Relationship between Employee Career Development and Employee Retention among State Corporations in Mombasa County

Abstract

The study focused on the relationship between employee career development in Mombasa County (coast development authority, Kenya bureau of standards, Kenya coast water services board, Kenya maritime authority, Kenya ferry services and Kenya marine and fisheries research institute). The study adopted pragmatism research philosophy. The study adopted cross-sectional survey research design. The unit of analysis comprised of managers and all the employees of the 6 state corporations operating in Mombasa County. The population for this study encompassed the human resource managers and the employees of the 6 state corporations operating in Mombasa County. The 6 state corporations cumulatively had 293 employees. The study used Yamane method in calculating the sample size which ws 169 respondents. The study adopted mixed methods in selecting the study respondents. The study first used purposive sampling method to pick the HR managers in the 6 state corporations. The study then used simple random in selecting the other 163 employees working in various department. Data was collected using questionnaires and interview guide. Questionnaires were targeted to the employees obtained from the data sample while the HR managers utilized the interview guide. Stata software version 16 was utilized to perform analysis of descriptive and inferential statistics. This comprised of frequencies, tabulations, and percentages. Logic regression was used in inferential statistics. The results of the analysis showed that career development is significantly associated with employee retention in state corporations in Mombasa County. The study recommends that, in order to ensure employee retention, the public sector should fund some of the courses undertaken by its employees by compensating the full or partial cost of the course. The public sector should also offer equal opportunities to all its employees to further their studies and after an employee acquires extra knowledge, the organization should align their new knowledge with the available relevant responsibilities in the organization. The current study was cross-sectional in nature. Future studies should thus concentrate on longitudinal techniques that allow for data collection at many points. Future research should include other entities other than state corporations.