International Journal of Experiential Learning & Case Studies

4 : 1 ( June 2019) pp. 74-91. dx.doi.org/10.22555/ijelcs.v4i1.2455.g532

Factors Affecting Employee Performance:

An Investigation on Private School Sector

Aisha Yusuf Mesiya*

Abstract

Employees are valuable assets for any organization, and their productivity
should be given due consideration, if an organization aims to meet its strategic
goals. This can be done through implementation of effective policies for the most
contributing determinants of performance of employees. Therefore, this paper
studies the factors that affect employee performance signif icantly, and gauges
their direction being positive or negative. The study is based on the case of educa-
tion sector, specif ically the private schools of Pakistan. The sample is drawn from
private schools of Karachi, with respondents selected through Convenience Sam-
pling. A qualitative design with Interpretivist approach and case study research
strategy is used and 30 employees at Top, Middle and Lower job levels of schools
have been interviewed. The instrument used for collecting the data comprises of
semi-structured interview questions, the data then organized, coded and devel-
oped into themes for conducting the analysis. From our framework of ten factors,
compensation, motivation, leadership, working environment, performance ap-
praisal, job experience, and training are found to have signif icant and positive
impact on work performance, while conflict, job stress, and working hours bear
signif icant negative effect on employee work performance. These factors have
varied level of impact through the three job levels. In addition to the established
framework, eleven new factors were also identif ied while conducting the inter-
views and their effect through each employment level was gauged. Conclusively,
several recommendations are drawn for the organizations to ensure maximum
effectiveness and eff iciency of their employees..

Keywords: Employee levels, human resource factors, private education sector, work
performance

JEL Classification: P17, P27, P47

INTRODUCTION

Employee performance is an important building block of an institute and factors which lay
Correspondence:
* Research Assistant, Institute of Business Management, Karachi, std_23291@iobm.edu.pk

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the foundation for high performance must be investigated by the organizations. Since every
organization cannot progress by one or two individuals’ effort, it is a combined effort of all
the members of the organization. Performance is a major multidimensional concept aimed to
achieve results and has a strong link to strategic targets of an organization.According to Aguinis
(2009), “Performance is about behaviour or what employees do, not about what employees
produce or the outcomes of their work.” Perception of performance relates to an employee’s
belief as to what contributions he is paying in his organization’s success, how he is doing it and
to what extent (Ahmad & Shahzad, 2011).

Organizations heavily rely on their employees to survive. The success of any organization
mainly depends upon the performance of its employees. It is essential for an organization to
identify the factors that have a significant effect on the performance of an employee at the
workplace and should accordingly make suitable corrections/changes.

This study is based on the Social Action theory, which considers the actions and reactions
of individuals in society. Developed by Weber (1922), the theory states that the actions of
humans depend on the social context they are in and how it would impact other members of
society. Based on the anticipation of an undesirable outcome on others, this action is changed
for betterment, and therefore the functioning of a society is actually the product of subjective
human activities. This study was also looked at through the social capital theory (Garcia-Reid,
2007, Ahn & Ostrom, 2008). According to Ahn & Ostrom (2008), social capital can be defined
as “a set of prescriptions, values, and relationships created by individuals in the past that can be
drawn on in the present and future to facilitate overcoming social dilemmas”. With this, the
relationships between teachers and other players in the system are uncovered, due to which
student performance is affected. The theory of social capital is applied in the fields of economics
and education, but the original theory is founded in the field of sociology (Garcia-Reid, 2007).

Due to the loss of confidence of people in public sector schools, private school sector has
grown in Pakistan exponentially over the last decade, which has consequently led to increase
in the staff in these schools at various levels. What has been observed is that there have been
various conditions leading the school staff to become stressed and overworked, eventually
resulting in a decline in their perceived performance at work. Therefore, it is needed to look at
various factors relating to the specific job they perform as well as the overall environment of the
organization causing them to become dissatisfied and less productive.

