Varsity to Implement Crucial Productivity Improvement Strategy
The University of Nairobi, on Wednesday, 28 May 2025, set the stage for the implementation of the Workplace Productivity Improvement Strategy by conducting a workshop aimed at cascading the new strategy to the faculties and Central Administration units. The workshop, which took place at the University of Nairobi Towers on the Main Campus, saw participants interrogate the comprehensive strategy focusing on 11 broad areas identified for improvement from the university’s strategic plan.
In her remarks during the workshop, the Vice-Chancellor (Ag.) Prof. Jesang Hutchinson stated that implementation of the Productivity Improvement Strategy will result in enhanced overall performance of the university. “The strategy seeks to enhance service delivery of University products and services, lower operational costs, improve the quality of products and services, increase customer satisfaction, increase productivity using minimal resources, and enhance staff motivation”, she said. The Vice-Chancellor’s remarks were read on her behalf by the Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Human Resource Affairs (DVC HRA), Prof. John Demesi Mande,
In his own remarks, the DVC (HRA) Prof. Mande stressed the importance of teamwork as a key ingredient for successful service delivery. He urged the workshop participants to strive towards delivering on the university’s mandate through forging healthy work relationships.
Productivity improvement is a mandate of the National Productivity and Competitiveness Centre (NPCC) under the State Department for Labour and Skills Development. The NPCC was instrumental in training the university’s Productivity Measurement Committee, which developed the institution’s Productivity Improvement Strategy. The main objective of the UoN Productivity Improvement Strategy is to enhance productivity through its core functions of teaching, research, and community service as well as engaging strategic partners and the community.
The committee, which was led by Prof. Florence Muindi, also organized the workshop for cascading the strategy under the auspices of the Directorate of Planning and Performance Management. The workshop was attended by faculty deans, associate deans, heads of central units, faculty registrars, and productivity mainstreaming champions among others.
The implementation of the strategy begins immediately as part of the 2024/2025 Performance Contracting cycle. The baseline productivity index, which the university will be seeking to improve stands at 2.7, denoting high productivity on a scale of 0 (low productivity) to 5 (excellent productivity).
