Employee Turnover and Retention Strategies

This assignment delves into the complex issue of employee turnover, examining its causes and consequences. It encourages students to analyze various factors contributing to employee departures, such as low compensation, lack of career development opportunities, and poor work-life balance. Furthermore, it requires a critical evaluation of strategies organizations can implement to enhance employee retention, including competitive salaries, professional growth initiatives, and a supportive work environment.

Assessment 1: Research Outline
Subject: BUSN20016 RESEARCH IN BUSINESS
Course Lecturer
Dr. Kris Iyer
Submitted by
Sydney campus
Student ID
Contents

Title of the Research....................................................................................................................................1
Brief Introduction........................................................................................................................................1
Problem Statement.....................................................................................................................................2
Research Aim...............................................................................................................................................2
Research Objectives and Questions.............................................................................................................2
Justification for the project.........................................................................................................................3
Expected research output...........................................................................................................................4
Conceptual Framework and Research Hypothesis......................................................................................5
Methodology...............................................................................................................................................6
Data analysis method..................................................................................................................................6
Population...................................................................................................................................................6
Literature Review........................................................................................................................................6
Organization of the study............................................................................................................................6
Time schedule.............................................................................................................................................6
Projected budget for the research..............................................................................................................6
Summary.....................................................................................................................................................6
References...................................................................................................................................................6

Title of the Research
EMPLOYEES UNABLE TO WORK FOR LONGER PERIOD OF TIME IN ORGANIZATION
Brief Introduction
As employees gain experience, more organizations become interested in them and they most
likely get pouched away from the current organization they are working in. This is increasingly
becoming an issue in since the employee turnover in any specific year is increasing at a high rate.
This comes with increase in employee recruitment cost and also increase in training costs due to
the costs incurred in training new employees. The other issue that arises with failure by
organizations to retain employees for a long time includes the decrease in productivity in the
short time due to the constant change of staff in the organization. The other factor maybe major
and frequent conflicts in the workplace. Failure by the management or human resource officers
to resolve the issues leading to the conflicts results to employees deciding to leave employment
and seek for a job elsewhere. Another potential cause of employees not staying in an
organization for a long period of time may be ineffective leadership. This leads to lack of
motivation among employees due to poor leadership from management (Ellett & Dews, 2008).
This study tries to prove the hypothesis stated above. This report investigates the literature
review written about the subject in the past and identifies the research methods and methodology
to be used in data collection and analysis.
Problem Statement
Employees moving from one organization to another have a very huge impact on organizations.
It affects the morale and confidence of the employees who remain in the company. The
employees begin losing faith in the organization that they are currently working for and may

choose to seek other jobs as well. The constant loss of employees by a organization also results
to decline in productivity in the organization. There are many reasons why employees decide to
change jobs. One of the reasons is the failure by the company to meet their salary expectations
which makes them insecure financially. The organization may also fail to meet the ambition of
the employee and therefore the employee may end up finding another job somewhere else. The
study seeks to establish the reasons that motivate employees to change organizations regularly
and what organizations can do to lower the employee turnover.
There are a variety of factors that may contribute to high employee turnover/failure to retain
employees for a long time. One of the factors may be due to poor or lack of communication
between the organization and its employees and among employees themselves (Sullivan, 2010,
March 4). This mostly leads to uneasy working environment which may result to lack of
satisfaction and they end up deciding to leave the organization. The organizations have a
responsibility of ensuring that employees stay at their organizations for long periods of time. The
management of companies should put in place measures to ensure that the needs and
expectations of all employees are catered for. The organizations should also pay their employees
reasonable salaries and reward them for good performance . This study therefore seeks to
investigate the factors that lead to employees changing organizations from time to time and the
action that can be taken by the organizations to reduce the rate of employees leaving their current
jobs to seek for alternatives.
Research Aim
The main aim of this study is to investigate factors that cause employees to change organization
from time to time.
Research Objectives and Questions
The other objective of this research is to identify the measures and actions that the organizations
can take to reduce the rate of employees changing jobs.
What is the motivation behind employees changing organizations within a short period of
time?

