Description
The purpose of the study was to examine the influence of employee characteristics on the job satisfaction of security personnel in public secondary schools in Baringo County. The study employed a descriptive survey design. The study population comprised 508 security personnel and 169 principals in public secondary schools. Slovin’s formula was used to get the sample of 224 security personnel. Random sampling technique was used to select 17 principals to participate in the study. A questionnaire and an interview guide were used to collect data. Quantitative data was analysed by use of both descriptive and inferential statistics. From the findings, majority of the respondents were from Sub-County schools. There were fewer heads of security guards while the majority were ordinary security guards. Most of the respondents were male while a few were female. Regarding age, majority of the respondents were above 32 years. A large number of them had worked for their schools for four years or more. Majority had a KCSE level of education. A good number found their work manageable and some of them found it average. Lastly, there were mixed reactions concerning age and experience with workload, with respondents across all ages indicating that they found the work either overloading or manageable. It is evident that schools attract old and retired security workforce. Old security personnel may be incapacitated when assessing and responding to severe security situations. Also, majority of security personnel in schools were male. Therefore, it is difficult for them to frisk female visitors as well as female students for any threats. It is recommended that all schools recruit sufficient female security personnel. This will also assist management to comply with the human resource requirement of the two-thirds gender rule, retirement age among others as per the Employment Act.
