Employee perception of involvement in performance target setting in the department of Nairobi Metropolitan Development, Ministry Of Lands, Housing And Urban Development

Abstract

Organizations are operating in a very competitive environment whereby, to gain a competitive advantage they require a clear and shared vision of purpose and aim. Performance management approach helps every employee understand and recognize his or her contribution. Governments are faced with the challenge of doing things better at minimal cost and science has proved that people deliver when they understand their individual tasks and responsibilities and a feedback mechanism on their performance is provided. Performance contracting provides the needed framework for generating desired behaviour since it includes a range of management instruments used in the public sector to define responsibilities and expectations between parties to achieve mutually agreed results. To achieve set targets, employees must have the abilities to influence or control activities as expressed in the concept of line of sight in that an employee is likely to be motivated when he/she is able to figure out the relationship between their actions, the targets and rewards associated with achieving set target. The objective of the study was to determine the perception of employee involvement in performance target setting, in the department of Nairobi Metropolitan Development from twenty five (25) units and sections heads, through a self-administered questionnaire, whereby drop and pick method was used. The findings revealed that employees perceive that employee involvement in performance target setting exits in the department with an overall grand mean of 3.6. This infers that the process is participative through consultations between the employees and their supervisors. This has helped the department to develop a culture of continuous improvement and national standards are put into a local context for employees understanding. The study concludes with the view that the process of target setting defines precisely the agreed direction of an organization by helping in identification of priority areas. The study recommends employee capacity building in performance target setting since it negatively reflects a variance. The department should also address the issues of performance acknowledgement, recognition and sanctions which were negatively skewed. Further research may be conducted on effective employee involvement scheme in the public service, employee perception of involvement in other stages of performance management such as performance appraisal, and employee perception of involvement in other organizations in the public service as well as public sector.