Human Resource Management Practices And Tutor Turnover Intentions In Public Primary Teacher Training Colleges In Nairobi Metropolitan Region In Kenya

ABSTRACT

Globally, employee turnover has always been a big challenge to many organizations. In the teaching profession, the global annual turnover intention stands at 45% which is high above the 10-15% recognized by Human Resource Management (HRM) researchers. In 2015, Kenya had a total of 288, 000 teachers and a deficit of 144,708 teachers however, the situation has not changed much since current data indicates that Kenya has a total of 301,560 teachers and requires more than 155,605 teachers. Despite such scenario, the latest research showed that more than 129,600 out of the 288,000 teachers employed by the TSC wished to quit the teaching profession. Previous researches on turnover have produced mixed results on the influence of HRM practices and employee turnover thus creating two schools of thought. Previous research on the Job embeddeness (JE) construct and turnover intentions were done in developed countries and in industries like banking, hospitality, Universities among others. In order to bridge this gap, the current study sought to establish the influence of HRM practices on tutor turnover intentions in Public Primary Teacher Training Colleges (PTTCs) in the Nairobi Metropolitan Region (NMR) in Kenya with JE construct as the mediating variable. The objectives of the study were to establish the influence of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices namely; Training, Compensation, Career development and Performance management on tutor turnover intentions in PTTCs in NMR in Kenya and to assess the mediating influence of JE on the relationship between HRM practices and tutor turnover intentions in PTTCs in NMR in Kenya. The study was anchored on the unfolding model of voluntary turnover, the Universalistic theory and Job embeddedness model among others. The study employed the descriptive and explanatory research designs. The scope of the study was the Nairobi Metropolitan region with a population of 258 tutors where multi stage sampling technique was used to obtain a sample size of 152 tutors. Quantitative primary data was collected using a closed ended questionnaire. Descriptive statistics (means and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (multiple linear regression) were used to analyze data where statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) computer package tool was used. The research was anchored on positivism research philosophy and used descriptive and exploratory research designs. Data was presented using tables and charts. The findings of the study showed that the HRM practices namely; employee training, employee compensation, career development and performance management were poorly practiced in PTTCs in NMR. Further, the study showed that training, compensation, career development and performance management have a significantly negative influence on tutor turnover intentions in PTTCs in NMR. The JE construct partially mediated the relationship between HRM practices and tutor turnover intentions in PTTCs in NMR. The study recommends that the Government and the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) should make an effort to improve on the HRM practices in PTTCs in NMR. Second, since JE construct was found to partially mediate the HRM practices-Turnover intentions relationship, TSC and the Government could try and post tutors in areas where they can experience some form of belonging. The research recommends that a national study can be carried out mediated by other variables across all teacher training colleges in Kenya. Since turnover intentions translate to turnover in the long run, a longitudinal study can be done to examine the evolutionary effect of HRM practices on tutor turnover intentions in PTCCs in Kenya