The role of employee motivation in overcoming high rate of brain drain in the Lesotho Public Service.

Abstract

This study aims to find out how employee motivation can assist to overcome high rate of brain drain in the Lesotho Public Service. Employee motivation refers to the process of boosting the morale of employees to encourage them to willingly give their best in accomplishing assigned tasks. Brain drain is the departure of skilled migrants from their place of origin to other countries to find jobs. Brain Drain weakens the structure of employment because it affects the performance of the home countries in term of economic growth and also causes huge losses to the human capital. The Lesotho Public Service is severely affected by brain drain. The country holds population of 2.1 million, of which 14 per cent, around 135,000, of its professionals continue to migrate and take up citizenship of other countries. The study tries to find out whether there are policies that address brain drain in the Lesotho public service and the extent to which these policies are being implemented. It identifies fields of professions that are mostly affected by brain drain. It also investigates whether there are policies that address employee motivation and how well they implemented in the Lesotho public service. The previous studies on brain drain and employee motivation in Lesotho were only focused on the health sector. There were few studies on other professionals such as teachers, lawyers, accountants and engineers yet they do migrate in large numbers and there was a gap in knowledge on the factors that cause their migration. The study covers different fields of professions that are affected by brain drain in the Lesotho public service and also evaluates how employee motivation can help to curb brain drain. The study followed a quantitative approach. The target population was composed employees from the Ministry of Local government, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Trade and Industry and Ministry of Development planning. The sample was made up of 230 employees. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24 for Windows was used for data analysis. Not sure why the number line was showing in text The study findings revealed that Lesotho government must enact policies that address brain drain, revise employee salaries and their working environment, provide training, recognise good performance and depoliticise the public service.