Henley Business School Dissertation: Leadership & Millennial Retention

This dissertation investigates the crucial role of leadership in retaining millennial employees within the South African retail sector. The study begins by establishing the context, scope, research questions, and objectives, focusing on the unique characteristics of millennial employees and their differences from previous generations. A comprehensive literature review explores leadership styles, retention management, and the link between the two, highlighting the need for adaptable leadership approaches. The research employs a mixed-methods approach, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative data collection through surveys, analyzing demographic data, and examining the impact of leadership on organizational attractiveness, strategic communication, and workplace satisfaction. The findings reveal the importance of understanding millennial employee preferences, identifying effective leadership strategies for improved retention. The dissertation concludes with key insights, recommendations for retail organizations, and personal reflections on the study's value and future development plans. The research aims to provide insights for business aspirants to analyze the situation and characteristics of their employees so that the business personal would have a better scope at employee retention and employee management.

Running head: DISSERTATION
The Role of Leadership on the Retention of Millennial Employees in the South African
Retail Sector
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Note of the Author

DISSERTATION
Acknowledgement
I thank the almighty God for giving me the grace and strength throughout the study. My
sincere gratitude goes to my supervisor ______________________ for the positive criticism
from the choice of topic to completion of the study and her dedication to making these
projects a success.
Special thanks to my family members and friends for their support and encouragement
throughout the study.
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DISSERTATION
Abstract
The role of leadership in detaining the many employees in the South African retail sector
forms the crux of this dissertation. The latest involvement of the millennial employees for the
younger generation within the organisation ranging from the age of 18 to 25 is regarded as
the millennial employees. These are much different from the employees at work in the retail
organisation from the previous generations and there display a lot of different characteristics,
like being extremely intelligent to technology and being distinctly impulsive in nature. They
are reportedly far more different to handle than the existing employees within the
organisation who are working from the previous generations. The high rate of organisations
not being able to retain the millennial employees is the primary issue that the research wanted
to look forward to. This is why the leadership style in practice has been analysed with
theoretical approach and at the same time primary data has been collected from the millennial
employees who are already working in the organisations that belong to the Retail Industry in
South Africa. Based on both these qualitative and quantitative data the final discussion has
been formed such that it becomes easier to understand that if the previous theoretical
leadership styles that used to motivate the previous generation is still applicable for if it is in
need for some modification for making the millennial employees be motivated enough to
continue their tenure within an organisation for a long period of time. This research is
conducted to understand the mentality and the motivation factor of these employees to
understand why do or why do not they want to stay within an organisation. With this research
in future it would be e easier for or business aspirants to analyse the situation and
characteristics of their employees so that the business personal would have a better scope at
employee retention and employee management.
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction..............................................................................................................6
1.1 Context.............................................................................................................................6
1.2 Scope................................................................................................................................7
1.3 Identification of Research Question and Objectives........................................................8
1.3.1. Research Objectives..................................................................................................8
1.3.2. Research Questions...................................................................................................8
1.4 Personal Objectives for the Investigation.........................................................................9
1.5 Structure and Overall Report Overview...........................................................................9
Chapter 2: Literature Review...................................................................................................10
2.1. Introduction...................................................................................................................10
2.2. Leadership.....................................................................................................................12
2.2.1. Definition................................................................................................................12
2.2.2. Distinction between Leadership and Management.................................................12
2.2.3. Leadership Styles....................................................................................................13
2.2.4. Role of Leaders in employee management.............................................................14
2.3. Retention Management..................................................................................................15
2.4. Link between Leadership and Retention.......................................................................18
2.5. Weaknesses- Limitations...............................................................................................23
2.6. Conclusion.....................................................................................................................23
Chapter 3: Research Methodology...........................................................................................24
3.1. Introduction...................................................................................................................24
3.2. Research Approach and Justification............................................................................24
3.3. Qualitative Research Questions.....................................................................................25
3.4. Research Design............................................................................................................25
3.5. Sample and Sampling Method.......................................................................................26
3.6. Research Procedure.......................................................................................................27
3.7. Data Analysis and Interpretation...................................................................................28
3.8. Limitations of this Study...............................................................................................29
3.9. Conclusion.....................................................................................................................29
Chapter 4: Data analysis...........................................................................................................30
4.1. Introduction...................................................................................................................30
4.2. Empirical Data Analysis................................................................................................30
4.2.1. Analysis of Demographics......................................................................................30
4.2.2. Analysis of Survey Questionnaire..........................................................................32
4.3. Conclusion.....................................................................................................................44
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Chapter 5: Analysis of Theory and Findings...........................................................................45
5.1. Introduction...................................................................................................................45
5.2. Leadership Style............................................................................................................45
