Successful companies recognize that improved career growth will maintain and boost their competitiveness. For all workers, promotion in one’s career is a necessary phase. Each employee of every company hopes to advance quickly in their careers because this allows them the opportunity to develop and motivates them to participate. The objective of this study was to establish the influence of career progression guidelines on employee performance in the Kenyan civil service: a case of State Department for Livestock. The study was anchored on the trait and factor theory and Vroom’s (1964) expectancy theory. This study was designed as a descriptive survey. In order to show a correct profile of people and situational events, a descriptive survey research design was used. The target population of this study was 531 employees of the State Department for Livestock. As the primary data collection tool, the researcher used a questionnaire. Drop-and-pick method was administered as it is cheap and allows respondents to complete the tool conveniently. The data collected was analyzed by quantitative methods of data analysis. The questionnaire data was encoded and logged onto the computer with the Statistical Social Science Package (SPSS version 25.0). So as to perform simple descriptive analyzes to obtain reports about data status, this involved code for open and closed data items. The analysis involved the use of descriptive statistical tools which included mean, standard deviation, frequencies and percentages. Simple linear regression analysis was conducted to establish the career progression guidelines influence on performance of employees. The study established that the educational level of an officer determines their entry grade in the career progression guideline. The study showed that proactive workers are much more likely to develop their careers because proactivity is considered to be a sign of leadership abilities. The study concluded that career progression guidelines (educational and professional experiences, personality of employees, job performance and evaluation of supervisor and recruitment and selection criteria) significantly influences employee performance in the State Department for Livestock. The study recommends that management staff at State Department for Livestock need to ensure that their employees have the required educational and professional experiences. The study recommends that State Department for Livestock encourage their employees to enroll in short courses offered by government or private institutions to enhance their education. The study recommends that there should be frequent evaluation of the performance of employees.

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