Employee Perception of Change Management Practices at Kenya Commercial Bank Nairobi County

Abstract

The change management process in any organization normally happens due to the awareness of the need for change. Organizational change is a socially constructed reality with negotiated meaning as outcomes of power relationships and struggles for supremacy (Grant et al., 2005). Perceptions are multi-dimensional and have behavioral implications for humans’ decision-making. Employee perception of change management should be key to an organization as it determines whether the organization will succeed or fail in its change processes. This study seeks to bridge the existing research gap by conducting a study to establish the employee perceptions of change management with special reference to Kenya Commercial Bank, Nairobi County. This research was conducted through a descriptive survey. The population of this study consisted of all staff working for Kenya Commercial Bank-Nairobi County. A sample of 60 respondents (5% of the target population) was drawn from the possible 1200 target population. Stratified random sampling technique is used when population of interest is not homogeneous and can be subdivided into groups or strata to obtain a representative sample. Primary data was collected using a semi structured questionnaire. Descriptive analysis and content analysis was employed; this included the use of weighted means, standard deviation, relative frequencies and percentages. From the findings the study found that leadership, communication, organisation culture, change agents and the employees’ readiness to accept change are all great factors of change management at Kenya Commercial Bank - Nairobi County. From the findings the study concludes that leadership, communication, organisation culture, change agents and the employees’ readiness to accept change are all great factors of change management at Kenya Commercial Bank- Nairobi County. The study recommends that in order to ensure that change management is easily accepted and effectively adopted there is need for Management of Kenya Commercial Bank-Nairobi County to increase employee participation and involvement during the change process; this will reduce resistant to change and increase acceptability of change among employees. The study can also be extended to other financial institutions such as Savings Cooperatives and Insurance companies in order to understand the perception of employees on change management practices financial markets in Kenya. Similarly the studies can be done for other banks in other countries.