5.3. Leadership Impact on Organizational Attractiveness....................................................46
5.4. Strategic Leadership Communication and its Impacts..................................................46
5.5. Workplace Satisfaction..................................................................................................46
5.6. Conclusion.....................................................................................................................46
Chapter 6: Conclusion and Recommendations........................................................................47
6.1. Introduction...................................................................................................................47
6.2. Key Conclusions............................................................................................................47
6.3. Recommendations.........................................................................................................49
6.4. Limitations.....................................................................................................................50
6.5. Conclusion.....................................................................................................................50
Chapter 7: Personal Reflection.................................................................................................50
7.1. Introduction...................................................................................................................50
7.2. Key Learnings...............................................................................................................50
7.3. Value of the Study.........................................................................................................51
7.4. Future Development Plans............................................................................................51
7.5. Concluding Remarks.....................................................................................................52
Reference..................................................................................................................................53
Appendix..................................................................................................................................62
Survey Questionnaire...........................................................................................................62
Table of Tables
Table 1: Gender Demographic.................................................................................................30
Table 2: Age Demographic......................................................................................................31
Table 3: Question 1.a...............................................................................................................32
Table 4: Question 1.b...............................................................................................................33
Table 5: Question 1.c...............................................................................................................34
Table 6: Question 1.d...............................................................................................................34
Table 7: Question 1.e...............................................................................................................35
Table 8: Question 2.a...............................................................................................................36
Table 9: Question 2.b...............................................................................................................37
Table 10: Question 2.c.............................................................................................................38
Table 11: Question 2.d.............................................................................................................38
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Table 12: Question 2.e.............................................................................................................39
Table 13: Question 3................................................................................................................40
Table 14: Question 4................................................................................................................41
Table 15: Question 5................................................................................................................41
Table 16: Question 6................................................................................................................42
Table 17: Question 7................................................................................................................43
Table of Figures
Figure 1: Gender Demographic................................................................................................31
Figure 2: Age Demographic.....................................................................................................31
Figure 3: Question 1.a..............................................................................................................32
Figure 4: Question 1.b..............................................................................................................33
Figure 5: Question 1.c..............................................................................................................34
Figure 6: Question 1.d..............................................................................................................35
Figure 7: Question 1.e..............................................................................................................35
Figure 8: Question 2.a..............................................................................................................36
Figure 9: Question 2.b.............................................................................................................37
Figure 10: Question 2.c............................................................................................................38
Figure 11: Question 2.d............................................................................................................38
Figure 12: Question 2.e............................................................................................................39
Figure 13: Question 3...............................................................................................................40
Figure 14: Question 4...............................................................................................................41
Figure 15: Question 5...............................................................................................................42
Figure 16: Question 6...............................................................................................................43
Figure 17: Question 7...............................................................................................................44
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Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Context
The thesis is primarily developed to determine ‘The Role of Leadership in Retaining
the Millennial Employees in the Retail Sector of South Africa’. While conducting the
research the focus is to detect what kind of leadership style proves to be the moderately
appropriate for the set of millennial employees working at the retail sectors in South Africa. It
is thus necessary to understand the concept of “millennial employees” and how it differs from
the employees working in retail organizations in the previous generation. Millennial
employees possess certain specialised attributes in their behaviour which distinctly separates
them from the set of employees working before them since the previous times (Bushardt,
Young & Bari, 2018). The primary characteristics of their behaviour is that they extremely
inclined to the technology and prefer performing most of their activities with the utilization of
the digital devices (Wright, Haug & Huckabee, 2019). They are a curious generation of
employees consisting of young people who are reported to be seen from a different
perspective of a leader’s eye for being apparently different from the other employees (Myoli,
2017). While they are found to be always excited for learning new skills, they are often found
to be rebuked by the older generation about having unrealistic visions about the real world
(Nichols, 2019). They are often found to be extremely impulsive as decision makers and the
leaders in an organization need to have a different approach to try and retain the millennial
employees as they are vulnerable to their motivation levels. Hence, the leaders of the
organizations should implement strategies that will help in gaining satisfaction of the
millennial employees about working within and organization to help in retaining them.
