The influence of human resource management practices on achievement of performance targets by government of Kenya ministries in performance contracting

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to establish the influence of human resource management practices on achievement of performance targets by government of Kenya ministries in performance contracting. The human resource practices included selectivity, job description, compensation, employee participation, performance appraisal, training and career planning. The study used a census survey in which all the 43 government ministries took part. The respondents were the heads of Human Resource in the ministries. Data was collected using questionnaires.

Descriptive statistics such as the means, standard deviations and percentages were used to analyse the data. Content analysis was used to analyse qualitative data. The findings of the study showed that it's optimal for ministries to enhance human resource management practices to improve the performance of employees and overall achievement of performance targets. Specifically, the results of the study revealed that selectivity, job description, employee development, and employee involvement through extensive use of team works and decentralized decision making have positive effects on achievement of performance targets.

The study results provide support for the assertion that human resource management practices are significantly related to organizational performance. Therefore a positive relationship exists between human resource management practices and the achievement of performance targets in performance contracting.