FACTORS AFFECTING EMPLOYEES PRODUCTIVITY IN KENYA IN CONSULTING

FIRMS: A CASE STUDY OF PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS

BY

HARRIET AKINYI OKELLO

ADMISSION NUMBER: 007301

A RESEARCH PROJECT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULLFILLMENT OF THE

REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF HIGHER DIPLOMA IN HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT TO THE COLLEGE OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

FEBRUARY, 2019
 DECLARATION

This research project is my original work and has not been presented to any examination body.
No part of this work should be reproduced without my consent or that of The College of Human
Resource Management.

Student declaration

Student Name : Harriet Akinyi Okello

Signature : Date:……………………………

Declaration by the supervisor

This research proposal has been presented to the College of Human Resource Management in
partial fulfillment for the award of Higher Diploma in Human Resource Management with my
approval as the College supervisor of the candidate.

Name : Vincent Makori

Designation : Lecturer

Signature : ………………………………. Date: ……………………………

For and on behalf of College of Human Resource Management

The Principal

Name :

Signature : Date: ………………………

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I thank the Almighty God for the many blessings that He has continued to bring into my life. I
would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Vincent Makori for his guidance and
support towards the writing of this research project. I would also like to recognize and appreciate
his endurance in reading through my drafts and his suggestions on improvements and
corrections. I could not have imagined having a better advisor and mentor for this proposal than
him. I am also grateful to The College of Human Resource Management for offering me the
opportunity to undertake this study, and all my lecturers who contributed in one way or another
in quenching my thirst for education and knowledge.
 DEDICATION

I dedicate this research to my parents who have seen me through my education right from
childhood to where I am right now. Their unwavering support and concern about my education
cannot go unnoticed. It has been quite a denial for them to see me through my education and as a
sign of appreciation; I dedicate to them this research paper.
 ABSTRACT

This research was carried out to find out the factors that affect employees’ productivity in Kenya.

Four variables were used in the study and they include; Employee motivation, Job design,

Performance appraisal and Working conditions. The study seeks to benefit the

Pricewaterhousecoopers, HR consultants, scholars and trade unions in knowing what factors to

maximize employees’ productivity. The study used descriptive research design and data was

collected by use of questionnaires. The target population was 500 respondents from all the

selected departments and these involved categories where respondents were selected using

stratified random sampling techniques. The sample size was 150 respondents. The study findings

were analyzed and presented in form of charts, tables and graphs and through the use of

qualitative and quantitative techniques. The findings of the study indicated that employee

motivation, job design, performance appraisal and working conditions have a positive relation

with that of employee performance. Majority of the employees find it important that their

superiors recognize them for a job well done. Most of the employees are not satisfied with their

reward system. Majority of them indicated that they were not motivated by the challenges faced

by their jobs. Most of the employees’ jobs require high skills, and they are not routine as well.

Their jobs are self-explanatory and they also give them the chance to arrange themselves. Also,

employees are able to define their jobs. The organization has a clear division of responsibilities

and their superiors motivate them to perform better with their clear information and direction.

However, most of the employees are not engaged in the decision-making process and they are

not encouraged to be innovative by the management. The management also does not practice

proper ethics in their internal dealings within the organization. The environment in the

organization is conducive enough and catalyzes the performance of employees in the

organization. There are no much cases of bullying or harassment of any sort. However, the

culture in the organization was not supportive emotionally. Most of the employees understand

the procedures and policies of the organization. They are always in touch with their superiors and

work well with their colleagues. However, majority of the employees do not take part in projects

that benefiting the organization neither do they take part in solving problems in the organization.

It was recommended that the management should find a way of motivating every employee for

every employee is not the same. The management should engage the staff in the decision-making

process
 CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.0 Introduction

This chapter gives an introduction of the subject in question. It further provides a problem

statement, the general objective of the study and the specific objectives, the research questions,

significance of the study, the scope of the study and the Chapter summary.

