ST.

MARY’S UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES

GENERAL MBA PROGRAM

FACTORS AFFECTING EMPLOYEES’

PERFORMANCE:

THE CASE OF ETHIO TELECOM ADDIS ABABA ZONAL OFFICES

BY

FEYORI BEKELE ABDI

ID NO: SGS/0145/2007A

NOVEMBER, 2016

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA

 FACTORS AFFECTING EMPLOYEES’
PERFORMANCE:

THE CASE OF ETHIO TELECOM ADDIS ABABA ZONAL OFFICES

BY

FEYORI BEKELE ABDI

ID NO: SGS/0145/2007A

A THESIS SUBMITTED TO ST. MARY’S UNIVERSITY, SCHOOL OF GRADUATE

STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE
AWARD OF DEGREE OF MASTER IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

NOVEMBER, 2016

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPA

 ST. MARY’S UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES

GENERAL MBA PROGRAM

FACTORS AFFECTING EMPLOYEES’

PERFORMANCE:

THE CASE OF ETHIO TELECOM ADDIS ABABA ZONAL OFFICES

BY

FEYORI BEKELE ABDI

APPROVED BY BOARD OF EXAMINERS

Temesgen Belayneh (PhD)

Dean, Graduate Studies Signature

Shoa Jemal (Asst.Prof)

Advisor Signature

T/Giorgies Assefa (Asst.Prof)

External Examiner Signature

Goitom Abraham (Asst.Prof)

Internal Examiner Signature

 Table of Contents

Table of Contents ...................................................................................................................... i

Acknowledgments .................................................................................................................. iii
Acronyms/Abbreviation ......................................................................................................... iv
List of Tables ............................................................................................................................v
List of Figure ............................................................................................................................v
Abstract ................................................................................................................................... vi
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................1
1.1. Background of the Study ............................................................................................ 1
1.2. Background of the Organization ................................................................................. 2
1.3. Operational Definition of Key Terms ......................................................................... 3
1.4. Statement of the Problem ............................................................................................ 3
1.5. Basic Research Questions ........................................................................................... 4
1.6. Objectives of the Study ............................................................................................... 5
1.6.1. General Objective ................................................................................................ 5
1.6.2. Specific Objectives .............................................................................................. 5
1.7. Significance of the Study ............................................................................................ 5
1.8. Scope of the Study ...................................................................................................... 6
1.9. Organizations of the Study ......................................................................................... 6
CHAPTER TWO REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ..................................................7
2.1. Theoretical Literature ................................................................................................. 7
2.1.1. Review of Performance ....................................................................................... 7
2.1.2. Aims of Performance ........................................................................................... 8
2.1.3. Performance Measurement and Improvement ..................................................... 9
2.2. Factors Affecting Employees Performance .............................................................. 10
2.2.1. Motivation ......................................................................................................... 10
2.2.2. Training ............................................................................................................. 12
2.2.3. Organizational Culture ...................................................................................... 13
2.2.4. Working Environment ....................................................................................... 14
2.2.5. Supervision ........................................................................................................ 15
2.2.6. Individual Characteristics .................................................................................. 16
2.3. Empirical Literature .................................................................................................. 19

i
 2.4. Research Gap ............................................................................................................ 22
2.5. Conceptual Framework of the Study ........................................................................ 22
2.6. Research Hypothesis ................................................................................................. 23
CHAPTER THREE RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY .................................24
3.1. Research Design ....................................................................................................... 24
3.2. Target Population ...................................................................................................... 25
3.3. Sources of Data ......................................................................................................... 25
3.4. Sampling Technique ................................................................................................. 25
3.5. Data Collection Method ............................................................................................ 27
3.6. Procedures of Data Collection .................................................................................. 29
3.7. Validity and Reliability of Instruments .................................................................... 30
3.8. Methods of Data Analysis......................................................................................... 31
3.8.1. Descriptive Statistics ......................................................................................... 32
3.8.2. Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) Analysis .................................................... 32
3.8.3. Correlation ......................................................................................................... 33
3.9. Ethical Considerations .............................................................................................. 33
CHAPTER FOUR DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION .....................................34
4.1. Data Analysis ............................................................................................................ 34
4.1.1. Demographic Characteristics of the Respondents ............................................. 34
4.1.2. Descriptive Statistics ......................................................................................... 36
4.1.3. Pearson’s correlation ......................................................................................... 38
CHAPTER FIVE FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...............43
5.1. Summary of Major Findings ..................................................................................... 43
5.2. Conclusions............................................................................................................... 44
5.3. Limitation of the Study ............................................................................................. 45
5.4. Recommendations ..................................................................................................... 45
REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................46

ii
 Acknowledgments

I avail myself of this opportunity, with pleasure, to follow the good tradition of recognizing all
those who, in one way or the other, contributed to make my study a success. I greatly value the
intellectual guidance, thought provoking and invaluable comments, incisive and constructive
comments I got from my advisor, Shoa Jemal (Asst. Prof) throughout the study. I am heavily
indebted for his assistance.

I am deeply grateful to my splendid friends and to all those who enthusiasm and energy
transformed my vision of this paper into reality, especially my families. Above all, I want to
thank God for making everything possible. Besides, my thanks also go to those who
commented on my study and provided their assistance in any form during my thesis work.

iii
 Acronyms/Abbreviation

CAAZ Central Addis Ababa Zone

EAAZ East Addis Ababa Zone

NAAZ North Addis Ababa Zone

SAAZ South Addis Ababa Zone

SWAAZ South West Addis Ababa Zone

HRM Human Resource Management

EPOs Ethiopian Public Organizations

MCIT Ministry of Communications & Information Technology

IBTE Imperial Board of Telecommunications of Ethiopia

ETS Ethiopian Telecommunication Services

ETA Ethiopian Telecommunications Authority

ETC Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation

MLR Multiple linear Regressions

TNA Training Needs Assessment

OJT On the Job Training

EPRDF Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front

iv
 List of Tables

Table 1: Sampling technique .......................................................................................... 26

Table 2: Employee performance scale ............................................................................ 28
Table 3: Cronbach's Alpha.............................................................................................. 31
Table 4: Average Cronbach's Alpha reliability coefficient for all variables .................. 31
Table 5: Response Rate .................................................................................................. 34
Table 6: Demographic Characteristics of the Respondents ............................................ 35
Table 7: Descriptive Statistics ........................................................................................ 36
Table 8: Pearson’s correlation ........................................................................................ 38

List of Figure

Figure 1 : Conceptual Framework .................................................................................. 22

v
 Abstract

This study aims to analyze the Factors Affecting Employee Performance in Ethio-Telecom case
of Addis Ababa Zonal offices. Based on the literature discussed, the six factors considered as
the important elements influence the employees’ performance needs to be investigated. The
main thing that motivates the researcher to conduct the study was revenue of
Telecommunication industry in Ethiopia was not increased by pre-planned schedule. Objective
of the study is to examine Factors Affecting Employees’ Performance in Ethio telecom zonal
offices in Addis Ababa city. The research question lies in whether each of those factors has a
simultaneous and partial effect on the Employees’ Performance or otherwise. Information was
obtained from all Ethio-Telecom Addis Ababa Zonal offices (6 Zonal Offices) by adopting
concurrent quantitative research design. Using the quantitative method, the population of this
study was 2377 and the sample population was 342 respondents with N=276. The respondents
were selected using stratified sampling technique. The data analysis was on descriptive and
inferential statistics and further by use of regression model run on Statistical Package for
Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. The primary data gathered in the form of questionnaires
with a Likert typed-scale were then analysed using the multiple regression method. The
findings reveal that the value of the determination coefficient test is 82.5 percent, indicating
that the employees’ performance is explained by Motivation, Training, Organizational Culture,
Working Environment, Supervision, and Individual Characteristics factors of the employee,
while the remaining 17.5 percent are linked with other factors. The findings explore Factors
Affecting Employee Performance in Ethio-Telecom case of Addis Ababa Zonal offices. Results
indicate a direct and positive relationship of all variables on Employee Performance. While
Motivation and Working Environment which have a significant effect on the Affecting
Employee Performance in Ethio-Telecom.

Keywords: Motivation, Training, Organizational Culture, Working Environment,

Supervision, and Individual Characteristics, Employee Performance

vi
 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background of the Study

As we can see every organization is very dependent on the knowledge, energy, creativity and
overall performance of their employees. Though in a knowledge economy, organizations
greatly relay their employees to survive. They can only win a competitive advantage through
their people (employee). The product or service of any organization is provided to customers
with the involvement of peoples. However, as (Mathis et al 1998., pointed out, people are not
only essential resources that an organization has but also problematic ones to manage. This
makes human resource management a key ingredient in an organizational to fulfil its mission.
Basically performance management is an important tool for managing financial resources and
program outcomes because employee performance or the lack thereof has a profound effect on
both the financial and program components of any organization. But in this study area we are
going to deal with the factors affecting of employee performance.

In addition many factors contribute to productivity. Job performance is observed to be the most
dominant one. One of the indicators in enhancing and improving the service industry is job
performance. Job performance refers to the behaviours that are expected in the line of the
organizations’ goals and the purpose under control of individual employees. Employee
performance depends on individual and group behaviour. According to Oreg (2003), factors
determining individual differences in job performance include cognitive ability,
conscientiousness, goal orientation and motivation.

According to Yeo and Neal, (2004) suggestions, over time practice is significant linear and
quadratic predictor of performance scores. That is, individuals improved their performance
with practice until some point of experience is reached and performance diminishes thereafter
(Journal of Applied Psychology, 2004). Job performance problems often start small and
develop slowly. In the early stages there may be just a few isolated incidents and these may
easily be overlooked. It is important to deal with a job performance problem in the early stages
while the issues are small. The performance of one employee can affect the productivity of
other employees. Poor job performance can place the employee, co-workers and the
organization at risk. Most managers in organizations face with a crucial question of what factors

1
influence employee performance and there is inadequate empirical information that might
guide their efforts in enhancing overall job performance among employees.

1.2. Background of the Organization

The introduction of telecommunications services in Ethiopia dates back to 1894, seventeen

years after the invention of telephone technology in the world. Because of different reason its
name changed many times. Some of them are Imperial Board of Telecommunications of
Ethiopia (IBTE), Ethiopian Telecommunication Services (ETS), Ethiopian
Telecommunications Authority (ETA), and Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation
(ETC). Then on regulation No 197/2010 Ethio-telecom established at November 29, 2010 as
Public Enterprise (Ethio-telecom Establishment council of Ministers Regulation, 2010).

The vision of the company is to be a world-class provider of telecom services and its missions
are Connect Ethiopia through state-of-the-art telecom services, Provide high quality, innovative
and affordable telecom products and services that enhance the development of our nation, Build
reputable brand known for its customers’ consideration, build its managerial capability and
manpower’ talent that enables Ethio Telecom to operate at international level and Support
community and environmental development. Thus, Ethio telecom is born from this ambition in
order to bring about a paradigm shift in the development of the telecom sector to support the
steady growth of our country.

Telecommunication is one of the prime support services needed for rapid growth and
modernization of various sectors of the economy. Knowing of this fact, the Ethiopian
government has established a new telecom company known as Ethio Telecom, to replace the
long serving Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation, with a view to enhancing the
development of the telecom sector and supporting the steady growth of the country. Pursuant
to this grand objective, Ethio Telecom has set ambitious targets to enhance customer
acquisition, customer satisfaction and provision of quality services to customers. Ethio
telecom is an integrated telecommunications solutions only provider operating in Ethiopia.
Currently provide telecom service in the entire country on voice, internet & data, channels, with
comprehensive plans in place to meet the requirements set out by the Ministry
of Communications & Information Technology (MCIT) and peoples of Ethiopia.

2
1.3. Operational Definition of Key Terms

Performance: is the accomplishment, execution, carrying out, working out of anything

ordered or undertaken.

Training: is the developing process of employees’ skill in order to improve performance of an

employee (Swanson, 1999).

Motivation: means the willingness of an individual to do efforts and take action towards
organizational goals.

Organizational Culture: is a system of shared assumptions, values, and beliefs, which governs
how people behave in organizations.

Working Environment: describe the surrounding conditions in which an employee operates.

Supervision: is the action or process of watching and directing what someone does or how
something is done.

1.4. Statement of the Problem

Economists classify factors of production in to four categories namely: labour (employee),

capital, entrepreneurship, land and other natural resources. Among these, employees are
regarded as the most valuable assets of any organization without whom no production activity
can take place. The success of an organization is largely dependent on the quality of its
employees which is measured by their performance. Identifying factors that affect employees’
performance can help improve recruitment, retention and organization result Mohammed and
Nimalathasan, (2011).

The GDP at market price has improved significantly between 2000 and 2005 while the
contribution of the telecommunications sector changed only slightly and one of the reason for
such a problem is the employees performance were decreased due to lack of training,
motivation, organizational culture, working environment, supervision and other related things
(Planning Department, 2005). Telecommunications revenue was 1.3% of the GDP in 1996 and
grew to about 2.3% in 2005. In contrast, the investment in the telecommunications sector as a
percentage of GDP has jumped substantially since 2003. According to the planning department
of Ethio telecom; despite significant investment, the direct contribution of the
telecommunications sector in economic growth is still very low which shows 1% increment

3
while expecting 5%. Having said this Ethio telecom can still contribute further than to the
country GDP by identifying which factors affect their Employee Performance. (HR
department of Ethio Telecom, 2005).

Ethio-Telecom targets to be the centre of excellence has enabled its employees to perform their
duties by supplying the necessary opportunities, infrastructure and funds to ensure delivery of
quality services to its clients. However, the Telecommunication’ services quality criticize,
employees late coming is high, employees’ absenteeism rate is high and this situation has gone
on and on (General meeting held in HR office with managers, June 2015). The researcher feels
that if nothing is done to avoid this situation, Ethio-Telecom may not achieve its vision and
may lose its position as a leading institution. Regardless of the above discrepancies, Ethio-
Telecom Management has continually given rewards in form of allowances, trained staff and
provided the necessary resources for employees to perform better, but the situation has not
changed.

