Factors influencing voluntary employee turnover in aviation industry: the case of Zambia airports corporation limited.

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to investigate the factors influencing voluntary employee turnover in Zambia Airports Corporation Limited (ZACL). The sample size of the study was 255 which included current and former Zambia Airports Corporation Limited employee’s employees. The study employed explanatory sequential mixed research design. The data collection instruments that were employed were the questionnaire, interview guide and document review check list. Quantitative data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) and reinforced with Microsoft excel, while qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis. It was found that there were a number of factors that are influencing voluntary employee turnover in ZACL and these include; lack of employee recognition, lack of promotion, recruitment process, leadership style, poor communication, unsatisfactory performance evaluation, low salaries, lack of training and development, lack of conducive work environment, lack of effective retention strategies and job location. The study found that salary increment, salary market survey and employee satisfaction survey that were being used by management as retention strategies were not effective. Therefore, the study found that retention strategies that may help reduce voluntary employee turnover in ZACL are; right personnel placement into positions, good organization policies, providing competitive salaries, Training and development, conducive work environment, effective communication, work-social life balance and use of democratic leadership. Based on the findings of the study, the following recommendations are made for the Zambia Airports Corporation Limited: Management through human resource must hire right personnel and place them in right positions; management must providing competitive salaries to employees which are market reflective; top management should create conducive working environment within the organization and that top management should involve employees in the decision making process. Further research may also be conducted with a particular focus on factors influencing departmental transfer as it was also observed that many employees were changing departments or wished to change their current departments.