Analyzing Employee Retention Strategies: A Case Study on Boots UK

This report examines employee retention strategies, focusing on a case study of Boots UK. It begins with an abstract and table of contents, followed by an introduction outlining the report's aim, objectives, and research questions. The justification highlights the importance of employee retention in optimizing resource utilization and mitigating employee turnover. A literature review explores the concept of employee retention, its benefits, and its relationship with business performance, referencing academic models like Herzberg's motivation-hygiene theory. The report identifies various employee retention strategies, including flexibility, training, and employee engagement. The research methodology section explains the interpretivism philosophy and the inductive approach. The report aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of employee retention and its practical application within the context of Boots UK, offering insights for organizations seeking to retain talented employees and improve business performance. The report also covers the research methodology that includes the use of interpretivism philosophy to analyze information based on individual viewpoints, which further leads towards better generation of results. The report concludes with a discussion on the importance of employee retention, along with the associated benefits and its relationship with the overall business performance, and the ways for employee retention that can be used by Boots UK.

Research
Methodologies
Research Proposal
“To analyse different strategies of
employee retention to retain talented
employees in organisations. A case
study on Boots UK.”
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Abstract
Employee retention is a very crucial concept for organisations in order to maintain the overall
productivity and profitability n long run. With changing times there is need to develop some
effective employee retention strategies so that there can be optimum utilisations of resources.
Further present report is based on analysing the way effective strategies can be formulated to
analyse the relationship between employee retention and higher business performance. There are
many effective strategies that could be used by organisation based on academic models of
employee retention. In which herzberg motivation factors are one of the most practically suitable
frameworks that could be easily implemented in organisations. Apart from this one of the
important befits from having effective employee retention strategy is that it leads towards
achievement of required competitive advantage.
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Table of Contents
Abstract............................................................................................................................................2
Aim: To analyse different strategies of employee retention to retain talented employees in
organisations. A case study on Boots UK........................................................................................4
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Question:..........................................................................................................................................4
Justification of research topic:.........................................................................................................5
Literature review..............................................................................................................................5
Research methodology.....................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13
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Introduction
The aim of the report is to identify different ways that can assist in retaining of talented
employees at the workplace for a longer duration of time. Employee retention is basically a
concept where different policies and practices are used by the human resource department so that
employees can be retained for a longer time period. Boots UK is a British health and beauty
retailer pharmacy chain that is having presence in United Kingdom and other different countries
that includes Itlay, Norway, Netherlands, Thailand and Ireland. Present report is based on
making an analysis of the concept of employee retention. Further, there is an analysis of the ways
these strategies can be used by organisations (Nayak and Singh, 2021). For which various
associated benefits of employee retention and its relationship with the over or performance of
business is analysed. There is application of various research methods and research design
approaches in order to develop a scenario. Further there is time scale prepared to ensure that the
research is timely completed. Information there is analysis in order to reach to relevant
conclusions.
Aim: “To identify the ways for retaining talented employees at workplace”. A study on Boots
UK
Objectives:
 To develop basic understanding regarding employee retention in context of Boots UK.
 To determine benefits of employee retention in improvement of business performance of
Boots UK.
 To examine the ways for employee retention at workplace of Boots UK.
Question:
1. What do you understand by the concept of employee retention?
2. What are the associated benefits with employee retention and its relation with the overall
business performance at Boots UK?
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3. What are some of the ways of employee retention that can be used by Boots UK?
Justification of research topic:
In every organisation there is investment of resources so that there can be orientation and
training that is provided to a newly hired employee. In many instances employees are willing to
leave the organisation because of constant friction or frustration instances. In order to deal with
these instances there is need to focus on employee retention strategies (Kumar and Mathimaran,
2017). Especially in situations when employees are facing high amount of dissatisfaction. There
arises a need to evaluate the way employees can be retained and overall resource utilisation can
be optimised. Present report is based on developing a basic understanding of the employee
retention. It is going to assist the organisations to understand the different strategies that can be
used to retain the employees for a longer time period. This research topic is selected to analyse
the different ways that can be adopted by Boots UK to ensure long run survival of their
competent employees.
Literature review
Concept of employee retention
According to the view point of Stutner (2021), Employee retention is regarded as efforts that is
made by business organisations for the purpose of maintain a working environment that can
support the present workforce in remaining with the organisation. Employee retention is
basically an organisation tool of keeping their talented employees. The main objective of
employee’s retention is to manage the overall employee turnover. The focus is to foster a
positive working atmosphere for promoting engagement and working towards employee
appreciation. Organisations are working towards retaining of employees as a part of their human
resource strategy so that they are able to recruit engage and develop a competent workforce. In
context to Boots, UK organisations are focusing on using of systematic recognition and
rewarding strategies so that they are able to value employees (Khalid and Nawab, 2018). In the
present scenario employee engagement software’s are also used as techniques. It is used for
recognising the competent employees and providing them rewards per according to such
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requirements. Employees are working towards differentiating the different employees based on
the contribution to the organisation. It is done in terms of competent or non competent
employees. In relation with boots UK the human resource managers are working to ensure that
there is a proper balance between the present contribution of employee and their overall level of
competence. Employee retention is very important because high rate of employee turnover
results into harming the ability of organisation to achieve their lead mission and vision. It leads
to non achievement of the competitive advantage. There is reduction in the overall productivity.
