Factors Affecting Employee Retention

This assignment delves into the critical factors influencing employee retention across different sectors. It examines various research articles that analyze the impact of human resource management practices, job satisfaction, organizational culture, compensation, and training on employee turnover. The goal is to understand the complex interplay of these factors and provide insights into effective strategies for improving employee retention.

RUNNING HEAD: Dissertation
Dissertation
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

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Abstract:
The freight forwarder industry is one of the most significant industries in Singapore,
actively contributing to the growth of its economy. However, companies have been
experiencing employee turnover issues, whereby factors such as low wages or lack
of career progression have compelled the workers to look for other companies. The
high rate of employee turnover is indeed a problem, as it affects the revenue growth
of the company, while also leading to stalling productivity growth amongst the
workers. Hence, it has become imperative to conduct a research and investigate the
factors leading to such high employee turnover rates in the industry. The absence of
employee growth and training opportunities or absence of employee recognition
might be the common reasons behind this. Hence, the present research intends to
conduct a survey and critically analyse the factors and provide recommendations
which contribute to the problem of high employee turnover rate in the industry. It is a
well-known fact that high rate of employee turnover entails increased expenditure on
fresh training and induction, as well as a reduced rate in employee productivity.
Further, this can also affect employee motivation and brand reputation of the
company at large. Hence, the research will help in exploring the real reasons behind
the high employee turnover in the freight forwarder industry of Singapore and solving
the problem of employee turnover to a considerable extent.
Table of Contents

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Chapter 1: Introduction................................................................................................4
1.1 Background........................................................................................................4
1.2 Aim of the study.................................................................................................6
1.3 Objectives of the study.......................................................................................7
Chapter 2: Literature Review......................................................................................8
2.1 Employee Retention...........................................................................................8
2.2 Freight Forwarder Industry.................................................................................9
2.3 Management practices.....................................................................................10
2.3.1 Personality for the job................................................................................11
2.4 Lack of training and opportunities....................................................................11
2.5 Lack of supervisory figure................................................................................12
2.5.1 Appraisal....................................................................................................13
2.6 Quality of Work environment............................................................................13
2.6.1 Atmosphere............................................................................................... 13
2.7 Lack of career progression and remuneration.................................................14
Chapter 3: Research Methodology............................................................................16
3.1 Research Question............................................................................................. 16
3.2 Research Choice.................................................................................................16
3.2.1 Research Approach......................................................................................16
3.2.2 Research Design.......................................................................................... 17
3.3 Types of data...................................................................................................... 18
3.4 Data Collection Method.......................................................................................19
3.5 Sampling and Data Access.................................................................................19
3.6 Ethical and Data Protection Issues.....................................................................19
3.7 Data Analysis Method.........................................................................................20
3.8 Limitations...........................................................................................................20
Ch 4: Findings & Discussion.....................................................................................21
4.1 Response rate..................................................................................................21
4.2 Profile of respondents......................................................................................21
4.3.1 Findings (Section B)......................................................................................23
4.3.2 Findings (Section C)..................................................................................... 35
4.4 Analysis........................................................................................................... 36
Chapter 5 – Conclusion.............................................................................................38

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5.1 Review of objectives........................................................................................38
5.2 Theoretical review............................................................................................38
5.3 Recommendations...........................................................................................39
5.4 Limitations........................................................................................................39
5.5 Suggestions for future research.......................................................................40
References................................................................................................................41

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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 4. 1: Frequency distribution of Gender...........................................................25
Figure 4. 2: Frequency distribution of Age Group.....................................................26
Figure 4. 3: Frequency distribution of Nationality......................................................27
Figure 4. 4Figure 4: Length of Service......................................................................27
Figure 4. 5: Response to assignment of mentor as guide.........................................28
Figure 4. 6: Response to whether the employees would like to spend the career with
the company..............................................................................................................29
Figure 4. 7: Response to whether Enjoy discussing the company with outside people
.................................................................................................................................. 30
Figure 4. 8: Response to how much the employee has learned from the present
company....................................................................................................................31
Figure 4. 9: Response to how well the employees bonded with colleagues.............31
Figure 4. 10: Response to present salary.................................................................32
Figure 4. 11: Response to encouraging friends to work in the present company......33
Figure 4. 12: Response to I feel motivated to go to work every day..........................33
Figure 4. 13: Response to It is normal to have high turnover in freight forwarding
industry......................................................................................................................34
Figure 4. 14: Response to High employee turnover is costly and impacts the
organization negatively............................................................................................. 35
Figure 4. 15: Cause of High turnover........................................................................36
Figure 4. 16: There is a high rate of Turnover in your company................................36
Figure 4. 17: Reason for high Turnover....................................................................37
Figure 4. 18: Your experience in the present company is up to your expectation.....38
Figure 4. 19: If did not meet your expection, why?....................................................38
Figure 4. 20: What factors are most important in a job.............................................39

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Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Background
The focus of the study is on the freight forwarders in Singapore and how this industry
is facing the problem of high employee turnover. The factors which create a problem
in retaining the employees will be discussed in detail by going through the primary as
well as secondary sources. The aims and objectives of the study will be achieved by
the end of the study.
Freight forwarders are also known as the agents which organizes the shipments for
the individuals or the companies for transferring it to the markets or final distribution
point. The forwarders have contracts with the multiple carriers which move goods
from place to another. It acts as an expert in the network of logistics. They carry
goods through different modes of shipping like railways, roadways, airways or any
other. Freight forwarding is done for providing efficient and cost effective transfer of
goods in a good condition for the individuals or the companies. They handle the
negotiations, regulations of customs and use latest advances in the technology to
make the processes better (Marder, 2016).
Asia is rising as the new economic powerhouse in the world and the organizations
from across the world are expanding their businesses in Singapore. Singapore is in
the heart of Southeast Asia and it is with the connection to the major shipping lanes
which makes it an important logistics hub for the world trade. It is the prime location
for major logistics firms. The freight forwarders in Singapore are secure and trusted
and are developing because Singapore is developing a trusted supply chain.
Singapore is friendly with the import/ export requirements and procedures. The
companies have efficiencies in obtaining the permit for the goods. The country
provides a platform to the freight forwarders which simplifies the documentation,
saves time and improves the efficiency of the freight forwarders. The freight
forwarders receive the trade permits easily and it is a growing industry. Despite
having such facilities and qualities, there is a huge problem of employee retention
which the industry is facing in Singapore. There may be many reasons behind it.

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These factors will be discussed in the study to know the real reasons behind the high
employee turnover in the freight forwarder industry of Singapore (Banker, 2015).
Employee turnover can be referred to the percentage of workers who leave one
organization and then they are replaced by the other employees. It is the very
important to measure to control the budgets of the organization or industry and to
identify the reasons of low talent in the industry. It can also be referred to the rate at
which the employers lose its employees. As per the report of Logistics (2014),
Singapore is a mature market and here, the businesses need to manage their cost of
employment. People are facing the work Visa challenges which is also creating
frustration for the employees. The labor requirements in Singapore are strict which
have an impact on the cost of labor because the cost of wages for the domestic and
local employees increases. The employees get choosy about the requirements and
needs like distances of travel, payments, job roles, facilities and more. To gain better
salaries and wages, the employees often leave the employers and join another one
which has now become a trend in the country (Aguenza & Som, 2012).
There are several studies conducted on the employee satisfaction and retention in
the industry and it is found that 95% of the human resource leaders admit that when
the employees are exhausted physically or mentally, they tend to leave their jobs
which are increasing the employee turnover rate. The prolonged stress and
frustration in the job contribute a lot to the burnout of employees. As per Garton
(2017), employee burnout is a reason why the companies are bearing so much of
costs. Not only costs but low productivity, loss of talent and high turnover of
employees are some of the evils which affect the overall performance of the
organizations and the industry.
Some of the challenges which the freight forwarder industry of today is facing include
competition, volatility of the rates and the most important high turnover of
employees. According to Marder (2016), the industry is moving with fast pace and
they are facing competition because of which they need to manage their internal
costs and management so that they can fight the external challenges in the industry
and global market. All the logistics companies are facing the problem of attracting
and retaining the right talent. In Singapore, it is becoming the greatest challenge

