OPPORTUNITY FOR ADVANCEMENT STRATEGY ON PERFORMANCE OF NON-ACADEMIC STAFF IN THE UNIVERSITY OF ELDORET, KENYA

Abstract

Globalization has energized organizations to develop strategies that would make them relevant in the market. This has been motivated by the dynamic nature of the global market that requires adaptability, continuous learning and improvement. Modern organizations are therefore faced with the dire need of developing, upgrading and expanding knowledge and skills of workers. This is presumably the best option of attaining competitive advantage. The adoption of diverse employees, collaborations, innovations, inclusivity and talent development has necessitated the need to develop opportunities for advancement of the workforce. Advancement often requires employees to acquire new skills and knowledge. These skills directly contribute to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the broader development agendas. In view of this, training workers in sustainable practices and/or innovation is helpful in addressing various SDGs related to the environment and economic growth. Despite all these, little has been done by some universities to utilize and provide opportunities for the non-teaching workforce in the form of professional development. This study assessed the extent to which opportunity for advancement strategy influences performance of non -academic staff at the University of Eldoret in Kenya. The study endeavored to establish the influence of opportunity for advancement on employees’ performance at University of Eldoret in Kenya (UoE). The study was based on human capital theory. It was based on a quantitative research approach. The researcher used a descriptive research design to obtain views and opinions of respondents on the research problem. The target population of this study comprised all the 208 permanent non-teaching staff from which 137 were picked as sample size of the study using Yamane formula. Stratified and simple random samplings were used to select respondents for the study proportionally and randomly respectively. The study used structured questionnaires as its main primary data collection tool. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze data with the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. Descriptive statistics included use of percentages, frequencies, and measures of central tendency. Inferentially, linear regression analysis was applied to get the changes in dependent variable caused by the influence of independent variable. The findings of the study established that opportunity for advancement was statistically significant in explaining the dependent variable.  This study will be beneficial to all stakeholders in higher education in their endeavors to enhance performance in service delivery.