To have in place quality staff that can make meaningful contribution, certain supportive incentives and measures are necessary. This paper examines the influence of such supportive incentives on the lecturers’ job satisfaction in Kenyan Universities. A study that targeted 2,773 members of university management and lecturers in the chartered public and private universities within Rift Valley Region of Kenya was undertaken. The study used a sample of 605 participants and employed convergent parallel mixed methods design. Purposive sampling was also used to select information-rich cases. Questionnaires, interview and document analysis guides were used for data collection. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficient, independent-samples t-test, One-way ANOVA and regression coefficients, with the use of the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 20 were used. The study identified job satisfaction elements like fair promotions, assignment of additional responsibility as a result of outstanding work, among others. However, potential sources of job dissatisfaction included: lack of competitive rates; lack of adequacy of pay commensurate to work done; dissatisfaction with salary, among others. The author recommends that universities should work towards raising the level of job satisfaction through supportive incentives.
Keywords: Benefits and Compensation, Incentives, Job Satisfaction, Recognition, Remuneration, Rewards