Associated benefits with employee retention and its relation with the overall business
performance
As per Peterson (2019), employee retention strategies are very important as it lead to a positive
impact on the overall business performance. There are many reasons that are depicting a direct
relationship between employee retention and higher business performance. Such as when there is
proper employee retention it leads to low employee turnover that contribute towards saving of
cost. When there is optimum utilisation of resources then it creates a scenario for higher
productivity of organisation as a whole. Employee retention in organisation leads to promotion
of success. In Boots UK, while there will be hiring of quality employees it will lead towards
better quality of products and services that have to be offered to the target segment of customers
(Clayton, 2018). While analysing the way employees are contributing towards our organisation
functioning. It is always observed that veteran employees are adding higher value to the present
level of functioning. The existing employees who have been associated with the organisation for
the long run have a proper experience the way organisations functions are taking place. It is very
helpful in enhancing the flexibility and coordination amongst the whole workforce. Experienced
and competent employees were a real value for the organisation.
Academic model of employee retention:
Herzberg motivation hygiene theory:
The motivation hygiene theory is used for describing the two main factors that can help
organisation in sustaining their workforce for long run.
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Motivators: motivating factors consist of recognition for achievement, challenges, being part of
the decision making and ability to associate with personal growth and development. All such
factors are positively associated with the organisation.
Hygiene factors: It includes different maintenance factors such as benefits, salary, job security,
status that are part of individual employee.
High hygiene & high motivation: In this the employee are having less complaints and high levels
of motivation. In Boots UK employers have to ensure that employees are part of this aspect
where they are having higher motivation level.
High hygiene and low motivation: In this employees are having fewer complaints but they are
not highly motivated. In this they are doing job just to get high pay.
Low hygiene and high motivation: In this highly motivated employees may have some
complaints. They may like the work but the challenges may be sub optimal.
Low motivation & low hygiene: in this non motivated employees may have large number of
complaints of working environment. This situation must be avoided in the organisation in order
to maintain the employee satisfaction level and retain them for longer time period (How to Reduce
Employee Turnover? 3 Academic Models to Learn and Steal From, 2019).
Examine the ways for employee retention at workplace
As per views of whittenberger (2017), effective employee retention strategies are very important
for the purpose of retaining best talent in organisation. There are some of the effective strategies
that can be used in the organisation for the purpose of retaining competent employees. With
instance to boots UK, there can be use of flexibility and training strategy so that employees get
opportunity to enhance their present level of skills (Khandelwal and Shekhawat, 2018).
Tracking retention is one such strategy where managers must properly prepare a graph to
analyse the trend of employees giving the organisation. It is a way of assisting the employee
thinking with regards to the way them organisation is functioning. Another strategy is hiring
right employee for the right position. Many times employees are willing to leave the organisation
because there is a mismatch between the specific requirements of a job profile and the present
skill level of a prospective employee. For this human resource managers have to prepare a proper
person specification and job description while they are working towards recruitment and
selection strategies. In 2017 with the alliances formed by boots UK there has been focus on use
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of employee engagement strategy that has resulted into boosting of the financial results and the
overall business performance. It is one of the benefits that has resulted into reduction in sick
absence, higher sales involvement, increasing productivity from sales and better customer
satisfaction in the organisation (Walgreens Boots Alliance: Transforming engagement, 2021).
In Boots UK, being a part of health and beauty industry, there is a need to understand the specific
skill requirements to perform some specific job roles. Employees must also be offered a part for
greater recognition and responsibility according to their level of contribution. It is a way to keep
a satisfied workforce that is motivated at the same time. This leads to generation of competitive
spirit among the workforce as they are willing to improve their present level of contribution.
Management can also look for different ways to enhance the present flexibility of working
conditions (Quits Are Up: 7 Employee Retention Strategies Your Company Must Have, 2020).
Research methodology
Research methodology is used for the purpose of analysing different methods that are being
used in the present research. It is based on using various measures that have been used by the
researcher in order to analyse the set aims and objectives with reference to selected research title.
