Abstract:
Many organizations are facing the challenge of retaining productive employees to
their competitors due to various reasons. One of these reasons is employees' turnover.
To minimize turnover, institutions of higher learning are concerned with identifying
the major reasons behind it. This study sought to examine the voluntary and
involuntary determinants of both academic and administrative employees turnover
specifically remuneration, leadership styles, working conditions and career growth in
public universities within Nyeri County. The Universities under investigation were
Dedan Kimathi University of Technology, and Karatina University. The study
adopted a descriptive research design and the target population comprised of 903
employees working in the two universities from which a sample size of 90 employees
was drawn to represent the target population including both academic and non
academic employees. Data was collected using questionnaires from 78 respondents
representing 86.7% response rate out of the probable 90. Data was analyzed using
statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) software to generate descriptive and '
inferential statistics. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine the statistical
relationship between the independent and dependent variables. The results revealed
that remuneration, leadership styles and working conditions had significant effect on
staff turnover in public universities. Career development had insignificant effect on
staff turnover in these universities. The study recommended that universities should
bench mark the employees' salaries with their counterparts in other sectors, who are
well paid to reduce the turnover, put in place mechanisms and policies of addressing
human resources issues. In addition, universities should put in place policies and
mechanisms of addressing human resources issues by creating a safe and conducive
working environment for the staff.