EFFECT OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE IN KENYA: A CASE OF LARGE SCALE TEA FARMS IN KURESOI SOUTH DISTRICT, KENYA

As the business environment is becoming more competitive and unstable than ever before, organizations are seeking to gain competitive advantage through enhanced employee performance. To achieve this, organizations have recently focused on the human resources practices through more innovative approaches. The aim of the present study was to establish the effect of human resource management practices on employee performance in large scale tea farms in Kenya. The study specifically looked at the effect of selected practices and how they impact on the overall employee performance. The study employed a descriptive research design specifically a case study of tea firms. The target population was employees of all three large scale tea farms in Kuresoi South District. The target population was 2750 employees and the study used cluster sampling due to the geographical coverage of the tea farms to have a representative sample of 96 employees. The study used both qualitative and quantitative data approach in its data collection. The collected data was summarized and analyzed using both descriptive both descriptive and inferential statistics and then presented in tables, graphs and charts. The findings indicated that there was a strong relationship between employee training, employee welfare practices, compensation and job security measures and employee performance. Compensation and employee welfare practices with correlation coefficients of r = 0.673 and r = 0.485 were found to have the most significant effect on employee performance. The study recommended that tea farms need to put in place effective compensation schemes and progressive employee welfare practices in order to enhance employee performance. Further, the large scale farms need to enhance both their employee training processes and job security measures in a bid to motivate their employees if employee performance is to be increased.