Therefore, it is necessary to generate relevant evidence through a detail study to highlight

strategies for improving the performance of employees. Hence this study is aimed at focusing
firm specific factors of employees’ performance in Ethio Telecom Addis Ababa zonal offices.
Specifically, it inquires us to deal with the effect of Motivation, Training, Organizational
Culture, Working Environment, Supervision and personal characteristics on Individual
Performance.

1.5. Basic Research Questions

To determine the factors which affect the performance of employees, the study was trying to
answer the following main research questions:

 What are the significant factors affecting the performance of employees in Ethio telecom
Zonal offices?

 What are the effects of independent variables on the performance of employees in the study
area?

 What factors inspire employee to come with better performance?

 To what extent the study provide guideline for the concerned bodies to improve the
performance of their employees and indicating directions for further research.

4
1.6. Objectives of the Study

1.6.1. General Objective

The general objective of the study is to examine Factors Affecting Employees’ Performance in
Ethio telecom zonal offices in Addis Ababa city.

1.6.2. Specific Objectives

 To identify the significant factors affecting the performance of employees in Ethio Telecom
Zonal offices.
 To determine the effect of independent variables like Motivation, Training, Organizational
Culture, Working Environment, Supervision and Individual Characteristics on Performance
of an employee in the study area.

 To provide guidelines for the concerned bodies to improve the performance of their
employees
 To draw policy implications and indicating directions for further research.

1.7. Significance of the Study

Every research should have something to contribute since a lot of time; above all human energy
is exerted. The study is trying to cover the factors that affect the performance of employees in
Ethio Telecom Zonal offices which are located in Addis Ababa. The outcomes of this study
also help the human resource management of the organization and others, within an insight in
to the benefits of using different factors that would be studied in this research to predict the
factors that affect the performance of employees and design remedial actions to exploit their
better performance.

The information produced from this study is expected to be of some value for decision and
policy makers with respect to affecting factors of employees’ performance. In addition the
study serves as a reference material for both academicians in broadening of the prospectus with
respect to this study hence providing a deeper understanding of the factors that affect
employees’ performance. Finally the study helps concerned organization to reassess its existing
practices and put a renewed emphasis on this undermined and yet core human resource planning
with a view to maximizing its benefits.

5
1.8. Scope of the Study

This study has been carried out at Ethio telecom Zonal offices in Addis Ababa. The study
basically focuses on examination firm specific factor that can Affect Employee Performance.
The contributing factors of Employee Performance picked in this study are Training,
Motivation, Organizational Culture, Working Environment, Supervision and Individual
Characteristics. Though, the study covers all of those six zonal offices located in Addis Ababa
which are CAAZ, EAAZ, WAAZ, NAAZ, SAAZ and SWAAZ. Population of this study in this
study area was 2377 having sample population 342 and finally the number of respondents for
the questionnaires were 276.

1.9. Organizations of the Study

The research paper was organized into five chapters. The first chapter is Introductory chapter
deals with back ground of the study and the organization, statement of the problem, definition
of key terms, basic research questions, objective and significance of the study, scope of the
study, limitation and organization of the study accordingly. Related theoretical and empirical
literatures are discussed in chapter two and chapter three concentrate on model specification
and methodological aspects. The fourth chapter of the study present data analysis and
presentation of the main findings of the study. The last chapter, which is closing chapter, is
discuss on conclusion, recommendation and policy implication of the study based on the major
findings.

6
 CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

2.1. Theoretical Literature

2.1.1. Review of Performance

According to Judge and Ferris (1993), perhaps there is no human resources system more
important in organizations other than performance evaluation and the ratings of employees’
performance represent critical decisions that highly influence a variety of subsequent human
resources actions and outcomes. Performance is often defined simply in output terms the
achievement of quantified objectives. But performance is a matter not only of what people
achieve but how they achieve it. The Oxford English Dictionary confirms this by including the
phrase ‘carrying out’ in its definition of performance. The accomplishment, execution, carrying
out, working out of anything ordered or undertaken. High performance results from appropriate
behaviour, especially discretionary behaviour and the effective use of the required knowledge,
skills and competencies.

The Performance of an employee must study on the bases of their achievement from the task
portioned to them; so that if they achieve the task given to them, then they perform well if not
the reverse will be true. According Bayley (1990) said that Employee performance is a record
of the results produced in a specific job function or activity during a specific time period
associated with organizational objectives. It is the result produced by a specific functional unit
or individual activity over a given period and not the personal characteristics of employees who
are performing the work.

Performance is an important tool both as a people and as an organization. In fact, most of us

believe that we can, and will, improve at what we do, and we expect others to improve over
time as well (Temple, 2002). People are an organization‘s greatest assets. Individuals and
organizations have learned about the importance of the role of people in an organization, and
how the success of an organization depends on its people (Bartlett and Ghoshal, 1995). For an
organization‘s well performance the quality of workforce at all levels of the organization is
vital. The role of human resources in gaining a competitive advantage for an organization is
empirically documented by (Brewster et al., 2003). According to them, an organization to
accomplish their goals, they must continually look for better ways to organize and manage their
work. This was not always the case, as human resources were traditionally seen as a cost. To

7
summarize, performance means both behaviour and result. Behaviour originates from the
performer and transforms performance from abstraction into action. Not just a means to an end,
the behaviour is also an outcome in itself, the product of mental and physical effort applied to
the task, which can be judged apart from the result (Armstrong, 2006). Since performance is
both a behaviours and result, how it could be managed is the next question to be answered.

According to Katz and Green (1997:7), performance management is a system which comprises
of an orderly series of programs designed to define, measure, and improve the performance of
an organization. Performance management is a shared process between managers, individuals,
and teams they are supervising; it is designed to improve the performance of an organization
and the people working within it (Armstrong 1994:1, Torrington and Hall 1998:317).
Performance management is neither a technique nor a single process, it can be considered as a
set of process, or a concept, a holistic philosophy that includes motivation of employees to
perform well, employees knowledge about what their managers expect of them, development
of employees, monitoring and measuring performance in order to know what areas are to be
improved (Wilson, 2005). This indicates that performance is a function of motivation of an
employee to achieve the objective of an organization in general and their goal in particular.

According to Mathis and Jackson (2010:320), performance management is a series of activities

designed to ensure that the organization gets the performance it needs from its employees. It
links organizational strategy to ultimate results. This implies that, performance management
enables a company to convert overall strategy into results that support the mission and
objectives. However, just having a strategic plan does not guarantee that results will be
achieved and objectives will be satisfied. When organizational strategies have been defined,
they must be translated into department- or unit-level actions. Then these actions must be
assigned to individuals who are held accountable for efficient and effective goal
accomplishment.

2.1.2. Aims of Performance

Performance in an organization is very important tool as evaluation criteria for an employee

and to keep on their good work achievements for a company benefits. Therefore, the main
reason to deal with performance issue and employing it in an organization is to establish a high
performance culture in which individuals and teams take responsibility for the continuous
improvement of business processes and for their own skills and contributions within a
framework provided by effective leadership. (Armstrong, 2006:494)

8
2.1.3. Performance Measurement and Improvement

Performance is associated with quantity of output, quality of output, timeliness of output,

presence/ attendance on the job, efficiency of the work completed and effectiveness of work
completed” (Mathis & Jackson 2009). Employee Performance is the successful completion of
tasks by a selected individual or individuals, as set and measured by a supervisor or
organization, to pre-defined acceptable standards while efficiently and effectively utilizing
available resource within a changing environment.

Aguinis (2009), described that “the definition of performance does not include the results of an
employee’s behaviour, but only the behaviours themselves. Performance is about behaviour or
what employees do, not about what employees produce or the outcomes of their work”.
Perceived employee performance represents the general belief of the employee about his
behaviour and contributions in the success of organization. Employee performance may be
taken in the perspective of three factors which makes possible to perform better than others,
determinants of performance may be such as “declarative knowledge”, “procedural
knowledge” and “motivation” (McCloy, Campel JP, Cudeck R et al, 1994). HR practices have
positive impact on performance of individuals.

Carlson, (2006) proposed five human resource management practices that affect performance
which are setting competitive compensation level, training, performance appraisal, recruitment
package, and maintaining morale. Tessema and Soeters (2006) have carried out study on eight
HR practices including recruitment and selection practices, placement practices, training,
compensation, employee performance evaluation, promotion, grievance procedure and pension
or social security in relation with the perceived performance of employees. Therefore, it is
concluded that these HR practices have positive and significant associations with the perceived
performance of employees.

Whenever we are talking about performance, we need to talk the mechanism to measure it.
Therefore, measurement and evaluation are used to strengthen and improve performance.
According to Armstrong (2006), firstly, performance measures are benchmarks which are used
to determine how well employees produced or provided products or services. It is important
that the required outcome of an intervention to be measured and assessed is clearly defined and
known; secondly the appropriate methods are used; and thirdly to determine whether the
selected activities and interventions is narrow or close the performance gap. The importance of
measurement in the performance improvement process cannot be overstated. As Sutherland

9
et.al (1995:12) highlight, “… if you cannot understand something you cannot measure it. If you
cannot measure it, you cannot control it. If you cannot control it, you cannot improve it.” So
here things are highly and very positively related.

It is a response to make services of an organization better, affordable and faster. It seeks to

rectify any problems that exist and build upon those performance levels that are already good
Katz and Green (1997). According to Katz and Green (1997: 200) performance improvement
involves the resolution of performance problems and the exploitation of performance
opportunities. Problems may be related to service, practice or governance. Performance
opportunities consist of those occasions when, although the performance target is adequate, an
opportunity exists to improve the outcome of the service or process by which the service is
delivered.

2.2. Factors Affecting Employees Performance

Job performance refers to the behaviours that are expected in the line of the organizations goals
and the purpose under control of individual employees Campbell et al., (1993). Hunter (1984)
pointed out that job performance is of interest to the organizations because of the importance
of high productivity in the workplace. Rudman (1998) on the other hand, stated that
performance is focused behaviour or purposeful work. The determinant factors that affect
employee‘s job performance are documented in the literature. The most widely described
contributing factors of employee’s performance are the following.

2.2.1. Motivation

Motivation is a key factor that affects job performance and a poorly motivated force will be
costly in terms of excessive staff turnover, higher expenses, negative morale and increased use
of managements’ time (Jobber, 1994). Therefore, management must know what exactly
stimulates their staff so resources are not misallocated and dissatisfaction develops among
employees (Jobber, 1994). As Green (2000) has described motivation to be proactive in the
sense of; in dealing with employees who are high performers, motivation is essential, otherwise
their performance will decline or they will simply leave the job. While dealing with low
performers, motivation is a prerequisite; otherwise these employees will drag results down,
lower productivity and certainly would not leave the organization, as they will have nowhere
else to go.

10
There are two types of motivation; Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (Wright, 2006). Intrinsic
motivation is defined as the desire or a need to act that originates within an individual like, like
if an activity itself is interesting, while extrinsic motivation is defined as the desire to act to
obtain an external reward like rewards and recognition. Motivation is central to management
because it explains why people behave the way they do in organizations.

High-performance is achieved by well-motivated people who are prepared to exercise

discretionary effort in the majority of roles; there is scope for individuals to decide how much
effort to exert (Armstrong, 2009). It would be over simplistic and crude to make sweeping
assumptions that everybody will be motivated by the same things (Porter et al, 2007). Some
people will be motivated by money, and others will value money but will require other
motivational needs to be satisfied before money can have any effect like recognition and be
involved in decision making of the organization. Various employees are motivated by various
things towards their improved performance. The employees should be engaged in the activities
carried out in the organization to feel that they are playing an important role in the company.

People work better when highly motivated and when there is a direct relationship between
quality of performance and levels of motivation and that volume and quality of work declines
when the motivation is lower (Pettinger and Frith, 2000). Gaining employee commitment is
important especially in the current era since several studies have found out that most American
workers are not fully engaged in their work (DuBrin, 2009). The employees do what is expected
of them but do not contribute extra mental and physical effort to be outstanding. Most
employees want to be organizational citizens yet many feel that they have a poor relationship
with the supervisors or believe that the organization does not care about them hence affect their
level of output. According to a Gallup study, about 70% of employees are "disengaged",
meaning that they are no longer committed to the company (Dubrin, 2009). The management
approach recognizes that the contribution of an organizations people is critical to the creation
of a competitive advantage.

Employers acknowledge that their organizations will flourish if they can engage their
employees, meaning that they will be fully motivated to give of their very best to their employee
engagement in order to achieve the high-performance workforce that will give them this edge
(Foot and Hook, 2008). When employees get a sense of belonging, they work hard to achieve
the organizational goals and objectives. Unless knowledge workers have engaging employment

11
experiences, career development opportunities and a supportive manager, their organization
will suffer from costly loss of human capital and potentially devastating attrition.

Never before has the motivation and retention of knowledge workers has been more critical for
organizational sustainability than it is today (Carleton, 2011). All organizations are concerned
on what should be done to achieve sustained high level of performance through people, in
understanding and applying motivation theory, the aim is to obtain added value through people
in the sense that the value of their output exceeds the cost of generating it (Armstrong, 2009).
Motivation begins with the employees own drives and needs (Hill Mcshane, 2009). Drives are
instinctive tendencies to seek particular goals or maintain internal stability while needs is
mostly conscious deficiencies that energize or trigger behaviours to satisfy those needs. In this
context, Motivation means the willingness of an individual to do efforts and take action towards
Organizational goals. The challenge for any manager is to find the means to create and sustain
Employees motivation.