1.1 Background of the study

Employee productivity refers to the amount of goods and services that a worker produces in a

given amount of time. It can also be referred to as workforce productivity. Productivity goes line

in line with employees’ skills, competency, development plans and delivery of results. In many

organizational setting, there are different types of resources that are used to facilitate efficient

and effective day to day operations of an organization such as human capital, money, machinery

and raw materials. In all these resources, human capital is the most fundamental in ensuring

maximum productivity of an organization hence the need to ensure that it is well catered for so

that the organization can produce beyond expectations. Most organization can afford the right

materials, enough money and appropriate technology to conduct their operations smoothly but

not every organization can afford the right human capital. As a result, employee productivity is

very important to the twenty first century organizations for this will enable them compete

favorably against the changing environment with other organizations. Robin (1998), as cited by

(M'Mbui, 2011) indicates that performance may be influenced by a number of factors which

include; individual personality, the values instilled in them, attitudes and competence of an

individual which is a mixture of how they perceive things and their motivation. For one to get to

know how well or badly they may have performed, a productivity management tool has to be

used to assess them. Employment of key performance indicators in accessing the productivity of
each employee is very vital to any organization according to Guck (2013). The performance

indicator include; the 360 - degree feedback that is used on managers by the people that work

with them on a day-today basis, the balanced score-card which entails a combination of

quantifiable information such as sales quotas and budget position, management by objectives

where managers come up with goals for the employees then they get to be measured at the end of

a period to see whether these goals have been attained, self-evaluation where an individual

measures his or her own performance in comparison with that of their superior (Gunk, 2013).

Organizations are facing increased competition due to globalization, and external environmental

factors. Each and every organization has the responsibility to enhance the performance of their

employees because of its importance in achieving optimal goals (Nassazi, 2013). The effective

management of employees’ performance should: contribute to business success by ensuring that

individual efforts are linked to business objectives; improve the motivation and performance of

staff by giving them positive feedback and by providing them with opportunities for training and

development; provide a basis for linking rewards to performance; give the company more

information about individuals and their needs (Cushway, 2015). High employee productivity

gives an individual an assurance of security hence they do not hop from one job to another in

search of a new position. This happens when their managers are able to understand their

expectations and professional goals, as well as giving them feedback from time to time just to

make sure that they are at their best. All in all, good job performance enhances the reputation of

an employee hence enhancing them in developing their careers(McQuerrey, 2014). Recruitment

of the right staff, employee redundancy, talent retention, development of staff as well as issues

with performance management processes tend to be the major obstacle that Nigeria and Uganda

face in achieving optimum productivity in their organizations.

This may be resolved however by good rewarding systems and development and training

(Onyije, 2014 and Kyakulumbye, 2013) as cited by (Kibichii, Kiptum, & Chege, 2016).

Productivity in Pakistan is perceived as a threat to many organizations because many managers

do not practice good performance management techniques. This can be suctioned by

implementing proper performance management techniques such as motivation to increase the

psych of employees. (Karimi, Malik and Hussain, 2011 and Khan and Gautam 2014) as cited by

(Kibichii, Kiptum, & Chege, 2016.

1.1.1 PricewaterhouseCoopers profile

PricewaterhouseCoopers(PwC) is a multinational professional services network headquartered in

London, United Kingdom. PwC ranks as the second largest professional services firm in the

world behind Deloitte. It is one of the big four auditors along with Deloitte, EY and KPMG. It

operates in one hundred and fifty eight countries with about two hundred and fifty thousand

employees in assurance, advisory and tax services. It was established in 1998 by a merger

between Coopers & Lybrand and Price Waterhouse. As part of its rebranding, it acquired the

name PwC in 2010. In Kenya, PwC is one of the leading employers sought out by most

graduates. Its functions include; providing professional services such as audit and assurance,

advisory and tax services. It has employed over five hundred professionals to assist private

companies and public institutions with their major roles. It has its offices in Nairobi – Kenya at

PwC Towers in Westlands.

