A comparative study of factors affecting performance at workplace in the ministry of health

Abstract

The gender issue today cannot be overemphasized, both in Kenya and in the world in general. In Kenya right from the colonial times, women experienced considerable social, economic and political inequalities as compared to men. In Kenya today, although the government has put in much effort to help women who have been marginalized by their male counterpart in many domains of life, it appears that changes to this end have not borne much fruit. This research targets the Ministry of Health employees. Data obtained from the ministry of health reveals that in Nairobi province, out of a total of 3,505 staff members, men are 1,427 while women are 2,078 (Integrated Personnel and Payroll Data, MOH, May, 2007). Women are thus adequately represented. However, this trend is reversed when it comes to senior positions in the ministry. For instance, Job group Q upwards has 17 males, and 7 females. Further, between Job group M to P, males are 445, while females are 149. This study therefore seeks to find out what factors affect staff performance, and to what extent these factors affect the working women compared to the men. The study specifically aims at identifying the personal and also management-related factors that affect staff performance in the Ministry of Health. Multi-stage sampling procedure will be used to get a sample of 180 members from different cadres of employees in the ministry for the purpose of this study. Self administered close ended questionnaires will be administered to individual respondents. Statistical analysis will be carried out with the help of SPSS package in order to determine the statistical significance of the factors that affect performance of work.