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DETERMINANTS OF EMPLOYEE TURNOVER INTENTIONS AMONG
TEACHING STAFF AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI
Background of the Study
Employee turnover intention has become a global phenomenon. Leaders are
witnessing serious talent management challenges with majority of them recognizing
the need for evaluating organization strategies for attracting and recruiting talent.
Despite this realization, many leaders have failed to implement proper steps and this
can be attributed to not knowing what and how exactly to go about these radical
changes (Rawat, 2013). Every firm faces the difficulty of employee turnover intention
as current trends in socioeconomic growth, macro-environmental conditions, and
dynamic labor markets alter. Companies that rely on people as basic operational
divisions invest extensively in attracting, hiring, training, and developing these
individuals. This entails significant time and financial investment to enable a smooth
transition and adaptation to the organization's working environment, as well as
evidence of the essential skills and experience (Maxwell, 2010).
This study was based on two theories including; Herzberg two factor theory and social
exchange theory. As indicated by the Herzberg’s two factor theory of job satisfaction.
Social exchange theory posits that there exists a relationship that generates an action
that needs reciprocity and entirely relying on trust. Shobitha and Sudarsan (2014)
explain the structure of this interaction as the employer providing a favour and
employees responding to the favour with positive outcomes. For instance, when
employers provide an environment that promotes work-life balance practices,
employees may respond by showing more commitment and engagement which results
high productivity (Sorensen, 2014).
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The focus of the current research was the University of Nairobi teaching staff. This
choice arises because universities in Kenya have been facing issues to do with staff
turnover intentions. University of Nairobi being the oldest university in Kenya offers
a good context to investigate determinants of employee turnover intention. The Public
Universities Inspection Board determined that each year the most competent academic
personnel from public universities leave abroad. Because of the financial constraints
facing the universities, it is quite difficult for them to replace departing staffs. In most
cases, universities have observed that graduates sent overseas for training prefer to
stay abroad or enter the private sector or leave soon after their return (GoK, 2016).
Employee Turnover Intentions
This is termed as the extent to which staff intends to move in to and out of
employment commonly calculated as the percentages of number of employees who
intends to leave an organization (Armstrong, 2007). Wesonga et al. (2011) define
labor quit decisions as people moving in and out of a company. This concept fails to
recognize that turnover intention occurs in a setting, and that individuals typically and
in strategic direction depart an organization. Employee turnover intention, according
to Abassi and Hollman companies and positions, and between states of employment
as well as unemployment. This approach, on the other hand, fails to appreciate that
some long-term employees have plans to quit, and turnover of employee is motivated
by a variety of internal as well as external factors. Employee turnover intention is
defined by Chepchumba and Kimutai (2017) as individuals already left, still leaving,
or intend to quitting for varying motives.
The benefits of an employee's intention to leave are well recognized. Elkjaer and
Filmer (2015) point out the possibility for new thinking to be introduced into the
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business, as
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well as assisting management in responding to change and skill need, and replacing
instances of bad performance. Employee turnover intentions, as per Okumbe (2011),
may be beneficial to an organization since they create outlets for good-bye and assist
cushion the organization against looming redundancy. Employee turnover intention,
according to Nyakego (2014), provides a chance to infuse competence that is new,
new experience as well as ideas into the company, as well as provide opportunities for
other employees to further their careers. According to Wesonga et al. (2011), turnover
intention generates modern ideas, talents, as well as passion into the workforce.
High-skilled staff turnover, on the other hand, continues to be a problem for
businesses. The direct and indirect costs of seasoned employees' voluntary turnover
intentions are increasingly influencing business operations and goal achievement.
According to Chepchumba and Kimutai (2017), the intention of highly skilled
individuals to leave voluntarily negatively impact the performance of an organization
and effectiveness.
Determinants of Employee Turnover Intentions
Several variables contribute to the intention of employees to leave a company. These
elements can be internal to the company and so under the control of the employer, or
external to the firm and thus outside the employer’s control. Stability of a firm,
absence of promotion, absence of job security, and insufficient training as well as
development chances, personal agency, inappropriate communication channels,
absence of recognition; absence of competitive compensation system; as well as
adverse working environment are amongst the factors outlined in employee turnover
intention literature (Abassi & Hollman, 2000; Sherman et al., 2006; Ongori, 2007).
Employee traits are crucial aspects that can influence employee turnover intentions.