Maslows needs hierarchy theory was developed in 1940's to show how needs are arranged in a
hierarchy whereby people are motivated to fulfil a higher need as a lower one becomes
gratified, so most employees work hard to ensure that their needs are met hence increased
performance. Employees are motivated by various needs, so the management should try and
understand employee’s needs and fulfil them to avoid poor performance in their organizations.
Maslows classified the hierarchy of needs as follows; physiological needs, belongingness
needs, esteem needs and safety needs. The psychological drive that directs a person towards an
objective is motivation (Hodgets and Hedgar, 2008). People have certain needs that motivate
them to perform specific behaviours for which they receive rewards that give feedback and
satisfy the original need (Kinicki and Williams, 2008).

2.2.2. Training

The developing process of employees’ skill in order to improve the performance is called
training (Swanson, 1999). Training is a type of activity which is planned, systematic and it
results in enhanced level of skill, knowledge and competency that are necessary to perform
work effectively (Gordon, 1992). Existing literature presents evidence of an existence of
obvious effects of training and development on employee performance.

Most of managers give training to their employees for three main purposes (Belcourt, Wright
and Saks, 2000), which are (1) to increase productivity or the performance of employees; (2)

12
to achieve organizational goals; and (3) to invest in employees to succeed in the unpredictable
and turbulent business environment. There are 3 most important types of training: training
needs assessment (TNA), training contents and delivery approaches, on the job training (OJT).

2.2.3. Organizational Culture

According to (Daniel and Aneil, 1995) (Corporate Culture and Organizational Effectiveness),
demonstrated that apparent involvement and participation on the part of a company’s
employees predicted current and future financial performance. Denison also suggests that
culture can be studied as an integral part of the change process and that certain cultural traits
may be utilized as predictors of an organization’s performance and effectiveness (Daniel and
Aneil, 1995).

The different attributes of culture have been arranged on basis of norms and attitudes which
help in differentiating one firm from another. (Forehand and von Gilmer, 1964) The process of
thinking helps in establishing one member from another on basis of cognitive thinking
(Hofstede, 1980). The success guidance based upon different values and norm that makes
culture effective (Schein, 1990). The set of beliefs, behaviours, norms and values helps in
making culture most effective Kotter and Heskett, (1992). The knowledge of culture has been
gained through understanding and beliefs on basis of large groups.

The employee performance would be considered as backbone organization as it leads to its

development effectively. The loyalty of employee relies upon knowledge and awareness of
culture that improves behaviour of organization Brooks, (2006) Organization culture have first
time been identified by Administrative Science quarterly Pettigrew, (1979).
Organizational culture provides a framework with respect to the behaviour of employees in
their workplace. Depending on the type of culture that is created in an organization, it can have
a positive or negative effect on employee performance.

An organizational culture where employees which are considered as an integral part of the
growth process of the organization fosters employee commitment towards the organization.
They align their goals and objectives with those of the organization and feel responsible for the
overall well-being of the organization. As their efforts are in turn appreciated by the
management and suitably rewarded, they have enormous job satisfaction. In such
organizational cultures, the employees are committed to achieving their goals and thus have a
positive effect on the overall performance of the organization.

13
In organizations managers are not facilitators but task masters, employees live with fear and
distrust and work is nothing but a dreary chore. Since they are not involved in the overall
organizational goals, they do not understand the implications of their tasks and hence may not
be committed to achieving them. Organizational Culture to a large extent determines the
performance of the employees. Therefore, it is in the interest of organizations to eliminate
negative factors that slow down employee performance in order to foster a positive workplace
environment or a positive Organizational Culture.

2.2.4. Working Environment

Working environment can be divided into two components namely physical and behavioural
components. The physical environment consists of elements that relate to the office occupiers’
ability to physically connect with their office environment. The behavioural environment
consists of components that relate to how well the office occupiers connect with each other,
and the impact the office environment can have on the behaviour of the individual.

These components can further be divided in major attributes and operationalized in the form of
different independent variables. These variables will be used for analysis of their impact on
dependant variable. It is generally understood that the physical design of offices and the
environmental conditions at work places are important factors in organizational performance.
The empirical research by Stall has also shown that when human needs are considered in office
design, employees work more efficiently. One survey conducted by Brill in particular has
suggested that improvements in the physical design of office buildings may result in a 5-10
percent increase in productivity and eventually increase performance.

Other studies have examined the effect of physical work environment on workers‟ job
satisfaction, performance, and health. For example Scott, (2000) reported that working
conditions associates with employees‟ job involvement and job satisfaction. Strong et al (1999)
in a study observed that social, organizational and physical context serve as the impetus for
tasks and activities, and considerably influence workers‟ performance. Researches on quality
of work life have also established the importance of safe and healthy working conditions in
determining employees‟ job performance. The influence of working environment, which is
mostly composed of physical, social and psychological factors, has been extensively examined
in past two decades. In a number of studies, employees‟ motivation, job satisfaction, job
involvement, job performance, and health have been found to be markedly influenced by
psycho-social environment of work organization.

14
2.2.5. Supervision

Supervision is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve

common goals Northouse, (2007). Supervision style is the combination of attitude and
behaviour of a leader, which leads to certain patterns in dealing with the followers Dubrin,
(2004). The leadership style within an organization has a bearing on encouraging or inhibiting
employee’s performance. Armstrong and Murlis,(2004); Cronje et al (2001)

There is a general recognition that training research needs to move beyond the individual level
approach and incorporate organizational phenomenon, but building multilevel theories and
testing them has only begun to take shape. One series of studies has conceptualized the work
environment as influencing individual perceptions and beliefs, such as training motivation
Quinones, (1995), opportunities to perform Ford et al., (1992), and support from supervisors
and co-workers Smith-Jentsch, Salas, & Brannick, (2001).

Although these approaches have found empirical support for their arguments, they have
conceptualized the work environment at the individual level, thus measuring individual
perceptions more than the actual work, organizational features, or management practices at
higher levels of analysis. A second stream of research has viewed the work environment in
terms of employee perceptions of training climate or culture. Here, researchers have found that
shared perceptions of training climate or learning culture are positively related to post training
behaviour Rouiller and Goldstein, (1993); Tracey, Tannenbaum et al., (1995). However,
empirical studies have found little support for a moderating relationship of training climate
Tracey et al., (1995). Neither studies of individual perceptions nor workplace climate of
training highlight.

Coaching focuses on specific, short-term performance improvements, mentoring provides

individuals with psychological support and social resources in order to reach long-term career
goals. Tutoring typically involves an expert who passes on domain-specific knowledge to
novices. In coaching, however, supervisors may not necessarily be domain experts but may
help individuals gain greater competence and overcome barriers to performance. Examples of
coaching activities include helping employees set specific goals, providing constructive
feedback on specific tasks, offering resources and suggestions to adopt new techniques, and
helping employees understand the broader goals of the organization. Ellinger , Ellinger and
Keller, (2003) Supervision may affect individual performance through three mechanisms: the

15
acquisition of job related knowledge and skills, the enhancement of motivation and effort, and
process of social learning.

Coaching is an effective source of skill acquisition because Supervisors can observe specific
employee behaviours and performance and provide constructive feedback and guidelines for
improvement Heslin et al., (2006). From this concept we can say supervision is an important
affecting factor for employee’s performance. This type of timely and individualized instruction
contributes to the construction and recall of an individual’s declarative and procedural
knowledge. Kraiger, Ford and Salas, (1993) Proximity between the learning task during
coaching and its practical application at work reduces the loss associated with transfer of
training, which is problematic for structured, off-site training activities Baldwin & Ford,
(1988). Coaching helps employees develop and maintain knowledge of a firm’s products,
customers, and work processes; and skills to effectively communicate with customers, respond
to their requests, and deliver quick service.

2.2.6. Individual Characteristics

Individual Characteristics are yet another factor explaining variation in individual performance.
For example, older employees are often more reluctant to engage in new training and tend to
prefer collaborative versus competitive tasks compared with their younger counterparts.
According to Kanfer and Ackerman (2004), life-span theorists proposed that person versus
environment transactions not only determine the direction, intensity and persistence of action
but also help shape the person versus situation context in which motivation takes place. Kanfer
and Ackerman (2004) suggest that age is likely to be positively associated with increased
preferences for physical security, job security and salary. Similarly, they inferred that in the
absence of work-role changes and compensation scheme, the attractiveness of job performance
is expected to decline with age.

Research on the relationship between age and work performance contradicts widespread beliefs
that performance decreases with age Davies et al., (1991). There has long been a view of a
negative age-performance relationship Rhodes, (1983), although the belief has endured without
conclusive empirical support McEvoy and Cascio, (1989). One theoretical rationale for the
hypothesized negative relationship is the decremental theory of aging which suggests that
increased age causes deterioration in abilities, such as speed, dexterity, motor coordination, and
strength Ginger et al., (1983); Rhodes, (1983); Salthouse, (1979). Similarly, Kliegl & Mayr

16
(1992) have advanced a model that suggests there is an underlying single negative effect of
age-related influences on a wide range of cognitive variables.

Wright and Hamilton (1978) suggest that older employees go through a "grinding down" stage
where they accept what is available to them and lessen their expectations. Supporting this
proposition, empirical work demonstrates a negative relationship between age and ambition,
aspirations, and overall motivation (Giblin, 1986; Judge and Hulin, 1993; Judge & Locke,
1993; Kuhlen, 1977; Rhodes, 1983; Slocum et al., 1985). Despite the theory suggesting that
aging will affect performance, and empirical evidence showing aging effects on performance-
related constructs, research on the age/performance relationship has shown mixed results.
Rhodes (1983) reported approximately equal numbers of studies with positive, negative, and
no relationships. Meta-analyses have shown that age alone accounts for little variance in job
performance. McEvoy & Cascio (1989); Waldman and Avolio, (1986). It should be noted that
not all examinations of aging suggest negative effects.

In particular, crystallized intelligence e.g., Cattell, (1963) which entails the cognitive processes
and abilities that are embedded in learned cultural meaning, acquired through prior experience
has been found to be higher among older people Dixon et al.,1985; Labouvie-Vief, (1985).
Others have made similar arguments, that while physical and mechanical abilities may decline
over time, pragmatic abilities may increase Salthouse, (1995). Thus, performance may remain
constant at higher age levels because job experience may compensate for any detrimental effect
of aging Tesluk and Jacobs, (1998). Accounting for experience, though, should reveal the
relationship with age Avolio et al., (1990). The theoretical position positing a relationship
between age and performance does not imply that the effect of age on performance is linear.
Again, we expect a non-linear relationship, with the negative effects of age becoming stronger
as employees age increase.

Thus, the total relationship between employee age and job performance should be non-linear
Avolio et al., (1990). Evidence supporting this position is mixed. McEvoy and Cascio (1989)
found some support for a curvilinear hypothesis. Specifically, they examined studies with
young employees versus those of all ages and found that the young samples had a higher
age/performance correlation than the other studies. For example, Gebregziabher (2009),
claimed in his research conducted on 128 Ethiopian Public Organization employees‘; he found
that age is one of the bio data variables that influence employees’ performance. Performance
increases with age up to some point and beyond that point performance declines with age. That

17
means as the employees become older and older, the lowest effort they will exert on the given
task which adversely affects their performance in their respective jobs.

Significantly, it did not treat age as a continuous variable and thus did not examine the potential
non-linear relationship between age and performance over the plausible range of age values.
Others have found support for non-linear effects of age, but lacked a sufficient range
(particularly of older workers) in the sample to fully test the nature of the age and performance
relationship at all values potentially facing modern employers Avolio et al., (1990). For these
reasons, stronger support of a non-linear relationship may not have been detected by these
previous researches, and further work is necessary to substantiate this proposed non-linear
relationship.

Furthermore, no study has looked for a non-linear relationship between age and performance.
Based on available theory and in line with previous predictions (e.g., Giniger et al., (1983);
McEvoy & Cascio, (1989); Gebregziabher, (2009), this paper posits a non-linear relationship.
Training is one of the variables that can affect the performance of individuals. Training is a
process in which people acquire knowledge, skills, experience and attitudes that they need to
perform their jobs well for the achievement of their organization‘s goals Mathias and Jackson,
(1998).

Though the effect of formal training on employee performance remains subjective and
sometimes doubtful because of lack of sufficient direct transfer to the workplace, formal
training remains an important strategy through which organizations ensure their employees
‘competencies Beatrice et al., (2009). Beckman (2009) and Pulakos et al., (2000) comment that
organizations without viable training programs would fail to provide employees with frequent
opportunities to practice and enhance their capabilities in terms of enhanced employee skills
and knowledge. Naturally, such an anomaly leads to poor performance and inefficiency, and
ultimately decreased productivity and profitability. However, Loewenstein and Spletzer (1998)
and Bartel (2000) confirm that the effect of an hour of training on productivity growth is about
five times as large as the effect on wage growth and that employers reap almost all the returns
to company training. As such, investing in human resource development is an integral part of
any organization bent of operating efficiently and effectively.

According to Viscal (2011), he points out that enhancing the employee competencies in the
workplace strongly depends upon the learning environment of a given organization. This
implies that top management should be committed towards supporting staff training for all staff

18
categories with equitable provision being made within the spirit of equal opportunity for all
employees. In any organization not everyone is fully equipped with any sort of expertise or
carry the ability of handling every task he is assigned, except he is well versed in it and has
strong track experience regarding that specific assignment. Training has been the main factor
for influencing the employees’ skills, abilities and attitude. People working in any organization
individually or in groups or in the shape of teams have never been able to handle their tasks by
their own until and unless they provide healthy support to each other while working on their
targets.

Therefore, team members should develop the environment where they can bring down the short
comings of weak members by consistently contributing to their weak performance DeLise et
al, (2010). Training programs helps in making acquaintance of employees with more advance
technology and attaining strong competencies and skills in order to handle the functions and
basics of newly introduced technical equipment. More rarely it happens that employees are not
fully trained regarding new working and technical techniques and they are unable to deliver to
their assignments according to the desire of the organization. Effective training can bring down
these flaws Viscal, (2011).