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nowadays. The unemployment rate of Singapore is as low as 2.2% but still acquiring
n retaining the developed candidates is becoming tough. It is because the labor
market of Singapore is tight. 67% of the employees in Singapore are looking to
change their roles in coming years. It is obviously because of their dissatisfaction
with the current roles and many other reasons like salary hikes, cost of living,
promotion, recognition, etc. The logistics or the freight forwarder industry requires
certain skills and talents which are not available to everyone. The companies
working in this industry are needed to adopt some programs and methods which
nurture the employees and help them in creating their interests in their jobs. It will
help in keeping the turnover rates to a minimum.
The overall attrition rates in Singapore are growing and this could lead to the overall
increasing hiring costs and talent gaps will be created among employees (Hay
Group, 2017). The highest turnover in employees is recorded in Food and Beverage
industry and then in Freight forwarding industry in Singapore i.e. 19% and 14.7%
respectively. As per the survey conducted by Wills Towers Watson 2016 Global
Talent Management and rewards, more than 65 per cent of the employees in
Singapore are struggling to attract and retain the right talent. 45% of Asia Pacific
employers admitted that hiring has increased over the last few years which show that
people are leaving the organizations and joining other ones. The top drivers of
attraction are salaries, security in jobs, work environment, and challenging work. It is
found that only 4 out of 10 employees in Asia Pacific reason are highly engaged with
the employers. This clearly shows that how Freight forwarding industry is facing the
problems in retaining the employees. There is a room for improvement which should
be adopted by the industry. They could adopt certain measures which could help in
retaining the best talents for the organization. The reasons and factors of the high
turnover of employees are discussed in the further study and the recommendations
are given through which the industry could sort out the problem and improve its
productivity and performance to compete in the global market (Farrow, 2017).
Problem Statement:
As Asia has merged to be the new economic powerhouse, the Asian market is
experiencing a huge business investment pouring in from the West in the Asian
markets, and needless to state, the brilliant infrastructure of Singapore has made it
the number logistic hub of Asian market. There is no gain stating that Singapore has

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emerged to emerge as the most reliable and trusted supply chain hub, offering global
connectivity to business organizations, investing across the Asian continent.
Although the freight industry is able to contribute an enormous amount of revenue to
the Singaporean economy, the long-term sustenance of the industry is at stakes.
Despite the presence of a developed infrastructure, striking presence of and wide
access and connectivity to the trading and manufacturing hubs, the freight industry is
experiencing a major threat- high rate of employee turnover. Many freight forwarding
companies of Singapore are experiencing a turnover of more than S$5m, and this
high rate of employee turnover is a serious problem, that is also indicative of a
serious condition underlying the apparent problem. Lack of good organizational
culture, absence of career progression opportunities and poor pay scale are some of
most common factors leading to the problem of employee turnover. The freight
industry is still in the growth phase, and though it does have huge prospects in the
coming years, the industry is encountering great challenges in developing. As an
emerging industry, most of the companies still have limited revenue, out of which a
huge amount of revenue is getting spent in the talent acquisition and development of
new employees. As Tara Blythe has pointed out, employee turnover is a huge loss
for any organization, as it would require incurring a huge expense to either acquire
new talent or develop that talent. Most importantly, as those employees go to a rival
company, those losses further get multiplied. The organization not only loses its
valuable knowledge and skills its old employees had, but also loses it to its own
competitors. Further, it has been observed that owing to high rate of employee
turnover, the existent employees have also become unproductive, as it has affected
their efficiency rate in a negative way as well. In such a situation, apart from low
loyalty towards the organizations, most of the employees are unable to deliver high
quality customer satisfaction as well. This is exactly the reason why it has become
imperative to consider and critically assess the factors that are leading to high
employee turnover rates to the organization. The problem statement of the research
is highly significant as it intends to evaluate the exploring the real reasons behind the
high employee turnover in the freight forwarder industry of Singapore and solve the
problem of employee turnover to a considerable extent. By identifying the factors
leading to low employee retention in this industry, the research project will not only
help in reducing the huge talent acquisition expenses incurred by the freight
forwarding companies, but also will help in shedding light on some of the serious

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problems infesting these companies. Such problems may include poor organizational
culture, ineffective management, lack of training opportunities and inability to meet
employee expectations.
1.2 Aim of the study
The main aim of the study is to find out the factors which are leading to the high
employee turnover in the freight forwarder industry of Singapore. This will be
achieved by conducting questionnaires with employees working in freight forwarder.
The aim is also to make recommendations for employee retention for a freight
forwarder.
1.3 Objectives of the study
The objectives of the study are:
 To review the literature for the purpose of identifying the factors affecting the
employee retention in the Singapore Freight forwarder industry.
 To analyse the factors which contribute to the decision of employees leaving the
organization
 To make recommendations to the freight forwarders for improving the employee
retention

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Chapter 2: Literature Review
This chapter will provide a detailed information and data about the factors which are
affecting the employee retention in the freight forwarder industry of Singapore. It
discusses various factors like lack of supervisory figure, quality of work salary and
benefits, etc. which forces the labor to leave their present job and join the better
available opportunity. This literature review has been developed to accomplish the
aims and objectives of the paper and to find out the real factors behind the problem.
2.1 Employee Retention
Employee Retention can be understood as the ability of the business or the
organization to hold the talent or employees in the organization and stop them from
leaving their jobs. The retention of employees has been a major issue in the recent
years in the organizations. There are many reasons behind it (Liang, et al., 2015).
The organizations have to put many efforts to encourage employees so that they can
be loyal to the organization and work dedicatedly. Hiring of new employees every
now and then involves a lots of cost for the company and is also one of the biggest
issues for the sustainability of the company but on the other hand, if the organisation
retains the best and valuable employees it is cost effective for the company and also
increases its performance because, with the experience of the employees, the
performance of the company increases. The industries are going through the war of
talent in which they have to manage the burnout of employees, their competency
and their interest in the organization to work (Anis, et al., 2011).
To this Rono & Kiptum (2017), further, adds that the retention of employees is very
significant for the development of employees. It helps in achieving the goals and
objectives of the organization and also builds competitive advantage over others in
the industry. The employees in the organization or industry create a culture. If the
employees keep on leaving the organizations consistently, the culture will get

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affected. Also, if the employee turnover is very high it will increase the costs of the
business which could ultimately reduce the profits of the organization.
2.2 Freight Forwarder Industry
In 2012, the freight forwarder industry of Singapore was ranked as No. 1 amongst
the 155 countries across the world as per the Logistics Performance Index 2012.
This is because Singapore is at the heart of South East Asia and it is a hub of trade
at the global level. It also has good expertise and knowledge in international shipping
and transportation. There are more than 7000 companies working in this industry in
Singapore which provides employment to around 180000 people. This number
constitutes to around 9% of the total workforce in the country. The major companies
ruling over the market includes DHL, FedEx, UPS, Nippon Express and Toll
Logistics. The industry is the pillar to the economy of Singapore and it accounts a
good percentage of GDP of the country which makes it important. As already
discussed, the industry is ranked among the top logistics industries of the world, the
reasons behind this are World class infrastructure, global connectivity, and center of
the shipping lanes (Parvin & Kabir, 2011).
Figure 1: Rankings of countries in Logistics Performance Index
Source: Yuling (2014)
As per Banker (2015), the freight forwarder industry is changing with the time.
The industry operates on the basis of demand and negotiations. Despite enjoying
such a good position across the world, the industry is facing the challenge of

