ANALYZING GRIEVANCE HANDLING MECHANISMS AND EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE: A CASE OF ZOMBA CENTRAL PRISON

Abstract

This thesis analyses grievance handling on employee performance at Zomba Central prison. It shows the extent to which the militaristic thinking of handling grievances affects employee performance. The study employed both qualitative and quantitative approaches to research design. A self-administered questionnaire and structured in depth interviews were used to collect data from a sample of 90 for the analysis of grievances. The results of the study show that there are several causes of grievances among officers chief of which is the working condition largely attributed to neglect by the authorities. The lack of policies and alternative grievance handling mechanisms and procedures has further exacerbated the situation as employees opt to vent their frustrations through unchartered means like the media and sometimes “industrial action” for fear of reprisals due to an autocratic system. It thus considers employing various grievance handling mechanisms like the open door policy, the standard step ladder procedure, peer review or grievance committee, ombudsman and hearing officer as the current system falls short of the context as employees at the facility suffer in silence suggesting resistance by management to recognise grievances. Various challenges compound grievance handling dominant of which are lack or poor systems for handling grievances, supervisors’ incompetence, bad attitude towards grievances, unnecessary bureaucracy and weaknesses in the grievance handling system. These challenges ultimately affect employee contextual performance especially interpersonal facilitation behaviour as employees mainly focus on satisfying interpersonal behaviours unlike job dedication behaviours, therefore, impinging on task performance. It is consequently imperative for management to take a special interest in employees’ grievances as this paper highlights the need to make improvements in the current system.