STAFF RETENTION AND ITS IMPACT ON ORGANIZATIONS’ PERFORMANCE

CHAPTER ONE

1.0 Introduction of the Case

Recruitment and development of employees is a large burden for

companies in most industries. Due to this, there is a clear

organizational improvement imperative to attract and retain

talented workers since employees constitute an important

resource, especially for knowledge intensive organizations.

Nothing feels better than having a strong, successful, happy

workforce in place who are mutually focused on the organizational

performance. Hiring top-quality individuals is an important task

in its own, but essential to any manager’s ongoing process is a

critical retention strategy.

In fact, hiring does not end when the candidate has accepted the

position. Advantageous initiatives and well-planned processes

must be firmly in place and consistently nurtured so that

employees will have reasons to remain with your company for

growth to continue. Following a well developed strategy will let

you reduce recruitment through retaining your top-performing

talent.

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Obviously, you cannot hold onto all your best people, but can

certainly minimize the loss. Reducing employee turnover is a

strategic and vital issue, beneficial to your company’s bottom

line. It has taken considerable time and resources to attain a

staff whom you are proud of, to replace them starves your

organization of many essential success factors (money, overall

attitude, productivity) and the company’s ultimate triumph. The

intent of this whitepaper is to help you with a list of

solutions.

1.1 Background of the Organization

A-Star Microfinance Limited (ASM) was incorporated as

microfinance institution under the laws of the Republic of Ghana

in 2010. ASM was formed with the purpose of extending to

individuals and small business operators in the micro and small

scale business sector quality and affordable financial services

to improve their businesses. ASM sole aim of operating is to

provide financial services to low-income clients or solidarity

lending groups including consumers and the self-employed, who

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traditionally lack access to banking and related services. ASM

was founded by Francis Krah Gerrar and Georgina Aba Gerrar, who

are currently actively managing the company. ASM has scheduled to

roll out it micro lending products to 200 families in Sekondi –

Takoradi metropolise by the end of 2011. ASM is currently at

Takoradi, in Western Region which is the headquarters.

Mission Statement

A-STAR Microfinance assists its clients to manage, save, and

invest; to empower them economically to achieve a sound body,

mind and spirit.

Vision

A-STAR Microfinance to “become a vibrant microfinance company

that effectively supports the microfinance industry in Ghana”

Goals

By 2020, ASM expects to empower 10,000 families and groups in

Ghana to move out of extreme poverty through strategic goals of:

Microfinance. This includes urban and rural lending.

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Community investment. Initiating programs such as micro

entrepreneur business network, targeted to the development of

individuals.

ASM Philosophy is to gain self-sufficiency within four

years. For that portion the management restricts the fundraising

portion with a declining percentage of 100% in year one down to

55% in year two, 50% in year three and 30% in year four.

In 2014 ASM does not expect to require any more of funds or

grants.

1.2 Problem statement

People are the most valuable asset. It is an undisputable fact

that when staffs are not treated fairly, it affects the

organizations input and also results in poor organizational

output.

It is the belief of many employers or managers that paying

employees the salaries due them is enough to keep them working

as such they do not go beyond that.

But the question that comes to mind is that, if the

expectation of staffs is only to receive their monthly salary,

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then why will an employee who receives their regular salaries

leave his or her company to work in another company?

Surely, such a staff may have identified that his or her

contribution towards the organization has been overlooked.

Some problems found in A-STAR Microfinance therefore include

the following:

Poor salaries and delay in paying staff

Doing more of the work manually than using computers

The company not employing more professionals to do the

work as expected.

Lack of training and development opportunities.

Unfriendly colleagues

Lack of motivation to staff :

Working above the normal working hours without the firm

giving staffs the entitled incentives on the overtime worked.

With these problems, I am challenged to undertake a study to

come out with conclusions that will highlight the crucial

roles of staff retention towards the performance of the

organization.

1.3 Objectives of the study5

Main objective:

To examine how staff retention can affect the performance

of the organization

Specific objectives:

To identify some factors that can improve the performance

of the employees within the organization.

To determine the relationship between staff behavior and

organizational performance.

To examine some factors used to measure the performance

of an organization.

To make appropriate recommendation on the benefit of

staff retention towards organizational performance.

1.4 significance of the study

The study will bring to light the important roles play by

staff retention in ensuring positive organizational

performance and will serve as a guide to management of A-STAR

Microfinance in the performance of their duties.

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The outcome of this study will arouse interest for further

study on the role staff retention towards organizational

performance by entrepreneurs, personal managers and the

general public. This research work will help built up

researcher’s knowledge on how research is conducted.

Also, the outcome of this study will add to the available

literatures on this subject matter.

It will help others in their further research work relating to

the subject matter.

1.5 Scope of the study

It is my point of interest as researcher to work on this study

by selecting A-STAR Microfinance to do the research work so

that findings, suggestions and recommendations would be all

embracing.

However A-STAR Microfinance (main office) is selected for the

study. It is limited to management and the entire staff of the

organization at the main office. The levels of satisfaction

will also be covered under this study.

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1.6 Limitations to the study

A detailed account of this will be written after a prepared

the study on A-STAR Microfinance.

Not with standing this fact, the following are some forecasted

limitation;

1. Some information might be confidential and management may

not be willing to reveal to outsiders.

2. Some staff members might feel reluctant to disclosing

certain information.

3. It might also difficult to check the honesty and reliability

for the responses as the respondent sees all question before

answering them.

4. The research might involve a lot of cost and time in

gathering information for the study.

1.7 Organization of the Study

Chapter one is devoted to the background of the study, statement

of the problem, objectives of the study, significant of the

study, scope of the study and lastly organization of the study.

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Chapter two is centered on literature review on the out come of

previous studies on this same issues, the methods used in the

previous studies and the quality of the results from previous

studies.

Chapter three is designated to methodology and fulfillment of

each selected method which will be used in the project work.

Chapter four will consist of finding and analysis of the data of

chapter three for the collection of data.

Chapter five also consists of the conclusion of the study,

summarization of the project work and definition of key terms

which were use in the study of this project work.

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CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 Introduction

This chapter deals with the review of relevant literatures. It

considers the works of various authors or articles of persons

whose works are related to and makes meaning to the topic

understudy. The literature review in this chapter comprises

theoretical literature, empirical literature and operational

definition of terms related to the study areas. The chapter

looks at the following sub headings:

Overview of organizational performance

Definition of staff retention

Importance of staff retention

Reasons why staffs leave an organization

Strategies of staff retention

Factors of staff retention

How to motivate staffs and keep them

Staff retention myths

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Motivation theories

What organizational performance is

Determinants of organizational performance

General guidelines for motivating staffs to achieve

higher performance

Staff performance appraisal.

2.1 Overview Of Organizational Performance

Everyone wants effective performance, the individual employee

wants satisfaction and achievement of results, managers want

to be effectively coordinated and productive, customers wants

good products and services, Government want efficient business

in growing economies.

Achieving effective performance is complicated; it is not just

paying staff more money, although not paying staff enough

money may well inhibit performance. Effective performance also

varies according to the work done.

