Influence of Performance Management System On Health Workers Performance at Public Hospitals in Nairobi County Kenya

Abstract

Effective performance management is essential to the provision of health services. It is recognized as one of the key components of the healthy workforce pillar in health systems vital building blocks, effectively contributing to the greatest possible health care outcomes. By evaluating and improving employee performance, performance management systems assist healthcare organizations in maximizing the contribution of healthcare professionals towards anticipated health outcomes. There has been insufficient investigation into how integrating the entire process of the system affects health workers' performance in public hospitals particularly level three to five located in Nairobi County. Furthermore, empirical data regarding the efficacy of these systems was lacking. The study's objective was to investigate the influence of performance management system on the performance of health workers in public hospitals in Nairobi County, Kenya. Expectancy theory and goal-setting theory served as the study's specific objectives. A cross-sectional descriptive survey of the research design was adopted. Data was collected from 239 health care workers from three public hospitals using structured questionnaires. Data was analyzed using inferential statistics and descriptive approaches. A model of ordinal logistic regression was employed to investigate the relationship between the independent and dependent variables. Frequencies, means, standard deviations, and percentages were used to portray the results. The study found that efficient performance appraisal, feedback, and reward systems significantly enhance health workers’ performance. Considering a normal p-value of <0.01, there existed a substantial positive correlation between performance planning and reward systems (r = 0.496), health work's performance (r = 0.653), performance appraisal (r = 0.621), and performance feedback (r = 0.554). This suggested that performance evaluation, feedback, reward systems, and health workers' performance are often higher when there is greater performance planning. Binary logistic regression model suggested that Performance Appraisal, Feedback, and Reward Systems significantly influence health worker performance. The Nagelkerke R Square indicated that jointly Performance Appraisal, Performance Feedback, and Reward Systems accounted for 37.1% of the variation in health workers’ performance. Putting in place reliable performance management systems that offer consistent evaluations, helpful criticism, and fair compensation plans was highlighted by these findings. Cultivating a culture of accountability, acknowledgment, and motivation among healthcare workers is needed to improve performance.