Effect Of Workplace Conflict Management Strategies On Employee Performance Of Constitutional Commissions And Independent Offices In Kenya

Abstract

In today’s corporate world, the employees are drawn from a diverse range and as they congregate in one working space, there have been an increase in conflicts at the workplace due to divergent views and personalities. It is important therefore, for management to put out strategies to manage workplace conflicts to avoid the poor performance and to be able to handle its mandates. Constitutional Commissions and Independent Offices are some of the legal corporate entities that have registered internal conflicts which can be attributed to presence of workers from different backgrounds, characteristics and interests. The conflicts could also be attributed to the fact that these offices are a new phenomenon introduced by the 2010 Constitution. Therefore, this study sought to assess the effect of the workplace conflict management strategies on employee performance and mandate of Constitutional Commissions and Independent Offices in Kenya. The concept of workplace conflict was explored by looking collaborative strategy, accommodating strategy, negotiation strategy and confrontation strategy and their effect on employee performance of Constitutional Commissions and Independent Offices in Kenya. The research used descriptive statistics including the means and standard deviation for purposes of interpreting the findings. The study revealed that while collaborative strategy and accommodating strategy were significant, negotiation strategy and confrontation strategy were not significant in improving employee performance in the organization. The study concludes that collaborative strategy and accommodating strategy are significant workplace conflict management strategies driving employee performance. The study recommends for an improvement in collaborative strategy as doing so would significantly enhance employee performance of Constitutional Commissions and Independent Offices in Kenya. The Constitutional Commissions and Independent Offices in Kenya should improve on effectiveness of accommodation strategies in place so as to enhance employee performance.