RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CAREER MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES AND EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE IN STATE CORPORATIONS IN KENYA

This study sought to find out the influence of career management strategies on employee performance in state corporations in Kenya, relevant theories and empirical data. The study was guided by the following specific objectives: to assess the relationship between succession planning and employee performance and to identify the relationship between career training and employee performance in state corporations in Kenya. The research designs that were used were cross-sectional survey and explanatory survey design. The study targeted employees of state corporations in the 14 Kenyan ministries. The study sampled 55 state corporations in Kenya. The state corporations were the unit of analysis while the head of departments of the state corporations were the unit of observation. The sample size for the study was 385 respondents. The study collected both primary and secondary data. Sources of primary data were questionnaires. Descriptive and inferential statistics collected were used to analyze the quantitative data collected. This study made use of multiple regression analysis. Analysis of qualitative data was thematic and it was presented in prose form. Presentation of the findings was done using chart, figures and table. The study found that succession planning positively and significantly influences employee performance in state corporations in Kenya; career training positively and significantly influences employee performance in state corporations in Kenya. The study recommends organization to first ensure that its employees are aware of policies of managing career development and that there is sufficient communication from supervisors on ways employees could better their career. The study also recommends state corporations to match their staff members with their skills and the position that best suit them; this will help them attain both long and short term competitive advantage.

findings obtained from the need to train analysis whose aim is establishing the training that is required for building the abilities of the staff members for major positions in the company.
Social exchange theory explains that exchange aims to maximize benefits while minimizing costs (Blau, (1964). When leadership is developed within the organization, the cost of training new leaders is reduced. Internal employees understand the organization better than an outsider. Hence, when a leader retires or leaves the organization, it is good to replace them someone from the company. This theory therefore supports that succession planning can help enhance the performance of an employee. This study therefore used the variable in determining is influence on employee performance in state corporations.
Organizations are therefore required to upgrade and redefine their plan of succession which is made up of both on and off training programs to make sure that the processes will be beneficial to the individual and the overall strategy of the company Aberdeen Group, (2016). Succession planning is a career management practice company's need to start with as basics; creating processes that are strong and investing in future training that will better the technical skills of the staff members. The practice of managing career is inclusive of succession planning in establishing a companywide training program policy.
Organizations for long have been trying to find ways through which they can identify, develop, and retain talent. Majority of the companies have started applying succession planning as a practice of developing career. Companies today are faced with a high demand in the global market as the baby boomers are retiring and the gap for talent is widening. The practices of developing career such as the succession planning are depended upon by majority of the companies who want to have employees who are efficient and effective. Training need analysis is used in establishing which training is needed to prepare the employees for major positions in the company. Upgrading and redefining of the succession plan by companies is very important in making sure that the processes are beneficial to the company and the employees (Aberdeen Group, (2016).

Employee Performance
Draft (2018) noted that its managers responsibility to ensure the organizations work towards achieving high levels of performance. This implies that its responsibility of managers to determine the performance level at any particular time. They can do it by setting goals as well as standards in which the performance of staff members can be measured against. Organizations make sure that their staff members contribute toward the production of high quality goods and services by managing performance. Through the management of performance, staff members are encouraged to take part in planning of the organisation and thereby participating in having a role to play in the creation of motivation for higher levels of performance.
Management of performance is inclusive of those activities that make sure that the goals of the company are met effectively and efficiently. The focus of management performance is the way staff members perform, departments; processes of building products/services etc. researches that were conducted early on the level of staff productivity established that high satisfaction level among employees will increase the rate of retention compared to when the employees aren't satisfied with their jobs in the organization (Landy, 2015). Furthermore, Kinicki and Kreitner (2016) documented that staff members' performance is high for those who are satisfied and it is easy for the management to motivate higher performance for the purpose of attaining the targets of the company. Lyria, Namusonge and Karanja (2016) revealed that if practices of managing career are greatly adopted by NSE listed companies and that would result to bettered performance. The companies that wish to maintain superior performance need to have mechanisms supporting management of career like career mentoring and counseling and also have succession plans in place. From the content analysis the findings showed that there could be other variables of managing career that can affect the way a company performs in the listed companies in NSE.