2.3. Empirical Literature

According to Newton (2006), and Mubashar and Muhammad (2011), in their respective study
found out that along with some others favour the importance of training in terms of not only
attracting of new staff but also retaining the existing one and it pushes up the abilities of
employees to higher stage from where they currently stands.

The developing process of employees’ skill in order to improve the performance is called
training (Swanson, 1999). Training is a type of activity which is planned, systematic and
it results in enhanced level of skill, knowledge and competency that are necessary to
perform work effectively (Gordon, 1992). Existing literature presents evidence of an
existence of obvious effects of training and development on employee performance.

According to Wright & Geroy (2001) notes that employee competencies change through
effective training programs. Training has been proved to generate performance improvement
related benefits for the employee as well as for the organization by positively influencing
employee performance through the development of employee knowledge, skills, ability,
competencies and behaviour. Appiah (2010); Harrison (2000); Guest, (1997) Most of

19
managers give training to their employees for three main purposes (Belcourt, Wright and
Saks, 2000), which are (1) to increase productivity or the performance of employees; (2)
to achieve organizational goals; and (3) to invest in employees to succeed in the unpredictable
and turbulent business environment.

Motivation is a key determinant of job performance and a poorly motivated force were
costly in terms of excessive staff turnover, higher expenses, negative morale and increased
use of managements’ time (Jobber, 1994). Therefore, management must know what
exactly stimulates their staff so resources are not misallocated and dissatisfaction develops
among employees (Jobber, 1994). As Green (2000) has described motivation to be proactive
in the sense of; in dealing with employees who are high performers, motivation is essential,
otherwise their performance are decline or they are simply leave the job.

A motivated workforce is essential because the complete participation of employees were

certainly drive the profitability of the organization Carlsen, (2003), Darmon (1974) believe
motivation is the educating of employees to channel their efforts towards organizational
activities and thus increasing the performance of the said boundary spanning roles.
According to Denton (1991), a motivated workforce were lead to greater understanding,
acceptance, commitment to implementation, understanding of objectives and decision
making between management and employees. There are 6 most important elements of
motivation: rewards, pay, profit sharing, promotion, recognition, job enrichment.

Supervision has become an important technique to improve performance. Champathes, (2006)

It is not a one way communication and proves to be a two way communications where
supervisors identify what can be improved and how it can be improved. Further supervision
addresses the belief and behaviours that hinder performance. Toit (2007) It can be further seen
that supervision is all about helping someone else to improve performance. Starr, (2004)

Organizational Culture is common values and behaviours of the people that considered as a
tool leads to the successful achievement of organization goals (Schein, 1990).
Organizational culture is the mind set of people that distinguishes them from each other,
within the organization and outside the organization. This includes values, beliefs, and
behaviours of the employee’s difference from the other organization (Hofstede, 1991).
Strong culture in the organization is very helpful to enhance the performance of the
employees that leads to the goal achievement and increase the overall performance of
the organization (Deal and Kennedy, 1982).

20
According to the Stewart (2010), norms and values of Organizational Culture highly effect
on those who are directly or indirectly involved with the organization. These norms are
invisible but have a great impact on the performance of employees and profitability. The most
important characteristic is shared value. A strong organizational culture supports adaptation
and develops organization’s employee performance by motivating employees toward a
shared goal and objective; and finally shaping and channelling employees’ behaviour to that
specific direction should be at the top of operational and functional strategies (Daft,
1984).

Shared value of employees is one of the basic components of organizational culture (Smit and
Cronje, 1992; Hellriegel et al, 1998). Schein (1994) clarifies that value which is a set of
social norms that define the rules or framework for social interaction and communication
behaviours of society’s members, is a reflection of causal culture assumptions. Academics
and practitioners argue that the performance of an organization is dependent on the degree
to which the values of the culture are widely shared (Peters and Waterman, 1982). Similarly,
it is widely argued that shared and strongly held values enable management to predict
employee reactions to certain strategic options and by reducing these values, the
consequences maybe undesirable (Ogbonna, 1993).

The influence degree of working environment is the counterpart requirement of a creative job.
Higher job satisfaction and lower intentions to leave were found for those individuals whose
work environment accompanied the creative requirements of jobs. Enhancing the creative
performance of employees has been recommended as dire for remaining competitive in a
dynamic environment and for enhancing the overall innovations of an organization (Janssen,
O. and NW. Van Yperen, 2004).

The behavioural environment consists of components that relate to how well the office
occupiers connect with each other, and the impact the office environment can have on the
behaviour of the individual. According to Haynes (2008), the physical environment with the
productivity of its occupants falls into two main categories office layout (open-plan verses
cellular offices) and office comfort (matching the office environment to the work
processes), and the behavioural environment represents the two main components namely
interaction and distraction.

21
2.4. Research Gap

In line with the above theoretical as well as empirical review there is no global standard to
define Employee Performance. It also revealed that there are different variables affecting
employee performance; the main factor that affect employee performance in this study covers
Motivation, Training, Organizational Culture, Working Environment, Supervision and
Individual Characteristics.

Even if there are empirical studies on Factors Affecting Employee Performance, most of them
raise different variables are done on relation to Employee Performance and are done in some
studies as the researchers observation. The researcher will contribute towards filling the gap by
analyzing factors affecting employee performance in Ethio-Telecom Zonal offices only.

2.5. Conceptual Framework of the Study

The conceptual framework explains the key concepts used in the study and how they are linked
to one another to produce the final outcome. For the framework purpose the researcher was
used the source from Gebregziabher, (2009) and model developed by using literatures with
some modification by the researcher.

Figure 1 : Conceptual Framework

Independent variable Dependent variable

Training

Motivation

Employee
Organizational Culture
Performance

22
Working Environment

Supervision

Ind. Characteristics

Source: Gebregziabher, 2009 and model developed by using literatures by the researcher

2.6.Research Hypothesis

H1: There is a positive relationship between the Training and Employees’ Performance in
Ethio-Telecom Addis Ababa Zonal Office.

H2: There is a positive relationship between the Motivation and Employees’ Performance in
Ethio-Telecom Addis Ababa Zonal Office.

H3: There is a positive relationship between the Working Environment and Employees’
Performance in Ethio-Telecom Addis Ababa Zonal Office.

H4: There is a positive relationship between the Organizational Culture and Employees’
Performance in Ethio-Telecom Addis Ababa Zonal Office.

H5: There is a positive relationship between the Supervision and Employees’ Performance in
Ethio-Telecom Addis Ababa Zonal Office.

H6: There is a positive relationship between the Individual Characteristics and Employees’
Performance in Ethio-Telecom Addis Ababa Zonal Office.

23
 CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

In this chapter, the following methodological issues were addressed. Points that have been
incorporated in this chapter are research design, questionnaire design, data collection, sampling
procedures, visiting of relevant office/centres, selection of participants, and test of validity and
reliability, data collection, data analysis and model.

3.1. Research Design

Research design defined as a blueprint or detailed plan for how a research studies is to be
completed, operationalizing variables so they can be measured, selecting a sample of interest
to study, collecting data to be used as a basis for testing hypothesis and analyzing the results.
It ensures that the study would be relevant to the problem and that it uses economical
procedures. In this study, a quantitative approach of doing research is employed. A quantitative
approach is one in which the investigator primarily uses postpositive claims for developing
knowledge, i.e., cause and effect relationship between known variables of interest or it employs
strategies of inquiry such as experiments and surveys, and collect data on predetermined
instruments that yield statistical data.

Descriptive analysis was providing the summary of all the six independent variables with
respect Employee Performance to the respondent such as mean, standard deviation and sum of
the scores.

In short, the study employs a survey design administered through structured questionnaire.
Survey is working in order to generalize from a sample to population. This method is preferred
because of its high-speed in data collection and its being economical. Moreover, the study
utilizes cross-sectional in the sense that all relevant data were collected at a single point in time.
The reason for preferring a cross-sectional study is due to the vast nature of the study. In
addition to this, obtaining information from a cross-section of a population at a single point in
time is a reasonable strategy for pursuing many researches, Janet M. Ruane, (2006:94).

24
3.2. Target Population

Ethio-Telecom is one of monopolize company run under Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary

Democratic Front EPRDF having around 12,740 employees working all over office found in
Ethiopia (Ethiotelecom.HR). Ethio-Telecom consists of six zonal offices in Addis Ababa. The
population sampling frame was obtained from all zonal offices found in Addis Ababa which
are 2,377 employees.

3.3. Sources of Data

The study employs both primary and secondary sources of data collection.

1. Primary Sources In order to realize the target, the study uses well-designed
questionnaire as best instrument. This is because it is Lower in costs, the Respondent
privacy is considered, It is free from the bias of the interviewers, answers are in
respondents own words. These were completed by employees of selected organization
moreover; Respondents have adequate time to give well thought answers.

2. Secondary Sources Secondary data from files, pamphlets, office manuals, circulars
and policy papers were used to provide additional information where appropriate.
Besides, variety of books published and/or unpublished government documents,
websites, reports and newsletters were reviewed to make the study fruitful.

3.4. Sampling Technique

In order to gather information from Ethio telecom employees, Stratified random sampling I n
which the population is divided into several sub-populations (strata) was used on the basis of
their location. This technique is preferred because it is used to assist in minimizing bias when
dealing with the population. And also here in this technique no significant group is left
unrepresented. In addition to all this, time and cost of data collection were saved with this
sampling technique. Here also, the sampling frame can be organized into relatively
homogeneous groups (strata) before selecting elements for the sample. According to Janet
(2006:94), this step increases the probability that the final sample is representative in terms of
the stratified groups. The strata are those six Zonal offices located throughout Addis Ababa
city.
𝑛 = 𝑁/(1 + 𝑁(𝑒)2)

n=2377/ 6.9425

25
 n=342.38 ≈ 342

Where:
n= sample size for the population
N= total population
E= margin of error (5%)

In order to proportionally distribute the samples among the strata the formula below is
implemented (Cochran, 1992: 53-57) and (Israel, 1992:39)

Nh= (Nh/Ns) n

Where:
nh= Sample size from each stratum
Nh= Total population from each stratum
Ns= Total population of the sum of strata for the study
n= Total sample size from the study population
Since the sample size is known, the skip interval to follow was calculated as follows;
Skip interval (l) = population list size/Sample size
Skip interval (l) = 2377/342
Skip interval (l) = 7
After the skip interval is known, the researcher has selected ‘1’as the starting point; therefore
the sample comprises those who came to their work place 1st, 8th, 15th, and so on.

Next to determining the sample size, respondents were selected from each of those six Zonal
offices (strata) based on proportional allocation as shown in the following table. In selecting
the representatives following the method of proportional allocation under which the sizes of
the samples from different strata are relatively kept proportional to the sizes of the strata.
Subsequently, each respondent were selected randomly from each stratum to give equal chance
of selection since the study targeted to all of the workers.
Table 1: Sampling technique
o
N Branch office/Zones Abbreviations No. of Sample size
employees
1 Central Addis Ababa CAAZ 288 ((Number of employee/ current
Zone employee of zonal office)*

26
 sample size for the population))
means
((288/2377)*342)=41
2 East Addis Ababa Zone EAAZ 478 69
3 North Addis Ababa Zone NAAZ 402 58
4 West Addis Ababa Zone WAAZ 403 58
5 South West Addis Ababa SWAAZ 410 59
Zone
6 South Addis Ababa Zone SAAZ 396 57
Total 2377 342
Source: Ethio telecom HR data. (April 2016), proportional sample size from each stratum

3.5. Data Collection Method

The primary data were collected using self-administrated five points likert-scale questionnaires
affixed by strongly agree to strongly disagree. The questionnaire has six sections. The first
section contains questions associated with the general demographic characteristics of the
sample respondents. The second section deal with questions related with Training employees
obtain. Section three encompasses questions associated with the impacts of motivation on
salary. Section four covers questions associated with working environment in which employees
are employed. Section five contains questions associated with organizational culture of the
employee. Section six contains questions associated with Supervision style of the organization
on employee. Section seven contains questions associated with Individual Character of the
employee. Finally, the last part of the questionnaire contains questions regarding to Employee
Performance.

The questionnaires were arranged in a very simple and brief manner to encourage meaningful
participation by the respondents. The layout of the questionnaire was kept as brief and short as
possible with care taken to the actual wording and phrasing of the questions. The reason for the
appearance and layout of the questionnaire are of great importance in any survey where the
questionnaire is to be completed by the respondent John et al., (2007:128-42). The
questionnaire section was based on non-comparative scale, on five point Likert scale ratings of
individual factors. The respondents were asked to rank on a scale of 1-5 (where 1 indicates
“Strongly Disagree” and 5 indicates “Strongly Agree”) the extent to which they agree with

27
 statements given, relating to determinates of Employee Performance. Respondents are
requested to specify their level of agreement in each statement on a five point Likert scale.

For example, the construct ‘Training’ is adopted from related literature. To measure these
construct four sub-scales questions were developed. A Likert-type question, employing five
scales (5 for strongly agree and 1 for strongly disagree), was used to quantify and compute an
index for the ‘Training’ construct. Since there are six items, a respondent may score a maximum
of 30 (most favourable attitude) and a minimum of 6 (least favourable attitude) for the construct
‘Training’. Scholars (e.g. Covin et al., 2006; Belay, 2012) use the average of the item scores to
measure the value of construct. Therefore, the average of the scores for the four items measures
the value of ‘Training’ construct for a particular respondent. The same technique applies to all
other constructs with a Likert-scale.

