Kenya. It was also found that different individuals accept or reject job opportunities due to different factors and perceptions about the information they are given. Majority of the respondents were satisfied with the information they were given. The results of this study indicate that management employees of the commercial banks tend to have a higher level of job satisfaction when the information provided to them during the recruitment process, reflects the reality of the jobs they hold. This suggests that realistic job preview has potential in improving employee job satisfaction.

Based on the findings it was concluded that it is important to provide accurate information to prospective employees by having a careful balance of positive or negative aspects of a job and the organization in general. The information given at the recruitment helped the respondent to balance out the expectation hence having easy adjustment to their new jobs. It was recommended that this research be replicated and expanded to a wider population of the Commercial Bank in the country, so that a comparative analysis may be done to establish consistency of findings and to determine differences within and between the cadres for effective human resource planning and management.