This study is aimed at finding out the determinants of employees’ performance in the private
education sector. Specifically, it inquires us into the effect of these on individual employee
performance. Secondly, this study is aimed at drawing conclusions for policymakers to devise
strategies for improvement of employee performance.

In order to determine the factors which affect the work performance of employees, this
study will answer the following research questions:
1  What are the significant factors affecting employees’ work performance at various
job levels?
2  Is the level of impact of the factors low, high or moderate on work performance of
employees?

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LITERATURE REVIEW

Employees are resources in an organization, and therefore they need to be developed

properly in order to achieve an organization’s goals and expectations (Brewster, 2007).
Organizations use effective HRM system to improve their competitiveness by investing in
the development of their employees (Sutiyono, 2007). HRM can be defined as “The process of
analyzing and managing an organization’s human resource needs to ensure satisfaction of its
strategic objectives” (Hellriegel et al., 2007).

Compensation:
Compensation management has a significant impact on the performance of employees
in the education sector (Rashied, Ilyas & Irem, 2017). Educational organizations prove to be
slothful when it comes to improving the compensation policies, which ultimately leads to a
decline in the performance of employees. In another study on academic staff by Lavy (2007),
pay should be set based on an employee’s performance and rewards should be provided in the
form of incentives in order to improve teacher effectiveness.

Mwaiko (2013) assessed the factors that affect employee performance in the education
sector. In this study the effectiveness of Performance Appraisal (Performance Assessment) was
analyzed on improving the performance of organization, and various other methods for better
employee performance in the educational sector were identified, namely Ongoing feedback,
Job satisfaction, Fair treatment, Methods of Assessment, Employee participation, Motivation,
Rewards and Recognition, and Clear objectives. According to Saleh, Piaw, and Idris (2015),
performance appraisal has a significant influence on improving employees’ service performance.

Working Hours:

Good functioning at work is a matter of work-life balance, which to a great extent relates
to the overall culture of an organization. However, according to the study by Clark (2001), the
allotted employee working hours, and even the flexibility to set or alter one’s own work hours
prove non-significant in determining performance level, until moderated by additional work
characteristics. On the other hand, teaching has been regarded as a stressful job by Sultana et al.
(2012), one reason for which is the additional hours to be devoted to complete tasks after the
usual work hours. As a result of this, the teachers worked more than 50 hours a week according
to the Association of Teachers and Lecturers' (ATL) survey. The ability to teach in an effective
manner tends to decline with the resultant exhaustion.

Leadership:

Various studies in the context of Pakistan demonstrate a number of factors affecting

the work performance of employees. A similar study was carried out by Abbas and Yaqoob
(2009), which was conducted considering five factors of leadership development, i.e. coaching,
training and development, empowerment, participation and delegation and it was found that
the combined effect of these factors influences employee performance with 50%. However, the
rest of the 50% contribution towards employee performance can be the result of other factors
such as attitude, commitment, motivational factors, and trust in the organization. A Tanzanian
study was carried out on primary schools, which studied the varied leadership styles and their

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effect on teachers’ performance, and concluded that leadership which involves cooperation and
collaboration is the one which most significantly and positively affects performance (Aunga &
Masare, 2017).

Conflict:

According to the modern theories on conflict, a short-term and lowly-intensified

conflict has the potential to boost teachers’ creativity and work performance. Conflict, with
long duration and high intensity, proves to be detrimental to the parties involved and the
overall organization (Gamble & Gamble, 1993). The causes of these conflicts might be at the
individual level, managerial level or caused due to the organizational culture. These conflict
situations among teachers greatly impact the learning environment, teacher performance and
consequently student performance (Catana, 2016). In another study, workplace conflicts have
been individually analyzed with its separate sub-variables, and the Kenyan study concluded for
having a significant effect on the performance of employees (Mwangi, 2014).