1.2 Statement of the problem

Organization exists for the purpose of rendering services or selling products. For the organization

to meet its objectives, people are employed in the organization in order to help the organization

meet its objectives. Thus, in order to ensure that people employed in the organization perform

optimally towards the realization of organizational goals, then understanding the factors that

affect their productivity is essential.

Employees’ productivity management helps in ensuring that employees contribute towards the

objectives, goals and mission of the organization. By improving the performance of an

employee, the overall performance of an organization is automatically improved (Ying, 2012).

An effective performance management system should have the capability to enhance success of

an organization as well as ensuring that the employees are also well motivated (Cushway, 2015).

Understanding the factors affecting employees’ productivity in Kenya could be a solution to

employee dissatisfaction depicted by go-slows and strikes. Most organizations have survived

through the tough economic times by trying to re-invent themselves through adopting the new

technologies but still, the organizations are still running in debts. It is quite evident that updated

equipment, or new technologies or pumping in more money into projects by the government is

not enough to neither enhance productivity of an organization nor maximize profits. Better

performance can only be achieved when the employees use their unique wits to enhance the

productivity of the organization

1.3 Objectives of the study

1.3.1 General objective

To determine the factors that affect employees’ productivity in Kenya.

1.3.2 Specific objectives

a) To find out the effect of employee motivation on employees’ productivity at PwC.

b) To establish the effect of job design on employees’ productivity at PwC.
c) To find out the effect of working conditions on employees’ productivity at PwC.
d) To establish the effect of performance appraisal on employees’ productivity at PwC.

1.4 Research questions

a) How does employee motivation affect employees’ productivity at PwC?

b) What is the effect of job design on employees’ productivity at PwC?

c) How does working conditions on employees’ productivity at PwC?

d) In what ways does performance appraisal affect employees’ productivity at PwC?

1.5 Significance of the study

The findings of the study would benefit the management of PwC as well as other organization in

Kenya to implement and enhance HR practices geared towards maximizing the employees’

productivity.

The findings of the studies are of great significance to scholars that may intent to conduct a study

on the same topic. This is due to the fact that the information herein may be used as a form of

literature for reference.

Besides, trade unions in Kenya could benefit from this research in the restructure of the

objectives set by these unions regarding workers and also enables them to understand the plight

of workers and in return, they will be able to articulate their grievances appropriately.

1.6 Scope of the Study

This study was limited to PricewaterhouseCoopers as an organization based in Nairobi,

Westlands area. It considered four variables which included; employee motivation, job design,

working conditions and performance appraisal. The organization has over 500 employees across

all levels of management. The study duration was four months from September to December

2018.

1.7 Chapter Summary

In summary, this chapter has given a detailed introduction of the PwC profile, statement of the

research problem, general objective, specific objectives, and significance of the study and finally

the scope of the study.

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 Introduction

This chapter seeks to elaborate on the theories related to factors affecting employees’

productivity in Kenya. It also gives an empirical literature review, summary and research gap,

the conceptual framework as well as operationalization of variables.

2.1 Literature Review

2.1.1 Equity Theory by J. Stacy Adams

This theory was developed by J. Stacy Adams in the 1960s. Adams was

a workplace and behavioral psychologist, who asserted that employees normally look to maintain

equity between the inputs that they bring to a job and the outcomes that they receive from it

against the perceived inputs and outcomes of others (Adams, 1963). The belief is that people

value fair treatment which causes them to be motivated to keep the fairness maintained within

the relationships of their co-workers and the organization. The structure of equity in the

workplace is based on the ratio of inputs to outcomes. Inputs are the contributions made by the

employee for the organization. This theory articulates that, employees that are treated unjustly

compared to others will bring about a state of tension that may lead them to minimize their effort

at work or even quit their jobs. This theory tries to show the outcome of employees that believe

in being treated justly at their place of work. It shows the importance of equality and human

treatment at the workplace ensuring that employees are able to control their productivity. This is

because an unfair system that is full of victimization, unpredictability undermines the employee

belief that effort will result in a negative outcome. Employees should be able to see the

importance of acting with all modesty towards their subordinates, and also how equity may come

in handy in different situations and its effect to the organization as a result of employee reactions
(Al-Zawahreh & Al-Madi). This theory is very much relevant to this study in that it points out

some of the reasons as to why employees may decide to underperform at their work stations.