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employee retention. Modern freight forwarding in Singapore is facing a tough
challenge of keeping their talent engaged in the business. According to Brown
(2014), the employee turnover in Singapore has increased in 2015 than 2014. The
economic growth is good but the turnover of employees is increasing and this has
become a critical issue for some of the industries like freight forwarding because,
with employee turnover, the industry loses its talent, experience and knowledge
management.
Employee Turnover Issue in Singapore Freight Industry and
Hertzberg’s Two Factor Theory:
According to Hertzberg, there are two kinds of factors, which can motivate an
employee, and consequently affect his decision to stay within the organization. The
first factor is called the Motivator Factor, which includes recognition schemes,
training opportunities and others, that undoubtedly enhance employee engagement
within the organization. Since the absence of these factors does not exercise any
considerable impact on employee satisfaction, the organizations often choose to
miss out on developing policies that reward employees for outstanding efforts, or
offer skill enhancing training opportunities to the employees. However, these are
highly important factors, as these help in increasing employee engagement, which
determines employee loyalty towards the organization (Alshmemri et al., 2017). The
second factor that Hertzberg spoke about, is hygiene factor, and includes pay scale
of the employee, or his relation with the management. The absence of this hygiene
factor can produce huge employee dissatisfaction, and can lead to high rate of
employee turnover in an organization. Hence, as per the findings of this theory, an
organization needs to ensure competitive pay structure, effective organizational
culture as well as adequate training opportunities (Park & Ryoo, 2013).
As far as Singaporean freight industry is concerned, it should be remembered
that the country has ranked top for being one of the highest income earning
countries in the world that offer low wages to the employees. A freight forwarder
earns a very minimum amount of S$19,540, which is very low in the industry, and the
management authority of these organizations need to increase the pay scale to
increase employee motivation and reduce the problem of high staff turnover (Gong
et al., 2017). Besides, at the same time, it is important to note that many of the
employees lack the professional skills and expertise required for working in an

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industry for a prolonged period of time. However, many workers currently working in
the freight industry of Singapore, lack effective communication, time management,
service orientation skills. Many of the workers engaged in the work of a freight
worker, lack proper awareness regarding the regulations affecting the international
movement of cargo and thus fail to make proper arrangements for additional
services, such as storage or inland transportation. While it is highly important to
upgrade their professional skills, the freight industry of Singapore often misses out
doing the same. As a result, the employees often leave an organization unable to be
adequately productive at workplace, or wing to the uncertainly of experiencing career
progression in the long run.
Employee Turnover Issue in Singapore Freight Industry
and the Join, Stay, Leave Model:
The Join, Stay, Leave Model is an important model, that discusses the major
reasons why an employee decides to quit a company. Accordingly, the model states
that an employee joins an organization, simply because he finds the job position
enticing, and yet his decision to stay within the organization will depend on the extent
to which he had been able to develop a web of connections and relationships within
the organization. Despite the better pay, better hours and better opportunity within an
organization, an employee can still decide to switch to another company because of
poor organizational culture and poor quality work environment. By a good
organizational culture, the model implies a positive workplace culture, where the
workers can collaborate with the managers, communicate their problems, engage in
meetings and discussions at regular intervals and feel that their voices are heard
(Terera & Ngirande, 2014). In fact, it is important to note that Maslow’s theory of
Hierarchy of Needs also claims that here are five important needs of an employee
that should be satisfied in case an organization intends to enhance employee
engagement, which are- physiological, safety, belonging, esteem and self-
actualization needs (Paillé, 2013). Out of the five needs stated above, the belonging
need and the esteem need deserves special mention here. In order to enhance
employee loyalty, within an organization, it is important that the organization
introduces policies that encourage the employees to form emotionally significant
relationships in general with the colleagues. A team outing, once a week, or inter-

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team competition can considerably enhance employee engagement by promoting
employee bond within the organization. Similarly, it is also important to introduce
reward policies, so that the employees working overtime can be rewarded with
financial incentives or non-financial compensation, such as flexible working policies.
This will help in boosting the esteem of the employees, and increase his
engagement within the organization.
The freight workers work under the supervision of managers and supervisors,
who should not merely monitor the works, but rather try to develop an intimate bond
with them. Labour is indeed a critical resource, and the organizations should try their
best to retain the resource, setting labour standards, measuring the productivity of
the freight workers, and rewarding them for their award-winning performances (Chew
et al., 2015). The key to drawing out the best performance possible from these
workers is to align warehouse worker motivation with management objectives, by
offering lucrative incentive schemes.
The five factor that will be discussed in the literature review is the conceptual
framework as shown below. This five factor is what the author thinks that contribute
to employees leaving the organization and organization should pay more attention
to.
This five factors will be incorporated in the questionnaire survey to find the accuracy
of the findings.

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Figure 2 Conceptual Framework
2.3 Management practices
The management practices include the methods or all those tactics which the
managers or leaders involved in their daily practices to improve the work efficiency of
employees or to develop them. This practice may include the training and
development activities of staff, introducing technology and innovations, empowering
the staff and more. Kusluvan (2003) mentioned that organizations with good
management practices are more likely in retaining employees. Hence, it is very
important that the management design and setup systems which aid in employees
retention. The management should have the quality to select the best match for the
selected job so that the work can be done properly and the efficiency can be
improved (Ozolina- Ozola, 2014).
2.3.1 Personality for the job
Arvey, Bourhcard, Segal, and Abraham (1989, cited in Deaux and Synder, 2012)
mentioned that just one level of Personality clash in the organization with colleagues
or employees might be the reason which leads to job dissatisfaction (Taylor, 2002).
The Freight forwarder industry lacks in hiring the best employees for the job and they
also lack in providing them the development activities which makes them exhausted
mentally and physically. This is employee burnout which ultimately leads to their loss

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of interest from the job. If the organizations in the industry will be able to manage
their management practices, they will be able to retain employees in the business
and industry. The lack of good management practices leads to the increasing
employee turnover. Various studies have shown that if the organization is committed
to their employees, they are able to keep their employees for a longer period of time.
Also, high commitments from both the sides have the positive impact on the job
performance of the employees. This shows that how poor management practices
may lead to high employee turnover in freight forwarder industry (Muir & Li, 2014).
2.4 Lack of training and opportunities
The freight forwarder industry needs training and development activities for its
employees so that they could understand the terms of shipping, negotiations and
other skills. They also need to understand the interpersonal and communication
skills to build relationships with different agencies in order to keep the business on.
Timmermann (1998, cited in Rauner and Maclean, 2008) mentioned that training
produces benefits both for employers and the society. Employees who undergo
training usually produce positive economic effects for the company they work in.
People work without any training which lowers down the performance and also the
confidence of people. This is due to the lack of training might cause employees to be
less confident in the job they do (Ward and Daniel, 2012) This motivates them to
leave the industry to join some other industry where they could work with efficiency
(Janjhua, Chaudhary & Sharma, 2016).
Training and development activities could be beneficial to the employees and also to
the societies. It has been found and researched that when the employees are
provided with training and development processes, their job satisfaction level
increases and the job turnover rates decrease to a significant level. It is considered
as a key retention factor for an employee at every stage in the organization. There
are many courses in Singapore which are provided to the employee to get a good
knowledge about the industry so that once an employee enters the industry does not
think of leaving it (Miller, 2015).

