An Investigation of Factors Responsible for High Labor Turnover Within Nightclubs in Nairobi

Abstract

Labour turnover occurs when workers leave an organization and need to be replaced by new recruits. It can therefore be described as the rate of movement (separations) from an organization in a given period. It can occur through resignations, dismissals and retirement. Although it can be healthy to an organization in terms of bringing in new employees to supplement existing skills and in keeping the organization competitive and in line with the dynamics of business, high labour turnover can be expensive in terms of advertising, recruitment and training, bad reputation, as well as cost of associated management and supervisory time. High labour turnover is almost synonymous with the practice of labour relations within nightclubs. This study therefore sought to understand the factors responsible for high labour turnover within nightclubs in Nairobi, by seeking answers to the following questions: Do wages and salaries in this sector influence the rate of labour turnover?, does employee perception of labour laws impact on labour turnover?, and finally, does discrimination (ethnicity and sex) impact on labour turnover within nightclubs in Nairobi? Thirty two (32) establishments were randomly selected from the seven (7) divisions of the city of Nairobi. A sample of 96 respondents was interviewed for the study including 36 key informants. Findings from the study revealed that employees frequently change or leave nightclub employment mainly because of pay related issues. The other contributing factors include workers stage in life and thus age levels, human resource management structures, employee level of education and employer's approach to human capital among others. One thing that came out clearly is that high labour turnover within nightclubs is evident and although it can be contained, it will require concerted efforts from the government (Ministry of Labour), trade unions, workers and more so employers to effectively reduce it. There is need to review most of the labour laws if they are to be applied equitably between the worker and the employer, the trade unions need to be more aggressive and committed to their covenant with the workers, and finally, there is need for the employers to change their attitudes towards their workers and probably seek to invest more wisely in human capital in order to get the expected return for their investment, while at the same time checking the rate of labour turnover in this sector .