1.1.2 Elton Mayo’s theory of Human Relations

This theory came up in the immediate period after World War Two where a different approach in

organizational studies was introduced. Until that time, there was only talk of Scientific

Management, which mainly focused on productivity, efficient division of labour and workers as

an extension of machinery. In 1950, Elton Mayo developed the Human Relations Theory. This

saw workers in a different light; they were now seen as thinking beings with needs, who liked to

receive attention. Companies realized that attention motivated employees and even allowed them

to get more out of themselves for the benefit of the organization.

This theory studied developed from worker output at the Western Electric Company’s Hawthorn

plant near Chicago. Famously referred to as the Hawthorn studies, Mayo and a previous team of

researchers studied the productivity of workers under changing conditions in temperature,

humidity, and illumination (Pennock, 1930). Conventional wisdom at the time was that external

working conditions were directly responsible for worker productivity (Taylor, 2008). This

principle, known as scientific management, was championed by Fredrick Taylor in 1911 and is

still a powerful reference for modern managers.

Mayo’s team, consisting of Fritz Roethlisberger, George Homans, and T.N Whitehead, found that

contrary to scientific management principles, “interactional variables make the difference in

motivating people - things like attention paid to workers as individuals, workers’ control over

their own work, differences between individuals’ needs, the willingness of managers to listen,

group norms, and direct feedback” (Ott et al., 2007). The Mayo team’s findings directly

challenged the principles of scientific management, suggesting that perhaps people could not be
fit to organizations (Roethlisberger, 1965). Rather, considering and understanding the personal

and social needs of workers was just as influential, if not more so, than external working

conditions. This opened the door to a flood of new ideas regarding motivation, organization

theory, and human psychology. Fredrick Herzberg developed a theory of motivation that

highlighted the role of job satisfaction in determining worker motivation (Riggio, 2014). He

proposed that the determinants of job satisfaction were different from those of job dissatisfaction.

The factors giving rise to satisfaction were called motivators (e.g. recognition, responsibility and

achievement), while those giving rise to dissatisfaction were called hygiene factors (e.g. salary,

company policy and working conditions) (Cole and Kelly, 2011).

2.2 Empirical Literature Review

2.2.1 Employee motivation and productivity

Ibrahim and Brobbey (2015) completed an investigation to see whether the monetary area in

Ghana's execution of representatives could be influenced by motivation. The consequences of the

study showed that conceding administration openings, worker acknowledgment, meeting up their

desires and cooperating with workers really motivated employees. Need of motivating forces,

comfort levels, poor administration, a great workplace, mechanical progression, assessment of

representatives, administrative gauges and inspiration were moreover seen as variables that could

really impact the execution of employees. The discoveries further demonstrated that motivation

in upgrades productivity and furthermore made a difference where workers meet their own needs

just as accomplishing the objectives of the organization and empowering them to have a decent

association with themselves in the association (Ibrahim and Brobbey, 2015). Waiyaki (2017)

looked for the connection among inspiration and staff execution in a think about did at Pam
Golding Properties. The investigation showed that the administration of Pam Golding Properties

halfway utilized persuasive objective setting as a spark to their representatives. They likewise

enabled the representatives to be included when defining their objectives, in spite of the fact that

they didn't discover them trying or troublesome by any means, regardless of them being explicit.