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2.2 Staff Retention

What is staff retention?

Staff retention has been by defined by lots of authors and

institutions, these are few;

Staff retention refers to the various policies and practices

which let the employees stick to an organization for a longer

period of time. (2008 – 2013 managementstudyguide.com)

More so, Staff retention is the ability of a business to

convince its employees to remain with a business. (Jim Riley

last updated: Sunday 23th September, 2012)

Also Staff retention is an effort by business to maintain a

working environment which supports current staff in remaining

with the company. (www.businessdictionary.com)

Staff retention refers to the ability of an organization to

retain it employees. (Www. wiki answers. Com)

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In other words, staff retention refers to the techniques

employed by the management to help the employees stay with the

organization for a longer period of time.

Staff retention strategies go a long way in motivating the

employees so that they stick to the organization for the

maximum time and contribute effectively. Sincere efforts must

be taken to ensure growth and learning for the employees in

their current assignments and for them to enjoy their work.

Staff retention is also defined as the process in which staffs

are encouraged to remain with the organization for the maximum

period of time or until the completion of the project.

(ask.com).

Also staff retention is seen as the process employed by

management in order to induce their employees to give of their

best to increase productivity whilst working with the

organization for a longer time period.

2.3. Importance of Staff Retention

Retaining employees of an organization therefore brings about

a lot of benefits to be enjoyed by the firm; the following are

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some of these benefits of staff retention as written by

(Shaddock, 2010).

The cost of turnover. The cost of staff turnover adds

hundreds of thousands of money to a company’s expenses

hence decreasing their profit margin. It therefore

becomes difficult to calculate the cost of turnover

(including hiring costs, training costs and productivity

loss), industry experts often quote 25% of the average

employee salary as a conservative estimate.

Loss of company’s knowledge. When an employee leaves a

firm, he or she takes with him or her valuable knowledge

about the company, customers, current projects and past

history sometimes to competitors. This knowledge can

therefore be gained by another competing firm who employs

this worker and this can result in beating competition as

information about the first company is leaked to the

second company. Often much time and money has to be spent

on the employee by the first company in expectation of

future return.

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Interruption of customer service. Customers and clients

do business with a company in part because of the people.

Relationships are developed that encourage continued

sponsorship of the business. When an employee leaves, the

relationships that they built for the company are

severed, this could lead to potential customer loss.

Turnover leads to more turnovers. When an employee

terminates, the effect is felt throughout the

organization. Co-workers are often requires to pick up

the slack. The unspoken negatively often intensifies for

the remaining staff.

Goodwill of the company. The goodwill of a company is

maintained when the attrition rates are low. A higher

retention rate motivates potential employees to join the

organization.

Regaining efficiency. If an employee resigns, then good

amount of time is lost in hiring a new employee and then

training him or her to take position of the past employee

and this goes to the loss of the company directly. Which

many at times goes unnoticed by the company

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2.4 Reasons Why Staffs Leave an Organization

According to (Shaddock 2010), Staffs do not leave an organization

without any significant reason. There are certain circumstances

that lead to their leaving the organization. These most common

reasons can be:

Job is not what the employee expected to be. Sometimes

the job responsibilities do not come out to be same as

expected by the candidates. Unexpected job

responsibilities lead to job dissatisfaction bringing

about the employee leaving the company to look for

another company employing him or her.

Job and person mismatch. An employee may be fit to do a

certain type of work which matches his or her

personality. If he or she is a given a job which

mismatches his or her personality, then he or she would

not be able to perform it well and will try to find out

reasons to leave the job.

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No growth opportunities. No or less leaving and growth

opportunities in the current job will make employee’s job

and career stagnant.

Lack of appreciation. If the worker is not appreciated by

the supervisor, the employee feels de-motivated and loses

interest in the job. Which many at times lead to the

staff leaving the organization for another organization.

Lack of trust and support in coworkers, senior and

management. Trust is the most important factor that is

required for an individual to stay in the job. Non-

supportive coworkers, senior and management can make

office environment unfriendly and different to work in.

Inadequate compensation for staffs. Better compensation

packages being offered by other companies many attract

employees towards themselves. If employees do not enjoy

better compensation they can easily leave for another

company which is better off in compensating it members.

New job offer. An attractive job offer which an employee

thinks is good for him or her respect to job

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responsibility, compensation, growth and leaving etc. can

lead an employee to leave the organization.

2.5 Strategies for Staff Retention

(Shaddock 2011), propose that the following strategies can be

used by management in retaining organizational staff.

Hire the right people in the first place. Management must

therefore employ the right staffs to do the expected

work. This is because if the intended work to be done is

given to a person with no or little knowledge about the

work he or she may not know how to perform the work or

feel reluctant to do the work or better still leave the

organization for another as much as possible.

Empower the staffs. Staffs must also be vested with some

authority to get things done. Power or authority to do

work must not be rested at the top, line management and

other departments must be given the authority to do the

job.

Make staffs realize that they are the most valuable asset

of the organization. Management must position in the

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minds of their employees that without them the

organization cannot exist to serve the needs of the

customers. Due to this reason, employees must be served

better by their management so that they can also serve

customers better and avoid leaving the leaving the

organization.

Provide employees with information, knowledge and

coaching them. Management must provide them with new

knowledge as to how the work should be perform, any good

information about the work that will help the employees

to do their work better and appreciated must be available

to them in performance of their duty. The must also be

management responsibility of coaching staffs on how the

work should be done in other to avoid deviations.

Keep providing them with feedback on their performance.

An organization should not wait for annual performance

review or evaluation to come before informing employees

on their performance. Frequent feedbacks to employees

therefore help them realize their mistakes committed so

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far so that the necessary correction be make as early as

possible.

Create an environment where the employees want to work

and have fun. A committed working environment must be

created for workers which enhance their easy work done

and safety. Also there should be training programs for

workers.

Provide opportunities for professional development and

growth. Offer opportunities for team members to acquire

new skills and knowledge useful to the organization. If

an employee appears to be bored or burned out in a

current position offer to train this individual in

another facet of the organization where he or she would

be a good fit. Nobody wants to feel stuck in their

position will no possibility for advancement or new

opportunities.

2.6 Factors That Affect Staff Retention

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Shorten the feedback loop- do not wait for an annual

performance review or evaluation to come due to give

feedback on how an employee is performing. Most team

members enjoy frequent feedback about how they are

performing. Shortening the feedback loop will help to

keep performance levels high and will reinforce positive

behavior. Feedback does not necessarily need to be

scheduled or highly structured; simply stopping by a team

member's desk and letting them know they are doing a good

job on a current project can do wonders for employee

morale and help to increase retention.

Offer a competitive compensation package- any team member

wants to feel that he or she is being paid appropriately

and fairly for the work he or she does. Be sure to

research what other companies and organizations are

offering in terms of salary and benefits. It is also

important to research what the regional and national

compensation averages are for that particular position.

You can be sure that if your compensation package is not

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competitive, team members will find this out and look for

employers who are willing to offer more competitive

compensation packages. (Shaddock, 2010).