How does the personal ambition and goals of the employee influence their decision to change
organizations constantly?
How does the compensation and remuneration of employees by an organization impact on
the ability of the organization to retain employees for a long time?
How do organizations fail to fulfill the desires and ambitions of employees?
What changes do organizations need to make in order to ensure that employees remain in the
organization for long time?
Justification for the project
Failure by an organization to retain employees for a long time results to various challenges
for the organization. In the past, many organizations have found themselves lose their
employees to rivals or other industries due to various factors. Most of these employees leave
the organization just after they have familiarized themselves with their roles and with the
environment of the organization. These employees cost the organizations a lot of resources
from the point of recruitment and training ("Factors Influencing Employee Commitment in
Kenya", 2015). Even after the organizations have lost employees, it is also very difficult to
get highly experienced and qualified employees to fill the positions. Losing an experienced
employee also results to a drop in productivity within an organization. This drop in
productivity may be amplified to the point of profits of the organization and may at times
result to losses for an organization. In addition to this, the loss of employee presents a huge
challenge for any organization since there is no one left to train and guide the new employees
who join the company and hence it will take longer for new incoming employees to get
integrated into the company.

Due the challenges presented in the above paragraph and many more, it is important for
organizations to identify reasons why they lose employees at a fast rate. Organizations also
need to find a solution for the challenge. To do this, a research has to be carried out to
determine the factors that result to employees changing jobs constantly and the
improvements and control measures that can be taken to prevent further increase in the rate
of employee turnover in an organization. Some of the factors which could be resulting to
constant change of organizations could be monetary remuneration, lack of motivations, poor
working environment or poor leadership (Freeman, 2005). It is therefore important for an
organization to determine the precise factors which cause employees to leave their
organizations so that this can be reduced to prevent these challenges.
Expected research output
The expected outcome of this research study is as follows:
 The researcher will help in identifying the factors that motivate employees to change job
from time to time without working for a long time.
 What impact does the change of job by an employee have on an organization?
 What difficulties does the organization face in replacing the departed staff member?
 How does poor leadership contribute to employees changing jobs within a short period of
time?
 What steps and action can an organization take to maintain current staff for a long time to
avoid the challenges that come with the loss of employees.

 What are the major properties and consideration for an employee when evaluating for how
long they will work at a particular organization.
 Do the employees believe that the organization and management does enough to retain their
services and to keep them happy and comfortable.
Conceptual Framework and Research Hypothesis
The subject of employee turnover and employee retention has been of particular interest by
researchers in the human resource and management profession. The increased interest and
research on this subject has been fueled by the increase rate in employee turnover and failure by
most organizations to retain their employees for more than three years. Most of the employees
leave voluntarily and hence making it even a more critical point of concern. Voluntary employee
turnover results to significant losses by an organization. The losses are mainly due to
unpreparedness of the organization in dealing with the unexpected loss of important employees.
The losses are both in direct costs and indirect cost. One of the indirect effects of loss of
employees is that it results to low morale for employees who have been left to work in the
organization. Training costs are also very high for the organization as well as recruitment cost.
Combination of direct and indirect cost of employee turnover is approximated to be more than a
years` salary of that particular employee. According to Gberevbie, (2008), employee
compensation and remuneration is the major issue that helps organizations to retain employees.
This is because many previous researches have indicated that employees leave their job due to
salary issues and poor remuneration. High salaries increase job satisfaction of most employees.
Other factors are considered secondary to this. The other factors that lead to employee
satisfaction play an important role in helping .to reduce the employee turnover rate. Different
scholars have come up with different definitions of employee satisfaction. Basically, employee

satisfaction is defined as extent to which employees are happy, contented and enjoy due to the
job they are holding being able to fulfill their desires and work and personal needs(Banfield &
Kay, 2011). The following is a summary of the main reasons why employees leave their jobs to
join other organizations:
 Poor working relationship with management and fellow employees
 Unpleasant corporate environment
 Boring task and lack of challenges for the employees
 Lack of promotion opportunities and leadership opportunities
 Lack of recognition of good performance by an employee
 Poor pay/salary
 Desire of an employee to become autonomous/independent
 Desire to seek better growth and development opportunities
The Griffith employee turnover model explains that the most cited variables that resulted to
employee turnover include the factors related to job content and external environment. The
theory argues that employee turnover is the reversed transformation process of employees of

employee retention psychology and behavior.

