Stress Management and Employee Performance in the Public Sector in Uganda. a Case of Ministry of Internal Affairs, Kampala

Abstract

The study was set to examine the effect of stress management on employee performance in Uganda‟s public sector, a case of Ministry of Internal Affairs. The study objectives included;

i. To find out the effect of role clarity on employee performance in Uganda‟s public sector

ii. To establish the effect of counseling on employee performance in Uganda‟s public sector

iii. To examine the effect of welfare management on employee performance in Uganda‟s public sector

The study was guided by the functional theory (Ren 1985). The study used a cross sectional survey research design and adopted both quantitative and qualitative approaches. A sample size of 136 was selected from population of 221. Both primary and secondary data was collected using questionnaires, interview guides and document review methods.

Findings revealed that 22.7% variation in employee performance is explained by role clarity, 28.8% variation in employee performance is explained by employee counseling while 35.2% variation in employee performance is explained by welfare management. The study recommended that Management of Ministry of Internal Affairs should clarify roles of every employee by specifying clear duties and work load of each member of staff at the Ministry. This should be done by allocating work with specific time period in a week. The Ministry should develop and use modern technology to keep track of employees‟ roles and work time. It is also important to ensure that all employees are aware of their full responsibility, expected challenges and ways of achieving them so that in case they meet any unusual challenges, they are not stressed but take it up as part of their daily work life. The Ministry should create some level of independence in employee counseling. And further that the Ministry management should come up with stringent organizational welfare structure that clearly stipulates the welfare management checklists and these checklists can be achieved. This should state who should receive what, when to receive it and why one should receive it. This will reduce on the ambiguity in welfare management that can be source of stress among employees. There should be also improvement in welfare amount and activities such as harmonized overtime allowances by departments.

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