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2.5 Lack of supervisory figure
Fisher (1985, cited in Wanberg, 2012) believe that a supportive supervisor is
important due to their authority and power to provide rewards and job allocation will
allow the employee to become more confident and comfortable in the things they do.
Employees who receive supervision from a mentor figure will more likely to remain in
the organization (McManus and Russell, 1997 cited in Anis et al., 2011). As
compared to an employee who did not receive supervision, where they will likely look
elsewhere for job opportunities as they feel they can't relate to the job.
If the relationship between the superior and subordinate is not good and healthy, an
employee would feel neglected and dissatisfied and this becomes one of the main
reasons to leave the job. A lack of good and supportive supervisory figure can lead
to high turnover rates of employees in the industry or business. To access support
from the senior management, the employees have to be patient. The freight
forwarder industry of Singapore is wide and huge but it lacks a strong supervisory
control over the employees which makes the employees aimless and they also lack
in achieving their career goals. It plays a big role in the motivation of employees
(Muir & Li, 2014).
2.5.1 Appraisal
An appraisal, yearly reviews or performance review (Sims, 2002) is the review of
employees based on their job performance. Appraisal not only helps in rating the
employees but also help the management to find out which is the area where the
employee can improve. An appraisal also helps in finding a suitable candidate for
promotion.
It is vital for managers to conduct yearly appraisal as it is an opportunity to the
manager and employees to communicate. It will also help in pay and incentive
adjustment for employees whose hard work and effort just the same (Bose, 2012).
2.6 Quality of Work environment
Studies show that quality of work environment is one of the factors affecting
recruitment and retention in an organization (Campbell and Dix, 1990). The work

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environment is very crucial for the development of employees and for their retention
of employees. If an organization has supporting and positive working environment,
the employees would not be motivated to leave the organization. Freight forwarder
industry of Singapore is huge and with this position comes huge responsibilities. The
employees are required to give longer working hours, they have to handle more
pressure and have to take more challenges in the jobs. This shows that the
employees become exhausted when they work with their full potential all the time
without any learning and positive environment. The workers are only engaged with
their own work and have no time for doing extracurricular activities which build up
confidence and positivity in the workers (Sinha & Sinha, 2012).
2.6.1 Atmosphere
The working atmosphere is a factor that can easily affect the working individual as
well as the whole organization. It plays an important role in the employee's
performance. The better the working environment, the happier the employees will be
and this will, in turn, bring positivity to the company in turn of performance and
morale (Desai, 2009). A positive work environment will bring out employees full
potential capacity. Also, they will also more likely to stay with the organization as
they enjoy working there (Find Employment, 2013)
A negative work environment will cause communication breakdown and loss of trust
between employees. Thoughts and ideas will no longer be shared among co-workers
and this will affect their loyalty towards the organization. A poor working environment
will also result in high absentees, inefficiency and contribute to employees turnover
rate which may be a result of communication breakdown among co-workers (Nichols
and Davis, 2010).
Jack Hasson (Carson, 2004) mentioned that a working environment that is enjoyable
will have a positive impact on employee retention as that is where the employee
spends most of their time. An enjoyable working environment will make employees
feel at home and in turn, employees will look forward to returning back to work and
this will benefit the organization positively.

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2.7 Lack of career progression and remuneration
Freight forwarder industry has job roles like moving the goods from one place to
another, communicating with different parties and facilitating their international
operations. The employees work and gain practical experience so that they can
move ahead in their career. But the scope of development is relatively lesser than
other industries. The career progression is dependent on the individual performance
and work experience but still, the employees find it relatively less attractive than
other industries. Career planning is one of the important methods through which the
industry can become attractive for the employees and can control the high employee
turnover. The employers should promise longer job security and more flexibility
which ensures career progression of the employee. It may stop employees in the
industry itself rather than moving outside to search for better opportunities (Balaji &
Balachandran, 2012).
Salary and benefits are one of the main reasons why employees are motivated to
leave the industry. The payments and compensation provided to the workers at
lower class are lower which demotivates the employees. When the employees are
not happy with their pay raises in the industry they tend to leave their jobs and the
companies are not able to retain them. The salaries of freight forwarders are much
lesser than the other positions in this industry like sales director, accounts manager,
and assistants. It creates dissatisfaction among the freight forwarders and they
intend to search for better-paid jobs for themselves (Heywood & Wei, 2009).
These are some of the key factors which affect the employee retention in the freight
forwarder industry in Singapore. The industry is facing high employee turnover and it
should take certain steps to manage their employees. To enhance the employer
employee relationship and to stop the growing turnover of employees in the industry,
certain measures have to be taken. The companies should make a corporate plan
for pensions and other retirement benefits for the employees so that they could think
of giving their whole career in the industry. Lack of these facilities makes them
uninterested in the job (Das & Baruah, 2013).
Employee recognition is another important method which could encourage an
employee to stick with their employment in the freight forwarding industry and enjoy

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the recognition for their hard work. The employees need career growth so that they
could plan their career with the same industry. Progression should be promised by
the employer so that the employees can perform well and make an alignment
between their job and aims for a career. The employees should be rewarded for their
good performance and efforts so that they can be encouraged to perform better next
time. Last, but not the least, training and development programs are must for
providing the satisfaction of the employees. This is because, if the employees will be
trained and skilled, it would perform better and will have confidence for the work
(Anis, et. al., 2011)
Employee retention is the global concern which could be solved by nurturing the
employees and investing in them. Long term loyalty among the employees and for
the company could lead the companies to the better positions. Singapore is a
growing economy and at this stage, if it pays attention to the employee retention then
it could be a key strategy for the companies to grow forward and become globally
competitive.

21
Chapter 3: Research Methodology
3.1 Research Question
A research question considers as the fundamental core of a research project,
literature review and research study (Taylor, Bogdan & DeVault, 2015). In addition,
the research question focuses mainly on the study that determines the methods as
well as guides all stages of inquiry, reporting, and analysis at the same time. The
research question is the main question to which entire dissertation will provide an
accurate answer. To that, a research question is mostly presented in the form of a
question rather than a statement (Blumberg, Cooper & Schindler, 2014). Research
question specifies what needs to be answered throughout the research and structure
of dissertation. There are mainly two types of the research question, one is the main
question and other is the sub-questions that assist the researcher in answering the
main question (Tarone, Gass & Cohen, 2013).
In this particular study, the research question is asked to find out or identify the
factors that affect employee retention in the Singapore Freight forwarder industry. In
addition, the next research question is asked to analyse the factors that contribute to
the decision of employees that leave the particular business organization. Finally, the
third research question was constructed to make recommendations to the freight
forwarders for improving the employee retention activities (Smith, 2015).
3.2 Research Choice
3.2.1 Research Approach
There are two types of research approach that need to be addressed by the author
at the time of performing the research study. Deductive and inductive are the two
types of research approach that need proper attention by the author (Matthews &
Ross, 2014).
Deductive approach deals with the concerned hypothesis that is based on existing
theory as well as then designing a research strategy for testing the hypothesis. This
approach starts with particular and ends in general (Mackey & Gass, 2015).

