The management dilemma that triggers this research is the improvement of employee retention in medium-sized businesses in the Garden Route. Various factors contribute to poor retention in business, such as the lack of employee engagement, lack of organizational commitment, lack of recognition and reward and lack of employee retention strategies. If these strategies are not in place it results in employees not feeling committed to the organization and therefore opting to leave. This study takes a closer look at the literature review on specific causes of poor employee retention and aims to seek solutions for management to address the employee turnover problem, which affects the ability of the organization to achieve its goals and objectives. The question which formed the basis of this research was whether management can indeed improve retention within their businesses. The parameters of this research topic are five medium-sized businesses in the Garden Route. Ten middle managers from these organizations formed part of the research. The research topic fell within the phenomenological paradigm, as the study looked at employee retention within organizations with the aim of finding out what the reasons for poor retention are and how the problem can be addressed. The approach was a subjective one as responses were interpreted from questionnaires to gain an in-depth understanding of the problem. Research was conducted by means of both questionnaires and interviews in order to interpret and explain the complexity of poor retention rates within the specific organizations. The qualitative data collection method was used. Results were analysed and interpreted to indicate the relevance with the theory. Respondents confirmed that employee retention remains a challenge. It is clear that there is a need for effective strategies to retain talented employees in medium-sized businesses in the Garden Route as this is not being addressed as a priority. Recommendations were submitted which indicated that managers need to invest in strategies to foster employee engagement and organizational commitment. Fair and consistent rewards should be implemented and supported by blended retention strategies.

State-owned enterprises (SOE’s) in South Africa have long been financial albatrosses around the government’s neck. The government decided to restructure them so that they can play a role in the overall economic development of the country (Didiza, 2002:15). Transnet, one of South Africa’s largest SOE’s, is the largest transportation company in South Africa and is divided into various business units, of which Spoornet (rail transportation) is one. Spoornet has had to evolve from a subsidised state owned enterprise to a semi-privatised business unit, able to survive in a competitive business world. This entailed streamlining and restructuring the business unit in order for it to become more productive and financially fit. One of the biggest threats was the amount of human capital that Spoornet employed. The workforce had to be reduced in order to allow Spoornet to become an effective and competitive business unit. In addition to this, Spoornet must adhere to affirmative action policies instituted by government labour laws (Employment Equity Act, Act 55 of 1998). This act was introduced to redress the present effects of South Africa’s past in bringing about a diverse workforce broadly representing South Africa’s demographics. This has resulted in early retirement packages being offered to assist Spoornet in achieving employment equity targets. All of these changes have had a major impact on employee turnover that has resulted in a large amount of skills and expertise being lost. Professional, specialised and skilled people are in global demand, which has added to the exodus of employees from many organisations. Spoornet has experienced this at an alarming rate, so much so that in 2001, they established a retention committee to address ways to reverse the high number of specialised employee exits. Abstract iv The overall purpose of the research was to identify strategies for Spoornet to retain their specialised and skilled employees, thereby reducing the amount of specialised and skilled staff turnover. The research methodology for this study comprised the following steps: • Firstly, a full literature study regarding strategies that an organisation can utilise for the retention of their critical employees was researched. • Secondly, the views of current Spoornet employees on retention strategies were assessed in an empirical study, which involved completing a questionnaire. • Lastly, recommendations due to the findings of the researcher were identified for Spoornet to retain their highly skilled and specialised employees.

Knowledge is now regarded as the most important resource surpassing other resources like land and capital. It is a foregone conclusion that knowledge flows out of organizations through various ways such as resignations, retirement and death yet, it does not seem as if organizations are employing strategies to retain such a vital component of production and service delivery. This study investigated the knowledge retention strategies in three Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) public broadcasting organizations of the South African Broadcasting Corporation in South African (SABC), the Department of Broadcasting Services (DBS) in Botswana and the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) in Zimbabwe. The aim of this study was to establish how knowledge is captured and retained at such organizations. The objectives of the study were; to find out the types of strategies the three broadcasting organizations employ to capture and retain knowledge; establish how the three broadcasting organizational cultures enable knowledge acquisition, transfer, sharing and retention; establish the role of ICTs as tools and enablers of knowledge retention, creation, transfer and sharing in the three broadcasting organizations; and to propose recommendations on the best strategies for retention of knowledge in the three public broadcasting organizations as well as suggest areas for further and future research. v The study used the survey method and employed the triangulation design for data gathering. Data were collected from three SADC public broadcasting organizations. The population sample comprised 240 professional staff including 38 managers from different sections of the broadcasting organizations. The researcher collected data by administering a questionnaire to staff, interviews with managers and observations. Documentary analysis was also conducted in order to supplement data and fill in gaps. The researcher was mainly interested in gathering data that would give a comprehensive picture about knowledge retention methods in broadcasting organizations. There were four main findings. First, knowledge management as a relatively new concept and practice has not yet been properly embraced in the public broadcasting organization system in order to capture and retain knowledge that is acquired and generated in the organizations. There are no measures put in place in the organizations to retain the knowledge to ensure that once those who hold vital tacit knowledge are gone, the knowledge may still be available and accessible. Second, the study established that the respective organizational cultures impede on organizational knowledge retention. The study established that there was no culture of knowledge sharing. It also emerged that employees were not free to share their knowledge because of government regulations, prevailing political contexts, mistrust and general lack of incentive to share knowledge. Third, the study established that the organizations have no strategies or systems in place to capture the experts‟ knowledge or the knowledge of experienced staff and vi those approaching retiring age. The Human Resources Departments hold exit interviews that cover issues purely to do with why the person is leaving the organization instead of recording the work experiences and expertise of the departing employees. Fourth, the study revealed that the public broadcasting organizations still lag behind in collaborative and communicative technologies that facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing of tacit knowledge but retention of knowledge generally. The study also found that, some of the organizations studied did not have internet connectivity and websites were not yet functional, which hampered acquisition and sharing of knowledge for retention purposes. The importance of this study is that it has made a contribution and provided literature on knowledge retention strategies for public broadcasting corporations as part of knowledge management practice. On the basis of these findings the study recommended the following: appointment of knowledge management officers, establishment of Communities of Practice, encouraging knowledge sharing between employees, introduction of joint programmes with other broadcasting organizations by managers and their supervision of mentoring programmes; organizations to facilitate acquisition of information and communication technologies that enable knowledge management

