Psychosocial Work Environment and Employee Performance in Public Hospitality Establishments in Kenya

Abstract

This study was to establish the effect of psychosocial work environment on employee performance in Public hospitality establishments in Kenya. Social cognitive theory of organizational management was adapted with descriptive and explanatory research designs. The target population was 312 employees out of which 173 formed the sample size. Purposive sampling selected the establishments while simple random sampling selected employees. Data was collected using structured questionnaires which were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Specifically, mean and standard deviation for descriptive and bivariate regression tested a null hypothesis on the effect of psychosocial work environment on employee performance. From the findings, psychosocial work environment factors were viewed positively with a mean rate >2. The regression model had R 2=0.224 which implies psychosocial work environment explained 22.4% of the variance in employee performance. The analysis revealed psychosocial environment (β=0.473, p=0.001) affect employee performance (p˂0.05). Consequently, psychosocial is an important predictor of employee performance hence hotel managers should develop mechanisms of listening to employees, enact policies to address employee complaints and introduce non-retaliatory policies. Psychosocial factors are frequently ignored in hospitality establishments yet they have the potential to directly affect employees.

Keywords

• employee performance
• public hospitality establishments
• psychosocial work environment