Gold-collar employees are defined as key employees who have a discernible influence on the realisation of an organisation’s strategic goals and vision. These employees’ competitive advantage lies in their conceptual skills and specifically in their knowledge and creativity. However, because of their unique competencies, they are high in demand and it is more difficult for organisations to attract and retain them. The main research problem in this study was to investigate the concept of a gold-collar employee, the needs and expectations of these employees, as well as retention strategies that can be used to retain them, with specific focus on academics in an institution of higher education. To address the main and identified sub-problems, a literature study was conducted on gold-collar employees, the dilemma of retaining these employees, their needs and expectations and retention strategies. Interviews were conducted with selected senior level employees from various disciplines that had extensive experience in research, teaching and academic management, to establish how they perceived a gold-collar employee in the context of the university and what in their experience they considered as factors that enhanced the retention of these employees. An HTML survey questionnaire was administered to a target group of academics ranging from associate lecturer, lecturer, senior lecturer and associate professor to professor, including academic managers. The survey focused on their level of teaching and research experience, needs and expectations and their perceptions of the retention strategies used at the university. The results from the empirical study revealed that respondents were experienced in teaching development and practices, but not recognised on an internal, national and international level. Flexible working conditions were regarded as most important along with opportunities for self-fulfilment. Employees with more experience in teaching had a greater need and expectation for empowerment while those with more research experience needed and expected more remuneration, rewards and recognition. The respondents also deemed being located in a city or town that allowed for a high quality of living as important. Retention of highly skilled employees is important especially in a knowledge environment as they contribute strategically to the vision and competitive advantage of the organisation. Their skills and knowledge are costly and not easy to replace. Therefore it is important to put strategies in place to retain these gold-collar employees.

In the first chapter this thesis summarizes all different viewpoints of marketers and other experts in business concerning customer loyalty definition. The second chapter discusses a role customer loyalty plays in business of companies. By selecting appropriate definition of customer loyalty, the purpose of this thesis would be to describe all benefits associated with customer loyalty and suggest solution for their expression in economic terms. These topics are discussed in Chapter 3 and 4. In addition in Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 management of customer loyalty and its determinants will be introduced. By selecting those determinants, which are hidden behind customer motivations to purchase company's products or services, and by managing them, company is able to build customer loyalty and enjoy all associated benefits in a form of increased profitability of its business. Finally in the last chapter loyalty programs and their management are discussed, because they are often used as tools to encourage customer loyalty. All these findings are demonstrated in a case study of Palac Flora, a shopping mall in Prague, which introduced its loyalty program a couple of years ago. The final part of this thesis is devoted to conclusion and bibliography.

Thirty-four percent of people in the United States of America work for businesses that employ fewer than 100 people. However, many small business owners lack the strategies necessary to retain their valuable employees. Businesses that fail to retain valuable employees are as much as 28% less efficient. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies small construction business owners use to retain their valuable employees. Contingency theory provided the conceptual framework. The participants were three owners of three small businesses in the construction industry located in Mississippi which implemented successful policies and procedures to retain their employees. The data sources for this study were semistructured interviews, financial statements, newspaper articles, websites, and social media. A thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Three themes morphed to include challenging employees and reward them accordingly, mitigating unplanned turnover, and treating employees and others fairly. Potential implications for positive social change are that increased profits among small business owners may enable them to provide better benefits and pay and incentive increases to their employees. Small business owners with increased profits may also be better equipped to participate in community-based charitable organizations.

Most research in terms of reward focuses on the financial aspects. Little has been done to understand the value of non-financial rewards. The objective of this study is to determine if South African organisations are utilising nonfinancial rewards as a competitive advantage in attracting and retaining employees. A survey was developed and distributed to gather data regarding the preferences of organisations and individuals for financial versus non-financial rewards. The data was statistically analysed to determine the organisational value of both – with special attention on how organisations use non-financial rewards. As expected, organisations indicated a preference for financial rewards, but this preference was also strongly indicated by individuals. Given the cost effectiveness of non-financial rewards, and its long-term value, the study determines that there is still a place for such rewards within the broader context of the total reward approach. The cost and legislative implications associated with financial rewards makes non-financial rewards, if well positioned, an attractive option as a distinctive competitive advantage in attracting and retaining employees. In addition, it presents organisations with a certain level of fluidity in offering alternatives to employees and in dealing with profitability challenges. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Student retention in higher education has become a national problem. At a small midwestern university, the retention rate has been declining, and the freshman to sophomore retention rate was 64% in 2013. The purpose of this intrinsic case study was to investigate ways to improve student retention. Tinto's theory of integration was used to explore the students' and administrators' perceptions of the factors that contribute to poor student retention to graduation. This study analyzed 519 student exit-forms from 2012-2015, 6 semistructured interviews from a purposeful sample of 10 administrators, and an analysis of university archival data. A thematic analysis of the data was completed. The following themes emerged from the analysis: financial problems, academic concerns, and social concerns. Based on the research findings, a 3-day professional development workshop was developed for university administrators, faculty, and staff to help increase their knowledge of retention, reasons why students are not staying, and strategies to academically and socially integrate students into the campus community. The workshop included strategies and activities designed to increase student retention. This study provided administrators, faculty, and staff with strategies and resources to help increase student retention, which may lead to improved graduation rates and less time to graduate.

