An Analysis of Factors Used to Attract and Retain Employees in a Competitive Environment: a Case of Presenters in Selected Fm Radio Stations Operating in Nairobi

Abstract

No company or organization can succeed until individuals within it succeed. Organizations today are constantly faced with the challenge of acquiring and maintaining the most competent employees available in the labor market in order to achieve its goals and hence again competitive advantage within the industries they operate in. Nothing less can ensure survival and prosperity in these tumultuous times in Kenya. Only those organizations that have made the effort to build a solid foundation of highly effective people will move surely and safely toward their destination.(KPMG Training Solutions,2004) The objectives of this study were to identify any unique factors that Radio presenters consider in accepting new job offers or remaining in their current jobs and to be able to"rank the factors that are used to attract and retain employees as perceived by.the FM Radio presenters. To achieve these objectives a population of 44 FM Radio presenters was identified and administered with questionnaires. To achieve greater insight in the study questionnaires were also administered to the representatives of the human resources managers. The data collected was coded and tabulated to indicate the means of the responses concerning the weights given to the factors used to attract and retain employees by the presenters. An analysis of the data indicated that the dominant factors that seem to influence the presenters decision to whether to accept or reject new job offers included; job security, basic pay, other financial and non financial benefits, promotion, flexible work systems among other factors. On the basis of the study, several recommendations were deemed appropriate for consideration by human resource managers in FMRadio stations which include: -establishing satisfactory compensation packages; offer permanent jobs or at least longer contracts; develop flexible work systems for presenter among others. The major constraints and hence limitations of the study was the inability to capture responses of the Nation F-M.presenters yet this is a major player in the industry under study. Besides the FMRadio stations under study were judgmentally selected.