Balance work and personal life- family is incredibly

important to team members. When work begins to put a

significant strain on one's family no amount of money

will keep an employee around. Stress the importance of

balancing work and one's personal life. Small gestures

such as allowing a team member to take an extended lunch

once a week to watch his son's baseball game will likely

be repaid with loyalty and extended employment with an

organization.

Beware of burnout- staff adequately to reduce the amount

of unwanted overtime a team member must work. Some

employees enjoy the extra money that accompanies overtime

hours, while others would rather spend their time with

their families or doing other activities they enjoy.

Burnout can be a leading cause of turnover. Recognize the

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warning signs and give employees a break when they need

it.

Provide opportunities for professional development and

growth - offer opportunities for team members to acquire

new skills and knowledge useful to the organization. If

an employee appears to be bored or burned out in a

current position offer to train this individual in

another facet of the organization where he or she would

be a good fit. Nobody wants to feel stuck in their

position will no possibility for advancement or new

opportunities.

The ability to provide input and be taken seriously -

everybody has opinions and ideas, some are better than

others. However every team member wants to feel that

their input is welcome and will be taken seriously

without ridicule or condescension. Some of the greatest

ideas can come from the most unlikely of places and

people. Creating a culture where input is welcome from

all level of the organizational chart will help

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organization grow and encourage long term employee

retention.

Management must take the time to get to know team

members- it's not a big surprise that one of the greatest

complaints that employees express in exit interviews is a

feeling that management didn't know they existed. Nobody

wants to feel like just another spoke in a big wheel.

Managers are very busy - everybody is busy, but it is

crucial that managers and supervisors take the time get

to know the team members who work under them. Learn and

remember a team member's name, what skills and talents

they bring to the table, and what their business

interests are. The time spent by management getting to

know team members is well invested and can eliminate the

headaches caused by having to continually hire and re-

train new employees.

Provide the tools and training an employee needs to

succeed- nothing can be more frustrating to an employee

than a lack of training or the proper tools to

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successfully complete his or her duties. You wouldn't try

to build a house without a hammer, so why should an

office job be any different? Providing a team member with

the tools and training she needs to be successful shows a

commitment and investment in that employee and will

encourage the team member to stay with the organization.

Make use of a team member's talents, skills, and

abilities- all team members have knowledge, skills, and

abilities that aren't directly related to their job

description, but are still useful to an organization.

Utilizing a team member's talents in areas other than

their current position will indicate to an employee that

management appreciates and recognizes all that an

employee has to offer to the organization. This can also

provide work variety and helps to break up the everyday

grind of work.

Never threaten a team member's job or income - While

threatening an employee with termination or demotion

might seem like a surefire way to get the results needed

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from him or her, doing so will likely cause the employee

to leave the organization. Put yourself in the employee's

shoes, what is the first thing you would do if your job

was threatened? Odds are you would probably update your

resume and start checking for open job postings expecting

the worst. If a team member's performance is not what you

had hoped it would be, work with that team member on ways

to improve his performance, saving termination only as a

last resort.

2.7 How to Motivate Staff and Keep Them

There are a number of ways to motivate and retain staffs, in a

competitive business environment, motivating and retaining

employees is vital. This means ensuring that staffs, especially

top-performing employees, are not only satisfied with their jobs,

but motivated to stay with the organization. Companies that

understand the value of strong workplace morale will use a number

of strategies to encourage loyalty, enthusiasm, motivation and

ultimately retention. ( Guettler, 2010). The steps that are

included are the following:

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Step1. Offer a fair, competitive compensation program. Salary

is one of the most important features potential new hires

consider. Much money must not be paid more than a competitor; a

nominal step above the rest is enough. Also, consider

implementing a retention bonus plan. Promising a strong annual

raise after three, five or ten years is a strong incentive for

employees to stay. Remember to ensure that compensation is

commensurate will the nature of and amount of work an employee is

expected to perform.

Step2. Provide an attractive benefits package. Employees will

stay with a company if they receive benefits like great health

care, tuition reimbursement, child care, wellness programs, a

good retirement plan etc. be generous with holidays, vacation,

sick or personal days, benefit you can increase with seniority.

Though it seems counterintuitive, it all leads to greater

productivity and motivation.

Step3. Foster a positive working environment. You imagination

is the limit, but some ideas include celebrating birthdays,

providing occasional treats, holding sporting competitions and

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celebrating company or individual success. When your staff looks

forward to coming to work, they will be motivated to do their

best.

Step4. Allow for flexibility. Many of your employees have

personal obligations that take place during the working or other

needs that would make it easier for them to work a 7:00am to

4:00pm schedule for instance. Provided an employee gets his or

her work done, be flexible with his or her hours so he can go to

his or her kids school play, take his or her mother to the doctor

when sick.

Step5. Give employees the best tools and training to

succeed. Well- trained workers require less supervision and feel

more confident in their roles. Ensure your staff receives ongoing

training and other chances to develop, and they will be motivated

to achieve. Provide access to current technology and hamper their

productivity.

Step6. Provide opportunities for advancement. No one wants a

dead-end job, so encourage motivation and loyalty by promoting

in-house personnel. This signals reward for hard work and staying

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with the company, so discuss a professional career advancement

plan with each staff. The ability to climb the proverbial ladder

is both a powerful motivator and incentive to stay.

Step7. Recognize and reward employees for their hard work

and achievements. This can be as simple as great job or heartfelt

but other techniques include giving awards and trophies, gifts or

event a special parking sport. Be sure you recognize employees in

front of their coworkers and you will inspire others.

Step8. Conduct annual surveys to determine job satisfaction.

Ask staffs what they enjoy most about their jobs, what they find

frustrating, if they have any ideas to improve a certain problem

or initiate a new effort, and what they will like to see more or

less of. Of course, this should be done anonymously, and be sure

to act on what is learnt.

2.8 Staff Retention Myths

The process of retention is not as easy as it seems. There are so

many tactics and strategies used in retention of staffs by the

organizations.

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The basic purpose of these strategies should be to increase staff

satisfaction, boost staff morale to achieve retention. But

sometimes these strategies are not used properly or even worse,

wrong strategies are used.

According to (Burand, 2002), There are many myths related to

staff retention process, some of these include:

Staffs leave an organization for more pay. Money may be

the motivating factor for some but for many people it is

not the most important factor. Money matters more to the

low-income-staffs for who is survival issue. Money can

make an employee stay in an organization but not for

long. The factors that are more important than money are

job satisfaction, job responsibilities and individual’s

skills development. The employers should understand this

and work out some other ways to make staffs feel

satisfied. But instead they should try to figure out the

main reason behind it. Issues that are mainly the cause

of dissatisfaction are organization’s policies and

procedures, working conditions, relationship with the

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supervisor and salary, etc. for such staffs, achievement,

growth, respect, and recognition is the main concern.

Incentives can increase productivity. Incentives can

surely increase productivity but not for long term. Cash

incentives, volume work targets and speed awards are old

management beliefs. They can generate work speedily and

in volumes but cannot boost employee commitment. Rather

speed can hamper the quality of work produced. What

really glues employees to their work and organization is

quality work, meaningful responsibilities, recognition,

respect, growth opportunities and friendly supervisors.

