Relationship between employee participation in decision making and motivation: a survey of commercial banks in Nairobi

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to establish the extent to which commercial banks in Nairobi practice employee involvement in decision making and the relationship between employee involvement in decision-making and motivation. A sample size of 168 employees was targeted consisting of non-managers and managers. The response rate of 84% was achieved. The main findings showed that employees' attitudes were fairly favorable towards the idea of workers sharing in the decision making process of the company, the employees cited the job experience, job title and description and company policies as the main factors hindering employees from being involved in decision making. The attitude towards participation was positive despite the limited opportunities to participate. The employees were fairly motivated, they cited individual recognition for above performance, job security, the quality of the relationships in the informal work group, special wage increases to employees who do their job very well, individual incentive bonuses and better job descriptions as the main factors that motivate employees. There is a strong positive correlation bet~een employee involvement in decision-making and employee motivation. The main limitation of the study was that the study was carried out with the help of predetermined questionnaire, hence- hindering employees from freely expressing their views, the study involved employees at all levels of management, this might have affected the results because motivation may vary at different levels of management. Further research should be carried out in the whole country at specific levels of management and factors such as work experience and level of education considered.