Employee Performance: It is an ordered categorical variable that takes 1 if the employee has
poor performance in the execution of the given tasks, 2 if the employee has fair
performance, 3 if the employee has good performance. 4 if the employee has very good
performance and 5 if the employee has an excellent performance This variable indicates
that if the employee score > 4.0 to < 5, then the employee considered as an excellent
performer and has completel y mastered the assigned job and above allotted
responsibilities of the given activities, when they score between > 3.5 to <4.0, they
considered as very good performers, when they score between > 2.5 to < 3.5 they are
considered under good performer when they score between > 2.5 to < 3.5 they are
considered as having a little less performance of the allotted responsibilit y and
below <1.5 has very low performance of the allotted responsibilit y.

Table 2: Employee performance scale

Performance
Point Range Definition
Level

Has completel y mastered the assigned job and

above allotted Responsibilities, and standards;
Excellent
> 4.0 to < 5.0 can perform without supervisor: integrit y, tact,
Performance
leadership, intelligence and judgment are of
highest standard; had extra efforts, outputs,

28
 better qualit y, insight ; system change in all
aspects.

Has mastered the job up to the expected

standards and allotted responsibilit y; had some
Very Good extra effort and output, qualit y of work; can
> 3.5 to <4.0
Performance work with very little attention and supervision;
has input in system improvement; shows
developing effort and accepted character.
Has a full performance of the allotted
responsibilit y; knows the job well; doesn’t
Good
> 2.5 to < 3.5 exert more effort and output needs guidance and
performance
follow-up and supervision; eager to learn and
improve, shows regular effort and character.
Has a little less performance of the allotted
responsibilit y; knows the job in fair level and
Fair
> 1.5 to < 2.5 supervision is required; doesn’t have initiative
Performance
to learn and needs to be pressed, shows
irregular effort and character.
Has very low performance of the allotted
responsibilit y; requires too much correction,
Poor doesn’t know the job, and requires training;
<1.5
Performance always needs guidance, follow -up and
supervision, forced to learn and ordered to act
accordingl y: shows undesirable character.
Source: HR Performance Appraisal Form, 2015

3.6. Procedures of Data Collection

In this study data collection has been conducted by preparing both closed ended and open ended
questionnaires to non-managerial staffs. The questionnaires were developed in English because

29
more than 60% of the respondents have degree (Ethio Telecom HR Department) and therefore
they can understand it easily. It was distributed in six zonal offices found in Addis Abeba. The
Procedures for Data collection in this study were developed by the researcher with contributions
from representatives of Zonal office employees in Ethio telecom. These procedures are
intended to help improve the usefulness, timeliness, accuracy, and comparability of
performance data that represent employees in Ethio telecom. These procedures describe
processes that were result in high quality data. The questionnaire is contracted in a very short
and clear manner using five point likert scale and two open ended questions. After the
questionnaires were filled by the respondent data `collection has been made by the researcher.

3.7. Validity and Reliability of Instruments

Validity

Validity is defined as the extent to which the instrument measures what it purports to measure
(Allen and Yen, 1979). Content validity pertains to the degree which the instrument fully
assesses or measure the construct of interest. The researcher was test the validity of the
questionnaire and tested to know whether or not the questionnaire measures what it claims to
measure. The author asked a panel of four experts containing two academicians, one researcher
and one professor to assess the content validity of the questionnaire. They were asked to
indicate whether or not they agree that each item is appropriately matched to the content area
indicated.

The Items that they identify as being inadequately used to conduct the study, or flawed in any
other way, were revised. Apart from the content validity, the face validity was also measured
by sending the questionnaires for two individuals who conduct a study around similar area with
this study. They were requested to forward their opinion whether or not the questionnaire is
measuring what it is supposed to measure. Issues raised by experts on were corrected and
questionnaires were refined. Besides, proper detection by an advisor was also taken to ensure
validity of the instruments. Finally, the improved version of the questionnaires were printed,
duplicated and dispatched.

Reliability

Before proceeding to the next statistical analysis, the reliability of the items of the
patient satisfaction questionnaire was checked to see whether the questions chosen are
consistent with one another. When we have tested and need to look at how strong the

30
relationship is between the scores on the instrument at the two time points. The reliabilities of
the variables (data) were checked against the recommended standards (Cronbach's alpha ≥
0.70) mainly to ensure that they are reliable indicators of the constructs Muijs, (2004).

Conducting the pilot study has enabled the researcher to overcome the response bias. The
reliabilities of the variables (data) were checked against the Nunnally's recommended
standards (Cronbach's alpha ≥ 0.70) mainly to ensure that they are reliable indicators of the
constructs Nunnally’s, (1967). As table three shows, the Cronbach’s alpha calculated for all
items in the six categories was, 0.814 for Training, 0.812 for Organizational Culture, 0.798
for Motivation, 0.788 for Individual Character, 0.768 for Supervision and 0.735 for Working
Environment. This result confirms that the items identified in each category are cohesive
enough to adequately represent a single concept.

Table 3: Cronbach's Alpha

No Categories Number Cronbach Alpha value Status

of items
1 Training 6 0.814 Good
2 Motivation 6 0.798 Acceptable
3 Working Environment 5 0.735 Acceptable
4 Organizational Culture 6 0.812 Good
5 Supervision 5 0.768 Acceptable
6 Individual Character 4 0.788 Acceptable
7 Employee Performance 5 0.866 Good

Table 4: Average Cronbach's Alpha reliability coefficient for all variables

Cronbach's Alpha Number of items

0.797 37
Source: Calculated from the researcher survey data

3.8. Methods of Data Analysis

The collected data was processed in line with the purpose. The data were analysed using
descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings are presented in the form of tables and based
on their types and appropriateness for presentation. For the descriptive statistic tables are also
used.

31
This is the further transformation of the processed data to look for patterns and relationship
between and/or among data groups by using descriptive and inferential (statistical) analysis.
Specifically, descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics
(Multiple Linear Regression model) were employed in the study.

3.8.1. Descriptive Statistics

The contributing factors of Employees performance for 6 Addis Ababa Zonal offices are
assessed based their respondents’ responds by computing the mean, standard deviation. The
Employee Performance for 6 Addis Ababa Zonal offices is assessed based on Ethio-Telecom
Employee Performance Appraisal Rating.

3.8.2. Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) Analysis

Multiple linear regression (MLR) analysis is a method used to model the linear relationship
between a dependent variable and two or more independent variables. The dependent variable
is sometimes also called “the predict” (response variable), and the independent variables are
called the predictors (explanatory variables). A function of the analysis is to search for predictor
variables that help to explain significant variation in the response variable. If a number of
significant predictors can be identified, then a decision-maker can manage risks and maximize
the odds of favourable outcomes.

Multiple regression models were chosen to investigate the relationship between Employee
Performance and the independent variables. Therefore, for the analysis of factors affecting
Employee Performance and the determinants, the multiple linear regression models is used to
identify the relationship between dependent and independent variables.
The variables that are considered in this study area are as follows:
1. The dependent variable is employee‘s performance. It is called dependent because it
"depends" on the independent variables.
2. The independent variables are; Training, Motivation, Organizational Culture, Working
Environment, Supervision and Individual Characteristics. In this research, the relation
between individual performance and the explanatory variables; Training, Motivation,
Organizational Culture, Working Environment, Supervision and Individual
Characteristics variables was assumed to be independent over the course of the study.
The following empirical model was used to explain the data:

Y = a+ β1X1+ β2X2+ β3X3+ β4X4+ β5X5+ β6X6e

32
 Where:

Y= Employee Performance (Dependent variable);

X1 –X6 = Factors Affecting Employee Performance (Independent variables)
X1 = Motivation
X2 = Working Environment
X3 = Individual Characteristics
X4 = Training
X5 = Organizational Culture &
X6 = Supervision
β1- n= the regression coefficient or change included in Y by each X
e = Error term

Model test are in - APPENDIX

The relationship between the dependent variable and the predictors is linear.
The explanatory variables are not correlated each other; if they are not correlated, it is
possible to say that there is no multicollinearity.
The normal curves for Employee Performance curves indicate that the distributions of
the error terms are normal.
The variance/covariance matrices of variables are heterogeneous across groups.

3.8.3. Correlation

In this section the Factors Affecting Employee’s Performance in Ethio Telecom Zonal offices
traced in Addis Abeba are assessed based on respondents’ responds. In correlation the
researcher was look at three important points (1) The value of the Pearson’s correlation
coefficient between each share of variables. (2) It shows the one-taild significance of each
correlation is presented. (3) The number of cases contributing to each correlation is revealed.
Generally the importances of conducting correlation were to study the correlation between the
study variables and the findings.

3.9. Ethical Considerations

Letter of cooperation was obtained from St. Mary’s University, Department of Student Services
to the respective study population. Verbal and informed consent was obtained from the
managers of the concerned bodies by informing the purpose of the study and since the

33
researcher was an employee in the organization written request was not conducted. Regarding
the right to privacy of the respondents, the study maintained the confidentiality of the identity
of each participant.

CHAPTER FOUR

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

This chapter deals with presentation and analysis of the data which have been obtained through
questionnaire. As such the study sought to investigate the influence of Training, Motivation,
Supervision, Working Environment, Organizational Culture and Individual Characteristics on
employee’s performance of Ethio telecom zonal offices found in Addis Ababa city.

4.1. Data Analysis

4.1.1. Demographic Characteristics of the Respondents

The study targeted staffs within Ethio telecom Zonal offices found in Addis Ababa city which
included six zonal offices (Central, East, North, West, South, South West Addis Ababa Zonal
Offices). The study collected data using questionnaire accordingly 342 questionnaires were
administered to 342 employees and the response came from 276 respondents, with regard to
the factors influencing employee performance in Ethio telecom Zonal offices found in Addis
Ababa city.

Table 5: Response Rate

Response Frequency Percent

Responded 276 81
Not responded 66 19
Total 342 100
Source: Own survey, 2016

According to the SPSS Output table 5 shows; from the study, out of 342 target respondents 276
filled in and returned the questionnaire contributing to 81%. This response rate was good plus
representative and conforms to Mugenda and Mugenda (1999) stipulation that a response rate
of 50% is adequate for analysis and reporting; a rate of 60% is good and a response rate of 70%
and over is excellent. The questionnaires that were not returned were due to reasons like, the
respondents were not available to fill them in at that time and with persistence follow-ups there

34
were no positive responses from them. The response rate demonstrates a willingness of the
respondents to participate in the study.

Table 6: Demographic Characteristics of the Respondents

Item Gender of the Respondents

Gender Frequency Percent
Male 163 59.1
1
Female 113 40.9
Total 276 100
Working Experience of the Respondents
Duration in Years Frequency Percent
Less than 5 year 5 4.3
6-10 Years 134 48.6
2
11-15 Years 115 41.7
16 Years and above 15 5.4
Total 276 100
Educational Level of the Respondents
Level of Education Frequency Percent
Diploma 111 40.2
3 Degree 145 52.5
Masters 20 7.3
Total 276 100
Source: Own survey, 2016

As such the results on demographic characteristics of these respondents were investigated in

the first section of the questionnaire. They are presented in this section under gender
distribution of the respondents, age of the respondents, working experience and highest
academic qualifications under table six in general.

In this study the respondents were expected to comprise both male and female staffs. As such,
the study required the respondents to indicate their gender by ticking on the spaces provided in
the questionnaire. Therefore 59.1% of the respondents were male and 40.9% were female as
publicized in the above table. The outcomes point toward the views expressed in this outputs
are gender sensitive and can be taken as representative of the opinions of both genders as
regards to factors influencing employee performance of Ethio telecom Zonal offices found in
Addis Ababa city.

35
The length of service/working in an organization identifies the extent to which one is aware of
the issues sought by the study. In the wake of technological advancements and globalization,
there are likely to be many changes in institutional and operating environment that the
respondents should know when responding to the issues required by the study. This study is
about the factors affecting employee performance in Ethio telecom Addis Ababa Zonal offices.
Therefore the study sought to establish the length of time that the respondents had been working
in the Company. The results on this question are presented in table.

The study results depicted in table six reveal that 4.3% of the respondents indicated that they
had an experience of less than 5 years in Ethio Telcom, 48.6% of them had worked in Ethio
Telcom for a period of 6 - 10 years, 41.7% of them had a working experience of 11- 15 years,
another 5.4% of the respondents indicated that they had an experience of 20 years. This shows
that majority respondents had enough work experience in Ethio Telcom to respond effectively.
Owing to the dynamic nature of operating environment of the Communications & Information
Technology (MCIT) institutions, the experience of the most current and up-to-date information
on the state of affecting factors of employee performance is essential.

Ethio telcom hire staffs in different work stations hence different academic qualifications. This
difference might contribute to differences in the responses given by the respondents. The study
sought to establish the highest academic qualifications attained by the respondents. According
to the SPSS Output shown in table six, (40.2%) of the respondents had acquired
college/university diplomas level of education, majority 52.5% of the respondents indicated
that they had acquired Bachelor’s or undergraduate degrees as their highest level of education,
7.3% had acquired masters level of education. This results imply that majority of the
respondents had at least college/university degree and hence understood the information sought
by this study. These findings further imply that all the respondents were academically qualified
and also familiar with their duties and could dispense them effectively in terms of professional
work ability and performance.

4.1.2. Descriptive Statistics

Table 7: Descriptive Statistics

Descriptive Statistics
Mean Std. Deviation N
Employee Performance 2.4746377 .65177370 276
Training 2.5993756 1.42444245 276
Motivation 2.6095922 1.40868418 276

36
Working Environment 2.4381640 1.43146717 276
Organizational Culture 2.3610136 1.43708578 276
Supervision 2.4205594 1.38026271 276
Individual Characteristics 2.5135494 1.49968453 276
Source: Own survey, 2016

Table seven shows that the mean and standard deviation of the variables in the study. The
descriptive exposed in the table indicate that mean of Training is 2.5993 with a standard
deviation 1.4244 which shows that majority of employees are either neutral about effects which
the factors of Training have on their performance or they somewhat disagree that these factors
have positive effect on their performance.

