Institutional factors affecting the processing of the benefits payment in National Social Security Fund (NSSF) in Uganda

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to establish the factors affecting the process of benefit payment in the National Social Security Fund (NSSF). The Objectives of the study included (a) to establish the extent to which the organization structure influences payment of benefit claims in NSSF (b) to assess extent to which the Management Information System has influenced processing payment of benefit claims in NSSF and, (c) to determine the contribution of Human Resource in processing payment of benefits in NSSF. A cross sectional research design using only a quantitative approach was used on an accessible population of 190 respondents comprising of managers, supervisors, officers and assistants using self administered questionnaire. The study found out that organization structure significantly influenced payment of benefit claims in NSSF and it was the highest predictor of the variance in payment of benefits. MIS significantly influenced payment of benefit claims in NSSF while human resource significantly influenced payment of benefit claims in NSSF. The study concluded that organisational structure indicators of departmentalization and coordination significantly influenced payment of benefits by NSSF while the MIS indicators of ICT and its usage significantly influenced payment of benefits by NSSF. Human resource indicators of staffing, KAS, training and development significantly influenced payment of benefits by NSSF. The study recommended that to to effectively process and pay NSSF claims, the board and management of NSSF should create units of sub units charged with responsibility to process specific forms of benefits; deploy adequate and secure ICT infrastructure platform such as NSSF internet shops or points of sale, conduct a human resource audit to guide deployment of adequate staffing; with the right knowledge, attitudes and skills. Other studies need to examine the extent to which NSSF policies and financial resources availability could have influenced the performance of NSSF