A surveyof factors influencing promotion of secretariat staff inpublic institutions in kenya: a case study of teachers service commission

Abstract

Thepurpose of the study is to identify various factors that influence promotion of employees of Teachers Service Commission. The study was carried out in one purposively selected public institution, namely TSC, which has a population of 1500 non-teaching staff at the headquarters. A sample of 75 employees was chosen randomly from the five departments using stratified sampling.The need for the study arose out of the urge to know more about the promotion of employees in TSC and to help the organization to refine promotion policies that are already in existence.This is as a result of the fact the problem today that many firms are de-layering their organizations, expanding control, and reducing opportunities for promotion. The study utilized descriptive study employing b'QtV' qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection. The '." datawas collected mainly through the use of questionnaires. Content analysis will be used to analyze the qualitative primary data while factor analysis was employed in the analysis of quantitative data and the results presented in graphs, frequency distribution tables and figures. Thetarget populations consist of the employees in the headquarters (non-teaching staff) who are , . in different sections with different job designations and job groups. This paper documented that academicqualifications stood out as the one of the influential factor towards promotion, but it is least used criterion. Some of participants said that the commission has established a secretariat team dealing with policy planning and research in order to assist on coordination of policy development, monitoring and evaluation. programs as well as performance contracting process. ~, Promotion on merit is clearly an issue in mQ~t.J~overnment institutions, while questions on the '. . ., bestmethod to use need to be determined by every government institution, achieving a satisfying "",\. criteriais a common challenge for all organizations. The study recommends that the TSC and the government must review their promotion policies and enable them climb professional ladder in orderto retain and motivate employees to perform better. Too few promotion positions, policies, delays and unfair practices, interferences by interested parties and unwillingness of TSC employees and management to accommodate changes are some of the factors that affect employees' promotions.