Statement of the Problem
Performance of employees is greatest factor determining the way the company will perform. Those organizations that have become successful have come to establish that there are several factors affecting their performance but the most crucial one is HR (Mello, 2015). Despite state corporations in Kenya having the HR department whose function is career development and motivation of employee, the levels of employee performance is still low (Kimani, 2018). In cases where employee expectation in career advancement is not fulfilled, their morale is affected which in return negatively affect performance Therefore, it is important to include training as well as advancement in education in all areas of corporations in the company.
Majority of the companies today find it important to acquire and retain talented individuals (Kamau, 2016). Vaiman and Holder (2016) researched on management of talent in private institutions and established that despite the fact that management of career is very important in PSS, the amount of research and guidelines on the way the government can impellent effective practices for managing career and therefore improving the performance of employees remain to be scares. Njiru, (2018) researched on Kenya's state corporations and established that those corporations are suffering from deficiencies which could be because of low tenure, lack of effective commitment of employees and their retention schemes aren't attractive.
Wanjiku (2015) studied factors that affect implementation of programs for managing careers in Kenya's public sector. The study was a case study focusing of Kenya Tourism Fund. Kamau (2017) researched on factors that affect practices of managing career on retention of employees in public institutions of higher learning a case of TUK. There is little empirical evidence; therefore this study sought to fill the research gap by establishing the relationship between career management strategies and employee performance in state corporations in Kenya.

Objectives of the study
The general objective of this study was to establish the relationship between career management strategies and employee performance in state corporations in Kenya.
The study was guided by the following specific objectives; 1. To establish the relationship between succession planning and employee performance in state corporations in Kenya 2. To identify the relationship between career training and employee performance in state corporations in Kenya

Research Hypotheses
HA3 Succession planning has a positive relationship with employee performance in state corporations in Kenya HA4 Career training has a positive relationship with employee performance in state corporations in Kenya Conceptual Framework Figure 1 shows the conceptualization of the variables that were used in this study.

Research Methodology
This study used explanatory and cross-sectional survey design. According to Saunders et al., (2017), a research that is exploratory is the one describing what happens, and asks questions and assesses the phenomenon in respect to a new aspect; a descriptive study explains a situation exactly as it is without any manipulation; and an explanatory study establishes causal association among variables.
This study targeted staff members of 110 Kenyan state corporations under the 14 Ministries in Kenya. The study targeted management employees from the 6 main departments in the organizations. There are approximately 10,000 staff members in Kenyan state corporations, who formed the target population of the study. For this study, the sampling frame was a list of 10,000 employees in 110 state corporations in Kenya. The researcher selected a sample of 50% of the state corporations in Kenya. This is in line with Mugenda and Mugenda (2013) who recommended that a sample should be between 10%-50% of the entire population. The The heads of departments were the respondents in the study. According to Kothari (2019), when the population is 10,000 participants, the formula below can be used to calculate the target population: Population = State corporation employees More than 10,000 N= N= . * . * . .

N=385
The respondents of the study were 385 heads of various departments in the sampled state corporations. They helped to provide information on the influence of career management strategies on their organization, the employees they supervise and their immediate supervisors. The study used simple random sampling technique. The state corporations were sampled first using stratified random sampling to ensure all the categories were represented then employees in the sampled corporations were sampled proportional to size by use of systematic random sampling.
Both primary and secondary data were used. Survey Questionnaire was the tool for collecting primary data and it comprised of open and closed ended questions. The secondary data provided additional information and validate the information that had been gathered from the field. The questionnaires were administered to the respondents of the study using the drop and pick later technique. The study pilot tested the questionnaire before carrying out data collection for the actual study using respondents from the target population who were excluded from the actual study. Sekeran (2016) indicated that piloting is of great importance because it tests for reliability of research instruments. Joppe (2015) defined reliability of research as establishing if the research provides the measures of what it is purposed to measure and how accurate the findings are. The study used 11 heads of departments in the pilot test that represented 10% of the total respondents. A pre-test sample of 10% of the sample size was used as advocated by Mugenda and Mugenda (2018). Validity and reliability of the research tool was ascertained. The questionnaire was pretested on 11 staff from four state corporations. This process helped the researcher to assess the clarity of the questions and prepare for the actual data collection. The pilot group was excluded from the final study.
Descriptive and inferential statistics were used in analysing Quantitative data. Qualitative data was analysed using content analysis and its presentation was done in prose form. Inferential analysis was used in examining the association between career management strategies and the way employees of state corporations in Nairobi perform.

