Description

CASE STUDY: Influence of employee resourcing and development strategies on performance of Kibos sugar and Allied Limited, Kenya 

Strategy is a business approach to a set of competitive moves that are designed to generate a successful outcome (Kelley, 2009). Strategy is about building sustainable competitive advantage that in turn creates above-average overall organizational performance. According to Campbell, McCloy, Oppler and Sager (1993) performance is ‘something that people actually do and can be observed, it is not the consequence or result of action, and it is the action itself’. Traditionally performance has been interpreted as measurable outputs, the achievement of which is dependent on the skill and effort which the individual brings to the job. However, within a knowledge and/or service economy, effective performance relies at least as much on how a task is carried out, or contextual performance, as on the ability to perform that task (task performance), particularly in distinguishing the excellent from the merely good. These challenges traditional notions of resourcing which focus on understanding the job and therefore specifying the skills required to perform it. Where roles are ill defined or changing, specialist skills and knowledge need to be balanced by the personal attributes of the job holder: style becomes as important as substance. 

Therefore, being able to identify what ‘a job’ entails what skills are needed, how best they should be deployed and what successful performance would look like is less open to scrutiny or definition. Where performance is dependent on the application of knowledge, rather than simply its possession, identifying ‘thinking skills’ and the range of softer skills or competencies required to apply that understanding presents a challenge. For example, the ability to interact effectively within multidisciplinary teams, to communicate, solve problems or to relate to others, or to persist in the face of adversity may relate more significantly to effective performance than simple expertise. This challenge of what performance is and how to measure it is further exacerbated when thinking about future performance, either for recruitment and selection purposes or for developmental purposes or merely in a rapidly changing environment. It is against this background that the interest in competency frameworks has developed (CIPD, 2008). In Kenya, owing to increasing awareness and an acknowledgement that the private sector is better positioned to understand, empathize and articulate the needs and aspirations of the more vulnerable proportion of the population and have demonstrated ability to reach poor people, work in inaccessible areas, innovate, or in other ways achieve things better than by official agencies. They bridge the gap between government and the community and are essential in organizing poor people, taking collective action, fighting for their rights, and representing the interests of their members in dialogue with the government. Private sectors are better at facilitating the supply of inputs into the management process, mediating between people and the wider political party, networking, information dissemination and policy reform (Shah, 2005). Thus, they have increasingly assumed prominence as major development partners whose activities greatly complement the efforts of government (Stephenson, 2005). In essence private sectors have served as the major conduit for disseminating western aid, for instance, the US government channels about 40% of its aid programs through private sectors to Africa. Together, the private sectors operating in Africa account for the distribution of between 10% and 20% of all aid transferred to Africa (Joke, 2006). CIDP Linkages with Kenya Vision 2030 and Medium-Term Plans Sessional Paper Number 10 of 2012 on Kenya Vision 2030 is the National Policy Economic Blueprint that entrenches Kenya Vision 2030 as the long-term development strategy for Kenya. The Kenya Vision 2030 aims to transform Kenya into a modern, globally competitive, middle income country providing a high quality of life to all its citizens. Kenya Vision 2030 is a product of highly participatory, consultative and inclusive stakeholder’s process conducted throughout the country and in all sectors of the economy. As a private sector organization, Kibos Sugar and Allied Limited has a mission to be committed to sustainable business practices; deliver world class quality to customers; nurture a global work culture; and builds a financially strong, growth-oriented company that creates value for its stakeholders. Its vision is to put farmers first. It values its customers, encourage ideas, innovation, excellence, enterprise and teamwork in employees, leverage world class technology, aspire to be a learning organization, have built a work culture based on merit, integrity, transparency and inclusiveness, behave responsibly as a global corporate citizen.  

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