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between instructor interaction with students and retention in online classes in a rural community college classroom. The literature indicated that increased instructor/student interaction should lead to greater student satisfaction and retention in online instruction. The researcher operationalized interaction as announcements to the class, emails sent, amount of feedback given on assignments, and number of times the instructor logged into the course. Retention was measured by the number of students that successfully completed the class. Data were pulled from all online classes taught at Itawamba Community College during the fall 2013 semester. This data set included a total of 397 courses. Unique to this study was that all courses used standardized material that control for content delivery. This empirical study used a quantitative approach through a causal-comparative design. The statistics computed included descriptive statistics, Pearson’s product-moment correlation, and one-way ANOVA. In summary, the analysis did not support the research hypothesis in that there were no statistically significant differences in retention between the means of the instructors that met expected thresholds of the independent variables. Limitations in the current study may have influenced the outcome of the analysis and recommendations for further studies are discussed.

This study was conducted to examine the perceptions of Orange County high school teachers and administrators regarding selected school characteristics and their relationship to teacher retention. The study was based on another investigation conducted by the Charlotte Advocates of Education (2004) inquiring into the working conditions in schools and their impact on teacher retention. A total of 292 teachers with less than 4 years of experience and 14 administrators with more than 1 year of experience responded to 25 survey items related to the 6 factors comprising positive school characteristics. Factors such as School Facility, Resources, and Professional Development contributed positively to the school characteristics, and Collegial Environment, New Teacher Support, and Teacher Empowerment factors were present to a lesser degree. Administrators perceived, to a greater extent than did teachers, the presence of the six factors. For the most part, the perceptions of teachers regarding the six factors did not differ significantly based on sex, age, education, and ethnicity. Some differences between ethnic groups concerning Professional Development and New Teacher Support factors and some differences between age groups for Collegial Environment and Professional Development factors were determined. The presence of Professional Development and New Teacher Support was a good indicator of teachers' intention to stay in the teaching profession. One fourth of respondents (54, 25%) indicated interest in long-term teaching careers, and almost half of those surveyed wished to conclude their teaching careers within 5 (54, 25%) or 10 (43, 20%) years.

This descriptive study was designed to determine the extent to which selected self-reported practical and professional factors of teaching influenced teacher job satisfaction and retention within the K-12 public education system. The population of the study was 1321 certified teachers from a large Central Florida school district. The researcher developed the survey instrument based on the constructs of teaching known for motivating teachers to remain within the public school setting (Brunetti, 2001; Farkas, Johnson, & Folena, 2005). The researcher's survey was based on the studies of Perie (1997), Brunetti (2001), and Gary (2002). The researcher personally distributed 1321 surveys, respondent informed consent letters and instructions for completing the survey during faculty meetings in November and December 2005. Extra surveys were left at the schools for those who were unable to attend the faculty meetings. A total of 890 surveys were returned for a response rate of 67.4%. The percentage returned was 72.4% for elementary teachers, 58.7% for middle school teachers, and 68.9% for high school teachers. Teacher satisfaction and job retention were influenced by safe working conditions, a collaborative interaction among colleagues, and a supportive administration. Most of the teacher respondents indicated that it was not "very important" to be recognized for being a teacher nor was it "very important" to take on additional leadership roles and responsibilities. Instead, teachers indicated it was "very important" to be given the opportunities to help children develop their talents and skills.

The literature indicates a continuous cycle of difficulties for transfer students, leading to a failure to acclimate, persist, and obtain a degree. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect the Promise Student Support Program (PSSP) had on community college transfer students. More specifically, the study examined the effect of the PSSP on transfer shock, retention, and graduation rates. Two groups were compared: (a) community college transfer students entering the 4-year university as part of the PSSP between 2006 and 2011, and (b) community college transfer students entering the 4-year university between 2006 and 2011 who met the criteria for the PSSP but did not participate. A comparison was made between the 2 groups to determine if significant differences exist between students benefiting from the programming and support of the PSSP and those students without it. The study utilized the quantitative, quasi-experimental study research design. The research was conducted using descriptive statistics to analyze data related to GPA, retention, and graduation rates. Then, an independent sample t-test was administered to assess if statistical differences existed for GPA from transfer GPA to the 1st semester GPA at the 4-year institution between participants and non-participants in the PSSP. Finally, chi-square test of independence was used to determine if there were differences in retention and graduation rates. The findings, as determined by this study, concluded that participants of the PSSP experienced less transfer shock and had higher rates of retention. However, the PSSP showed no effect on graduation rates. This study is expected to provide 4-year institutions clear evidence of the importance of bridging the gap for transfer students, in general, with transitional programs of support.

The economic welfare of a community vastly depends on the business and industry it can attract and retain. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), occupations in which workers often are required to have an associate degree are growing faster than occupations that require other types of training. As the demand for more technical and vocational graduates increases, it is important for the community and junior college to retain the students to graduation and place them in jobs in their community. The purpose of this mixed methods research study was to determine the graduation totals and placement rates for Associate of Applied Science students from each community and junior college in Mississippi during the 2006-07 academic year. In addition, student demographic and education variables of graduates including age, gender, ethnicity, GPA, and ACT were obtained to determine their influences on graduation totals. The practices for retaining the Associate of Applied Science students to graduation and placing them in jobs were also determined. The findings of this study indicate the total placement rate relative to graduation totals for the 11 colleges that reported placement rate. The most prevalent demographic and education variables of retention included 63% of graduates in the 21-30 age range; 70% of the graduates were females, 66% were white, 36% were in the 3.0-3.49 GPA range, and 46% had a 16-20 ACT score. The methods for retaining these students to graduation were identified as extracurricular activities, new student orientation, tutorial programs, career center access, work study programs, counseling services, and developmental classes. The methods for placing these students in jobs after graduation involved the instructors spending a lot of time working with their local businesses and industry along with operating craft committees that met regularly with local business leaders. The results of this study indicate a high success rate for Mississippi community and junior colleges at retaining and placing students.