Research philosophy: Research philosophy is regarded as a set of belief that is related with the
nature of reality that is being invested in a particular research report. There are mainly two types
of research philosophies that are part of every research work it may be positivism or
interpretivism. Positivism and interpretivism are the part of Epistemological positions that are
used by a researcher. Positivism is related to aligning with the methods of natural sciences. It is
associated with the objective logical reasoning. Interpretivism is related with studies that possess
grey areas like society (Kumar, 2018). It is associated with the understanding of an individual is
feeling or behaving in a particular situation.
Justification: In present research report there will be use of Interpretivisom philosophy.
Reason for using this philosophy is to analyse that the information based on individual view
points. It is also related to the way information is collected in a more valuable manner, it further
leads towards better generation of results.
Research approach: Research approach is regarded as the second layer of research onion. There
are two types of research approaches that is deductive approach and inductive approach.
Deductive approach is used for developing a hypothesis based on a pre-existing Theory. In this
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there is formulation of research approach to for the test it (Bairagi, and Munot, 2019). It is
generally used while using a positivist approach that is formulation of hypothesis.
Inductive approach is used for creation of theory rather than using a pre-existing Theory.
Inductive approach there is movement from specific to general. In this there is initially
information of data collection and there is formation of theory after it has been collected.
Justification: In context of present research work there will be used of deductive approach
The main reason for using deductive approach is that it can be used with the qualitative research
techniques. Deductive approach is also very helpful in developing understanding of observation
by comparing different understanding of viewpoints through empirical data.
Research strategy: Research strategy is used to describing the way researcher intended to carry
the work. It includes different approaches that are action research, interviews, case study
research, experimental research, survey for a systematic literature review (Clarke, and Visser,
2019). According to the suitability each method is selected in the course of a particular research
work. In present research work there will be use of literature reviews one of the strategies of
research onion. In this there will be use of online available information from the existing sources
to gather necessary information relevant from the point of research.
Justification: In the present research work there will be use of systematic literature review in
order to analyse the existing information. There is collection of different viewpoints of other
based on which further analysis are done. It is selected as per the research topic that is analysing
the relationship between employee retention and business performance. (Devi, 2017). This is one
of the suitable strategies according to be used research approach according to use of deductive
analysis.
Research choice: This is the fourth onion layer that is related to the type of method to be used in
a particular research work. This method can be of mono, mixed or multi method. Mono method
is where there is investigation of the opinion by use of particular one method only. In mixed
method there is use of both qualitative and quantitative terms. In multi-method approach there is
use of different range of approaches and there is more than just one quantitative and one
qualitative approach that is used by researcher.
Justification: In the present research work there is use of mixed method. In this there will be use
of both qualitative and quantitative techniques for the purpose of analysing the information
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(Alase, 2017). The topic of the research is related with employee retention and for which there is
suitability of mixed method is appropriate.
Justification: In the present research report there will be collection of data by use of cross
sectional time horizon as a method. This method is selected at a particular point of time. In this
there is use of methods like quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods.
Data collection and analysis:
Primary method: Primary data collection method is where there is a collection of RAW type of
information that is obtained directly from the use of first hand source. This method is generally
obtained by use of surveys experiments observations. This method is further classified into two
major types’ that is quantitative data collection methods and qualitative data collection methods.
Qualitative data collection method: In this there is no use of any type of mathematical or
numerical calculation (Malhotra, Nunan and Birks, 2017). It is a method that is associated with
elements that are quantifiable. Quantifiable data collection methods include questionnaires,
observations, cases and interviews.
Quantitative data collection method: It is a method where there is use of mathematical
calculations based on close ended questions. There is application of regression methods that
include mean median and mode measures. It is sometimes more cost effective as compared to
qualitative data collection and is also having less time requirement.
Justification: In present research report there is use of qualitative data collection method. In
which there is use of questionnaire. The research topic is related to analysing the way employee
retention can contribute towards high performing organisation. For this there is requirement to
analyse the viewpoints of present workforce. So, there is use of questionnaire in which a specific
set of questions will be prepared to analyse the viewpoints of respondents.
Secondary method: Secondary data collection method is used when there is use of existing data
and is not collected by the researcher. In this method there is use of information that already
exists (de Bruin and van Merriënboer, 2017). It includes books newspaper magazines or journal.
There is use of existing data in form of Government publications, business documents, public
records and trade journals, technical journals for historical and statistical documents.
Justification: In the present research report there is use of secondary data method for the
purpose of analysing various viewpoints of writers and authors related with the research topic.
There is use of literature review as a secondary data collection method where data is collected
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from online articles (Faulkner and Faulkner, 2018). Secondary method will assist the researcher
in analysing the way boots UK can focus on using of different employee retention strategies.
Sample size: Sampling is basically a method that is adopted by a researcher for the purpose of
selecting a particular sample size from the whole target population. There is always a large
population area and it is not possible to analyse the viewpoint of each respondent because of the
limited time period. So, in the circumstances there is selection of a sample size this process is
regarded as sampling. In the present scenario there is use of a sample size of 40 respondents. In
this there is use of qualitative form of information from the respondents where the options will
be provided to them according to their preferences.
