Employee Age, Gender and Target Achievement at Construction and Maintenance Department of the University of Nairobi

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to establish the relationship of age and gender on target achievement in Construction and maintenance department at the University of Nairobi. The study employed descriptive research design for it portrays an accurate profile of situations. The study targeted 115 staff in Construction and maintenance department at University of Nairobi and a census sampling method was conducted. Secondary data was used on age, gender and target achievement. This data was obtained from personnel records at the Construction and maintenance department for the period of 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 of the performance contract targets. Descriptive statistics was employed to analyze the data. Descriptive statistics such as mean scores, standard deviation, correlation analysis and percentages was used to analyze the data. Inferential statistics was used to present the results. The results indicated that correlation between age and target achievement was strong and positive, while correlation between gender and target achievement was negative but insignificant. The conclusion drawn from this study shows that there is relationship between age and target achievement since most aged employees scored 70% and above in their target achievement results. This implies that the more the employees age advances the more the more the target is achieved. It was also concluded that there was no significant relationship between gender and target achievement. The researcher recommends that Construction and maintenance department should have a clear gender balance policy. The managers should consider gender equity during departmental interviews in order to ensure gender balance in the department. The researcher also recommends that retirement age should be increased since most employees who scored higher were aged. It is also recommended that reward systems should be considered in order to reward target achievers.