Research Results and Discussions
The study distributed 385 questionnaires but only 341 questionnaires were returned having been dully filled. The response rate was 341 questionnaires which translated to 88.6%. As Mugenda and Mugenda (2018) explained, a response rate of 50% and above is adequate for analysis and reporting, a response rate of 60% and above is adequate while that of 70% and above is excellent. Therefore, a response rate of 88.6% was excellent and was used for further analysis and reporting.

Descriptive Statistics
In this section, the study presents findings on the Likert scale questions. Mean (M) and standard deviation (SD) values are used to interpret the findings. The study used as 5-poing liker scale where 1-strongly disagree, 2-disagree, 3-moderate, 4-agree, 5-strongly agree. Means and standard deviation values were used to interpret the findings.

Succession Planning
Respondents were asked to indicate their level of agreement with various statements that relate with succession planning. The findings in Table 3 shows that the mean values lied between 3.5 and 4.4 an indication that on average, the respondents agreed with the statements on career mentoring. The standard deviation values were also below two an indication that the responses did not deviate much from the mean values. The study findings concurs with findings of Odhiambo, Njanja and Zakayo (2014), that succession planning significantly affected businesses internally and also contributed to the growth. The study also agrees with Aberdeen Group, (2016) that some of the technological challenges that were experienced were lack of tools for assessment, for succession plan and for career development practice; another challenge that faces succession planning that the top management do not give it the needed support. The succession planning aim at building the competencies and skills for current and future organizational needs 4.7 5.3 7.9 68.9 13.2 3.810 1.142

Career Training
Respondents indicated their level of agreement with various statements that relate with career training. The findings in Table 4 shows that the mean values lie between 3.5 and 4.4 an indication that on average, the respondents agreed with the statements on career mentoring. The standard deviation values were also below two an indication that the responses did not deviate much from the mean values. Specifically on job training, 66% respondents agreed that the organization provides on job training services to employees ( The findings of the study agrees with Ombayo, Egessa and Shiamwama (2018) that the more the respondents were trained, the higher their level of productivity. It also concurs with Patrick and Kumar (2017) that career direction, influential positions, organize building, growing new abilities, taking up extraordinary assignments and accepting beneficial criticism from the manager assume the most vital job in making the tilt way less demanding and furthermore helps in the execution and representative development.
The organization creates a succession plan and invest in the development of employees, assesses its progress toward the intended outcome

Employee Performance in State Corporations
Respondents were asked to rate the extent to which each of the statements in the matrix represented below influences employee performance in their organization. Findings presented in Table 5 Kenney et al., (2012) indicated that the performance of staff members is determined in reference to the set standards by the company.

Inferential Results
The relationship between study variables is determined by computing inferential statistics. This study computed correlation and multiple regression analysis.

Correlation Analysis
The strength and direction of relationship between two variables is determined by computing correlation analysis. From the findings in Table 6, succession planning was also seen to have a positive and significant relationship with performance of employees (β=0.864, p=0.000). Since the p-value obtained (0.000) was less than the selected level of significance (0.05), the study concluded that the relationship between the two variables was significant. This concurs with the findings of Odhiambo, Njanja and Zakayo (2014) that succession planning significantly affected businesses internally and also contributed to their growth.
Career training was also seen to have positive and significant relationship with performance of employee (β=0.698, p=0.000). Since the p-value (0.00) was less than significance level (0.05), the relationship between the two variables was considered to be significant. This findings agrees with those of Ombayo, Egessa and Shiamwama (2018) that the more the respondents were trained, the higher their level of productivity.

Multiple Regression Analysis
The study computed multiple regression analysis to establish the relationship between career management strategies and employee performance in state corporations in Kenya. The findings were presented in three tables presented hereunder.

Model Summary
Model summary was used to establish amount of variation in performance of employee that can be explained by changes in career planning, career mentoring, succession planning and career training. From the findings in the above Table 7, the value of adjusted R square was 0.762 which suggests that 76.2% variation in performance of employee can be explained by changes in succession planning and career training. The remaining 23.8% suggests that there are other factors that can be attributed to variation in employee performance in state corporations in Kenya that were not discussed in this study. Correlation coefficient (R) shows the relationship strength between the study variables. From the findings the variables were strongly and positively related as indicated r= 0.876.

Analysis of Variance
Analysis of variance is used to determine whether the model is significant; whether the model was a good fit for the data. The significance of the model was tested at 5% level of significance. The results in Table 8 indicate that the model was significant since the p-value (0.000) was less than 0.05. Therefore, the model was statistically significance in determining the influence effect of career planning, career mentoring, succession planning and career training on employee performance in state corporations in Kenya. Further, the F-calculated (15.585) was greater than the F-critical (2.399) suggesting significance of the model.

