An Investigation of Factors Affecting Bank Employees’ Retention in The Gambia

Abstract

This research was conducted in The Gambia whose population is about 1.8 million with a total of 13 banks and over 70 branches in all in the country. With the market greatly liberalized which has eventually resulted in an increased competition in the domestic financial system, banks end up competing for the same customers who are increasingly aware of their many choices. In addition, as job mobility increases, a high rate of turnover and job hopping has been created with bank employees moving from one job to another and this has created a growing interest on what needs to be done to retain employees. Thus, this research investigated job satisfaction, organizational commitment and compensation satisfaction as factors that can affect employee retention for the attainment of greater organizational performance of bank employees in The Gambia. The samples included employees in the top five banks in The Gambia and purposeful sampling was used to select the cases for inclusion in this research. 155 people responded to the questionnaire by submitting hard copies as well as online submissions. The study adopted validated measurement instruments from researchers who have conducted studies in these constructs. Data for this research was analyzed using quantitative research method. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and multiple regressions were used to analyze the data. Based on results of this study, job satisfaction and organizational commitment are found to be significant predictors of retention while compensation satisfaction had an inverse relationship with retention. Based on the findings and the research process, some recommendations are provided.