Job Stress:

A firm establishment of a linkage between teacher stress and teacher performance can be
found in a qualitative study by Blasé (1986), which showed that work stress incited negative
feelings in teachers and hence accounted for negative consequences on performance. As for
urban primary teachers, they were found to have been facing stress at work due to indiscipline
of students, unreasonable and extra amount of work, no autonomy and various other reasons
which decreased their morale and ultimately their performance (Ayub et al., 2018).

Motivation:

Manzoor (2012) concluded that factors: empowerment and recognition have a positive
effect on employee motivation. Also, there exists a positive relationship between employee
motivation and organizational effectiveness. Similarly, in a case study by Akhtar & Iqbal (2017),
the impact of motivation with its different aspects was analyzed and it exposed that motivation
holds a significant impact on teachers’ job performance, while this relationship differed greatly
between male and female teachers.

Training:

The factor of Training was analyzed by researchers with different Pakistani colleges, which
revealed that training alone may not be able to realize its benefits if it is disconnected from
other human resource management functions or the organization is dysfunctional in other
areas, e.g. interpersonal relationships (Amin et al., 2013). Lack of in-service training leads to
poor performance of teachers according to Hervie & Winful (2018), and therefore, training and
development of teachers need to be an integral part of an educational organization, however,
proper assessment should be done as to what aspects of teaching need to be covered in the
training.

Job Experience:

Older employees bring a number of positive qualities to their jobs, one of which is
experience. This work experience or tenure is a good predictor of employee performance and
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bears a positive relationship with performance (Robbins, 1998). Employee ability is a major
determinant of employee performance, and ability, in turn, is dependent on the number of years
an employee has served on the job, as this factor leads to increased knowledge and skills needed
to excel in performing the job (Gaffoor, 2007, Nandanie, 1994).

Working Environment:

According to the study by Kuncoro & Dardiri (2017), no significant relationship exists
between work environment and teacher performance, be it the physical, non-physical or
psychological environment. However, Nakpodia (2011) states that if organizations aim to
improve teachers’ productivity and performance, they need to improve the work environment,
which will, in turn, improve the quality of education, thereof, showing the strong relationship
between factors of environment and performance.

Therefore, it is concluded that a number of human resource practices have a significant

relationship with the work performance of employees, being negative or positive.

FRAMEWORK

Based on the review of vast existing literature, the following methodological model is
designed for conducting the study:

Figure 1: Conceptual Framework

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METHODOLOGY

Case Study approach has been used as the research strategy for the study. Qualitative case
study methodology leads to studying complex phenomena within a specific context. It bases
on deep investigations of an individual, group, area or event. This strategy is used due to the
exploratory nature of the study, which is based on the interpretivist approach. This methodology
is deemed as most suitable since the study was to be carried out in the natural environment of
the private school sector, with interactive, contextual and emergent methods (Merriam, 2009).

The primary data has been collected by conducting 30 in-depth interviews of the employees
in the private schools of Karachi who are working full time and are not studying anywhere.
The inclusion of responses was closed at the point data saturation was achieved. The target
population was categorized into three groups:
yy Top Level – includes Principals, Head of Departments and Directors
yy Middle Level - includes Faculty Members and Administrative Staff
yy Lower Level - includes Telephone Operators, Clerks and Peons

Five schools were selected where interviews were conducted after taking permission
from their respective Principals. The chosen schools are the ones which are widely spread
geographically throughout the city, and many of which have branches across the country. The
participants were selected using convenience sampling. Semi-structured interview questions
were designed to find out how each factor impacts the work performance of the employee. Each
interview lasted for 20 to 25 minutes. The responses were noted and then transcribed.

Interview Guide:

The interview questions constituting the data collection instrument were checked thoroughly
and reviewed by experts so that they comprised of simple and unambiguous language, did not
account for personal/private information, did not make use of jargons, and did not comprise of
leading, loaded or double-barreled questions. The instrument was based on Interview Probes,
with which follow up was taken on the responses received. Initial questions led to opening up
on the issues, and more questions had to be asked in order to get the required picture of the
story.

