PROJECT INFORMATION
- Title of the project: Organizational Development in the employees´ organizations, Kenya, phase I
- Focus: develop a free and independent trade union for the employees in the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA).
- Started year: April 2005
- Finished year: October 2008
- Partners: Kenya Dockworkers Union (KDU)
- Funding: Ministry of foreign affairs of Denmark, DANIDA
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Overall objective:
This project aims at providing the representatives of Kenya Dockworkers Union at all levels with the necessary knowledge and tools to promote the development of this organization and to ensure better working conditions for the port workers by means of capacity building and improvements and enlargement of the Union. The relevance of this project is due to the privatization process of the ports in Kenya and the analysis is focused on the special needs among employees in Mombasa Port and in the workplaces in Nairobi and Kisumu.
Immediate objective:
- Description of government privatisation and future labour market strategy and their comparison to the future privatisation plans and employment policies and plans in KPA.
- Study of the future impact of privatisation and employment policies in KPA and how these policies will affect the employees in Mombasa, Nairobi and Kisumu.
- Research in the organizational, administrational and cultural structure of KDU, discussion about possible changes in its structure, and adaptation of possible future development strategies.
Results of the analysis and occurring changes:
Factors that requires immediate attention in the future from DWU:
- Weaknesses in the existing advocacy and techniques in negotiation for workers welfare
- Limited capacity for democratic management such institutionalized channels for dealing with shopstewards
- Lack of strategic planning at the DWU and inexistent IT capacity
- Lack of a database
- Development of a strategic plan to guide DWU´s goals
KPA is currently implementing changes in the management strategies in responses to the changes in the business environment:
- Identification of changes that will impact on KPA and staff in the organization
- Sensitization for all staff at KPA
- Change in the implementation strategy that takes into account the effect of change on staff
- Properly coordinated change in the implementation programme
- Implementation of a monitoring system to ensure that changes are taking places according as planned.
