FACTORS INFLUENCING NON-TEACHING STAFF TURNOVER IN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES IN NAIROBI CITY COUNTY

Abstract

This study examines the effect of work environment and employee engagement on non-teaching staff turnover in public universities in Nairobi City County, highlighting the need for organizations to understand and manage staff mobility in the 21st century. A descriptive research design was adopted. The target population constituted 2134 employees, who are non-teaching staff, as at January 2023 in the public universities in Nairobi City County. A sample of 204 was selected using stratified and simple random sampling methods. Purposive sampling was used to select the heads of human resource department from each university. Primary data was collected using structured questionnaires, while secondary data was collected from the human resource records and reports. The data was analyzed quantitatively, using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The mean frequency and percentages were used in descriptive analysis, while Pearson correlation and regression analysis was used in testing the relationship between the variables. The statistical package for social sciences (SPSS version 26) was used to aid in the analysis. The null hypothesis was tested at a 5 % significance level. Descriptively, the results showed that most of the respondents agreed with the statements used to describe whether work environmental factors and employee engagement have an effect on nonteaching staff turnover in public Universities. The study further established that, there was a statistically significant positive correlation between the predictor variables work environment; (r = 0.689; P < 0.05) and employee engagement; (r = 0.466; P < 0.05) and staff turnover. The overall analysis indicated that work environment and employee engagement have statistically significant effects on staff turnover (R = .735a, R2 = .540, F= 41.970, df = (4,143), T = 6.417 and the P value < .05). Work environment was seen to have the highest effect on staff turnover among the non-teaching staff in the universities. The study concluded that non-teaching staff turnover among the public universities was influenced by work environment and employee engagement. Based on the results, work environment and engagement were considered to have the highest positive influence on turnover. It was recommended that institutions of higher learning need to focus more on improving the work environment and employee engagement because they present significant influence on turnover rate of non-teaching staff.