Factors Affecting Employee Retention In The UAE

Background of the topic

According to Ahammad et al. (2016), good compensation has a positive impact on the level of job satisfaction of employees. Along with this setting up a clear long term career objective can be considered as a source of motivation for employees. This can help the employees to look for opportunities within the organisation in which they work as well as in areas outside the organisation. In this regard it can be said that UAE is a fast growing and emerging country. The statement is true mainly due to the fact that the country possess a huge mobilisation of foreigners along with great cultural diversity along with various religions that amount to around two hundred nationalities.

As stated by Aguenza and Som (2018) the economic sector of the country consists of various industries that usually help in the development of the economic structure of the country. For example, consideration can be made on the retail, real estate and telecommunication along with tourism industry as it can help in the domination of the economic environment of the UAE. Thereby, as observed by Aruna and Anitha (2015) in the modern world, UAE is considered as a country in which job seekers can be motivated as opportunities for growth and improvement exists across all sectors in an organisation.

In this regard, observation by Bode, Singh and Rogan (2015) has been made about the number of foreign people in the UAE thriving in terms of success as well as job opportunities in the country. At the same time choice of life style and an addition of security towards life and job can be guaranteed within the premises of the country. On the flip side, it can be said that it is costly for organisations to lose employees (Terera and Ngirande 2014). This is mainly because the business sector is huge and profitability is the making objective for the people residing in the UAE.

Employee loss can be a huge factor for any industry as the investments made in the training of the employees can be considered as a loss if the employee does not reach its full potential. Therefore, as pointed out by Anitha (2016) it is necessary to measure the impact of retention of employees particularly on the sustainability and profitability of an organisation. The research will provide an overview of the factors that may lead to employee retention and the reasons behind the lack of motivation of an employee to continue to work in the job rich environment of the UAE.

Cloutier et al. (2015) stated that motivation is important in order to gain profitability as without motivation it can be difficult for employees to continue working for the development of an organisation. In this regard, the rich life style as well as the job security that is a potential scope of drawing employees to the country can decrease. Hence, a proper analysis will be needed to be made that highlights the importance of these motivational factors.

The research aims to identify the manner in which employee retention can take place in the UAE particularly in different sectors such as retail, real estate and telecommunication and tourism. Investigation and evaluation of employee retention policy in the tourism sector is taken into consideration. Therefore, the reason behind employees leaving the company is also analysed. Hence, the objectives of the research can be taken into consideration.

• To investigate the employee retention policy in the UAE
• To evaluate the employee motivation policy that exists in the organisations in UAE
• To identify the reasons behind employees leaving the companies
• To provide recommendations so that organisations can continue to retain employees and motivate the people

Aims and objectives of the research

According to Tanwar and Prasad (2016), employee retention can be a challenging factor for any organisation. This is mainly because employee retention needs to be done by analysing the demands and needs of the employees and the manner in which organisations can fulfil the demand. In this regard, certain factors can be taken into account that affects the employee retention policy of an organisation. Some of the factors include:

Flexibility in work schedule: Haider et al. (2015) pointed out that unlike the older days; clock-in and clock-out mindset is not maintained by the employee. Every employee wants to maintain a work life balance and subsequent wish for gaining flexibility in choosing the time and place of work. However, as stated by Boyd (2014) flexibility of work has been a factor that has increased over the years, but most employees feel that the change often hampers their performance and productivity. Therefore, this particular factor can be effective for employee retention considering limited changes at the time.

Health and wealth of business: Every candidate analyses the health and wealth of a business organisation so that job security can be maintained. Any organisation that lacks in gaining proper financial strength necessary for its growth are considered as sick industries by candidates. Hence, as stated by Cote and Levine (2014) lose of candidates need to be tackled by the managers so that the ill-health of the business can be improved. It can be a challenge as convincing the candidates to join a sick organisation or employees to stay in it require excessive motivational factors (Cotterrell 2017).

Rewards and recognitions: Rewards and recognition can be considered as other factors that help in the retention of employees. As stated by Brantlinger (2016) every employee deserves to be recognised for the contribution they make to an organisation. Satisfaction in completing a successful work and getting the required acknowledgement for it can be a factor that can help in employee retention. It can also be considered as a motivational factor that helps employees gain the importance of their work in an organisational setting (Crane, Kawashima and Kawasaki 2016).

Social culture: Oliver (2014) pointed out that ethical consideration need to be an important attribute for organisations. Employees in an organisation belong from various social groups and it is because of this that the diversity within a workplace needs to be addressed. Tsang (2014) also stated that social culture as well as respect of the individual beliefs and value helps employees to remain loyal to an organisation. Therefore, respecting the social and ethnic background of the employees can help in its retention.