The standard deviation of Supervision is 1.3802 with a mean score of 2.4205 which shows
predictable of the responses and overall better reliability of the scores. From this it can be
depicted that employees somewhat agree that their immediate bosses and head of their
organizations have friendly relations with them as well as help keep the workforce morale high
by encouraging the top performers.

Working Environment has a mean score of 2.4381 and 1.4314 standard deviation, reflecting
inter response variability and that employees are overall neutral about the effects which the
factors of their Working Environment has on their performance. The mean score of Motivation
is 2.6095 with a standard deviation score of 1.4086. A high standard deviation indicates that
the data points are spread out over a wider range of values of Motivation. It shows that
employees are either neutral or dissatisfied for the Motivation practices prevailing in their
organizations.

Organizational Culture has a mean score of 2.3610 and 1.4370 standard deviation, reflecting
inter response variability and that employees are overall neutral about the effects which the
factors of their Organizational Culture has on their performance.

The mean score of Individual Characteristics is 2.5135 with a standard deviation score of
1.4996. A high standard deviation indicates that the data points are spread out over a wider
range of values of Individual Characteristics. It shows that employees are either neutral or
disagree for Individual Characteristics behaviour has impact in their organizations. In the last
portion of questionnaire, the subset of items prepared to be filled by the immediate bosses of
employees about their performance yielded the following results.

37
 The mean score of employee job performance come out to be 2.4746 with a standard deviation
of .6517 which are almost consistent with the scores of above six variables of job performance
and indicates that immediate bosses somewhat agree that their employees are aware about their
job roles and perform all the assigned tasks effectively and efficiently.

4.1.3. Pearson’s correlation

Table 8: Pearson’s correlation

Pearson Correlations
Employe
Working Organizat Ind.
e Train Motiva Superv
Environ ional Characteri
Performa ing tion ision
ment Culture stics
nce
Employee
1.000 .342 .365 .430 .387 .333 .328
Performance
Training .342 1.000 .031 .075 -.056 .004 -.092
Motivation .365 .031 1.000 .051 -.087 -.033 -.072
Pearson Working
.430 .075 .051 1.000 .086 -.099 -.039
Correlation Environment
Organizational
.387 -.056 -.087 .086 1.000 .106 .015
Culture
Supervision .333 .004 -.033 -.099 .106 1.000 .017
Ind. Characteristics .328 -.092 -.072 -.039 .015 .017 1.000
Employee
. .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000
Performance
Training .000 . .030 .010 .017 .047 .064
Motivation .000 .030 . .019 .074 .029 .011
Sig. (2- Working
.000 .010 .019 . .078 .051 .025
tailed) Environment
Organizational
.000 .017 .074 .078 . .040 .040
Culture
Supervision .000 .047 .029 .051 .040 . .039
Ind. Characteristics .000 .064 .011 .025 .040 .039 .
Employee
276 276 276 276 276 276 276
Performance
Training 276 276 276 276 276 276 276
Motivation 276 276 276 276 276 276 276
Working
N 276 276 276 276 276 276 276
Environment
Organizational
276 276 276 276 276 276 276
Culture
Supervision 276 276 276 276 276 276 276
Ind. Characteristics 276 276 276 276 276 276 276
Source: Own survey, 2016

38
As stated on the literature and statistical descriptive statistics, there are many factors that can
affect the Employee Performance of Ethio Telecom Addis Ababa Zonal offices. The factors
like Training, Motivation, Working Environment, Organizational Culture Supervision and
Individual Characteristics were significant and detailed as follows. The level of significance is
kept 0.05 because of the primary nature of data that has the probable chances of being uncertain.

The table 8 shows three things, First, it shows the value of the Pearson correlation coefficient
between every pair of variables (e.g. we can see that the Working Environment had large
positive relation with Employee Performance, R=.430). Second, the one-tailed significance of
each correlation is displaced (e.g. the correlation above is significant, p<.001). Finally, the
number of cases contributing to each correlation (N = 276) is shown.

The research used the Pearson’s coefficient of correlation (r) to study the correlation between
the study variables and the findings. From the findings, it was clear that there was a positive
correlation between Employee Performance and Training with a correlation figure of 0.342, it
was also clear that there was also a positive correlation between Employee Performance and
Motivation with a correlation value of 0.365, a positive correlation between Employee
Performance and Working Environment with a value of 0.430 and a positive correlation
between Employee Performance and Organizational Culture with a correlation value of 0.387,
and Employee Performance and Supervision had a positive relationship with a value of 0.333
and a positive correlation between Employee Performance and Individual Characteristics with
a correlation value of 0.328. This shows that there was positive correlation between Employee
Performance and Training, Motivation, Working Environment, Organizational Culture
Supervision and Individual Characteristics.
In addition, the research conducted a multiple regression analysis so as to assess the factors
influencing Employee Performance in Ethio Telecom Addis Ababa Zonal offices.

Coefficient of Determination (R2)

Model Summaryb
Change Statistics
Std. Error
Mod R Adjusted R R Sig. F Durbin-
R of the F
el Square Square Square df1 df2 Chang Watson
Estimate Change
Change e
1 .908a .825 .821 .27596851 .825 210.823 6 269 .000 2.166

a. Predictors: (Constant), Ind. Characteristics, Organizational Culture, Working Environment,

Motivation, Training, Supervision

39
 Coefficientsa
Model Unstandardized Standardized t Sig. 95.0% Confidence
Coefficients Coefficients Interval for B
B Std. Beta Lower Upper
Error Bound Bound
(Constant) -.090 .074 -1.212 .226 -.237 .056
Training .162 .012 .355 13.771 .000 .139 .186
Motivation .187 .012 .405 15.715 .000 .164 .211
Working Environment .182 .012 .401 15.463 .000 .159 .206
Organizational Culture .166 .012 .366 14.096 .000 .143 .189
Supervision .160 .012 .339 13.111 .000 .136 .184
Ind. Characteristics .171 .011 .394 15.328 .000 .149 .193
b. Dependent Variable: Employee Performance
Source: SPSS Output
Coefficient of determination explains the extent to which changes in the dependent variable
can be explained by the change in the independent variables or the percentage of variation in
the dependent variable (Employee Performance) that is explained by all the six independent
variables (Training, Motivation, Working Environment, Organizational Culture Supervision,
and Ind. Characteristics).
Dependent Variable: Employee Performance

Significance at 5% significance level

EXPV = -.090 + 0.162(TR) + 0.187(MO) + 0.182(WE) + 0.166(OC) + 0.160(SP) + 0.171(IC)

R square (R2) is the correlation coefficient square .825 also referred to as the coefficient of
determination. This value indicates the percentage of total variation of Y (Employee
Performance) explained by the regression model consisting of independent variables. The R2
value of .825 means that about 82.5 % of the variation in Employee Performance is explained
by the explanatory variables. This therefore means that other factors not studied in this research
contribute 17.5% of the employee performance in the institution. Therefore, further research
should be conducted to investigate the other factors (17.5%) that influence Employee
Performance at Ethio Telecom Addis Ababa Zonal offices.

The b-values tell us about the relationship between the Employee Performance and each
predictor. It depicts a positive relationship between the predictor. For these data all of the
predictors have positive b-values indicating direct relationship. So, as Employee Performance

40
increase, as on Training, Motivation, Working Environment, Organizational Culture,
Supervision and Individual Characteristics increase. The b-values tell us more than this thought.
They tell us what degree each predictors affects the outcome also. The intercept value 0.090
means that if the values of Training, Motivation, Working Environment, Organizational
Culture, Supervision and Individual Characteristics are zero the Employee Performance will
increase by 9 %.

When we see the standard deviation by holding other explanatory variables constant a standard
deviation increase degree of Motivation, on average, leads to a .187 standard deviation increase
in Employee Performance. Motivation has an impact on Employee Performance like other
explanatory variables.

Training is also found to be important in explaining Employee Performance. The variable is

statistically significant at 5% level and positive, revealing strong direct relationship between
Training and Employee Performance. The increment of Training by one unit increases the
Employee Performance of firms by 16.2 %.

Working Environment is statistically significant at 5% significance level and positive,

indicating a weak direct relationship between Working Environment and Employee
Performance. The magnitude of marginal changes other things remaining the same, a one
percent change in Working Environment imply enhance of Employee Performance by 18.2 %.

Motivation is found to have positive effect at 5% significant level for the Employee
Performance. The increments in the level of Motivation Practice of Ethio-Telcom of Ethiopia,
on average Employee Performance will increase by 18.7 % other variables keep constant. This
indicates that Motivation and Employee Performance are negatively correlated.

With regard to Organizational Culture, it is found that Organizational Culture has also positive
influence on the Employee Performance and found to be significant at 5% level. This shows
that increment of additional Organizational Culture, the Ethio-Telecoms’ Employee
Performance raise by 16.6%. This implies that the existence of suitable Organizational Culture
will have a positive impact on Employee Performance.

Supervision is statistically significant at 5% significance level and positive, indicating a less

direct relationship between Supervision and Employee Performance. The magnitude of
marginal changes other things remaining the same, a one percent change in Supervision imply
an increase of Employee Performance by 16%.

41
Individual Characteristics is found to be important in explaining Employee Performance. The
variable is statistically significant at 5% level and positive, revealing strong direct relationship
between Individual Characteristics and Employee Performance. The increment of the right
Individual Characteristics for the job increase by one unit Employee Performance of firms by
17.1 %.

The SPSS Output shows which contain an analysis of variance (ANOVA) that tests whether
the model is significantly better at predicting the outcome than using the mean as a ‘best guess’.
Specially, the F-ratio represents the ratio of the improvement in prediction that results from the
model, relative to the inaccuracy that still exists in the model.

ANOVAa
Model Sum of Df Mean F Sig.
Squares Square
Regression 96.336 6 16.056 210.823 .000b
1 Residual 20.487 269 .076
Total 116.822 275
Source: SPSS Output

a. Dependent Variable: Employee Performance

b. Predictors: (Constant), Ind. Characteristics, Organizational Culture,
Working Environment, Motivation, Training, Supervision

42
 CHAPTER FIVE

FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1. Summary of Major Findings

This study presents that the variables of Training, Motivation, Supervision, Working
Environment, Organizational Culture and Individual Characteristics do affect the employees’
performance at Ethio-Telecom. Among them Motivation has insignificant role in explaining
Employee Performance. Since motivated young employees perform better than their elder
counterparts showing that youngsters are more entrepreneurial. Youngsters tend to perform
better and exert more effort compared to their elder counterparts. And also Working
Environment strongly determines employee performance in Ethio Telecom.

Training has a direct and significant effect on the performance of employees of Ethio telecom.
Newton (2006), Viscal (2011), Pulakos et al. (2000), and Mubashar & Muhammad (2011) in
their respective study found out those organizations without viable training programs would
fail to provide employees with frequent opportunities to practice and enhance their capabilities,
which ultimately affect the performance of employees.

Conferring to the Stewart (2010), norms and values of Organizational Culture highly effect
on those who are directly or indirectly involved with the organization. And this is supported
by the findings of the study. We can see that the Organizational Culture had large positive
relation with Employee Performance, R=.387).

Supervision has a positive relation with that of Employee Performance. Employee Performance
and Supervision had a positive relationship with a value of 0.333 as we can see from the
findings and we can say that it is dependent to each other plus lack of thereof has an impact to
each other.

There is strong evidence that individuals who perceive that they have a good relationship with
their immediate supervisor tend to put increased effort into doing their work well, in order to
cement their relationship (Rollinson and Broadfield, 2008). Results from research shows that
majority of the respondents relate well with their supervisors and co-workers.

43
 5.2. Conclusions

The purpose of this research was drawing the Factors Affecting Employee Performance in Ethio
telecom Zonal offices in Addis Ababa. Motivation has significant role in explaining Employee
Performance. Working Environment strongly determines Employee Performance in Ethio
Telecom. From the finding and hypothesis of the study it can be concluded that all the
independent variables affect the performance of employees in Ethio Telecom zonal offices. A
Motivated and qualified workforce is essential for any company that wants to increase
productivity and customer satisfaction. In this context, Motivation means the willingness of an
individual to do efforts and take action towards Organizational Goals. The challenge for any
manager is to find the means to create and sustain Employee Motivation. There is a positive
relationship between Motivation and employees’ performance in Ethio Telecom zonal offices.

Training is among organizational factors deployed to effectively utilize the human resource of
the organization. Training is defined as “set of systematic and planned activities designed by
an organization to provide its members with opportunities to learn necessary skills to meet
current and future job demands” (Desimone, Werner and Harris, 2010). Through Training
programs, organizations ensure the necessary supply of competent and capable personnel for
the effective organizational functioning (Haslinda, 2009) Training is also viewed an integral
part of continuous improvement system in organization. In empirical research, the direct effects
of Training program on Employee’s Job Performance are generally supported Khan (2011).
Therefore, it postulated here that development in skills level through Training program has
positive effects on employee’s performance. There is a positive relationship between Training
and employees’ performance in Ethio Telecom zonal offices.

The term Supervision refers to the combination of task and as well as relational aspects
considered by the leader. Therefore, Supervision refers to the leader’s actions directed to
provide necessary task related guidance and moral support to his/her subordinates. Many
studies have identified that followers have two types of need for leadership at workplace; need
for structure and need for social support (Bodla and Hussain, 2009, 2010; De Vries, 2002;
Landeweerd and Bouman, 1994). In need for structure, followers desire the leader’s
interventions to provide them necessary task related guidelines, clear operating procedures and
methods to perform the work and deliver the task related feedback. In need for social support,
employees desire social and moral support from their leaders. From the Empirical Literature
results concerning Supervision Effect on Employee Performance, there is convincing evidence

44
that Supervision has positive impact toward Employee Performance. Therefore, it is postulated
here that supervision exhibited by the leader to facilitate the followers in task performance and
also providing them the necessary social support has direct and positive effect on employee’s
performance. There is a positive relationship between Supervision and employees’
performance in Ethio telecom zonal offices.