Employees run away from responsibilities. It is a myth

that staffs run from responsibilities. In fact, employees

feel more responsible if they are given extract

responsibilities apart from their regular job. Staffs

look for variety, greater control on the processes and

authority to take decisions in their present job. They

want opportunities to learn and grow. Management can

assign extra responsibilities to their employees and

appreciate them on the completion of these tasks. This

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will induce a sense of pride in the employee and will

improve the relationship between the management and the

staffs.

Loyalty is a thing of the past. Staffs can be loyal but

what they need is an employer for whom they can be loyal.

Taking measures to increase employee satisfaction will be

expensive for organizations. The things actually required

improving staff’s satisfaction like respect, career

growth and development, appreciation etc. cannot be

bought. They are free of cost, an employee or management

that reacts well to the employee’s ideas and suggestions

is enough for the staffs to be retained.

Retention has a direct and causal relationship with staff needs

and motivation. Applying motivation theories such as Herzberg’s

two facto theory and Equity theory.

i. Herzberg’s two factor theory.

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Frederick Herzberg, an American psychologist postulated a two

factor theory of motivation at work that divided the factors

of work environment into two categories: the hygiene factors

and motivation factors.

The hygiene factors. According to Herzberg, these factors

create favorable environment for employees and prevent

job dissatisfaction among them which may result in

apparty on the part or the staffs leading to poor

organizational performance.

These factors include; company policies, salary, type of

supervision, working conditions, interpersonal

relationships and fringe benefits.

According to this theory, there is the tendency for

dissatisfaction to occur if these hygiene factors are

poor but Herzberg also contended that the presence of

these factors does not necessary lead to job satisfaction

among staffs. This means that, an employee might leave a

firm because working conditions were poor but he will not

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be motivated to work harder if working conditions were

improved.

Motivation factor theory. According to Herzberg, these

factors promote job satisfaction among employees when

they are present but only when hygiene factors were

present at satisfactory levels.

They include sense of achievement, recognition,

responsibility nature of the work and promotion.

All these factors relate to job content and the rewards

or work performance. The implication is that absence of

achievement or responsibility for instance would be

unlikely to cause an employee to leave a firm, but if

these could be increased the employee would be more

motivated to work harder to help the organization achieve

higher performance.

ii. Equity theory.

According to this theory, employees do not work in vacuum,

they make comparison with other employees in different

organizations and are centered on related and what employees

believe is fair.

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Equity theory suggest that staffs weigh what they put into a

job situation ( input) for example, hard work, skills,

tolerance, enthusiasm, support of colleagues etc. against what

they get from it ( outcome) e.g. Financial reward, perks,

advancement, praise reputation etc. and they compare their

input-output ratio to that of their colleagues in different

organizations.

The theory further suggest that if an employee’s input-output

ratio is equal to that of their colleagues in similar

positions elsewhere, then there is equity.

In this situation, the staff work harder and help the

organization to perform creditably.

On the other hand, if the input-output ratio is not equal to

that of their colleagues then there is inequity. In this

situation, the employees are not motivated to work harder and

this can negatively affect the performance of the

organization.

Adams smith concluded that to ensure positive organizational

performance:

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Managers should attempt to ensure that staffs feel a

sense of equity.

People should be rewarded according to their

contributions or performance levels.

Managers should be aware that feelings of inequity are

almost bound to rise, and when they do, managers must be

patient and either correct the problem if it is real or

help people recognize that things are not as they seem.

2.9 What Is Organizational Performance?

Organizational performance refers to a situation whereby an

organization is able to achieve it goals and objectives

through coordinated efforts of it employees.

Organizational performance involves moving towards an adaptive

way and achieving corporate excellence by integrating the

desires of individuals for growth and development with

organizational goals.

Organizational performance involves the recruiting activities

to establish organizational goals, monitor progress towards

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the goals and making adjustments to achieve those goals more

effectively. (M.C. Norman, 2003).

Organizational performance comprise the long range efforts and

program aimed at improving an organization’s ability to

survive by changing it problem-solving and renewal process.

This comprises achieving corporate excellence by integrating

the desire of individuals for growth and development with

organizational goals. (Brown and Harvey- an experiential

approach to organizational development).

2.10 Determinants of Organizational Performance

In the U.K, Sheffield Enterprise programs (Patterson et al.

1997) has studied 100 marketing organizations over 10 years

(1991-2001) and used statistical techniques to identify which

factors affect profitability and productivity of

organizations. It has been reported that aspects of culture,

supervisory support concern for staff welfare, staff

responsibility and training were all important variables in

relation to organizational performance.

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Wood and de Menezes, U.K (2005), identified the following as

determinants of organizational performance:

Recruitment of staffs and selection.

Training, promotion and job security for staffs.

The use of direct communication and team work among

staffs.

Kaplan and Norton (2002) argues that, the mix of measures

which an organization should use to determine it

performance level should be based around four (4) different

perspective. These are:

Internal business measures- staffs skills, labor turnover,

productivity of staffs and cycle time.

Financial measures – such as sales growth, cash flow and

increased market share.

Customer measures- that is, the customer perspective which

looks at for examples; delivery time, service quality,

product quality etc.

38

Innovation and learning perspective-including such

elements as ability to innovate and improve.

2.11. General Guidelines for Motivating Staffs to Achieve Higher

Performance.

Recognize individual differences. Almost every modern theory

acknowledges that employees have different needs. They also

differ in terms of attitude, personality and other important

individual variables. Managers should therefore recognize

this and treat them by such differences. (Muchinsky and P.M,

2006).

Link rewards to performance. It is necessary that

managers link the rewards of their staffs to their actual

performances. Rewarding factor other than performance

will only reinforce those other factors. Managers should

make rewards more visible and potentially motivating.

39

Match people to jobs. Available evidence from various

studies points to the fact that, employees are able to

perform creditably if their matched jobs relates to their

skills and competences. This will help them give out

their best toward the success of their organization.

Do not ignore money. It is easy to get caught up in

setting goals, creating interesting jobs and providing

opportunities for participation but one forget that money

is a major reason why most people work. Bonuses and other

incentives are important in determining staff

performance.

2.12. Staff Performance Appraisal

Staff performance appraisal is the continual assessment of an

employee’s progress by his or her manager, colleagues or

subordinates. (G.A. Cole, Management Theory and Practice- 6th

edition).

40

It is the process of systematically evaluating performance of

employees and providing feedback on which adjustment can be made.

It assesses an employee’s work performance and potential.

Traditionally, performance appraisal systems have provided a

formalized process to review the performance of staffs. They are

typically designed on a central basis, usually by managements of

the organization, and this requires each line manager to appraise

the performance of their staff.

The nature of what is being appraised varies between

organizations and might cover personality, behavior or jobs

performance. The areas might be measured either quantitatively or

qualitatively.

Employee performance appraisal can either be formal or informal.

