Worklife Balance And Employee Performance In Selected Private Universities In Kiambu County Kenya

ABSTRACT

Employees across the world often face several challenges in order to manage work life balance, ranging from matters concerning their private lives and families. Such challenges have resulted in stress, burn out, dissatisfaction among employees, poor employee performance, low organisational productivity as well as a lack of proper organisational direction. In an attempt to implement work life balance, private universities have experienced challenges. Nonetheless, private universities’ employee performance in Kenya has been criticised because of unpredictable and unsatisfactory performance. Previous studies on the same have also paid less attention to the role of work-life balance, oblivious of the fact that empirical backing exists that it has momentous impact on employee performance. This study therefore intended to examine the effect of work-life balance on worker’s performance in identified privately owned universities in Kiambu County, Kenya. It specifically intended: determine effects of flexible working arrangement on worker’s performance in privately owned universities in Kiambu County; to assess impacts of leave programs on employee performance; identify the impact of employee assistance programs on employee performance; establish the effect of health and wellness approaches on performance employee in privately owned universities in Kiambu County. The study was guided by component, spill over, compensation, and psychological contract theories. Descriptive research design was applied to describe study variable as well as identify the existing nature of association. The target population was two private universities in Kiambu County with a sum of 1,185 employees and a sample of 119 employees (10%) was considered. This includes top management, middle level management, teaching and non-teaching staff. A response rate of 66 percent was attained. Descriptive statistics was applied to describe the characteristics of study variables using mean and standard deviation. Correlation and multiple regressions measured strength and relatedness between the independent and dependent variables. Adjusted R2 measured the magnitude of variation within the dependent variable which was linked to independent variables’ changes. Findings showed that leave programme, flexible working arrangements, health and wellness as well as employee assistance programme significantly affect employee performance in Zetech and Mount Kenya Universities in Kiambu County accounting for 34.7 per cent changes in employee performance. The study concluded that private universities should grant their employees leave programmes, flexibility in beginning and ending a day’s task, working for longer times per week to get a day off, and maternity/paternity leave benefits. Further, it was concluded that leave programmes are critical to employee performance. In addition, it was concluded that employee assistance is crucial for better employee performance. Lastly, private universities should develop health and wellness programmes to ensure that employees perform well in their duties.