The examination likewise demonstrated that there was an absence of ordinary preparing and

improvement for the representatives to enhance their key aptitudes and information and this is a

zone that ought to be tended to. Also, there was no mentorship program for workers either amid

on-boarding or to accomplish their objectives and this would be significantly valuable to them.

with the monetary packages that were offered by the company. The employees saw these

incentives as not competitive compared to other organizations in the same field. In conclusion,

the study agreed to the fact that money was a great motivator and the organization should

actually look into satisfying its employees accordingly by it. Indeed, a positive relationship

between motivation and performance can be deduced from this study (Waiyaki, 2017). Nadeem,

Ahmad, Muhammad and Hamad (2014) put various companies in Multan city, Pakistan under

scrutiny to determine whether motivation affected the performance in these organizations. In the

study, an analysis of different aspects of motivation more specifically in private organizations

were made and found out that most of them were not motivated. The findings of the study

indicated that motivation is necessary for each and every firm for it surely affects the overall

performance of the employees and helps them achieve their overall goals. A firm that takes

proper care of their employees progresses (Nadeem, Ahmad, Muhammad, & Hamad, 2014).

From the above studies, we can actually conclude that motivation is a very important factor on

the performance on employees.

2.2.2 Job design and employee’s productivity

Job design refers to outlining the task, duties, responsibilities, qualifications, methods and

relationships required to perform the given set of a job. It includes the components of the task

and the interaction pattern among the employees, with the intent to satisfy both the

organizational needs and the social needs of the jobholder. A study was conducted by Zareen,

Razzaq and Mujtaba (2013) to see whether job design had an impact on productivity of

employees. The study came up with a new variable known as psychological perception just to

put an emphasis on how employees act towards a job design. Job design, job enrichment and job

enlargement were put together as variables in a conceptual framework to show the relationship

that they have with productivity of employees. From the findings, we get to see that different

employees had different goals to achieve in an organizational setting. There are those whose

ambition are to flourish through challenging work, those that may want to be given the chance to

present their innovations to the organization, and those that are very much okay with status quo

being maintained. The study indicated that the nature of work of an individual is dependent on

the personality of an individual, and once these needs are met, productivity would be achieved

(Zareen, Razzaq, & Mujtaba, 2013). Achieng, Ochieng and Owuor, (2014) carried out a study

that intended to find out whether job design affects the productivity of bankers in Kisumu City.

According to this study, task significance, task variety and task identity had an impact on the

accomplishment of these bankers. However, task autonomy was not seen as a factor for

performance in this study. In conclusion to the study, job design was seen as a factor determining

the performance of employees and creation of a task identity for these employees was

recommended in order to enhance their performance(Achieng, Ochieng, & Owuor, 2014) It is

therefore true to say that job design indeed affects the productivity of employees in an

organization.
2.2.3 Working conditions and employees’ productivity

The influence degree of working environment is the counterpart requirement of a creative job.

Higher job satisfaction and lower intentions to leave were found for those individuals whose

work environment accompanied the creative requirements of jobs. Enhancing the creative

performance of employees has been recommended as dire for remaining competitive in a

dynamic environment and for enhancing the overall innovations of an organization (Janssen, O.

and NW. Van Yperen, 2004). Working environment can be divided into two components namely

physical and behavioral components. The physical environment consists of elements that relate

to the office occupiers’ ability to physically connect with their office environment. The

behavioral environment consists of components that relate to how well the office occupiers

connect with each other, and the impact the office environment can have on the behavior of the

individual. According to Haynes (2008), the physical environment with the productivity of its

occupants falls into two main categories office layout (open-plan verses cellular offices) and

office comfort (matching the office environment to the work processes), and the behavioral

environment represents the two main components namely interaction and distraction.

2.2.4 Performance appraisal and employees’ productivity

According to Luis, David and Robert (2004), performance appraisal is the identification,

measurement and management of the human resource performance in an organization. The

authors say that organizations conduct appraisals for administrative purposes and to ascertain

employee performance. Employee performance appraisal can also be seen as a process of

assessing, summarizing and developing the work performance of an employee in an organization

in order to improve employee productivity in the organization (Bernardin, 2006). Barney (2001)

indicates that the much of the employee performance literature and the emphasis of developing

employee competencies and improving employee performance are derived from the resource-

based perspective of business strategy which is used for achieving business goals. Under the

resource-based perspective, competitive advantage is derived from a firm’s physical, human, and

organizational resources (Barney, 2001). Barney says that the human resource controls all the

other resources and thus should be continually checked to ensure it is performing according to

set standards. Kinicki and Williams (2008) say that performance appraisals help employees

understand how they are doing in relation to objectives and standards of their job. The feedback

given to the employee will help them improve their perceptions towards their work. According to

