People-oriented Servant Leadership and Employee Performance in the Kenyan Lower Eastern County Assemblies

Abstract

Servant leadership has increasingly become a defining characteristic of organizations that are attractive to employees. Despite the importance of servant leadership in the modern workplace, this study examined the people-oriented dimension of servant leadership and its effect on employee performance in Lower Eastern County Assemblies, Kenya. The study was underpinned by the servant leadership and the leadership member exchange theories which provided the conceptual link between the people dimension of servant leadership and performance of employees. The study drew from a positivist philosophy and   descriptive research design. Data was collected from a sample of 120 respondents - both elected and non-elected: speakers of County assemblies, human resource managers, finance managers, technical staff managers, and leaders of junior staff in three county assemblies of the lower eastern region namely; Machakos, Kitui, and Makueni. A structured questionnaire with closed ended questions was used to collect data.  The findings revealed that the leaders in the targeted assemblies were not keen on employee modelling, team building or shared decision-making. The findings have practical implications for leaders in county assemblies, it provides insights on the importance people-oriented servant leadership and its related factors that enhance employee performance. The study concluded that there is significant relationship between people-oriented dimension of servant leadership and employee performance of the Lower Eastern County Assemblies. The validity of the instruments was ascertained by content and face validity while reliability was worked out through test-retest procedure and Cronbach’s alpha test to determine the reliable value. The study recommends that leaders in the targeted county-Machakos, Kitui and Makueni should re-evaluate their servant leadership practice and in particular firm up its people-oriented dimension in order to realize effective employee performance in their counties