Triangulation/Rigor of the Instrument:

For validation of the data, Triangulation was achieved by asking the same questions for all
the three job levels at the schools, with which different perspectives about the phenomena were
gauged. This led to increased knowledge from various aspects and somewhat cross-checking of
the data.

As the first step of the analysis, data were transcribed and thoroughly read, with initial
ideas noted. Then codes were generated out of the whole data set, followed by combining all the
codes into relevant themes. Thematic maps were formulated and the themes were given names
based on the underlying analysis of the responses/stories for each theme. This data analysis
approach is called Thematic Analysis, which is a common method to identify, analyze and
report qualitative data. ‘NVIVO’ – a qualitative data analysis package was used for this purpose.

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The themes that emerged, along with the vivid examples of interview responses under each new
theme are discussed in the following section.

RESULTS AND FINDINGS

We selected five schools in different areas of Karachi, Pakistan. For this research we have
conducted 30 interviews; 6 interviews from Top management (which accounted for 20% of the
respondents), 15 from middle level (which accounted for 50% of the respondents) and 9 from
the lower level (which accounted for 30% of the respondents).

Profile of Interviewees:

Top Level:

We found that top management is well educated and holding a master’s degree or some of
them hold double masters. Along with this, they are well experienced in their roles and have
good command in their field. They feel themselves the most responsible person, below is the
profile of some of the highlighted top management persons.

“I have done Master’s, Bi-Majors in Marketing and Management. My overall experience is

15 years, and in the current organization, it is 6 years.”(Interviewee 1)

“I have done Masters of Education as well as MBA.”(Interviewee 3)

Middle Level:

In the middle management level, it was observed that the majority are graduates, however,
some hold a master’s degree or other professional certificates which are important to their
fields.

“I have done B.Sc in Home Economics. My overall and current organization experience is
10 years” (Interviewee 4)

.”I have done Masters in English. My overall and current organization experience is 8
years.”(Interviewee 7)

“I have done B.Com. My overall teaching experience is 5 years and for the current
organization, it is 1 year” (Interviewee 9)

“I have done graduation (Bachelor’s). My overall teaching experience is 7 years and for the
current organization, it is 3 years.” (Interviewee 12)

Lower Level:

In the lower level, participants were the Telephone operators, Clerks and Peons.

It is found that clerks have studied till 10th grade, telephone operators have passed their
12th grade, while peons have no to middle-school education.

“I have been working in the same organization for good 25 years, which is my total

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work experience too. As regards my education, I have completed primary-level education.”

(Interviewee 2)

Interview Findings:
1  Working Hours Flexibility
It is observed that flexible working hours are very important to enhance employees’
performance in the education sector. Instead of the number of working hours, their focus was
on the flexibility of the working hours. The impact on work performance was different in all
the levels (Top, Middle and Lower). The most affected level was Top Management. Senior
management has to attend important education-related meeting seminars and conferences,
along with this they have to manage their responsibilities during and after school timings, so
flexible working hours give them liberty to manage their responsibilities effectively and improve
performance, not only on the individual level but also the performance of the whole school.

Most of the respondents said they have a heavy workload and the school timings aren’t
enough to complete the work. Therefore to complete their tasks either they stay back after
school or take work at home. They are allowed flexibility in working hours.

“Being in the top management, I have a privilege of flexible working hours but since I am
a role model for my teachers and other staff, so I avoid misusing of authorities given to me.”
(Top level Interview-1)

On being asked how flexible working hours impact the work performance, there were mixed
views. Few said performance can increase if the employee is allowed flexibility while others said
it can have a negative impact. However, some said it depends on the condition.