Beta Coefficients of the Study Variables
From the results of the Table 9, the regression equation model was fitted as follows: Y = 1.534 + 0.271 X1 + 0.774 X1 The model equation above reveals that holding the variables succession planning, and career training to a constant zero, employee performance in state corporations in Kenya will be at a constant value of 1.534.
The first research hypothesis of the study was HA1 Succession planning has a positive relationship with employee performance in state corporations in Kenya.
From the findings in Table 9, succession planning had significant influence on employee performance in state corporations in Kenya since the p-value obtained (0.004) were less than the selected level of significance (0.05). The finding further showed that the influence of succession planning on employee performance in state corporations in Kenya was positive (β=0.271). This therefore suggested that succession planning positively and significantly influences employee performance in state corporations in Kenya.
This implies that we accept the null hypothesis and conclude that succession planning has a positive relationship with employee performance in state corporations in Kenya. The findings were in agreement with Garg and Weele (2016) that majority of the shareholders concurred that succession plan that is good adding value to the companies and they increase sustainability.
The second research hypothesis of the study was HA2 Career training has a positive relationship with employee performance in state corporations in Kenya.
The findings also showed that career training had significant influence on employee performance in state corporations in Kenya since the p-value obtained (0.000) were less than the selected level of significance (0.05). The finding further showed that the influence of career training on employee performance in state corporations in Kenya was positive (β=0.774).
This implies that we accept the null hypothesis and conclude that career training has a positive relationship with employee performance in state corporations in Kenya. The study findings agree with the findings of Ombayo, Egessa and Shiamwama (2018) that the more the respondents were trained, the higher their level of productivity.

Conclusions
The study found that succession planning had significant influence on employee performance in state corporations in Kenya. The study further showed that the influence of succession planning on employee performance in state corporations in Kenya was positive. The study also found that succession planning positively and significantly influences employee performance in state corporations in Kenya; this implies that a unit increase in succession planning will result to an increase in employee performance in state corporations in Kenya. The study concludes that succession planning has a positive relationship with employee performance in state corporations in Kenya.
The study found that career training had significant influence on employee performance in state corporations in Kenya. The study further showed that the influence of career training on employee performance in state corporations in Kenya was positive. This therefore suggested that career training positively and significantly influences employee performance in state corporations in Kenya. Therefore an increase in career training will results to an increase in employee performance in state corporations in Kenya. The study concludes that career training has a positive relationship with employee performance in state corporations in Kenya.

Managerial Recommendations
Organizations should conduct training need analysis which will guide them in identifying which training is needed to prepare the employees for major positions in the company. Organizations should also upgrade and redefine their plan of succession which is made up of both on and off training programs to make sure that the processes will be beneficial to the individual and the overall strategy of the company. Upgrading and redefining of the succession plan by companies is very important in making sure that the processes are beneficial to the company and the employees. In addition, organizations should ensure that they have sufficient tools for assessment, for succession plan and for career development practice. It is also important for the management of the organization to provide all the needed support.
It is important to make sure that assessing employees and company needs is done and the findings are applied in selecting the most suitable training practices and in determining the participants of the training. It is also important to ensure that the programs designed for training are in line with organizations objectives and requirements and also fit the strategies of the business this will ensure program's success. Since programs of career training are always continuous and systematic; the organization should view training as a long term process and not just some process that lasts for a short while. With the aim of making sure that coaching is applied in developing success in careers, it is important to understand the various aspects of career development motives that every employee has.
They recommended organizations to review performance elaborately, assess to identify talent and confirm it, plan job moves based on the programs that are already determined; once these are done and an individual is found to be very good, the company should promote them. Organizations also need to develop policies that deal with 'plateaued' manager who have already gotten far and cannot go further than that; they added that in the policy it is important for it to recognize that there are those managers that should be encouraged to begin their careers in other places. Organizations should conduct appraisals to obtain information; this will enable managers to assess staff members who have the potential.

Policy Recommendations
The study recommends policy makers to develop policies on career management. They should ensure that the policies provide employees with guidance, support, and encouragement they need to fulfill their potential and achieve a successful career within the state corporation. The organizations should also develop policies for dealing with the 'plateaued' manager who has got so far but will get no further.