According to this study, the Organization’s Culture matter a lot in upgrading the Employees’
Performance. Based on the Empirical Literature suggestions that culture can be studied as an
integral part of change process and that certain culture traits may be utilized as predictors of
performances of an organizations and employee effectiveness (Daniel and Aneil, 1995).The
good and competitive Organization Culture enhances the performance of the work force. The
members of the organizations are encouraged to work effectively if the culture of the
organization is strong and motivating Organizational culture is a reflection of employees’
performance. It is directly proportional to the employees’ performance. There is a positive
relationship between the Organization’s culture and employees’ performance in Ethio telecom
zonal offices.

Concerning to the outcomes of Working Environment on Employee Performance, Working

Environment is the second major factor to affect the Employee Performance the Empirical
Literature results also show that, if the Environment is easy and comfortable to work, then the
employees are encouraged to work effectively and efficiently.

5.3.Limitation of the Study

The major limitation of this study may be failure to address all factors that affect the
performance of employees and also covers only Ethio Telecom zonal offices found in Addis
Ababa. The reason for deal with Addis Ababa zonal offices were due to time constraint.
Although the population size is finite which requires sample size determination formula but the
sample size determined through the formula made the collection of data unmanageable, and the
study utilized standardized table which is representative.

5.4. Recommendations

From the above findings of the study the researcher made the following recommendations.

45
 For the performance in organizations to improve, the organization should ensure that for
the purpose of developing skills, changing behaviour or increase competence in employees, the
employees should be trained in their respective areas so as to ensure that they cope with the
rapidly changing technology, and also ensure that all employees are involved in the Training
exercise.
The employees of Ethio-Telecom therefore, tend to work hard to strengthen the
relationship between them and the supervisors hence improve their performance towards
achieving organizational goals since good relationship is a result of socialization.
The management should also check the Working Environment of work conduciveness.
Since employees need suitable Working Environment which in turn affects their performance;
the management should therefore look the surrounding of employees for better performance.
Granting Motivation for employees without bias is recommendable to perform their task.
The motivators have the ability to create an effective motivation in individuals in order to be
able to perform and exert considerable effort but Ethio telecom cannot use motivators until all
the hygiene factors have been fulfilled. This implies that non-monetary incentives (like
recognition of their work and career development) are better to keep employees motivated and
satisfied in their work.
It is better for Ethio telecom to enhance employees‘ performance by investing more in
training programs. Employees need up-to-date knowledge and skills to perform well because
training continually nourish their work attitude and behaviour.
Employee performance is dependent on Training, Motivation, Organizational Culture,
Working Environment, Supervision and Individual Character. Therefore the researcher
recommends Ethio telecom to give attention on giving training to its employee to achieve more
and motivate them to encourage well. In addition the working environment and organizational
culture should attract them to come with success.

REFERENCES

Aguinis, H. (2009). Performance management. Upper Saddle River.

46
Allen and Yen. (1979). Introduction to Measurement Theory. Introduction to measurement
theory. Monterey CA: Brooks/Cole.

Appiah, C. (2010). Human Resource Strategies for International Growth.

Armstrong M. and Murlis H. . (2004). A handbook of remuneration strategy and practice (5th
Edition).

Armstrong, M. (1994). Performance Management. Performance Management. London: Kogan

Page Ltd.

Armstrong, M. (2001). Human Resource Management Practice. London: Kogan Page Limited.

Armstrong, M. (2006). A Handbook of Human Resource Management practice. London,

England: Kogan Page Ltd.

Avolio, B. J., Waldman, D. A. (1990). Age and work performance in Non managerial jobs: The
effects of experience and occupational type. Academy of Management Journal, 407-
422.

Avolio, B. J., Waldman, D. A.,. (1990). Age and work performance in Non managerial jobs:
The effects of experience and occupational type. Avolio, B. J., Waldman, D. A., &
McDaniel, M. A. (1990). Age and work performancAcademy of Management Journal,
407-422.

Bartel, A. (2000). Measuring the employer's return on investment in training: Evidence from
the literature. Ind.Relat., 39(3), 502-524.

Bartlett, C.A. &Ghoshal, S. . (1995). Changing the role of top management: Beyond Systems
to People. Harvard Business Review, 73(3), 132-142.

Bayley, R. W. (1990). Human performance engineering. Englewood Cliff, New Jersey:

Prentice Hall Inc.

Beatrice van der, H., Boon, J., Marcel van der, K. & Meijs, E. (2009). Employability
enhancement through formal and informal learning: An empirical study among Dutch
non-academic university staff members., 13(1): 21. International Journal of Training
& Dev’t., 13(1), 21-24.

Beckman, Z. (2009). Beckman, Z.J. (2009). Should Training be an Integral Part of a Project
Budget to Increase Project Profitability? Project Manage. Articles, 1(4).

Belcourt, M., Wright, P. C. and Saks, A. M. Belcourt, M., Wright, P. C. and Saks, A. M. (2000).
Managing performance through training and development” , in Nelson Series in Human
Resources Management,. in Nelson Series in Human Resources Management,2nd
Edition.

Brewster, C., Carey, L., Dowling, P., Grobler, P., Holland, P. & Warnich, S. . (2003).
Contemporary issues in Human Resource Management. Cape Town. Clyson Printers.

47
Brooks, I. (2006). Organizational Behavior: Individuals, Groups and Organization.

Campbell, J.P, M., R.A, O., & S.H, S. (Eds.). . (1993). A Theory of Performance: San
Francisco. Jossey-Based.

Carleton, K. (2011). How To Motivate And Retain Knowledge Workers In Organizations: A

Review of the Literature. Edmonton. International Journal, 28(2).

Carlson DS, Kacmar KM, Wayne JH, Grzywacz JG. (2006). Measuring the positive side of the
work–family interface: Development and validation of a work–family enrichment scale.
Journal of Vocational Behavior, 68, 131-164.

Carslen, K. (2003). Sales motivation: one size does not fit all. Selling, October, 14-15.

Catherine, D. (2009). Introduction to research methods: A practical guide for any one
undertaking a research project (4th Ed.). United Kingdom: Books Ltd.

Cattell, R. B. (1963). Theory of fluid and crystallized intelligence: A critical experiment 54.
Journal of Educational Psychology, 54: 1-22., 1-22.

Champathes, M. R. (2006). Coaching for performance improvement: The coach model.

Development and Learning in Organizations, 20(2), 17-18.

Charity, T. ((2011)). The unique factors affecting employees‘ performance: in Non Profit
Organizations. Master thesis, University of South Africa.

Charity, T. (2011). The unique factors affecting employees‘ performance: in Non Profit
Organizations. Master thesis, University of South Africa.

Collis, D.J. & Montgomery, C.A. (1995). Competing on Resources. Harvard Business Review,
73(4), 118-128.

Covin, J. G. (2006). Strategic process effects on the entrepreneurial orientation-sales growth

rate relationship. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, vol. 30, no.1, pp. 57-81., 30,
no.1, 57-81.

D’Abate CP, Eddy ER, Tannenbaum SI. (2003). What’s in the name? A literature -based
approach to understanding mentoring, coaching, and other constructs that describe
developmental interactions. Human Resource Development Review, 2, 360-384.

Daft, R. L., and Weick, K. E. (1984). Toward a model of organizations as interpretation

systems. Academy of Management Review, 9(2), 284-295.

Daniel R. Denison and Aneil K. Mishra. (1995, March-April). Theory of Organizational

Culture and Effectiveness. Organization Science, Vol. 6, No. 2, March-April 1995),
6(2).

Darmon, R. (1974, November). Salesman’s response to financial incentives: an empirical study.

Journal of Marketing Research, 11(3), 418-426.

48
Davies, D.R., Matthews, G., & Wong, C.S. . (1991). Aging and work, In: Cooper, C.L. and
Robertson, I.T. (Eds) International Review of Industrial and Organizational
Psychology. John Wiley and Sons, Ltd., 149-211.

Deal, T.E. and Kennedy, A.A. (1982). Corporate cultures: The Rites and Rituals of Corporate
Life. Reading, Mass: Addis on-Wesley Publishing Co.

Delise, L. A. (2010). The effects of team training on teamoutcomes. A Meta analysis

Performance Improvement Quarterly, 22(4), 53-80.

Denton, D. (1991). What’s wrong with these employees?”. Business Horizons, September–
October, 34(5), 45-49.

Dixon, R. A., Kramer, D. A., & Baltes, P. B. (1985). Intelligence: A life-span developmental
perspective. In B. B. Wolman (Ed.). Handbook of intelligence, 301-350.

DuBrin A. (2009). Essentials of Management, 8th Edition:.

Ellinger AD, Ellinger AE, Keller SB. (2003). Supervisory coaching behavior, employee
satisfaction, and warehouse employee performance: A dyadic perspective in the
distribution industry. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 14, 435-458.

Ethio-telecom Establishment council of Ministers Regulation. (2010). Regulation No.

197/2010, 5693.

Foot M. and Hook C. (2008). Introducing Human Resource Management (5th Edition).

Ford JK, Quinones MA, Sego DJ, Sorra JP. (1992). Factors affecting the opportunity toperform
trained tasks on the job. PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY, 45, 511-527.

Forehand, G. A. and Von Gilmer, . (1964). Environmental Variations in Studies of

Organizational Behavior. Psychological Bulletin, 62, 361-382.

Fort, A.L. & Voltero, L. (2004). Factors affecting the performance of maternal health care
providers in America. Human Resource for Health biomedical Central. Retrieved from
http://www.humanresources-health.com/content/2/1/8

Gebregziabher, H. (2009). Determinants of public employees' performance: evidence from

Ethiopian public organizations. International Journal of Productivity and Performance
Management, 58(3), 238-253.

Giblin, E. J. (1986). The challenge facing human resources. In H. Heneman& D. Schwab (Eds.).
Perspectives on personnel/human resource management, (3rd ed.).

Giniger, S., Dispenzieri, A., & Eisenberg, J. (1983). Age, experience, and performance on
speed and skill jobs in an applied setting. Journal of Applied Psychology, 68, 469-475.

Gordon, B. (1992). Are Canadian firms under investing in training? Canadian Business
Economics , 1(1), 25-33.

49
Green, T. (2000). Three Steps to Motivating Employees. HR Magazine, November, 155-158.

Guest, D. (1997). Human resource management and industrial relations. Journal of

Management Studies, 24(5), 503-521.

Harrison, R. (2000). Employee Development.

Haynes, B. P. (2008). An Evaluation of the Impact of the Office Environment on Productivity.

Journal of Facilities, 26(5), 178-179.

Hellriegel, D., Slocum, J. W. and Woodman, R. W . (1998). Organizational Behavior, 8th ed.

Heslin PA, VandeWalle D, Latham GP. (2006). Keen to help? Managers’ implicit person
theories and their subsequent employee coaching. PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY, 59,
871-902.

Hilda, M. (2006). Factors Affecting Performance of Professional Nurses in Namibia. Doctoral

Dissertation, University of South Africa.

Hill, C.W.L & McShane, S.L. . (2009). Principles of Management.

Hodgets & Hedgar . (2008). Modern Human Relations at work.10th Edition;. Retrieved June
7th, 2016, from
http://www.cengage.com/search/productOverview.do?N=11+4294950207+42949502
06&Ntk=P_EPI&Ntt=14250814121115614519745331561795224450&Ntx=mode%2
Bmatchallpartial

Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture’s Consequences.

Hofstede, G. (1991). Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. .

Hunter, J.E. & Hunter, F.R. . (1984). Validity and utility of alternative predictor of job
performance. Psychology Bulletin, 96, 72-98.

Janet, M. (2006). Essentials of Research Methods: A Guide to Social Science Research. USA:
Blackwell Publishing.

Janssen, O., & Van Yperen, N. W. . (2004). Employees' goal orientations, the quality of leader-
member exchange, and the outcomes of job performance and job satisfaction. Academy
of Management Journal, 47, 368-384.

Jobber, D. and Lee, R. (1994). A comparison of the perceptions of sales management and
salespeople towards sales force motivation and demotivation. Journal of Marketing,
10(4), 325-332.

John, A., Hafiz, T.A., Khan, R.R. & David, W. (2007). Research Methods for Graduate
Business & Social Science Students. California, Sage.

Judge, T. &. (1993). Social context of performance evaluation decisions. Academy of

Management, 36(1), 80-105.
50
Judge, T. A. & Hulin, C. L. (1993). Job satisfaction as a reflection of disposition: A multiple
source causal analysis. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes,.
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 56, 388-421.

Judge, T. A. & Locke, E. A. (1993). Effect of dysfunctional thought processes on subjective

well-being and job satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 475-490.

Judge, T. A., & Ferris, G. R. (1993). Social context of performance evaluation decisions.
Academy of Management Journal, 36, 80-105.

Kanfer, R. & Ackerman, P.L. (1989). Motivational and cognitive abilities: an

integrative/aptitude-treatment interaction approach to skill acquisition. Journal of
Applied Psychology, 74, 657-690.

Kanfer, R. and Ackerman, P.L. (2004). Aging, adult development, and work motivation.
Academy of Management Review, 29(3), 440-458.

Katz, M.J. & Green, E. (1997). Managing Quality; A guide to system-wide performance
management (2nd Ed.). St.Lous: Mosby.

Kinicki A. and Williams B. K. (2008). Management: A Practical Introduction, (3rd Edition).

Kliegl, R. & Mayr, U. (1992). Shifting levels of analysis in the investigation of cognitive aging,
Commentary. Commentary. Human Development, 35, 343-349.

