Effect of health work environment on employee productivity in higher institutions of leaning of South Sudan: a case of Juba University, school of business and management.

Abstract

The purpose of this study is toinvestigate the effect ofhealth work environment on employee productivity in higher institutions of leaning of South Sudan, focusing on Juba University,School of Business and Management. The study was guided by the following objectives: to examine the effect of career development on employee productivity in Juba University, School of Business and Management, to analyse the impact of physical work environment on employee productivity in Juba University, School of Business and Management and to determine the extent at which psychosocial work environment influences employee productivity in Juba University, School of Business and Management. The study adopted a descriptive and case study research design. The target population was 165 employees and the sample size was 117 respondents was determined using Slovin’s formula, however only 109 respondents successfully participated in the study. The data collection instruments were questionnaires and interviews; and data analysis was done using frequency and percentage tables and regression analysis. The study found that physical work environment affects employee productivity by a variance of 66.1% (R2=0.655, p=0.000); physical work environment affect productivityby a variance of 62% (R2=0.621, p=0.000); and psychosocial work environment affect employee productivityby a variance of 58.3% (R2=0.583, p=0.000). The study therefore concluded that work environment in terms of career development, physical workplace factors and psychological work environment are of great relevance in enhancing employee performance positively if well considered and promoted by the management of the higher institution of learning, otherwise, the reverse would be true. The study in that regard made the following recommendations:University management should implement an effective performance appraisal system, the management of tertiary institutions in South Sudan should remodel the working space so that it is large and spacious enough for employees to feel comfortable when performing their work duties; the management of tertiary institutions like Juba University should emphasize and encourage inclusive participation of employees and seek their opinions on matters that affect them. The new knowledge added by this study was that all the variables that measured work environment, that is, career development, physical workplace factors and psychological workplace factors were all significantly and positively affecting employee productivity of the surveyed institution of learning.