ABSTRACT

This study examined the “Effects ofEmployee Retention on Organizational Performance in S and E Pitason Nigeria Limited and Valleumbra Flour Mills Nigeria Limited all in Aba, Abia State A survey research design was used for the study. Four research questions guided the study and four null hypotheses were posited and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The population of the study was made up of 235 employees selected from two manufacturing companies which included S and E Pitason Nigeria Limited and Valleumbra Flour Mills Nigeria Limited in Aba, Abia state. The sample comprised 146 employees. This sample was drawn purposively and with proportionate stratified random sampling techniques. The instrument used for data collection was a structured questionnaire based on the purpose of the study and was made up of20 content items using 5-points modified scale model and validated by experts in Industrial Relations/ Personnel Management Department, two experts in the Unit ofMeasurement and Evaluation, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike. The test-re test method ofreliability ofthe instrument was used and the data obtained were analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation and yielded a Correlation Coefficient of 0.87. This was administered to a simple randomized sample of 146 employees drawn from a population of235. All the research questions were analyzed using mean scores, and average mean scores while simple linear regression was employed in testing hypotheses. The results of the data analyzed revealed that employee retention strategy influenced employee job performance to a high extent and non-payment ofbenefits to employees leads to loss ofproductivity, high recruitment and training costs. There was a strong positive significant relationship between management retention practices/benefits and employee job performance. Based on these findings, it was recommended that employee retention practices such as, compensation and appreciation of the performed work, chances to learn and be promoted, a convenient balance between professional and personal life, conducive working atmosphere within the organization, provision of challenging work and good communication network, should be maintained to promote high employee job performance and improve productivity in the selected private manufacturing organizations in Aba, Abia State, Nigeria