Determinants Of Employees Turnover In Public Universities In Nyeri County Kenya

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.