Influence of Human Resource Management practices on Employee Retention in Maldives Retail Industry

Abstract

This study seeks to establish the influence of human resource management practices on employee retention. A questionnaire was developed based on pas literature and a pilot test was done to test the normality, reliability and validity of the scale. The independent variables to measure human resource management practices include career and development, training and development, performance appraisal, reward and compensation, and health & safety. The dependent variable used in this research is employee retention. The study adopted descriptive and explanatory research design. Also this study used a cross sectional survey methods using a survey questionnaires containing 30 items with Likert Scale (Disagree -1 and 5 for Agree). The sample of 254 employees from 14 retail outlets in Male’ (capital city of Maldives) were selected using convenient sampling. The collected data was analysed using descriptive means and regression via SPSS.20. This study found that three human resource practices such as career development, reward and recognition, and health and safety have a positive and significant impact on employee retention. This research did not find any significant influence of training and development nor performance appraisal on employee retention. However when training and development is linked with career development, there is a positive and significant influence on employee retention. Also when performance appraisal is linked with reward and compensation there is a positive and significant influence on employee retention. Though this study included only 14 retail organisations, future studies may include larger sample by conducting the research on more organisations including tourist resorts, particular only tourism industry . The future studies may compare differences based on socio-demographic profile and might examine the similarities and difference of HR practices in different sectors in Maldives