Formal appraisal. This is a planned event based on

performance evidence at which an employee’s progress is

discussed with his or her superior, usually in the context

of job targets and priorities.

Informal appraisal. Is a continual day-to-day assessment

of an employee’s progress by his or her manager which is

41

adhoc in nature and as much determined by objective

evidenced.

Writers such as Peter Drucker (1994) are enthusiastic

about appraisal:

“To appraise an employee and his performance is part of

the manager’s job. Indeed unless he does the appraisal

himself, he cannot adequately discharge his

responsibilities for assisting and teaching his

subordinates.”

Drucker’s view as a whole is that managers are responsible

for achieving results, and these results are obtained from

the management of staffs, financial and material

resources; all of which should be monitored.

Monitoring means setting standards of performance for

staffs, measuring their performance and taking appropriate

action.

In respect of employees, this entails taking action to

improve their performance by means of training and help.

42

Writers such as G.A. Cole in his book management theory

and practice, 6 th edition identified the following as

reasons for appraising staffs;

To identify an individual’s current level of job

performance.

To identify an employee’s strength and

weaknesses.

To provide the basis for rewarding employees in

relation to their contribution to organizational

goals.

To motivate staffs

To identify training and development needs.

Besides, the above reasons of appraising employees, the following

have also been identified as some problems associated with

employee performance appraisal;

Regency effect. This is a situation where undue weight is

given to the most recent event. It is often difficult for

managers to keep track of everything as employee does.

Therefore the manager may rely too heavily on latest

43

event that may not even be representative of the

employee’s performance.

Hallo error. This occurs when one factor influence

ratings or all factors. For example, an employee tends to

be dependable therefore the evaluator might become big

towards that individual to extent that he or she will be

rated for a many desirable quantities.

Cluster tendency. This is the tendency to consider

everyone in the working group as above average or below

average. Some raters are normally considered tough

because they normally cluster their people at the low

level.

Rating the job and not the individual, Individuals in higher

rated jobs are often considered superior performers than

those in lower rated jobs

44

CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.0 Introduction

This chapter presents the methodological procedures and processes

employed in conducting the research. It involves the research

design, area of study, population of the study, sample size,

45

sampling procedure, sources of data, data collection techniques

and data analysis tools.

3.1 Research Design

The research is generally qualitative, descriptive and cross -

sectional, it will also adopt the survey strategy to collect

data. A survey will be conducted to illustrate Staff retention

and its impact on organizational performance, with A-STAR

Microfinance as the case study. Quantitative data will be

collected through questionnaire. Individual interviews were also

conducted to obtain qualitative data.

3.2 Area of the Study

The study area of the case is A-STAR Microfinance with specific

focus on the main office of the Organization, ten minute walk

from the Market Circle located at Takoradi constituency in

Western Region of the Ghana.

3.3 Population of the Study

The study population involves the management staff and non

management staff. Management staff includes; branch manager,

46

administrator, operation officer, accountant and marketing and

monitoring supervisor. Non management staff includes; marketing

or sale assistants, security and I.T personnel.

3.4 Sampling Procedure

Simple random technique will be used. This is to give every one

an equal chance of being selected.

3.5 Sampling Size

There is a total number of fifteen (15) staff, made up of six (6)

management staff and nine (9) non management staff. Out of the

six (6) management staff, two (2) are females and four (4) are

males. Also out of the nine (9) non management staff, two (2) are

males and seven (7) are females.

3.6 Source of Data

In order to have a co-ordinate objective and complete view of

the study area, the research collected data from both the primary

and secondary sources. Primary source of data will involve the

formulation and distribution of questionnaires for both

management and employees of A-STAR Microfinance to better

47

understanding of the research topic (Staff retention and its

impact on organizational performance).

The Secondary data source are those information that will be

obtained from the Organizations past records of management

accounts, reports, books in the specific field of organizational

performance and internet.

3.7 Data Collection Technique

The study will utilize two data collection techniques which is

interview and administering questionnaires. Information from

management staff will be sourced using the technique of

questionnaire. This technique will be used because management are

often time busy and cannot have time for the interview. For non

management staff interviews, questionnaire and focus group

discussions.

3.8 Data Analysis Tool

Data from the field will be checked to ensure that all

questionnaires sent out were returned. Data will was cleaned to

48

avoid extraneous figure or information. Data will be presented in

percentages, tables, charts and descriptive statistics.

CHAPTER FOUR

DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF DATA

4.0 Introduction.

The purpose of this study is to assess Staff retention and its

impact on organizational performance, with A-STAR Microfinance

with Ltd as my case study. This chapter deals with the findings

49

after the prepared questionnaires have been administered to both

management and the employees of the organization at the head

office.

Figure 4.0.1

MALES

FEMALES

GENDER DISTRIDUTION OF REPONDENTS

Source: field survey, May 2013.

This figure shows the total number of respondents that the

questionnaires were administered to, of which 7 (194 degrees) of

them are males with 3 being management and 4 being employees, the

rest 6 (166 degrees) are females, 5 are employees and 1

management, Showing that the firm is dominated by males.

Table 4.0.2: Age Distribution of Respondents

AGE BAND FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

50

20-30 10 77

31-40 1 8

41-50 2 15

51 and above 0 0

Total 13 100


Table 4.0.2 shows the age distribution of workers of A-STAR

Microfinance Ltd. 10 (77%) of the respondents are between the

ages of 20-30. 2 of them are management and 8 Staff. Respondents

between the ages of 31-40 is 1 (8%) being a management member.

2(15%) of the respondent are between the ages of 41-50. 1

management and the other staff member.

Figure 4.1.0: Responses on Staff Right Allocation of Work.

YESNO

51


Figure 4.1 depicts the answer on asking employees as to whether

they are allocated on their specific field of profession. 14 (277

degrees) respondents answered YES, out of the 13 (360 degrees)

respondents 2 (83 degrees) respondents gave the answer NO to the

asked question Showing that A-STAR Microfinance has been placing

most of its employees on their field of profession.

Figure 4.1.1 Employees Training Programs

YES; 3

NO; 2

RESPONSES ON WHETHER EMPLOYEES ATTEND TRAINING PROGRAMS

Source: field survey, May, 2013.

This figure is showing that 3 respondents who represents 240

degrees out of the 360 degrees answer that they are allowed to

attend training programs whilst 6 people representing 120 degrees

52

of the total 9 (360 degrees) gave the answer NO to the question,

there is therefore a clear indication that most of the workers of

A-STAR Microfinance are not attending training programs.

Figure 4.1: Employees Involvement in Organization Decision Making

Yes

NO

RESPONSES ON WHETHER EMPLOYEES OR THEIR REPS ARE INVOLVED IN DECISION MAKING

YESNO


On asking the question as to whether management involves staff in

decision making 7 (280 degrees) people

responded YES, these of which 2 are males and five females. Those

who responded NO are 2 males showing a degrees of 80 out of the

(360 degrees), 9 respondents which is shown in the figure 4.1.2

53

Table 4.1.3: Number of Times Staff or Their Reps Are Involved In

Decision Making

NUMBER OF TIMES FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

During annual

meetings

2 29

During monthly

meetings

4 57

When the need arise 1 14

Total 7 100


The frequency table 4.4 is an analysis of the number of times

staff or their representatives are involved in decision been made

by management. 7 respondents ( 2 males and 5 females) of 29% out

of 100% said it is during annual meetings that they or their

reps are involved, 4 (57%) respondents said it is during monthly

meeting and one respondent said it is when the need arise.

