Human resource procurement and retention strategies used by commercial banks in Nairobi

Abstract

In modem era of resource constraints, organizations must efficiently manage their activities by procuring and retaining the best of their employees and avoiding the employment of excess human capital in their operations. The study aimed at establishing the human resource procurement retention strategies used by commercial banks in Nairobi. This was a census study and the population consisted of 44 Commercial Banks in Kenya that have been inspected, assessed and classified as commercial banks by the Central Bank of Kenya. In order to identify the employee procurement and retention strategies used in the banking industry in Kenya, semi structured questionnaires were distributed among targeted population of employees currently employed by banks in Nairobi in order to get primary data. A content analysis and descriptive statistics were employed. The content analysis was used to analyze the respondents' views about the employee procurement and retention strategies. From the study, the researcher found that the banks did the assessment of employees during recruitment with an aim of cultivating a high performance workforce at the companies.In addition, the study also found out that majority of the banks had established human resource procurement retention strategies in the recruitment of staff. The study established that the commercial banks used various human resource management initiatives to enhance employee retention in the companies. These included performance appraisal, promotion and conducive work environment. From the findings, the study recommends that commercial banks use various employee procurement strategies in recruiting staff such as commissioning procurement agencies. This is essential as it leads to improved choice, advice and better employee management information. The study also recommends that commercial banks adopt various human resource management initiatives such as labour management participation programs in order to enhance employee retention in the firms.