Addressing the factors influencing employee retention based on a causal model.
Date
2020
Authors
Sishuwa, yvonne
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The University of Zambia
Abstract
Employee Retention is a process in which employees are encouraged to remain with an organisation for the maximum period of time or until the completion of a project. Successful organisations need to do more than just hire the right people but retain the right people for the jobs. Failure to retain employees results in the loss of knowledge, experience, customer relations and technical skills which are taken to another organisation. The main aim of this study was to identify some of the major factors that influence employee retention in the transport and logistics industry of Solwezi, in order to address the poor retention rates
experienced by the industry. The Causal Model was adapted to this study with a focus on workplace structures, individual characteristics, job satisfaction, organisational commitment and intent to stay. The computed sample from the population was 171 but only 144 responded to the semi-structured questionnaires and semi-structured interviews for key respondents from the selected organisations. Descriptive Statistics and Chi-Square tests of independence were used to analyse the collected quantitative while Coding and Categorisation analysis was also used to analyse the qualitative data collected. The findings established that retention was influenced by job satisfaction, job commitment and workplace structures. However, individual characteristics such as education level, contract type and marital status did not have significant influence on employee retention. The qualitative data findings indicated that the poor retention
rates were because of the workplace structures. From the findings, it was recommended that employers in the transport and logistics industry should devise employee retention strategies that are focused on enhancing job satisfaction, promoting organisational commitment and create policies that improve workplace structures such as the working environment, communication, work life balance, policies to promote job security and career development.
Description
Thesis of Master of Business Administration in Management Strategy