“I think performance is better if a person is allowed little flexibility in cases of urgency only
otherwise if this becomes a routine then this can affect the performance in a negative way.”
(Top level Interview-1)
The middle management responded that flexible working hours are an important factor
which impacts their performance but they are not allowed for it. Additionally, they commented
that since they have to follow the rules and set examples for students, therefore, they think this
factor affects their performance moderately.

“Early leaves and late arrivals are not given and there is no policy for that but yes with the
support of my supervisors, when in need I can do late arrivals and early leaves.” (Middle-level
Interview-1)

“No flexible hours are given. We have to follow rules and policies.” (Middle-Level
Interview-5)

“For my work completion, I have to sometimes stay back in school or take work home,
which is twice a week. I am granted flexibility in working hours at times.” (Middle-Level
Interview-6)

The Lower level staff explained about working hours that they are always able to complete
their designated work in the allotted working hours, however they are not given flexibility in

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working hours and deductions are made from salary in case of early leave or late arrival even in
worst circumstances (death in family, poor health condition, etc). So, this affected their work
performance negatively.
2  Employee Evaluations
It was observed that at the Top level there is an evaluation of employee performance on an
annual basis. Feedback is given to the employees. This is effective to some extent as sometimes
low areas gets highlighted which if carefully handled can help improve the performance.

“I receive the feedback timely, which is effective to some extent.” (Top Level Interview-1)
However, respondents from one school told that there are no appraisals in that school.

“There isn’t any appraisal done by management. However, I think it should be done as it can
have a good effect on performance.” (Top Level Interview-3)

Majority of Middle management respondents talked about employee evaluations, the

process of employee evaluation and the feedback system but the most highlighted topic was
how they impact their performance. The employee evaluation system consisted of a formal
annual evaluation where a supervisor assesses the employee against a set of pre-defined criteria,
a 360-degree review where the employee is assessed by an immediate supervisor as well as his
or her peers and those who report to the employee, followed by a formal feedback provided by
a supervisor or colleague on how to improve their performance.

“To me, an evaluation of employee’s performance is basically to motivate and engage

employees by providing feedback and goal-setting opportunities, and align the behaviour of an
individual with the broader goals of the organization.” (Middle-Level Interview-4)

“My performance appraisal is done 2-3 times a year in the form of class observations”
(Middle-Level Interview-6)

“My performance appraisal is not carried out with my knowledge, and I am not given
proper feedback, therefore” (Middle-Level Interview-5)

“My performance appraisal is done twice a year. I receive the feedback timely” (Middle-
Level Interview-1)

“My performance appraisal is done with no fixed pattern. I receive the feedback within two
to three days. This feedback is very effective, but I think that a copy of our observation sheets
should be given to us as well for our reference and record.” (Middle-Level Interview-5)

Performance appraisal of the employees at a lower level is done by cleanliness supervisors,

at times of external official visits to the school, which is usually twice or thrice an academic year.
The feedback of the observation is received on time and guides them in the required manner
in order to improve upon their weak areas. Thus, it contributes positively to work performance.

Employee evaluations system affects performance at all levels, but in the middle level, it
impacts the highest to grow and improve their performance.

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3  Commitment
It was noticed during the interview sessions that commitment of employees is also a
very important factor which was not included before in our research framework (Figure 1).
According to top management, it is observed that teachers used to leave during the year and
join other organizations. It negatively affects the students and other faculty as someone has to
take responsibility for those teachers and it ultimately affects their performance.
4  Time Pressures
Most of the employees at all levels said that they feel stress due to deadlines. The top and
middle management said especially during exams and more specifically during paper checking
and result there is a lot of pressure. Nearly all of the teachers told that they are given very less
time for preparation of results. However, they make sure it doesn’t affect their performance.

