Effect of Voluntary Benefits on Retention of Non-Teaching Employees in Public Tertiary Institutions in Kisumu County, Kenya

Abstract

Public Tertiary Institutions (PTIs) are the Technical and Vocational Training Colleges that provides skills training to over 70% of school leavers in any country. To play their roles effectively, PTIs need to attract and retain competent workforce. Consequently, they can attract and retain employees by offering voluntary benefits. Employee retention is ensuring that people do not leave institutions voluntarily whilst voluntary benefits are the non-statutory payments made besides wages and salaries. The effect of voluntary benefits in the retention of employees is not known since there is no known research which has been conducted in the area, especially from the perspectives of non-teaching employees and in educational settings. Past studies on this have focused on benefits in general without specific attention to voluntary benefits and its effect on employee retention, thus making it rather difficult to formulate clear policies aimed at addressing the challenges facing the PTIs. The purpose of the study was to establish the effect of voluntary benefits on retention of non-teaching employees in the PTIs in Kisumu County. The objectives of this study were to: Identify the forms of voluntary benefits provided by the PTIs in Kisumu County; establish factors that retain non-teaching employees in the PTIs in Kisumu County; and determine the effect of voluntary benefits on retention of non-teaching employees in the PTIs in Kisumu County. The study adapted a conceptual framework with voluntary benefits as the independent variable and employee retention as dependent variable. The research design were both descriptive and correlation. The study population was all the 85 non-teaching employees in the two PTIs in Kisumu County of which 15 were used in questionnaire pre-testing and a saturated sample of 70 respondents was subsequently taken. The study used both primary and secondary data. Both the Primary and secondary data were collected using structured questionnaires and from the relevant institutional records respectively. Pearson Correlation and multiple regressions were used to respectively determine the association between the independent and dependent variables and to establish the magnitude and direction of effect of voluntary benefits on retention of non-teaching employees. The study revealed that: Employee services 94.25% and payment for time not worked 96.6% were the forms of voluntary benefits provided at the PTIs in Kisumu County and that job security 77.14%, possibility of growth 50%, institutional policy and administration 48.57%, and challenging work 47.13% were the main employee retention factors at the PTIs. Employee retention has significant positive association with employee services (r=0.805, p=O.OOO),health benefits (r=0.714, p=O.OOO),security benefits (r=0.334, p=0.005) and payment for time not worked (r=0.301, p=O.OII). Voluntary benefits significantly predicted employee retention (R2=0.724, F (4, 65) =46.232, p=O.OOO);with employee services (~=0.581, p=O.OOO) and health benefits (~=0.390, p=O.OOO)as significant predictors. This shows that other forms of voluntary benefits were not provided at the PTIs; other retention factors also help retain employees at the PTIs; and that employee services and health benefits are the forms of voluntary benefits that enhances employee retention at the PTIs. Employee benefits are therefore the antidote to employee turnover, thus employers should provide more of it so as to enhance employee retention. It is hoped that the findings may be of use to policy makers, human resource consultants and practitioners, management, and academicians who may develop interest in pursuing further research in this area.