22
Inductive approach is one of the qualitative methods where researchers use the
research for developing a theory as well as identifying themes by studying
recordings, documents and other printed and verbal material (Leary, 2016).
The author had used deductive approach for the current study as they have collected
primary data from the employees and then analyzed the data for driving at
conclusions (Taylor, Bogdan & DeVault, 2015). To this, the author selects deductive
approach rather than inductive approach as it focuses mainly on investigating the
known concepts of employee retention whether these are valid or not. Therefore, the
deductive approach will help in constructing a hypothesis that is based on identified
concepts as well as testing the validity that compares well with the primary data
research information (Humphries, 2017).
3.2.2 Research Design
There are three types of research design that need to be addressed by the
researcher at the time of performing the research study (Gast & Ledford, 2014).
Exploratory research design, explanatory research design, and descriptive research
design are the three types of research design that need proper attention by the
author. "A Study on the Factors affecting Employee retention within the Singapore
freight forwarder industry” had been investigated by the author by using primary
research. The primary research had been conducted based on mono-method
research design that takes into account quantitative research design.
The exploratory research design is a research that is performed for a problem that
has not been studied more clearly as well as establishes priorities and develops
operational definitions for improving the final research design (Gall, Gall & Borg,
2014). This research design helps the researcher to determine the best research
design, subject selection as well as data collection method.
Explanatory research design means exploring something new by the researcher. It
defines as an attempt that is used for connecting ideas to understand the cause and
effect relationship where the researcher explain regarding what is going on (Flick,
2015).
Descriptive research design is one of the research designs that are designed to
depict the participants in the most accurate way. There are three ways to gain

23
information through the use of descriptive methods such as observational methods,
case study methods and survey methods (Clark & Creswell, 2014).
The author had used descriptive research design for the current research study as
they have used questionnaire or survey method to collect the data from the
employees (Blumberg, Cooper & Schindler, 2014).
3.3 Types of data
There are two types of data that are generally used by the researcher such as
quantitative data and qualitative data (Taylor, Bogdan & DeVault, 2015).
Quantitative data are those data that is used by the researcher to quantify the
problem through generating numerical data or data that can be easily transformed
into usable statistics (Blumberg, Cooper & Schindler, 2014). The data is used for
quantifying attitudes, behaviors as well as opinion and other defined variables for
generalizing results from a large sample population. This particular research data is
measurable for formulating facts as well as uncovering patterns in a research. On
making the comparison with qualitative data, quantitative data are more structured
than the former. There are different forms of quantitative data collection methods that
include paper surveys, kiosk surveys, telephonic interviews, online surveys,
systematic observations, mobile surveys as well as website interceptors and
longitudinal studies (Blumberg, Cooper & Schindler, 2014).
Qualitative data are those data that is used by the researcher to gain a proper
understanding of underlying reasons as well as opinions and motivations (Tarone,
Gass & Cohen, 2013). In addition, the qualitative data provides insights into the
problems or help in developing ideas or hypothesis for potential quantitative
research. Furthermore, Qualitative research is used for uncovering trends in
thoughts and opinion that goes deeper into the problem-solving approach. To that,
there are several common approaches to qualitative research that include focus
groups, participation or observations as well as individual interviews. Here, the
sample size is relatively smaller where the respondents are selected for fulfilling a
given quota (Taylor, Bogdan & DeVault, 2015).
Here, the author had used quantitative research study that involves examining the
relationships, describing as well as investigating the cause and effect relationships

24
(Blumberg, Cooper & Schindler, 2014). To that, the current research had been
conducted by the author to investigate that aligns with the research topic on “A Study
on the Factors affecting Employee retention within the Singapore freight forwarder
industry”. In addition, quantitative data had been obtained by distributing
questionnaire to the employees who work at ABC Pacific Ptd Ltd (A Freight
Forwarder who have around 120 employees in the company). Therefore, cross-
sectional research design had been applied because of limited research budget and
time constraint (Tarone, Gass & Cohen, 2013).
3.4 Data Collection Method
The author had used quantitative data method for this particular research study by
constructing about 21 questions for the survey and distributing it to 100 employees.
Employees who are working at ABC Pacific Ptd Ltd had been surveyed by the author
through use of hard copy paper survey questionnaire.
3.5 Sampling and Data Access
The author had collected responses from 100 employees who work at ABC Pacific
Ptd Ltd. Simple random sampling technique had been used by the author to
employees who are working at ABC Pacific Ptd Ltd.
3.6 Ethical and Data Protection Issues
At the time of conducting the research, the researcher should collect reliable and
valid data for current research study (Blumberg, Cooper & Schindler, 2014). In order
to get access to valid and reliable research outcome, the researcher should use
quantitative data that are not manipulated otherwise it will be difficult to derive
desired research outcome and whole purpose of the research study will not be
justified. As the author had distributed survey questionnaire to the employees, so he
cannot force any employee to participate in the survey. It depends upon will of the
employees whether they want to participate or ignore the method as a whole. The
questions asked by the author should not harm the sentiments of the employees.
The respondents name are not required in the survey process. The author cannot
force any of the employees for telling their name, credentials or job role or position
for their own benefits. The author should not leak confidential data or information that

25
is collected by them at the time of research study. In addition, secondary data had
been extracted by the author that should be updated and reliable sources when they
start collecting it from journal articles, books and websites. The author should duly
inform the employee about the research purpose in advance (Tarone, Gass &
Cohen, 2013). Each of the employees working for the company has the complete
right to withdraw their participation at any point in time at the time of research without
any prior notice. In this case, questionnaire is distributed to the employees where
they have full right to skip any of the questions that they feel could hamper their
reputation or their company, as the case may be. The questionnaire should be set in
a way where personal credentials should not be shared for any third-party or
commercial use under any situations. There is relevant Data Protection Act that are
present to protect research data (Taylor, Bogdan & DeVault, 2015). The “Research
Organisation Informed Consent Form” was given and signed by the company HR
Manager for approval.
3.7 Data Analysis Method
The author had used quantitative method for the research study where they had use
several statistical tools such as Frequency Distribution and Deductive process for
analyzing the data (Tarone, Gass & Cohen, 2013). Quantitative method had been
presented by the author through use of tables and graphs and further analysed by
using different statistical methods. Survey questionnaire method had been applied
by the author to collect quantitative data from the employees who work at ABC
Pacific Ptd Ltd.
The data collected via survey being conducted on 100 employees of the ABC
Pacific Private Limited, has been critically analysed to deduce the conclusion and
arrive at a reliable conclusion. Since the present research employed the use of a
paper questionnaire, each survey response recorded on the paper has been
manually transferred to the spreadsheet. While each question number has been
placed as a column heading, the responses of the responses have been recorded in
each row. Next, each answer has been assigned a code. Once the accuracy of each
of the data recorded on the spreadsheet has been checked, the total number of time,
each response has been selected has been checked. Once the number of times a
response selected by each respondent has been calculated, the responses were

26
being represented using tables and/or graph for displaying the data. In the data
analysis method, the Descriptive Statistics Method has been used. As a result, the
data have been summarized and accordingly measures such as sample size, mean
age of participants, percentage of males and females, range of scores on a study
measure, and others have been referred to.
3.8 Limitations
Due to limited time, the author failed to conduct in-depth analysis to the research
topic. The other limitation was lack of financial resources that restricted the author to
use expensive tools, techniques and method for the research study (Taylor, Bogdan
& DeVault, 2015). The author will look into the limitation or drawbacks that are
present in the research study and try to minimize the error in the next research
study.