“Sometimes, especially during exams, workload increases but it doesn’t impact performance.”
(Top Level Interview-2)

However, some employees in middle level said that stress helps you "rise" to a challenge
and meet your goals such as deadlines. They do not consider challenge as stress because, having
met the challenge, they feel satisfied and happy. Nevertheless, too much stress can have negative
impacts. When the feeling of satisfaction turns into exhaustion, frustration or dissatisfaction, or
when the challenges at work become too demanding, negative signs of stress begin to appear.

“Pressure is very important to me. Good pressure, such as having a lot of assignments to
work on, or an upcoming deadline, helps me to stay motivated and productive. Of course, there
are times when too much pressure can lead to stress; however, I am very skilled at balancing
multiple projects and meeting deadlines, which prevents me from feeling stressed often.”
(Middle-Level Interview-7)

“Long hours, tight deadlines, and ever-increasing demands can leave you feeling worried,
drained, and overwhelmed. And when stress exceeds your ability to cope, it stops being helpful
and starts causing damage to your mind and body—as well as to your job performance.”
(Middle-Level Interview-12)

The reasons the low-level staff face stress are at times of school events, programs, and
Parent-Teacher meetings when they have to stay in school for a long time and the domestic
tasks (cleaning, the arrangement of furniture and properties) increase. This stress is felt five to
six times in the whole academic year. The way they deal with stress is by dividing the tasks at
these times among themselves equally and by helping out each other. So this factor does not
affect their work performance much.
5  Experiential Professionalism
Some of the respondents agreed that performance and professionalism improve with
experience.

“Just like, practice makes a man perfect, similarly the more experience you get the better
you become.” (Top Level Interview-1)

“Yes, Job experience helps in improving professionalism because you understand the policy
environment and you can handle many situations, so you are able to learn how to cope with the
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situation.” (Middle-Level Interview-4)

“Yes, Job experience sets impacts effectively job performance” (Middle-Level Interview-5)

However, few of them had contradictory views. They thought experience is not a mandatory
factor for improved performance. There are few staff members who have been working for years
but their work graph is stagnant. On the other hand, some of the newly hired staff who had
zero experience has good performance comparatively.

“It is not the experience but the ability and capability of a person that increases his/her
work performance or improve him/her at the professional level.” (Top Level Interview-5)
“I am indifferent to the opinion that the longer you are at one workplace the better you
perform, as new and young teachers are knowledgeable with I.T, but old teachers are acquainted
well with the system and children.” (Middle-Level Interview-9)

In lower level according to the respondents, job experience affects work performance at a
great level. The longer an employee is at a workplace, the better his work performance becomes
because the new employees are not aware of the system and practices of the environment, and
this causes them confusion and lack of confidence.
6  Salary
Salary is the most important factor to affect work performance but the importance of salary
varies at different levels, the lower level staff usually has low salary scale but the importance
of benefits (old age, job security) and other perks like overtime motivate them which improve
performance. Similarly, salary is important for the middle management, but for top management,
recognition is more important than salary as they reach to self-esteem and self-actualization
level where they want a feeling of accomplishment.

There were mixed views about being satisfied with the salary given to them. Some said they
are quite satisfied as they get good annual increments. However, many emphasized that they
are being underpaid as compared to other educational organizations. All of the respondents at
all levels told that for them, salary is a big performance factor.

“This is a fact that a good salary is a big factor for improved and dedicated performance.”
(Top Level Interview-2)

“Salaries can have a positive effect on performance.” (Top Level Interview-5)

In a few schools, there are deductions mainly due to availing excess paid leaves or late
comings.