The purpose of this study is to determine what factors contribute to a foster family's ability and desire to remain active in fostering after two years. The sample of this research was selected from Bienvenidos Foster Family Agency, a private non-profit social service organization in the Los Angeles County.

The purpose of this master thesis is to determine recommendations that would help the Thermo Fisher Scientific Brno s.r.o. company to expand their employee base. The research attempts to determine the satisfaction of interns with working environment and find crucial factors that are considered by them to choose the future employer. The research is carried out on the basis of questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews with interns from different departments. Based on the survey results and theoretical overview appropriate recommendations will be proposed and quantify to maximise the number of interns getting employed after finishing the internship.

This work analyses processes in a staff policy from the recruitment phase thru training and development up to employee retention. The output of this work is a proposal of personnel policy and a detailed description of specific measures applicable in the company in real time resulting problems in human resource management.

ABSTRACT    Date:              06.06.20 Level:             Bachelor Thesis in Business Administration, 15 cr  Institution:    School of Business, Society and Engineering, Mälardalen University  Authors:         Mohamad Kaddoura               Erandika Perera                 Pia Sophie Paulsen                            (90/06/24)                           (88/06/29)                       (98/01/10) Title:              Corporate Social Responsibility and its Effect on Employee Retention Tutor:             Edward Gillmore Keywords:      CSR, HRM, employee retention, employee satisfaction, employee needs Research  question:        How does internal Corporate Social Responsibility affect employee retention  in an organization? Purpose:         To examine & identify how Corporate Social Responsibility affects employee retention as well as to determine & evaluate the relationship between CSR and employee retention. Method:         This thesis is based on the deductive approach which leads to quantitative data analysis through a cross-sectional time horizon in form of a rating question survey. The entire research is developed on Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill’s (2008) onion model. Conclusion:    Internal CSR, together with HRM, is influencing employee satisfaction through policies and strategies that are directed at employees and adapted to employees’ individual preferences. These preferences were identified in the form of needs and motivating & hygiene factors. The findings suggest, that even when high employee satisfaction is achieved, employee retention intention is not guaranteed. CSR, therefore, has a direct effect on employee satisfaction but not necessarily on employee retention.

MPM / Oliver Tambo Institute of Governance and Policy Studies

MPM / Oliver Tambo Institute of Governance and Policy Studies

The main purpose of this thesis was to examine the relation between employee retention and its three variables namely motivation, job satisfaction, and job security of employees in a Pakistani organization named Varioline Intercool. The case study and deductive approach was used to conduct this study. Data was collected from a sample of forty (40) employees from different levels and data collection was undertaken through questionnaires by using Google form as platform. The results of the study were shown by using a quantitative method approach. SPSS was used to analyze the data. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze information about our respondents and Pearson’s Correlation was used to check the relation between dependent and independent variables.  The main findings from the research shows that all hypothesis that we made were accepted and all variable have a positive relation with employee retention the dependent variable which demonstrates that if these factors are not present in the company then the employee might leave the company causing decrease in employee retention. Furthermore, the study revealed that motivation has the highest correlation with employee retention which shows that for the employees in Varioline Intercool motivation including its three factors appreciation, respect and reward & recognition are the most important for employees to retain in the company. Accordingly employees who are not well motivated will have higher motive searching for job somewhere else. The results of the study therefore can be used as the basis for decision making concerning employees welfare, drafting retention strategies and future human resource planning and development.