EFFECT OF TALENT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES ON EMPLOYEE RETENTION AMONG PRIVATE FIRMS IN KENYA: A CASE OF DATA CENTRE LTD – KENYA
Magdalene Thiriku - Master of Business Administration, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya
Susan Were - Lecturer, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya
ABSTRACT
The current business era is highly competitive and organizations regardless of size, technology and market focus are facing employee retention challenges. Talent management is an important activity in that it enables an organization to have the right people with the skills and expertise to meet the immediate and future needs of the firm. One of the ways that firms globally can sustain their competitive advantage is by retaining people who possess needed skills, competencies and motivation. The general objective of the study was to examine talent management practices and employee retention among private firms in Kenya with a case of Data Centre Limited. The study was guided by these specific objectives: to establish the effects of employee motivation on employee retention at Data Centre Limited; to determine the effects of training and development on employee retention at Data Centre Limited; to establish the effects of compensation on employee retention at Data Centre Limited and to establish the effects of performance management on employee retention at Data Centre Limited.The research design used in this study was descriptive research design.The target population for this study comprise of 76 employees of Data Centre Limited (DCL). The study used primary data for analysis obtained by the use of structured questionnaires. After data was collected from the field, the questionnaires were checked for completeness, coded, and then entered into Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for subsequent analysis. The results were presented on frequency distribution tables and pie charts. The study found out that the organization recognized the employees outstanding, there are opportunities for development in the organization and employees are satisfied with their job in this organization, skills improvement courses are offered to staff in this organization, employees are fairly remunerated for their efforts and the remuneration was commensurate with the industry scales and performance management process was clear to all the staff in the organization and was periodically reviewed to ensure that it is being applied consistently and fairly. The study concludes that the organization focused on issues and on the personal relationships they have with the employees to perform each function, there was a deliberate effort by the management to have not just the organization but also the employees succeed in both their professional and personal life, compensation has also been well adopted and employees are fully engaged in challenging and rewarding work and feel part of a successful brand that cares about them and performance management process was well defined. The study recommends that organization should recognize and reward good performance to help motivate and enhance employee engagement, training and development that focus on continuous learning, retraining and retaining knowledge should be applied, the organization should create non-monetary reward and recognition programs and the organization should make their performance evaluation system procedures objective and fair.