Conceptual framework
Job security Financial security Comfortable working
environment
H2H1 H3
Satisfaction with the job
Commitment to the
organization

The framework diagram above explains the factors that influence employee turnover in an
organization. The diagram also indicates the factors that will lead to high rate of employee
retention in an organization. The three major factors important in this case include the job
security of an employee, financial security and suitable working conditions. A combination of
this factors contribute to the employee being satisfied with the job they are doing and this in turn
results to employees being committed to the organization and hence working there for a long
time(Glebbeek & Bax, E. H. (2004.
Methodology
Qualitative methodology has been used for this study. The researcher will contact people suitable
for this research using LinkedIn application after which interviews and questionnaire will be
issued to them. . The research sample for this study is identified by inviting people who have
been through the experience of changing jobs in the recent past by adverting in the local dailies
for people to apply for this research interview. Social media networks such as Facebook and
Twitter will also be used to identify our respondents (Ramlall, 2004). A small token will be
promised to the people who apply to participate in the interview after they have been selected.
After applications have been received, the credentials of the candidates will be reviewed to help
ascertain whether or not the each of the applicants fits the billing to be able to participate in the
study. Once the pool of potential respondents has been identified, the simple random sampling
technique will be used to select the sample of respondent to be used to conduct this research
study. The study will use primary data collection techniques to collect data for this study. The
data will be collected using Questionnaire/Surveys which will be issued to the identified

respondents. The questions asked in these questionnaires will be aiming at identifying the main
reasons why employees want to leave employment and seek a job in another organization. The
questionnaires will also seek answers on what more can organizations do in order to retain their
employees for longer periods of time. The study will also use face to face interviews to get data
concerning this research subject.
Data analysis method
The data from this study will be analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative analysis
methods. This is in order to ensure all the data obtained from the study is considered and used in
determining the findings and conclusion from the study. For qualitative data, the data collected
from the interviews and questionnaire will be analyzed by comparing it with data collected in
past researches and which has been reviewed in the literature review section(Haar & White,
2011). Quantitative data analysis will be done using SPSS or Spreadsheet database which will be
able to analyze and identify the relationship between various variables in the study.
Population
The study will use a population of 250 respondents who have changed jobs more than 3 times in
less than four years. 200 of the respondents will be required to fill the structured questionnaires
while the remaining 50 respondents will undergo face to face interviews to provide the data
required for this study.
Literature Review

Different researchers have written different articles and books on the factors that contribute to
high employee turnover rate in an organization (Heck, Johnsrud& Rosser, 2000). This subject
has been of particular interest for managers and professionals in human resources management.
There are different theories and concepts that have been developed as a result of this study.
Despite this, the problem of high employee turnover and low retention rate has come an end. It is
estimated that more than 51% of organizations globally face the challenge of low employee
retention rate. The challenges of high employee turnover include direct and indirect costs on an
organization. According to Collins, (2008), an organization that loses one experienced employee
incurs direct costs amounting to approximately one year pay for that employee. The indirect
costs of employees changing jobs regularly include decrease in productivity, loss of important
leadership traits and the time taken to train new employees. The costs of recruiting and training
have a huge impact on an organization.
According to Core & Guay, (2002), one of the major factors that contribute to employees
changing jobs regularly to join other organizations is ineffective leadership in an organization.
Leadership from the top management and supervisors is very important in helping retain the
services of good employees. Ineffective leadership in an organization results to failure to
motivate employees. This also results to failure by the management to provide the employees
with a clear promotional strategy based on performance and other merit. Ineffective leadership
may result from promotion of employees without prior knowledge and experience in leadership
(Kwon & Yoo, 2011). Training is important for leadership in an organizational context. In order
to prevent this scenario, leadership training, employee development and professional-level
seminars as well as workshops are important.

