Abstract:

Organizations worldwide have embraced management development as a strategy of improving employee performance. The Catholic Church which is a faith based organizations has invested heavily in education, health and microfinance sectors. However the priests who are the managers of these sectors seem to be facing many challenges leading to poor performance attributed mainly to lack of crucial managerial skills. The purpose of this study was to examine mentoring as a management development strategies and whether it has an effect on the performance of Kenyan Catholic Priests. This study employed descriptive survey design where a target population of 504 priests in Nairobi diocese was used. A sample of 223 respondents was selected from the population using simple random sampling method.   A structured questionnaire was used in data collection. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics where the mean, frequencies and percentages were computed. Inferential statistics were also used where the Pearson’s correlation analysis, multivariate linear regression were computed. The analyzed data was presented using frequency and percentage tables and charts. The study findings indicated that a strong and positive correlation between the independent variable mentoring and the dependent variable performance of the priests. The study recommends that a successful mentoring program can be very effective in enhancing the performance of the priest. The results of the study are expected to be beneficial to the management of various church projects in the diocese and the entire country.