Figure 4.1.4 Suggestion Scheme for Employees at A-Star

Microfinance Limited

54

YES

NO

RESPONSES ON WHETHER EMPLOYEES HAVE SUGGESTION SCHEME WITHIN THE ORGNIZATION

Source: felid survey, May 2013

The figure 4.5 is a representation of whether employees have

suggestion scheme within the firm. 200 degrees out of 360 degrees

which is 5 respondents answered NO whilst 4 respondents answered

YES, Showing that the bank has not got employee’s scheme for

grievances forwarding as side their traditional suggestion box.

Table 4.1.5: Responses on Management Periodic Assessment on

Employees Performance

RESPONSES FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

Yes 11 84.6

55

No 0 0

I can’t tell 2 15.4

total 9 100


This table is analyzed to show whether employees are periodically

assessed. 2 (15.4%) of the employees are unaware as to whether

they are assessed, 11 (84.6%) responded that they are aware of

the periodic assessments in the organization.

Figure 4.1.6: Responses on Employees Performance Assessment

360 degrees

FEEDBACK ON EMPLOYEE'S PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT BY MANAGEMENT

YES


On the question of whether employees are given feedback on their

assessment, 360 degrees representing 8 respondents answered YES.

56

This shows that A-STAR Microfinance Ltd is able to give it

employee’s feedback on their various performances.

Table 4.1.7: Activities to Induce Employees Work Hard For the

Organization

ACTIVITIES FREQUENCY PRECENTAGE

In-service training 0 0

Increased salaries 7 78

Training and

motivation

2 22

Total 9 100

Source: filed survey, May 2013.

Table 4.1.7 shows that 78% representing 7 respondents said that

an increased salary will help them work hard, whilst 2

respondents said that a combination of the two will help them

work hard for the organization.

Table 4.1.8: Responses on How Employees Rate Their Salary

RATE FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

Excellent 0 0

Satisfactory 8 89

57

Poor 1 11

total 9 100


The table verifies the fact that 8 of the respondents

representing 89% out of (100%) are satisfy with their salaries

due them and 1 respondent representing 11% of the total 100% view

their salaries to be poor meaning that A-STAR Microfinance is not

able to make staff feel more than satisfied in terms of their

salary.

Figure 4.1.9: Rewards Given To Employees on Achieving the Set

Target

200 degrees160 degrees

RESPONSES ON REWARD RECEIVED ON ACHIEVING CERTAIN TARGETS

YESNO


58

From the chart is can be read that 160 degrees representing 4

respondents said that on achieving certain targets they are not

rewarded whilst 200 degrees representing 5 respondents said they

are given rewards on achieving certain targets as set by the

firm, showing that when a greater number of workers achieve their

targets they are rewarded other than a few number of workers

achieving the set targets.

Table 4.1.10: Uses of the Outcome for Achievement of the Set

Target

USES OF OUTCOME FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

Appraisal 0 0

New job title 1 25

Increased salaries 3 75

total 4 100


Tables 4.1.10 shows that 25% show 1 employee states that new job

titles are given to them on achieving the set target whilst 3

(75%) said management uses the outcome to increase their

59

salaries. This shows that management of A-STAR Microfinance Ltd

have place it resources mostly on increasing employees salaries.

Figure 4.1.11: Assessment on How Management Makes Decision

240 degrees

120 degrees

RESPONSES ON WHETHER EMPLOYEES LIKE HOW DECISION MADE IN THE FIRM

YESNO


From the chart, 120 degrees representing 3 employees answered

that they do not like how management make their decisions whilst

the rest 240 degrees representing 6 employees said they like how

management make decision meaning that management is not able to

make a decision that is liked by all the employees but a greater

number of them.

60

Table 4.1.12: Incentives Employees Enjoy Aside Their Normal

Salary

INCENTIVES FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

Nothing at all 2 22

Transport and

travelling

allowances

3 33

Overtime and other

bonuses

4 45

total 9 100

Source: field survey. May 2013.

From the table it is observed that the organization place much

emphasis on given out bonuses to employees than rewarding

employees on allowance which can help increase the level of

productivity of the organization. Whilst few of them think there

are no incentives apart from their salary.

Figure 4.1.13: Assessing Employees Relationship with Management

61

120 degrees

240 degrees

RESPONSES ON EMPLOYEES RELATIONSHIP WIITH MANAGEMENT

VERY CORDIAL 4 CORDIAL


The figure shows that 120 degrees out the 360 degrees responded

that their relationship with management is very good whilst 240

degrees of the respondents answered that their relationship with

management is good.

Figure 4.1.14: Employees Relationship with Co-Workers

RESPONSES ON THE TYPE OF RELATIONSHIP WITH CO-WORKERS

V. CORDIALCORDIAL


62

Looking at figure 4.1.14, the relationship that exist between the

staff of A-STAR Microfinance Ltd is very much cordial than the

type of relationship that is between management and the

employees, meaning that the chances of employees understanding

themselves outweighs that with management.

Figure 4.1.15: Assessing Working Condition in the Organization

RESPONSES ON WHETHER EMPLOYEES ENJOY CONDUCIVE WORKING ENVIRONMENT

YES NO


63

From the chart, it can be seen that all of the employees enjoy a

good working environment enhancing easy and excellent work done

to increase productivity level in the organization.

Figure 4.1.16: Assessing the Chance of Changing Job

RESPONSES ON WHETHER STAFFS WOULD CHANGE JOB IF GIVING THE

CHANCEYES NO


From the chart, it can be seen that most of the employees would

like to change their current work if giving the chance to do so.

And this will not enhance easy and excellent work done to

increase productivity level in the organization.

Responses from Management

64

Table 4.2.0: Rating the Role of Staff Retention towards

Organizational Performance

RATINGS RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%)

Very important 3 75

Important 1 25

Not important 0 0

Not important at all 0 0

total 4 100


The management board constitute 6 staff but only 4 responded; of

which 3 of them are males and one female, 3 respondents which is

equivalent to 75% rates the role of staff retention to be very

important dominating the management board whilst 1 respondents

who constitute 25% out of the 100% rate it to be important with

no one view the role of staff retention as been not important or

not important at all.

65

Table 4.2.1: Assessment of Staff Retention Appraisal

NUMBER OF TIMES RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%)

Daily 1 25

Weekly 0 0

Monthly 0 0

Yearly 2 50

When the need arise 1 25

total 4 100


2 (50%) respondents answering that appraisal within the

organization is done annually, the rest 1 (25%) respondents

saying that they appraise employees daily and 1 (25%) respondents

says that they appraise when the need arise shows that the type

of appraisal within the firm is strong but would be much stronger

if appraisal is done at least twice in the year to motivate

employees all the time to work harder towards increasing

productivity.