Remuneration and salaries is another important factor that researchers have cited as having a
hand in low employee retention rate. An employee may decide to leave an organization because
they feel they are not being adequately compensated for their services. This may arise due to the
increase of responsibilities and task assigned without an accompanying increase in salary. Once
employees feel that they are not financially secure, they will tend to look for a job elsewhere
which can fulfill their financial needs(Branham, 2012). Salary has been identified has the major
and primary motivator of workforce and hence organizations need to pay attention to
remuneration in order to increase employee retention rate.
Conflict at the workplace result in employees being very uncomfortable at the workplace and
their productivity reduces(Branham, 2012). This may make an employee feel the need to move
on and find a new job in another organization. Conflicts with management or supervisors may
lead to loss of job security. In the fear of losing their job, an employee may decide to look for a
job elsewhere and exit voluntarily.
Poor/ineffective communication at the workplace contributes to low employee retention rate.
According to (Mignonac & Richebé, 2012) ,employees who communicate regularly with other
employees and management lessen the risk of creating a workforce that unappreciated and
undervalued. This is one of the factors that results to many people quitting their job to look for
employment in other organizations. Employees should be informed about organizational
changes, promotional and reward criteria, staffing plans and the changing business
environment(Werner, & DeSimone, 2009). Employees need also to feel appreciated by
being rewarded for good performance. This will result to job satisfaction and hence high
retention rate.

Employees also change jobs or organizations in order to fulfill their personal goals and
objectives(Niehaus, Price,2011). All employees have plans and desires. Once they realize that
the current organization does not sustained their growth and development objectives, they decide
to leave and find another job elsewhere. Organizations should align the personal goals of their
employees with those of the organization so that they can be able to retain employees for long.
Failure to maintain a healthy work-life balance also contributes to employees leaving an
organization within a short period of time. All employees need to manage their time so that they
can have enough time to focus on career and also have adequate time to live their personal lives.
Organizations should not allocate an employee so many tasks and responsibility to the extent that
they are unable to balance their work and personal life (Chipunza, & Samuel, 2009)
Organization of the study
This research project is organized in such a manner that the intended audience will be able to
read and understand the content without much effort. The report is organized systematically in
chapters from the introduction of the title ,then statements of the problem . the research methods
and the literature review follow each other systematically and logically. The paper contains a
well researched and detailed literature review with authentic references from different sources of
secondary data. The research methods used in this paper is qualitative research methods and it
uses both primary and secondary data. The paper also contains a detailed budget estimate and a
time schedule that guides the researcher throughout the study.The following are the chapters that
make up this research proposal report:
Chapter One: Title and Introduction to the research subject
Chapter Two: Research Questions and Justification of the study

Chapter Three: Research methods and Methodology
Chapter Four: Literature review
Chapter five: Analysis and discussion of research findings.
Summary of the research project.
Time schedule
Activity Start Date Duration(Days) End Date
Identifying research
subject
24/8/2017 12 4/9/2017
Formulation of
research questions and
setting research
objectives
5/9/2017 2 6/9/2017
Identification and
formulation of
research design and
strategy
6/9/2017 7 12/9/2017
Preparation of
research proposal
12/9/2017 14 26/9/2017

Review of past
literature
26/9/2017 21 16/10/2017
Collection of primary
data
16/10/2017 30 15/11/2017
Analysis of data 15/11/2017 15 30/11/2017
Preparation and
submission of final
report
30/11/2017 7 6/7/2017
Projected budget for the research
Research Budget is the financial estimate of the amount of money that will be required to carry
out the study successfully. A well planned budget is required in order to help conclude the
research on time and to achieve the objectives of the research. The total budgetary requirement
for this study is $7,600. The following is the breakdown of the budget:
Item/Purpose Amount($)
Wages for research assistants 1900
Purchase of electronic research materials 900
Payment for libraries and other sources of 400

literature
Traveling cost 1450
Lunch allowance for respondents 2300
Printing and consultancy 800
Total $7,750
For the research to be conducted successfully, it is important to hire a research assistant who is
familiar with the subject and who will help in dealing with the bully data collected. The research
assistant will be paid for the entire period of the research. Electronic sources of literature will
also be needed for this research and will cost a substantial amount of money. The study also
requires a budget for paying for other sources of literature required during the study (Mignonac
& Richebé, 2012). The respondents used in the study will be given remuneration in form of
lunch because the interviews are expected to consume a substantial amount of their time.
Printing, consultancy and traveling are also important for the study to be carried out successfully
and on time.
Summary
The literature review conducted has given important insight into the topic of study. This has
helped in identification of gasps in the research which can be filled in this study. The report
contains a clearly stated problem of the statement and the research questions are well designed to
guide the researcher in conducting the study. The research uses qualitative research methods.

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