Relationship between diversity management practices and employee commitment in the commercial banks in Nairobi city county, Kenya

Over the years, it has been demonstrated that workplace diversity is important to \norganizations. However, research on workplace diversity practices has been relatively narrow \nin scope and frequently failed to link diversity management practices to employee \ncommitment. This study sought to establish the relationship between diversity management \npractices and employee commitment in the banking sector in Kenya. The study was based on \na descriptive survey design. The target population consisted of employees of commercial \nbanks in Nairobi County. The study sample was selected through stratified random sampling \ntechniques. A sample of 168 respondents was used in the study. A semi-structured \nquestionnaire was used to collect data. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential \nstatistics and the results presented using tables and figures. Descriptive statistics comprising \nfrequency distributions, means, standard deviations and percentages were used to show the \nprofile of the respondents and the general trend in the data. Perason’s correlation analysis was \nused to establish the strength and significance of the relationship between diversity \nmanagement practices and three forms of employee commitment. The study concluded that \ndiversity management practices had significant influence on employee commitment in \ncommercial banking sector. This resulted from the fact that the interaction among employees \nfrom diverse backgrounds was taking place in the banks; there was no discrimination in \nhiring of employees and employees were tolerant of other employees’ perspectives. The \nstudy established a significant positive relationship between diversity management practices \nand affective commitment, continuance commitment and normative commitment. It is \nrecommended that diversity management practices be enhanced in commercial banks in \nKenya since work place diversity can lead to increased employee commitment. The findings \nof the study are expected to provide a source of information for policy makers, researchers \nand finance professionals to understand link between diversity management practices and \nemployee commitment in commercial banking sector in Kenya.