International Journal of Management and Leadership Studies
2025; 6(i): 115-127
ISSN:
2311 7575
COACHING AS A STRATEGIC TOOL FOR IMPROVING EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE IN DEVOLVED GOVERNMENT SYSTEMS: A CASE OF MURANG’A COUNTY
Noah Gachanja & Dr. Angeline Wambugu
Published:
01 December, 2025
Volume:
6
Issue:
i
Keywords:
Coaching, employee performance, social cognitive theory, Muranga, County
This paper examined the role of coaching as a strategic tool for improving employee
performance in devolved government systems, focusing on the County Government of
Murang’a. Globally, coaching has emerged as a strategic human resource development
approach that enhances employee self-awareness, skills, and goal attainment. However,
in Kenya’s devolved governments, limited empirical evidence exists on how structured
coaching influences performance outcomes. The research adopted a descriptive research
design to assess the nature and impact of coaching practices on employee performance.
The target population comprised 1,022 management-level county employees, from which
a sample of 287 respondents was selected through stratified random sampling. Data were
collected using structured questionnaires and analyzed using SPSS Version 20, employing
both descriptive and inferential statistics. Reliability was confirmed through Cronbach’s
alpha coefficients exceeding 0.7. Findings revealed that coaching had a strong positive
and statistically significant relationship with employee performance (r = 0.753, p < 0.05)
and accounted for 56.7% of performance variation (R² = 0.567). Coaching was found to
enhance job satisfaction, skills development, teamwork, and goal achievement among
county employees. The results supported Bandura’s (1986) Social Cognitive Theory,
demonstrating that guided learning and feedback improve self-efficacy and
organizational effectiveness. The study recommends institutionalizing coaching within
county performance management frameworks, training supervisors as workplace
coaches, and allocating resources for continuous coaching programs. Future research
should employ longitudinal designs to explore the long-term impact of coaching on
performance and examine its interaction with other learning mechanisms such as
mentoring and peer learning.