{"id":59434,"date":"2021-09-21T03:48:41","date_gmt":"2021-09-21T07:48:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=59434"},"modified":"2021-09-21T03:48:41","modified_gmt":"2021-09-21T07:48:41","slug":"turnover-is-high-in-south-africas-higher-education-sector-what-could-turn-the-tide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/turnover-is-high-in-south-africas-higher-education-sector-what-could-turn-the-tide\/","title":{"rendered":"Turnover is high in South Africa\u2019s higher education sector: what could turn the tide"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\n\u201cWhy are my employees leaving my organisation?\u201d. \u201cWhat can I do to make my valuable employees stay at my organisation?\u201d. \u201cWhat makes employees stay in their employment?\u201d.<\/p>\n

Employers have been asking these questions for a long time. Let\u2019s be honest, hiring and firing, and continuously having to recruit, select, orient and train new employees is\u00a0costly<\/a>\u00a0on all levels \u2013 financially and on the morale of the workforce.<\/p>\n

Most employers know that employees are the\u00a0heart<\/a>\u00a0of any organisation. Without them, an organisation can\u2019t function, let alone excel and reach its goals.<\/p>\n

Why then are organisations finding it difficult to retain their employees?<\/p>\n

An example of high turnover is among higher education institutions in South Africa where the rate of staff turnover is\u00a0alarmingly high<\/a>. This is detrimental to the success of these institutions.<\/p>\n

Previous research has shown that one of the main\u00a0reasons<\/a>\u00a0employees leave their organisations, is because their\u00a0expectations<\/a>\u00a0in their employment relationship aren\u2019t met. This is referred to as a breach of their psychological contracts \u2013 the unwritten contract of perceived promises and expectations within the employment relationship.<\/p>\n

I conducted\u00a0research<\/a>\u00a0among all levels of employees at a large open distance university in South Africa. I found that the most important factor that leads to employees staying in their jobs is the extent to which their expectations within their employment relationship is being met, especially on an interpersonal level.<\/p>\n

These findings highlight the significance of the psychological contract in employee retention. They also show what employees need in terms of interpersonal relationships, trust and openness with their direct supervisors, and the role this plays in retaining staff.<\/p>\n

Employers often\u00a0focus<\/a>\u00a0on formal agreements and labour legislation. But\u00a0my research<\/a>\u00a0shows that the psychological contract might be an even more crucial factor employers should consider when developing and implementing retention strategies.<\/p>\n

The psychological contract<\/h2>\n

The\u00a0psychological contract<\/a>\u00a0is subjective in nature. It\u2019s formed and sustained through the extent to which perceived promises and commitments made within the relationship between an employee and their employer, have been adhered to.<\/p>\n

When employees feel that promises and commitments made to them by their employer have not been kept, their commitment drops. This leads to them being more likely to leave their organisation. This leads to\u00a0higher staff turnover<\/a>.<\/p>\n

My research was conducted through a questionnaire to all levels of permanent staff at the university. The questionnaire assessed 493 employees\u2019 perceptions of the\u00a0psychological contract<\/a>,\u00a0organisational justice<\/a>,\u00a0trust<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0retention practices<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The goal was to establish how higher education institutions could improve their employees\u2019 satisfaction within their employment relationship, specifically in terms of their psychological contract fulfilment. This was done with the aim of lowering staff turnover.<\/p>\n

My study confirmed previous research which also found that the psychological contract was mainly made of mutual expectations of parties within the employment relationship. I also found that employees\u2019 psychological contracts mostly relied on the way employees were treated on an\u00a0interpersonal level<\/a>\u00a0by their direct supervisors or line managers.<\/p>\n

What can be done<\/h2>\n

The solution is to create realistic expectations right from the moment employment starts by introducing thorough\u00a0onboarding<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0orientation<\/a>. Both should provide for open and honest discussions between employees and their supervisors.<\/p>\n

Employees should be given the opportunity to clarify uncertainties and gain all the necessary information in terms of the organisational culture, their job tasks and performance requirements in a safe and supportive environment. These discussions should establish and clarify the expectations of both parties, so that they are in line with one another. Supervisors, who represent the higher education institutions, shouldn\u2019t make promises and commitments that can\u2019t be kept.<\/p>\n

In addition, institutions need to develop\u00a0performance management<\/a>\u00a0systems and practices that ensure that expectations of employees and their supervisors in terms of performance requirements and goals, are aligned. The performance management system should be explained thoroughly to employees so that employees are clear on the expectations that the organisation has of them. Importantly, the promises and commitments the individual is prepared to make towards the organisation should also be expressed.<\/p>\n

Vitally, any\u00a0financial or other incentives<\/a>\u00a0linked to performance should be deliberated and deemed fair by the supervisor and the employee. Employees should also receive timely, regular, individual feedback from their supervisors to ensure that expectations remain in line with each other.<\/p>\n

The same goes for\u00a0career development<\/a>\u00a0goals,\u00a0training and development<\/a>\u00a0needs,\u00a0mentoring<\/a>\u00a0needs and\u00a0work-life<\/a>\u00a0balance<\/a>\u00a0needs. These should all be\u00a0discussed<\/a>\u00a0openly and honestly between employees and their supervisors.<\/p>\n

Supervisors should additionally be trained to understand the\u00a0importance<\/a>\u00a0of openness, adhering to commitments and having\u00a0open and honest relationships<\/a>\u00a0with their subordinates.<\/p>\n

Supervisors might not be able to solve all employees\u2019 frustrations and problems. But my research found that through open and truthful relationships, employees will feel understood and appreciated. This will inevitably lead to higher commitment and higher staff retention.<\/p>\n

Author Bio:<\/strong> Annette Snyman is a Lecturer at the University of South Africa<\/em><\/p>\n

Professors Melinde Coetzee and Nadia Ferreira also contributed to the research this article is based on.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhy are my employees leaving my organisation?\u201d. \u201cWhat can I do to make my valuable employees stay at my organisation?\u201d. \u201cWhat makes employees stay in their employment?\u201d. Employers have been asking these questions for a long time. Let\u2019s be honest, hiring and firing, and continuously having to recruit, select, orient and train new employees is\u00a0costly\u00a0on […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,1],"tags":[421999],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-59434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-higher-education","category-uncategorized","tag-staff-turnover"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTurnover is high in South Africa\u2019s higher education sector: what could turn the tide - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/turnover-is-high-in-south-africas-higher-education-sector-what-could-turn-the-tide\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Turnover is high in South Africa\u2019s higher education sector: what could turn the tide - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cWhy are my employees leaving my organisation?\u201d. \u201cWhat can I do to make my valuable employees stay at my organisation?\u201d. \u201cWhat makes employees stay in their employment?\u201d. 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