FACTORS AFFECTING EMPLOYEE RETENTION IN NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS IN NAIROBI COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

Non-Governmental Organizations generally play significant roles in development of communities that over time have been disadvantaged as a consequence of poverty and high levels of unemployment, as experienced especially in developing countries. NGOs run several programs ranging from health issues, education, environmental conservation, Agriculture, as well civil concerns in different social set ups, but face unprecedented employee retention in stark contrast to most public sector organizations, Helmmy (2012). The success on non-governmental organizations depends on their employees. However, this depends on several factors and employee retention is one of the factors considered to be an impediment for efficient and effective implementation of the projects managed by NGOs. The purpose of this research is therefore, to assess challenges facing employees' retention in Non-Governmental Organizations in Nairobi County. It was therefore, be guided by Leadership and rewards as independent variables and Employee retention as the dependent variable. The study adopted a descriptive research design for the study. Questionnaires were used to collect quantitative data from the employees, while in-depth schedules were used to obtain qualitative data from the respondents. Data from questionnaires were analyzed by both descriptive and inferential statistics with the help of SPSS version 22 and inferential statistics such as Pearson correlation coefficient was used to compute the data, while qualitative data was analyzed thematically through content analysis technique. Understanding the problem of employee retention and putting in place effective and efficient mitigating factors in place would benefit the NGOs in coming up with employee retention strategies for effective and efficient human resource management. The findings indicated a positive correlation between the dependent variable and the independent variables.