Career Management and Employees' Commitment in the Tele-communication Industry in Kenya

Abstract

Assessing workforce attitude is a business imperative. Committed and engaged employees are invaluable assets to an organization as high levels of employee commitment and engagement promote retention of talent, foster customer loyalty, and improve organizational performance and stakeholder value. The development of employees for future positions enables organizations to develop and place employees in positions compatible with their individual career interests, needs, and goals. The purpose of this research was to investigate the influence of career management on employee commitment in the tele-communication industry in Kenya. The study adopted a mixed research design. The study targeted all the telecommunication branches in Mt. Kenya Region that are managed by the shop manager being the top most managers in the branch. The researcher collected primary data using structured questionnaires. Data was analyzed using inferential statistics and processed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 22, multiple regression analysis was used to establish the relations between the independent and dependent variables. Chi- square was used to test the hypothesis and was based on the alpha level or the significance level. Research findings were presented in form of tables, graphs, and charts. The study found that career management enables employers to identify talented employees at all functional levels of the organization and this helps them to identify options and requirements for career advancement to assist employees advance their professional growth and take on new responsibilities. Failure to recognize employee's performance leads to de-motivation and this contributes to high labor turn over in organizations. The study concludes that a clear career path for employees on how they can meet their personal ambitions is paramount as they try to realize corporate goals. The study also concludes that career management is not an end in itself but a continuous process of developing human resources for achieving optimum results. The study therefore concludes that organizations with effective career management practices have employees who contribute greater discretion effort. The study recommends that organizations should focus more on employee engagement as a part of career pathing as it helps to create an effective career development strategy within the organization, and this engagement helps employees to transition into new roles and are therefore motivated leading to greater employee commitment.