Determinants of employee retention in private universities in Kenya; a case of Daystar University

Abstract

Employee retention is one of the global challenges facing organizations in both public and private sector. It has emerged to be a major strategic decision by organizations in both developing and developed countries. The study sought to understand the determinants of employee retention at Daystar University which is one of the leading private universities in Kenya. The main objective of the study was to establish the determinants of employee retention at Daystar University. The target population was the 214 employees within the critical categories of employees in the university as at so" November 2012.The researcher used stratified random sampling to determine a representative sample from the four employee categories. The sample size was 20 % of each of the four categories; giving a sample size of 45 employees. Out of the 45 questionnaires distributed 40 of them were returned making a response rate of 88.9 %. The instrument of data collection was a questionnaire with both structured and unstructured questions to collect data from 45 employees and used Statistical Package for Social Sciences Program (SPSS) to analyze the data and present by use of pie charts, bar charts and diagrams to make the necessary recommendations and conclusions. The study found out that salaries and benefits rank first in determining employee retention followed by work environment and working conditions and then performance recognition and rewards. Training and development as well as career advancement and development ranked third and fourth respectively in their influence to employee retention and they must be taken into account by organizations since they have an effect on employee retention as per the research findings