Telework adoption and its effects on employee engagement : a survey of ICT organizations in Kenya

Abstract

This study examines the level of adoption of telework in ICT organizations in Kenya; and its effects on employee engagement. Its starts by a giving a background of the current situation in Kenya that relates to telework: the development of ICT infrastructure, mobile penetration, internet usage and the commuter/transport problem in the country. Literature review of previous studies gives an overview of telework adoption in other countries and contexts. To gather data specific to this study, a list of registered ICT organizations was retrieved from the Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK). The commission had categorized the ICT organizations into groups according to the service they offered. These groups were used in stratified sampling methodology employed in this research. An online survey by use of questionnaires was the primary data collection tool. Face to face interviews were used after the surveys to validate some data from the responses. SPSS was then used to analyze correlation between variables; including the strength and direction of the relationships. The study found that the level of adoption of telework in Kenya was lower than the world average, despite having a developed ICT infrastructure. It also established that employees generally had a positive attitude towards the telework concept, but managers were concerned about the loss of control that the concept would bring. Teleworking employees had a higher Employee Engagement Index (EEI) than their workplace counterparts, though both teleworking and non-teleworking employees preferred parttime (not full time) arrangement if given a choice. The study recommends telework adoption for jobs that are suitable for the concept. It also recommends creation of awareness of the benefits of the concept to businesses, which include higher EEI as well as savings from reduction of transport costs incurred in commuting to/from the workplace. From the findings of the study, it was established that managers were concerned about loss of control over teleworking employees. To mitigate this, measures can be put in place to measure and track productivity of teleworkers; using some Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that link to the overall goals of the organization.