STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES, HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT UNIT, EMPLOYEE OUTCOMES, AND PERFORMANCE OF PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES IN KENYA

Abstract

ABSTRACT The main objective of this study was to determine whether there was a relationship between SHRMPs and performance of public universities in Kenya, and whether any such relationship was influenced by the human resource management units in the universities on one hand, and by employee outcomes, on the other. The study sought to address the gap that despite empirical evidence that public universities in Kenya implemented SHRMPs. in their operations, which ought to positively impact their performance, the universities appeared to continually perform poorly, not only in terms of their financial prospects, but also in terms of their core mandates, including research, learning and teaching, graduation of learners, and staff welfare among others. Moreover, the reviewed literature did not seem to address human resource management units, and employee outcomes. Seven objectives were set; to examine whether SHRMPs combined influence performance of public universities in Kenya, to establish the extent to which rigorous recruitment influences performance of the universities, to determine if staff training influences performance of the universities, to examine whether reward management affects performance of the universities, to determine how performance management influences university performance, to establish the extent to which implementation of SHRMPs by the human resource management unit moderates the relationship between SHRMPs and performance of the universities, and to determine whether employee outcomes intervene on the relationship between SHRMPs and performance of the universities. Hinged on the positivist ontology, and, leaning towards the Resource Based Theory, the study adopted a descriptive mainly quantitative research design, in a census approach, using a sample of 155 respondents drawn from a target population of approximately 75,000 academic and none-academic employees of 31 public universities in Kenya. After an initial pilot of the instruments was undertaken using a random sample of 30 respondents from six universities, which did not take part in the main study, a self-administered five-point Likert type questionnaire data was collected, and analyzed, based on a 110 (74%) response rate. The data was descriptively and inferentially analyzed using tables, graphs, means and standard deviations, and a combination of linear and multiple linear regression. The results showed that the four SHRMPs investigated (rigorous recruitment, staff training, reward management, and performance management), collectively and individually had a positive and statistically significant influence on the universities’ performance, that the implementation role of SHRMPs by the resource management units had a positive and statistically significant moderating influence on the SHRMPs-performance relationship, and that employee outcomes had a positive and statistically significant intervening influence on the relationship between SHRMPs and universities’ performance. It was concluded that strategic human resource management has a significant role to play in the performance of the public universities in Kenya, and, therefore, the universities should consider this as a possible mechanism among others, for influencing their performance prospects in the future. The study recommended that the universities consider revamping their human resource management by innovatively providing the essential physical facilitation, robust policy formulation, and appropriate full-time employee-HR employee balancing. This would not only promote impactful implementation of SHRMPs, but also the realization of value adding employee outcomes with respect to adequate staff motivation, high levels of work role commitment, adequate empowerment and enhanced teamwork. Although delimited to public universities in Kenya, the findings of this study are considered potentially useful to all universities and beyond. Hence, for HR practitioners, policy makers and researchers this study potentially constitutes a source of insightful theory and empirical-oriented knowledge within the wider HRM empirical literature, and, possibly a potential move towards a SHRMPs implementation framework, entailing SHRMPs-OUs-Performance nexus. Further confirmatory and or comparative studies may affirm or otherwise, the results of this study, by comparing private and public universities in Kenya.