27
Ch 4: Findings & Discussion
The present chapter presents a detailed explanation of the collected survey data as
well as the analysis of the data. First of all, the chapter provides the response rate of
the survey, which is followed by a profile of the respondents. Next, the author
provide a summary of the survey questions. Finally, an analysis of the survey with
relation to the Factors affecting Employee retention within the Singapore freight
forwarder industry is presented.
4.1 Response rate
The survey questionnaire was sent to 100 employees in ABC Pacific Ptd Ltd. There
were 21 questions in the survey. 73 employees responded to the survey. Thus we
find that the response rate was 73%. 73 out of 120 employees is about 60% of the
company headcount.
4.2 Profile of respondents
The analysis of the survey shows that 26% of the respondent were males while 74%
were females.
Table 1: Distribution of Gender
Gender Frequency Percentage
Male 19 26%
Female 54 74%
Male Female
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
19
54
Gender
Figure 4. 1: Frequency distribution of Gender

28
Table 2: Distribution of Age Group
Age Group Frequency Percentage
18 - 23 5 7%
24 - 29 40 55%
30 - 35 16 22%
36 - 40 4 5%
41 and above 8 11%
Further, it is seen that 55% of the employees are in the age group of 24 to 29 years.
In addition, it is also found that 5% of the respondents are in the age group of 36 to
40 years. Moreover, 11% of the employees are above 41 years.
18 - 23 24 - 29 30 - 35 36 - 40 41 and above
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
5
40
16
4
8
Age
Figure 4. 2: Frequency distribution of Age Group
Table 3: Distribution of Nationality of the employees
Nationality Frequency Percentage
Singapore 27 37%
China 2 3%
India 6 8%
Indonesia 4 5%
Malaysia 31 42%
Myanmar 1 1%
Philippine 1 1%
Cambodia 1 1%
The analysis of the nationality of the employees shows that natives from 8 countries
work in the company. Of the 73 respondents to the survey 37% of the respondents
were Singaporeans. The maximum number of employees in the freight forwarding
industry was from Malaysia. 42% of the respondents were Malaysian. The least
number of employees were from Myanmar, Philippine and Cambodia.

29
Singapore China India Indonesia Malaysia Myanmar Philipine Cambodia
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
27
2
6
4
31
1 1 1
Nationality
Figure 4. 3: Frequency distribution of Nationality
4.3.1 Findings (Section B)
1 year
1 years
1 years 9 months
1.5 years
10 years
12 years
14 years
17 years
2 months
2 years
21 years
3 years
4 years
4.5 years
5 months
5 years
6 months
6 years
7 months
7 years
8 years
More than 20 years
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
How long was your longest work experience in freight
forwarder?
Figure 4. 4Figure 4: Length of Service
In response to the query on the length of service of the employees, the analysis of
the data shows that 15 of the employees had a work experience of 2 years. The

30
analysis of survey data shows that 1 employee has an experience of more than 20
years.
Yes No Never Answer
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80 70
2 1
Was a mentor assigned to guide you and
train you when you first started out in
this company?
Figure 4. 5: Response to assignment of mentor as guide
In response to whether, a guide was assigned to then when the employees first
started their work it is found that 70 of the 73 employees were provided with guides.
Only 2 of the employees were not provided with a guide when they first started their
work.
Table 4: Spend the rest of the career with the present company
Spend the rest of the career with the
company Frequency Percentage
Strongly Disagree 4 5%
Disagree 6 8%
Neutral 43 59%
Agree 19 26%
Strongly Agree 1 1%
The analysis of the survey shows that 59% of the employees are undecided whether
they would like to spend the rest of their career with the present company. Further
13% of the employees disagree that they would spend the rest of their career with a
present career. On the other hand, 27% of the employees agreed that they would
spend their career with the present company.

31
Strongly
Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
Agree
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
5% 8%
59%
26%
1%
I am happy to spend the rest of my
career with this company
Figure 4. 6: Response to whether the employees would like to spend the career
with the company
Table 5: Enjoy discussing the company with outside people
Enjoy discussing the company with outside
people Frequency Percentage
Strongly Disagree 2 3%
Disagree 7 10%
Neutral 37 51%
Agree 26 36%
Strongly Agree 1 1%
The analysis of the survey shows that 51% of the employees are undecided whether
they enjoy discussing the company with people outside it. Further 13% of the
employees disagree that they enjoy discussing about the company with outside
people. On the other hand, 37% of the employees agreed that they spend discussing
the company.
Table 5: Enjoy discussing the company with outside people

32
Strongly
Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
Agree
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
3%
10%
51%
36%
1%
I enjoy discussing about my company
with people outside it
Figure 4. 7: Response to whether Enjoy discussing the company with outside
people
Table 6: I have learned a lot in this company
I have learned a lot in this
company Frequency Percentage
Strongly Disagree 1 1%
Disagree 3 4%
Neutral 14 19%
Agree 45 62%
Strongly Agree 10 14%
The analysis of the survey data shows that 76% of the employees agree that they
have learned a lot in their present company. On the other, only 5% of the freight
forwarders disagree that they have learned anything in their present company.
Moreover, another 19% of those surveyed are not sure if they have learned or not
from the present company.

33
SD D N A SA
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
1% 4%
19%
62%
14%
I have learnt a lot while working with in
this company
Figure 4. 8: Response to how much the employee has learned from the present
company
Table 7: Bonded well with colleagues and formed good friendship outside of work
Bonded well with
Colleagues Frequency Percentage
Disagree 2 3%
Neutral 20 27%
Agree 46 63%
Strongly Agree 5 7%
The analysis of the survey data shows that 70% of the employees agree that they
have bonded well with peers in the present organization and they have formed good
friendship outside the organization also. On the other, only 3% of the freight
forwarders disagree that they have bonded well with colleagues in the present
organization.
D N A SA
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
3%
27%
63%
7%
I bonded well with my colleagues and we
formed a good friendship outside work

34
Figure 4. 9: Response to how well the employees bonded with colleagues
Table 8: I would be happy if the salary would be higher
I would be happy if my salary is
higher Frequency Percentage
Neutral 2 3%
Agree 27 63%
Strongly Agree 44 60%
In response to the query of how the freight forwarders would feel if they had a higher
salary, it was found that 63% of the employees agreed that they would be happy to
have an increase in salary. In addition, another 60% of the employees strongly
agreed that they indeed would be very happy to get a higher pay package.
N A SA
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
3%
63% 60%
I am happier if my salary is higher
Figure 4. 10: Response to present salary
Table 8: Would encourage friends to work in the company
Would encourage friends to work in the
company Frequency Percentage
Strongly Disagree 2 3%
Disagree 6 8%
Neutral 41 56%
Agree 22 30%
Strongly Agree 2 3%
Analysis of the survey data shows that 33% of the freight forwarders agree that they
would encourage friends to work in the company since they think that they would
enjoy the experience in the present organization. On the other hand, 11% of the

35
employees disagree that they would not encourage their friends to work in the
present company. However, the survey found that 56% of the employees are unclear
of whether they should encourage or discourage friends to work in the present
company.
SD D N A SA
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
3%
8%
56%
30%
3%
I would encourage my friends to work in this
company because i know they will enjoy the
experience as much as i did
Figure 4. 11: Response to encouraging friends to work in the present company
Table 9: I feel motivated to go to work every day
I feel motivated to go to work every
day Frequency Percentage
Strongly Disagree 2 3%
Disagree 9 12%
Neutral 41 56%
Agree 20 27%
Strongly Agree 1 1%
The analysis of the survey showed that 28% of the employees agreed that they felt
motivated to go to work every day. On the other hand, 15% of the employees did not
feel motivated to go to work every day. The survey found that 56% of the employees
were unsure if they felt motivated or not the next day.

