| dc.description.abstract | The problem of employee retention is global and affects organizations in developing
and developed countries. Even though a lot has been done towards stemming the low
retention rate problem in private security firms, the situation has continued to be
experienced among these firms in Kenya. Efforts to ensure employees remain engaged
will always ensure that employees remain encouraged and happy in their place of work
and not search for new jobs. Low workforce retention increases organizations' cost of
operation and brings about a negative effect on employee morale. The main objective
of this study was to determine the influence of employee engagement on retention in
private security firms in Nairobi City County Kenya. The Specific objectives of this
study were to: determine the effect of employee commitment, employee loyalty, job
involvement, and team orientation on retention. The work environment was used as a
moderating variable. This research was anchored on Kahn’s theory of employee
engagement, two-factor theory, and theory X and Y. The study adopted a descriptive
research design. The target population of this research was 50 private security firms in
Nairobi City County Kenya registered with Kenya Security Industry Association. The
respondents of the study were human resource managers or their equivalent from all
the security firms under study. Primary data was collected using a close-ended
questionnaire. Data was analyzed with the aid of SPSS version 25.0 and presented using
descriptive, inferential statistics, tables and figures. Diagnostic tests, for example,
normality, multicollinearity, and heteroscedasticity were carried out to test if the
assumptions of regression hold. Simple and multiple regression analysis was used to
establish the relationship between variables and the t-statistic at a 95% significance
level was adopted in testing the hypothesis. The overall significance was tested using
F-test. The study established a positive significant effect of employee commitment on
retention with a regression coefficient of 0.799 with a p-value of 0.000. Further,
employee loyalty and job involvement had a regression coefficient of 1.583 and 0.722
and p-values of 0.000 and 0.000 respectively. Team orientation had a regression
coefficient of 0.431 with a p-value of 0.072 indicating it is insignificant. The interaction
between work environment and employee engagement had a regression coefficient of
1.1996 and a p-value of 0.025. The study concluded that employee commitment,
employee loyalty, and job involvement had a significant effect on retention in private
security firms in Nairobi City County Kenya and recommends that private security
firms ought to put strategies that encourage employee commitment, loyalty and job
involvement which in turn would lead to increased retention. On the other hand, team
orientation was found to be insignificant therefore it does not affect retention. Work
environment was found to positively alter the relationship between employee
engagement and retention. The findings of the research will contribute to theory, policy
making, and human resource management practices to ensure an increase in employee
retention rate. | en_US |
