Workforce Diversity And Organizational Performance: A Case Study Of Kenya Tea Development Agency In Nairobi City County, Kenya

ABSTRACT

Workforce diversity can be an important instrument for firms to not only enhance their organizational performance but to be able to attain a competitive edge against its business rivals in the business market and attain sustainability. There was little research conducted to provide knowledge on if and how workforce diversity enhances KTDA’s organizational performance so that appropriate policies can be conceived to promote workforce diversity if it indeed boosts its organizational performance. Consequently, this study sought bridge the existing knowledge gap by investigating the influence of workforce diversity on the organizational performance of KTDA in Nairobi City County in Kenya. Therefore, the specific objectives of this study were to establish the influence of age, gender, ethnic and work experience diversities on the organizational performance of KTDA in Nairobi City County in Kenya. The study adopted the descriptive research design. The target population comprised of 68 senior managers drawn from 5 subsidiaries and the head office of KTDA. Census method was used to study all the targeted senior managers. Structured questionnaires were used to collect quantitative data from the targeted respondents. Descriptive analysis was used to establish the level of workforce diversity and organizational performance. The descriptive analysis results revealed that KTDA promotesage diversity in regard to recruitment and promotion and KTDA has older employees who are very caring and responsible. It also established that KTDA has young employees who are very educated and physically skillful. It also observed that KTDA has an equal proportion of men and women in every department and managerial positions and the gender diversity in KTDA has enhanced the quality of corporate leadership and management in the firm. It also established that KTDA appreciates and promotes cultural diversity among its employees. It also revealed that KTDA has employees possessing diverse professional qualification and work experience. The multiple regression analysis was employed to ascertain the influence of workforce diversity on the organizational performance of KTDA. The results observed that age and gender diversities significantly boost the organizational performance of KTDA in terms of quality production of tea products, operational efficiency, profitability and effective service delivery.