Influence of change management strategies on employee engagement in multinational companies in Kenya
Date
2024
Authors
Kinyanjui, M. W.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Strathmore University
Abstract
The business environment has become more uncertain due to macroeconomic headwinds, shifting political climates and evolving consumer needs triggering organizational change in response to disruption. Manufacturing firms have more recently led the stage in organizational changes due to their vulnerability to the rising cost of goods threatening their margins. However, multiple organizational change initiatives have been known to flop by either not meeting their objectives or resulting in a worse position than before the change. Various change management strategies can be employed to mitigate the negative effects of uncertainty which leads to decreased employee engagement during change. There are limited empirical studies investigating change management strategies’ influence on employee engagement within the context of multinational companies in Kenya within the consumer goods industry. This study investigated the link between change management strategies and employee engagement in multinational companies in the consumer goods industry in Kenya. The study was anchored on Kurt Lewin’s change theory and Kotter’s eight-step change model. The study used a descriptive cross-sectional research design where the unit analysis was the 25 multinational consumer goods companies in Kenya. The representative of each of the 25 multinational companies in the consumer goods manufacturing industry was the chief executive officer (CEO) and chief human resources officer because they hold the requisite information on employee matters and relations, bringing the total number of respondents to 50. The research instrument for primary data collection was structured closed-ended questionnaires. The findings were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics and the statistical package for social science (SPSS) was the key analysis tool. The study found that the influence of change management strategies on employee engagement bears different magnitudes depending on the industry. Employee involvement strategy had the most significant positive influence on employee engagement while internal communication, training and coaching were positively associated with employee engagement but only to a moderate magnitude contrary to similar past studies in other sectors where all the key change management variables strongly influenced employee engagement. Recommendations from the study are that organizations should not single out a strategy but employ a combined approach for a stronger effect on employee engagement. It is also vital to foster an environment of trust between employees and leadership as it is a measure of engagement. The study acknowledges it was limited in that being quantitative and anonymous, was constrained in accounting for the experiences of the respondents as the researcher could not probe for further explanations of some responses. The study narrowed down on three change management strategies: internal communication, employee involvement and training and coaching and their influence on employee engagement while there could be other strategies that also strongly influence employee engagement. The study is also based on the perceptions of executive leadership which introduces bias.
Key Words: Employee Engagement, Internal Communication, Employee Involvement, Training, Multinational Companies.
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