Beardwell and Holden (2001), a good performance appraisal system will identify performance

standards and core competencies and communicate them to employees. 23 Beardwell and

Holden (2001) state that periodical appraisals help the company to compare employees’

performance with desired performance and to take apt decisions for further improvement. High

performance may merit salary increment, bonus or promotion (Bradley, 1992). Bernardin (2006)

says that performance appraisals are used to describe how well individuals perform their work.

Bernardin (2006) argues that the actual performance appraisal instrument should have been

developed from work analysis and should be linked to the job description. Bernardin views

performance appraisal as systematic evaluation of employee job performance by their

supervisors or others who are familiar with the employee’s performance. Job analysis is used to
develop criteria for performance appraisals (Bacon and Blyton, 2006). Bacon and Blyton (2006)

say that honesty is the key to making a performance evaluation a valuable tool for all involved. It

is important that you present an objective and accurate analysis of an employee ‟s performance

(Batt, 2002). Batt indicates that performance appraisals help in identifying weaknesses and

strengths as well as opportunities for improvement and skills development. The success of

performance appraisals depends on the frequency of feedback concerning the performance of the

employees. According to Levine and Wingert (1996), feedback should be provided on a regular

basis as it will improve employee perceptions towards their work. Collins and Smith (2006) say

that performance appraisal systems began as simple methods of income justification. The process

was firmly linked to material outcomes. The traditional emphasis on reward outcomes was

progressively rejected (Levine, and Wingert, 1996). Performance appraisals affect employee

perceptions towards work by enabling the employees know what is expected of them on the job

and measuring the actual 24 performance against the expected performance (Grant, 2002).Grant

(2002) indicates that employees work hard to achieve set targets. Lack of performance appraisals

may reduce employee performance since the employees may relax knowing they will not be

evaluated against any set targets (Colbert, 2004).Performance appraisals offer a valuable

opportunity to focus on work activities and goals, to identify and correct existing problems

(Grant, 2002). Therefore, performance appraisal has a positive effect to employees’ productivity.

2.3 Conceptual Framework

In the conceptual framework, four variables were used. They include; employee motivation, job

design, management style and performance appraisal in relations to the main objective which is

employees’ productivity. The conceptual framework used was as shown below.

Figure 2.1 Conceptual Framework

Employee motivation

Human Relations Theory

Job design
Employee s’
Productivity

Working conditions
Equity Theory

Performance appraisal

Source: Author (2018)

2.4 Operationalization of Variables

2.4.1 Employee motivation

Motivation is an internal process that makes a person move toward a goal. It is depicted by

commitment, results delivery among other factors that increases productivity of an individual.

For motivation to occur, it has to be induced. The management can be the source of instigating

motivation in an individual. Besides, an individual can instigate motivation but it will largely
depend on what he or she is to achieve after doing his or her work. A well-motivated employee is

a crucial asset to the organization regardless of the economic conditions that a country may

encounter. There are various ways in which an employee may be motivated. However, in this

study, the research is limited to measure motivation by use of rewards, recognition, feedback and

the nature of Expectancy theory Equity theory Employee motivation.

2.4.2 Job design

Job design as a role basically lies in the hands of the HRM department of an organization that is

concerned with specifying of work content, their methods and relations regarding these jobs. The

importance of job design is that it matches an employee with his or her skills to best fit a position

in the organization and be as productive as possible and also enhance their level of satisfaction in

order to attain maximum productivity

2.4.3 Working environment

Working environment refers to the conditions at work and all existing circumstances affecting

labor in the workplace, including job hours, physical aspects, legal rights and responsibilities. It

is the role of the management to ensure that all employees are accorded the right working

conditions in order to be productive.

