Human Resource Management Practices and Employee Turnover among International Non-Governmental Organizations in Nairobi City County, Kenya

Abstract

Human resource management practices are pivotal in mitigating employee turnover. The international non-governmental sector has struggled to retain talent. More so, there is an inconsistency in the turnover levels of INGOs in Kenya. Although research exists on the variables of interest, most studies have contextual, conceptual, and methodological gaps. This study examined the relationship between human resource management practices and employee turnover in international non-governmental organisations in Nairobi, Kenya. The objectives of the study were to determine the human resource management practices used by international non-governmental organizations in Nairobi County, to identify the level of employee turnover among international non-governmental organizations in Nairobi County, and to establish the effect of human resource management practices on employee turnover among international non-governmental organizations in Nairobi County. The theories anchoring the study included Social Exchange Theory, Expectancy Theory, Job Embeddedness Theory, and Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory. The study employed a mixed research (quantitative and qualitative) approach and will adopt a descriptive research design. The target population was the 99 senior staff of AMREF Health Africa in Nairobi County. since the target population was small, easily manageable, and accessible, the study adopted a census, where 99 participated as respondents. The data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire, pretested for reliability and validity using content validity and internal consistency tests (Cronbach's Alpha at a threshold of 0.7). The study analysed data using both quantitative and qualitative analysis. Quantitative analysis yielded descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics in means and standard deviation were used to help define patterns, trends, and relationships, while inferential statistics helped estimate a model. The study concluded that INGOs have widely embraced human resource management practices in training and development, reward management, performance appraisal), and reward management. The consensus is that there is considerable employee turnover among INGOs in Nairobi County. The study concluded that human resource management practices strongly affect employee turnover among INGOs in Nairobi County (r= 0.675, p <0.01). While each of training and development (r= 0.546, p<0.01), performance appraisal (r= 0.382, p=0.001, and career development (r = 0.336; p=0.002) has moderate significant effect, reward management (r= 0.615; p<0.01) had a strong significant effect on employee turnover among INGOs in Nairobi County. The reveals that organizational culture affects the strength of the relationship between human resource management practices and employee turnover among INGOs in Nairobi County. The strength in the relationship between human resource management practices and employee turnover among INGOs in Nairobi County reduced from 0.675 to 0.635 (r= 0.635, p <0.01); a reduction of 5.93%, while for training and development, it reduced from 0.546 to 0.490 (r= 0.490, p=0.019); reduction of 0.056 (10.29%). For reward management, there was a decrease of 0.041 (6.67%), which was from 0.615 to 0.574 (r= 0.574; p<0.01), while performance appraisal increased by 0.008(2.09%) from 0.382 to 0.390 (r= 0.390; p<0.01). However, career development decreased by 0.071(21.13%) from 0.336 to 0.265 (r= 0.265, p=0.016). The study recommends extensive human resource management practices through regular effective training and skill development, consistent performance appraisal processes, and enriching career development opportunities.