Kliegl, R., & Mayr, U. (1992). Shifting levels of analysis in the investigation of cognitive
aging”: Commentary. Human Development, 35, 343-349.

Kotter, J. P. & Heskett, J. L. (1992). Corporate culture and performance.

Kraiger K, Ford JK and Salas E. (1993). Integration of cognitive, behavioral, and affective
theories of learning into new methods of training evaluation. Journal of Applied
Psychology, 78, 311-328.

Kuhlen, R. G. (1977). Developmental changes in motivation during the adult years. In B. L.

Neugarten (Ed.). Middle age and aging, 115-136.

Labouvie-Vief, G. (1985). Intelligence and cognition. In J. E. Birren and K. W. Schaie (Eds.).

Handbook of the psychology of aging (2nd ed.), 500-530.

Loewenstein, M.A. & Spletzer, J.R. . (1998). Informal Training: A Review of Existing Data
and Some New Evidence. National Longitudinal Surveys Discussion Paper.

Mathias, R.L. & Jackson, J.H. (1998). Personnel/Human Resources Management (4th Ed.).
Mathias, R.L. & Jackson, J.H. (1998).Personnel/Human Resources Management (4th
Ed.).

Mathis, R.M. & Jackson, J.H. (2010). Human Resource Management (13th Ed.). America:
South-Western Cen gage learning.

51
McCloy RA, Campel JP, Cudeck R. (1994). A confirmatory test of a model performance
determininents. Journalof Applied Psychology, 79: 493-854., 79, 493-854.

McEvoy, G. M. & Cascio, W. F. (1989). Cumulative evidence of the relationship between age
and job performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 74, 11-17.

McEvoy, G. M., & Cascio, W. F. (1989). Cumulative evidence of the relationship between
employee age and job performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 74, 11-17.

Mohammed, S.Z. & Nimalathasan, B. (2011). Factors affecting employees‘ performance.

Economic Sciences Series, 8(1), 9-15.

Mubashar, F. & Muhammed, A.K. (2011). Impact of training and feedback on employees‘
performance. Far East journal of Psychology and Business, 5(1).

Newton, B. (2006). Training an Age Diverse Workforce. Industrial and Commercial Trainings,
38(2), 93-97.

Northouse, G. (2007). Leadership Theory and Practice. (3rd ed.).

Ogbonna, E. . (1993). Managing Organizational Culture: Fantasy or Reality? . Human Resource

Management Journa, 3(2), 42-54.

Oreg, S. (2003). Resistance to change: developing an individual differences measure. Journal

of Applied Psychology, 88(4), 680-693.

Peters, T., & Waterman, R. . (1982). In search of excellence. (N. Y. Row., Ed.)

Pettigrew, A. (1979). Studying organizational culture. Administrative Science Quarterly.

Administrative Science Quarterly, 24, 570-581., 24, 570-581.

Pettinger R. and Frith R. (2000). Mastering Organizational Behaviour . ((. Edition), Ed.)

Porter K., Smith P. and Fagg R. (2007). Leadership and Management for Human Resources
Professionals . (4, Ed.)

Pulakos, E.D.S., Arad, M.A., Donovan & Plamondon, K.E. (2000). Adaptability in the
workplace: Development of taxonomy of adaptive performance. Journal of Applied
Psychology, 85, 612-624.

Quinones, M. (1995). Pretraining context effects: Training assignment as feedback. Journal of

Applied Psycholog, 80, 226-238.

Rhodes, S. (1983). Age-related differences in work attitudes and behavior: A review and
conceptual analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 93, 328-367.

Rouiller JZ and Goldstein IL. (1993). The relationship between organizational transfer climate
and positive transfer of training. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 4, 377-390.

52
Rudman, R. (. (1998). Performance Planning and Review.Warriewood, Australi: Business &
professional publishing. Warriewood.

Salthouse, T. (1979). Adult age and speed accuracy trade-off. Ergonomics, 22, 811-821.

Salthouse, T. (1991). Theoretical perspectives of cognitive aging. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Salthouse, T. (1995). Refining the concepts of psychological compensation. In R. A. Dixon &

L. Blackman (Eds.). Compensating for psychological deficits and declines: Managing
losses and promoting gains, 21-34.

Schein, E. (1994). Organizational Psychology.

Schein, E. H. (1990). Organizational Culture. American Psychologist. 43(2), 109-119.

Scott, K. D., Jusanne, M., & Steven, M. E. (2000). Factors influencing employee benefits
beliefs that, pay is tied to performance. Journal of Business and Psychology, 14, 553-
562.

Slocum, J. W., Cron, W. L., Hansen R. W., & Rawlings, S. (1985). Business strategy and the
management of plateaued employees. Academy of Management Journal, 28, 133-154.

Smit, P. J. and Cronje, G. J de J. (1992). Management Principles.

Starr, J. (2004). The manager’s role in coaching overcoming barriers to success. Development
and Learning in Organizations, 18(2), 9-12.

Stewart, D. (2010). Growing the Corporate Culture. Obtained from. Retrieved from
https://www.wachovia.com/foundation/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=ab411f07760aa110Vgn
V

Strong, M. H., Jeannerert, P. R., McPhail, S. M., & Bleckley, B. (1999). Work context,
taxonomy and measurement of the work environment.

Sutherland, V., Makin, P., Bright, K. & Cox, C. (1995). Quality behavior for quality
organizations. Leadership &Organizational Development Journal, 16(16), 10-15.

Swanson, R. (1999). HRD theory, real or imagined? Human Resource Dev Int., , 2(1), 2-5.

Temple, B. (2002). Avoid downsizing disasters: empower your employees. San Diego Business
Journal, 23(5), 22-45.

Tesluk, P. &. (1998). Towards an integrated model of work experience. Personnel Psychology,
51, 321-355.

Tessema MT, Soeters JL. (2006). Challanges and practices of HRM in developing
countries:testing the HRM - performance link in the Eritrean civil service. Int. J.Hum.
Res., 17(1), 86-105.

53
Toit, A. D. (2007). Making sense through coaching. Journal of Management Development,
26(3), 282-291.

Torrington, D. &. (1998). Human resources management (4th ed.). erkshire: Europe Prentice
Hall.

Tracey JB, Tannenbaum SI, Kavanaugh MJ. (1995). Applying trained skills on the job: The
importance of the work environment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 239-252.

Verhaeghen, P. &Salthouse, T. (1997). Meta-analyses of age-cognitive relations in adulthood:

Estimates of linear and nonlinear age effects and structural models. Psychological
Bulletin, 231-249.

Viscal, K. (2011). Factors affecting staff training. Asian Journal of Business Management, 123-
130.

Waldman, D.A. & Avolio, B.J. (1993). Research in personnel and human resources
management. 11, 133-162.

Wilson, J. P. (n.d.). 2005. Human Resource Development (2nd ed.), 56, Kogan Page, London.

Wright, J. D. & Hamilton, R. F. (1978). Work satisfaction and age: Some evidence for the 'job
change' hypothesis. Social Forces, 1140-1158.

Yeo, G. &. (2004). A multilevel analysis of effort, practice, and performance: effects of ability,
conscientiousness, and goal orientation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(2), 231-
247.

54
Appendix-A

Residuals Statisticsa
Minimum Maximum Mean Std. N
Deviation
Predicted Value .8149594 3.7934945 2.4746377 .59187159 276
Residual -.48239541 .57013798 0E-8 .27294134 276
Std. Predicted
-2.804 2.228 .000 1.000 276
Value
Std. Residual -1.748 2.066 .000 .989 276
a. Dependent Variable: Employee Performance

55
The above scatter plot graph shows a visual inspection suggests that the relationship
with Emp. Performance is linear.

56
 Appendix-B

Descriptive Statistics
Minimu Maximu Std.
N Mean Skewness Kurtosis
m m Deviation
Statisti Std. Std.
Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic
c Error Error
2.59937 1.424442
Training 276 .00775 4.99974 -.018 .147 -.185 .292
56 45
Motivation 2.60959 1.408684
276 .02214 4.99898 -.082 .147 -.152 .292
22 18
Working 2.43816 1.431467
Environment 276 .01506 4.97776 .030 .147 -.211 .292
40 17
Organizational 2.36101 1.437085
Culture 276 .00611 4.99859 .133 .147 -.157 .292
36 78
Supervision 2.42055 1.380262
276 .03868 4.98992 .036 .147 -.055 .292
94 71
Ind. 2.51354 1.499684
Characteristics 276 .00132 4.99512 .026 .147 -.209 .292
94 53
Employee 2.47463 .6517737
Performance 276 .50000 3.50000 -.054 .147 -.394 .292
77 0
Valid N (listwise) 276
Source: SPSS Output – Test for normality
The skewness statistics for all variables are within the acceptable range for normality

(-1.0 to +1.0).

1
 APPENDIX-C

Questionnaire

St. Mary’s University

School of Graduate Studies
General MBA program

I am graduate student in St. Mary’s University (SGS) carrying out a research under the topic
“Factors Affecting Employee Performance: The case of Ethio-Telecom Addis Ababa Zonal
Office. The objective of this paper is to find out factors affecting employee performance in
Addis Abeba Zonal offices. To this end, the study intendeds to gather information from those
six zonal offices found in Addis Ababa through administered questionnaire. Therefore, your
precise and clear answers to this questionnaire will ended be critical for the success of this
study. All information provided would be kept entirely confidential manner, and the results will
be used only for the purpose of this research. This research is undertaken as part of fulfilment
for the program.
Section A: Demographic Data

Close-ended questions are answered by placing a tick () mark with in the box.

1. Gender: Male Female

2. Age (Years)
i. 21–30 ii. 31- 40 iii. 41- 50 iv. 51 & Above
3. Please indicate your level of education
i. Diploma ii. Degree iii. Master and above
4. How many years have you been in Ethio telecom?
i. 1 – 5 years
ii. 6 – 10 years
iii. 1 – 15 years
iv. Above 15 years
5. Your current position in the Ethio telecom?
i. Managerial (N-3 & above)
ii. Non-managerial (N-4 & N-5)

2
SECTION B: Opinion Investigation on Factors Affecting Employees Performance
General Directions
For each of the questions in the following sections, please tick a number that represents your
choice as to the level of agreement or disagreement with a check mark (X)
Strongly disagree=1, Disagree =2, Uncertain =3, Agree =4, strongly agree=5
Training Rating Scale
No Statements 1 2 3 4 5
1 Good opportunities are available to take job related trainings
which adequately address the skill gaps and ensure job
effectiveness.
2 Incompetent employees are identified and provided with the
necessary training
3 The training that I take meets the objective of the company.
4 The methods of delivering the training are clear
5 The materials distributed were helpful
6 The content was organized and easy to follow
Motivation Rating Scale
No Statements 1 2 3 4 5
1 Your monthly salary is competitive compared with other
organizations
2 Monthly salary is in accordance with your work experience
3 Recognitions are available for outstanding employees
4 Compensation packages like bonuses are given to employees
5 You are satisfied with your fringe benefits
6 Opportunities exist for job advancement and promotion
Working environment. Rating Scale
No Statements 1 2 3 4 5
1 I believe in and take pride in my work and my workplace

3
2 My working Environment gives me a feeling of personal
accomplishment.
3 My working Environment feels me encouraging to coming up with
new and better ways of doing things.
4 The emotional climate of the organization is generally positive and
supportive
5 I believe that the administrative team considers my needs and
preferences when making decisions that affect my work life
Organizational culture Rating Scale
No Statements 1 2 3 4 5
1 Employees in this organization have a shared sense of purpose
and objectives
2 I’m comfortable with the communication style of the company
3 I like the way decisions are made in my organization
4 I’m comfortable with how employees are treated
5 My company give attention for empowering employees
6 The employees in the organization are considered innovators and
risk takers
Supervision Rating Scale
No Statements 1 2 3 4 5
1 Supervisors had time to coach an employee to perform a task
2 Supervisors motivate employees/team members by giving clear
work instruction or guidance
3 I am comfortable by the supervisory leadership style
4 Supervisors have time to manage conflict within your
department/team/group.
5 My supervisor evaluates my performance and take corrective
answer
Individual Characteristics Rating Scale
No Statements 1 2 3 4 5
1 Your gender contributes for your level of performance
2 Education plays an important role in the performance of
employees in their job
3 with age an employee can show low performance or high
performance

4
4 Your marital status affects your job performance
Overall Image of the organization that you work in Rating Scale
No Statements 1 2 3 4 5
1 People in this organization put more energy in to identifying
mistakes than into figuring out how to do things right.
2 I am proud to tell people that I work for this organization.
3 In this organization, people in different departments or programs
try to help each other.
4 Most people here know how their work contributes to this
organization‘s mission.
5 This organization provides me with skills and knowledge that will
benefit my future career

Low=Poor Performance, Fair Performance =2, Good performance=3, Very

Good Performance=4, and Excellent Performance=5

Employees Performance Rating Scale

No Statements 1 2 3 4 5
1 I well understand and obey to policies and procedures of Ethio
telecom
2 I effectively use resources including time and materials
3 I serve as many customers as possible and develop logical and
creative solution to problems
4 I actively peruse or initiate projects for the benefit of Ethio
telecom
5 I effectively work with staffs and I am friendly to new ideas and
concepts

SECTION C: Open-Ended Questions

What are the major factors affecting employees performance in your opinion?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________

5
If you have any comment that you want to give me please write on the space provided.
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

Thank you for completing this questionnaire.

6
 DECLARATION

I, the undersigned, declare that this thesis is my original work, prepared under the guidance
of Shoa Jemal (Asst. Prof). All source of materials used for the thesis have been duly
acknowledged. I further confirm that the thesis has not been submitted either in part or in
full to any other higher learning institution for the purpose of earning degree.

Feyori Bekele Abdi

Name Signature

St. Mary’s University, Addis Ababa November, 2016