EMPLOYEE REWARDS, WORK ENVIRONMENT, AND EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE AT THE KENYA POLICE SERVICE

Abstract

The study sought to establish the moderating effect of work environment on the
relationship between employee rewards and employee performance in Kenya police
service. The study was anchored on Social Exchange Theory and Expectancy Theory.
Social Exchange Theory proposed that an employee will interact with his employer to
gain a reward and the employer will interact with his employee to achieve
organizational goals. Expectancy Theory is premised on the fact that employees are
rational people who think about rewards even before they perform the work. The
positivism approach was used to aid in hypothesis testing. A descriptive cross-sectional
design covering 397 respondents was adopted. A structured questionnaire was used in
data collection. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data
collected. The study demonstrated that the work environment moderates the
relationship between employee rewards and employee performance. The findings
supported both Social Exchange Theory and Expectancy Theory. It is therefore
concluded that the work environment significantly influences the relationship between
employee rewards and employee performance in the Kenya Police Service. Policymakers
must factor in both work environment and employee rewards aspects to enhance
employee performance at Kenya Police Service. It is recommended that similar studies
be conducted in other institutions dealing with security issues and results be compared
for generalization purposes.
Key Words: Employee Rewards, Work Environment, Employee Performance, Kenya Police Service