Work environment and employee performance in private sector, a case study of Mukwano group of companies

Abstract

The focus of the study was to establish effects of Work Environment on employee performance in private sector using Mukwano group of Companies as a case study. The study was guided by the following objectives; to find out the impact of physical environment on employee performance, to assess the impact of psychological environment on employee performance and to find out the impact of employee work relations on employee performance in Mukwano group of companies. Literature was reviewed based on the study objectives. The researcher adopted across sectional survey research design, where both purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used and 70 respondents were sampled from the target population of 85 respondents. Data was collected using questionnaires and interview and data was analyzed inform of percentages and frequencies. The findings revealed that the majority of respondents generally agreed that many of the employees of Mukwano group of companies are insured against accidents at place of work, office layout and work spaces are good, employees benefit from Mukwano group of companies’ health and safety policy, workplace provides undisturbed and noise free environment. However most of respondents generally disagreed that the company has a First Aid kit readily available in all sectors of the company, the majority of respondents also disagreed that the company provides all employees with protective gears suited for operation. The study also revealed that employees have no control over work schedules, the process of requesting and obtaining “leave off duty” was clear and easy, it’s easy for employees to balance work schedules with family-life responsibilities, employees sacrifice personal life commitments to fulfill work demands and work didn’t interfere with time for family and friends which creates a favorable psychological working environment. The study findings further revealed that there is effective communication between employers and employees, there is supervision support to lower staff, there is employees’ line available for professional advice about work, the employees are satisfied with the support and advice, employees had a spirit of friendliness with other staffs at work, the superiors at Mukwano group of companies are dependable, there is teamwork among employees when the task at hand is challenging, Mukwano group of companies always holds annual staff party, senior management gave staff a clear picture of the direction in which the organization is heading to motivate employees to work and the management involved staff in decision making which improved employee performance. The study concluded that; physical environment has an impact on employee’s performance, which is both positively and negatively, the psychological environment had an impact on employee’s performance, there is effective communication, teamwork among employees, supervision support to lower staff, annual staff party are held, superiors are dependable, spirit of friendliness with other staff at work, employees are satisfied with the support and advice and the management involved staff in decision making which improved employee work relations and employee performance at Mukwano group of companies. The study recommended that; The organization should give employees feedback which is effective regarding their performance, the organization should give employees with job aids or guidance by the help of their supervisors which could be through training and this helps in improving the skills of employees to execute their tasks leading to high levels of performance