Thus, these millennial employees would require a different approach in the
application of leadership styles in order to satisfy them with the retention strategies applied so
that they might not impulsively quit working for the organization causing loss of resources
(Sweeney, 2018). The South African retail sector should thus incorporate suitable
characteristics in their leaders such that both the millennial employees as well as the leaders
of the organization can meet their satisfactory criterion accordingly (Hendriyani & Chan,
2018). According to the past researches, before the Millennial generation were infiltrated in
the workplace, there were the Baby Boomer generation, which are reported to be extremely
hardworking and motivated set of employees (Miyonga, Namusonge & Sakwa, 2018). As per
the reports, they are driven by their urge to satisfy the employees and often found to
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overwork at several occasions. This generation was self-motivated and do not require to be
led by different developed approaches of leadership (Mekraz & Gundala, 2016). They are
immensely loyal to the organizations that they work in. However, the millennial employees
are mainly attracted to usage of technology and they are more inclined to reduce their efforts
with the use of technology (Popli & Rizvi, 2016). They happen to value social causes and
often find themselves aligned with different professional and personal goals (Ramadan et al.,
2017). Therefore, it is implied that in order to make these millennial employees keep on
working in the organization, leadership styles should be researched into for finding out the
best one that would motivate these employees be retained (Andriyani et al., 2017). Thus, it is
the role of the leaders to determine strategies that will help in retaining the millennial
employees of South African retail sectors.
1.2 Scope
After the conduction of the study, the review of the millennial employees about their
expectations about the leadership from the leaders in the organization in retail sectors of
South Africa are attained and determined how the leaders of the retail sectors can implement
different strategies in retaining such employees. The target group for the sample will be the
Millennial Employees of the present generation who are currently working in the retail
organizations in the South African market. The sample size will be composed of 150
Millennial Employees from South Africa who would be provided with a survey questionnaire
capturing their perception about the leadership in the organization and their motivation factor.
They will be circulated a survey questionnaire that will be comprised of close-ended
questions to be answered by the millennial employees. The analysis will be performed with
the help of the SPSS software and data derived from the sample and the hypothesis will be
framed before the tests are conducted in the analysis.
The research study will help to detect the reasons that will help in holding back the
employees within the retail organizations, with special focus on the retail industry of South
Africa. The organizations can thus rely on this research findings to improve their leadership
styles in order to retain the number of millennial employees that they are hiring and be able to
maintain their resources. It will be helpful for the organizations in the retail industry to
become aware of the perspective of the employees and their specifications. Thus, they can
apply efficient strategies to be implemented in employee management and leadership to gain
proper employee satisfaction. The retail organizations would be benefitted by this research if
they are successful in finding the appropriate leading style to have the new generation
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employees in the organization always motivated enough to work for the organization (Asghar
& Oino, 2017). They can improve ways in dealing with their employees and acquire the loyal
millennials who would continue working for the organization, provide those services
according to the business needs and thus increase the business arena.
1.3 Identification of Research Question and Objectives
The paper will conduct mixed research method that is both qualitative as well as
quantitative methods of research to understand the leadership role in retaining Millennial
Employees at the South African Retail Sector. The empirical literature will review the factors
that will help in retaining the loyal millennial employees and review the role of leadership
styles in attaining such employees. The research questions will be aligned with the objectives
of the study and will help to fill the gap in the literatures for further purposes.
The primary research question in this regard would be as the following:
“What is the current role of leadership that impacts in retaining the millennial
employees within the retail organizations in South Africa?”
1.3.1. Research Objectives
In specific the researcher will consider below objectives:
 To have an idea about the demographics of the millennial employees working for the
retail industries in South Africa.
 To find out about the latest trends in the retail industry in South Africa.
 To understand the working trends in the millennial employees of South African retail
organizations.
 To find out the trends in the leadership styles that South African retail organizations
have been implying for motivating the millennial employees within the organizations.
 To clearly understand the leadership that is being adopted as the modern technologies
in the South African retail organizations and their impact on retaining the millennial
employees
1.3.2. Research Questions
 How the millennial employees of this generation differ in way of working habits than
the previous generations?
 How can the leadership style affect the way in which leadership in retail organizations
is conducted for millennial employees?
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 In what ways can the leadership style be improved to retain the Millennial employees
and increase their number?
 How can leadership style incorporate the needs of millennial employees as well as the
employees from the previous generation?
1.4 Personal Objectives for the Investigation
As a student of Management Studies, I had always been interested in acquiring an in-
depth understanding about the competitive market in the retail industry and the different
types of employees associated with the business. I aim to open my personal business venture
after I acquire my degree in Business Management. Becoming an entrepreneur requires
efficient management skills and a thorough idea about the leadership styles in order to ensure
both employee as well as employee satisfaction. Hence, I chose this dissertation as a medium
to gain a perspective about the generation gap in the employees, the difference in their
choices as well as their way of interaction with the other organizational members that will
help me to deal with them while I conduct my own business. If I can understand the specific
needs of the millennial employees, I can choose my area of business easily and take further
measures accordingly.
