Exploring strategies used to retain academic employees of University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville Campus.

Abstract

The rise of technology since the 21st century has seen the advent of the microprocessors, computer software and a rapid change in technological advancement has increased the hunt for talented experts and skilled employees. The global economy is faced with increased competition for knowledgeable employees; this has made knowledge a strategic value. South Africa is a faced with a shortage of skills across the service industries most especially the educational service industries. Retaining employees has become a problem for human resource managers. Many organizations including higher education institutions have become unproductive and lost competitive advantage because of the high turnover of their core employees. Higher education institutions (HEIs) in South Africa are faced with problems of high demand for academics of which there is limited supply. In spite of the extensive academic discuss on employee’s turnover and retention, the debate remains inconclusive. Employee retention is important for all business or organization, as employee loyalty has reduced drastically raising the problem of turnover. HEIs in South Africa are faced with lot of turnover of employees and shortage of staff. They constantly adopt and review strategies to retain key staff and employees in their institutions. UKZN presently is faced with problem of retention of its academics, and is relevant to the problem my dissertation aims to explore.

Academic staff retention is a recurring problem across higher educational institutions in South Africa. Despite the gravity of the problem of turnover, there are still relatively few studies focused on academic’s retention across HEIs and literature in this area is sparse.

To understand the motivations and the reasons academics leave or stay despite the strategies in place. The methodology adopted was a qualitative in-depth interview. Using a non- probability sampling technique, a sample of fifteen respondents were chosen purposively from one particular college consisting of four schools at UKZN. Fifteen respondents were interviewed, voices recorded and transcribed. Thematic analysis was done with the aid of the Nvivo qualitative analysis software.

The study found out compensation, training & development and academic workloads were high variables factors that influenced employees’ intention to leave. However, on its own, recognition programs do not influence turnover intentions among academics unless combined with other variables. The majority of the academics also stated that the performance management system is inadequate to capture their academic workloads. Based on the findings, the study recommends that compensation packages should be made competitive. Training & development programs should be sustained and new ones be adequately initiated in line with the UKZN’s goals and objectives. Academic workloads could be made more flexible or reduced, while recognition programs be made more frequent and informal. A conceptual framework on talent retention is also proposed for the University of KwaZulu-Natal. This dissertation will contribute to literature in this arena and provide a platform for further research.