Assessment of the impact of grievance management on employees performance in public sector organisations in Uganda: A case of Posta Uganda

Abstract

Grievance is believed to be natural in an organization. Proper grievance management helps in the reduction of dissatisfaction among employees and improves their performance. Absenteeism, alcoholism, accident, late coming, lack of cooperation, insubordination, and withdrawal attitude among employees are some of the visible signs of aggrieved employees and can be eliminated in a work place if grievances are effectively managed. The study sought to fill the existing gap by conducting a study to assess the impact of grievance management on employee performance in public sector organizations in Uganda with a special focus on Posta Uganda. The study adopted a descriptive survey. The population of the study was the employees of Posta Uganda at the General Post Office. At the time of research, there was a total of 120 employees at the General Post Office and a sampling frame was the list of employees working at all levels of management. Stratified random sampling was applied to select the 40 respondents as the sample population. Structured questionnaires were administered individually to all respondents of the study. Interview schedule were also organized for managers and heads of departments. Data collected was processed, analyzed and tabulated for clarity using SPSS version 13.0 software. Study findings revealed that unfair management, lack of respect for individual profession opinion and decisions and lack of proper communication channels were the causes of employee grievances in Posta Uganda. It was also found out that; Suggestion schemes, Grievance handling human resource officer, grievance meeting, open door policy and Appeals mechanisms do exist at Posta Uganda. The study also found out that the mechanisms employed have either a positive or negative impacts on employees’ performance. From the findings, it was concluded that applying existing mechanism procedurally provides a sense of personal accomplishment to employees from their work, improves employees’ moral and thus increases their performance.