Critical analysis of strategic planning process on employee performance: Case of Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), Kandara.

Abstract

The advent of organizational efficiency and effectiveness has brought about an inspiration for placing organizations’ objectives into doable plans which are called strategic plans. The strategic plan details how each organization plans to achieve its vision. Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue a strategy. Strategic planning is a process that brings to life the mission and vision of an enterprise. This study sought to critically analyze strategic planning process on employee performance and focused on Kenya Agriculture Research Institute/ Kenya Agricultural Livestock and Research Organization (KARI/KALRO). The study was guided by the following specific objectives: to analyze employee involvement in strategic planning process on employee performance in KARI; to investigate employee awareness on strategic planning process on employee performance in KARI; to assess employee level of training in the strategic planning process and how it affects employee performance in KARI; and to evaluate the management practices on implementation of strategic planning process in KARI. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for this study. The target population for the study included heads of departments/divisions/sections and junior workers in KARI/KALRO Kandara, where stratified sampling was used. The questionnaire was one of the main tools used to collect data for this study. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze data by way of percentage or a proportion and frequency distribution. Key findings of the study include: majority of the respondents had ever participated in strategic planning process and as such, understood it, which would enable them provide objective responses; majority also perceived strategic planning as an important process, and agreed that workers’ involvement in strategic planning positively influences organizational commitment. Employees’ awareness of strategic planning process on employee performance at KARI, Majority of the staff are involved in the formulation of mission and vision statement; have access to communication channels within and across departments, and leaders explain the reason of change to all employees in the organization; employee level of training in the strategic planning process on employee performance in KARI show that roles and responsibilities are clearly defined; usually there are organized training, staff training on competitive advantage, quality services and products is enhanced; The common management practices experienced in KARI included: empowerment of employees basing on formal programmes, offering employees opportunities to socialize with the management, equitable and fair recognition and reward performance, and equitable and fair training opportunities and effective disciplinary procedure to encourage positive behaviors in making decisions. The least management practice experienced was organization’s conduct on exit interviews. A little more needs to be done by the management through continuous and repeated communication, with all groups represented at all levels of the organization. Resource allocation through training budgets, human capital with total control is recommended.