Original Research

Employee Retention Factors For South African Higher Education Institutions: A Case Study

F. G. Netswera, E. M. Rankhumise, T. R. Mavundla
SA Journal of Human Resource Management | Vol 3, No 2 | a64 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/sajhrm.v3i2.64 | © 2005 F. G. Netswera, E. M. Rankhumise, T. R. Mavundla | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 05 November 2005 | Published: 05 November 2005

About the author(s)

F. G. Netswera,
E. M. Rankhumise, Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa
T. R. Mavundla, UNISA, South Africa

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Abstract

The success of the most competitive companies throughout the world, including higher education institutions, lies in their highly skilled employees on which these institutions spend millions to retain. Literature reveals the cost of losing best employees to be enormous – beyond monetary quantification. Also worth noting is that the loss of one competent employee to a competitor institution strengthens the competitor’s advantage. This case study analysed human resources turnover data, and interviewed academic managers and employees in order to examine the possible employee retention factors for a higher education institution in South Africa. The findings reveal different institutional interests between institutional managers and employees. The former are concerned more about profits, business sustenance and justification for spending, while the latter are driven by introverted interests such as development, monetary rewards and personal fulfilment.

Keywords

retention factors; higher education institutions

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