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Employees who are older, more skilled, and married have a lower likelihood of
quitting
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their jobs, as per Biswakarma (2016). Employee turnover is greater in younger
workers than among elder ones, according to Loewenberg (2014). Work-life balance
is another important element that influences the likelihood of employee turnover.
According to Kuria et al. (2012), absence of work-life balance is a major factor of
employee desire to leave. Employee turnover intention is also influenced by
compensation. Better income elsewhere was reported to be the most vital motive for
employee turnover intention (Obiero ,2011). Furthermore, professional advancement
has been shown to directly impact employee turnover intentions.
University of Nairobi
It was founded in 1947, when Kenya's colonial government proposed the
establishment of a commercial and technical institute in Nairobi. It had grown to
include the three East African countries of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda by 1949,
with the goal of offering specialized education to the member countries (UON, 2018).
In September 1951, the Royal Technical College of East Africa was granted a charter.
Around about the same time, the Asian Community in the region was attempting to
establish a Commerce, Science, and Arts academy in Mahatma Gandhi's honor. The
Gandhi Memorial Academy was absorbed into the Royal Technical College of East
Africa in April 1954, and the college officially opened its doors to the first batch of
students in April 1956. (UON, 2018). In 1961, the Royal Technical College was
raised to the status of East Africa's second university college, Royal College Nairobi.
The Institution College Nairobi was renamed the University of Nairobi in 1970 after
becoming Kenya's first national university (UON, 2017). The institution had 84,000
students, 2,220 academic personnel with PhDs, and 5,525 administrative and technical
workers as of December 2018. (UON, 2018).
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Kipkebut (2015) indicated that the greatest challenge accompanied by the increasing
number of students in public universities is lack of enough staffs and this lead to
universities recruiting from each other. This recruitment vendetta is now referred to as
poaching where the target is mostly the vulnerable staff who have not yet been
promoted by their respective universities either due to them not meeting the required
qualification for promotion or due to unavailability of position to be promoted to in
the institution. Public universities are governed by laws and regulations such as
promotion and training programs, but the way these policies are implemented has left
academics disillusioned.
Research Problem
Employee turnover intention has long been viewed as a broad assessment or
indicative of an organization's ability to function (Ampoamah & Cudjor, 2015).
Employee dissatisfaction with their jobs causes them to withdraw in order to decrease
their exposure to the job. The fact that losing high-performing individuals has an
impact on the company's success when the firm loses the venture incurred in their
growth exacerbates employee turnover. Knowing and successful control of the
employment relations between professional personnel and their hiring firms is
becoming increasingly crucial as the percentage of the workforce engaged in
professional or highly technical work rises (Barley, 1996). Excessive staff turnover, it
is obvious, creates an insecure workforce, raises costs, and has a negative effect on
corporate success.
The main challenge the Kenyan public universities are experiencing is the drastic
expansion whilst the funds are decreasing which has resulted to universities having
problems such as overcrowding, inadequate physical facilities and staff becoming
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disillusioned because of various factors such a little and noncompetitive
salaries and also dissatisfaction in terms of non-monetary factors like heavy
workload, deteriorated working conditions and institutional government
amongst others (Tettey, 2016). These are some of the factors that have
triggered the movement of staff to the private sector or other emigrating to
other countries to look for greener pastures in spite of the heavy investment
made on them by the university with regards to trainings. Over the last
decade, University of Nairobi has rapidly increased its enrolment for both
regular and self-sponsored students and on the other hand the number of
staff has not increased correspondingly and actually there are no
replacement of those that leave the institution because of different reasons
such as turnover and brain drain.
In the last eight years, noteworthy past studies on employee turnover
intention have concentrated on other industries. Chepchumba and Kimutai
(2017) looked at the correlation between employee compensation and
voluntary turnover of employees in small enterprises amongst Safaricom
dealers in Eldoret, Kenya. The study found no substantial affiliation
between employee compensation and employee turnover. Kariuki (2015)
investigated the factors that effect employee turnover in Kenya's
banking business and discovered a positive as well as substantial link
between career planning and turnover intentions. Although Waititu (2013)
studied employee turnover in public Limuru District based high schools in
Kenya, the study solely looked at financial pay and career advancement as
important factors influencing employee turnover. Employee qualities and
work-life balance, for example, have gotten very little consideration. This
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research aim at to fill the gap of the study by giving an answer on the
question of the study; what influences employee turnover intention among
teaching staff at the University of Nairobi?
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