EFFECTS OF WORKING ENVIRONMENT ON VILLAGE EXECUTIVE OFFICERS PERFORMANCE IN RURAL AREAS IN TANZANIA

The paper examined the effects of working environment on the performance of Village Executive Officers in rural areas in Tanzania specifically at Kalambo District Council in Rukwa Region in Tanzania, in terms of performance indicators which are availability, creativity, productivity, commitment and participation. The specific objectives were to assess VEOs working environment in rural areas, to determine the relationship between working environment and VEOs performance level and to identify measures for improving working environment for VEOs better performance. A cross-sectional survey study was conducted in four wards in the council, namely Kalalela, Katete, Mkowe and Katapuro. 39 Village Executive Officers were involved as respondents in the study. Data was collected from the primary source through interview guided by questionnaires and secondary sources through documentary review. The main variables in the questionnaire were socio- demographic characteristics (sex, age, marital status, education level and working experience), office building space, presence of privacy, availability of working tools. Analysis of data was done by using SPSS version 20 and presented in narrative and statistical ways where in narrative, sentences and paragraphs were used while in statistical form tables were used. The result revealed that the working environment elements have a significant effect on the performance of Village Executive Officers. These elements are presence of good quality office building, presence of standard houses to live and availability of working tools. The study concluded and that, the working environment has effects on the performance level of employees whereby absence of good quality office building, absence of houses, absence of transport facilities and absence of working equipment affect the performance of the VEO’s, so Kalambo District Council authority should provide good working environment to its employees, so as to enable them to perform better. KEY WORDS: Working Environment, Village Executive Officers, Performance