Influence of Performance Indicators on Acceptance of Performance Contracting among Secondary School Teachers in Kenya: A case of Meru Central District

Abstract

Measuring performance is a key strategy for organizational success. If performance of an employee is not quantified, one cannot be certain that there is any value gained from employee. Performance contracting is a concept that is used in Kenya to manage performance of employees. The contracting parties freely negotiate performance agreement which clearly specifies the intentions, obligations and responsibilities of the contracting parties. Performance contracts are gauged against an agreed set of indicators that provide a clear framework for establishing accountability. In Kenya it is a requirement for all civil servants to sign performance contracts. To date, the secondary school teachers have not yet fully accepted to sign performance contracts. The study, therefore, sort to establish the extent to which, performance indicators influence acceptance of performance contracting by secondary school teachers in Kenya, a case of Meru Central District. To achieve this objective, the study adopted descriptive research design. The study covered all the twenty one (21) public secondary schools in Meru Central District. The target population was all the government employed teachers within Meru Central District. A sample of thirty percent (30%) of teachers was picked from each of the 21 schools by use of simple random sampling. Primary data was collected by use of structured questionnaires and existing relevant documents were perused for secondary data. The data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. This was done by use of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Results were presented in charts, graphs and tables. The study findings indicated that performance indicators influenced acceptance of performance contracting by the secondary school teachers. The study concludes there is a positive relationship between performance indicators and acceptance of performance contracting by secondary school teachers.
Key Words: Performance Contracting, Performance indicators, Secondary Schools