The Relationship Between Perceived Equity in Performance-based Compensation and Organizational Commitment Among Staff at the Kenya Polytechnic University College

Abstract

Performance-based compensation and organization commitment aspects in public and private universities are increasingly important. Publicly funded universities have to seek for additional resources from private market to monitor and develop performance and commitment of their employees accordingly. The number of government-funded students in public universities has been decreasing rapidly, and the share of tuition fees has increased. Thus, public universities have been exposed to market pressures that require dynamic approaches including compensating employees based on their performance to enhance organizational commitment. The main objective of this study was to establish the relationship between perceived equity in performance-based compensation and organizational commitment among staff at the Kenya Polytechnic University College. The research adopted descriptive survey design. Primary data was collected in this study using a structured questionnaire. The data was analyzed by use of descriptive statistics to summarize and relate variables which were obtained from the administered questionnaires. The data was summarized using descriptive measures, percentages, frequency distribution tables. Tables and graphs were used to present the findings. The relationship between perceived equity in performance based compensation and organizational commitment was estimated using Karl Pearson’s Correlation Co-efficient techniques. The study found out that there was a moderate relationship between equity in Performance-based compensation and organizational commitment. This study recommended that universities should adopt performance-based pay criterion that is acceptable by every employee in compensating staff. They should involve all stakeholders when drafting performance-based policies. Further studies should be carried out in to establish the effects of ethnicity on organizational commitment in public institutions.