2.4.4 Performance appraisal

Performance appraisal is the systematic evaluation of employees with respect to their

performance on their job and their potential for development. A performance appraisal is an

evaluation done on an employee’s job performance over a specific period of time. The works

performed by the different employees differ in many aspects due to the difference in their
backgrounds, experiences, knowledge, skills, abilities, and aptitudes. Such differences determine

the need for training and development activities. It is the equivalent of a report card on an

employee and how their manager assessed their performance over the prior year. So, it is

necessary for management to identify such differences so that employees having better job

performance ability, skills and knowledge can be rewarded in one hand, and the wrong

placements of the employees may be checked through transfer or punishments on other hands. In

this regard, performance appraisal provides a measure in order to know the level of performance

so that the employee may improve his/her performance.

2.5 Gaps to be filled

Even though extensive research has been done regarding the factors affecting employees’

productivity, there are still gaps that require to be filled. For instance, the performance appraisal

as a factor, does not give us an option on how to deal with those employees with negative

appraisal. Such employees do not to be dismissed but there is something that can be done apart

from them being trained in order to maximize their productivity for an organization. Besides, as

much as employee training can serve as motivation, the human resource management need to be

helped largely by the education system especially professionals.

2.6 Chapter Summary

It is quite evident that there is a positive relation between employees’ productivity and

motivation from the empirical literature above. Issues such as employee recognition,

involvement of employees, interacting with employees, employee development, granting of

leadership opportunities are seen to be motivating factors according to these previously done

studies. Motivation is seen as a catalyst of efficiency in organizations. However, it is argued that

each and every individual is motivated differently and the managers come supervisors should be
able to identify what their employee is motivated with in order to enhance their level of

satisfaction. Job design is also seen as a very crucial factor on performance of employees from

the above literature. Task identity, feedback, task significance, task variety and autonomy are

only but a few elements in job design that may be enhanced to facilitate the performance of

employees. Still on job design, different individuals flourish in their jobs in different

dispensations. There are those who thrive in challenges, those who are innovative and those that

are just comfortable with routine. The management should be able to also identify this and be

able to subject each and every employee to the conditions that suit them well. Working

conditions have a great impact on the performance of individuals from the above literature.

Making sure that the organization’s environment is conducive can prove to be very vital toward

the overall performance of individuals in an organization with availability of tools and equipment

being the most important element. Performance appraisal has also been seen to have a positive

impact to employees’ productivity hence organizations in Kenya should try and implement it for

increased productivity of their employees.

CHAPTER THREE
 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

3.0 Introduction

Methodology can be defined as a systematic way of solving a research problem (Kothari, 2004).

The research gave details regarding the factors that influence employee productivity at PwC.

This chapter focused on research design, the target population, sample design, data collection

and data analysis procedures that were employed by the researcher.

3.1 Research Design

A research design is a procedure used to select a sample, administration of instruments and data

analysis by a researcher (Ogula, 2005). It also refers to the arrangement of conditions for

collection and analysis of data in a manner that is aimed to combine relevance to the research

purpose with economy in procedure (Kothari, 2004). The researcher adopted a descriptive survey

design, mainly cross-sectional to investigate the factors that affect employees’ productivity in

Kenya. Mugenda and Mugenda (2003) argue that a descriptive survey method attempts to collect

data from members of population and assist researchers to describe existing phenomena by

asking individual questions about their perception. Cross-sectional survey was used in the study

because it ensured the use of different categories at the same time, (Kasomo, 2007). A case study

of PwC in Kenya would be used in this study.

3.2 Target population

A population refers to the entire group of people, events, or things of interest that the researcher

wishes to investigate (Sekaran and Bougie, 2016). It is basically a theoretical population that

may or may not be as accurate. The research was conducted at PwC offices situated in

Westlands. The company has quite a number of employees such as managers in different

departments and their juniors. This study targets approximately 500 employees in different

departments such as administration, procurement, finance and accounting among others. This is

as shown in table 3.1 below.

