The effect of mentorship program on business performance amongst Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) in Nairobi County

Abstract

Mentorship is defined as supporting and encouraging people to manage their own learning in order to maximize their potential, develop their skills, improve their performance and become the person they want to be. This simply means helping another individual be the person they want to be and achieve their goals and objective. Kenya is today faced with high level of unemployment especially amongst youth; the government has set up financial mechanism to help the youth set up business that can help them be more productive. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of mentorship programs on business performance amongst micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Nairobi County. The researcher reviewed related literature and found out that a gap still exists on studies on the effect of mentorship programs on business performance. The literature reviewed revolved around the two constructs. The study used cross-sectional descriptive survey design targeting mentees. A simple random sampling was then be used to select the sample. Descriptive statistics of SPSS version 17 were used to analyze the data. Chi-square statistical test established that there exists a strong relationship between mentorship and business improvement however; there was nonsignificant relationship between the mentorship program and overall firm performance. Findings also revealed that the entrepreneurs encounter varied challenges which spoke volumes of the effectiveness on the mentorship program on organizations. The study concluded that mentorship program is not a significant predictor of overall firm/business performance. The study recommends that mentorship programmes need to be considered for the specific business industry/environment for maximum effects. It is also important to study the interdependent relationships that may exist between the MSMEs unique characteristics and mentoring programmes as well as barriers if these potential links and their impact are to be fully established.