36
SD D N A SA
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
3%
12%
56%
27%
1%
I feel motivated to go to work everyday
Figure 4. 12: Response to I feel motivated to go to work every day
Table 10: It is normal for freight forwarders to experience high turnover
Freight forwarders have a high
Turnover Frequency Percentage
Strongly Disagree 1 1%
Disagree 9 12%
Neutral 22 30%
Agree 34 47%
Strongly Agree 7 10%
Analysis of the survey showed that 57% of the freight forwarders agree that it is
normal to have a high turnover in the industry. On the other hand, only 13% of those
surveyed disagreed with the fact the industry has a high turnover rate. Moreover, the
survey found that 30% of the freight forwarders are unsure of the high turnover rate
in the industry is normal or not.

37
SD D N A SA
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
1%
12%
30%
47%
10%
It is normal for a freight forwarder to
experience high turnover
Figure 4. 13: Response to It is normal to have high turnover in freight
forwarding industry
Table 11: High employee turnover is costly and impacts the organization negatively
High employee turnover is
costly
and impacts the organization Frequency Percentage
Neutral 11 15%
Agree 43 59%
Strongly Agree 19 26%
Analysis of the survey showed that 85% of the freight forwarders agree that the high
rate of employee negatively impacts the organization.
N A SA
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
15%
59%
26%
High employee turnover is costly and
impacts the organization negatively
Figure 4. 14: Response to High employee turnover is costly and impacts the
organization negatively
Table 12: Cause of High Turnover

38
Cause of High
turnover Frequency Percentage
Disagree 1 1%
Neutral 24 33%
Agree 37 51%
Strongly Agree 11 15%
The cause of high turnover in the freight forwarding industry is shown in Table 12.
66% of the employees agree that the high rate of turnover occurs since the
organization does not take measures to retain employees. 33% of the employees are
unsure of whether the organization takes measures in retaining employees.
D N A SA
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
1%
33%
51%
15%
High Turnover happens because the
organization fails to take measures to
retain its employees
Figure 4. 15: Cause of High turnover
Table 13: High rate of Turnover in your company
High Rate of Turnover in your
Company Frequency Percentage
Disagree 1 1%
Neutral 26 36%
Agree 41 56%
Strongly Agree 5 7%
The analysis shows that in response to the query "there is a high rate of turnover in
your company" 63% of the freight forwarders provided an affirmative reply. On the
other hand, only 1% of the employee disagreed that there is a high rate of turnover in
his organization. Moreover, 36% of the employees are unsure of whether the
turnover rate in his organization is high.

39
D N A SA
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
1%
36%
56%
7%
There is high turnover at the company
you work
Figure 4. 16: There is a high rate of Turnover in your company
Figure 4. 17: Reason for high Turnover.
The survey analysis illustrates that most of the employees leave the organization in
search of better opportunities. The second most important reason for high turnover is
a work-life balance. The survey found that language barrier is the least important
cause of high turnover.
Table 14: Your experience in the present company is up to your expectation
Your experience in the present
the company is up to your
expectation
Frequency Percentage
Yes 59 81%

40
No 14 19%
The survey analysis illustrates that 81% of the employees agree that the present
experience in the company is up to their expectation. On the other hand, it is found
that only 19% of the freight forwarders experience in the present company is not up
to their expectation.
Yes No
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90% 81%
19%
Have your experience at this
company up to date meet up to your
expectation?
Figure 4. 18: Your experience in the present company is up to your expectation
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
1 1
62
2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Total
Figure 4. 19: If did not meet your expection, why?

41
It is seen that most of the employees (62) provided no answer.
Table 15: What factors are the most important for the job
What factors are most important in a job Percentage
Career Advancement 18%
Remuneration Packages 26%
Management Practices 4%
Location 3%
Career Motivation 5%
Working Atmosphere / Peer relations 19%
Working Hours (Work Life Balance) 25%
The analysis of the survey shows that 26% of the employees think remuneration
packages is the most important in a job. In addition, it is also found that 25% of the
employees think that Working hours or work life balance is very important. The
location of the job is deemed essential by only 3% of the employees.
Career Advancment
Remueration Packages
Management Practices
Loacation
Career Motivation
Working Atmosphere / Peer relations
Working Hours (Work Life Balance)
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
18%
26%
4% 3% 5%
19%
25%
Which factors is the most important in which you think
employees deem most important in a job
Figure 4. 20: What factors are most important in a job
4.3.2 Findings (Section C)
Section C is an optional section where respondents can choose whether to answer
two open ended questions. – what are their views on most cases of employee

42
turnover happens is because organisation fail to take preventive measures to retain
them or more to personal reasons, as well as whether they prefer an energetic and
fun working environment with lower wages or stressful and negative environment
with high wages.
The results obtained for the first question lean towards to organisation fail to take
preventive measures. Some few that it is a mixture of both that contribute to
turnover. A respondent who worked in freight forwarder for 1.5 years think that it is
due to the organisation inability to retain employees mentioned that it is due to upper
management inability to communicate and understand the needs of their employees
and thus lead to employees’ low morale and feel undervalued which caused them to
leave the organisation.
The result for the last question of the questionnaire where respondents were to
choose between a fun working environment with lower remuneration package, or a
stressful and negative environment but with high remuneration package. Most of the
respondents choose the fun working environment with lower remuneration package.
The reasons are they will feel more motivated to go to work as stress level will be
low and this will result in employees staying longer in the organisation. One of the
respondent who worked in the company for 7 years mentioned that a fun and
energetic working environment will make a person happy and this will aid in them
having a work life balance. However, respondents who choose the other think that
money is their top priority as Singapore have high cost of living.
4.4 Analysis
The analysis of the survey finds that there are more female employees as compared
to male employees. Most of the employees are in the age group of 24 to 29 years.
Moreover, most of the employees working in Singapore are from Malaysia.
Singaporeans are second highest in the percentage working in the industry.
In addition, it is found that most of the employees have only 2 years experiences in
the industry. Thus it can be envisaged that most of the employees leave the freight
forwarding industry within 2 years. The above results confirm the work done by

43
Farrow (2017) that the freight forwarding industry is facing problems in retaining
talent.
The survey also found that most of the employees acknowledge that they have been
provided proper training by the organization. The results are in sharp contrast to
work done by Muir & Li (2014) who found that there is lack of supervisory control
which leads to employees leaving the industry.
Further, the survey found that most of the employees are unsure whether they would
spend the rest of their career in the industry. Moreover, the employees agree that
they have learned a lot in the industry. The survey also found that most of the
employees agreed that they have bonded well with the colleagues. Since Taylor
(2002) mentions that clashes with colleagues and other employees may lead to high
turnover, hence it can be envisaged that clashes do not occur in the industry in
Singapore.
The analysis found that salary may be the reason for the high turnover in the
industry. Most of the employees agree that they would be happy to get a higher
salary. Getting less salary may be a reason for the freight forwarders dissatisfaction
in the industry (Heywood & Wei, 2009). This also confirms the research done by the
author that freight forwarders are paid less as compared to other positions in the
industry.
The survey showed that most of the employees think that it is normal for freight
forwarders to experience high turnover. It is also found that most of the employees
agree that high employee turnover is costly. Further, it is found that most of the
employees agreed that the high rate of turnover exists since the industry does not
take measures to retain employees. As discussed by Liang et al. (2015) various
reasons exist for the high turnover rate. Hence, it can be perceived that the industry
does not follow theories as envisaged by Kusluvan (2003). Thus the industry is
unable to retain talent. The analysis also confirms research done by Muir & Li (2014)
who found that poor management practices lead to high turnover.

