Factors Influencing Employee Commitment in Kenya's Public Health Sector: A Case Study of Thika Level 5 Hospital

In the public health sector in Kenya many who have the ability tend to avoid the public hospitals and tend to go to the private hospitals with the medical staff many a time being accused of negligence or lack of empathy on the patients. It is therefore necessary to investigate the factors that affect the employees' commitment at the public health sector in Kenya because generating higher levels of commitment is a critical factor for successful operation of any organization. This study therefore targeted the hospital workers in the Kenya's public health sector and in particular Thika Level 5 Hospital. The objectives of the study were to establish how reward practices and employee participation, influence employee commitment in Thika Level 5 Hospital. The study adopted a case study research design. The target population for the study was 300 employees in Thika Level 5 Hospital comprising of 25 doctors, 20 clinical officers, 140 nurses and 115 administrative and support staff. The study sample covered 23% from both in-patient and out-patient division translating to a sample of 70 health workers at the hospital. The researcher employed stratified random sampling technique to select the samples for the study. The study used questionnaires to collect primary data from the respondents. The data collected was analyzed by the use of descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (correlation and regression). Correlation and multiple regression analysis was undertaken to determine and explain the relationship between the variables. From the correlation results, it was established that there is a strong positive relationship between employee commitment and reward practices and employee participation which are also both statistically significant at level 0.01. From the findings of the regression results it was established that all the independent variables covered had positive influence on employee commitment. However, reward practices had the highest contributor of employee commitment in Thika Level 5 Hospital. The study recommends that the Kenyan public health sector and in particular Thika Level 5 Hospital should provide its employees with better and competitive rewards, clear promotion criteria and career progression as it will increase employee commitment since their individual and formal needs are well taken care of. The study further recommends that employees be involved in decision making as it will help the employees in social identification with the organization and accept changes that are imposed on them.