66

Table 4.2.2: The Use of Outcome of the Appraisal

USES OF OUTCOME RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%)

Promotion 2 50

Increasing salaries 1 25

Awards 0 0

Caution to back up 1 25

total 4 100


The table represents the use of appraisal outcome. 2 (50%)

respondents out of 4 (100%) answered that the outcome of the

appraisal is used for promoting employees, 1 (25%) respondents

said that the outcome is used to increase employees salaries,

1responded that the outcome is to caution staff to back up.

Meaning that in A-STAR Microfinance Ltd appraisal is mostly used

for promoting employees in the firm rather than increasing their

salaries, awarding or assessing their capabilities.

Figure 4.2.3: Management Policy to Improve Employees Skills And

Productivity

67

RESPONSES ON MANAGEMENT POLICY TO IMPROVE EMPLOYEE'S SKILS

AND PRODUCTIVITYYES NO


On asking as to whether there is management policy to improve

employees skills and productivity, 4 (360 degrees) responded that

there is one. The responses shows that there is a management

policy of improving employee’s skills and productivity.

Figure 4.2.4: Organizational Performance Assessment

68

225 degrees

135 degrees

ASSESSMENT OF ORGANIZATINAL PERFORMANCE

PROFIT AND LOSS ASSEMENT AND CASH FLOWQUALITY STAFF RETENTION


From the figure 4.2.4, profit and loss assessment and cash flow

which denotes 225 degrees of the total 360 degrees is an

indicator of good organizational performance at A-STAR

Microfinance Ltd, 135 degrees which shows a quality staff

retention.

Table 4.2.5: Motivational Tools Used In A-Star Microfinance

Limited

TYPE OF TOOL RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%)

Salary increase 2 50

Training 0 0

Promotion 2 50

Other specifics 0 0

69

Total 4 100

Source: field survey, May 2013

Table 4.2.5 shows the type of tool use in the firm. 2 respondents

representing 50% of management answered that salary increase is

used as a motivational tool to induce employees to work harder,

whilst another 2 respondents said that promotion is their

motivational tool for inducing employees.

Table 4.2.6: Type of Motivational Package Offered By Management

to Employees

MOTIVATIONAL PACKAGE RESPONDENT PERCENTAGE (%)

Workshop 2 50

Seminar 1 25

Sponsorship training 0 0

Steady leave 1 25

Total 4 100


From the table 4.2.6, management usually uses workshop as a

package of motivating their employees, other than embarking on

70

seminars, sponsorship training and giving a steady leave to their

employees to go learning in order to achieve a new set of

knowledge to the already existing one.

Figure 4.2.7: Low Performance Assessment In The Organization

360 degrees

RESPONSES ON WHETHER THE ORGANIZATION EXPERIENCES LOW PERFORMANCE LEVELS

YESNO


From figure 4.2.7, 4 (360 degrees) of the management of the

organization responded that they most at times experience low

performance due to the low levels of loan repayments on the part

71

of their customers. Therefore the higher respondent group has

shown that A-STAR Microfinance Ltd.

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.0 Introduction

This chapter looks at the outcome of the administered

questionnaire that was send out to A-STAR Microfinance Ltd. and

the recommendation that will be of help to management if they

should adhere to it.

72

5.1 Summary of Research Activities

The research is undertaken to assess the role of staff retention

towards organizational performance.

This study is undertaken at A-STAR Microfinance Ltd., the

questionnaire to this research administered to staff at the Main

Office of the Organization.

With fifteen staff as the sample frame, simple random as sampling

technique was use and both open and close ended questionnaire was

use to collect the data.

The following are the findings after the analysis have been made:

From my study it was seen that the organization is dominated by

males and also the age group that dominates the organization is

20-30 years with the frequency of 10 of which 7 of them are males

(2 management and 5 employees), the rest 5 are females (1

management and 4 employees). This is the reason why most of the

decisions are made by male employees.

73

Also, looking at the level of placing staff on their profession

of study, the organization places more of it employees on their

field of study not of all the workers do experience such benefit

resulting in some employees mismatch on jobs leading to them

leaving for another jobs in different organizations.

The annual involvement of staff in decision making is not

beneficial because employees will not be able to contribute

continuously to the progress of the organization.

During the findings, it was observed that employees on achieving

the set target experiences increase in salaries only instead of

increasing the salary and giving new title to whosoever achieves

the set target.

Again, management of A-STAR Microfinance Ltd. were seen to

focuses much on workshop as a motivational package to employees.

Steady leave which should have been adopted to improve on

employee’s knowledge on how the work should be perform in order

to increase their productivity level was overlooked. With the

fear that employees may leave for another firms if they should

74

gain an additional certificate as such requiring for new job

titles and pay increment.

On looking at type of incentives that employees enjoy beside

their monthly salary, it was seen that most employees enjoy

travelling allowances rather than management giving them bonuses

on overtime works that they perform. Which is a way of not

motivating employees to work harder leading to employees finding

the way out for other competitive firms in the industry? This if

occur can lead to the loss of organizational knowledge or

employees giving out the firms secret to the rivalry firms.

5.2 Summary of the Research

From table 4.2.0, the role of staff retention towards

organizational performance is rated very important.

Employees’ relationship is seen from figure 4.1.14 as very

cordial whilst the type of employees’ relationship with

management is also assessed to be very cordial in the figure

4.1.13 of chapter four.

75

From figure 4.2.4 of chapter four, the organization measure it

performance based on their capital adequacy and the level of loan

repayments.

One of the objective of the research is to identify some factors

that help improve the performance of employees in the

organization which is analyzed in chapter four, table 4.2.6, with

50% attending workshop and the minority attending seminars,

sponsorship training ( 50% respectively).

Also the type of motivational tool used mostly to ensure staff

performance was analyzed in chapter four; table 4.2.5 was

increasing the salaries of the staff and promoting them.

5.3 Conclusion

After a careful examination of the findings of the study, it is

evidently clear that the organization has perform extremely most

of the things that leads to retaining staff to ensure a better

organizational performance, however their inability to allow

study leave to employees to study, employment of much secondary

76

school certificate holders can result the organization remaining

in the old ways of doing the job, not satisfying their employees

with their due salary and the level of management relationship

with employees can also lead to employees leaving the firm

thereby bringing about increase in turnover cost, recruitment

cost, loss of talent and organizational knowledge.

5.4 Recommendation

The following are recommended in relation to the research work.

Ensuring staff retention in A-STAR Microfinance Ltd. by

Management.

Management in other to ensure staff retention in the

organization must can out with a policy which can allow staff

have outside training by attending class on a steady leave and

stating their conditions underlying their allowing staff on such

a leave so that staff can gain new knowledge to enhance effective

work done for better organizational performance of the firm and

to get enough professional on the job.

77

Employees reaching the set target set by management.

On setting a target, management must state the type of

motivational package to give if any employee should reach it so

that one package is not repeated over and over but balancing it

to ensure fairness in the firm whilst giving packages to

employees.

