Employee Retention Factors and Tools: Empirical Evidence from Ghana Revenue Authority

Abstract

The main purpose of the study was to investigate the factors and tools for employee retention at the Ghana Revenue Authority. The survey employed purposive sampling technique in selecting the 92 GRA staff from two offices in Accra (Circle and North Kaneshie). The study found out that factors perceived by employees of the GRA to influence their retention included; the recognition of employees’ skills, provision of supporting and working climate, existence of family support schemes, good working relation with colleagues and strong team work. On the retention tools the study revealed that tools such as challenging work, high performance incentives/bonuses, opportunities for development, periodic increase in salary, well defined career ladder and promotions opportunities and feeling of belongingness to the organization were the tools employed by GRA for employee retention. Based on the findings for the study, the following recommendations were made: There should be a creation of the working environment in other enabling public sectors by ensuring the realization of factors of employee retention, tools for employee retention should be made known to all employees and should be made accessible by all employees and there is the need for a tripartite collaboration among the ministry, educational institutions and government agencies to ensure that the factors and tools for employees retention are put in place in all organisations, especially in the public sectors.

Keywords: Retention, Employees, Recognition, Organization, Employee Turnover