Role of Diversity Management Policies on Employee Commitment at The County Governments in Kenya: A Focus on Organizational Leadership

Abstract

The study sought to establish the role of diversity management policies on employee commitment as mediated by organizational leadership at the county governments in Kenya. Objectives of the study were to determine; the effect of diversity management policies on employee commitment; the effect of diversity management policies on organizational leadership; effect of organizational leadership on employee commitment, the mediating effect of organizational leadership on the relationship between diversity management policies and employee commitment. Explanatory research design was used with a sample size of 494 respondents. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics including the mean, standard deviation and frequencies and results were presented through tables and graphs. The Pearson’s product moment correlation was used to test the strength of the relationship of the variables while regression analyses through process v 3.2 was used to test the level of significance and the mediation. Results for objective one indicated that, all diversity management policies had a significant effect on employee commitment. However, ethnicity and diversity training had a negative effect. Joint implementation of diversity management policies had a greater effect on employee commitment compared to implementing the policies in fragmentation. Results for objective two established that gender, disability and ethnicity policies had a significant effect on organizational leadership except ethnicity policy that was not significant. A negative and significant relationship was established between organizational leadership and employee commitment for objective three. Objective four indicated that organizational leadership does not mediate the relationship between diversity management policies and employee commitment. Results indicated a weak relationship between diversity management policies and employee commitment. These results imply that pressure from the environmental has no major effect in organizational decision making and this has a negative effect on employee commitment as stipulated by the social exchange theory. On the other hand, the negative relationship between diversity management policies and employee commitment indicates a disconnect between availability of diversity policy framework and actual implementation. The study established that leadership has not been conceptualized as a mediation in the process of implementation of diversity management policies and organizational outcomes. Based on these findings, the study concludes that diversity management is a very important aspect that should be given due attention and that the results do not support the institutional theory basis for formulation and implementation of policies. The study recommends that leadership should be given the concept of mediation by diversity scholars.