“Salary in our school is deducted due to leaves but since this is a valid reason, therefore,
there are no arguments.” (Top Level Interview-5)

“As it is a Government School, our salary is lower than Private school teachers. But perks
and other benefits are better than private school employees.” (Middle-Level Interview-1)

“I am not satisfied with my salary according to my vast experience, but it does not affect me
usually due to my immense self-dedication.” (Middle-Level Interview-6)
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The lower level respondents were found very dissatisfied with the compensation they
receive. The salary package is way too less and there are no justified increments. The ones with
long years of experience are at almost the same level of the package as the new ones. So this
factor is found to be a great negative contributor to work performance.
7  Accountability, Responsibility and Authority
Some of the respondents identified that if they are given authority to handle some tasks,
they develop a sense of responsibility and so they get extra careful in performing their tasks.
This does have an effect on their performance.
“Yes, our head of department is very much cooperative and we can directly go and share
day to day problems with her.” (Middle-Level Interview 4)

The authority gives them the freedom to take decisions and initiatives. This motivates them
to perform better and develop a trust level between the supervisors and subordinates.
8  Workshops
Well, it is observed that top-level wanted their employee to be well trained and best fit of
their field and they think that it helps in improving their performance; on the other hand, it is
observed that middle management does not so far agree with their opinion. They think most of
the time training were useless and a waste of time and money, in the low-level training is not
an important factor that can improve their performance.

There are workshops in the school on different aspects for example improving teaching
techniques, understanding student psychology, etc. Some of them are helpful in improving
their work performance.

“Yes we do have training sessions, training includes courses like Communication

Skills, Conflict Management, Delegation, Prioritizing and Taking Action, etc.” (Top Level
Interview-2)
“I think not all training are as effective some of them are waste of time and money” (Middle-
Level Interview-5)

The lower level staff are not given training sessions, and they are of the opinion that they
should have these sessions, as at times they become clueless of how to carry out a specific task
or become unable to cope with bad situations while on duty.
9  Appreciation and Encouragement
Upon asking what other factors do they think can be effective in improving performance,
the respondents said when they are appreciated and encouraged by their supervisors or by their
peers, they get a boost in their performance.

“When we want to try something new and we are encouraged by the head, this gives us a
boost and increases our confidence level.” (Top Level Interview-1)

This motivational factor is found to be a positive contributor to work performance.

“Sometimes we feel that we are unable to continue with the job and want to give up, but

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the appreciative and motivating words of our security officer and other officials make us go on.”
(Low-Level Interview-4)
10  Availability of Facilities
When all the required facilities are available, it is easy to work. Facilities include being
provided with all required stationeries whenever required, well-equipped furniture in staff
rooms and offices, availability of technology etc. One of the respondents said it is difficult to do
routine things if they do not get their required equipment/tool on time and so this eventually
makes a delay in giving the required output and hence performance may suffer.
“No, the work area is not well equipped. To keep the students up to date we need to
introduce new technology and make them familiar with that” (Middle-Level Interview-6)

It was found that with timely availability of facilities, employees are able to perform better.
11  Work Relationship
All of the respondents have a friendly interaction with their head/ supervisor. The school
provides a good atmosphere to work in. However, at times, there are conflicts with colleagues/
teachers who get sorted on mutual groundings. Mostly the conflicts are on the allocation of
subjects and classes.

“Sometimes there is some conflict between management and teachers but they get solved
on mutual understanding.” (Top Level Interview-4)

The respondents said that good working relationships do have a positive effect on work
performance.

“I have to manage my relationship according to the situation, some time I behave in a

democratic way while at some point I have to bureaucratic, I have to lead others positively and
keep them motivated.” (Top Level Interview-2)
“When teachers work well together, everyone in the school benefits. Students get to learn
from their teachers; respect one another, work together and contribute to a positive academic
environment.” (Middle-Level Interview-5)

Relationship with other colleagues has an impact on the whole environment of the institute
and so it can be deduced that positive relation also helps in increasing productivity.