Firstly, this particular study will be helpful to recognise the characteristic features of
the millennial members and understand how they differs from the employees of the earlier
generations. This will help me to implement different leadership strategies to keep them
motivated enough to work for a long time in the organization amongst the varied employees
of the South African countries, retaining the human resource investments. Secondly, I can set
up unique employee relationship services that will help me retain the millennial employees
and build a substantial goodwill of my company in the market. This research will also help
me to understand the variations amongst the different leadership styles and incorporate the
most suitable one for my employees who will in turn provide appropriate leadership to the
employees and make my business successful in the market by making them motivated
enough and retain them. Thus, I am highly interested in conducting this research and analyse
the outcomes before starting my own retail business.
1.5 Structure and Overall Report Overview
The organization of the study with respect to this particular research is as follows:
Chapter 1 comprises of five sections. The first section of the chapter comprises of the
Context that discusses the background of the millennial employees and the role of leaders in
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managing them in the retail sectors of South Africa. The scope of the study is discussed in
details along with the research sample in the second part. The third portion comprises of the
research aim and questions based on it. The fourth section discusses the personal interest of
the author behind this research and the fifth discusses the organization of the study.
Chapter 2 incorporates the wide range of reviews of different literatures across the
world. The first section introduces the topics of discussions. The later sections of the chapter
discuss the topics of leadership styles, employee retention factors and the link between the
two in the organizations of the retail sector. The aim of this chapter is to find the gaps in the
existing literatures and research on the same for future work.
Chapter 3 highlights the methods of research that is being conducted in the field to
understand the demographic statistics of the sample. The research approach and design are
discussed in detail and in the end, the limitations of the research methods are also discussed
to represent clarity in the process of research. Both qualitative and quantitative research
methods were incorporated thus following a mixed design approach for the investigation.
Chapter 4 comprises of the data analysis of the fieldwork with the help of the SPSS
software in the quantitative research methodology. Different charts and graphs are generated
for a thorough understanding of the analysis. A report is also generated in the chapter for
each section of the analysis to detect the results in a detailed manner.
Chapter 5 is based on the key findings from the analysis that is conducted in the
chapter 4. This chapter derives the results from the analysis and discusses them to fill the
gaps that is incorporated in chapter 2. Hence, based on each topic of analysis, the key
findings are discussed in detail for a better understanding of the employee retention
procedures in a leadership role.
Chapter 6 is the Conclusion of the findings from the study that is aligned with the
research objectives and procedures. Recommendations are also suggested in this chapter
based on the analysis and its respective derivations from the study. Chapter 7 highlights the
personal note of the author and how this research will help him in his management career.
Chapter 2: Literature Review
2.1. Introduction
According to Ramanathan et al., (2017), similar to the employees, employees are also
one of the most important assets of an organization. The purpose of an organization to run its
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business successfully besides making monetary profit, is to provide efficient services and
optimum quality of products to its buyers. Lillard and Al-Suqri (2019) points out that, if the
consumers of an organization does not validate the products and the services they receive
from an organization, it will become difficult for the owners to establish themselves
successfully in the market. Hence, it is the duty of an organization, to look into the
requirements of the employee specifications about a product and develop them accordingly.
As stated by Mokhtar and Yusr (2016), employees in an organization vary from each
other in different aspects in terms of choices, tastes, opinions, loyalty and so on. The
employees can be broadly classified into loyal and captive employees depending upon their
preference of using the products. Joseph (2016) states that, captive employees are the ones
who possess an experimental attitude while using the products of a certain brand and like to
try different products one after another. Based on their experience, they recommend products
to their known acquaintances. According to De Silva Kanakaratne (2018), these kind of
employees are helpful for the companies to spread awareness about the products without
spending any finance for their marketing. On the other hand, loyal employees are the ones
who do not like to experiment with the variety of products. As the name suggests, they
loyally stick to one kind of product they are using of a particular brand and keeps on using
the same.
As stated by Sondhi, Sharma and Kalla (2017), millennial employees are a perfect
blend of both captive and loyal employees who possess characteristics of both the types.
They are the ones who will be loyal to a product or a certain brand only if they are satisfied
with a product. According to Suvitsakdanon and Sornsaruht (2019), they mainly depend upon
the specifications that an organization promises to provide them and then they can choose to
be loyal to their brand instead of following them blindly. Helal, Ozuem and Lancaster (2018)
specifies that, one of the primary characteristics of the millennial employees is that they
prefer individuality in their choices. As stated by Stewart et al., (2017), they will not
compromise with the uniqueness of their choices and will expect the same from the
organization they are following. Now, the role of leaders in an organization is to identify the
requirements of the millennial employees and guide their staffs accordingly in order to
engage such employees for a longer time.
This chapter explores the views of different literatures that researches about the
leaders and their leading styles in the organization that helps in retaining employees by
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