Thesis Title: Employee Motivation and Organizational Performance of Manufacturing Firms in Kigali, Rwanda: A Case Study of Roto Rwanda Limited

Student´s Name: Uwambaye Cynthia

Supervisors Name:

1. Dr. Kadian Wanyonyi Wanyama,
2. Dr. Musyoki Mutungi

ABSTRACT

Performance is critical to the organizational and financial performance of any firm or company including manufacturing firms in Kigali, Rwanda. Most of these manufacturing firms are experiencing high employee turnover which raises a concern on the employee motivation and satisfaction at their places of work. This study therefore investigated how employee motivation (employee achievement, employee recognition, fear motivation and employee competence) influences the performance of manufacturing firms in Kigali, Rwanda, case study of Roto Ltd. The study was anchored on the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory, Incentive theory, and Equity theory. Descriptive design was adopted. Stratified simple random sampling sampled 236 out of 576 targeted employees of Roto Ltd manufacturing firm in Kigali Rwanda. Descriptive analysis including mean, standard deviation and standard error of the mean was used to assess trends and patterns in the sample data. Correlation analysis was used to determine the direction and strength of the relationship between employee motivation (Employee Achievement, Employee Recognition, Fear Motivation and Employee Competence) and performance of ROTO Ltd manufacturing firm in Kigali Rwanda. Linear regression analysis was used to test study hypotheses at 5% level of significance. The study found out that employee achievement had a significant causal effect on the on the performance of manufacturing firms in Kigali, Rwanda (= 0.464, p-value=0.000). With regard to employee recognition, the study found out that employee recognition had a significant causal effect on the on the performance of manufacturing firms in Kigali, Rwanda (= 0. 405, p-value=0.000 <0.05). The research findings indicated that fear motivation had a significant causal effect on the on the performance of manufacturing firms in Kigali, Rwanda (=0.451, p-value = 0.000 < 0.05). Similarly, the researcher revealed that employee competence had a significant strong positive correlation with the performance of manufacturing firms in Kigali, Rwanda (r = 0.585, p-value= 0.000< 0.05). The study recommended that manufacturing firms in Kigali, Rwanda should consider enhancing employee motivation, in specific, employee achievement, employee recognition, fear motivation and employee competence in order to realize improved general firm performance. For further research, the study suggested that other scholars should consider conducting similar kind on study on a different population to affirm that employee motivation have a significant casual effect on the performance of manufacturing firms in Kigali, Rwanda.