In order to motivate employees it is necessary that motivational theories be applied for understanding the manner in which employees can be motivated. One of the most applied theories of motivation is the Maslow`s hierarchy of needs theory. As stated by Crane, Kawashima and Kawasaki (2016) this particular theory can be considered as a manner in which employees want to be motivated at every step. This includes understanding the basic needs of the individuals and progressing towards gaining a proper understanding and knowledge of the factors required for progress in an organisation (Simpson and Simpson 2017).

Literature review

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs provides a detailed account of the progress that is required for an individual and the manner in which employees can be retained in an organisation. Samaha and Hawi (2016) stated that the focus in to provide the employees with opportunities to maintain a stability in the job as well as ensure that provide them with the basic requirements while continuing the job activities. The manner in which organisations can maintain the interest of the people in remaining loyal is best understood by the application of the theory. Therefore, it is necessary that such a theory be used on a regular basis by maintaining every parameter related to the development of employees as well as understanding the manner in which development of employee loyalty takes place (Shanafelt et al. 2016).

Maslow’s need hierarchy theory provides an understanding of the factors that can be considered for the betterment of an employee on a regular and systematic basis. Along with this, other theories that can be used for understanding the motivation of employees is Herzberg’s two factor theory. According to Möhlmann (2015), Herzberg’s two factor theory helps in understanding the satisfaction of the employees in terms of hygiene and motivation factors. Factors such as achievement, recognition, responsibility and so on help an employee to be motivated at a workplace. At the same time, as stated by Chen et al. (2015) other factors such as poor working conditions, relationship with co-workers and policies of the organisation can be considered as hygiene factors or job dissatisfaction factors.

Hill and Brierley (2017) is of the opinion that the application of these factors can be considered as an effective tool for the development of the motivation of employees. Every employee need to be satisfied and organisations need to ensure that profitability as well as productivity can be obtained with the help of the employees. Therefore, opportunities for growth, maintaining good relationship with co-workers and maintaining the policies of the employees need to be provided that can help in gaining the loyalty and trust of the employees. Hence, it can be said that reasons for employees leaving the organisation need to be identified in order to motivate the employees.

The reasons behind employees leaving an organisation can be attributed to various factors that may contribute in de-motivating the employees from working at an organisation. De-motivation reasons can be in the form of monetary as well as non-monetary factors that may have a negative impact on an organisation. Some of the reasons for employees leaving an organisation include:

Rude behaviour: As seen earlier, support from co-workers can be considered as an important aspect for the de-motivation of employees. Every employee working in an organisation requires the support of one another to maintain the objectives. As stated by Terera and Ngirande (2014) rude behaviour of employees or employers can have a negative impact as without support and coordination employees may feel unrelated with the work place. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that rude behaviour within the organisational premises must not be conducted for gaining the loyalty of the employees Cote and Levine 2014).

Factors affecting employee retention

Feeling of undervalued: According to Bartolini et al. (2016), every employee needs to be valued at the work place so that motivation can be provided. However, equal valuation of the employees may not be provided mainly because of the varied work that is done. However, it is necessary every employee be appreciated about the work done so that they can continue to work hard and improve the organisational performance. Tanwar and Prasad (2016) are of the opinion that employees need to understand the application of every factor that can be considered as important for the development of an organisation. Hence, certain actions such as including the employee in decision making activities can be considered as valuable for the employees.

Inadequate skills of people: According to Samaha and Hawi (2016), the inadequate skills of the employees can be considered as a factor with which organisations are not directly involved. This is mainly because the interview of the candidates may not have made any significant help for organisations. At the same time, Bolton, Mehran and Shapiro (2015) organisations also need to include a proper and effective selection policy that can help in understanding the potential possessed by an employee. Therefore, it can be said that ensuring the adequate skills of the people can be considered as an effective factor for preventing employees from leaving the organisation. Along with this lack of application of the skills possessed by an employee often compels employees to leave the organisation and look for better opportunities in a different place.

Research philosophy is the method required for the collection of data necessary for conducting research. It can be of three different types that includes realism, positivism and interpretivism. Realism involves the characteristics that possess similarities to both the positivism as well as the interpretivism philosophy. This provides a sense of complication in the philosophy. As stated by McCusker and Gunaydin (2015) positivism philosophy can be considered for conducting high structured research that considers large sample size. Interpretivism is the sample size that is usually small and focuses mainly on the belief that people possess about a topic.