Paying employees the salary due them.

Management must stick to what their banking constitution say

about the type of salary every workers should receive on the

basics of their qualification to avoid biasness in employees

salaries.

Payment of overtime to employees.

To ensure staff retention so that there is better organizational

performance by A-STAR Microfinance Ltd., management as much as

possible must places much emphasis on paying employees overtime

rather than the focus on giving them flexible loans since

overtime leads to increasing productivity which can increase

their financial position and reputation.

78

Delay on employee’s feedback.

Delay of feedback must be a thing of the past so that employees

can receive feedback on their performance and the grievances they

forward to management very early so that the necessary amendments

can be made.

Employment of more female staff.

There should be the encouragement of female employees so to make

sex balance. This will not only make sex balance but also to make

their frontline very attractive since women have the chances of

influencing product patronage than men. This will also lead to

high productivity and profit increase.

Assessment of employees.

Management in ensuring employees assessment must assess them

frequently so that those who are not performing can be identified

and early train giving out to those non-performing employees.

Management-employees relationship.

The relationship between employees and staff be very cordial so

that staff can easily forward their grievances if they are faced

79

with some problems on how the job should be done or a personal

problem which management presence may help solve the problem.

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Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.

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http://www.businessdictionary.com/

QESTIONNAIRE FOR MANAGEMENT

I am Michael Sarpong a final year H.N.D Marketing Student of

Takoradi Polytechnic, writing on the project topic ‘Staff

retention and its impact on Organizational performance’ with A-

STAR Microfinance as my case. Answers to these questions will

help me the researcher to get the needed information for the

topic understudy. Respondents are assured that any information

82

provided will be given the due confidentiality and will be used

mainly for academic purpose.

I would be grateful if you could spare me some few minutes of

your precious time to answer the following questions.

Please tick the box where applicable.

SECTION A- PERSONAL PROFILE

Sex: male ( ), female ( )

Age: 20-30 ( ), 31-40 ( ), 41-50 ( ), 51 and above ( )

Educational background: O’ level/ A level ( ), SSCE/ WASCE ( ),

First degree/diploma or its equivalents ( ), others, please

specify………………………………………………………….

Department: Accounting/ internal Audit ( ), Marketing/ public

relation ( ), Operation ( ), Credit ( ), Administration

( ).

SECTION B.

1. How do you rate the role that staff retention play to your

organizational success? Very important ( ), Important ( ),

not important ( ), not important at all ( ).

2. Do you allocated employees to their specific field of

profession? Yes ( ), No( )

3. If no, then

why?........................................................

......................................................83

4. How do you ensure staff retention in your

organization…………………………………………………………………………...

5. Do you sometimes appraise your staff? Yes ( ), No

( ).

6. If yes, how often? Daily ( ), weekly ( ), monthly ( ),

yearly ( ), when the need arise ( )

7. What do you use the outcome of the appraisal for?

Promotion ( ), increase salary ( ), awards ( ), others

please specify………………………………………………………..

8. Is there any management policy to improve the skills and

productivity of employees? Yes ( ), No ( ).

9. If yes, what are some of these management policy?

............................................................

............................................................

............................................................

............................................................

....................................

10. How do you know that your organization is performing

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………….

11. Is there any motivational package for employees in your

firm? Yes ( ), No ( )

12. If yes, what are some of the motivational packages or

tools? Salary increase ( ), Training

( ), promotion ( ),

others, please specify………………………………………………………………………

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13. Is there any relation between employee motivation and

their productivity? Yes ( ), N0 (

)

14. If yes, please how is it?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………..

15. Which of the following is offered by top organization

to employees? Workshop ( ), seminar ( ),

sponsorship training ( ), steady leave ( )

16. What is the relationship that exists between employees

and top management? excellent ( ), very good

( ), good ( ), poor( )

17. How do you react to employee’s problems and grievances

when they occur?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………..

18. Do you involve employees or their reps in decision

making? Yes ( ), No ( )

19. Does your organization sometimes experience low

performance levels? Yes ( ), No ( )

20. If yes, what are some of the possible causes?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………

APENDIX 1 AND 2

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STAFF

85

I am Michael Sarpong a final year H.N.D Marketing Student of

Takoradi Polytechnic, writing on the project topic ‘Staff

retention and its impact on Organizational performance’ with A-

STAR Microfinance as my case. Answers to these questions will

help me the researcher to get the needed information for the

topic understudy. Respondents are assured that any information

provided will be given the due confidentiality and will be used

mainly for academic purpose. I would be grateful if you could

spare me some few minutes of your precious time to answer the

following questions.

Please tick the appropriate box where applicable.

SECTION A- PERSONAL PROFILE

Gender: male ( ), female ( )

Age: 20-30 ( ), 31-40 ( ), 41-51 ( ), 51 and above ( )

Educational background: O’ level/ A level ( ), SSCE/ WASCE ( ),

First degree/diploma or its equivalents ( ), others, please

specify………………………………………………………….

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Department: Accounting/ internal Audit ( ), Marketing/ public

relation ( ), Operation ( ), Credit ( ), I.T ( ),

Administration ( ).

SECTION B

1. For how long have you been working with this organization?

……………………………………………………………………………………………

2. How long are you prepared to work with this organization?

2-6 months ( ), 6-11 months ( ), 1-2years ( ), 2-3years

( )

3. Are you allocated at the right place/department you are

qualified for? Yes ( ), No ( )

4. Have you been attending training programs related to your

area of specification? Yes ( ), No ( )

5. If

no,why?....................................................

...........................................................

..............

6. Does management involve staff or your reps in decision

making? Yes ( ), No ( )

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7. If yes, how

often?.....................................................

..................................

8. Is there any employee suggestion scheme within your

organization through which you channel your grievances?

Yes ( ), No ( )

9. Do management periodically assess your performance? Yes

( ), No ( ), I can’t tell ( )

10. If yes, are you given feedback on your assessment? Yes

( ), No ( )

11. What will make you work very hard for your

organization?

...........................................................

...........................................................

...........................................................

...........................................................

............................

12. How do you rate your salary? Excellent ( ),

satisfactory ( ), poor ( )

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13. Are you rewarded upon achievement of certain targets?

Yes ( ), No( )

14. If yes how is it done? Is it through appraisals ( ),

new job titles ( ), increase in salary ( ), others,

please specify ( )………………………………………………………….

15. Do you like the way decisions are taken within the

organization? Yes ( ), No ( )

16. If no,

why? ......................................................

...........................................................

.......

17. What are some of the incentives you enjoy aside your

monthly salary?

...........................................................

...........................................................

...........................................................

...........................................................

.................................................

18. How is your relationship with management? Very cordial

( ), cordial ( ), poor ( )

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19. How is the relationship that exists between you and

your co-workers? Very cordial ( ), cordial ( ), poor ( )

20. Do you enjoy a conductive working environment? Yes

( ), No ( )

21. Would you like to change your job if offered the chance

to do so. Yes ( ), No ( )

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STAFF RETENTION AND ITS IMPACT ON ORGANIZATIONS’ PERFORMANCE

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