Influence of manpower planning on employee turnover in public institutions: the case of the University of Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

This study focused on the influence of manpower planning on employee turnover at the University of Nairobi. This facility is the largest public university in Kenya and one of the largest in Africa with over 52,000 students enrolled. The purpose of this research was to determine which variables are most strongly related to employee turnover. The study design was a descriptive survey which was conducted on a sample of 106 middle grade A-F employees from six colleges and Central Administration of the University of Nairobi.

The total sample was selected using stratified random sampling technique in order to achieve a target population. Then a purposive sampling technique was used to get a sample size in each college. This sampling method was used because of the large population of middle grade A-F employees. Data was coded using SPSS then analyzed.

The study concluded that recruitment process influenced employee turnover to a moderate extent through advertisement, shortlisting, selection, induction and orientation through job rotation and on the job training. On Motivation the study concluded that motivation influenced turnover to a great extent through promotion opportunities, monetary benefits such as pay rise, motivating leadership techniques

The study also concluded that staff training influenced employee turnover to a very great extent which enabled staff to have the necessary skill and attitudes towards work and the institution Finally, the study recommended that public institutions should have recruitment process, motivation of employees and staff training to influence employee turnover through benchmarking of similar public institutions.