For this research, the application of positivism philosophy will be used as it provides an understanding of the collection of data in an efficient manner. The response of the target sample will be taken into consideration so that the research can be applied using large sample size as considering a number of people residing in the UAE.

Research design provides opportunities for gaining effective responses to the research objectives that has been developed mainly based on the research aim and objectives. As stated by Flick (2015), the research design is mainly of three types that include descriptive, explanatory and exploratory research design. Exploratory design allows in the understanding of new concepts and ideas that is relevant for the research objectives. The application of explanatory research design helps in explaining the factors that require current research with valid information. Panneerselvam (2014) is of the opinion that the application of descriptive research design provides a combination of characteristics that can be related to the explanatory as well as exploratory research designs. It aids in the exploration of new ideas and concepts and provides an explanation of the presence of the specific phenomenon.

Theories related to the motivation of employees

This research will be done using the descriptive design as it allows in the verification of the data that is gained from the analysis. The conclusion of the research will be made in a vivid manner that will highlight the effectiveness of the topic.

Research approach provides opportunities for the validation of the research questions. Research approach can be of two types that include the application of inductive and the deductive approach. As stated by Bryman (2017) the aim of inductive approach is towards the evolution of new theories as well as concepts which are based on the observations that are made during the sampling. Hence, the collected data are followed by the development of new theories and concepts which are relevant to the selected topic. On the other hand, deductive approach helps in validating the research hypothesis which is based on the analysis of the literature review. Neuman (2013) is of the opinion that alignment can be made with the observations and the results of the collected data.

For this research, the application of deductive approach will be made as it can help in providing an opportunity for validating the research objectives that are stated for the research. Along with this, an alignment will be made between the responses as well as the literature review that is required for the research.

Data collection method usually consists of two types; these include the application of primary as well as secondary data. According to Smith (2015), primary data involves the collection of data from the direct sources that include gaining information about the topic at hand using surveys and interview methods. Secondary collection of data involves understanding related theories and models that are provided by various scholars. This involves gaining knowledge from books, journals and websites.

This research will be conducted by taking into consideration primary data. As such sampling technique that will be used for the research will involve non-probability sampling so that every person involved in the survey can be selected. About 30 people will be selected for participation in the research.

The validity and reliability of the data collected will be made by understanding the effective use and by gaining verified resources. The validity will be done by understanding the effectiveness of the data collected and the reliable sources will be gathered by gaining consent from the concerned company about gathering data from the employees as well as conducting the interview. Hence, it can be said that the data collected will be done based on the ethical considerations that is required for its development.

The research will be conducted by ensuring that the confidentiality of the data collected and the identity of the respondent be maintained. Relevant information without the consent of the respondents will not be disclosed. No participant will be forced to be a part of the research process. The respondents will need to sign a consent form so that the participation of the target people can be stated as wilful. The data will be collected from authentic resources to ensure data validity and data relevancy.

The required resources for the completion of the research will be 30 samples so that a survey can be conducted based on the responses of the employees working at different sectors such as retail, real estate and telecommunication and tourism. At the same time financial assistance will be required so that the project can be completed by using resources that are usually expensive. In order to conduct to survey, it is necessary to ensure that every participant is willing to provide consent about the manner in which it can be conducted on the basis of providing responses. The sample survey respondents need to be provided with proper authentication verification that highlights the reasons for conducting the survey.

Apart from this, consent from different organisations will be required. The reason for gaining the consent is that every person involved in the survey can identify the legality of the survey method and ensure that it can have an effective consideration in the development of the survey. The organisation will be required to provide substantial amount of information and for that it is necessary to ensure that required resources for the project be gained.

Steps	Description	Due date
1	Preparation Stage
	Week -1-2: Area of interest identified	2 days
	Weeks 3-4: Topic selected/form submitted	5 days
	Weeks 4-5: Topic refined to develop dissertation proposal	7  days
	Weeks 5-8: Proposal written and submitted	8  days
2	Chapters 1-3 completed
	Chapter 1 Draft Introduction completed	3  days
	Chapter 2 Draft Literature Review completed	6  days
	Chapter 3 Draft Research Methodology completed	5  days
3	Collection of data and information
	Data analysis and Interpretation of data	4  days
	Chap 4 Draft Results, Analysis and Discussion completed	3  days
	Chapter 5 Draft Conclusions, Implications & recommendations	5  days
4	Final Writing up
	Structure, presentation and proof reading	6  days
5	Final Stage
	Final proof reading, printing and binding	7  days
6	Submission of Project  (WOLF and hard copy submission)

Reference

Aguenza, B.B. and Som, A.P.M., 2018. Motivational factors of employee retention and engagement in organizations. IJAME.

