ABSTRACT
The objective of the study was to analyse the effect of wellness programs on the
performance of employees in commercial banks in Kenya. Specifically, the study
sought to determine the extent to which employee counselling programmes, drug and
substance abuse cessation programmes and provision of recreational facilities affected
employee performance within the commercial banks in Kenya. The study was guided
by 3 theories namely, social comparison, social exchange and hierarchy of needs
theories. The study was guided by a positivist philosophy and used descriptive research
deign targeting 30,903 employees of the 43 commercial banks in Kenya. Proportionate
stratified sampling combined with purposive sampling was used to identify 395
respondents for the study. Pilot study was done to check on the reliability and validity
of the instrument using Cronbach alpha (α) and expert opinion respectively. Structured
questionnaires was used to source for primary data while other studies, libraries,
worldwide web and organizational reports provided secondary data. Descriptive
statistics and regression model was used to analyse quantitative data while content
analysis was utilized to anlayse qualitative data. A response rate of 71% was achieved
and employee performance was found to be affected positively by the wellness
programs provided by the banks. Recreational facilities had the highest effect (76.9%),
employee counselling programmes (61.8%) while drug and substance abuse cessation
programs (46%). The findings also found that employee performance was mediated by
employee job satisfaction while employee characteristics also moderated the
relationship between employee performance and wellness programs. The employees
who would be satisfied with utilizing wellies programs would perform better evidenced
by the reduced absenteeism levels, enhanced punctuality, enhanced morale, and
reduced stress and anxiety among the employees. The moderating variable of employee
characteristics affected employee punctuality, influence the speed at which the
employees performed their assignments, helped in reducing employee stress, enhanced
teamwork and ultimately improved the productivity and output levels. The study
recommends that the employee counselling programmes should be enhanced,
recreational facilities play a critical role in enhancing performance among employees
and should be provided for the employees. The facilities should be accessible to most
of the employees and appropriately flexible. The study also recommends that the
commercial banks should endeavour to make employees be satisfied with their work so
that they can enhance output, which can be done through job enlargement, enrichment
and even rotation which ultimately enhances employee engagement. There is also need
for commercial banks to consider the characteristics of the individual employees in its
human resource practice. On policy level, commercial banks should consider policy
changes on how wellness programs are considered in workplaces, either public or
private and that there would be need to incorporate wellness programs and utilization
as a measure to manage medical costs through the incorporation of the same in the
Employment Law of Kenya. The study suggest that further studies be conducted on the
cost benefit analysis of the wellness programs so as to demystify the “high” costs
implication of the wellness programs regardless of the benefits out of it; on the impact
of employee attitude on successful implementation of the wellness programs with the
organizations and on the impact of employee counselling on employee performance.
NG’ENO, W (2021). Wellness Programs And Employee Performance In Commercial Banks, Kenya. Afribary. Retrieved from https://afribary.com/works/wellness-programs-and-employee-performance-in-commercial-banks-kenya
NG’ENO, WELDON "Wellness Programs And Employee Performance In Commercial Banks, Kenya" Afribary. Afribary, 01 Jun. 2021, https://afribary.com/works/wellness-programs-and-employee-performance-in-commercial-banks-kenya. Accessed 09 Nov. 2024.
NG’ENO, WELDON . "Wellness Programs And Employee Performance In Commercial Banks, Kenya". Afribary, Afribary, 01 Jun. 2021. Web. 09 Nov. 2024. < https://afribary.com/works/wellness-programs-and-employee-performance-in-commercial-banks-kenya >.
NG’ENO, WELDON . "Wellness Programs And Employee Performance In Commercial Banks, Kenya" Afribary (2021). Accessed November 09, 2024. https://afribary.com/works/wellness-programs-and-employee-performance-in-commercial-banks-kenya