THE ROLE OF ORGANIZATIONAL POLICIES ON EMPLOYEE TURNOVER LEVELS WITHIN THE BANKING SECTOR IN KENYA: A CASE STUDY OF EQUITY BANKLIMITED

Abstract

The study was carried to determine the role of organizational policies on employee turnover levels within the banking sector in Kenya. The objective of the study was to determine and find out if, staff recruitment, employee engagement policies, training and development policies and reward system have a role on employee turnover levels within the banking sector in Kenya. The study will benefit the management of Equity bank, other bank in the sector and other researchers. The study adopted descriptive research design where the target population was 85 employees from which a sample size of 51 respondents, representing 60% of the target population, was selected using stratified random sampling technique. Open and closed ended questionnaires were used to collect information from the respondents. Data was analyzed using qualitative and quantitative techniques where by qualitative data was presented in form of descriptive notes or text materials while quantitative data was analyzed by use of tables and figures. Based on the study findings,69% of the total respondent stated that staff recruitment policies affect employee turnover within the banking sector while 31% said it does not affect. Employee engagement affects employee turnover in the banking sector which was represented by 74% while 26% said it does not affect. Training and development policies affect employee turnover in the banking sector which was represented by 64% while 36% said it does not affect. The study also showed that reward system affects employee turnover within the banking sector which was represented by 77% while 23% said it does not affect. The respondents stated that Equity Bank lacked proper recruitment policies which affected employee turnover levels. The respondents stated that employees were not involved in formulating decision making and thus had a negative impact on employee turn in the bank. The organization failed to conduct training on a continuous basis and therefore employees lacked the skills to carry out their duties which affected employee turnover in the Equity bank. The respondents also stated that the reward system in the organization was no based-on merits and this affected employee turnover in equity bank. The following recommendation of the study was as follows; the bank should ensure that recruitment policies are properly formulated and understood by everyone in the organization, employees should in involved in decision making, training of employees should be continuous in the organization and the organization should adopt a reward system which is fair to both the employer and employees