Ahammad, M.F., Tarba, S.Y., Liu, Y. and Glaister, K.W., 2016. Knowledge transfer and cross-border acquisition performance: The impact of cultural distance and employee retention. International Business Review, 25(1), pp.66-75.

Anitha, J., 2016. Role of Organisational Culture and Employee Commitment in Employee Retention. ASBM Journal of Management, 9(1).

Aruna, M. and Anitha, J., 2015. Employee retention enablers: Generation Y employees. SCMS Journal of Indian Management, 12(3), p.94.

Bartolini, G., Levant, A., Pisano, A. and Usai, E., 2016. Adaptive second-order sliding mode control with uncertainty compensation. International Journal of Control, 89(9), pp.1747-1758.

Bode, C., Singh, J. and Rogan, M., 2015. Corporate social initiatives and employee retention. Organization Science, 26(6), pp.1702-1720.

Bolton, P., Mehran, H. and Shapiro, J., 2015. Executive compensation and risk taking. Review of Finance, 19(6), pp.2139-2181.

Boyd, D., 2014. It’s complicated: The social lives of networked teens. Yale University Press.

Brantlinger, P., 2016. Bread and circuses: Theories of mass culture as social decay. Cornell University Press.

Bryman, A., 2017. Quantitative and qualitative research: further reflections on their integration. In Mixing methods: Qualitative and quantitative research (pp. 57-78). Routledge.

Chen, B., Vansteenkiste, M., Beyers, W., Boone, L., Deci, E.L., Van der Kaap-Deeder, J., Duriez, B., Lens, W., Matos, L., Mouratidis, A. and Ryan, R.M., 2015. Basic psychological need satisfaction, need frustration, and need strength across four cultures. Motivation and Emotion, 39(2), pp.216-236.

Cloutier, O., Felusiak, L., Hill, C. and Pemberton-Jones, E.J., 2015. The Importance of Developing Strategies for Employee Retention. Journal of Leadership, Accountability & Ethics, 12(2).

Cote, J.E. and Levine, C.G., 2014. Identity, formation, agency, and culture: A social psychological synthesis. Psychology Press.

Cotterrell, R., 2017. Law, culture and society: Legal ideas in the mirror of social theory. Routledge.

Crane, D., Kawashima, N. and Kawasaki, K.I. eds., 2016. Global culture: Media, arts, policy, and globalization. Routledge.

Flick, U., 2015. Introducing research methodology: A beginner’s guide to doing a research project. Sage.

Haider, M., Rasli, A., Akhtar, C.S., Yusoff, R.B.M., Malik, O.M., Aamir, A., Arif, A., Naveed, S. and Tariq, F., 2015. The impact of human resource practices on employee retention in the telecom sector. International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, 5(1S), pp.63-69.

Hill, N. and Brierley, J., 2017. How to measure customer satisfaction. Routledge.

McCusker, K. and Gunaydin, S., 2015. Research using qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods and choice based on the research. Perfusion, 30(7), pp.537-542.

Möhlmann, M., 2015. Collaborative consumption: determinants of satisfaction and the likelihood of using a sharing economy option again. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 14(3), pp.193-207.

Neuman, W.L., 2013. Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Pearson education.

Oliver, R.L., 2014. Satisfaction: A Behavioral Perspective on the Consumer: A Behavioral Perspective on the Consumer. Routledge.

Panneerselvam, R., 2014. Research methodology. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd..

Samaha, M. and Hawi, N.S., 2016. Relationships among smartphone addiction, stress, academic performance, and satisfaction with life. Computers in Human Behavior, 57, pp.321-325.

Shanafelt, T.D., Dyrbye, L.N., Sinsky, C., Hasan, O., Satele, D., Sloan, J. and West, C.P., 2016, July. Relationship between clerical burden and characteristics of the electronic environment with physician burnout and professional satisfaction. In Mayo Clinic Proceedings (Vol. 91, No. 7, pp. 836-848). Elsevier.

Simpson, C.L. and Simpson, S.J., 2017. The mechanisms of nutritional compensation by phytophagous insects. In Insect-Plant Interactions (1990) (pp. 111-160). CRC Press.

Smith, J.A. ed., 2015. Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research methods. Sage.

Tanwar, K. and Prasad, A., 2016. Exploring the relationship between employer branding and employee retention. Global Business Review, 17(3_suppl), pp.186S-206S.

Terera, S.R. and Ngirande, H., 2014. The impact of rewards on job satisfaction and employee retention. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 5(1), p.481.

Tsang, E., 2014. Foundations of constraint satisfaction: the classic text. BoD–Books on Demand.