Sampling techniques: There are different types of sampling techniques that can be used by a
researcher according to the suitability. It includes probability sampling and non probability
sampling. In probability sampling there is use of randomisation to ensure that each element of
population gets a chance to be part of sample.
In non probability sampling there is no use of randomisation. In this technique there is use of
researcher’s ability for the purpose of selecting different elements of a sample. This type of
sampling process is regarded as non random sampling.
In present research work there is use of random sampling where there is selection of simple
random sampling method by the researcher (Pajo, 2017). In this every element has an equal
chance of getting selected to be a part of the overall investigation area for the research work.
This method is completely appropriate according to the laid aim that is to analyse the
relationship between the present employee retention techniques and the overall profitability of
organisation.
Analysis of data:
Analysis based on literature review: According to the above discussed various aspects it is
analysed that Herzberg motivation hygiene theory is one of the most suitable theories that can
be applied in course of rating of employees for longer time period. Another major advantage for
effective employee retention strategy is that it assists organisation in retaining the workforce for
a longer time period. It leads towards development of an edge to sustain in market as compared
to other major competitors in the external dynamic environment.
Gantt chart:
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Gantt chart is a commonly used tool by the researcher for the purpose of managing the projects
timeline. It is a tool where the left of the chart depicts the different activities list and the top is
used for measuring the time scale. In the present research report Gantt chart is used for the
purpose of dividing the whole time period according to different activities. It is related with the
different activities that have to be performed in the course of research work. According to the
laid aims and objectives different activities will be completed as per the chart mentioned below:
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Ethical issues:
Ethical issues are very common in case of a research work. It is the duty and responsibility of the
researcher to analyse such issues in advance so that effective measures can be developed to
overcome them. In case of present research work there is requirement to minimise the risk of
research to the participants. Another risk is protecting of individuals who are members of the
whole team. The main issues may arise because of vulnerability to coercion or undue influence
that is related with providing informed consent. Apart from this researcher has to ensure that all
the respondents are properly informed. There is adequate disclosure related to the way
information will be applied has to be done in advance. The participation of all the respondents
has to be voluntary and there has to be no use of any type of force full attitude.
Limitation of research:
Limitations in a research work may arise because of no proper selection of research methodology
There can be issues related to sampling method for sample biasness on part of researcher. There
are also issues of insufficient sample size that may lead to no proper statistical measurement. No
proper cooperation on part of the respondents that is employees working in Boots UK. It is also a
research limitation that can affect the quality of research. Resource constraint is one of the issues
that is arising because of the limited availability of time period in which all the aspects of the
research has to be completed. The application of qualitative method may result into more
requirements of resources.
Validity and reliability: The overall information and the whole research report is reliable as the
information is being collected from the authentic sources. Apart from this all the data will be
based on the view points of respondents that will be complete reliable. So both the collection of
primary and secondary form of information is valid and is reliable in the course of present
research work.
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CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from above mentioned aspects that the overall information that
employee retention is one of the most difficult activities in organisation especially in the
changing dynamic environment. It is very important for organisations to use specific frameworks
and strategies that can assist them in retaining of their competent and qualified individuals in
long run.
REFERENCES
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Clarke, E. and Visser, J., 2019. Pragmatic research methodology in education: possibilities and
pitfalls. International Journal of Research & Method in Education, 42(5), pp.455-469.
de Bruin, A.B. and van Merriënboer, J.J., 2017. Bridging cognitive load and self-regulated
learning research: A complementary approach to contemporary issues in educational
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Devi, P.S., 2017. Research methodology: A handbook for beginners. Notion Press.
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approach. Oxford University Press.
Hung, H.T., 2017. Design-based research: Redesign of an English language course using a
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Kumar, R., 2018. Research methodology: A step-by-step guide for beginners. Sage.
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Nayak, J.K. and Singh, P., 2021. Fundamentals of Research Methodology Problems and
Prospects. SSDN Publishers & Distributors.
Pajo, B., 2017. Introduction to research methods: a hands-on approach. Sage publications.
Kumar, A.A. and Mathimaran, K.B., 2017. Employee Retention Strategies –An Empirical
Research. Global Journal of Management and Business Research.
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Clayton, R., 2018. Effective strategies to reduce employee turnover in the retail industry.
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How to Reduce Employee Turnover? 3 Academic Models to Learn and Steal From, 2019[ONLINE],
Available through<https://www.zenefits.com/workest/how-to-reduce-employee-turnover-3-
academic-models/>
Walgreens Boots Alliance: Transforming engagement, 2021 [online], available
through<https://engageemployee.com/the-walgreens-boots-alliance-transforming-engagement/>
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