Influence of autonomy on performance of employees in Machakos county government, Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the influence of autonomy on performance of employees in Machakos County Government. This study was guided by Equity theory developed by John Stacey Adams and states that employees weigh their input into a job against the output. A descriptive research design was used because it allowed a systematic and well-ordered description which was reliable, accurate as well as valid. The target population of 520 was constituting of top level, middle level and lower level employees of Machakos County government. To achieve the objective a sample of 156 respondents was drawn from the population. Questionnaire was used as the main instrument for data collection. The data was analyzed using the STATA version 17, by use of both descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation were used. Regression model was used to estimate coefficient of the variable in the objective. The study concluded that there was a strong relationship between employee autonomy and performance. This implies that a higher percentage of employees require independence to perform better in line with organizational expectations. The results showed that autonomy as a non-monetary incentive influences employee performance. Based on the findings, the study recommends that employers to capitalize on non-monetary benefits by giving their employees room for autonomy and also Kenya's government to institute labor rules prioritizing on workers' autonomy inside their firms over monetary compensation.