Table 3.1: Target Population

Department Number of employees Percentage

Administration 160 32

Procurement 120 24

Finance 80 16

Accounting 60 12

Others 80 16

Total 500 100

Source: Author (2018)

3.3 Sample Design

This refers to the way of selecting a sample. According to Sekaran and Bougie, (2010) sampling

is the process of selecting a sufficient number of elements from the population. It also refers to

the selection of a subset of individuals from within a statistical population to estimate

characteristics of the whole population (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2003). Stratified random

sampling was used based on employee status in the company, that is, management versus non-

management staff. Saunders et al (2007) state that the general guiding principle to sample size

selection is to have a minimum number of 30, hence the respondents consisted of forty eight

administration employees, thirty six from procurement, twenty four from finance, eighteen from

accounting departments and twenty four from other departments. This is illustrated in table 3.2

below.

Table 3.2: Sample size

Department Number of employees Percentage

Administration 48 32

Procurement 36 24

Finance 24 16

Accounting 18 12

Others 24 16

Total 150 50

Source: Author (2018)

3.4 Data Collection

Questionnaires and interviews were used as data gathering devices in this study. Questionnaires

entailed open-ended and Likert scale questions. This helped in keeping the respondents’ answers

within the scope of the study (Miyazaki, 2009). A questionnaire is a research instrument

consisting of a series of questions and other prompts for the purpose of gathering information

from respondents (Mugenda & Mugenda 1999). Various methods were used in the questionnaire

administration. Primary data was collected using structured questionnaires. The questionnaire

which has two sections contained both close-ended and open-ended questions. The first section

of the questionnaire contained questions on the bio-data of the respondents and the second

section contained questions relevant to the objective of the study, i.e. the factors that influence

employee motivation. The self-administered questionnaires were hand delivered by the

researcher to the respondents and picked later after completion. The questionnaire was also used

together with an interview. This allowed the interviewee to obtain information that may not have

been captured by the questionnaire. An important thing that was observed is the maintenance of

anonymity of the respondents and adoption of a ‘no right answer’ policy to avoid social

desirability bias. Secondary data was derived from review of books, journals, articles, insurance

industry reports and literature already done by other scholars on insurance fraud in the Kenyan

industry.

3.5 Data Analysis

This section helped to describe facts, detect patterns, develop explanations and test hypotheses.

At this stage, erroneous entries were inspected and corrected. This was to ensure good quality

data was obtained. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used for data analysis.

Quantitative data from the questionnaire were allocated symbols for purposes of grouping so as
to conduct measurement of the data. This included coding and arranging the data in a systematic

way to facilitate analysis. The coded data was entered into the computer for computation of

descriptive statistics using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences to run descriptive statistics

such as frequency and percentages. Measures of central tendencies, that is mean and standard

deviations were used to interpret the 5- point Likert scale. The results were then presented in

form of tables, pie charts and bar graphs. The qualitative data generated from open ended

questions was analyzed using content analysis and reported in narrative form along with

quantitative presentation. The qualitative data was used to reinforce the quantitative data.

3.6 Ethical consideration

3.6.1 Informed consent and voluntary participation

The researcher saw to it that the respondents agreed to take part in the process without any

feeling of being pressured. The participants were asked to verbally agree on whether they wanted

to participate and those that refused were left to be.

3.6.2 Confidentiality, privacy and anonymity

The potential respondents will not be identified in any manner. The researcher will explain to the

respondents that no one will know whether they are the ones that answered the questionnaires

will not be shown to the management or anyone whatsoever apart from the Research assistants

that will work on the data gathered

3.7 Chapter Summary

This chapter was concerned with ways of carrying out the actual research on the study. It began

with a research design, target population, Sample and sampling design, data collection

instruments, pilot study and reason behind the pilot study, data collection procedures, analysis

and presentation of data and finally ways of protecting the respondents through ethical

consideration