Employee retention : causal analysis for non-profit organizations in Thailand

Abstract

Employee retention has been in many scholars’ attention over decades because employees are the important resource that drive the organization toward its goals. The time and money spent in selecting employees are high, and therefore, the organizations want to keep their employees as long as possible. Employee retention then became widely studied in many sectors, namely in business firms, public sectors, schools, and hospitals. The previous studies revealed different factors of employee retention according to the types of organizations and positions, for examples, managers in business firms, officers in public sectors, teachers in schools, doctors and nurses in hospitals. Currently, the study of employee retention has reached the non-profit sector. There are not yet many studies of employee retention in non-profit organizations due to the fact that the sector is partially cultural based. This study, hence, aims to investigate the current status of non-profit organizations in Thailand. It aims to study factors affecting employees’ intent to stay, and develop a causal model focusing on human resource practices, employee engagement, and intent to stay. Finally, it also aims to suggest human resource practices that will increase the level of employees’ intent to stay in non-profit organizations. To achieve that, the research applied obtrusive and survey research methods. It first reviewed the literature and did content analysis on factors affecting employees’ intent to stay as well as analyzing their causal relationship. The selected factors were those that related to non-profit organizations. After content analysis, a causal model was proposed. The model was tested using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and path analysis methods. CFA was used to test and adjust the model to fit with the empirical data and path analysis was used to investigate their causal relationship. The data collected from 453 full-time employees in 40 non-profit organizations. The tool used for survey research was questionnaire. The findings demonstrated that, firstly, current status of non-profit organizations in Thailand showed that the majority of respondents who worked as full-time employees have worked between 4 to 6 years. The organizational income mainly came from private donation and fundraising activities. Secondly, employee engagement was found to significantly influence employees’ intent to stay. Additionally, HR practices that were found to influence employees’ intent to stay were opportunities for learning, relationship with colleagues and supervisors, participation, job stress, and mission attachment. Thirdly, the causal model showed that opportunities for learning, relationship with colleagues and supervisors, participation, and job stress had both direct and indirect effects to intent to stay. Mission attachment, in addition, was found to have direct effect to intent to stay, though no relationship with employee engagement. Fourthly, the study suggested HR practices for non-profit organizations in Thailand. It suggested that, first, the organization should know their employees in terms of skills, knowledge, and working style in order to assign tasks accordingly. The right type and the right amount of work are important. Challenging job will encourage employees to enhance their knowledge and skills. Feedback should also be given because employees will perceive that their work is important. Relationship management in the organization was also suggested that the organization should create friendly and supportive atmosphere in the organization. Clear missions should be stated and explained. These were found to increase employee engagement and they will likely to stay working for the organization. The recommendation for future research presented that there should be a study concerning employee retention in particular to specific positions such as service employees, fundraisers, and managers because different positions might reveal different factors related to intent to stay. Additionally, the types of non-profit organizations in Thailand and their management also should be further investigated.