Some new and different factors were identified while conducting the interviews and
their effect through each employment level was gauged. These factors were Working Hours
Flexibility, Employee evaluations, Commitment, Time pressures, Experiential Professionalism,
Accountability, Responsibility and Authority, Appreciation and Encouragement, Salary,
Workshops, Availability of Facilities and Work Relationship. The level of their impact on the
performance of employees across the three employment levels is shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Impact Level of Factors
Factors Top Level Middle Level Lower Level
Working Hours Flexibility High Moderate Moderate
Employee Evaluations High High Low

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Commitment High High Low

Time Pressures Moderate High High
Experiential Professionalism High High Low
Salary Moderate High High
Accountability, Responsibili- High High Low
ty & Authority
Workshops Moderate Moderate Low
Appreciation and Encour- Moderate High High
agement
Availability of Facilities High High Moderate
Work Relationship High High Moderate

DISCUSSION

When discussed with a comparison to previous studies, there are some striking findings.
Firstly, the factor of Training in our study has been found to hold an insignificant relationship
with employee performance, which is in opposition to many studies such as Saleh (2015),
and Abbas (2009). The conclusion by Amin et al. (2013) is somewhat similar to our results,
which states that Training is not significant independently, but its impact depends on the
more important human resource management factors. This variation is due to the difference
of study area (region, sector, population, etc) and that is why Training does not account for the
significant impact on employee performance with respect to Pakistan’s school sector.

Performance appraisal, which is found to be only moderately effective in our study, has been
identified as a highly significant factor affecting work performance in the relevant literature, for
example, the studies of (Mwaiko, 2013; Saleh, 2015).

Another varied finding of this study is that job stress has been found to be negatively related
to work performance, which means that the higher the stress, the poorer the work performance;
however, the study by Hunter and Thatcher (2007) contrarily reveals that when employees feel
job stress, they focus more on crucial tasks, thereby improving on their performance, provided
they have high levels of commitment and longer job tenure.

The remaining factors; Conflict, Compensation, Motivation, Leadership, Work

Environment, Working Hours, and Job Experience, along with their relationship directions
and impact levels with work performance, were found to have resulted in line with the reviewed
literature.

CONCLUSION

Out of the model of 10 human resource factors designed prior to conducting the research
(Figure 1), the factors of conflict, job stress, compensation, motivation, leadership, and working
environment were found to be most effective on work performance of employees through the
three employment levels.

The factors of working hours, performance appraisal, and job experience were identified
to be moderately effective on employees’ work performance at the overall organizational level.
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The remaining factor of Training was found to have the least impact on the performance of
employees in a positive or negative direction either.

The factors affecting employee performance in a positive direction, which means that
raising their level or standard improves work performance, include compensation, motivation,
leadership, working environment, performance appraisal, job experience, and training. Similarly,
factors which are negatively correlated to work performance include conflict, job stress, and
working hours.

LIMITATIONS

Although the study reached its aim, there were few limitations.

Due to time constraint, we could gather data through interviews from only five schools in
one city of Pakistan i.e. Karachi, hence results have limited ability to be generalized. Therefore,
future studies may include a larger sample size in terms of a number of employees as well as the
number of cities. Additionally, other methods can be used to gather data such as focus groups
discussions.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The education sector in Pakistan is one of the most suffering sectors so the proposed
study might be the root of bringing a positive change. On the basis of conclusions drawn, the
following recommendations can be made:
yy The private educational sector organizations (schools) should foremost invest in raising
the compensation level of their employees, and work on motivating their employees to
the fullest. They should strive to develop the supervisory standards of their organiza-
tions by appointing and creating leaders rather than managers, and by improving the
work environment for their employees through the provision of the necessary facili-
ties required by them. Organizations should carry out their operating procedures in
such a way that the stress of job on their employees is minimized as regards time and
workload, and they should serve as arbitrators in times of conflict among employees by
creating an environment of trust, mutual understanding and justice.
yy These organizations should save their time and resources being spent on Training and
Development of their employees, which has been observed to be a rising trend in this
sector, as this factor is found to be least effective on work performance.

By giving due considerations to these recommendations, organizations can ensure maximum

effectiveness and efficiency of their employees. This will determine not only the improved
performance of the particular organization but will also affect the growth and performance of
the entire economy ultimately.

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