Antecedents and consequents: a case of study of employee turnover in state trading organization of Maldives / Hussain Waheed

Abstract

The study of employee turnover is one of the most commonly studied Human Resources management field with a rich history of literature since 1950s. Employee turnover occurs when an existing employee leaves the organization. It is not always undesirable, in most cases the lost potential, expertise and knowledge of valuable staff incurs a negative impact on organizations performance, productivity and operations. It is a common dilemma for many organizations, invoking its popularity of research. However, despite negative impacts that employee turnover may have on any organization, there has 1 been no research conducted to date regarding the causes, its impact on the organization and strategies to mitigate them in Maldivian context.
This report, produced for the fulfilment of the requirements of Masters of Business Administration (MBA) program of University of the West of England, U.K, is aimed at investigating, exploring and gaining insight about the phenomenon of employee turnover, particularly within the context of State Trading Organization PLC or STO of Maldives.
State Trading Organization PLC or STO is the largest employer in Maldives with above 2000 employees. Over the past two years, their movement of employees being recruited and leaving the organization has increased. With no previous investigation conducted, it is unclear as to why turnover rates are increasing and what impact it has on the performance, productivity, profitability and operations of STO.
The objectives of this research were classified into 4 areas. The first objective was to explore and investigate the existing literature on employee turnover to gain theoretical background and information. The findings of existing literature are conveyed in the chapter titled 'Literature Review' of this report.
The second objective was to identify the causes and factors that leads to employee turnover and turnover intention. Through the formation of research questions, it was identified that there were several secondary predictors such as poor pay and compensation, poor HR policies, insufficient career advancement and progression opportunities and external pressures among other factors that contributed towards turnover intention. Furthermore, with average level of job satisfaction, job stress and organizational commitment, it was evaluated that all three had a significant impact on turnover intention levels that ultimately result into actual turnover. Moreover, with consistency in causes identified between STO's employee turnover case and existing literature, it was analyzed that poor HR policies have negative implications on employee turnover.