Causes of staff turnover in selected departments: province of the Eastern Cape

• Main Author: Khelekethe, Eric Phathisile
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University 2016
• Subjects: Labor turnover > South Africa > Eastern Cape; Employee retention > South Africa > Eastern Cape
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/8836

This research focused on the impact of staff turnover in selected departments of the Province of the Eastern Cape Province. High staff turnover rate may jeopardise efforts to attain organisational objectives. In addition, `when an organisation loses a critical employee, there is a negative impact, on innovation; consistency in providing service to guests may be jeopardised, and major delays in the delivery of services to customers may occur. The research design used in this study contained elements of both the quantitative and qualitative approaches, which allowed the researcher to use structured questionnaires in data collection, on which space was provided for comments. This study was influenced and shaped by the concerns raised by a number of General Managers in the course of various provincial meetings. The main purpose of this research was to identify retention strategies that could be used by selected departments to reduce the turnover of their talented staff. The research also investigated methods to retain knowledge within departments that could possibly be lost due to a high turnover rate among talented staff. The first step used to resolve the issues discussed above was to conduct a full literature study. The literature study sought to reveal what characteristics were required in the departments that ensured that staff would be happy in those departments and remain there for a long time. The literature study also covered what knowledge management methods could be used in managing valuable knowledge. Secondly, the views of current staff and management of the selected departments on staff and knowledge management strategies were solicited in an empirical study, which involved the completion of structured questionnaires. It is the researcher’s aim that this study will, firstly, contribute to the existing body of knowledge of staff turnover and that the Provincial Departments will take into cognisance the problems that lead to employee turnover. Secondly, that it will contribute to an improvement in employee working conditions in various Provincial Government departments.