Influence of Working Conditions on Performance of Support Staff in Secondary Schools in Nakuru County, Kenya.

This study assessed the influence of working conditions on the performance of support staff in public secondary schools within Nakuru County, Kenya. The objectives of the study were to: determine influence of work relationships and remuneration on work performance of support staff respectively. The study adopted the mixed methods research approach using the concurrent embedded design. Herzbergs' two-factor theory provided the theoretical framework with a target population of 3,258 comprising of 362 principals, 362 deputy principals and 2, 534 support staff. Yamanes' (1973) formula was used to determine a sample of 356 comprising of (40) principals, (40) deputy principals and (272) support staff who were selected by way of the stratified sampling technique. Semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect quantitative and qualitative information from principals and deputy principals, while support staffs provided quantitative and qualitative information through semi-structured interview schedules. Quantitative data collected was analyzed descriptively and inferential statistics generated while qualitative data was analyzed thematically based on the research objectives. The findings show that: work relationships and remuneration had the Pearsons' correlation coefficient (R) of .724 and .678 respectively. The R² computed yielded values of .524 and .460 for working relationships and remuneration respectively suggesting that working relationships explained 52.4% of work performance of support staff while remuneration explained 46% of work performance. As a result of these findings, it was concluded that working conditions (work relationships and remuneration) moderately but positively influenced work performance of support staff in public secondary schools in Nakuru County. These findings are particularly important to School Boards of Management and the Ministry of Education who can utilize them to enhance work performance of support staff by enriching their working conditions. Further research to develop schemes of service for support staff across all public secondary schools is recommended in order to bolster their work performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]