44

45
Chapter 5 – Conclusion
5.1 Review of objectives
It is important to critically discuss and evaluate the research findings in the
light of the objectives which have motivated the researcher to undertake the
research project. The first objective was to critically review and thoroughly
investigate the factors which might affect the employee retention of the fright workers
in Singapore. In this connection, various company reports of the Singaporean freight
companies and business management journals have been reviewed, and at the
same time, different management theories of employee motivation have been
studied in great detail. Accordingly, it has been observed that most of the freight
forwarding companies has poor organizational culture and inefficient management
practices. The employees never feel rewarded even after working overtime, nor do
they share an intimate bond with the co-workers, that can build in them a feeling of
belongingness to an organization. As a result, they can easily switch the company
they are working for, once they receive better salary. Further, lack of career
progression opportunities within the organization is also hindering the organizational
growth of the company. More than often, the employees have been found to have
wide skill gaps, whereby the freight forwarders are unable to arrange appropriate
packing, negotiate contracts, communicate effectively in a culturally diverse set-up or
utilize the available e-commerce service with proper efficiency. The reviewed
employee management theories stress that the employees who undergo training
usually produce positive economic effects for the company they work in. People work
without any training fail to work productively and ultimately in absence of proper
guidance, leave the company. Besides, researches suggested that the appraisal not
only helps in rating the employees but also help the management to find out which is
the area where the employee can improve. However, most of the freight companies
do not have employee-friendly policies such as lucrative incentive and appraisal
schemes or effective employer-employee communication policies that can motivate
the employees to stick to one organization.
The second objective of the research was to investigate and carefully analyze
the factors which compel the employees to leave the freight forwarding companies.
In order to accomplish this objective, and collect case-specific data, a survey was
being conducted on the employees of a freight forwarding company- ABC Pacific

46
Private Limited. Accordingly, the results of the survey clearly stated that more than
50% of the employees are unsure if they wish to continue in the company, or switch
to a new company. Majority of the employees, on being asked about their
organizational culture at workplace, claimed that they had positive relations with the
co-workers, and that they were content with the friendly, employee-friendly
workplace environment. It has been inferred that the freight industries mostly ensure
good organizational culture, and the absence of the same is not the cause of
employee disengagement in organizations. Next, the moderately low to low salary
package has been identified as a major reason, as more than half of the respondent
employees claimed that they expect a higher salary package than the current
package. Hence, the absence of competitive pay structure has been identified as an
important factor. Since there are too many companies operating in the freight
forwarding companies, the companies need to revise their pay-structure, and offer
payment as per the company standards only. Further, the survey also suggested that
a majority of the employees feel that the remuneration package plays the most
important role in their jobs, and hence they refuse to compromise with the salary.
Although the employees acknowledge the existence of training opportunities within
the company, nevertheless they say that they are absolutely unsure whether they will
continue working there for the rest of their lives. Hence, it has been concluded that
though the employees are being provided with basic training opportunities, they are
not offered training opportunities that can enhance their professional skills and
facilitate their career advancement in future.
The third objective of the dissertation was to formulate the recommendations
that can help in eliminating the employee turnover problem of the employees working
in the freight companies. After the completion of the research project, it has been
observed that the employees expect a higher salary package. Now, given the highly
competitive nature of the industry, the experienced employees can easily use their
knowledge and expertise to enter a new company. Hence, the pay policies should be
revised to match the industry standards. Besides, the training policies should be
revised. The employees should not only be provided with the basic skills such as
communication and soft skills, but should also be allowed access to training
opportunities that can help them experience career growth within the industry. Thus,
technical skills, related to handling e-commerce projects, or leadership training

47
programs should be incorporated in the training policies of the organization. At the
same time, it is important to ensure that the employees understand that their
performance does get monitored. The appointment of a supervisor is not sufficient.
The companies should necessarily appoint a professional supervisor whose duty
would be to monitor the daily performance of each employee, track their activities
and reward the deserving employees. In case of emerging firms, it is not important to
offer financial incentives. Non-financial compensations in the form of an extra leave
or flexible working opportunity or a work from home facility can also help the
employees feel that their contribution has been recognized. At the same time, in
order to enhance employee engagement in the company, it is also important to
create rapport with the employees and understand their perspectives. Accordingly, it
is vital for the management authority to organize interactive discussions with the
employees, at regular periodic intervals, so that the employees can communicate
their problems, before deciding to resign.
The fundamental objective of the present research was to study the factors
which affect a freight forwarder working at Singapore to leave the industry. The
retention of quality, experienced employees is essential for the development of the
industry. Research has found that the freight forwarding industry in Singapore is
ranked at fourth amongst all the countries of the world. The review of previous work
done by researcher’s points to several reasons behind the high turnover rate in the
freight forwarding industry. The research found that the factors which may be
responsible for employee retention can be divided into five factors.
According to previous studies, the management practices in the industry does not
believe in employing the best workforce. More importantly, the management does
have the quality to select quality employees.
Research s also found that there is a severe lack of career progression facilities for
the freight forwarders at Singapore. In addition, previous work has found that the
employees are not paid adequate remuneration.
A positive work environment is essential for any organization.

48
Previous research has found that the low pay in the freight forwarding industry leads
to the high rate of turnover.
5.2 Theoretical review
We draw a conclusion to the present research by providing answers to the questions
asked in the research. The analysis of the data provides the answers to the
questions.
The length of service in the present industry is found to be very low for the
employees. The salary of the employees also seems to be low. This is echoed by the
response of the employees that they would be happy if they get a higher salary. The
employees also agree that the high rate of employee turnover is common in the
freight forwarding industry. The failure of the management is reflected in the
response of the employees towards the organizations not taking measures to retain
employees. The high rate of turnover is due to the employees leaving in search of
better opportunities. The results of the survey data show that remuneration package
of the employees is one of the most important reasons according to the freight
forwarders. The second most important reason for the high turnover rate is work life
balance.
5.3 Recommendations
From an analysis of the factors influencing employee turnover in the freight
forwarding industry in Singapore the following recommendations can be made:
 The freight forwarding industry should look into the fact that most of the
employees work for a maximum period of 2 years in the industry. Thus,
the causes for employee’s turnover after a period of 2 years need to be
investigated.
 Most of the employees are unsure of whether the employees would like
to spend the career in the industry. The reasons behind the
respondents being unsure needs to be further investigated.

49
 The salary in the industry might be low. Thus, most of the employees
affirmed that they would be happy to get a higher salary. Thus, the pay
package of the freight forwarders needs to be investigated.
 The motivation of the freight forwarders is very low. Most of the
employees agree that turnover impacts the organization negatively. In
addition, the employees also agreed that high turnover in freight
forwarding industry is common. The industry does not do to retain
employees. The industry needs to look into the concerns of the
employees and should also try to motivate the employees.
5.4 Limitations
Due to time constraint, the author was unable to conduct survey questionnaire with a
bigger sampling size. If there is a bigger sample, it will be more accurate response.
In addition to survey questionnaire, the author could also conduct interviews as it
would provide an argumentative responds where some respondents might think
differently from the others. If the author have more resources and were able to
interview with top management in the company, the research design would consist of
both qualitative and quantitative methods. The two methods would help the author to
understand more about the retention and employer turnover as the author have
views from both employers and employees. Instead of finding out what employers
wants the company to provide, the author are able to know what the company might
have done to prevent high employees turnover, but did not work out.
5.5 Suggestions for future research
For further exploration of the factors responsible for the high turnover in the freight
forwarding industry following are some of the recommendations:
 The managers and senior members of the organization should be
surveyed as to the possible reasons behind the high turnover.
 The survey can be carried out using a larger sample to confirm the
outcome of the present survey.
 It would be interesting carry out a survey which would find the reasons
which enable a freight forwarder to work in the industry

50
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